561: Chapter 550: Affection (For The Little Princess Born Today) 561: Chapter 550: Affection (For The Little Princess Born Today) County Magistrate Tang leaned against the wall, listening to the reading voices from inside, as if he had returned to the Imperial Academy.
He had been posted as a county magistrate for over two years, and together with his career in the capital for over a year, he always felt that life at the Imperial Academy was very far away, very far away from him.
“Ah!” A shout arose, and County Magistrate Tang ca back to his senses, only then raising his hand to knock on the door, as the voices from inside also carried out, “Falling asleep so early in the morning, Bai Er, go stand in horse stance and recite the book.”
Then there was a shuffle of footsteps, and the door was yanked open.
Manbao was taken aback at seeing the figure outside and asked, “What brings you here so early?”
County Magistrate Tang looked up at the sun and asked, “Is it very early?”
“Yes, we just finished our breakfast.
But since you’re here, welco, welco, please co in.” After speaking, she yelled inside, “Mr.
Zhuang, County Magistrate Tang is here!”
Mr.
Zhuang hurriedly ca out to greet him while Bai Erlang, who had just started to squat, imdiately stood up and ran towards the kitchen saying, “I’ll go boil water for tea.”
County Magistrate Tang could not help but chuckle and after exchanging courtesies with Mr.
Zhuang asked, “I hope my abrupt visit hasn’t interrupted your teaching, Mr.
Zhuang?”
“Lord Tang is too polite.
Although the three children are a bit mischievous, they are also self-disciplined.
Letting them study in the courtyard by themselves is fine, so there’s no disturbance at all.
Please, take a seat.”
Hence, he invited County Magistrate Tang to take a seat in the hall.
Manbao and the others gathered in the kitchen, brewed two cups of tea with leaves brought by their teacher, and delivered them to the hall.
Just as they were about to slip away, they were stopped by County Magistrate Tang.
In good ti, Mr.
Zhuang asked him, “I heard from my eldest disciple that you know County Magistrate Yang?”
County Magistrate Tang smiled and said, “He and I were classmates and are of the sa cohort.
Is he doing well in Luojiang County?”
“He’s doing quite well.” Since Mr.
Zhuang discovered that County Magistrate Tang was a friend of Yang Heshu, he relaxed quite a bit and beca twice as cordial towards County Magistrate Tang.
County Magistrate Tang’s visit this ti was two-fold: firstly, to see for himself the teacher and three little friends whom Yang Heshu spoke highly of; secondly, to inquire about Bai Shan’s exam preparations and see if there was any way he could be of help.
When scholars converse, they naturally talk about their studies.
Like all elders who have been scholars, County Magistrate Tang unconsciously decided to test the knowledge of the three little friends.
The trio, already accustod to being tested, each answered two or three questions satisfactorily.
Hmm, the questions weren’t too deep, and they were quite pleased with themselves.
County Magistrate Tang was also pleased since they managed to answer all the questions.
Then Mr.
Zhuang allowed them to return to their studies while he and County Magistrate Tang chatted over tea inside the house.
As soon as they reached the courtyard, Zhou SiLang just happened to co back with so snacks.
He happily waved the paper-wrapped parcel and said with a smile, “Fresh from the oven, still warm.
Oh, has the guest arrived?”
The three of them imdiately ran up to him, sniffed the aroma that couldn’t be contained by the paper, and nodded, “He’s here, in the main room.”
Zhou SiLang imdiately swatted their hands away and said, “First, present them to the guest.
After he has had so, then you can eat.”
While he said this, when he went into the kitchen to prepare a plate with all the snacks, he still saved a piece of their favorite snack for each of them.
Having received their snacks and tucked a book under their arms, they found a corner away from the main room to squat down in, nibbling on snacks while whispering among themselves.
Bai Shanbao: “I have a feeling that the teacher wasn’t in a very good mood today.”
“Indeed, it wasn’t good.
Yesterday morning, I dozed off and just had my palm struck at most, but today I had to squat in horse stance.”
Manbao said, “Then let’s be well-behaved today.”
Bai Shanbao felt uneasy, “Sohow, I think being well-behaved won’t help.”
“Then you just focus on your studies,” Manbao said, “You have the exam coming up soon, and as long as you do well, the teacher will be happy.”
“But that’s nearly a month from now, isn’t that too long?”
Manbao consoled him, “Anyway, we’re going to stay in Yizhou City for a long ti.
We can go out to play later.
Let’s focus on our studies this month.
Bai Er and I will accompany you.”
Bai Er wanted to say don’t include , but considering that he had no other friends here, if they didn’t go out to play, he couldn’t possibly go out alone.
He sighed and agreed.
Having made friends with Mr.
Zhuang, they now had a backer in Yizhou City.
Although this backer didn’t amount to much in Yizhou City, especially among the common people of Kangxue Street, it was still of so use.
County Magistrate Tang stayed until the afternoon before leaving, and before he left, he warned the three lively and mischievous ones, “The Yan Residence’s wall won’t be fixed any ti soon, so don’t go crawling through to play, got it?”
If he hadn’t ntioned it, the three might have forgotten about the Yan Residence’s business already, but his ntion piqued their curiosity.
Manbao asked curiously, “Is there a treasure over there?”
“Yes,” said County Magistrate Tang, “There’s a patch of vegetables over there.”
Everyone: …
No matter what they thought internally, Manbao and the others promised very obediently, indicating they would definitely not crawl through.
Mr.
Zhuang also promised to keep an eye on them.
But Mr.
Zhuang wasn’t ho all the ti, how could he possibly keep an eye on them?
The hole in the wall of the Xiao Family had been fixed, but the big hole in the alley hadn’t been filled in yet.
For several days, every evening when Manbao and the others went out to do the laundry, they could still see the gaping hole still there.
Of course, no one dared to crawl through it anymore.
It was said that the Xiao Family had been sentenced to forfeit sixty percent of their property.
Aside from Xiao Dalang’s wife and wife, the rest were sentenced; Xiao Erlang was given the lightest sentence but was still sentenced to two years.
It was rumored that Xiao Dalang’s wife planned to divorce Xiao Dalang and then remarry with her son.
Another day, during the break from studying, Mr.
Zhuang had gone out for a visit, supposedly Mr.
Lan was hosting a gathering of several forr classmates who were good friends.
As such, Mr.
Zhuang might not even return that evening.
The three, left on their own to study, were particularly disorganized.
Feeling tired halfway through their studies, they decided to sit in the courtyard for a while.
Zhou Si was about to go out for lunch.
Carrying a basket, he asked the three, “What do you feel like eating for lunch?”
“Anything’s fine.”
“Then I’ll just pick sothing randomly.”
The three nodded together, and Zhou Si left.
Manbao sat on the doorstep, watching her brother walk away, then, supporting her chin with her hands, she looked around.
As she contemplated returning to the study to continue reading, she noticed the wide-open hole at the end of the alley.
Bai Shanbao also ca out of the courtyard to sit beside her, following her gaze, he asked, “Want to go in?”
Manbao nodded, “County Magistrate Tang said there are treasures inside; I want to go in and take a look.”
“Didn’t he say it was a vegetable garden?
It’s obvious he was tricking you.”
“Yes, but I still want to go and have a look.”
Bai Erlang erged and said, “If we get caught going in, we will be beaten and sent to jail.”
“We won’t, we’re not taking anything from inside,” Manbao reasoned assertively, “Jin Law doesn’t have this provision; you guys have forgotten we asked the teacher about it.”
Bai Shanbao felt a bit tempted, “Shall we go in for a look then?”
“Let’s go while the adults are away!” Manbao stood up and was about to close the door when she saw Daji silently standing right behind them.
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