At the start of the village examination, Shi Qingluo and Mother Xiao prepared the things for Xiao Hanzheng to take the examination and went to send him off.

After the entrance of the examination hall was closed, Shi Qingluo and the others left.

There were three rounds for the countryside exam, and each round would take three days.

Xiao Hanzheng had made ample preparations.

In addition, he practiced martial arts to strengthen his body every morning, and he often drank the spring water that Shi Qingluo had added to the water tank, so his body was in excellent condition.

After three rounds of examinations, many examinees fell ill.

Either they walked out of the examination venue with flimsy footsteps, or they looked to be in a very poor state of mind.

Xiao Hanzheng walked out of the examination venue with a graceful manner every time, making the other examinees envious and jealous.

The timeframe for the enke was very tight.

In order not to affect the formal autumn examinations at the end of the year, the examination papers were consecutive, and the results would be out earlier than the normal examination time.

As a result, the countryside exam took about twenty days, which meant that results would be ready in March.

The hui exam was also brought forward, which was in May.

This meant that the results would be obtained.

If successful, after making a trip home, candidates would rush to the capital to continue taking subsequent papers. The time was very tight.

After waiting for twenty days, Xiao Hanzheng and the rest did not go home and stayed in the capital.

They went around to explore.

On this day, Xiao Hanzheng went out to meet friends with Mr Hou.

Shi Qingluo brought Mother Xiao and the other two to a very famous Taoist temple outside the prefecture capital to offer incense.

The back of the mountain of the Taoist temple was planted with peach trees.

March was the season for peach blossoms, and a mountain of peach blossoms was very beautiful.

After Shi Qingluo brought the few of them around, they returned to the room they had booked to rest.

She liaised with Xiao Hanzheng to meet up with them later.

Xiao Baili had been learning how to draw recently and was very excited.

Hence, she asked Shi Qingluo, “Sister-in-law, can I go to the back mountain to draw?”

Shi Qingluo smiled and said, “Of course you can.

“Go ahead. Just come back before your brother arrives.”

Xiao Baili had been practicing martial arts with them for more than half a year, and Shi Qingluo had taught them quite a number of grappling techniques.

There was also a soft whip that she had specially made for Xiao Baili at her waist, that ordinary people wouldn’t be able to take away.

Moreover, Shi Qingluo knew that Xiao Hanzheng had paid someone to protect his family secretly.

Therefore, she was at ease when Xiao Baili went out alone.

“Thank you, sister-in-law. I’ll come back after I finish drawing.”

Xiao Baili happily carried the painting tool that her sister-in-law had asked someone to make for her and went out.

After arriving at the back of the mountain, Xiao Baili chose a remote hillside because there were many people looking at the peach blossoms in front of her.

She had just set up the drawing board and picked up a brush to draw a few strokes when three wretched-looking men suddenly walked over.

One of them sized Xiao Baili up and down and asked teasingly, “Are you drawing, young lady?”

If it had been Xiao Baili in the past, she would definitely have been frightened or very afraid by the looks of the three of them.

Now that she saw the three of them, although she was a little nervous, her eyes were filled with excitement.

She had always wanted to see the results of her martial arts training.

These people were just right for her to give it a try.

The reason why she was so ambitious was also because she knew that her brother had sent someone to protect them at all times.

When she came here just now, she realized that the people she was protecting had also followed her.

So even if she could not beat the three of them, she was not afraid that something would happen.

She frowned and said, “It’s none of your business.”

The man in the lead had a fat head and big ears.

He smiled wretchedly and said, “What’s the point of painting? It’s better for us to come and accompany you.”

After saying that, he brought the other two people to surround her.

Xiao Baili touched her waist.

When she touched the whip, she felt a little more at ease.

The whip that her sister-in-law had made for her was hidden in her belt.

No one could see it at all.

Moreover, she didn’t need to remove the belt.

She could just stretch out her hand and take it out. It was very convenient.

That man reached out to touch Xiao Baili’s face after saying that.

Just as Xiao Baili was about to whip, a voice suddenly sounded.

“Stop, what do you want to do?”

Then, a handsome young man walked over with two attendants.

This fat man put down his hand and looked at the young man unhappily. He warned, “Don’t meddle in other people’s business. Otherwise, don’t blame me for being rude.”

The young man had a righteous look on his face. “Don’t even think about bullying a weak girl. I’ll meddle in your business today.”

Then, he looked at Xiao Baili and comforted her, “Don’t be afraid, young lady. I’m here.”

Xiao Baili, who didn’t succeed in whipping him, was speechless.

You should mind your own business.

Moreover, this kind of hero saving the damsel in distress was very clumsy.

Xiao Baili, who was often told all kinds of stories on preventing perverts by her sister-in-law, saw the young man appear.

Her first thought was that these people were most likely putting up a show.

She looked embarrassed.

She said, “There’s no need to trouble you.”

Zheng Tongfeng felt a little displeased when he heard this.

Could it be that this woman wanted these three local ruffians to molest her?

When he thought about marrying such a woman in the future, his displeasure grew even more.

Hence, his eyes revealed a hint of displeasure and he frowned slightly. “Miss, I’m not afraid of trouble when I see injustice, so you don’t have to worry.”

Xiao Baili wondered, could the displeasure in his eyes be more obvious? She was not a fool.

She also frowned. “If you’re not afraid of trouble, I am.”

Zheng Tongfeng remained silent.

The fat man was also stunned.

Clearly, he did not expect this young lady who looked so weak did not follow common sense.

Was she not afraid of being molested by them?

He thought of something and laughed. “Haha, this young lady doesn’t need your help.

“Do you want us to play with you?”

He stretched out his hand again. “Then we will.”

Zheng Tongfeng didn’t say anything this time.

He also wanted to make Xiao Baili suffer a little before asking him for help.

It was so uncomfortable.

If this person touched her face, wouldn’t she lose her purity?

His father even wanted him to marry her in the future.

He was very resistant.

However, in order to be with the woman he liked, he could only endure it.

His father said that as long as he could get Xiao Baili to marry him, he would be able to redeem the woman he liked from the brothel to become his concubine.

However, before he could continue thinking, he couldn’t help but widen his eyes.

That seemingly weak woman suddenly pulled out a thin whip from her waist and lashed it at the fat-headed and big-eared wretched man.

That man screamed.

Xiao Baili snorted as she lashed at him. “Didn’t you want to play? I’ll play with you now.”

The fat man dodged as he shouted to the two people behind him, “What are you waiting for? Hurry up and take care of this b * tch.”

The two people were stunned by what they saw just now and only reacted after being shouted at.

They immediately pounced towards Xiao Baili, wanting to bind her hands on either side.

Xiao Baili nimbly dodged one of them and lashed out at the other.

She even turned around and used the whip to wrap around the fat man’s calf and pulled him towards her.

The man fell to the ground and was lashed a few more times.

At the same time, her whip seemed to have come to life as it lashed out at the two people who were surrounding her.

The whip made the two people scream and they continued to dodge.

Zheng Tongfeng looked at her in disbelief.

What happened to the delicate young lady?

How did she become such a fierce tigress?

Footnote:

In the imperial examination system, all the tongsheng participate in the county exam 县试 (xian shi), the prefectural exam 府试 (fu shi), and the court exam 院试 (yuan shi). Thereafter, shortlisted candidates would sit for the countryside exam 乡试, hui exam 会试 and palace exam 殿试 and attain the title of juren 举人, gongshi 贡士 and jinshi 进士 respectively after acing each examination.