Chapter 295: Losing His Pants

As soon as these words came out, Shi Duoduo immediately realized something was wrong.

Unfortunately, it was already too late.

Su Qingyao's face darkened even more, and he sneered: "Are you saying that I had someone poison the food?"

Shi Duoduo was so scared that he waved his hands repeatedly. "No, no, no, the student didn't mean that..."

"Absurd!"

Su Qingyao was furious, pointing at the rows of candidates. "There's more than just you who bought food at noon. At least thirty percent of the candidates ate the same food as you. Why is everyone else perfectly fine, and only you have diarrhea?"

"Is there a problem with the food, or is there a problem with you?"

This...

Shi Duoduo's eyes darted around in panic.

He was also puzzled in his heart.

Yeah, why was that?

Could it be that his body was really too weak, his stomach was delicate, and he wasn't used to the food in the exam hall, so he had diarrhea?

He felt more and more guilty the more he thought about it.

Actually, he had had similar situations before; if he ate a little too much or a little too cold, his stomach would be uncomfortable.

It was just that it had never been as embarrassing as this time.

Shi Duoduo wanted to defend himself a few times and act pitiful, but Su Qingyao didn't have the patience to listen to his rambling and waved his hand directly. "Take him down!"

"Yes, Master!"

Two bailiffs endured the stench, grabbed Shi Duoduo by the arms, one on each side, and dragged him out.

Shi Duoduo was not willing to give up, clutching the partition tightly and refusing to let go. "Master, the student has already finished the exam paper. Please allow the student to hand in the paper before going out!"

As a chief examiner, one could not refuse to accept exam papers.

Su Qingyao gave a look to Gongsun Ang on the side. Gongsun Ang walked up, picked up the paper from the partition, and said with a smile: "Don't worry, Top Scholar Shi, the master will naturally accept the exam paper and will also grade it."

But whether he would let him pass, that was another matter...

Soon, Shi Duoduo was dragged outside the exam hall.

His exam stall was also cleaned up by bailiffs, and the foul stench of poop finally gradually dissipated.

Su Qingyao circled around again before returning to the invigilator's seat.

"Master, this is the first paper. According to the rules, you have to look at it first." Gongsun Ang smiled and placed Shi Duoduo's paper on the desk.

Su Qingyao was full of disgust, but he still lowered his head and glanced at it a few times.

"Heh, a follow-the-crowd article, old-fashioned, no originality at all."

Gongsun Ang also leaned over to look and nodded. "It is indeed a bit ordinary, but he is the County Top Scholar of Jianfeng County. Shouldn't we..."

According to the convention, as long as the County Top Scholars of each county didn't have major mistakes in the Prefectural and Academy Examinations, they were generally passed.

As for whether this 'major mistake' included pooping in public, it depended on the chief examiner's intention.

Su Qingyao snorted coldly, picked up the seal on the ink pad, and slapped a conspicuous black stamp on Shi Duoduo's exam paper.

The first 'poop mark' was born.

Gongsun Ang understood the master's meaning.

Actually, he thought the same way.

That Top Scholar Shi's article was just so-so, but his behavior was really unpleasant, and his eyes darted around—at a glance, he was not upright.

The imperial examination was to select pillars of the country. What is a 'pillar of the country'?

Having virtue without talent will cause trouble; having talent without virtue will harm people; having both virtue and talent is a true talent.

Virtue comes first.

Shi Duoduo wasn't sent out of the Prefectural School.

The imperial examination had strict regulations. Before the exam ended, let alone pooping in one's pants, even if there was a big fire that killed people, the doors wouldn't be opened.

One had to wait for at least ten people to hand in their papers early, and then they would be released in a batch. By then, he would just have to follow them out.

Shi Duoduo could only squat under the tree inside the door with a butt full of poop and wait.

The bailiffs coming and going all looked at him with strange eyes.

It made Shi Duoduo feel ashamed to death.

Finally, he couldn't bear it anymore and asked a passing bailiff, "Brother Bailiff, can you lend me a set of clothes to wear? If not, I'll pay a high price to buy them!"

The bailiff smiled: "I'd like to help you, but you wouldn't dare to wear this skin of mine; that's the crime of impersonating an official."

Shi Duoduo could only give up.

He squatted on the ground dejectedly, thinking about the human tragedy that had happened to him today, and felt like his heart was dead.

Ten years of hard study, ruined by a bubble of poop.

What kind of fate is this.

It seemed he had come for nothing this year, but fortunately, it wasn't a completely empty return. Once Duan Xiu won the Prefectural Top Scholar title, he could take the money he won and go home, which was at least some kind of explanation to his family.

"Winning money?" Under the big locust tree separated by a wall, Du Ruo's gaze was cold enough to freeze people to death.

Lao Tietou nodded. "That's right. I beat that kid up hard, and finally forced the truth out of him."

The story was like this.

The kid was a servant of the Commandery Prince's Mansion, acting under the instructions of his master, Shen Jing Bin, to deliberately splash ink on Jiang Zhan.

They were thinking that if they could stop Jiang Zhan from entering, that would be best.

Even if they couldn't stop him, at least they would make Jiang Zhan's mind affected, causing him to perform poorly.

The reason they did this was because Shen Jing Bin had opened a gambling house, betting on who would eventually win the crown of Prefectural Top Scholar between Duan Xiu and Jiang Zhan.

Currently, it was one-to-two for Duan Xiu and one-to-six for Jiang Zhan.

Which meant, if Jiang Zhan won, Shen Jing Bin would be ruined.

That's why he came up with such a dirty trick...

After listening, Du Ruo touched her chin and soon had a bad idea.

"Since that's the case, what are we waiting for? An eye for an eye. Since Shen Jing Bin wants to make a big profit, let's help him and make him lose his pants!" Du Ruo's eyes flashed with evil light.

Lao Tietou was eager to try. "How to help?"

Du Ruo lifted her feet. "Let's go, let's go to the Commandery Prince's Mansion."

Lao Tietou asked: "What for?"

Du Ruo chuckled. "Place a bet."

Finding the Commandery Prince's Mansion was still very easy, as it was considered a high-class household in Fengyang Prefecture.

And it was right on the most prosperous Wulin Street.

Before they even got close, they saw an extremely lively scene.

A few temporary sheds were set up at the entrance, and each shed was crowded with people, all scrambling to slap silver onto the tables.

"Two taels, betting on Young Master Duan to win!"

"One hundred taels, Young Master Duan is sure to win!"

"I'm taking a risk, betting on Jiang Zhan to win! Two taels!"

"Exactly, everyone is betting on Young Master Duan to win, maybe Jiang Zhan is a dark horse? He's also a County Top Scholar! I won't be the same as you guys; I'm betting on Jiang Zhan to win, six... no, six taels!"

Du Ruo's mouth twitched.

Two taels? Six taels? They were really supportive.

In the end, they still didn't have much confidence in Jiang Zhan.

She tugged on Lao Tietou's sleeve, called him to a corner, and took out a stack of silver notes from her purse. "This is two thousand taels of silver. You go and place the bet, betting on A-Zhan to win."

The reason she let Lao Tietou go was, first, she was a woman and it wasn't easy to squeeze into a crowd of men.

Second, she was afraid of being recognized by Shen Jing Bin and his servants.

That lecher Shen Jing Bin, if he knew she had come to Fengyang Prefecture, who knew what kind of dirty things he would do.

It was better to be safe.

Lao Tietou looked at the silver notes in his hand and hesitated. "Two thousand taels... isn't that a bit too little?"

Du Ruo: "... Is it little?"

It wasn't little, right? It was almost half of her net worth.

You have to know that the annual income of ordinary people didn't exceed ten taels of silver.

"It wasn't little originally, but to make that lunatic Heir Apparent lose his pants, it's still a bit short."

As he said this, Lao Tietou reached into his bosom and fumbled for a long time, finally taking out a dozen crumpled silver notes; he counted them, seemed to feel it wasn't enough, and took off the straw shoes on his feet, digging out seven or eight silver notes from the inside which had a strange smell.

Du Ruo was dumbfounded.

Before she could react, she saw that sloppy old man turn away, lower his head to fiddle with something, and soon he had several more in his hand.

"Alright, the lady's two thousand taels, plus the old man's three thousand taels, one tael, should be about enough." Lao Tietou said with a smile.

Du Ruo looked at him, then at the stack of silver notes, a bit doubting life.

"Uncle Lao Tie, where... where did you get so much money?"

Lao Tietou straightened his small body. "I earned it when I was escorting goods!"

Du Ruo rolled her eyes.

I believe you, you cunning old man.

However, this was Lao Tietou's private business. Since he didn't want to say, she couldn't pursue it. Anyway, it would be enough to bring down Shen Jing Bin.

"With so much money, Uncle Lao Tie, you have to consider it carefully. In case A-Zhan loses, your money will go down the drain." Although Du Ruo believed Jiang Zhan could win, she had to say the ugly words first to avoid trouble later.

"That's true." Lao Tietou thought for a while. "How about this: in case I lose, you and Jiang Li show some kindness and support the old man in his old age, okay? The old man doesn't eat much; he's very easy to support."

Du Ruo laughed. "Sure."

By now, if she still couldn't see it, she would be a big fool.

Lao Tietou was definitely not an ordinary village farmer. Just based on his high martial arts skills and the courage to take out thousands of taels of silver at every turn, he was likely a hidden expert.

Having such an expert by her side, let alone supporting him, it wouldn't be a loss even if she worshipped him.

After finishing the conversation, Lao Tietou took the money and went to the shed.

Before coming, they had already inquired that the deadline for placing bets was the hour of Shen, which was before the candidates came out.

So it was just in time.

"Two taels, betting on Jiang Zhan to win!"

(I was wrong. I thought I could do it, but when I got back, it was already dark. I only managed to grab this much. I'll make up for it tomorrow. I'm autistic...) ===== CHAPTER 296 =====