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Gu Jiao glanced at him, “So, if he fails, we won’t be blamed, right?”

Steward Zhou hastily replied, “No blame, no blame!”

Gu Jiao: “The silver?”

Steward Zhou: “It will be paid as promised! We will give it when we get to the Provincial City! We won’t break our word!”

Gu Jiao said, “You can go and talk to my husband directly.”

Steward Zhou shrugged helplessly, “How could I not go? But Xiao seems to no longer want to have anything to do with us! I beg Madame Xiao to do me a favour, please take this silver first, it’s all yours, regardless of the outcome!”

Gu Jiao took the brocade box he handed over and said indifferently, “Silver or not isn’t the point, I mainly consider your favor.”

Steward Zhou: “…”

Must she make her greed sound so elegantly detached?

Steward Zhou thanked her profusely while Gu Jiao repeatedly emphasized that she was simply passing a message, not being a mediator.

Steward Zhou was all smiles, “Of course! Of course!”

Gu Jiao took the silver and went back to the village with Xiao Jingkong.

After counting, it was indeed 500 taels.

The fee for passing the message was really not small.

That evening, after Xiao Liulang finished school, Gu Jiao told him about her daytime meeting with Steward Zhou, not omitting a word or adding any embellishments.

After hearing Gu Jiao’s account, Xiao Liulang frowned slightly. It was not because he was upset that Gu Jiao had met with Steward Zhou, but because he hadn’t expected Steward Zhou to be so relentless as to track down his home.

He said, “If anyone else comes in the future, don’t easily go away with them. This time we happened to meet Steward Zhou, who is not a difficult person to deal with, but what if…”

Gu Jiao looked at him with a teasing smile, “You seem to be worried about something, do you think there will be more people looking for you?”

Xiao Liulang opened his mouth, but then closed it, pausing for a long time before finally saying, “I just want you to be careful.”

“I understand.” Gu Jiao grinned, then looked at the box of silver on the table and asked, “What do you plan to do with the Lin Family issue?”

Xiao Liulang was aware of the Lin family’s situation: it was exactly as Zhou had described. If the Lin family didn’t produce a member who could serve as an official, they would have no one to protect them in thirty years.

Of course, the Lin family could buy their way into office, but the titles they could buy were not high-ranking, and no one dared sell a position to the Lin family. Therefore, the imperial examination was indeed the Lin family’s only way forward.

It was said that the Lin family’s patriarch had almost turned himself into a breeding pig trying to father useful sons.

Xiao Liulang glanced at Gu Jiao and said, “If they don’t insist on certain results, there’s no harm in giving it a try.”

Gu Jiao also agreed. After all, it was 500 taels of silver.

Moreover, the Provincial City was much farther away from the Prefecture City. If they were to take the rural examination, they would need to set off more than a month in advance and it was uncertain whether they could find a suitable place to settle down after arriving there.

It would be much more convenient if they could stay at the Lin Residence.

Gu Jiao asked, “Will it interfere with your own studies?”

Xiao Liulang replied, “No.”

Gu Jiao remembered the dean saying that Xiao Liulang was extremely intelligent and just did not want to go to the capital to take the test. It might not be a bad thing to let him travel a bit.

Gu Jiao nodded, “Then it’s decided.”

Xiao Liulang: “Mmm.”

Just when it seemed like the matter of going to the Lin family was settled, Gu Jiao had a dream that night.

She dreamed that Xiao Liulang agreed to Steward Zhou’s proposal and proceeded to the Provincial City under the escort of Zhou and the bodyguards of the Lin family.

The Lin family was indeed sincere in their request. This should have been a secure arrangement, but as the saying goes, man proposes, God disposes. On their way, Xiao Liulang and his group were caught in a once-in-a-decade downpour.

The post station where Xiao Liulang was staying got flooded, and the group was scattered by the waters. Xiao Liulang managed to grab onto a floating wooden plank and saved his life, but fell severely ill as a result. By the time he was found by Zhou and his men and taken back to the Lin home, he had lost a significant amount of weight.

Luckily they left early, so even after all this delay, there were still two full months before the provincial examination.

While recuperating at the Lin residence, Xiao Liulang tutored the sixth young master of the Lin family.

The sixth young master was a well-behaved individual. He was not a genius, but he was diligent and persistent. Xiao Liulang got along with him quite well.

However, just before the provincial examination, something big happened: a cousin from a branch family of the Lin residence stayed over. She was the niece of Lady Lin, the wife of the Lin family’s patriarch.

The young woman took an instant liking to Xiao Liulang.

Xiao Liulang, despite being crippled, had managed to win her heart, which just goes to show how devastatingly handsome this man was.

Being a decent young lady of stature, she didn’t offer herself outright at the first encounter. As it happened, the sixth young master had caught a cold.

Having made up her mind, the cousin persuaded her maiden aunt, “Given cousin’s condition, it’s doubtful he can pass the exam. Why not let Xiao Liulang take his place? Cousin can write his name, and he can write cousin’s name. That way, the odds of us passing the exam is higher.”

The young woman promised her uncle’s wife that she would willingly become Xiao Liulang’s concubine as a token of gratitude.

Lady Lin had seen it all before. What couldn’t she see through? But the cousin’s suggestion did strike a chord with her.

The sixth young master might not have been her biological son, but this matter concerned the future prospects of the entire Lin family. Lady Lin agreed to the plan.

Xiao Liulang vehemently refused and sharply rebuked the two.

Madam Lin was just trying their luck, no harm in failing.

However, Miss Lin turned out to be ruthless, resorting to drugging Xiao Liulang in a fit of rage!

Objectively speaking, Miss Lin was not lacking in beauty, in fact, quite the flower, yet even so, Xiao Liulang resisted the aphrodisiac with sheer willpower.

But from then on, he fell ill.

When he woke up, Gu Jiao was furious!

What a mess Miss Lin had created, daring to play tricks on Xiao Liulang? Using such despicable means to potentially ruin his… future prospects!

And it wasn’t just about his own future prospects!

This was intolerable!

It seemed as if he would have to avoid the Lin Residence entirely.

As a regular visitor to the Lin Residence, once Xiao Liulang moved in there, he was bound to run into Miss Lin no matter how cautious he was.

At the crack of dawn, while Gu Yan and the old lady were still fast asleep, Gu Jiao was having breakfast in the hall with Xiao Liulang and Xiao Jingkong.

Xiao Jingkong was the first to finish and returned to the west room to pack his school bag.

As Gu Jiao sipped her porridge, she hesitated over how to initiate the conversation.

His belongings had been packed neatly since early morning. Gu Jiao glanced at the two bundles on the chair, her eyes revealing a subtle emotion.

“Um…” she said with composed demeanor, “I’ve thought about the situation with the Lin family, perhaps you should reconsider it again?”

“What’s the issue?” Xiao Liulang looked at her in confusion.

Gu Jiao earnestly replied, “You’ll be gone so long, what about the house?”

Xiao Liulang was taken aback: “We don’t farm anyway.”

Gu Jiao continued: “We may not farm, but with the elderly and children at home, it’s hard for me to take care of everything myself! Plus, occasionally I need to go up the mountain!”

Xiao Liulang was confused, he didn’t seem to be much help at home, and most of the work was done by her. Logically, wouldn’t she find it easier if he were not at home…

Gu Jiao: “I can’t keep troubling Xue Ningxiang!”

Xiao Liulang: “Then how about… hiring a maid?”

We can afford a maid now, given that he’s a man and it wouldn’t be appropriate to live under the same roof. But if he’s away, it wouldn’t be an issue.

Gu Jiao: “I’m not comfortable with strangers in the house.”

That didn’t convince Xiao Liulang, especially as she was the one who had initially encouraged him to go to the Provincial City.

Gu Jiao understood this, so she dropped a bombshell: “Besides, I heard from Gu Yan that the Lin family has many beautiful daughters, who knows if you would be flirting around when you get there and bring me a few sisters-in-law.”

Gu Yan was a young master from the Marquis Residence, he had a way with information, and it was not surprising that he knew about the Lin family.

And Xiao Liulang wouldn’t corroborate this with Gu Yan and question whether such strange ideas had been instilled in his sister.

Xiao Liulang looked deeply into Gu Jiao’s eyes, “So, you’re jealous?”

Gu Jiao: Can I say no?

Xiao Liulang took a spoonful of millet porridge, “Got it, I won’t go.”

No way! He was so easily swayed?

Gu Jiao glanced at him and said, “Actually, I was just throwing out a suggestion, the decision is yours… we’re talking about 500 taels of silver, aren’t you feeling a pinch?”

Xiao Liulang said nonchalantly: “It seems like you are the one feeling the pinch.”

Gu Jiao: “Is it… that obvious?”

Then she calmly added: “Actually, it doesn’t matter whether we have the silver or not. The main thing is to salvage a potential bright young man. Well, discussing this now is pointless.”

How could they earn this silver without going to the Lin family?

Xiao Liulang glanced at her, pretending to be unaffected. Yet her lips were already pouting high enough to hang a pot of oil.

Xiao Liulang and Xiao Jingkong went into the town. He first dropped off Xiao Jingkong at his private school, and then he headed to Tianxiang Academy.

Manager Zhou had been waiting there for quite some time.

Seeing Xiao Liulang, he greeted him with a beaming face, “How did Scholar Xiao consider it?”

Xiao Liulang replied lightly, “I can tutor your young master, but there is one condition.”

Manager Zhou was overjoyed: “Don’t just mention one condition! Even ten would be fine!”

Xiao Liulang replied, “I won’t go to Provincial City. If your young master truly wants to learn, let him come here. I will enroll him in the academy to study with me in the same class and share the same desk.”

Manager Zhou’s mouth opened wide: “Ah… how about… if I add more silver?”

Xiao Liulang responded indifferently: “Even gold won’t make a difference. If he comes, I will teach, if not, you can find someone more suitable.”