"Hurry up and do your homework, the sooner you finish, the sooner you can rest. You have to get up early tomorrow," Yin Le urged.

"Okay, okay." Si Niang nodded, told Yin Le that dinner was left on the kitchen stove, then ran to the living room to fill a bowl of water for her before returning to her room to do her homework by the window.

The two of them smiled at each other across the courtyard.

Seeing that Si Niang started doing her homework, Yin Le then walked into the kitchen to eat dinner.

She had depleted a lot of energy, so her appetite had increased significantly. She ate up all the food that Mrs. Li had specially saved for her: a big bowl full, and drank two big bowls of water before she was satisfied and let out a burp.

Qin Yao pulled out a relatively intact wolf pelt from the storeroom and handed it to Yin Le, "Cowhide is best for making belts, so take this wolf pelt and exchange it for some cowhide."

Yin Le was slightly taken aback and felt somewhat at a loss.

"It’s going to rain tomorrow, and the five-kilometer run and night training are canceled." This gave her half a day to catch her breath.

"What are you standing there for, take it!" Seeing Yin Le not moving, Qin Yao thrust the wolf pelt into her arms, reminding her to meet her at the back mountain in two quarters of an hour to learn how to use darts.

Yin Le dumbfoundedly watched her leave, blinking only after a long moment, looked down at the soft wolf pelt in her arms, and curiously rubbed her face against it. The fur was so soft that she suddenly didn’t want to exchange it for cowhide.

But the belt was necessary, and her purse was empty... she still had to exchange it.

Reluctantly, Yin Le gave it a few more hard rubs before folding the wolf pelt neatly and sitting down to massage her legs.

Rest time was over, she focused all her energy and set off immediately. Tonight she aimed to go to bed early!

Unfortunately, it was still late at night when the master and apprentice came down from the back mountain.

Yin Le, using a stick for support, endured her master’s speechless look and slowly made her way back to the village.

Qin Yao was still somewhat uneasy until she saw the lights turn on at the Liu Dafu’s ancestral house in the village across the river, knowing the person had returned safely, she finally closed her door and went to bed.

Maybe it was due to today’s acquisition of the iron stick, her excitement made it hard for her to fall asleep.

Counting her days, Liu Ji and Ah Wang should have already boarded the boat, right?

According to the instructions she gave them before they set out, they were supposed to send her a message before boarding, which might already be on its way.

But in reality, contrary to Qin Yao’s calculations, Liu Ji and Ah Wang only arrived at the Prefecture today.

In the middle of the night, Liu Ji suddenly jolted awake from a dream, "Oh no, I forgot to write to my wife!"

He hurried to the desk, lit the candlestick, spread open a piece of paper, and started grinding the ink.

After all, they were boarding the ship early in the morning, the letter had to be written tonight to be sent out first thing in the morning.

To avoid delaying the examination, the Qi Family’s ship wouldn’t stop at any dock for the entire ten days, cutting all contact with the outside world.

So, if he slept through this chance to write, the consequences would be unimaginable!

As Liu Ji grinded the ink with one hand, he patted his face with the other to stay awake, grateful that he hadn’t actually slept through the chance.

Amidst the murderous look from Ah Wang, who had been woken up yet again in the shared room, Liu Ji began to write.

With the first stroke, he initially intended to tell her about all his thrills and close calls during the journey, but as the pen touched the paper, he suddenly felt it was better not to say anything.

After all, nothing had indeed happened on this journey, all the thrills and close calls were merely his own imagination.

Operation Suspicion, well-considered, Liu Ji felt somewhat aggrieved.

Before leaving, he suddenly discovered he had a companion, which was surprisingly delightful yet overwhelming.

But!

He was a scoundrel but not a fool, he also had brains!

The shrew for some reason assigned Ah Wang to accompany him, what’s the meaning of that?

Was she afraid he might encounter some unexpected danger during the journey?

Like a life-threatening one?

Otherwise, why not send Qian Wang, or Song Yu, or even his elder brothers as companions?

On the first day of departure from Liu Family Village, Liu Ji was constantly in a state of overthinking.

When the carriage suddenly ran over a stone and jolted, he could scare himself into squealing like a pig.

Ah Wang, feeling speechless, calmly drove the horse forward.

Liu Ji always disliked tormenting himself, so he began to probe subtly.

"Ah Wang, do you harbor any resentment in your heart coming out with Master?"

Ah Wang: "No, I don’t."

"Why don’t you smile then?"

Ah Wang: "I’m not fond of smiling."

"Hahaha, I’ve caught you, haven’t I? Be honest! Are we being targeted by someone? Someone is jealous of Master’s unparalleled beauty and wants to eliminate it quickly!"

Ah Wang blinked a few more times and, with honesty, replied, "No one is jealous of Master’s unparalleled beauty."

Liu Ji raised an eyebrow, oh really, he didn’t refute his first question.

Then, it must be true that they are being targeted!

That’s it, Liu Ji thought.

Just then, a breeze blew by, Ah Wang only found it hot, but his master suddenly shivered, breaking into a cold sweat, secretly wrapping himself tighter, looking around.

Ah Wang: "Master, there’s no need to panic, no one wants to kill you."

Liu Ji’s eyes widened instantly, "What did you say? Someone really wants to kill me? Who? How dare they attempt to kill a scholar appointed by the court!"

Ah Wang, distressed, wrinkled his brow, cursing his mouth for not knowing how to lie.

The more you say, the more mistakes you make, the less you say, the fewer mistakes, so Ah Wang chose silence.

However, seeing this sudden silence, in Liu Ji’s eyes, it was tantamount to a death sentence.

At night, the two camped outside the post station. Listening to the wind and bird calls from the forest, Liu Ji lay awake until dawn, not daring to sleep.

Seeing this state was not beneficial for the exam, Ah Wang slightly calmed his master’s frightened spirit with his skill—took Master into the mountain to camp.

The next morning, there was so much prey on the ground they couldn’t eat it all.

They even went into town to sell quite a bit, earning five taels of silver, enabling them to stay at a luxurious inn at night.

But unfortunately, a vicious robbery occurred in the inn that night, giving Liu Ji quite a scare. He assumed it was aimed at him and demanded at the risk of his life that Ah Wang take him back into the mountain for a couple of days, refusing to come down the whole time.

Until Ah Wang, exasperated, forcefully carried him down, only then could they continue their journey.

Because of this, they arrived in the Prefecture a full three days later than expected!

In just a few days, Ah Wang experienced a level of exhaustion he hadn’t felt even when he was escaping for his life, and he sorely missed his days tilling the fields in the village.

Fortunately, they arrived at the He Mansion tonight, finally able to breathe a sigh of relief.

Ah Wang enjoyed a comfortable bath, changed into clean clothes, and lay on a soft bedding, finally able to replenish his exhausted spirit.

However!

A certain master who woke him up doesn’t care whether he lived or died, after finishing writing the letter, yanked him awake, stuffed the letter into his hand, and instructed: "Send it out first thing in the morning."

Then flung himself onto the bed and fell asleep, snoring.

Ah Wang glanced at the letter in his hand, then at Liu Ji already snoring on the bed, clenching his jaw.

He had a bold thought, not sure if he should entertain it—sacrificing Master along with it.