“There’s no mistake, it’s that family!”
The owner of the initial voice slapped a shoulder in excitement. “The pillar of that household has a disabled leg, the woman is in poor health, and the younger son is mentally impaired. The only one in the entire family who can handle things is this Xu kid he’s handsome, clever, and after studying for just a few years, he’s actually become a Juuren lord! Truly remarkable, tsk tsk.”
“Elder sister, you sure have a heavy hand, haha, but is what you’re saying true or false? There’s a forty-year-old scholar in my village, but he’s been taking the exams since he was twenty and still hasn’t managed to pass as a Juuren. Is this Xu kid really that amazing, passing on his very first try?”
The woman who had accidentally been collateral damage from the auntie’s slap laughed awkwardly, but then she found herself hooked by what the other had said. If that really was the case, wasn’t this practically the reincarnation of a literary star?
“Since you called me elder sister, how could I possibly lie to you? If you don’t believe me, why don’t you go over to Ping’an Village and ask around?”
Challenged on what she had just said, the auntie grew immediately anxious. “I swear on the reputation of my old Zhou family, everything I said is the absolute truth!”
“If the fellow is that good, does this young Juuren lord have a betrothed yet?” Someone joined the excitement, asking eagerly.
“Look at you asking that if this Juuren lord is truly both talented and handsome, surely someone snapped up that marital tie long ago,” another person rolled her eyes and retorted.
“Tch, not necessarily…”
Auntie Zhou’s tone softened as she pondered for a moment, and amidst the gazes of the surrounding aunties and older women, she continued, “A betrothal… to tell you the truth, back then my youngest daughter was almost engaged to this Xu kid, but… Everyone just heard about the situation of that household. As a mother, how could I bear to let my daughter marry over there and suffer, so that matter simply fizzled out. As for now, the boy probably hasn’t been engaged to anyone since.”
The group felt quite tempted, yet hesitated because of that impoverished, barren household.
Hearing this much, Xu Wen felt there was nothing left worth listening to. The outcome he wanted to know had already been learned from Auntie Zhou’s mouth. Since that was the case, there was no need to force his aversion to crowds and squeeze his way through to look at the list.
Thinking thus, he pivoted on his heel and left without the slightest hesitation.
Auntie Zhou was chatting away with supreme satisfaction and glanced casually around, only to catch sight of a somewhat familiar back. She froze was that…?
Xu Wen had only walked a few steps when he bumped into someone.
“Apologies, apologies.” The person who collided with him wore dusty gray cloth garments, looked completely unremarkable, and wore a blue cloth cap just like anyone else in this town. He also carried an apologetic expression for bumping into someone.
Yet, a person like this was currently pressing a sharp dagger right against Xu Wen’s lower abdomen, his lowered voice ice-cold: “Walk.”
Intent to kill was contained within those words.
Xu Wen obediently raised both hands.
Then, under the man’s baffled and darkly warning gaze, he slowly lowered his hands again.
Gomen nasai, he forgot that the surrender gesture didn’t translate universally here.
“Move, don’t try any clever tricks!”
This was the town entrance; most people were either hurrying home on the road or huddled around the provincial examination list checking the names, and no one paid any attention to Xu Wen’s direction.
In a spot where the man couldn’t see, Xu Wen slowly curved his lips into an expression that could only be described as gentle.
It was like a hunter showing pity toward a struggling, dying prey.
His gaze swept over the bulging money pouch hanging at the man’s waist, and a brilliant idea struck him.
In the secluded, untrodden Osmanthus grove, the sweet-scented osmanthus flowers were in full bloom, and their rich fragrance added a sense of aesthetic beauty to the man’s painful groans.
The man looked in terror at the person holding the dagger that had just been pressed against his abdomen, dragging his body as he tried to crawl away. His two limp, broken legs dangled uselessly behind him on the ground. He paid no mind to the dirt staining his clothes, driven entirely by all his remaining strength toward a single thought—escape!
Xu Wen held the dagger that had just been used to threaten his abdomen, playing with it casually. His fingers moved with nimble dexterity as he flipped the blade, spinning it, lofting it into the air, and catching it. With that carefree demeanor, where was there even a shred of the earlier weak scholar?
The man felt as though his life was about to end right here. Before dying, a wave of resentment welled up within him before sending him out, the person who hired him had clearly told him that he only needed to take care of a weak, pitiful scholar!
Where on earth was this weak? Where was this pitiful?
He hadn’t even had time to react before his own dagger was snatched away, and then his two legs were ruthlessly kicked and snapped right in two. The sheer physical strength and suffocating hostility were ten times heavier than his own, and he was a wanted imperial criminal who had taken many lives! In his eyes, this person was clearly an unprovoked demon of a madman!
The demon finally murmured softly, “I can spare your life, or I can turn you into fertilizer for this osmanthus grove. Which option would you like to choose?”
“One! I choose one!!” Could he actually survive? The man almost wept tears of joy.
Xu Wen smiled. “Good then, hand over all the silver you’re carrying.”
The man stared blankly. “Huh?”
Xu Wen narrowed his eyes. “Hmm?”
“Alright, alright! I’ll take it out right now, take it out right now!” Frightened by the other’s oppressive aura and terrified that a moment’s delay would cost him his life, the man frantically rummaged through his person for money.
The money pouch hanging from his waist, the silver pieces hidden inside his tunic, the loose silver bits tucked in his sleeves, and even the few copper coins he had stashed in the soles of his shoes—he dug them all out and deferentially offered them to the madman who held the power over his life and death.
Xu Wen looked at those few copper coins with undisguised disdain, yet pocketed everything else without the slightest bit of politeness, stuffing them straight into his sleeves.
He patted the dust off his sleeves and said with unhurried composure, “Off you go. Go back and tell your master to come see me in person next time.”
The man didn’t even stop to ponder how Xu Wen knew who his backer was; the moment he learned he was allowed to leave, he immediately began wriggling like an earthworm, scuttling away into the shadows to escape this terrifying place.
As for Xu Wen, he walked back home in high spirits.
He accepted his robbery escapade quite well: first, this money was clearly his ransom money, so taking it was only right; second, he had no morals, therefore moral blackmail couldn’t touch him.
Humming a little tune, Xu Wen arrived back home just as complete darkness had fallen.
Because of the sudden windfall of cash, he wouldn’t need to worry about money for quite some time. On top of that, he had heard that the imperial treasury had disbursed funds to distribute reward bonuses to the newly passed Juuren scholars, which meant another stream of income coming in.
Xu Wen was in genuinely good spirits, completely unaware that upon returning home, the terrifying youth he would have to face awaited him.
“Amnesia? Mother, are you certain?” Xu Wen asked after learning from Xu Mother about what had happened that afternoon, his eyebrows flying upward in shock.
Xu Mother, however, was filled with distress and guilt. “Yes, Jiashi! It’s all Mother’s fault for not keeping a proper eye on your younger brother, which led to this unexpected trouble out of nowhere! It caused that young man in the room to suffer terribly!”
Seeing Xu Mother’s self-reproachful, tearful expression, Xu Wen couldn’t let his worries about the original novel’s plot show on his face, so he softened his tone and pacified her.
“Mother, I didn’t mean it like that, don’t overthink things. Go back to your room and rest early, I’ll go inside and take a look.”