The Lucky Farmgirl
Chapter 1165 - 1144 Xiang Ming’s Study

Chapter 1165: Chapter 1144 Xiang Ming’s Study

Xiang Chao struggled to prop up half of his body, and Bai Shan and the others dragged a table to the edge of the kang bed to place a bowl for him, allowing him to eat by himself.

As the three of them ate and chatted, Manbao curiously asked, "What’s the name of the Second Young Master from your family?"

"Xiang Mingxue. Our clan leader chose it — sounds nice, right?"

Bai Shan and Manbao nodded, "Sounds very nice. Did he study?"

"Of course, he studied. Our Second Young Master is the best scholar among the Xiangs. Of course, the eldest young master also studied well, but the Second Young Master is a bit smarter." Xiang Chao said, "Originally, after the flooding that year, the clan had already decided that after the autumn harvest, we would send the Second Young Master to the capital to participate in the next year’s imperial examination, to see if he could get into the Imperial Academy."

"However, the scholars in our prefecture said that the Second Young Master’s knowledge is sufficient. As long as he performs normally, he has a great chance of passing. Their family is not short of money, so even if he doesn’t pass in the first year, he could just study abroad in the capital for a year and then take the exam the next year," he said.

"Did the Second Young Master study at the prefectural school?"

"Yes, at the Suizhou Prefectural School. He was supposed to go to Yizhou, but he was too young when he took the examination, not even thirteen, so his family was worried and only allowed him to go to Suizhou."

Xiang Mingxue was a legitimate clan descendent, while Xiang Chao belonged to a collateral branch and was two years older than Xiang Mingxue. Although both were from the same clan, they rarely interacted.

Xiang Mingxue rarely stayed in Dongxi Village. He was sent to the county to study at a young age and would only return home during breaks. Even then, he wouldn’t play with Xiang Chao and the others who ran around wildly.

At the age of thirteen, Xiang Mingxue went to the Suizhou Prefectural School and hardly ever came back, even during breaks. He only returned home during major festivals and the busy farming season, so the two were not familiar with each other in the past.

When they met at the entrance of the village, Xiang Mingxue, not recognizing someone, would simply bow as a salute. Hearing someone calling him Second Young Master, he knew they were peers or juniors; hearing someone call out Mingxue, he knew they were his elders...

In the tenth year of the Dazhen era, during the flood disaster, it coincided with the agricultural break from the prefectural school, and Xiang Mingxue returned home. He also discussed with his family about going to the capital to participate in the imperial examination after the autumn harvest, when he was sixteen years old.

When the flood came rushing down, he escaped to high ground with his family. The next day, as the water receded slightly and they moved downward, being a frail scholar, Xiang Mingxue walked slowly and fell behind his mother and sisters-in-law.

By the time he rushed out towards the screams from the front, his grandfather, who was the clan leader of the Xiangs, his father, and his elder brother had already been killed by armored men on horseback...

At that time, he could only stagger along, helping his mother and sisters-in-law flee for their lives. They were separated by the flood; he managed to take only his young nephew. Eventually, even the nephew was gone. It was Xiang Chao and a few others, who also ran helter-skelter, who dragged him to jump into the still turbulent and muddy river. Clinging to a log, they drifted down the water and managed to survive.

Afterward, he lived solely for vengeance.

Xiang Chao was not wrong; the legitimate Xiang family was wealthy. Their wealth was not only in Dongxi Village but also in other places.

Although they had no land deeds or house deeds, and they dared not sell those assets, they could easily find another residence or a shop and still find plenty of money inside.

They initially survived through this means and then began to operate incognito with the money they had.

Rallying angry, revenge-seeking refugees; making money; gathering information... these were all orchestrated by Xiang Mingxue.

Despite being surrounded and pursued on all sides, they stubbornly traced it to the Prince of Yizhou, and from the thirteenth year of the Dazhen era, they kept biting at the Prince of Yizhou without letting go.

It took them nearly a year to plan the assassination during the Dragon Boat Festival, but unfortunately, they missed by just a bit...

And then it was the end of July this year; they ambushed the Prince of Yizhou on his way to the capital, not expecting that the Prince of Yizhou had secretly brought a troop of soldiers with him. Most of their men were lost, and the Second Young Master was also severely wounded and captured.

Bai Shan’s spirit was instantly uplifted, and he felt no longer tired at all. "You’re saying the Prince of Yizhou entered the capital with a troop of soldiers? How many are there?"

Xiang Chao said, "It was too chaotic at the time, but I reckon there were about a thousand people."

Bai Shan and Manbao exchanged a glance, with Manbao looking somewhat uncertain, "I remember when a princely vassal enters the capital, the number of guards he can bring must not exceed three hundred, right?"

Bai Shan’s eyes shimmered, "Exactly. When the higher-ups come for the interrogation, you should speak to them this way... Remember, just like you’ve told us just now, let it slip out unintentionally. Got it?"

Xiang Chao nodded repeatedly, and asked, "Will this help bring down the Prince of Yizhou?"

Bai Shan and Manbao nodded emphatically, "Yes."

"Alright, I’ll remember that."

Seeing that he had finished eating, Manbao took his bowl to wash and poured him a bowl of the prepared medicine. She said, "Let it cool down and then drink, put the bowl aside. We need to sleep for a bit now."

Seeing her dismantle the fire, Xiang Chao hurriedly asked, "What about the Second Young Master?"

"He’s already had one dose. There’s still some left in the medicine pot. Keep an eye on him, and call me if he develops a fever. Also, wake us up around lunchtime."

With that, she went to sleep with Bai Shan.

There were initially three blankets, and now only one remained. Bai Shan touched the straw with disdain and begrudgingly accepted it spread on the other half of the kang bed. He laid down two coats on top of it before he and Manbao lay down side by side.

Xiang Chao watched them dumbfounded, wanting to say something, but seeing them fall asleep immediately after lying down, he felt it was not his place to speak.

Manbao and Bai Shan had just lain down when an attendant came over with two buckets, casually knocked on the prison door, and called out, "Mealtime, it’s mealtime..."

Startled awake in their slumber, Bai Shan and Manbao opened their eyes and stared blankly forward for quite a while. Their eyelids fluttered, and they shrank their heads back into the blanket, before falling asleep again.

Xiang Chao watched the two heads drawing closer to each other, then turned his head to look at the person outside the cell, sharing a brief glance of mutual bewilderment.

Xiang Chao tried to muster a smile and say something, but the person outside the cell had already glanced at the remaining food on their table, shrugged his shoulders, and walked away.

Of course, the standard prison meals were not left behind for them. They already had food; leaving more would be a waste, wouldn’t it?

It’d be better to take it out to feed the pigs.

Manbao and Bai Shan slept particularly soundly in this nap, smelling incredibly good. Since Xiang Chao had gotten plenty of sleep the night before, he was unbearably bored by himself and occasionally touched Xiang Ming’s head to check if he had a fever. Not knowing whether enough time had passed, he could only keep his ears open. Hearing from outside that it was past lunchtime and time for a shift change, he hurriedly shouted to wake Manbao and Bai Shan.

Bai Shan opened his eyes and looked around, trying hard to get up. Drowsy Manbao pushed him back down with a slap and said, "You sleep. We don’t need you right now."

Bai Shan rolled over and went back to sleep.

Manbao yawned as she came over to check on Xiang Ming. After feeling his pulse, she went to warm up the medicine. Of course, before that, she heated up the medicine left in the pot and gave it to Xiang Chao, then casually said, "You’ve just had breakfast, you can’t be hungry. Fill your stomach with the medicine first, there should be someone bringing food later."

Xiang Chao: ...