The Lucky Farmgirl
Chapter 747 - 736: Jumping Out the Window

Chapter 747: Chapter 736: Jumping Out the Window

County Magistrate Tang thought for a moment and said, "It’s just a matter of one or two years. Once this matter cools down, they will definitely transfer me out. I was thinking that it might be better to gain some experience in the localities since most cases in the Ministry of Justice are reported from there. So, I would like to go to the localities."

Yang Heshu nodded in agreement.

County Magistrate Tang smiled and asked, "What about you?"

Ever since leaving the capital, the two men had mostly corresponded by letter. Even though the places where they worked weren’t very far apart, a day’s journey at most, the times they actually met in person were indeed rare.

If it hadn’t been for the matter with Counsellor Chang, Yang Heshu probably wouldn’t have come to find him, so County Magistrate Tang took the opportunity to ask.

"Me?" Yang Heshu smiled and said, "I’m not in a hurry to leave. I plan to serve three more years. The situation in Luojiang County has just started to improve, and if I leave now, nobody knows what the next magistrate will be like."

County Magistrate Tang nodded.

Yang Heshu did not share his aspirations; he enjoyed the field of criminal law, hence his ultimate aim was the Ministry of Justice.

By contrast, Yang Heshu evidently preferred civil governance. The cases he investigated in a year probably didn’t amount to the number he adjudicated in a single day, but the number of times he went down to the countryside in a month might equal his total for the year.

"After three years, if Luojiang County were to change from a lower county to a middle county, your merit would be immeasurable."

Yang Heshu laughed and said, "Let’s not, in a mere six years, how could a county go from being a lower county to a middle county? If it did happen, it’d be because the local reports on finances were falsified. Then Uncle Lord Tang would come looking for me."

As they were talking, County Magistrate Tang, who was standing by the window, suddenly raised an eyebrow and smiled, "Come, let’s go out and watch the fun."

Hand pausing, Yang Heshu stood up and asked, "What fun are we watching?"

Upon opening the door of their private room, they saw a stern-faced, blue-complexioned middle-aged scholar leading two men looking like family retainers, stomping up the stairs.

He hesitated for a moment when he saw County Magistrate Tang as he remembered that it was Tang’s servant who had come to present a complaint just before. He then twisted his mouth into a smile and bowed in greeting.

County Magistrate Tang waved his hand with a smile, "Go about your business, Teacher, no need for formalities."

The teacher hurried off with the two guards toward the neighboring private room.

The waiter had just served them food. Manbao had just picked up a piece of meat and was about to put it into his mouth when the door of the private room was suddenly kicked open from outside.

Alarmed, Manbao’s hand trembled as he turned and glared. Upon seeing the familiar teacher standing at the door, the meat on his chopsticks dropped with a plunk.

Wei Ting, sitting directly opposite the door, came face-to-face with the teacher. His chopsticks also dropped with a plunk.

Seeing the sumptuous meal on the table, the teacher became furious, placed his hands on his hips, and shouted, "The audacity you have to skip class and come out to eat and drink! Come, take them all back with you!"

Bai Shan was the first to react, his gaze lowered as he whispered urgently, "Run now!"

As Wei Ting and the others came to their senses, they kicked their stools away and tried to rush out, only to find the doorway guarded by two school sentries.

Manbao glanced at Bai Shan and then started giving instructions, "Jump through the window, jump! It’s only the second floor. Bend your knees, you won’t die from it."

Wei Ting hesitated. It’s just being caught for skipping class, right?

There was no need to be so desperate, right?

At worst, they would just be caught and punished.

As he hesitated, the two sentries had come in, and the teacher pointed at several students who were covering their faces with their sleeves, "Stop covering! Take that down and report your names and classes..."

Wei Ting immediately stopped panicking; he was already seen by the teacher and wasn’t afraid. So he started to encourage his classmates, "You guys run; we’ll cover for you."

Upon hearing this, Classmate A made up his mind, went over to the window to look down, and saw a handcart had somehow positioned itself below, piled high with straw, right below their window.

Classmate A was slightly taken aback, then climbed up to the window and began to jump...

The others hadn’t had time to look down; seeing him jump so boldly, they couldn’t help but let out a cry of alarm and rushed to the window to watch with concern.

They saw him slide off a pile of straw, then turn around and frantically wave at them.

Not far away, Bai Shan’s extremely capable servant stood with arms crossed at the side of the cart, looking at them with cold detachment.

What more was there to understand?

The straw was there to save their lives, put by one of their own.

Who hadn’t jumped down from the wall before, landing on a pile of straw? They were well acquainted with this maneuver, so the students crowded at the window started climbing up one by one, jumping down...

The teacher was scared half to death and quickly rushed over to grab them, with the two sentries also scared out of their wits and following suit...

Despite their intense scolding, if anything really happened to those kids, they wouldn’t get off lightly either.

But suddenly, Wei Ting rushed up and clung to the teacher’s legs, crying, "Teacher, I know I was wrong! I shouldn’t have skipped class to come and eat. Please, take me back."

"Let go of me! Let go at once! None of you are allowed to jump anymore."

Bai Shan, Manbao, and Bai Erlang had long been lined up in front of the two sentries, throwing their arms wide, "Do you also want to catch us?"

Bai Shan said, "I’m not skipping school; I’m an external student."

Manbao and Bai Erlang said, "We aren’t students from the academy; we just came out to eat with friends. You can’t catch us."

The sentries dared not lay hands on them but shouted, "We won’t catch you; just get out of the way!"

"That won’t do; how do we know you aren’t just deceiving us? What if the moment we split up, you catch all three of us?"

So it went: they moved east, we followed east; they went west, and we hopped over to block them on the west side. Meanwhile, the people by the window, one by one, all ran off.

Having worked up a sweat, Manbao finally allowed the sentries to go after them.

The sentries rushed over only to catch a glimpse of their retreating figures, noticing their agile bodies and feeling a mild sense of relief.

Wiping the sweat from his forehead and neck, Manbao tugged on Bai Erlang to sneak out, but then saw the teacher slam the table and bellow, "None of you are leaving!"

Furious, his nose almost askew, he pointed at Wei Ting. Realizing he dared not oppose him, he turned his finger towards Bai Shan, "Bai Shan, tell me, what are the names of those four who just left, and which classes are they from?"

Bai Shan said, "I don’t recognize them; they were brought by Wei Ting. These two are the ones I brought."

The teacher stared at Manbao and Bai Erlang, realizing he didn’t recognize them, and asked with a frown, "What are your names, and which classes are you from?"

Manbao immediately raised his hand and said, "Sir, we are not students from the academy. Isn’t Bai Shan the youngest one from your academy? We are his friends from outside."

Bai Erlang nodded repeatedly, "Yes, yes, we’re not from the academy."

So you really can’t boss us around.

The teacher, pointing at Bai Shan’s nose, scolded, "With your knack for cunning, you wouldn’t be unaware of who they are? Don’t know why you came to eat? Tell me, what are their names, which classes do they belong to?"