Chapter 109.2
In this era, men were superior to women, and people also believed that the pursuit of knowledge was superior to all other walks of life. So if a little widow like Xue Ningxiang met a scholar, no one would believe her at all.
The scholar said bitterly, "I was kind enough not to report you to the authorities. First, I thought you were just a woman. Second, we had to hurry for the provincial exam and didn"t have time to deal with you!"
"She’s gone too far. How can she even cheat the students who are about to take the exam? Does she have no conscience?"
"Right? Does she think they studied hard for ten years just to be cheated by her?"
"Just one look at her and you can tell she’is not a good thing!"
Onlookers criticized Xue Ningxiang one after another. Xue Ningxiang felt so wronged that tears came out of her eyes. She wasn’t framing them. She really lost her money...
Gouwa, who had fallen asleep, was woken up at this moment.
Seeing himself and his mother surrounded by a bunch of people, he cried out in fear.
Dean Li just got out of the snack shop and was about to go to the medical hall in town when he heard a heartbreaking cry.
The voice sounded familiar, making Dean Li pause and walk over to where it came from.
Xue Ningxiang was being denounced by everyone at the moment, and not a single person believed her words.
Dean Li soon recognized her, the neighbor of his beloved disciple’s family! Then he recognized Gouwa, the chubby little guy who called him Dad.
Dean Li walked into the crowd. He was the dean of Tianxiang Academy. Even if he wasn’t wearing his dean uniform, his scholarly aura still suppressed the scene in an instant.
"What happened here?" He asked.
Xue Ningxiang had long burst into tears.
The scholar answered, "This little woman is framing me!"
Dean Li asked, "How did she frame you?"
The scholar replied grumpily, "She said I stole her money!"
Dean Li added, "Did you steal it?"
The scholar snapped, "What are you talking about!? Of course I didn"t steal it! I told you she’s framing me, didn"t you hear what I said?"
An onlooker aunt chimed in, "That’s right, these two are students who are going to the provincial capital to take the provincial exam. It"s really unfortunate that they were being cheated by this woman."
Dean Li sized up the two of them before asking, "Which school are you from?"
The scholar straightened his waist and said, "We are from Tianxiang Academy!"
Dean Li"s eyes narrowed slightly,"Really? What are your names? Which cla.s.s?"
"What’s the matter with you?" The scholar asked impatiently.
Dean Li smiled faintly and said, "I"m the Dean of Tianxiang Academy, and I don"t remember the academy accepting students like you two."
The faces of the scholar and his companion changed instantly.
The people around them were shocked.
Dean Li slowly said to a young man beside him, "May I trouble little brother to report to the authorities, and say that some people here pretend to be students of Tianxiang Academy to swindle and bully women and children."
These two men clamored badly, but never reported the matter to the authorities after a long time. Once the report was made, they would see who was telling the truth and who was spouting falsehood!
The young man, who was asked by Dean Li, only thought in his head: Dean Li talked to me! Dean Li talked to me!
"Please, little brother." Dean Li repeated gently.
The young man solemnly complied, and quickly ran towards the county yamen.
This was the consequence of failing to recognize a familiar person. The scholar and his companions saw that the situation was not good and quickly tried to run away.
Dean Li said neither too fast nor too slow, "Troubling the two heroes to stop them."
He didn"t say anything in a commanding tone, but it was inexplicably convincing.
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"My, my money..." Xue Ningxiang said in tears.
Dean Li nodded slightly, stepped forward and found Xue Ningxiang"s money on them.
Seeing the recovered silver, Xue Ningxiang was crying and excited at the same time, and as a result, she hiccuped, "Hicc! Thank you... Hicc!"
"Dad!" Gouwa called out when he saw Dean Li.
Xue Ningxiang was so startled that her hiccups stopped.
This child, he’s at it again, recognizing the wrong father!
Dean Li was a mature and experienced man. Of course, he wouldn’t get angry because of such trifles. He had also asked an experienced teacher in the academy before and learned that when children were just learning to speak, it wasn’t uncommon for them to call a random woman mother and a random man father.
"Dad." Gouwa was asking him for a hug.
Xue Ningxiang was so embarra.s.sed that she couldn"t wait to find a crack in the ground to crawl into.
"You"re hurt." Dean Li saw an inch-long cut in Xue Ningxiang’s wrist, and it was bleeding.
She was only focused on getting her money back and didn"t notice that her wrist was scratched by the other party’s ornaments.
Dean Li said politely, "Give me the child. The medical hall is nearby. I"ll take you to dress the wound."
Xue Ningxiang hurriedly covered her wrist with sleeves and said, "No, no, it’s just a little injury, it doesn"t matter."
Dean Li said firmly, "We still have to let people examine it. The weather’s hot these days and it’s easy for wounds to get infected."
Xue Ningxiang thought for a moment before replying, "I"ll go by myself."
"I happen to be on my way to the medical hall too." Dean Li said, holding Gouwa who kept reaching out to him.
Gouwa gave up her mother immediately after he got a father. His chubby hands wrapped around Dean Li"s neck and buried himself in his arms.
Xue Ningxiang was terribly ashamed.
Thereupon, they went to the medical hall together.
Dean Li had sent his old mother to the medical hall earlier. The reason was that when a servant boy was sweeping the yard, he found that Dean Li’s mother suddenly fainted on the rattan chair in the middle of eating mulberries.
Old Madame Li was already advanced in age, and it was very dangerous for this situation to occur. Dean Li, unable to wait for a physician to arrive at home, simply sent people to the medical hall directly.
As a result, the physician told him, "It’s nothing major, Old Madame just fell asleep."
Dean Li on the spot: "..."
After that, he was worried that Old Madame Li would be hungry when she woke up, so he quickly went to a nearby snack shop to buy some osmanthus cakes that she loved.
After entering the medical hall, Dean Li found a physician to look at Xue Ningxiang"s injury, and Gouwa was pressed on the chair by Xue Ningxiang.
Dean Li brought Gouwa a piece of osmanthus cake.
Gouwa began to eat heartily.
As he ate, he looked up and found that his Dad was gone.
He climbed down from the chair and wandered to find his father. As a result, he followed him into a wing room.
Old Madame Li slowly woke up. As soon as she opened her eyes, she caught sight of a little bean.
The little bean was chubby, round and cute.
Old Madame Li waved her hand at the little bean.
The timid Gouwa was scared and retreated a few steps. Just then, Dean Li came out from behind the green gauze cabinet. Little Gouwa immediately rolled over to him and hugged his thigh, saying, "Dad... Dad..."
Dad?
Old Madame Li looked at her son, then at the little bean. Her muddy old eyes lit up in an instant.
Bodhisattva revealed itself!
She had a little grandson!
……
Because Gu Jiao refused to return home, the return of Marquis Gu and Gu Jinyu to the capital was delayed.
Originally, Marquis Gu planned to take Yao shi back to the capital with the twins by the end of the sixth month at the latest, but now Yao shi and Gu Yan insisted on staying here because of Gu Jiao, which made Marquis Gu very upset.
Even more distressed was Gu Jinyu.
Imperial Concubine Shu promised to hold a big coming-of-age ceremony for her and confer her as a county owner at the ceremony.
The county owner t.i.tle was a rare honor. As long as she became a county owner, even if she wasn’t the Gu Family"s own flesh and blood, she wouldn’t lose too much worth.
But if she couldn’t go back, what was the point of holding a big coming-of-age ceremony?
Gu Jinyu was so anxious that she suffered from excessive internal heat, and her mouth was blistered.
Marquis Gu came to visit her, and seeing her suffering from excessive internal heat like this, he couldn"t help but feel distressed. He said to the servant girl around Gu Jinyu, "How are you serving your young miss? In this hot weather, shouldn"t you have known to cook less spicy dishes?"
The servant girl said, "I"m sorry, Lord Marquis, the young miss’s diet has been very light recently. It"s because she"s depressed that she’s suffering from excessive internal heat."
Gu Jinyu exclaimed, "Don"t talk nonsense. Stand down."
"Yes."
The servant girl withdrew.
Gu Jinyu said to Marquis Gu, "Dad, this daughter is really fine."
Marquis Gu frowned and said, "Nonsense, you have something on your mind, you have stopped smiling recently."
Gu Jinyu lowered her eyes, saying, "This daughter just misses her grandmother. Grandma is old now. A few years ago, she had a big fall, and although she has already recovered, she’s not as strong as before. This daughter just wonders how much long can I be filial to grandma."