Reborn as the Blissful Wife in the countryside-Chapter 1118: Tong San

"Ha, so useless. We haven’t even really fought you, and you ran away already," the little beggars said disdainfully. They thought the Tong Family was formidable, but is this all?

Xiao Sui said, "Third Brother, you stay here with the brothers and keep watch, in case the Tong Family or the Lv Family people come back for revenge."

He continued, "Second Brother, you come with me to see Young Master Gu and tell him what happened here to see if he has any instructions."

"Alright," the second of the little beggars responded, following Xiao Sui to the Xu Mansion in the city.

The Gu Family had a mansion in Linhe Prefecture, which was quite nice. It was acquired when Master Hu decided to compensate the Gu Family with part of the Xia Family’s assets after Master Xia’s downfall.

However, this time, Gu Jin’an did not stay in his own mansion for the exam but resided at the Xu Family’s mansion.

One reason was the overwhelming hospitality of Elder Xu, and another was that if his residence was discovered by the people of Linhe Prefecture, he could quietly move to his own mansion for some peace.

The Xu Family mansion in Linhe Prefecture was quite good, a standard three-courtyard house located in Qingzhu Lane, a place where some poor scholars congregate, not a wealthy street, yet it was very quiet. Elder Xu specifically bought it for Xu Zhao Ming to use while preparing for the college examination.

As soon as they arrived at the Xu Family mansion, Elder Xu was delighted and personally allocated the courtyards to Gu Jin’an and the others, even specially arranging for Gu Jin’an and Xu Zhao Ming to stay in the same courtyard, hoping Gu Jin’an could mentor Xu Zhao Ming and enhance his scholarly knowledge.

Gu Jin’an, being a person who could adapt to any environment, said nothing but agreed, noticing that Gu Dexing and He Jinseng looked a bit worried, he smiled and said, "Brother Jin Sheng, Brother Dexing, we’re living in the same mansion, so we can study together day or night."

Hearing this, Gu Dexing and He Jinseng finally smiled.

After Elder Xu had allocated the courtyards to them, he said to Scholar Qu, "Scholar Qu, don’t worry. I have already sent someone to fetch a doctor for you and your nephew. He will be here soon, and Wenliang’s hand will be alright."

Scholar Qu was always worried about this matter, fearing that Qu Wenliang’s hand injury would affect the college examination. Upon hearing this, he immediately bowed in thanks, "Thank you, Elder Xu."

Not only did Elder Xu spend a large amount of money to hire a famous doctor to treat the injuries of the Qu family uncle and nephew, but also asked the doctor to feel the pulses of Lv Bai and He Jinseng, prescribing some sleeping pills to calm their minds, lest they be frightened by the robbers and can focus on their examination.

Dr. Lian, a renowned doctor in Linhe Prefecture, examined their injuries and took their pulse, saying, "The injuries have not worsened and are healing. During this time, pay attention to your diet and do not eat any inflaming foods that could cause the wound to fester. As for the other students, if you have nightmares, take some sleeping pills, but if you sleep well, there’s no need to take them."

Hearing this, Scholar Qu was very happy and asked Dr. Lian carefully, "Which foods are inflammatory and could make the wound fester? Please write a list for us, so we can avoid them."

Dr. Lian nodded, wrote down the inflammatory foods that could cause the wound to fester, and prescribed medicine before leaving.

Elder Xu additionally gave Dr. Lian a fifty taels silver note, requesting, "Dr. Lian, please keep this location confidential, so the students can prepare for their exams without worry."

Renowned doctors like Dr. Lian have professional ethics. Upon receiving the silver, they would keep the patient’s information confidential, thus he agreed. 𝐟𝕣𝗲𝕖𝕨𝗲𝐛𝗻𝗼𝐯𝗲𝚕.𝗰𝚘𝐦

Shortly after Dr. Lian left, Xiao Sui took advantage of the time when Xu Zhao Ming went to attend to Elder Xu and came in through the window to tell Gu Jin’an about the Tong Family incident, "Young Master Gu, we have intercepted the trackers. They will not find this place. Do you have any other instructions?"

Gu Jin’an already knew about Xiao Sui’s group, as Qin San Lang and Xiao Yu had informed him of their situation.

Xiao Sui and his group had arrived in Linhe Prefecture half a month earlier to make preparations. If there was anything Gu Jin’an didn’t want to handle personally, he would instruct Xiao Sui’s group to take care of it.

Gu Jin’an said, "Keep an eye on the Tong Family, Lv Family, and the storytellers’ teahouse. If anyone plays the filial piety card, investigate promptly to see who is behind hiring the storyteller."

He continued, "Also, find out about the person at the city gate who helped us today—who do they belong to?"

"Yes," Xiao Sui noted everything down and left only after Gu Jin’an had finished giving instructions.

After resting for a night, Gu Jin’an and his group began to study in seclusion. Meanwhile, the Tong Family was furious. Elder Tong Er exclaimed angrily, "A group of people entering the city so openly, and you still lost them? Useless!"

Old San had gone through great pains to eliminate Yan Xiaowu and become the top of the county, aiming for the top student position. Now, with Gu Jin’an as an obstacle, if they didn’t get rid of him, Old San’s chance of becoming the top student would likely be ruined.

The Tong Family’s Guardian Master knelt on the ground, promising, "Second Master, don’t be angry. We will certainly search the city and find where Gu Jin’an is staying, ruin him so he can’t block Third Young Master’s path!"

"Hmph, you can’t even find the person, don’t talk big here," Elder Tong Er was filled with anger. Old San was his son, and his father had said that if Old San could become the top student and bring glory to the Tong Family, during the future division of the family, their second branch could get sixty percent. The Tong Family’s power would also support Old San into officialdom.

Elder Tong Er was thus in a hurry, wishing Gu Jin’an would drop dead. Seeing the Guardian Master just made him more irritated, he shouted angrily, "What are you still kneeling for? Hurry up and find him, or do you expect me to investigate myself?!"

"Yes!" The Guardian Master responded, quickly getting up, but bumped into Young Master Tong San.

"Wait," Young Master Tong San stopped the Guardian Master and said to Elder Tong Er, "Father, there’s no need to hurry. He’s just a farmer’s son, are we afraid we can’t ruin him?"

Elder Tong Er’s eyes lit up at this, eagerly asking, "San’er, have you thought of another ingenious plan to destroy Gu Jin’an?"

Young Master Tong San nodded, "Yes, Gu Jin’an’s family isn’t clean. It’s easy to ruin him. There’s no need for the guardians to find him. Can he hide forever? He’ll have to go out for the exam, and we can deal with him after he’s finished."

Elder Tong Er frowned, "Dealing with him after the exam, wouldn’t the rankings already be decided then? Wouldn’t that be too late?"

"It’s not too late, rankings can still be revoked," Young Master Tong San said. "Father, because I surpassed Yan Xiaowu and became the top of the county, I’ve already offended some people. We should keep a low profile now. Searching the city for Gu Jin’an’s whereabouts is inappropriate. If the Yan Family finds out and trips us up, what then? Today, the Yan Family’s servants helped Gu Jin’an at the city gate."

The Yan Family is a famous noble family in Linhe Prefecture, with countless officials from second-rank officials to scholars in their family. Yan Xiaowu’s knowledge was universally acknowledged to be excellent in the city, and the Yan Family had high hopes for him. This time, however, he’d been beaten for county’s top scorer, so the Yan Family was certainly harboring resentment.

If they caught them attempting to target Gu Jin’an, they would be finished. So, it’s better to remain low-key for a while and wait until the college examination is over.