Chapter 318

Once these words were spoken, gasps of air rose one after another throughout the scene.

Forbidden from taking the exam for all eternity—didn't that basically cost Duan Xiu half his life?

One must know that for all scholars, the imperial examination and entering officialdom was the ultimate faith they struggled for; if the faith was gone, what was the point of living.

The examinees were half-sympathetic, half-sighing.

However, upon second thought.

That's not right; Duan Xiu was different from them; he was a scion of a noble family born with a silver spoon in his mouth, with a huge background. Even if he couldn't enter the court as an official, he would still live a life of luxury without worries for the rest of his life.

So what the hell was there to sympathize with!

Furthermore, with one less competitor, their own chances of passing would be even greater; this was a great thing.

After thinking it through, the bit of sympathy in the hearts of the examinees vanished into thin air.

There was even a little bit of excitement.

At this time, Su Qingyao had already called for people to carry Duan Xiu to the courtyard outside; without his order, no one was allowed to untie Duan Xiu.

After making arrangements, Su Qingyao circled the examination hall twice, reminding the examinees to focus on answering the questions and not be affected by this matter.

Only then did he return to his invigilation seat.

His face was overcast, looking so depressed he didn't want to speak.

"Elder Dong, why bother with a madman? It's not worth ruining your own health," Gongsun Ang handed over a cup of tea sensibly, smiling to comfort him.

"Not bother with him?" Su Qingyao pointed to his bruised right eye, "See that? That scoundrel hit this official! He actually dared to hit this official! From childhood to now, when has this official ever been hit? Why should this official not bother with him?"

Gongsun Ang actually leaned in to look closely.

Uh, it was a bit miserable.

His eyes were already small, and now, they were reduced to just a slit; combined with that big, fat face, it looked ridiculous no matter how you looked at it.

The corners of his mouth twitched, "Indeed, one cannot not bother with him."

Su Qingyao leaned back in his official chair and snorted, "Right? You also think I shouldn't let him off lightly, right? So, this official punishing him to never enter the exam hall for a lifetime, that's not excessive, is it?"

Gongsun Ang shook his head, "Of course not, it was his own doing."

He paused, but still couldn't help but offer a reminder, "But how will you answer to the Duan family?"

"Answer to them, my ass; if there's any answering to be done, it should be the Duan family coming to answer to this official!"

Su Qingyao sneered, "Duan Xiu not only roared in public and spouted wild words, but he also beat the chief examiner; it's simply insane. Every single point has solid evidence; does his Duan family dare to deny it? If the second master of the Duan family doesn't come personally to apologize to this official and pay for medical expenses, this official will report his Duan family to the authorities."

As he spoke, he slapped his own thigh, "This official has long had enough of their Duan family's bullshit; this time, I will definitely get it back with interest, humph!"

The examination hall had rules: as long as the exam hadn't ended, no matter what happened inside, the doors would absolutely not be opened.

Even if someone died, they would have to wait until the end to carry them out.

Therefore, people outside didn't know a thing about Duan Xiu's bizarre behavior of going mad and causing a scene in the hall.

Of course, Du Ruo, the mastermind, certainly knew what was going on in her heart; the medicine she gave Duan Xiu was similar in composition to the one she gave Shen Jing Bin at the Lin Xianling's residence, only the dosage was twice as large.

Duan Xiu was different from Shen Jing Bin.

Shen Jing Bin, that playboy, was weak in both character and body; as long as one moved a little, he would immediately make a fool of himself.

But Duan Xiu had a deep family heritage and was a seed player the family focused on cultivating; he was deep-minded, treacherous, and a ruthless character through and through.

To deal with such a person, if the dosage wasn't enough, given Duan Xiu's composure, it was highly likely he would have held out.

So, one had to use strong medicine!

Thinking of the miserable state that dead sleeve-cutter would be in next, Du Ruo couldn't help but laugh out loud.

"Mistress, Master Yan and the others have all left, are you not leaving?" Seeing Du Ruo still standing under the tree giggling, Lao Tietou asked with a strange expression.

Only then did Du Ruo come back to her senses, "Oh, walk, walk, let's go now."

Walking to a fork in the road, she suddenly changed her mind.

"Uncle Lao Tie, why don't you go back to the county hostel to rest first? I want to wander around."

Anyway, the exam hall wouldn't open until tomorrow afternoon; with so much time, going back would just be sitting around, which was quite boring. It would be better to look around; who knows, maybe she could find some business opportunities?

Lao Tietou, however, disagreed, shaking his head like a rattle-drum, "That won't do. What if the Duan family fails to harm the Second Young Master and turns to target his relatives instead? This old man isn't at ease; I must follow."

Du Ruo thought that was true too.

Although she had the system to rely on, the lesson from the deaf old woman last time had already told her that even if she had ten thousand kinds of poison, when encountering a true expert, she would only have to surrender.

It was necessary to be safe.

"Fine, then let's go wander together," she smiled.

The scenery of Fengyang Prefecture was very beautiful, much better than Wutou Xian; wide streets, an endless stream of people, shops and restaurants one after another on both sides of the street, and countless luxurious mansions.

There were also quite a few snacks.

Most were selling steamed buns, fried dough sticks, white porridge, and wontons; the higher-end ones even had scallion oil noodles and mutton pita bread, the aroma mouth-watering.

The sounds of hawking and shouting were endless, full of the flavor of human life.

Du Ruo had always been a glutton, and having woken up early and not eaten her fill, she simply bought and ate along the way, tasting this and that, busy and having a great time.

"As expected of a prefecture city, there are so many varieties," Du Ruo sighed while eating, asking Lao Tietou beside her, "How is it, Uncle Lao Tie, is it delicious?"

Lao Tietou took a bite of the soup dumpling in his hand, and the juice inside sprayed out, covering his mouth. He hurriedly wiped it with his sleeve and said, "It's delicious, but this old man still prefers the mung bean cakes the Mistress makes."

Du Ruo laughed out loud, "Sure, when we get back to the village, I'll make you dozens or hundreds, I guarantee you'll eat your fill!"

"That would be great, this old man has a treat in store."

Unknowingly, the two had wandered to the busiest Wulin Street in Fengyang Prefecture.

Du Ruo suddenly remembered the time she came here to place a bet; it seemed that the home of that scoundrel Shen Jing Bin was located in this area...

Her eyes rolled, "Let's go, let's go take a look at the Commandery Prince's Mansion."

After walking for about half a quarter of an hour, they arrived.

When she saw the scene, Du Ruo was stunned; although she had been mentally prepared, she was still shocked by what was before her eyes.

The entrance was blocked so tightly not even water could pass through; it was all people, much more than when the bets were placed.

The difference was that these people were neither noisy nor causing trouble; they were just sitting quietly.

Many people even brought mats, lying lazily on them, with the posture of intending to stay for a long time.

Du Ruo roughly guessed what they wanted to do, but she still gave Lao Tietou a wink. Lao Tietou understood and walked over to pat the shoulder of one of the men picking his feet, "Brother, what are you all doing here? This is the Commandery Prince's Mansion; aren't you afraid they'll beat you out?"

The man put down his sweaty foot, looked him over several times, and asked a simple yet profound philosophical question: "Old man, if money and life are placed in front of you at the same time, which one do you choose?"

"..." Lao Tietou answered honestly, "This old man is afraid of death, this old man wants his life."

The man chuckled, "I'm different, I want both."

He pointed to the tightly closed vermilion gate and said, "If I don't guard here today, it's very likely I won't get the money. If I don't get the money, my wife will definitely hammer me to death. As for the Commandery Prince's Mansion, they are now just shrinking turtles, not even daring to come out the door, let alone beat people?"

As he spoke, he poured out the whole story.

It was still that same old mess.

Didn't Shen Jing Bin open a gambling den? Originally, it was supposed to be cashed out after the third session and the red list was posted, but Jiang Zhan had won first place twice in a row and was already the unshakeable Prefectural Top Scholar; the result of this third session didn't matter anymore.

At one to six odds, Shen Jing Bin would go bankrupt!

Those who bet on Duan Xiu to win had already come yesterday, cursing, spitting, beating effigies, and crying and making a scene about wanting to die; they had been noisy all day.

Today it was the turn of another group of people, those who bet on Jiang Zhan to win.

They were quite obedient, not crying, not making trouble, and not beating effigies, only doing one thing—blocking the door.

They were afraid that before it was their turn, the Commandery Prince's Mansion would have lost so much money they wouldn't even have pants left. The Commandery Prince's Mansion was the maternal family of Prince Yu; if they ran away to the capital to avoid debt, could these commoners catch up?

So they had to rush to the front and occupy a spot first.

Just waiting for the results of the third session in two days, once the red list was posted, they could knock on the door and demand money...

Lao Tietou told everything he had inquired about to Du Ruo.

Du Ruo touched her chin; she hadn't expected there to be so many "old irons" supporting her brother-in-law. One tael here, one tael there, the Shen family would go bankrupt immediately.

Hmm, should she guard it too?

Her two thousand taels plus Lao Tietou's three thousand taels, a total of five thousand taels; at one to six odds, that was thirty thousand taels of silver!

Thanks to the "piercing cloud arrow" sent by Shen Jing Bin, she had made a windfall for nothing.

Hehe!

Du Ruo was overjoyed and was considering the feasibility of blocking the door when suddenly there was a violent commotion in the crowd; those guys sitting quietly sprang up from the ground, squeezing to both sides of the street in a panic, as if they would lose their heads if they were a step late.

Du Ruo watched in a daze.

What's the situation?

However, before she could react, she was pushed to the very front by others.

She hurriedly turned back to look for Lao Tietou, but Lao Tietou was nowhere to be seen, whether he had been separated by the crowd or what.

Holy crap, this is a pit!

Although she didn't know what had happened, Du Ruo had a strong premonition that things were not good and she had to get away from this place of trouble immediately.

Behind her was a dense crowd, but the front was empty; it was such a wide road.

Du Ruo didn't even think and took off running.

Unfortunately, her legs were still a bit short; she had only run a few steps when a mighty procession came toward her, horse hooves clattering and flags fluttering. Leading them were over a hundred iron-clad guards, each with a long saber at their waist, looking majestic, and even the horses they rode were more handsome than ordinary ones.

Surrounded in the middle was a luxurious carriage, and one didn't need to think to know that the person inside must be extremely noble.

Following at the very back were several official sedan chairs, as well as dozens of government soldiers on high alert.

Du Ruo's footsteps came to a screeching halt.

It's over, she couldn't escape.

If she kept running regardless at this moment, she would be delivering her head; colliding with a noble was highly likely to get her treated as an assassin and executed on the spot!

Du Ruo's thoughts raced, and she immediately knelt down in the street, "Long live Prince Yu, ten thousand years!"