The servant knew who Gu Jinâan was, as there were rumors that Gu Jinâan had the beauty of orchids and jade, the best-looking person in this group was naturally Gu Jinâan.
Seeing that Gu Jinâan didnât respond, he got a bit angry and said: "Where is Gu Jinâan? Why arenât you speaking? My young master has already swept the mat to welcome you; if you donât come, it would be disrespectful."
Gu Jinâan, hearing these half-threatening words, smiled and asked the servant: "Your young master? So youâre a servant, then. Since youâre a slave servant, why donât you kneel and salute when seeing us? Which householdâs servant are you? How come you donât understand etiquette? How does your master teach you? Could it be that thereâs only gold and silver at home but no manners, just an upstart who is hollow inside?"
"Pfft, haha, isnât the Lv Family just an upstart?" The people watching the excitement by the city gate laughed out loud, talking about the Lv Family: "The young master of the Lv Family isnât even a student, yet dares to invite a top scorer to his house as a guest, is he trying to show off that his family has money, or is he following someoneâs orders, planning a trap to frame the top scorer, to clear the way for someone else behind the scenes?"
Gu Jinâan, hearing this, couldnât help but look towards the speaker, this person was very young, not even twenty, dressed quite plainly, yet dared to speak so boldly, actually revealing the scheme.
The servant of the Lv Family, upon hearing this, turned pale with anger and pointed at him, saying: "Where did this rogue come from, daring to slander my young master like this? My young master only admires First Place Guâs talent, knowing heâs not from Linhe Prefecture, and now with the college examination approaching, the inns in the city are long full, worried he might have nowhere to stay, thatâs why I was asked to invite them to stay temporarily, itâs not at all like what you said!"
"Heh, whether it is or not, your Lv Family knows best." This person did not reveal his identity, instead, he clasped his hands in respect towards Gu Jinâan and his group, saying: "This world is perilous, not all scholars are open and upright gentlemen, I ask you all to be cautious."
Gu Jinâan, after hearing this, immediately returned the salute, saying: "Thank you for the reminder, Brother, rest assured, we have a place to stay in the prefecture, we wonât trouble anyone else."
He then asked: "May I know which prefecture Brother is from?"
The person did not answer, seeing they had a sense of precaution now, he left relieved.
However, this person did not appear for no reason, he was someone from the Yan Family, a noble family of Linhe Prefecture.
In the Yan Family, there was an elder who loved to eat, often crossing prefectures to Heâan Prefectureâs Futai Building to enjoy gourmet food and ham, during the New Year he was the one flipped the table by Qian Chengcai while dining at Futai Building.
Being a big customer of Futai Building, he learned a lot of delicacies were related to the Gu Family, and the Gu Family had even produced a top scorer. So, upon learning that some talented people in Linhe Prefecture were dissatisfied with a farm child like Gu Jinâan becoming a top scorer and coming to compete for the scholar positions in the college examination, planning to frame him, he sent someone to wait, to give a word of caution, telling him not to fall into someone elseâs trap.
The Lv Familyâs servant was utterly furious, wanting to explode but was stopped by the Tong Familyâs servant, who pointed and scolded him: "Lv Family, your hearts are too vicious, actually harboring such intentions, now that youâve been exposed, why donât you quickly scram!"
The Lv Familyâs servant was taken aback, said nothing, and soon left.
The Tong Familyâs servant greeted Gu Jinâan with a salute, smiling: "First Place Gu, donât be angry, the Lv Family is just an upstart, our Tong Family will teach them a lesson for you."
He then cheerfully asked: "May I know where First Place Gu plans to stay in the city? Would you need our Tong Family to escort you? Our Third Young Master is the top scorer of this yearâs Linhe Prefecture Examination, he greatly admires the talent of First Place Gu, and specifically had me wait here to assist First Place Gu."
These words were quite convincing, but Gu Jinâan, having experienced hardship, was not buying such sugar-coated rhetoric at all.
As for whether the Tong Family was good or bad, it remained to be seen, and since the Tong Family had people waiting here, why didnât they come out first to stop it when the Lv Familyâs servant was making things difficult, but instead, it was a nameless person who intervened first?
The Tong Familyâs servant didnât seem to have emerged to speak for him, but rather, seeing the Lv Family messing things up, hurried out to make amends.
Indeed, Gu Jinâanâs guess was spot on, the Tong Familyâs servant did come out to make amends, only because the Tong Familyâs Third Young Master couldnât appear personally, so he had to send someone from the Lv Family to set a trap for Gu Jinâan.
Gu Jinâan didnât believe the people from Linhe Prefecture at all, neither did Scholar Shang, stepping forward before Gu Jinâan could speak, he addressed the Tong Familyâs servant: "Thank you for the good intentions of Tong Anshou, we have brought servants along, thereâs no need for the Tong Family to assist."
Seeing the Tong Familyâs servant frowning, Scholar Shang continued: "I am Gu Jinâanâs teacher, a scholar in the twenty-sixth year of Jingwu, here to accompany the exam. I have already given Brother An orders, until the college examination begins, he must cultivate himself and study hard behind closed doors. Therefore, to avoid unnecessary social interactions, itâs inconvenient to divulge our place of stay for now, please forgive us."
With that, he even bowed to the Tong Familyâs servant, startling the servant into quickly stepping aside: "Scholar, you flatter us, I dare not block your way, please go ahead."
This one was a scholar from the Jingwu era, Emperor Jingwu being the founding emperor of Great Chu, anyone who earned an official position while the old man ruled, even a minor scholar, would be more precious than todayâs scholars, as it carried the identity of a founding emperorâs student.
"Hey, hurry up in front, youâre blocking the gate!" The gatekeeper soldiers, seeing the Tong Familyâs side failing and losing face, quickly urged.
The gatekeeper soldiers didnât want to help the Tong Family or Lv Familyâs scheme against Gu Jinâan and his group, it was simply that they were paid a lot of silver, and this wasnât really scheming, just loudly yelling a few words, notifying those with ill intentions that the top scorer of a certain place had arrived, and if they wanted to set a trap, hurry up.
Upon hearing, Gu Jinâan and his group immediately got on the mule cart and rushed into the city.
The Tong Family people were not resigned, they sent someone to follow Gu Jinâanâs mule cart, wanting to find out where they were staying?
Unfortunately, they didnât succeed, as they encountered beggars led by Xiao Sui, and in the moments of delay being tangled by Xiao Sui and the others, they lost track of Gu Jinâanâs convoy.
Young Master Tong Sanâs servant was very annoyed, pointing at Xiao Sui and the others, instructed the Tong Familyâs guards: "Beat these stinky beggars to death! So they canât ruin our plans without knowing their place!"
The Tong Familyâs guards upon hearing this, wielded wooden sticks towards Xiao Sui and the others, but Xiao Sui and his group, having gone into the mountains to train with You An, excelled in martial arts, showed no mercy to the Tong Family people, using sharpened sticks, poked and struck, making the Tong Family guards howl in pain.
Tong Sanâs young masterâs servant was stunned: "You, who exactly are you people? Since when did the city have a bunch of beggars like you?"
Xiao Sui chuckled without answering, just led his men forward to attack, scaring the servant into fleeing in a panicked roll.
Seeing this, the Tong Familyâs guards also hurried to escape for their lives, these new beggars were too fierce, they couldnât beat them at all.