Chapter 398: The Incident in Front of the Examination Venue
In the afternoon, after clearing out her stall, Lin Ping’er told Bai Ruozhu about Bai Ruolan’s plea for help. Bai Ruozhu scoffed, saying: "She has her own mother. If she can’t cope, she still has her uncle and aunt, doesn’t she? What can we do to help?"
After hearing this, Lin Ping’er also felt it unnecessary and inappropriate to help. However, Bai Yihong, when informed about the matter, sighed heavily all night. It was his niece after all, and her offences weren’t as unforgivable as those of Sanlang.
Two days later, Bai Zepei went to take the resumed Child Student Exam. Bai Ruozhu and Bai Zehao accompanied him to the examination venue.
"Big brother, little sister, you should go home. I’ll return by myself once the examination is over," said Bai Zepei.
Bai Ruozhu and Bai Zehao nodded, getting ready to leave, when a man suddenly approached from the side. Whether he did this purposely or accidentally, he bumped into Bai Zepei, causing a little jar he was holding to spill its contents onto Bai Zepei.
"How could you have bumped into him?" Bai Zehao grabbed the man, staring into his eyes as he asked him this.
His outburst immediately attracted the attention of many people who had come to take the exams or accompany their relatives. They sniffed, and gasped. My god, what had the man spilled? Why did it smell so bad?
Bai Ruozhu, who was closest to her second brother, also got splashed on, but she caught the sight of it in an instant. It was blood - it looked like Black Dog Blood, once used by ancient people for purification!
Bai Zepei also wrinkled his eyebrows, looking at the man and asking, "You wouldn’t bring such stuff to the examination venue, would you? Was it intended for me?"
The scholar caught by Bai Zehao was not tall and looked rather like a little chicken being held under Bai Zehao’s large hand. However, he did not seem frightened and instead stared back at Bai Zepei, shouting, "I aimed at you, a scumbag! Your uncle cheated, spoiling things for a group of people. Who would believe that your rank was obtained through fair means? Because of you, our Scholar rank is now void, forcing us to take the exam again. Your family of uncle and nephew are the worst among the worst! Sprinkling Black Dog Blood on you could be considered polite!"
On hearing this, Bai Ruozhu got furious. She pointed at the man and said, "You’re also educated, yet you don’t make a shred of sense at all. The officers have thoroughly investigated and have made their judgement. My second brother is truly innocent. Are you questioning the judgement of the officers? If so, I suggest you quit taking the exams. This time, the chief examiner is that same officer."
The man’s expression changed a little. He struggled and pulled free from Bai Zehao’s grip. "Hmph, what the hell does my exam have to do with you? I want to see whether Bai Zepei can still excel this time," he laughed after finishing his sentence. His laughter was filled with triumph. "After being sprinkled with Black Dog Blood, let’s see if you have any luck left."
At this moment, the front of Bai Zepei’s clothes was soaked, leaving him in a state of great disarray. The smell was really unpleasant. People who passed by him couldn’t help covering their noses.
Bai Ruozhu knew that her second brother was a person who liked cleanliness. She frowned and suggested, "Second brother, take off your outer robe. Just wear your lined jacket."
Bai Zepei thought that it was the only solution. He immediately took off his clothes. However, the outer robe was thin, and the Black Dog Blood had seeped into the lined jacket beneath, staining it red. The smell was still bad, but at least it was much better than the outer robe.
Many candidates standing nearby started whispering about Bai Zepei. Some even had the courage to join the previous man in his accusations.
"That’s the nephew of the man who cheated to be the top scorer. He can’t be all that innocent."
"Don’t talk about it anymore. Maybe they have connections high up. We ordinary people cannot afford to offend such people."
"Hmph, let’s see if he can top the exams this time!"
...
Bai Zehao was fuming. He threw a punch at the face of the man who had sprinkled the Black Dog Blood. The man was knocked off his feet and quickly developed a black eye. However, he reacted swiftly, rolling and scrambling his way into the examination venue. Before entering, he gave Bai Zehao a thumbs-down.
Bai Zehao was so angry that he wanted to chase after him and continue the fight. But the examination venue entrance was guarded by officers. He had no choice but to cease his pursuit and grumble a few words outside.
"I don’t want to see him again. Next time, I won’t stop until I knock out his teeth," Bai Zehao grumbled through gritted teeth.
Bai Ruozhu grabbed her big brother’s arm and said, "Never mind him. He probably won’t perform well in this round of exams, or else he wouldn’t be so lacking in confidence." She glanced at Bai Zepei and added, "Big brother, you stay with second brother first. I will be back soon." With that said, she turned to run off.
The examination would start very soon. It was too late to run home for new clothes, and people at that time could only afford a single lined jacket. There weren’t many spare clothes for changes. Bai Ruozhu thought that attending the examination in his current state would affect Bai Zepei’s performance and the examiners’ attitude towards him. Therefore, she dashed to the ready-made Clothes Shop.
She couldn’t care less about the price. She chose a lined jacket and a straight robe. Her second brother was tall and thin and the ready-made clothing wasn’t too suitable for him. However, it was better than wearing tainted clothes. She had to make do.
She dashed back with the new clothes, handed them to Bai Zepei and panted, "Second brother, change quickly and go take the exam."
Bai Zepei accepted the clothes without hesitation and changed on the spot at the examination venue entrance, his eyes slightly red. After changing, he looked at Bai Ruozhu gratefully. "Thank you, little sister. I will do my best."
Bai Ruozhu still hadn’t caught her breath. She looked at him. The lined jacket was too large for him. Luckily, it would nicely fit him when tied with a belt. But the straight robe was a little short, revealing his trouser legs, which didn’t look good.
However, it was not the time to care about appearances. She gasped for breath and said, "Stop wasting time. Hurry up and enter, or else you won’t make it."
Bai Zepei nodded at the two of them, turned around, and strode into the examination venue.
Watching her second brother’s retreating figure, Bai Ruozhu felt a twinge of heartache. Her second brother was working so hard and had done nothing wrong. Why should he pay for Bai Yibo’s error? There were too many people in the world who lacked discernment and judged impulsively.
Thinking back to the man who had sprinkled Dog Blood, Bai Ruozhu grinded her teeth in anger. He had wasted her money and energy and inflicted a bellyful of anger onto her. She would not let him off easily.
Her big brother had the same thought. He told her, "Little sister, you go back to the stall and help out. I will stay here and wait for that brat to come out. I will teach him a good lesson."
Bai Ruozhu gave her big brother a approving look. She said, "Big brother, hit him as much as you want, just don’t kill him."
Bai Zehao held his fist up to his face and blew on it, "Rest assured, I have been wanting to stretch my muscles these past few days."
"Then I am going to help out first. I will come back later to find you." With that said, Bai Ruozhu picked up Bai Zepei’s discarded clothes and left. These pieces of clothing were worth a decent amount of silver. In this era, resources were scarce and it was not right to just discard clothes.
She took the clothes back to the stall. She immediately fetched a bucket of water and rinsed the clothes, washing off a considerable amount of blood. Lin Ping’er and Bai Yihong were scared by the sight of it.
Lin Ping’er recognized the clothes as being Bai Zepei’s. She anxiously asked, "These are your second brother’s clothes. What happened? Is your second brother okay?"