Chapter 71: Qi Aliu

Chapter 71: Qi Aliu [Qi Aliu]

The night was deep.

Zhao Kangsheng hugged the bundle in front of him, holding it carefully against his chest before stepping lightly out the door.

"Young master?"

The servant his family had sent saw Zhao Kangsheng come out and hurried forward to assist.

But before the servant's outstretched hand could get near Zhao Kangsheng's bundle, Zhao Kangsheng kicked him in the shin.

"I don't need you."

The servant pulled back his hand awkwardly.

Zhao Kangsheng quickly walked toward the carriage parked at the gate, with the servant following behind, realizing belatedly: "Young master, don't you want the rest of your things?"

"Stop your yapping, let's go."

Why would he want those worthless things? The important ones were right there in his arms.

For some reason, Zhao Kangsheng's heart wouldn't stop pounding, as if it were about to leap out of his chest.

That was also the reason he was in such a hurry to return to Lan County.

He was the county magistrate's younger brother-in-law; his older brother was the magistrate's favorite male concubine.

As long as he returned to Lan County, he had nothing to worry about.

Once he was back in Lan County, even if those candidates he had swindled money from came looking for him, they could only grit their teeth and bear it.

With that thought, Zhao Kangsheng felt somewhat reassured.

He sat down in the carriage, took the bundle from his chest, and placed it on the seat. Then, thinking better of it, he quickly picked it up and stashed it in the drawer under the seat.

Once that was done, Zhao Kangsheng leaned out of the carriage window and called to the servant.

"Come on, let's get going."

The servant had a feeling that his young master had done something bad again.

Accustomed to cleaning up after him, the servant didn't ask questions, immediately folded up the carriage hood, sat on the driver's seat, and snapped the whip over the horse's back.

"Giddy up!"

The carriage gradually began to move, bumping along occasionally as the wheels passed over small stones and uneven patches of road.

The usually annoying bumps now became a sign of imminent departure, filling Zhao Kangsheng with barely contained excitement.

A thousand taels, a whole thousand taels!

Even if he failed the prefectural exam again this time, his parents definitely wouldn't be mad at him anymore!

The prefectural city's markets stayed open at night, and at this hour many stalls were still out. The servant looked around curiously, snapping the whip now and then as he drove, taking in the sights.

At the city gate, the guards on duty did the usual check and let them pass.

One of them watched the departing carriage curiously, muttering to his colleague beside him.

Usually, few people left the city at night, but tonight, oddly enough, there were more.

And a lot of them were scholars.

Maybe the exam was harder this time?

Finally out of the city, Zhao Kangsheng, sitting in the carriage, felt much more at ease and even bothered to lift the carriage curtain to look outside.

The prefectural city was indeed wealthy—they even had lanterns lining the road outside the city gates.

Under the glow of the lanterns, he vaguely spotted a group of carriages and horses waiting there.

Zhao Kangsheng's heart leaped violently, and he instinctively let the curtain fall, even ducking his head.

The servant also looked curiously at those carriages and the people standing beside them.

Looking closer, hey? Wasn't that Young Master Chen? The one the young master had befriended after arriving, but who got disqualified from the exam by the officials for cheating!?

Before the servant could turn to call his young master, Chen Zhi's gaze lashed out like a whip dipped in salt water.

"Zhao Kangsheng!"

Inside the carriage, Zhao Kangsheng shuddered all over.

Outside, the servant looked at Chen Zhi, confused.

Chen Zhi's father was a hunter, and Chen Zhi had grown up in the mountain wilds. Ever since he was young, he had developed sharp eyesight. At five, when he was still unsteady on his feet in the forest, he had already caught a rabbit.

He had thought he would follow in his father's footsteps and become a hunter, but his father had enrolled him in school instead.

Now at nineteen, though his studies were mediocre, he could still try for the rank of scholar.

Who would have thought that in the second session of the prefectural exam, the officials would find a note with poetry hidden in his exam basket, which got him banned from ever taking the imperial exams again.

When the official unfolded the crumpled note, Chen Zhi immediately recognized the handwriting and the design on the paper.

Not to mention that the handwriting matched the writing on the rice paper he had once found hidden in a book at Zhao Kangsheng's house.

And the pattern on the paper was clearly from that fine paper Zhao Kangsheng had bragged about bringing from home!

He had originally planned to go straight to Zhao Kangsheng's house after the prefectural exam, but after bottling up his anger all day, his mind suddenly cleared as he was about to leave.

With so many cheaters these past two days, whether or not Zhao Kangsheng was behind it, once the note was in his hands, it had to be him.

Chen Zhi immediately went to find the others, and just as he stepped out, he ran into someone coming straight for him.

The man handed him a sheet of rice paper with poetry written on it, said someone had told him to deliver it, and that Zhao Kangsheng was that someone, then left without another word.

Afterward, he took the paper and immediately contacted the others, and together they decided to wait outside the city.

And now, here they were.

Chen Zhi's eyes blazed with anger—they had finally caught him!

...

Under the cover of night, Gu Chaoning, dressed neatly, as if out for a casual stroll, walked into the small courtyard Zhao Kangsheng had rented.

The doors of the various rooms were all tightly shut. Gu Chaoning looked toward what seemed to be the study, gave the door a gentle push, and sure enough, it opened.

Holding up the lantern, he confirmed this was indeed the study, then stepped inside and placed the lantern on the desk.

In the lantern's light, he immediately spotted a piece of partially burned rice paper on the floor. Picking it up, he saw that the handwriting was indeed entirely unfamiliar.

Gu Chaoning was certain: this was the handwriting from the note.

Clearly, Zhao Kangsheng had destroyed the evidence before fleeing, but in his haste, he hadn't noticed the paper had not burned completely.

Gu Chaoning examined it for a moment, then unhurriedly picked up a brush and silently recited a passage from memory. His movements were smooth and effortless, and the strokes from the brush were clearly identical to those on the paper.

No evidence? Then create evidence.

For a Great Traitor, was this even a problem?

Of course not.

As a Great Traitor, would he rack his brains for another way just because there was no evidence?

Absolutely not.

Once he was done, Gu Chaoning picked up the lantern from the desk and left.

Before leaving, he made sure to close the door behind him.

His movements were natural and practiced, as if it were his own home.

...

The next morning,

when Gu Chaoning got up, Gu Rong had already brought back breakfast and had even bought vegetables, clearly planning to cook lunch.

All five of them could cook, though the food they made was quite plain.

You could say it was edible.

Although Gu Chaoning appeared to be the youngest, he was the best cook.

When Gu Chaoning came out, Gu Rong held out steamed buns and Xu Huaisheng offered sweet soup, flanking him on either side.

Gu Chaoning looked at them but didn't take the bowls right away.

The two grinned and said, "We'll cook lunch ourselves, okay?"

Gu Chaoning knew they wanted something. He took both bowls and nodded.

Shen Zhenghao had run out right after breakfast and now came running back.

Breathing hard, his face beaming with joy: "Hey, hey, Ning Di, you guessed right—the officials raided the courtyard Zhao Kangsheng had rented! But since it's exam season, the officials are busy, so it'll probably be after the prefectural exam before we get results."

Shen Zhenghao hadn't gone out to play that morning; he'd gone to find out what was happening.

Given that the prefectural exam had produced a student like Zhao Kangsheng, who broke the law and showed utter disregard for the court, the government, and the imperial exams, you can imagine how furious the officials were.

It hadn't been made public today only out of consideration for the students still taking exams and to save face for the officials.

The others gathered around curiously, and Shen Zhenghao first gulped down a glass of water before sharing what he'd learned.

It turned out Zhao Kangsheng had indeed tried to flee the city on the second night of the exam, but the student they'd tipped off had blocked him outside the city.

Outside the city, where there were no official patrols, a group of students—including the ones who'd tried to plead their case to the authorities on the first day—beat Zhao Kangsheng soundly before tying him up and handing him over to the officials.

The officials sent people that very night to search the courtyard Zhao Kangsheng had rented, and they found the evidence sitting right out in the open on his desk.

With the evidence now conclusive, all the students Zhao Kangsheng had falsely accused were cleared of the punishment of being barred from the imperial exams for life.

Beyond that, they couldn't find out anything else.

But Zhao Kangsheng's bribe-taking and swindling probably wouldn't stay hidden for long.

Shen Zhenghao was over the moon, even happier than when he'd found out he'd passed the Tongsheng exam.

Gu Chaoning, enjoying the news Shen Zhenghao had brought back, ate two steamed buns and a bowl of sweet soup, feeling just as happy and content.

At noon, the five of them cooked lunch together, and after eating, they followed their usual routine of resting and then studying.

At the start of the Shen hour (around 3 PM), Gu Chaoning heard a vendor selling salted duck eggs outside, so he put down his book and went out.

"Hey, buddy—"

His voice trailed off as he saw Qi Aliu approaching, and he swallowed the question about the price.

Qi Aliu carried a basket of salted duck eggs and sidled up to Gu Chaoning with a smile.

"Here, this covers my rent."

Gu Chaoning didn't take it.

He didn't want a basket of salted duck eggs; he wanted money.

Qi Aliu saw right through him but pretended not to, setting the basket of salted duck eggs at the entrance to the courtyard.

"You came out to buy salted duck eggs, so you must be craving them. Now you don't have to go out—you've got plenty for the next few days."

Gu Chaoning was at a loss for words.

"What do you really want?"

He didn't believe Qi Aliu had come all this way just to deliver duck eggs.

Qi Aliu looked a bit sheepish. "Could you... lend me a bit more money?"

Gu Chaoning: "..."

Gu Chaoning turned, picked up the basket of salted duck eggs, and shoved it back into Qi Aliu's arms.

"Take your eggs and get lost."

"Hey, hey, hey..."

Gu Chaoning turned and went back into the courtyard.

At the end of the Shen hour (around 5 PM), the five of them went out together to check the results of the second session of the prefectural exam, and Qi Aliu was gone.

Unsurprisingly, Gu Chaoning was first again in the second session. If there were no surprises in the third session, the top scorer for the prefectural exam was clearly already decided.

The rankings of the others shifted.

Gu Rong improved on his first session, ranking twenty-second, Shen Zhenghao ranked seventieth, Xu Huaisheng two hundred sixty-first, and Chen Hengdao three hundred seventy-ninth.

Except for Shen Zhenghao, everyone's scores went up a little.

Everyone was in a good mood on the way back. Gu Chaoning saw the salted duck egg seller again and, after a quick chat with Gu Rong and the others, bought ten—two for each of them to carry as they headed back.

As luck would have it, Gu Chaoning saw Qi Aliu again at a noodle shop.

Standing beside him was another man, wearing plain brown hemp clothes, with a broad back, a slim waist, and legs like a mantis's—clearly a martial arts type.

When Qi Aliu saw Gu Chaoning pass by, he cast a resentful glance his way, as if Gu Chaoning had done him some great wrong.

Following Qi Aliu's gaze, the man beside him also looked over.

That man's expression was calm, his features unremarkable, save for a pair of sharp, dark eyes that stood out strikingly.

That also made Gu Chaoning sure this guy knew martial arts.

Moreover, he must have blood on his hands.