Chapter 75

"Just because Li Que'er has a mother like you, he won't be able to learn well." Master Jiang's spine was straight, and he didn't give the Zhu woman any face at all, "An adult who plays with words and stirs up trouble will only teach the child to be bad. Even if he reads more books, in the future he will only be a fox-like, rat-like person. You'd better take him home early."

After saying this, he flicked his sleeves and left.

The Zhu woman sat on the ground with a thud, slapping her thighs and wailing.

"Oh, the Jiang family is bullying people! The young ones raise their hands and hit people at the slightest disagreement, and the old ones are biased and insist on pinning the blame on my son. The whole clan is bullying my family of old, weak, women, and children! Is there any justice left..."

The children in the school craned their necks to look outside; how could they still have the heart to study?

Master Jiang picked up the ruler.

Seeing this, the students' pupils dilated; they immediately retracted their gossiping gazes and began to recite their books at the top of their lungs.

The Zhu woman wailed for a while, and seeing that no one paid attention to her, she had to climb up, pat her butt, and drag her son Li Que'er away while cursing.

She didn't dare to go in and make a scene. Although Jiang Yan didn't pass the scholar exam, his learning was very good, and he had been a master for so many years, so the villagers respected him very much.

If she made too much of a scene, let alone the Jiang clan members, even the clan head on the Li side would not let her off.

After the Zhu woman left, Du Ruo and Jiang Li turned out from behind the tree.

The couple looked at each other.

It seems Master Jiang was very angry about what happened yesterday; he actually expelled Li Que'er directly. How will he punish Jiang Wan? Jiang Wan was the one who made the first move.

Jiang Wan was also very uneasy in her heart and also very regretful.

If she had known, she wouldn't have hit Li Que'er; she should have waited until the middle of the night and let Tie Dan secretly catch a big rat and throw it into Li Que'er's bed to scare him into wetting his pants...

Now that things have come to this, she can only bite the bullet and go over.

Du Ruo arrived at the entrance and called out "Third Uncle."

Master Jiang walked out with a straight face and snorted coldly through his nose, "Are you here to plead for mercy too?"

Du Ruo piled on a smiling face, "Of course not. Our Wan'er has always respected her teacher and loved her fellow students. Since she didn't do anything wrong, where would the talk of pleading for mercy come from?"

Master Jiang was noncommittal, but looked at Jiang Wan and asked, "Then what about you? Do you think you were wrong?"

Jiang Wan lowered her little head, her attitude very sincere, "I was wrong."

"Oh? Wrong where?"

"The master once taught me that a gentleman uses words, not hands, and should convince people with reason when encountering things, fighting with wisdom rather than force..."

"Good, you remember well." Master Jiang nodded and then spoke again, "Then the master will teach you one more sentence today—the sage says, if this can be tolerated, what cannot be tolerated? When it is unbearable, there is no need to tolerate it anymore."

Jiang Wan suddenly raised her eyes and looked at him in surprise, "What does the master mean?"

Master Jiang smiled.

He rarely smiled; he always gave people the feeling of being cold, serious, and stern, but at this moment, when he smiled, there was actually an illusion of ice melting and spring flowers blooming.

"I mean, if someone bullies you to your face and you still blindly reason with them, that's not called being a gentleman, that's called being a fool."

Jiang Wan finally understood and widened her eyes, "So I didn't do anything wrong, right?"

"Of course you were wrong." Master Jiang straightened his face again, "If you want to hit him, you should have chosen another time. How could you hit him inside the school? Do you know that you made it very difficult for the master? Be careful next time."

Jiang Wan's little face immediately blossomed into a flower, and she answered loudly, "I know, Master!"

"Alright, go in."

Jiang Wan hopped and skipped into the school.

Du Ruo pulled her shocked gaze back from her, bared her little white teeth at Master Jiang, and quickly handed over the small bamboo basket in her hand, "Third Uncle, this is for you."

Master Jiang was not polite either and reached out to take it.

Last time, only two of those dozen mung bean cakes made it into his stomach; the others were snatched away by his nephews and nieces at home. Master Jiang was very resentful and was too embarrassed to ask Du Ruo for more. Now that someone had delivered it to his door, of course, he wouldn't refuse.

Anyway, he would just give Jiang Wan some extra tutoring later; after all, taking things from people makes one's hands soft.

Master Jiang asked Jiang Li again, "I heard Erlang is back?"

Jiang Li nodded, "Yes."

Master Jiang was silent for a moment, "Does he have confidence in this autumn examination?"

Jiang Li smiled, "How can one be sure about such things? Azhan has always been diligent and has talent in reading, but sometimes, talent alone is far from enough; it depends on whether Heaven gives this luck. Anyway, he will do his best. Azhan is still young; if he doesn't pass this year, he can wait another three years. No need to rush."

Wait another three years...

Master Jiang couldn't help but think of himself; perhaps he was the one most disliked by Heaven. Every time he took the exam, he would touch a "stinky cell," either his paper would be soaked by rain or his seat would be too close to the latrine. Although he had full ambition, he failed every time.

People, sometimes, just cannot fight against Heaven.

Master Jiang was no longer in the mood; after saying a few words, he carried the small bamboo basket and went inside.

The next day, Jiang Li drove the carriage and sent Jiang Zhan back to Xiushan Academy. The brothers agreed to pick him up at the end of the month, at which time he and Du Ruo would accompany Jiang Zhan to the county town for the exam.

After giving his instructions, Jiang Li turned the carriage head and went straight to the county government office.

Just as he entered the door, he bumped into Wang Bujiu, who was as anxious as if his butt were on fire. Seeing Jiang Li, Wang Bujiu immediately breathed a sigh of relief and then told him a piece of bad news in a fit of anger.

"Boss, Mei Ruxi has run away!"

Mei Ruxi was the flower-picking thief caught earlier. This person was only in his twenties but had already harmed dozens of good women, including daughters of officials and nobles, some of whom couldn't take it and hanged themselves.

He had been committing crimes in other prefectures before and could always easily escape from the hands of government soldiers. This time, he slipped into Wutou Xian and finally fell into Jiang Li's hands.

After finally catching him and bringing him to justice, they were just waiting for the imperial court's approval to behead him.

Who would have known that he would be allowed to run away.

"How did he run?" Jiang Li's face was as dark as water as he lifted his feet and walked quickly toward the county jail.

Wang Bujiu followed, gnashing his teeth, "That's what you have to ask that Yang Dian Feng. He was responsible for guarding the person. Who knows if he drank too much horse urine and got drunk, actually letting Mei Ruxi slip away right under his nose."

Speaking of this, he was full of anger.

Yang Dian Feng had been dissatisfied with Jiang Li from the beginning, feeling that Jiang Li had snatched his position as head catcher. It was one thing for him to speak sarcastically, but he also tripped Jiang Li up everywhere.

Wang Bujiu even suspected that it was Yang Dian Feng who deliberately let Mei Ruxi go to cause trouble for Jiang Li.

Jiang Li walked around the cell where Mei Ruxi was held, called over the few catchers and jailers who were on duty that night to question them, and finally reached a conclusion.

Mei Ruxi stole the jailer's keys and ran away.

That jailer's legs went soft, and he slapped himself a few times, "I deserve to die, I shouldn't have been drinking while on duty, letting the prisoner run away."

After slapping himself, he took all the responsibility upon himself, "Head Catcher Jiang, this matter is my fault alone, it has nothing to do with anyone else. At that time, Catcher Yang and the others heard movement outside and all went out to patrol; I was the only one here."

Jiang Li looked at him without speaking, his gaze deep.

Wang Bujiu kicked the jailer, his teeth itching with hatred, "Why the hell were you drinking? Do you know who that Mei Ruxi is? That is the famous lecher of Qingzhou Prefecture! He is a wanted criminal by the imperial court! Can you afford to take responsibility for this?"