Chapter 48: The Third-Ranked Scholar

“Oh, it’s you all,” Di Qing noticed them as well.

“Master Di,” Lin Sangqian greeted him.

Di Qing scratched his head, looking a bit embarrassed. “Please don’t call me that. Just call me Brother Di. I’m merely a low-ranking official, and it feels awfully strange to be addressed as ‘Master’.”

Lin Sangqian smiled.

“By the way, Guo Da and Wang Dameng have already been thrown into prison by the village head. They won’t be released for another five years,” Di Qing went on. “So now you can rest easy.”

“They got what they deserved,” Lin Beitao said. “It’s truly satisfying.”

“We owe it all to your help, Brother Di,” Lin Yanbei added.

Di Qing hurriedly waved his hands. “I was only doing my duty.”

“By the way, where’s Aunt Niu? Wang Dameng’s sister,” Lin Sangqian asked, a trace of worry in her voice.

She had noticed before that Aunt Niu seemed to care deeply for her brother.

Though Wang Dameng’s crimes were inexcusable, Aunt Niu herself had done nothing wrong. Lin Sangqian couldn’t help but worry she’d be heartbroken.

“She came to the yamen yesterday, tried to buy her brother’s freedom,” Di Qing said, his tone tinged with anger. “But the yamen isn’t some place where you can just buy a criminal back with money! Later, a man showed up—seemed to be her husband—he berated and beat her, and snatched all her money.”

Lin Sangqian thought to herself that must have been Aunt Niu’s despicable husband. Aunt Niu must have hidden some money away, and when Wang Dameng was taken to the yamen, she brought it out, never expecting her husband to discover it.

Alas… if only she could break free from the shackles of tradition and boldly kick that man out of her life—how wonderful that would be!

“Brother Di, do you know where the academy in town is?” Lin Sangqian asked.

“The academy? Let me think. There are two in town: one at the east end, one at the west,” Di Qing replied. “I’ve heard the teacher at the east academy was once a ranked scholar! But I think that place is more expensive. The other is quite ordinary, but cheaper.”

“All right, I see. Thank you, Brother Di,” Lin Sangqian nodded.

A ranked scholar? How did someone of such distinction end up teaching in a small town like this?

Di Qing had errands to run and took his leave. Lin Sangqian set off with her two brothers toward the east end of town.

Lin Yanbei, familiar with the roads, led them straight to Ru Wen Academy.

“Second Brother, how do you know the way so well?” Lin Sangqian asked in surprise. “I remember this isn’t close to the restaurant.”

Lin Yanbei smiled sheepishly. “Honestly, whenever I had free time, I’d sneak over here…”

He’d always envied the scholars within, able to read and learn.

Realizing this, Lin Sangqian immediately understood. Lin Yanbei had long yearned for the chance to study.

Just then, she spotted a familiar figure at the academy gate and quickly pulled her brothers behind a large tree.

“What’s wrong?” Lin Beitao asked.

“Look—who is that?”

They looked up. It was Lin Shuimei, standing right there.

“Oh, I remember now,” Lin Yanbei said. “Uncle’s son studies here.”

Lin Shuimei’s younger brother, Lin Xiong, was the only son of Lin Shengrong and Lai Ruyu. He was so spoiled that they didn’t hesitate to spend a fortune sending him to Ru Wen Academy. As for how well he was doing in his studies, they had no idea.

“Hmph!” Lin Beitao snorted. “If Uncle and Second Uncle hadn’t snatched all the family property back then, Second Brother would’ve been in school long ago!”

His words reminded Lin Sangqian: though their family no longer starved and was even on the path to prosperity, what was rightfully theirs had to be reclaimed sooner or later. They couldn’t let those wretched relatives profit for nothing.

“If Lin Shuimei notices us, it’ll be nothing but trouble,” Lin Sangqian said. “Let’s wait until she leaves before we go over.”

“Good idea.”

After a while, Lin Xiong swaggered out of the academy.

Lin Shuimei, clearly annoyed by her brother, handed him several strings of coins.

“Here, Mother asked me to bring this for you,” she said.

Lin Xiong counted them—five strings, a hundred coins in each.

“That’s not right! Sis!” he cried. “Mother said I’d get eight hundred coins a month, so why only five hundred?”

“How should I know?” Lin Shuimei replied impatiently, though her eyes betrayed her guilt.

Lai Ruyu had indeed given her eight hundred coins for Lin Xiong, but she had pocketed three hundred for herself. She resented how her parents always doted on her brother, spending so much on his schooling and granting him a generous allowance, while she never received a single coin. Even on this trip to town, Lai Ruyu had only given her fifty coins.

No, she thought, she needed new clothes, too!

“So, is it Mother lying to me, or you?” Lin Xiong shouted again. “Did you keep the money for yourself?”

Flustered at being exposed, Lin Shuimei snapped, “Well, do you want it or not? If not, give it back and I’ll return it to Mother!”

Lin Xiong hurriedly tucked the coins away and said irritably, “Fine, just leave already. Women don’t belong at the academy, hmph!”

Lin Sangqian couldn’t help but laugh at his audacity. Such a brat, and already looking down on women?

“As if I want to stay,” Lin Shuimei retorted, turning to leave.

Just then, a man in his thirties emerged from the academy, dressed in a scholar’s robe—a refined appearance, but with a cunning, lecherous glint in his eyes.

“Master Hou,” Lin Xiong greeted, bowing respectfully.

Fear of teachers seemed instinctive to all students; even a troublemaker like Lin Xiong behaved himself in front of his instructor.

So this was the master of Ru Wen Academy? Lin Sangqian was taken aback. It was hard to believe that such a man could have once been a ranked scholar.

“Lin Xiong, what are you doing here?” Hou Tianlu asked.

“My sister came to give me my allowance,” Lin Xiong replied.

The academy provided three meals a day, but students still had to buy their own writing supplies.

“I see,” Hou Tianlu nodded, his gaze lingering on Lin Shuimei, sizing her up.

He’d heard Lin Xiong’s sister was quite a beauty. Seeing her in person, she didn’t quite live up to his expectations, but she was still attractive.

His eyes grew lustful. To Lin Xiong, he said, “Class will start soon. Go prepare yourself.”

“Yes, sir.” Lin Xiong hurried back inside.

Lin Shuimei barely glanced at Hou Tianlu and didn’t care for him at all. Though she knew he was a ranked scholar, she didn’t truly understand what that meant. In her eyes, only money mattered, and as a mere tutor, Hou Tianlu was beneath her notice.

She turned to leave, but Hou Tianlu called out, “Miss Lin—”