Chapter 313:1 Have Evidence
Translator: Henyee Translations Editor: Henyee Translations
Xiaoxiao looked at Xiao Ran, who was secretly laughing, and then at Gu Chang’an, whose eyes were cold. She suddenly had an idea. “I remember that Mother is the only daughter of the Xiao Family?”
Xiao Ran nodded with a smile. “But the Yan Family has a lot of children. Other than the Shen Family, they have the most children in the entire Imperial Capital. There was even a girl who took a fancy to your father back then.”
Gu Chang’an’s dissatisfaction turned to helplessness. “I ignored her at all, but you went to the appointment.”
Xiao Ran pursed her lips. “I just wanted to beat up that toad. Aiyo, so you were secretly paying attention to me at that time. Are you jealous?”
Good lord, she suddenly had goosebumps. Xiaoxiao started to miss Little Big Brother.
However, the mountains were far and it was very troublesome to write a letter to him. She could only obediently teach Gu Chang’an how to make dehydrated vegetables step by step. She also started to buy suitable vegetables and other stuff from the surroundings in a low profile manner.
At this point, Xiaoxiao surprisingly realized that her parents were actually very poor. She only found out after asking that her mother had been supporting her brothers in the army.
She couldn’t care less about the border, so she was mainly taking care of the soldiers who could not continue to stay on the battlefield because of their injuries.
As the saying went, a general’s achievements were tens of thousands of bones. How many people could rely on the military to make a name for themselves? It was even more so for ordinary people who had fought hard in the past and still had to worry about their livelihood after returning. It would be fine if they were healthy and strong after their military service ended. They could at least support themselves. However, what should they do about the injured who could not even take care of themselves? How about those who had unfortunately died, leaving behind a family of orphans and widows?
In order to help these people deal with the aftermath as much as possible, the General’s Residence was only left with the mansion given by the Emperor. As for the Gu Family… They were called the “Clearwater Family”. Who didn’t understand the meaning of “Clearwater”?
Xiaoxiao touched her chin and ran back to her room to take out a few banknotes worth a few thousand taels. She was stunned by her biological parents—was their daughter so rich?
Xiaoxiao gave them a rough estimate of her income. When she looked at the dehydrated vegetables, she had some thoughts.
Initially, she thought that she could do this for nothing. Now that she thought about it, she might need to think about it at length.
Money was not omnipotent, but with money, she could do more useful things.
In the blink of an eye, it was time for the results to be released. The Ning Family was the same as the day they sent Ning Ansheng for the exam. The entire family was mobilized and was rather solemn. However, Ning Fengnian and Madam Song were the first to cower when they arrived at the results. One of them was at a loss and the other was dizzy. Neither of them dared to go forward to take a look.
There was already a dense crowd at the front of the rankings. The two of them were squeezed out, making it difficult for them to move forward.
Xiao Ran and Gu Chang’an were too embarrassed to squeeze in with the younger generation, but they had to protect Xiaoxiao from those unfamiliar men. Ning Anhui didn’t care and dragged his brother into the crowd like a fish.
The two of them were tall and strong, so it was not difficult for them to squeeze to the front of the rankings at all. Xiaoxiao tiptoed and watched the two of them enter, not coming out for a long time.
“That’s strange. Why did it take so long?” Regardless of whether he was on the rankings or not, he had to come out.
Xiaoxiao also found it strange. She saw Ning Ansheng and Ning Anhui being pushed out by the crowd with dull expressions. They even stood rooted to the ground in a daze, not knowing how to move. Madam Song nervously pulled them back to her family, not knowing how to ask.
Ning Fengnian patted his eldest son’s shoulder. “It’s fine. Just come back next time. How many people can get into the Xiucai examination in one try? Look, he’s still working hard even though his hair is white. Let’s build a solid foundation…”
Ning Anhui interrupted his father with a dreamy expression. “No, no, Father. Big Brother got it!”
As soon as he said this, Ning Fengnian almost bit his tongue. His eyes widened as well. Looking at his expression, he even wanted to dig out his ears. “What did you say? Got it? Got it? What did he get?”
Ning Anhui had already regained his composure as a shopkeeper. “Father, I mean, Big Brother got it. He’s a Xiucai!”
They had started searching at the bottom of the rankings just now. They were a little nervous when they didn’t see Ning Ansheng’s name in the middle. They didn’t expect Ning Ansheng’s name to be in the top 10!
“Big Brother is ranked seventh in the academy examination!”
Madam Song’s eyes were red with excitement. “Ancestor, thank you for the blessings!”
Just as the entire family was happy, a disappointing voice suddenly came from the side. “If the Ning Family’s ancestor is in heaven, he won’t bless you unfilial descendants!”
Xiaoxiao turned around and instinctively wanted to pull out a mirror to let Little Aunt Ning look at herself again. It would be best if she could make herself cry after looking at herself.
This time, Little Aunt Ning came prepared. When the Ning Family came, she had already rehearsed what Third Brother Ning had taught her in her heart. Hence, she was very eloquent now. She shouted at the top of her lungs, “Scum like you who have an unclear relationship with bandits, why are you still taking the imperial examination? You should be arrested and brought to court!”
After saying that, she waved at the officials standing on both sides of the rankings. “Brother Constable! Brother Constable! Come and catch the bandits!”
The officials’ expressions changed when they heard that. The commoners also made way in fear. Xiaoxiao was speechless. “Can you make up such a thing?”
Little Aunt Ning was waiting for her to say this. “I have evidence!”
This surprised Xiaoxiao. Little Aunt Ning took out a rusty iron weapon from her arms and raised it in front of the official. “Big Brother, you might not know, but this wild girl called Ning Xiaoxiao was picked up by them from the river more than 10 years ago. The person with her had this weapon with him at that time.”
Third Brother said that this was a crossbow with a blood groove. It fell from the man who protected Ning Xiaoxiao back then.
“How could an ordinary person bring such a sinister and vicious thing? Ning Xiaoxiao’s family must be bandits! This thing was covered in blood back then!”
As the officials started to be on guard, they quickly released signal fireworks to call for their companions. However, what puzzled them was why those suspicious figures did not show any signs of running away.
More soldiers quickly surrounded Xiaoxiao and the rest. Although the Ning Family did not know Xiaoxiao’s biological parents’ identities, they felt from their words and actions that they were definitely not villains who killed the innocent. Moreover, they trusted Xiaoxiao more than Little Aunt Ning.
Little Aunt Ning was still smug. “Back then, Third Brother was afraid that the villain would take revenge, so he had no choice but to take Ning Xiaoxiao in. However, he specially left this evidence behind in order to find an opportunity to bring the villain to justice. You guys think that you’ve already escaped the authorities’ pursuit, but you don’t know that justice has long arms. Ning Xiaoxiao, hurry up and surrender!”
Xiaoxiao turned to look at her parents. Xiao Ran looked at the arrowhead with the bloodletting trough and triangular thorns and recalled the personal guard who protected Xiaoxiao back then. His corpse was discovered in the opposite direction of Fortune Village. It must be to prevent her enemies from discovering Xiaoxiao’s traces.
She took a step forward and extended her hand to the official. “Can you… let me see this arrowhead?”
The officer drew his saber and was about to slash, but before he could see what happened, he felt his hand empty. The arrowhead appeared in Xiao Ran’s hand.
Gu Chang’an stood behind his wife and pressed against her trembling body.
“Is this the thing that took their lives?”
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