The Lucky Farmgirl
Chapter 749 - 738: Punishment

Chapter 749: Chapter 738: Punishment

Manbao felt that the County Magistrate Tang was unusually quiet today, so she couldn’t help but give him several glances.

Yang Heshu gave County Magistrate Tang a sidelong glance, inviting the trio, "It’s rare for me to come to Yizhou City, so rather than picking a date, why not make it today? How about I take advantage of County Magistrate Tang’s presence and treat you all to a meal?"

None of the three had had the chance to eat yet, so Manbao eagerly nodded without hesitation, "Sure, sure."

It had been a long time since Yang Heshu had seen them, so he couldn’t help but ask about their studies. Learning that Bai Shan was doing well in his school studies, and that Bai Erlang’s coursework had improved a lot from before, he turned to Manbao with a smile and said, "I heard from County Magistrate Tang that you are doing quite well in your medical studies, and not long ago during a charity clinic, you even managed a medical tent on your own."

Manbao laughed, "They were not any complicated or rare diseases, just common ailments that I’ve seen in practice. If I come across something difficult, I still need to consult Doctor Ji and the likes. There’s still much for me to learn."

Yang Heshu nodded, "It’s best that you think this way. I see you have a natural talent in this field. Take the opportunity to learn as much as you can while you’re young, then go out and travel a bit when you’re older. Who knows, you might become a famous doctor one day."

Manbao nodded in agreement, "That’s what I’m thinking, too."

County Magistrate Tang couldn’t help but laugh, "Aren’t you shameless, bragging about becoming a famous doctor one day?"

"Who doesn’t have a goal in their heart?" Manbao retorted, "I don’t believe you’ve never thought about becoming an eternal great minister yourself, my lord."

County Magistrate Tang couldn’t help but cough, and Yang Heshu, delighted, burst into loud laughter and chimed in, "Exactly, exactly, he’s the most hypocritical of all."

County Magistrate Tang gave him a glance, "Not even one-tenth as the County Magistrate Yang."

They all enjoyed a merry dinner together, and before leaving, Manbao made a point to ask County Magistrate Yang to keep an eye on her sister-in-law’s shop, "My sister-in-law is very honest and avoids trouble, so please look after her."

Yang Heshu laughed, "There are so many brothers in your family, who in the county would dare bully her? Plus, your brother-in-law is in the military camp; it’s peace in the world so long as your family doesn’t bully others."

Manbao blinked and said, "My family has always been kind to others."

Yang Heshu smiled and nodded, which was why he was willing to occasionally dine at "Qian Ji."

As the five descended from the upper floor, Bai Shan waved to call over Daji from across the street. Just as they were about to part ways with the two magistrates, they saw County Magistrate Tang walking over to the window they had been sitting at before, picking up a few pieces of straw from the ground, and waving at Bai Shan with a smile, "Quick response."

Feigning ignorance, Bai Shan performed the ceremonial bow, "Lord Tang, Lord Yang, we’ll be taking our leave first."

Yang Heshu waved his hand, still smiling, "Go on, go on."

Daji set down the coach step for the three young masters to get into the carriage. He hastily bowed to the two lords, then hopped onto the carriage to drive away.

Once they were far out, Daji said, "Young master, the one I saw leading the scholar officer into the restaurant was Lord Tang’s servant."

Bai Shan hummed, "I had guessed as much. On our way here, he’s the only familiar face we ran into. Besides him, no one else would have set us up like that."

Manbao asked, "Will you be punished when you go to school tomorrow?"

Bai Shan replied, "I’m not worried, tomorrow I go for another day and then it’s the ten-day break. At most, Mr. Zhai will punish me by making me copy books."

As a day student, his fault was minor.

However, it was probably going to be tough for the others.

Mr. Zhai was not someone who could be easily fooled like the scholar officer.

The next day, Bai Shan had just arrived at the school when he was called to the superintendent’s office. Wei Ting had arrived ahead of time, and the scholar officer was already having a thunderous argument with Mr. Zhai.

Sitting calmly with a tea cup in hand, Mr. Zhai waited until the scholar officer finished before turning to the downcast Wei Ting to ask, "Is there anything you’d like to add to what the scholar officer has said?"

Bai Shan entered, bowed properly, and stood aside obediently with his hands down.

Seeing him, the scholar officer sneered, "Well-behaved today, are you? Not as cheeky as you were yesterday, hmm?"

With respectful composure, Bai Shan bowed and replied, "To the scholar officer, a student should just listen to the reprimand, I wouldn’t dare to retort."

The other teachers in the superintendent’s office had a better impression of him after hearing this, but the scholar officer became angry. Was this implying that he was lying?

Just as the scholar officer was about to erupt, Mr. Zhai suddenly put down his teacup. The teacup gently knocked against the table, making a small but clear sound.

The scholar officer immediately quieted down.

With a smile to the scholar officer, Mr. Zhai said, "No need to hurry, Scholar Officer He. After I ask them, I will surely heavily punish these violators of our rules. Wei Ting, you first, do you disagree or have anything to add to what the scholar officer just said?"

Wei Ting quietly raised his head towards Bai Shan.

With an indifferent glance, Bai Shan sent a chill down Wei Ting’s spine, who promptly said, "Yes! I lied to Bai Shan, told him the scholar officer had granted leave, he didn’t know I was skipping school."

Mr. Zhai picked up the teacup again for another sip and inquired, "Did you not both leave together?"

"No, I climbed the wall to get out, he’s a day student, naturally, he left through the main gate. We agreed to meet at Ganxiang Pavilion."

The scholar officer said angrily, "You’re lying! It was clear yesterday that he helped you to skip classes..."

Wei Ting immediately raised his hand to swear, "Scholar Officer He, I swear I’m not lying, I really didn’t tell Bai Shan that I was skipping school."

Mr. Zhai’s eyebrow twitched and he asked, "Who were the classmates you dined with?"

"They weren’t students of our school, just some friends of mine. Bai Shan also brought two friends; we just wanted to get to know each other better."

Mr. Zhai asked out of curiosity, "The ten-day break is just tomorrow, you could have waited one more day to go out, why did you have to pick yesterday?"

Wei Ting replied, "Wasn’t I just excited?"

Mr. Zhai asked, "What were you so excited about?"

After a hesitation, Wei Ting said quietly, "Didn’t Counsellor Chang get demoted? I was just so happy that I wanted to call some friends to celebrate."

Mr. Zhai: ...

Immediately Bai Shan added, "That was him, not me, I went because he said he would treat us and I wanted to meet new friends."

Who cared whether that Counsellor Chang was demoted or not?

He certainly didn’t want to be that kind of troublemaker.

Wei Ting threw a resentful look at Bai Shan, but in front of Mr. Zhai, he said nothing.

Mr. Zhai sighed deeply and nodded, "Alright, I understand. Wei Ting, you skipped school and lied to your classmates, you are punished with cleaning the East Garden for a month. Bai Shan, although you were deceived, you lacked concern for your classmates; you are punished with copying the school’s regulations ten times."

The scholar officer hadn’t expected Mr. Zhai to let them off so lightly, and just as he was about to speak, Mr. Zhai happened to look up at him with a smile, "Scholar Officer He, do you think my punishments are in accordance with the school’s rules?"

The scholar officer was silent for a moment before finally saying, "Too severe."

Mr. Zhai smiled, "Good, the harsher the better to ensure they remember this lesson. Classes are about to begin, you two return to your morning classes now."

Wei Ting and Bai Shan bowed and acknowledged the instruction, then withdrew.