Chapter 121: Destroying the Evidence

(Guests came to the house, only grabbed one chapter today, sad.)

Xiao Liangchen turned and entered the 'Earth' grade room, sat on the official hat chair, and was completely dazed, as if he had lost his soul.

His mother, Liu Shi, was tidying up the bed inside and asked casually: "Back so soon? Did the waiter say how long it would take for the hot water to be sent up?"

After waiting for a long time and not hearing her son speak, Liu Shi turned her head in confusion to look.

"What's wrong, Chen'er?"

"Oh, nothing." Xiao Liangchen then woke up as if from a dream and smiled reluctantly. "Maybe I'm a bit tired."

Liu Shi hurriedly walked over and poured a cup of tea for her son. "If you're tired, sleep for a while; Mother has already made the bed, and these are all clean quilts brought from home."

Xiao Liangchen shook his head. "It's not dark yet; I'll read for a while longer."

"That's good." Liu Shi raised her neck proudly. "As expected of my son, so self-conscious; you haven't needed Mother to worry for even half a minute since you were little."

Except for the time she had a fight with that dead girl next door, but so what? In the end, wasn't it she, the mother, who won?

And there was also...

"By the way, Chen'er, is there really no possibility between you and Miss Jiang?" Liu Shi's tone carried a touch of regret.

Xiao Liangchen lowered his head and took a sip of tea, suppressing the annoyance in his heart. "Mother, I've already said it: she and I are not suitable. Besides, I have already been to the Jiang family and explained it clearly to the head of the Jiang family; this matter ends here, don't mention it again."

"Fine, fine, fine, don't mention it, don't mention it. Anyway, with my son's talent and appearance, you will definitely pass the exam in the future; maybe you'll even be the top scholar."

Liu Shi sat down, crossed her legs, and shook them triumphantly. "At that time, will you worry about not having noble ladies to marry? Let alone a mere salt merchant's daughter, even a princess could be married!"

Listening to this ignorant and arrogant statement from Liu Shi, Xiao Liangchen held his forehead, feeling only powerless.

"Alright, Mother, I want to read." He sat at the table and flipped open a classic history book.

Liu Shi didn't dare to continue disturbing her son and got up to walk out. "Mother is going downstairs now to find the inn waiter and tell them to send the hot water up quickly. Wash your face and sleep quickly later; you have to go to the exam venue early tomorrow morning."

Xiao Liangchen said "Hmm" and asked again: "Then what about you, Mother?"

"What does it matter for an old woman like me? I'll just rest in the large dormitory downstairs for a night to save wasting silver."

The Xiao family was just an ordinary farming family. Although they had a few mu of thin land, it was only enough for the family to eat their fill. They couldn't afford such a good superior room.

It was all thanks to Jiang Youyi, who, in order to please Xiao Liangchen, would send some good things to the Xiao family from time to time.

Liu Shi sold some of them to exchange for money to book this place.

However, at one tael of silver a night, she couldn't bear to live in such an expensive place no matter what.

After Liu Shi went out, Xiao Liangchen stared at the book in front of him, but couldn't read a single word.

His mind was full of Aman's shadow.

Aman had been cute and lovely since she was little, and the older she got, the more outstanding and seductive she became, especially those eyes—charming but not demonic, clear but not pure—making people unable to forget them once they saw them.

Not just him, almost all the young men in Xinghua Cun liked to crowd in front of her, trying every possible way to attract her attention.

Until Du Mingzhu appeared, Aman's face was ruined, and those young men disappeared.

Including himself...

Xiao Liangchen slapped himself hard.

No, he couldn't think about Aman anymore; Aman was already a married woman, and doing this was immoral.

He shook his head, trying hard to drive that face out of his mind, and focused on reading.

In the 'Mysterious' grade room next door, Du Ruo tossed and turned, unable to sleep.

She turned her head and secretly glanced at the man beside her.

Jiang Li was lying flat on the bed, his hands crossed over his chest, his eyes closed and motionless, looking exactly like a monk who had entered meditation.

He was like a different man from the one who was as hot as fire last night.

Pfft, don't pay attention if you don't want to, who cares!

Du Ruo puffed up her cheeks, turned her back, and gave Jiang Li a round back of her head.

At the same time, she called out to the system in her mind.

"Little Tong, you said before that Jiang Zhan might be involved in the imperial examination fraud case; would it be this County Examination?"

"Not necessarily," the system replied. "The County Examination is just the first hurdle of the imperial examination; there are still the Prefectural Examination, the Provincial Examination, the Metropolitan Examination, and the Palace Examination later. Who knows which link will have a problem."

So troublesome, Du Ruo had a headache.

No way, she could only try to keep a close eye on him. She had heard in her previous life how serious the consequences of imperial examination fraud were; those were all lessons of blood and tears.

Du Ruo carefully thought about the various possibilities of Jiang Zhan cheating.

First of all, it was impossible for Jiang Zhan to actively cheat; that child was pure and upright, and still a little pedant, so he couldn't do such a thing.

Besides, with his strength, there was absolutely no need for that.

Then he must have been framed by someone.

There were two ways to frame him: one was before entering the exam venue, slandering him for stealing or buying questions, or bribing the chief examiner.

This possibility was extremely small because it involved too many people, and the authorities would investigate thoroughly, making it easy to reveal flaws.

The other way was after entering the exam venue, slandering Jiang Zhan for plagiarism.

Once this was confirmed, it would only punish Jiang Zhan alone. He had no power or influence, and no one could plead for him; at that time, he would be unable to defend himself and could only swallow this dumb loss.

Du Ruo's mind turned rapidly, and she soon had a way to deal with it.

Hmm, she had to have a good talk with that child tomorrow morning...

"Can't sleep?" A slightly lazy voice came from behind.

Du Ruo snorted coldly, her tone a bit bad. "How come Constable Jiang is willing to pay attention to people?"

Jiang Li chuckled, reached out, and turned her over so they were face to face.

"When did I not pay attention to you? Although the furnishings of this inn are good, it's not soundproof at all, so it's not good for us to disturb others, right?" Jiang Li explained.

"Forget it, you." Du Ruo rolled her eyes. "Saying it so nobly, afraid of disturbing others? Do you think I don't know? You're just narrow-minded, suspecting that I have something going on with Xiao Liangchen, so you're holding your breath in your heart. Do you dare to say it's not?"

Jiang Li laughed. "Am I such a narrow-minded man in my wife's heart?"

Du Ruo poked the muscles on his chest one by one. "Is, it, not?"

"Of course not." Jiang Li wrapped her mischievous little hand in his palm and rubbed it carefully. "I don't suspect you have any shameful relationship; you're not that kind of person."

He paused, then continued: "I just thought that you might have been moved by him when you were young, so it's hard not to be jealous."

In fact, Jiang Li could understand very well; like a young talent like Xiao Liangchen, who was also gentle and handsome, which young girl wouldn't like him?

It wasn't strange that Du Ruo liked him.

Du Ruo suddenly understood.

She laughed out loud. "So, you're jealous, right?"

Jiang Li nodded. "Quite sour."

"Then your jealousy was in vain; there was no need for that at all." She rolled into Jiang Li's arms and kissed him on the neck. "I say I don't like him; do you believe me?"

Jiang Li's Adam's apple rolled. "Really?"

"Truer than real gold." Although Xiao Liangchen was indeed very excellent, he had a fatal weakness: he was a mama's boy.

It wasn't that he shouldn't be filial, but being too filial, to the point of giving up his sweetheart for his mother—what was worth liking about such a man?

Just as she was complaining in her heart, Jiang Li suddenly turned over and got on top.

His eyes were bright. "Wife, how about we..."

"No!" Du Ruo refused flatly.

Big pervert, he didn't forget to act like a hooligan wherever he went. This wasn't at home, and the soundproofing was indeed not very good; if they were heard, would she still have the face to see people tomorrow?

Seeing Du Ruo's firm attitude, Jiang Li had to get off her, sighed disappointedly, and said: "What a pity; I was thinking that since we finally had a few days of leisure, I would take you to stroll around the county properly after Zhan finishes the first session, and buy some rouge, powder, clothes, and jewelry, but I didn't expect my wife to refuse."

Du Ruo: "..."

She was so angry that she pounced on him to scratch him. "Jiang Li, did you do that on purpose?"

Jiang Li laughed out loud.

Of course, it was on purpose; looking at his wife's lively little appearance, he felt that life was particularly interesting.

After playing for a while, thinking that there was still business tomorrow, the couple soon fell asleep.

The next morning, they got up before dawn; today was the first session of the County Examination, and candidates had to arrive at the exam venue before dawn.

Jiang Sheng had also been waiting for a long time.

Du Ruo first checked his body, confirmed that except for his heartbeat being a bit fast, there was nothing wrong, and only then did she set her heart at ease.

Then she pulled Jiang Zhan to sit at the table and handed him a few pills.

"If you are unlucky enough to draw a stinky number, don't panic; eat this red one, and I guarantee you won't smell anything for ten hours."

"If your stomach hurts, eat this green one, and it will stop the pain quickly."

"If you feel dizzy from heatstroke, eat this yellow one, and it will keep you refreshed and clear-headed."

Jiang Zhan remembered them one by one and carefully put them into the exam basket.

"Do not have the heart to harm others, but do not have the heart to be defenseless." Du Ruo finally took out a white pill, her tone solemn. "This is called the 'Destroying the Evidence' pill. In case someone frames you in the exam venue and you cannot defend yourself, remember, use it." ===== CHAPTER 122 =====