Chapter 295: Escorting to the Exam

Chapter 295: Escorting to the Exam

The small courtyard was originally very close to the examination hall, so the three siblings walked instead of taking a carriage.

The little girl's bright red dress turned many heads.

Bai Ge'er, holding Liu Ge'er's basket, pulled him to flank Xingxing, shielding her.

When they arrived at the front of the examination hall, there was a strict formation of soldiers, led by the examiners, conducting body searches on the candidates preparing to enter.

Ahead, two or three candidates had already been caught with cheat sheets during the search, leading to immediate disqualification and further penalties, effectively ruining their future prospects.

Xingxing, Bai Ge'er, and Liu Ge'er waited in the back.

A skinny candidate approached, his eyes lingering on Xingxing for a moment before turning to Bai Ge'er and Liu Ge'er.

He recognized Liu Ge'er almost instantly: "...You must be the famous Yu Yongliu, right?"

Bai Ge'er and Liu Ge'er were not hard to recognize, as Bai Ge'er was dressed in fine clothes, looking like a typical rich young master, while Liu Ge'er wore more elegant attire, with a willow branch, embroidered by Bai Xiaofeng, adorning the hem of his robe.

Liu Ge'er glanced at the man indifferently and asked politely, "And you are?"

The skinny man let out a hearty laugh, stepped forward, and patted Liu Ge'er on the shoulder: "I'm a candidate from Banan County. I've heard about you for a long time. It's just that last night, during the poetry meeting to pray for success in the upcoming provincial exam, I didn't see you there. What a pity..."

He chuckled, then abruptly changed his tone, "I expected the rumored closed-door disciple of Grand Scholar Liu, Third Young Master Yu, to be some extraordinary figure. But seeing you today, you're just like the rest of us—two eyes and a nose."

He feigned familiarity and patted Liu Ge'er on the shoulder again, "Let's see what rank you'll achieve in the provincial exam, brother."

The man left, laughing loudly.

Bai Ge'er frowned, "Is this guy out of his mind?"

Liu Ge'er, however, couldn't be bothered to let such a person get to him: "Let him be."

Seeing Liu Ge'er's indifferent attitude, Bai Ge'er nodded in satisfaction, "I guess he's just trying to mess with your mindset before the exam. We'll just ignore him."

The two brothers had just exchanged a few words when some peers, as if by prior agreement, seemed to have heard that Liu Ge'er was the legendary Third Young Master Yu with eyes on the top of his head. They crowded around Liu Ge'er, treating him like a rare specimen.

It wasn't until the soldiers finished searching the candidates ahead and it was almost Liu Ge'er's turn that they suddenly scattered.

The soldiers were already calling Liu Ge'er's name, instructing him to prepare for the body search.

Bai Ge'er handed the basket to Liu Ge'er and was about to offer some final advice when Xingxing suddenly tugged at Liu Ge'er's robe in panic: "Third Brother!"

Liu Ge'er glanced down at Xingxing: "What's wrong, Xingxing?"

The soldier called again.

Xingxing furrowed her little brows and gestured for Liu Ge'er to bend down.

Liu Ge'er didn't mind the soldier's urging and bent down as Xingxing asked.

Xingxing quickly felt under the collar of Liu Ge'er's robe and indeed found a thin, nearly translucent piece of paper!

The paper was densely covered with tiny writing, looking like some kind of cheat sheet.

Liu Ge'er's face immediately changed.

No matter what was written on that small piece of paper, if the soldiers found it during the search, he would have no way to defend himself!

Even Bai Ge'er's eyes widened!

He immediately recalled that odd person who had tapped Liu Ge'er on the shoulder earlier, and then a group of peers had crowded in, delaying until the soldiers started the body search!

Xingxing clutched the paper, thin as a cicada's wing, in her palm and sighed with relief: "It's gone, it should be gone!"

Liu Ge'er's expression turned serious.

He hadn't felt a thing; the other person had slipped something onto him so swiftly!

Totally undetected!

"Go in and take the exam first," Bai Ge'er said seriously. "Don't let this throw you off."

Liu Ge'er nodded. Always composed, he took a deep breath and walked over to the soldiers for the body search as if nothing had happened.

Xingxing called out from behind Liu Ge'er, "Third Brother! You'll do great!"

Liu Ge'er turned around and gave Xingxing a reassuring smile.

Even though Xingxing had 'predicted' that Liu Ge'er would be fine, Bai Ge'er was still a little anxious. Only after the soldiers had thoroughly searched Liu Ge'er and let him into the examination hall did Bai Ge'er finally relax.

Xingxing still clutched the paper, thin as a cicada's wing, in her hand.

It was light and thin, and the other person's technique was so stealthy, slipping it right into the collar fold. Bai Ge'er took the paper from Xingxing's hand, and his expression darkened instantly.

Though Liu Ge'er's reputation was well-known and might have sparked some envy, Bai Ge'er never imagined someone would go to such lengths to harm him!

He was determined to get to the bottom of this!

As Bai Ge'er was plotting revenge in his mind, he suddenly heard a voice: "What are you doing here? How did you get here?"

He turned towards the voice and saw it was the young master from the magistrate's family, the one who had clashed with Xingxing at the teahouse earlier.

The young master from the magistrate's family, Tan Shaomeng, was twelve years old. He often joined the magistrate's wife in charitable acts like handing out porridge and clothes, earning him praise as a kind-hearted young philanthropist.

Bai Ge'er curled his lip in disdain.

His Xingxing donated part of her yearly earnings to the orphanage every year.

It's just that Yujia preferred to keep a low profile, so the donations were made quietly.

If you really compared, the good deeds Xingxing did were just as many as those of this so-called young master from the magistrate's family.

Xingxing wasn't one to hold grudges.

She believed that even though they had had a disagreement, it had been settled, so it was water under the bridge.

When Tan Shaomeng greeted her and asked why she was there, she smiled warmly and replied casually, "I came with my second brother to see my third brother off to the exam hall."

Tan Shaomeng was taken aback by Xingxing's friendly tone, free of any resentment, and was momentarily speechless.

Earlier, he had suddenly caught sight of a little girl in red, found her extremely beautiful, and without realizing it, his feet had carried him over, and he had blurted out that question.

Tan Shaomeng regretted it immediately after asking, thinking that the sharp-tongued little girl would give him a hard time again, and was bracing himself, but to his surprise, she responded to his question amiably.

After the initial shock, Tan Shaomeng's feelings could be summed up in two words: touched!

He whispered to Xingxing, "I was wrong before. I only noticed others' discomfort but didn't realize they had bullied you first."

Xingxing, a generous girl, sensed some sincerity in his apology and waved it off, saying, "Forget it, I didn't lose out anyway."

Tan Shaomeng's attendant's mouth twitched, thinking to himself, "Of course, you didn't lose out; it was our young master who got the short end of the stick!"

However, this thought just passed through his mind, and as his face showed a hint of disdain, he suddenly felt a sharp gaze fixed on him!

He looked up abruptly and saw the man beside the quick-witted girl staring at him with icy eyes.