Chapter 352 - Chapter 352: Sleepless
Chapter 352: Sleepless
Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
The scribe beside Zhou Jia noted down the appearance of the hunters that the shop assistant had mentioned. He drew a few for the shop assistant to see, but he shook his head and said that they didn’t look like them.
Zhou Jia took the pen and paper and started drawing. After editing it twice, the shop assistant’s eyes lit up when he saw the blueprint. “Sir, this is about it.”
Zhou Jia looked at the shop assistant and smiled. “Don’t worry and stay inside for a few days. I’ll let you out after finding out the truth.”
“Thank you, sir.” The shop assistant followed the bailiff gratefully. Zhou Jia drew a few more and got someone to paste them at the city gate. Chu Feng secretly took Wei Wencheng away. Yun Yi and the other spies looked around for traces of Wei Shan and Wei Lin.
It had only been four hours since they escaped; Wei Shan and Wei Lin saw that the city was filled with their portraits. There was not even a place to eat and stay. The two of them hid around the city like rats. Wei Shan thought of the house when the secret passage led to and discussed with Wei Lin, “The house where we escaped is empty. I think we’ll go there for two more days.”
“Alright, let’s hide there for two days and find an opportunity to leave the city. Hide here. I’ll scout ahead.” Wei Lin came out of their hiding place and saw that the alley in front of him was filled with people. He lowered his head and walked past the crowd. When he saw the portrait of himself and Wei Shan on the wall, he cursed in his heart and turned back through another alley. Wei Shan saw that his face was ashen. “What happened?”
“Let’s go. The government office has our portraits everywhere.”
The two of them came out of their hiding place and had just reached the entrance of the alley when they encountered a few officials coming from the front. The two of them lowered their heads and turned to leave. Constable He, who was leading the team, saw the two of them turn around and leave. He shouted at the two of them, “The two people in front, stop.” Wei Shan and Wei Lin ran.
“It’s those two. Hurry up and chase after them.” Constable He led his men after them. The group chased after them until they reached a dead end. Looking at the high courtyard wall, Wei Lin pushed Wei Shan up the wall and shouted, “Leave quickly. Don’t worry about me.”
Wei Shan glanced at him and jumped down. Constable He chased after him with his subordinates. Wei Lin drew his dagger and went up to him, stabbing at Constable He. Constable He dodged and slashed. The blade cut through Wei Lin’s arm. The two bailiffs and two constables behind caught up. Wei Lin rushed forward fearlessly and grabbed one of the bailiffs. He placed the dagger on his neck and threatened, “Let me go, or I’ll kill him.”
The four of them looked at the bailiff and could only retreat to the sides. They watched as he dragged the bailiff out of the alley and retreated to the entrance. Wei Lin sneered at them and slashed the bailiff’s neck. He pushed the bailiff away and turned to run.
Constable He was so angry that his eyes almost popped out. He couldn’t care less about checking on the bailiff and rushed up to chase Wei Lin to the street.
Wei Lin was surrounded by the patrolling officials. He looked at the soldiers who had surrounded him and raised his dagger to commit suicide. A plum blossom dart flew out and hit the dagger in Wei Lin’s hand. The dagger fell to the ground with a clang. Constable He and a few soldiers rushed forward and pushed Wei Lin to the ground. They took out ropes and tied him up.
After Wei Shan jumped off the wall, he crawled out of the alley and fled towards the empty house. Yun Yi was already hiding inside and waiting for him to return. Just as he jumped into the courtyard, he was caught by Yun Yi.
Constable He brought Wei Lin back to the government office. The bailiffs and constables who had stayed at the entrance of the alley had already sent the dead bailiffs back to the government office. When they saw Wei Lin, who had been captured, they rushed up and beat him up.
It was not until Wu Tingxian came out and stopped them that he brought the bruised Wei Lin in.
Wei Shan was brought back to the dungeon of the Four Seas Bank by Yun Yi. From the interlayer of his clothes, he found a blueprint of Yunzhou City. When it was time to hand over to the officials at the city gate, Wei Wenzhong could not bear the torture of the Four Seas Bank. He explained that these blueprints were obtained from the soldiers guarding the city, as well as the spies and spies he knew in Great Yong.
Chu Sihai brought people to verify Wei Wenzhong’s words from those letters. He also found the list of hidden spies of the Wei family’s trading companies in the various county cities of Yunzhou. The spies of the Yunzhou government and the Four Seas Bank were busy capturing and removing the Wei family’s spies everywhere.
Zhou Jia was so busy in the government office that he only returned to the back office to rest on the night of the first day of the countryside examination. Li Yu looked at Zhou Jia, who had fallen asleep as soon as he lay on the bed after speaking to her. She felt that he had lost a lot of weight again. Her heart ached as she gently covered him with the thin blanket. She wondered how Li Qing was doing in Tongzhou.
On the same night, Li Qing lay in bed and couldn’t sleep. He was worried that he wouldn’t be able to get on the ranking tomorrow. After sleeping for a while, he couldn’t sleep, so he simply got up and took out Li Yu and Yangyang’s portraits to look at. He looked at his sister’s letter which asked if he had any girls he liked. She asked if her nephew was good -looking. Was he more like his sister or his brother-in-law? She told him not to pay too much attention to the results of the countryside examination and just work hard. Looking at Li Yu’s lighthearted words, Li Qing smiled and wondered when he would be able to reunite with his sister and brother-in-law.
Li Fengqi, who was waiting for the results in the Li family, also tossed and turned. Unable to sleep, he simply put on his outerwear and walked to the courtyard. Seeing that the oil lamp in Li Qing’s room was lit, he smiled thinking that Li Qing was worried like him and walked to Li Qings door. He knocked on the door. “Cousin Ah Qing, come out and talk for a while.”
When Li Qing heard this, he opened the door and smiled at him. “You’re not asleep either?”
Li Fengqi looked at Li Qing’s relaxed appearance and smiled self-deprecatingly. “I was feeling uneasy and couldn’t sleep no matter what. I wanted to come out for a walk, but I saw that the lights in your house were still on, so I came to call you.”
“I can’t sleep either. I might as well get up and read for a while. It’s useless to worry after the exam. We’ll know the results tomorrow.” Li Qing pulled the door closed and walked to the courtyard with Li Fengqi.
Li Fengqi looked at Li Qing enviously. “Ah Qing, you’re young and have the help of your sister and brother-in-law. Even if you can’t do it this time, you can do it again. Unlike me, I’m older than you and have a grandmother. If I don’t get on the ranking this time, I’m afraid I’ll have to wait another three years. I’ll let Laidi down.”
When Li Qing heard Li Fengqi’s sour words, he suddenly didn’t want to stay with him anymore. He stood up and said indifferently, “You don’t have to worry. You’ll know the outcome after sleeping for a night.”
Li Fengqi could tell that Li Qing was a little unhappy and echoed, “Ah Qing is right. We’ll know the outcome tomorrow.”
“There are many mosquitoes outside. You should sleep early too!” Li Qing turned around and walked towards his room.
Li Fengqi looked at Li Qing’s back and thought about how he had to rely on the Li family for everything now. Just like this countryside examination, there were two test questions that were explained in the notes of the Top Scorer. Although his answer was slightly inferior to Li Qing’s response when they exchanged notes, he still had hope of becoming a High Scholar. A poor student like him would probably not be able to take another step forward in his life without the guidance of a master..