The second girl of the Xu family looked at Liu Yunxiang and the others suspiciously, and at this moment, someone in the courtyard called her, her expression tensed, and she hurriedly invited the two to the corner.

When Liu Yunxiang turned around, he glanced back and saw that it was Mrs. Xu. She came out with something, looked around, didn't find Miss Xu Er, and muttered something in her mouth.

For fear of being discovered by her mother, the second girl Xu hurriedly invited Liu Yunxiang inside.

"Don't let my mother see you."

Liu Yunxiang looked at Miss Xu Er and was silent for a moment, "What happened to your brother?" ”

Miss Xu Er didn't answer, but asked them instead: "Is it really Mr. Bai who asked you to come?" What about Mr. White? I heard that he is not in the academy, so where is he now? But something happened? ”

A series of questions shows that this Second Miss Xu cares about Old Man Bai.

"He's fine, don't worry......"

"He's in Yangzhou prison."

Liu Yunxiang wanted to appease Miss Xu Er, but Yan Duan's words frightened people.

"Big, big, big?" Miss Xu's face turned white.

Liu Yunxiang glared at Yan Dui, but Yan Dui didn't care, and continued to say: "He committed a crime, and now he is locked up in prison, so he asked the two of us to take care of the Mid-Levels Academy, and at the same time, I hope we can help your brother." ”

"And who are you?"

"Old man Bai thinks that we have this ability, and this is the most important thing."

Miss Xu lowered her eyes and thought for a long time, and just when Liu Yunxiang was waiting a little anxiously, she finally spoke.

"My brother won the first place in the flower list, but because of his business status, he was not qualified to pass the township examination. He was angry, but helpless, and his talent and ambition had nowhere to show. ”

Speaking of this, Second Miss Xu frowned.

And then ...... Then he made a fake household registration form, changed his business registration to agricultural registration, and went to Yangzhou to take the township test. After the township examination, he went directly to Shengjing without telling us, participated in the examination next year, and won the first place in one fell swoop. Then there was the palace test, because of the talent and appearance, I ordered the flower. But not long after the list was released, the court found out that his household registration was fake, and because he had participated in the palace examination, he was almost convicted of bullying the king. “

Miss Xu Er remembered what happened at that time, and she couldn't stop trembling.

Liu Yunxiang can understand that if it is just a simple fake household registration to participate in the imperial examination, the crime will not be too big, at least it will not be a capital crime, but if it is convicted of bullying the king, it is not only him, I am afraid that their Xu family will be affected.

"Fortunately, the old prince of Shunping came forward, so he was exempted from punishment and sent my brother back to Yangzhou."

Liu Yunxiang was a little surprised, and turned his head to look at Yan Dui, it turned out that the person he said used a fake register to participate in the imperial examination and passed the examination was this Xu Jingyu.

Yan Du sighed slightly, when he received a letter from the old prince of Shunping, he felt sorry and even angry for this young man, and he was not. It's just that to change a law, it's not that simple.

"So your brother went back to Yangzhou?" Liu Yunxiang hurriedly asked.

Second Miss Xu nodded with red eyes, "I'm back." ”

"What about the others?"

"He went back to Yangzhou, but on the boat back to Zhushui County, he committed suicide."

Liu Yunxiang was shocked, "He, he committed suicide?" ”

"Throw yourself into the lake." Tears fell from Miss Xu's eyes, "The boatman saw him jump off the boat and rushed to save him, but he was still washed away by the water." The officials of the government searched all the way down the river and found his body three days later. ”

After Miss Xu finished speaking, Liu Yunxiang and Yan Du fell silent. I didn't expect Xu Jingyu to think about it like this, and resolutely ended his life.

"Maybe he wasn't talented enough, he didn't participate in the township examination, didn't participate in the meeting examination and the palace examination, and didn't point to Tanhua, he wouldn't have done such a stupid thing with grief and anger."

"The government told my family to claim my brother's body, and my mother didn't believe that my brother would take this step, knowing that she saw his face. My mother fainted, and when she woke up again, she didn't seem to remember that my brother had committed suicide by throwing himself into the river, and only thought that he was in Shengjing, and he had become an official as he wished, and he was still a good official who was honest and honest, and even married a wife and had children. ”

"We couldn't bear to let her suffer the pain of sobering up, so we followed her."

Second Miss Xu sighed, "That's why I'm afraid that my mother will see you and mention my brother's matter." ”

Liu Yunxiang's heart is sour, for Xu Jingyu, for Xu's mother and Xu's family.

Coming out of the alley, Liu Yunxiang saw that Mother Xu was talking to several women who were tied up with incense, she was holding a cotton jacket in her hand, thinking that it was sewn by herself, and was asking for the opinions of the women.

"Is this cotton flocculating too thin, do you want to add another layer?"

"Shengjing doesn't need our Zhushui County, where it is cold in winter. My Yu'er is afraid of the cold, no, I have to add another layer, be sure to be thicker. ”

The women followed her words and said that Shengjing was not too cold, that there were charcoals in the house in winter, and that the stitches were so fine that they were better than those made in the Xiulou outside.

Hearing the women's praise, Mother Xu smiled even more happily.

Coming out of the alley of the Xu family, Yan Du and Liu Yunxiang walked all the way to the academy and were silent for a long time.

"That's what Old Man Bai wants us to see, maybe he hopes that we can change this status quo, or maybe he just wants us to experience his helplessness."

On today's flower list, Fang Wanjin and Xie Si fell off the list not because they didn't learn enough, but because of their household registration and the hierarchy of Shinong Industry and Commerce.

There's no shady thing in this, so even they can't help it.

When I returned to the academy, before I entered the door, I heard the bustle inside.

"Bunny, if you run again, I-I'll break your legs!"

"Mother, do you want to rest for a while?"

"Are you going home with me?"

"I don't, I haven't had enough!"

"Play? I think you're just itchy skin! ”

When Liu Yunxiang and the others entered the door, they saw a woman wearing a purple coat with a round figure who was chasing Fang Wanjin in front of him with a stick, and Fang Wanjin jumped up and down, her face full of laughter.

Because of her fatness, the woman was running and snoring, and her face was flushed with exhaustion. But she was still chasing Fang Wanjin, and it seemed that she would never stop until she hit him.

Fang Wanjin saw that his mother was almost tired and lay down, so he simply climbed to the branch of the tree and lay down comfortably.

"You—you come down for me!" The fat woman pointed a stick at her son.

Fang Wanjin shook his head, "After all, I just won't go home with you, so don't waste your efforts." ”

"What's your point of staying here? Can I take the township test? Can you be an official? Don't you want to follow the old path of the son of the Xu family? ”

"Anyway, I don't learn business with my dad."

"Mother knows that you have great ambitions, but our family is a merchant, so we have to accept our fate." The fat woman patted her chest and gasped, "Unless the law is changed one day, and the merchant can also participate in the imperial examination, it will be useless for you to stuff more ink into your stomach." ”

Fang Wanjin snorted, "How does my mother know that this law will not be changed?" ”

"Y-What do you want to do?"

Sure enough, knowing his son Mo Ruomu, Fang Wanjin clasped his hands on his shoulders, looking like he had already planned, "I plan to go to Beijing to find the King of Zhenbei and the Queen Mother, and ask them to revise the law." ”