The whole town was excitedly talking about what crime Wu Dong had committed and why the county government officials had come from so far just to arrest him.
"It must not be a small issue!"
"I also feel that with so many government officials coming to arrest just him, it surely can't be a minor issue."
"Don't tell me he killed someone!"
"That can't be, we haven't heard of anyone dying around here."
"If he killed someone in the county town, how would we know about it here? He went and stayed in the county town for many days before running back with injuries on his face."
As the group speculated more and more wildly, all kinds of theories emerged, and nobody cared about Wu Dong anymore, considering him a scoundrel and nuisance whose absence would be for the better.
Dong Shan paid no attention to these rumors and sat gloomily in his room. Facing Wang Chunhua's questioning gaze, he recounted in detail the events of the day.
"She didn't let me accompany her either. I just waited outside for her. I saw her take something out of her pocket and give it to the gatekeeper, and soon she went inside."
"When she came out, she said the official would take care of it. I thought it would take some days, but as soon as we reached the edge of town, Wu Dong was arrested. I really feel like something is off."
Wang Chunhua also felt something was amiss. She pondered for a moment and guessed in her heart: "I heard people say Wu Dong came back with injuries on his face some days ago. What if he really committed some crime outside, and it was found out? You just happened to run into them."
"Like you said, other than buying a steamed bun, we didn't delay at all. The government officials didn't ride horses either, how could they have caught up to you so quickly?"
"You're right."
Dong Shan was quite confident in his speed. He was someone who often ran up the mountain, and carrying Li Mingwei who wasn't heavy didn't feel like much effort at all.
It would have taken time to locate the right official and make the arrest. The county officials should have already left town long ago.
Perhaps it really was just a coincidence?
Seeing the worried frown on Dong Shan's face, Wang Chunhua looked at it from another angle to reassure him: "If she really has some connection with the county magistrate, then she's someone from an official family. Even villains would treat her well. What is there to worry about?"
That was also a reasonable point. But...
Dong Shan looked at Wang Chunhua and asked solemnly, "Chunhua, what would you do if one day you discovered that younger sister had deceived you?"
"What is there for her to deceive me about? I've never given her any money. She even gives me money every month, and teaches our son for free every day. Even if she really hid something from me, so what? I'm not losing anything."
Wang Chunhua was quite open-minded. Everyone has secrets, why insist others tell you everything? They were unrelated to begin with.
As long as she wasn't a bad person, and didn't use them to do bad things in town, whatever her background was, Wang Chunhua didn't need to pry.
Unwilling to discuss further with Dong Shan, Wang Chunhua got up and took out the letter that Liu Yizhu had asked her to pass to Li Mingwei when she went to the Liu house to thank him today.
Yun Sister was still at home looking after Li Mingwei. To keep up appearances, Li Mingwei lay in bed without moving. Wang Chunhua handed her the letter and sat down at the bedside as well.
"From Scholar Liu."
With three heads huddled together looking at one letter, two of them illiterate.
"What's it say?"
"Is it a love poem?"
Li Mingwei was speechless. This densely packed page was no love poem. It was Liu Yizhu's letter urging her to report the case and bring Wu Dong to justice. He said he was willing to testify on her behalf at the county government.
Of course, if she was unwilling, he would also keep the secret faithfully for her.
What happened last night was also Liu Yizhu's first encounter with such a thing. He knew well the tremendous impact it would have on a woman's reputation if it got out. But he also felt the villain should not be let off lightly, so he had crawled out of bed in the middle of the night to write this letter.
He told Li Mingwei that he was classmates with the county magistrate's son, and upon returning to the academy, he could ask him to inquire with Magistrate Tang on handling this case privately, and asked Li Mingwei to await his reply.
Li Mingwei smiled radiantly. She no longer needed to await his reply! She had already taken care of it. Though this man was quite upright, and had preserved her dignity well when he saved her last night.
She looked up, "Did Sister Chunhua go thank him for me today?"
"I thanked him already. He said it was nothing."
Li Mingwei took out her money pouch from under her pillow and handed it to Wang Chunhua, "Sister Chunhua, take however much the flowers cost yourself."
"No need, no need. I can afford a little gift money." Wang Chunhua guessed from her lack of response that the letter concerned last night's events. She glanced at Yun Sister and didn't ask what was in the letter.
"You keep it to treat your injuries. I'll go to the academy tomorrow and ask for a few days off for you. Stay home and rest well."
The show had to go on fully after all, with the whole town watching.
Seeing nightfall, Yun Sister advised her to rest well before leaving.
Only after Yun Sister had walked far off did Wang Chunhua wink mischievously at Li Mingwei, "What did the letter say?"
"Nothing much, just that he would keep it secret for me and told me not to worry."
"Such a long letter just for that?"
Li Mingwei nodded slightly and fabricated, "Scholars are just flowery like that, talking round and round without getting to the point even after half a day."
The educated's reputation was being ruined.
Liu Yizhu suddenly let out a huge sneeze. He rubbed his nose, had he really caught a chill for no reason?
"You opened the window again!" Hearing his sneeze, Old Lady Wang hurried into the room and tightly shut the window.
"It was too stuffy, so I just cracked it open to let in some air."
Old Lady Wang glared at him, "You just caught a chill last night, you can't risk another draft today either. If you really fall ill, how will you go back to the academy tomorrow? You can't fall behind on your lessons."
She felt her son's forehead, relieved to find no signs of fever, before going back out to continue making pastries. She would have her son bring them for his classmates at the academy to eat tomorrow.
Their family was not well off, and she could not prepare anything nice. But her son was older than his classmates, so she worried he would not get along well with them. She could only do her best to facilitate more interaction between them.
It was her fault really. In those first two to three years after his father passed away, she had stumbled along in a daze, unable to rouse any spirit to manage family affairs. By the time their savings ran out, she finally reacted and found work, but her son's schooling had been delayed.
Other children were sent to the academy by age five or six, while he had rushed to enroll at nearly nine.
Fortunately, his older age also meant greater maturity. He learned much faster than the other children, and his grades had always been fine, sparing her much worry.
Right now, Liu Yizhu had no time to think of anything else. Leaning back in his chair, he contemplated the arrest of Wu Dong today and whether it had any relation to Li Mingwei. Dong Shan said they went to the county town to have Li Mingwei's injured foot looked at, but that was a lie he had fabricated.
When Liu Yizhu had helped Li Mingwei up last night, her foot had been fine.
But Magistrate Tang was no rash man. Relying solely on one person's word without any witnesses or evidence, would Magistrate Tang have ordered the arrest so lightly?
Or had Wu Dong truly committed some other crime?
