Volume 1, Chapter 6: A Clear Conscience Needs No Defense

"Miss Jiang, you don't understand..." Shen Juntang lowered his voice, intending to expose Qiao Xun. Turning his head, he saw Qiao Xun standing nearby, motionless. He shouted with a face full of disdain, "Qiao Xun, can't you hear that I’m trying to have a private conversation? How am I supposed to tell Miss Jiang anything with you standing there like a statue?"

Jiang Xian: "..."

This young master didn't seem particularly bright!

Qiao Xun spoke indifferently: "I only know that a gentleman never indulges in gossip about others."

"Don't you go spouting that 'gentleman' nonsense at me. You’re hardly a paragon of virtue yourself—you’re the reason I failed the county examination..." Shen Juntang was so furious he prepared to lunge at him.

Jiang Xian sighed with exhaustion.

Well, it seemed she wouldn't be getting the tea on this drama today!

Thinking of the important business she had to attend to, she shouldered the wild boar and stepped forward to block Shen Juntang, offering a perfunctory excuse: "Young Master Shen, I still have matters to attend to at the county magistrate's office. Qiao the student is someone I hired to help with paperwork; I really don't know him well. Besides, we are pressed for time. If you have anything to say, we can discuss it in detail next time I come to the shop to deliver goods. Please, do me the favor of clearing the way today and stop making things difficult for him, would you?"

Hearing this, Shen Juntang finally relented. They also needed to return to the county school with the brush, ink, paper, and inkstone they had purchased, so he huffed at Qiao Xun: "Qiao Xun, consider yourself lucky today. Because Heroine Jiang is speaking up for you, I’ll spare you this time!"

"My conscience is clear, so I fear no shadows. No matter how many times you ask, my answer will remain the same," Qiao Xun replied, neither servile nor overbearing, his deep, narrow eyes devoid of any trace of fear.

"You—"

"Hey, hey, Young Master Shen, could you do me a favor? I'm in a rush. Also, do watch your head on the way back!" Jiang Xian said, piling on a forced smile. She was mostly worried that the wild boar on her shoulder might accidentally splatter a few drops of blood.

Shen Juntang cupped his hands at Jiang Xian: "Heroine Jiang, we shall have our private talk another time. We’ll be off now!"

"Right, until next time!" Jiang Xian waved her hand with a fake smile, thinking to herself that she wished this young master would leave already—he was such a nuisance!

Once Shen Juntang and his party had left, the village head looked at Jiang Xian with newfound admiration: "Lass Jiang, I truly never realized you were so well-connected in the county town. You even know young masters like that?"

Jiang Xian smiled helplessly: "Oh, it's just that besides hunting, I also pick some medicinal herbs to sell to the pharmacy. That young master is the second son of Songhe Hall. I'm quite familiar with the young proprietor of their shop, but I don't really know the others."

"That’s still impressive, Lass Jiang. There isn't another woman in our village as capable as you!" The village head praised her, then laughed: "Let’s hurry to the magistrate's office to handle the paperwork; Daniu is still waiting for us at the city gates!"

"Yes, let's go!" Jiang Xian agreed.

Neither of them seemed interested in why Qiao Xun had been harassed, and it wasn't their place to ask. They weren't even from the same village, and prying into someone else's embarrassment would be quite rude.

This actually made Qiao Xun, who had been looking rather grim, feel much more at ease, and his favorable impression of the village head and Jiang Xian grew even stronger.

The three quickened their pace toward the magistrate's office. Although this was Qiao Xun’s first time helping someone handle paperwork at the office, he understood how things worked.

As the saying goes, it is easy to deal with the King of Hell, but hard to deal with the petty demons.

There was nothing that could not be handled with silver.

Though Qiao Xun despised the behavior of these corrupt officials, from the capital down to the county office, how many truly clean officials were there left?

Sometimes, sitting at home, Qiao Xun would wonder if his diligent studies to enter the court and become an official were truly suited for him.

But the empire, eroded by worms, was exactly what they, the young generation, needed to repair, wasn't it?

Jiang Xian had brought three taels of silver with her. She spent two to complete all the paperwork. Because the village head trusted Jiang Xian, he registered Jiang Tang directly under the Jiang family's household registry, as the Chen Sanlai couple had seemed unreliable from the start.

Events proved that those two shameless rascals were indeed unreliable!

The low-level clerk handling the paperwork was nearing the end of his shift, and in his haste to finish and send the documents for the official seal, he mistakenly registered Jiang Tang as Jiang Xian’s daughter instead of the adopted daughter of Jiang Shunde.

Once the official seal was affixed, it could not be changed, and Jiang Xian had no choice but to accept her fate.

Having lived two lifetimes, being an eighteen-year-old mother without the pain of childbirth wasn't the worst thing in the world.

Having officially adopted Tangtang, Jiang Xian folded the adoption papers, placed them in a silk pouch, and tucked them into her robes. With one burden lifted, she felt refreshed.

Even just having adopted her, she could feel the powerful luck radiating from Tangtang. Jiang Xian felt truly fortunate, though a cold smile played on her lips.

The moment of misfortune for the Chen Sanlai couple was finally approaching!

Because she had tipped him, one of the clerks who had benefited kindly gave Jiang Xian a heads-up as she left, slipping her a copy of an upcoming government decree.

When Jiang Xian saw the contents, she was momentarily stunned.

The village head and Qiao Xun noticed her change in expression and stepped forward: "Lass Jiang, what’s the matter?"

"Miss Jiang, is there something wrong with the adoption papers?"

Jiang Xian casually crumpled the decree into a ball and stuffed it into her robes, smiling and shaking her head at them: "It’s nothing. Let’s go; I still need to go to the market at the vegetable stall to sell my game. If you’re in a hurry, you can go ahead and wait for me at the city gates!"

She used to supply game to the restaurants, but business had been poor over the past few months, and few people were buying game, so they had stopped taking her stock. She had no choice but to go to the vegetable market and sell it off in smaller portions at a lower price.

Qiao Xun shook his head calmly: "I have some business to attend to at the bookstore, so I won't return with you. Please, go ahead with your errands; there is no need to wait for me."

Jiang Xian looked at the increasingly heavy black mist on Qiao Xun’s forehead—a sign of impending disaster.

After their brief time together, Jiang Xian genuinely felt he was a decent person. At the very least, she couldn't watch him head into disaster without doing anything.

"You don't have a place to stay in the county town. We came together, so we should go back together. Go attend to your business, and let's meet at the city gates at the hour of the Rooster (5:00 PM). It would save you from walking back to Huanxi Village in the dark alone. If something were to happen on the road, I would feel guilty and blame myself."

The village head also chimed in: "That's right, Student Qiao. Walking is nowhere near as fast as taking the donkey cart. Since Lass Jiang has already paid for it, we might as well use it. You go handle your business, and we’ll meet at the gates when the time comes."

This was the first time Qiao Xun had felt such intense kindness from strangers. He bowed slightly: "Your kindness is hard to refuse. I am deeply grateful to Miss Jiang and Village Head Chen for your good intentions!"

Jiang Xian waved at him: "Be careful on your way and watch out for yourself. We'll meet at the city gates at the hour of the Rooster!"

Qiao Xun nodded, turned, and walked away with long, steady strides.

The village head also wanted to buy some things for his home. People from the countryside rarely made it to town, and he was only here today thanks to Jiang Xian.

Jiang Xian took the village head to the vegetable market.

Qiao Xun went in the opposite direction, toward Chessboard Street, located in front of the county school.

Most of Chessboard Street consisted of bookstores, which sold the four treasures of the study, musical instruments, chess, calligraphy, and paintings, and provided inside information for the county school students preparing for exams.

Qiao Xun usually visited the bookstores to copy books for money. Because he had placed first in both the county and prefecture examinations, his reputation as a top-ranked scholar was not to be underestimated. The bookstore owners were willing to capitalize on his name and paid him twice as much as they paid others for copying work.

Had he not been frequently hindered in the subsequent provincial examinations, his fame as a triple-top scholar would likely have spread throughout Qingzhou City long ago.

Thinking of this, Qiao Xun’s expression darkened.

He walked into a familiar bookstore and asked: "Manager, do you have any need for book copying recently?"

"Oh, Student Qiao, long time no see. Unfortunately, all the copying jobs in the shop have already been assigned!" Although the manager wore a smile, his tone was dismissive.

Qiao Xun didn't force the issue and tried another shop, only to be rejected again.

Four or five bookstores in a row had similar excuses.

He immediately understood what was going on.

It seemed someone had pulled strings to make things difficult for him. If that was the case, he was determined to strive even harder!

Qiao Xun changed his strategy. He walked into the last bookstore and asked the manager if he needed any predictions or essays for the upcoming provincial examinations next year.

After the provincial exams in August, a large number of candidates who failed would return to the county school to prepare for the next year. Those who could take the exam were past the age of rote memorization; they spent their time discussing the private opinions of high-ranking officials, analyzing past exam questions, or studying the essays of the chief examiners to cater to their preferences.

Besides selling stationery and copying books, bookstore owners made their money from these "prediction booklets."

They always had their own channels to learn the preferences of the chief examiners and would compile them into booklets. These were highly sought after by students and were often hard to come by.

Although Qiao Xun had been unlucky these past few years, his foundation in studies was deep; otherwise, he wouldn't have topped the county and prefecture exams.

Therefore, for next year’s provincial exam, he planned to make predictions based on the personal preferences of the current Chief Examiner of Baiyun Prefecture, Liu Shangqi. Since the essays were generally drawn from the Four Books and Five Classics, which he had memorized perfectly, he estimated he wouldn't make many mistakes.

Hearing this, the bookstore manager was tempted.

Even though Qiao Xun had been unlucky lately and was being suppressed by someone, his academic foundation was solid. If he were the one making the predictions, nine out of ten would likely be accurate, and the shop would make a fortune.

However, the manager hesitated, worried about the consequences.

Qiao Xun played his trump card: "Manager, I only do this to make a living. No matter how many copies you print, I only ask for five taels of silver as a fee for my hard work, and I will not put my real name on it. That way, you won't have to worry about the orders of certain people!"

Fortune favors the bold!

The manager gritted his teeth and agreed: "Fine, five taels of silver it is. But these prediction booklets need to be ready quickly. It's best if you can deliver them to the shop within half a month so I can arrange for them to be copied and printed!"

"Understood! I will deliver them within three days!"

The manager wasn't afraid of Qiao Xun running off, so he took two taels of silver from the account as a deposit and would pay the rest once the complete booklets were delivered.

Qiao Xun left, feeling satisfied with the two taels of silver in his pocket; it was enough to provide for his family back home.

Just as he left, a figure crept out of the bookstore and began to follow him closely.