“Did he dare to hit you? I will take care of this for you!” Zhao, the jailer, stared angrily at Liu Mu and opened the cell door to enter. He rolled up his sleeves, preparing to deal with Liu Mu.
Zhang Fang stopped him, speaking softly, “Brother Zhao, why don’t we just transfer him to another cell? I don’t want to stay with him anymore.”
Zhao spat, his fierce gaze fixed on Liu Mu, and nodded in agreement with Zhang Fang. He grabbed Liu Mu and forcefully dragged him out, locking him in the adjacent cell.
Upon Zhang Fang’s request, Liu Mu had given him a punch last night, leaving a noticeable bruise on his handsome face, and Zhang Fang felt quite guilty about it. However, under the watch of Zhao, he didn’t dare to meet Zhang Fang’s eyes, fearing the act would fall apart.
Once Zhao had thrown Liu Mu out, Zhang Fang embarrassedly said to him, “Thank you, Brother Zhao! There’s one more thing I would like to trouble you with.”
“As long as it can be done, I will make it happen!” Zhao replied, thumping his chest.
Zhang Fang said, “I ran out of ink while writing yesterday. I don’t know if my father will come to see me today. If he hasn’t come by noon, could you please help me buy a piece of ink? My father will pay you back later!”
Hearing it was nothing serious, Zhao immediately agreed, “Sure!”
After Zhao left, Liu Mu whispered to Zhang Fang, “Brother Zhang, I’ll cover the cost of the ink later!”
Liu Mu felt guilty that his good-looking face was hurt while helping them, and he regretted it.
“When we get back to the Zhang residence, you can talk to my father about it!”
Without ink, Zhang Fang couldn’t continue writing his story. He could only calm himself down and study.
For Zhang Fang, the contents of these books were quite simple. Looking over the original character’s previous report card, Zhang Fang found that the original character had decent grades in his first year. He passed the county exam smoothly but failed the prefecture exam, leading to a sharp decline in his performance thereafter.
Closing his eyes, Zhang Fang searched his mind for the original character’s key memories from that year.
At that time, an eleven-year-old Zhang Silang was full of confidence, believing he could achieve first place in the county exam. But he ended up in last place, which greatly affected his mindset. Despite everyone around him reassuring him that passing the county exam was impressive, he struggled to believe how poorly he had done. Facing the upcoming prefecture exam, Zhang Silang had no choice but to adjust his mindset and study hard.
During the prefecture exam, Zhang Silang could answer every question and even had unique political views in his essays. Yet when the results were announced, his name was nowhere to be found. Zhang Silang erupted in anger, accusing the process of being unfair. He was warned by officials that if he continued to make a scene, he would lose his eligibility for future exams. Dejected, Zhang Silang returned to Dou County and fell gravely ill.
When he returned to the academy again, Zhang Silang underwent a drastic change; he stopped studying hard and became addicted to reading novels. Over the next two years, he even learned to compare himself with others and recently began visiting brothels. Eventually, trouble arose…
Opening his eyes, Zhang Fang wore a contemplative expression. The original character had been especially confident in his scholarly abilities, and recalling the exam conditions, Zhang Fang believed the results couldn’t possibly be that bad. Could there have been foul play in the prefecture exam? It was certainly a possibility. If the prefecture exam was indeed compromised, how would Zhang Fang navigate through the imperial examination path?
For a moment, Zhang Fang fell into deep thought.
Today marked the third day since Liu Mu was imprisoned, and his sister Liu Yun arrived at the jail.
Separated by the cell door, the siblings cried bitterly. Zhao, the jailer, stood at a distance, watching.
Zhang Fang held a test paper, appearing lost in thought, while Zhao assumed he was studying hard and couldn’t help but smile with satisfaction. If Zhang Fang could really pass the exams, Zhao felt he could also gain some benefits and possibly earn a little good fortune!
Putting down the test paper, Zhang Fang glanced at the sobbing siblings next door and shouted outside, “Brother Zhao!”
Zhao, standing not far away, walked over immediately and asked, “What’s wrong?”
Zhang Fang looked at the small ventilation hole up high and said to Zhao, “I don’t know what time it is, but my father hasn’t arrived yet. I’d like to write, could you please help me buy some ink?”
Zhao nodded directly, saying, “Okay! As soon as I send her off, I’ll go buy the ink for you.”
While speaking, Zhao turned to gaze at the Liu siblings.
Liu Mu bit his teeth, struggling to find an opportunity to tell his sister about hiding at the Zhang family’s residence. He could only hold it in.
Liu Yun cried, saying, “Brother, I will get you out.”
“Don’t do anything foolish, Li Yun! I’d rather die in here than have you become a concubine!” Liu Mu anticipated his sister’s reaction; she planned on sacrificing herself to free Liu Mu. Remembering Zhang Fang’s words, Liu Mu began to act.
Liu Yun covered her face, choking back tears as she handed some medicine to Liu Mu.
“Brother, you will be out soon.”
After saying this, she turned to leave.
“Li Yun! I forbid you to do anything foolish!” Liu Mu shouted in agitation.
Zhao truly wanted to slap Liu Mu, his expression displeased as he followed Liu Yun out.
As long as Zhang Fang remained locked up, old man Zhang would not find peace. He visited the jail again today. After shouting outside for a long time without anyone responding, he had to squat outside and wait.
Hearing movement inside, the door to the jail swung open, and old man Zhang immediately stood up.
Seeing old man Zhang, Zhao changed his expression and warmly said, “Uncle Zhang, back to see your son again! Perfect timing, Brother Zhang has no ink. You should buy him some!”
Old man Zhang froze for a moment, instinctively patting his pockets. Since Zhao was in a good mood yesterday and let him visit without taking his alcohol, old man Zhang didn’t bring money today. Without any money on him, how could he buy ink?
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