Chapter 424: Stealing Ancient Poems
Gu Jingzhe was helped by Nie Xiaofeng to go into the house to rest.
Tong Pandi went to the kitchen to prepare food for Gu Jingzhe. The pot was already warming with meat porridge and egg custard. Both were relatively easy to digest and very suitable for people who were physically weak after a short period of intensive study for exams.
"Gu Ruinian, get out of the car quickly. I want to feed the horses." Su Chengmin shouted impatiently.
If it weren't for Su Chengmin's shout, Tong Huaqiong would have forgotten that her adopted nephew Gu Ruinian was in the car.
"Ruinian, Ruinian, how did you do in the exam?" The clan leader's grandson Gu Dahu asked hurriedly when he saw Gu Ruinian sticking his head out.
Gu Ruinian got off the carriage without saying a word.
Tong Huaqiong looked at Gu Ruinian, who was dressed quite uniquely.
He was wearing a veil on his head, and the long gauze on the veil covered his face, so his expression could not be seen clearly.
This veil is not some fashionable item in the city. Gu Ruinian obviously used it to cover his face. As for why he covered his face, it must be because he was injured or disfigured on his face.
Something must have happened when Gu Ruinian went to the provincial capital this time.
Everyone looked at Gu Ruinian in surprise, not knowing why he covered his face. Gu Dahu tried to pull Gu Ruinian's hat, but was frightened by Gu Ruinian's roar and retracted his hand.
"Ruinian, Ruinian, you're back."
"Ruinian, how did you do on the exam?"
Gu Youtian and Jia brought Gu Fengnian back from the town with chicken, duck, fish and meat, intending to nourish Gu Ruinian. As soon as they arrived at the village entrance, they heard the news that Gu Jingzhe and Gu Ruinian had returned, and ran to the carriage carrying meat and vegetables.
When the second couple saw Gu Ruinian wearing a hat covering his face, their surprise was replaced by confusion.
"Ruinian, what's wrong with you?"
Jia was about to lift the gauze on her son's veil.
She heard that the provincial examination lasted for three days, and eating, drinking, defecating and urinating all had to be done during the examination, so many people had diarrhea. She had been extremely worried about this for the past few days. Now that she saw her son covering his face, she thought that his face looked terrible because of diarrhea.
After all, my son has always paid attention to his image.
"I am fine."
Gu Ruinian avoided Jia's hand and strode towards home.
"The exam has lasted for so long that the boy has become so thin. My Ruinian definitely doesn't want to make his parents worry." Jia said to the villagers, feeling a little uneasy in her heart.
However, Gu Youtian didn't think there was anything wrong with his son.
He was just waiting for the results to come out in a few days, so he could show off when the county came to report the good news.
After Gu Youtian and Jia left, the villagers started a new round of discussion.
"Green smoke is coming out of the Gu family's ancestral grave, and two scholars have emerged at once."
"Speaking of which, the results haven't come out yet. Hey, do you think Jingzhe did better in the exam or Ruinian did better?"
"Everyone says Ruinian is more talented in studying, but I feel like he didn't do very well in the exam this time. If Ruinian did well, he would have been shouting about it a long time ago."
"It's hard to say. The exam lasts for several days, and who has the energy to speak? But I still think Jingzhe will do better than Ruinian. Jingzhe is usually a calm person."
"But Ruinian started learning later but took the exams for Tongsheng and Xiucai at the same time as Jingzhe. Ruinian must have done better than Jingzhe."
"I bet on Jingzhe to win."
"I bet on Rui Nian to win."
The villagers first discussed who performed better in the exam, Gu Jingzhe or Gu Ruinian. Later on, they even placed bets on who would do better in the exam.
Some people even put money on the bet.
The angry village chief Liu Tielian shouted that there would be no casinos in Qinghewan Village and all gambling activities were prohibited.
But no matter how the village chief emphasized it, everyone in the village was looking forward to the results to see who guessed correctly.
No matter who wins between Gu Ruinian and Gu Jingzhe, Old Man Gu is considered the biggest winner.
Since both of them are his grandsons, it can be said that two wisps of smoke are coming out of the Gu family’s ancestral grave.
Gu Jingzhe slept at home for a day and a night before getting up.
Although he still looked very thin, he was in good spirits. He drank a big bowl of chicken soup and ate a chicken leg before helping Tong Pandidi feed the pigs.
"How do you think you did in the exam?" Tong Huaqiong clearly warned herself not to ask Gu Jingzhe about his results, but she asked anyway.
Gu Jingzhe said: "I think I did pretty well in the exam."
Since Gu Jingzhe said so, he must have done well in the exam.
Tong Huaqiong asked Hong and Chen Sufen to help prepare a red envelope and fill it with change.
Gu Jingzhe asked what these were for.
Tong Huaqiong said, "In a few days, the list will be announced and the county will announce the good news that you have won the first place. I have to prepare some money for them."
Gu Jingzhe said with a sweat on his face: "Mom, please keep a low profile. The students taking the exam this time are from all over the city. I can't guarantee that I can take the first place."
"By the way, what happened to Gu Ruinian?" Tong Huaqiong asked, "Why did he cover his face?"
She noticed that Gu Ruinian was in a bad state when he got off the carriage, and was curious about what had happened to him in the capital.
Gu Jingzhe sighed with an indescribable expression on his face.
"He was beaten in the city..." said Gu Jingzhe.
Tong Huaqiong learned from Gu Jingzhe that Gu Ruinian had completely let himself go when he arrived in the city and had imitated the young masters of wealthy families by visiting brothels.
It's no wonder that although Gu Ruinian didn't have much money from the countryside, he instantly became the most talented student in the provincial examination by stealing a few Tang and Song Dynasty poems by Li Bai, Wang Wei, Su Shi, and Yan Shu. The poem "Spring River Moon Night" by Wang Ruoxu that he stole was even sought after by students at Wanliu College.
With his reputation as a talented man, he successfully broke into the city's top brothel, Tianxiang Tower, and became the lover of the top prostitute, Miss Su.
This caused a dispute with the third son of the wealthy Xie family.
The aunt of Mr. Xie San was a favored concubine in the palace. She was a fearless playboy in the capital. How could she swallow her defeat at the hands of Gu Ruinian?
His talk of love with Miss Su was fake, and his real intention was to defraud her of money.
Finally, his plan was discovered by Miss Su's godsister, Miss Xianxian. Gu Ruinian was beaten and scolded by Xianxian and then driven out of Tianxiang Tower.
The more Miss Su thought about it, the angrier she became. She started crying in front of the third son of the Xie family. The third son of the Xie family blocked the entrance to the examination room and beat up Gu Ruinian.
A face was beaten into a pig's head.
Now Gu Ruinian became even more famous.
The invigilator asked a doctor to simply treat Gu Ruinian's injuries. Gu Ruinian struggled to enter the examination room and took the exam for three days. When he came out, the swelling on his face had not subsided.
After leaving the examination room, Mr. Xie San stopped Gu Ruinian and beat him up again.
Not only that, the Third Young Master Xie threatened to beat him up every time he saw him.
When Gu Dashu picked up Gu Jingzhe, he saw Gu Ruinian being beaten. After all, he was his cousin, and he couldn't just watch him be beaten to death, so he rescued Gu Ruinian.
Not to mention that Gu Dashu has become very good at socializing after arriving in the capital city. In just half a year, he could get along with people from all walks of life. He could even say hello to the Third Young Master Xie when he met him.
After much persuasion, Third Master Xie finally let Gu Ruinian go for the time being.
Tong Huaqiong smacked her lips. Was Gu Ruinian brainwashed by the plot of the harem novel? He thought that by stealing a few ancient poems, he could dominate the world and even set his sights on the girls in the brothel.
Tong Huaqiong guessed that he got the inspiration for approaching the girls in the brothel from the story of Du Shiniang sinking the treasure chest in anger, and wanted to learn from the Imperial Student Li Jia to get the girls to willingly give him a lot of money.
But it overturned.
Miss Su was much more powerful than Du Shiniang. Her fist was not aimed at herself, but at Gu Ruinian.
All I can say is it was a beautiful job.
Gu Ruinian really thinks that people of this era are too stupid.
He deserves to be beaten into a pig's head.
However, what Tong Huaqiong did not expect was that this matter was also related to Xianxian from Tianxiang Tower.
She wanted to say that Miss Xianxian did a good job.
Gu Ruinian has done something terrible in the provincial capital, it would be strange if he could do well in the exam.