Jing Xingzhi’s Daily Life in Ancient Times - Chapter 74
The commotion of arrests and beatings was so loud that the yamens guarding the Gongyuan came running over, not to mention all the students passing by blocking the intersection, making it very lively.
After learning that Jing Xingzhi and others were unfortunately targeted, the owner of the courtyard testified for the scholar – proving in front of the yamens that Jing Xingzhi and others were plotted against, the poor appearance and ruckus was not intentional so it did not offend the solemn style of Gongyuan.
The appearance problem had been solved, but the problem of things in the bag being wet was still there.
The dry food that was not tightly wrapped in oil paper could not be eaten, and the replacement clothes could not be used. The ink sticks and pen tubes were destroyed, and the lamp oil in a student’s bag sloshed out. There was a sour smell in the test bag…
The poor candidate took several dirty pancakes and said heartbrokenly: “My mother made me pancakes and put them on top. I was eating it before departure; I opened the oil paper and didn’t seal it tightly. I was thinking of eating another pancake when I got to Gongyuan. I can’t eat it at all now…”
The friend next to him sighed and advised him: “Brother Gu, the lamp oil in my test bag has been poured out, which is even worse. Let’s go and find out if there are any shops that are still selling things. Let’s make up for the unusable things, maybe we can catch up!”
“Is still so early in the morning? Where are the shops? In the early years, there were hawkers selling things near Gongyuan, but after a strict crackdown on cheating, even the hawkers were banned!” The student surnamed Gu said, his eyes red again, and he kicked Wu Dinong’s buttocks bitterly as he moved slowly.
“If this were not the case, how could we lose the opportunity?” His friend looked downcast and looked at the backs of Wu Dinong and others with hatred.
Listening to the words of these scholars, Wu Dinong, who had a nosebleed after being beaten, lowered his head and smiled silently.
“Okay, you can beat me all you want, but that you still won’t be able to take the exam!”
Xing Niang’s idea was indeed good, and she also knew so much about the provincial examination. Wu Dinong wiped his bleeding nose and moved hard, trying to shrink himself between the two people.
But Jing Xingzhi, who had never hit anyone, suddenly made some movement.
He walked towards the Hanbei Prefecture yamen who came to deal with the situation, and said to one of the yamens who was wearing the uniform of a leader: “Sir, the student is Jing Xingzhi of Huanshui Academy. The water-throwing thieves we caught are responsible for pouring water on the exam bags of a few friends and I, deliberately preventing the students from taking the exam! We must investigate strictly!”
Hearing this, several scholars shouted loudly: “Students hope the government investigate the culprits strictly!”
Captain Huang, a veteran who was dawdling around, felt Jing Xingzhi’s name sounded familiar, but after thinking about it for a moment, he couldn’t remember it.
He frowned and said perfunctorily: “Okay, young master, don’t worry, we will investigate strictly.” After he finished speaking, he waved to the people behind him, “Come here! Take these people away for a trial.”
Captain Huang patted his chest and promised a strict investigation, but he didn’t ask a single question to them. His attitude and words were deeply inconsistent.
The few scholars were not yet familiar with the officialdom, so they allowed the yamens under Captain Huang to take the culprits away.
However, Jing Xingzhi’s heart tightened, realizing that Captain Huang was being perfunctory. When he was in Hannan Prefecture, he was almost everyone’s favorite living treasure. Although he was used for touching other children’s head, he also gained a lot of experience. For example, he was very familiar with this kind of official words and tone.
Jing Xingzhi took a step forward and grabbed Captain Huang’s arm.
Captain Huang turned around unhappily at being pulled over and said, “What’s wrong?”
Jing Xingzhi smiled at him, stuffed two taels of silver in his hand, and said with a smile, “The student suspects that these people have a lot of background.”
“They must be dissatisfied with Prefect Shen’s rule of banning vendors during the imperial examination, and deliberately wetted our examination bags, hoping to lure the students to come forward to request to remove the rule!” During the provincial examination period, vendors were prohibited from going out and sell things in several streets of Gongyuan.
“The rule can provide Gongyuan with a good examination environment, and at the same time, it can eliminate the trend of selling fake examination papers. This is the government order of the Hanbei Prefecture. Although the provincial examination only lasts less than half a month, you can still make a lot of quick money during this time. If such an incident left with no punishment, it will affect the interests of some people.”
Huang Ban, who was a lot older, suddenly fell into Jing Xingzhi’s trap and believed Jing Xingzhi’s nonsense.
“There is a big difference between splashing a few students’ exam bags and deliberately disrupting the orders of the prefect.”
Captain Huang thought, he might be able to use this matter to seek favors from the prefect, and it would be nice to have another place to collect taxes from the prosperous street.
Moreover, the mention of Prefect Shen in Jing Xingzhi’s words reminded Captain Huang of Jing Xingzhi’s background.
Their prefect was called out by his teacher and went to Huanshui County to solve a case. Wasn’t that teacher’s youngest disciple named Jing Xingzhi?
Captain Huang relaxed his frown and smiled at Jing Xingzhi: “Young Master Jing, thank you for reminding me! I will take the person back first and report it to Prefect Shen. I will come back to you to ask about the details of the case after you have finished the exam. Don’t worry, I will treat these people very well.”
“Thank you for your concern, sir. I’m going to take the exam first.” Jing Xingzhi was very satisfied with the usefulness of his Senior Brother “Shen Fang”.
Captain Huang memorized the name of the inn where several scholars lived, and then kindly left a few yamens to escort Jing Xingzhi and others, while he quickly returned to the government office with Wu Dinong and others.
.
The man was sent to prison, while Jing Xingzhi turned to look at the five disheartened scholars who were about to return to the inn, and said sincerely: “Brothers, my wife rented a courtyard on the side of Gongyuan. In the courtyard, we have prepared a lot of extra luggage for the exam. Let’s go there quickly, we can take a shower just in time to catch up!”
The poor student asked happily: “Are you for real?”
“Of course, I’m serious.”
“Jing Xingzhi’s wife is so virtuous! He’s so attentive, he really saved us!”
“Originally, I was thinking about skipping the checking post since my bag is useless, but I didn’t expect Jing Xingzhi’s wife would save us in the nick of time!”
Jing Xingzhi smiled after hearing these words, quickened his steps, and rushed to the courtyard with a few people.
The yard was secretly prepared for safety, and only he, Liu Fang, and Wang Zhuang knew about it. Liu Fang, dissatisfied with Madam Ning, had prepared eight extra exam bags, but he had no expectation of them being used.
As they were escorted by yamens, several waves of people on the road poked their heads in to look, but finally retracted it.
A quarter of an hour later.
The Gongyuan rang the bell and called the students for the provincial examination one by one.
Jing Xingzhi and the five scholars followed the bell and caught up. After several twists and turns, several people showed determination.
Xing Niang had just sent someone to the government office and went back to the high building on the side of the Gongyuan. She saw Jing Xingzhi and the other five people entering the Gongyuan neatly and newly dressed.
Her eyes widened in confusion…
No, how could she explain this to the madam!