Chapter Forty-Eight:
Chu Yao has come today to apprehend officials who cheated on the provincial examination. (qiushu.cc [Tianhuo Avenue Novels])
Originally, the provincial examination was a trivial matter and shouldn't have troubled the renowned and high-ranking Lingguang Guard. However, since Emperor Deqing personally set the questions for this examination, he naturally paid close attention to the results.
Anything that the emperor cares about, no matter how small, must be treated as a major matter. This is one of the most important principles for a subject.
In addition, Chu Xu overheard snippets of conversation at Lou Wai Lou that day, and knew that someone was secretly plotting and hiring someone to cheat.
Although they were unaware of the details at the time, the Lingguang Guard's job was to gather intelligence on all sorts of things. They could not hide even the secrets of the officials and nobles in the capital, let alone a scholar who wanted to cheat.
After some investigation, a series of people who attempted to cheat in the provincial examination were uncovered. Some leaked the exam questions for money, and Lin Ruqing was not the only one who paid a high price to hire someone with official rank to take the exam for him.
Chu Yao weighed the stack of names in his hand.
The academic administrator's responsibility is to conduct thorough checks before the exam to prevent cheating. However, Ling Guangwei intends to apprehend all those who violated the rules and those who purchased exam questions after today's exam.
Wushuang's actions just now have disrupted part of Chu Yao's plans.
However, his mind is not on that right now.
Chu Yao clearly remembered that Xiao Wushuang was completely absorbed in a painting that day, seemingly not paying any attention to Lin Ruqing. Moreover, later, when they left Louwailou to go boating on the lake, Chu Yao even tentatively asked Wushuang if she had overheard Lin Ruqing's conversation with the boy.
At that moment, Wushuang tilted her head, looking completely bewildered: "What did they say? Was it important? Shuangshuang was only focused on choosing calligraphy and paintings." She seemed to think she had made a mistake, nervously fiddling with her fingers, and said aggrievedly, "You didn't tell them beforehand..." She was about to cry.
Chu Yao thought she was just a little kid who couldn't understand what Chu Xu meant by cheating, so he didn't take it seriously and just said, "Alright, alright, it's okay. I just felt uneasy because I didn't fulfill your cousin's request. You can bring me to buy it another day, okay?"
Wushuang exclaimed "Oh!" and giggled, "What if I don't remember what he looks like? I looked at more paintings than I looked at paintings today!"
Chu Yao looked at the square outside the examination hall. Although there were many people there, Wu Shuang stood out. He squinted at her. If he hadn't looked at her much, how could he recognize her at a glance after more than half a month, and why did he still insist on recognizing her no matter how she said she had mistaken him for someone else?
Logically speaking, even if you bump into someone on the street whom you've only met a few times, if that person insists they're mistaken for someone else, even if you were initially certain, you'd still have some doubts.
Wushuang's unwavering resolve seemed particularly strange, almost as if it was a deliberate act to expose Lin Ruqing's true identity as a scholar.
But if she not only understands what cheating is, but also knows how to punish cheaters, why does she pretend to be ignorant and indifferent when he asks her?
She wanted to keep it from him?
What are you hiding from him?
Are you afraid he won't catch the cheater?
That's a joke.
So it can't be.
So……
Is she afraid he'll find out she's going to deal with the cheaters?
No, she was probably afraid he would find out she was going to deal with Lin Ruqing.
Perhaps, Wushuang's focus on Lin Ruqing wasn't because he was going to cheat, but simply because he was Lin Ruqing.
The two had never met before, so how could they have any grudge?
Could it be because of that incident?
Was Wushuang also reborn?
Chu Yao was startled by his own guess, and his fingers unconsciously tightened, crumpling the stack of names into a ball.
On the square outside the examination hall, Wu Shuang was completely unaware that she was the mantis stalking the cicada, while Chu Yao was the oriole behind her, holding Li Mama's hand and skipping along, humming a nursery rhyme, towards the governor's carriage.
"Please wait!" Qi Lan rushed in front of them, blocking their way, carrying the rolled-up scroll.
Wushuang blinked, then exclaimed as if suddenly realizing something, "Ah! I haven't properly thanked you yet!"
I had just expressed my gratitude verbally, but this girl rushed over and wouldn't let me leave. Did she think that wasn't enough?
With this thought in mind, Wushuang looked up at Madam Li, gesturing for her to give Qi Lan a reward. [www.qiushu.cc Lots of great novels]
Madam Li took out a few silver ingots from her purse and handed them to Qi Lan, saying politely, "Miss, this is a small token of our young master's appreciation. Please accept it."
Qi Lan shook her head and refused: "No need, Miss Jun has given me a lot of money, I can't take any more."
Wushuang had long forgotten what Qilan looked like, and was quite surprised to hear her call out her surname so accurately.
As I listened further, I realized: "You're that...that one from Suzhou..."
Oh dear, she really can't remember her name.
"My name is Qi Lan," Qi Lan reminded him.
“Yes, yes, Qi Lan,” Wu Shuang asked. “I remember you fell into the canal and got sick. Are you all better now? What a coincidence! You also bought that scholar’s painting, and you happen to be here. If you hadn’t brought the painting out, maybe that official wouldn’t have taken this matter seriously…”
Wushuang said it was a great coincidence, but she couldn't help but have some doubts in her heart.
Since they did not intend to take Qi Lan in for long, they naturally did not take her with them when they disembarked, but arranged for the female physician to stay behind to continue taking care of Qi Lan, who was still ill.
So, how did Qi Lan approach her?
If one wanted to find out where she was, one could easily get the answer from the people on the ship if one was clever enough. However, Qi Lan did not go to the governor's mansion to knock on the door and look for her.
Could it be that they were secretly following us?
Thinking of this, Wushuang felt a chill run down her spine.