Fire Captain

Sheng Rulan and Sheng Molan were naturally dissatisfied with Minglan's views. After all, with their limited brain capacity, they could not understand these. One of them was still stuck on eating and sleeping, and the other was still thinking about climbing up the social ladder and marrying into a wealthy family... Sheng Rulan muttered softly, "What kind of views are these? It's just a way of smoothing things over!"

Sheng Molan's eyes drifted away when she heard it, and she didn't seem to show anything. But when she was leaving, she passed by Bai Ziyang and whispered casually, "Some people... are always so ignorant of etiquette. After all, their backgrounds still limit some people's horizons. Even if they want to climb up the social ladder, they shouldn't be so eager..."

Bai Ziyang knew that Sheng Molan was taking her anger out on Minglan, but unfortunately, she couldn't offend anyone except him, and she couldn't let anyone know her true face. So she could only vent her anger on him. Bai Ziyang thought Sheng Molan was very funny at this time, so he laughed unconsciously.

Sheng Molan didn't know why Bai Ziyang was laughing, but the way Bai Ziyang looked at her made her feel very stupid. She couldn't help but flick her handkerchief and turned away angrily.

Bai Ziyang saw that the others had almost left, only Sheng Changbai and Gu Tingye knew that Bai Ziyang must be here to look for them, so they stayed. Bai Ziyang glanced at Sheng Minglan who was packing her things, and saw that she lowered her head and pretended not to see him, so he did not approach to talk to her. He just took two bundles from Tingfeng behind him, handed one to Sheng Changbai and Gu Tingye, and said, "This is what I found these days, you may need it if you take a look."

Sheng Changbai and the other man didn't know what it was, so they took it suspiciously. After opening it and flipping through two pages, Gu Tingye was naturally delighted when he saw the contents, but Sheng Changbai was full of doubt and asked, "Brother Ziyang, how did you find this?"

Bai Ziyang saw that Minglan had packed up her things and was about to leave with Xiaotao, so he naturally had no time to care about Sheng Changbai. He stuffed the things in his hand into Sheng Changbai's arms, raised his head and pointed at Gu Tingye with his chin and said, "You ask him. I have other important things to do and don't have time to explain to you. Let's talk about it next time!"

After saying that, he turned around and ran away. Just as Sheng Changbai was about to call Bai Ziyang, he was stopped by Gu Tingye behind him. Gu Tingye knew Bai Ziyang's identity, and it was easy for him to find these materials related to the imperial examination, but it seemed that he didn't want others to know, so he could only say: "Hey, hey, hey, seeing how anxious he is, don't chase him. I heard that he is the nephew of Lord Bai Xuewen, and Lord Bai is in charge of the Ministry of Rites, so it's not surprising that he can find these things."

Minglan had just walked out of the hall with Xiaotao when she saw Buwei waiting for Qi Heng in the corridor from a distance. Minglan said, "I suddenly remembered that I left a book behind." After saying that, she turned around and ran back.

As soon as Minglan turned around, she felt a black screen in front of her eyes, and her whole body seemed to have knocked down a wall of flesh. Bai Ziyang did not expect that as soon as he chased out, he would be welcomed by Minglan's "arms-length embrace". He stretched out his hand and supported Minglan, who was about to fall backwards, around the waist.

Minglan rubbed her forehead, looked up and saw that it was Bai Ziyang, then realized that she was in his arms at the moment, hurriedly took two steps back and pushed Bai Ziyang away, saying: "What are you doing..."

As soon as Minglan spoke, Bai Ziyang raised his hand to his lips and gently said, "Shh..." Then he took Minglan and quietly walked in another direction. After taking her away from the academy, he said, "Qi Heng is waiting in the hall of the academy. He has calculated your temper! Go back later. If he can't wait for you, he will leave naturally!"

Although Minglan was not entangled by Qi Heng, she was blocked by Bai Ziyang. She turned her back to Bai Ziyang and said angrily, "Is my personality so easy to guess?"

"Oh?" Bai Ziyang leaned over to Minglan and asked, "Are you angry?" Bai Ziyang deliberately said, "Young Master Qi is a handsome man with noble character. It's a pity that I didn't see him today..."

Minglan turned around and faced Bai Ziyang, her eyes wide open, and said angrily: "You! What are you talking about! What kind of person is that young master? Is he... is he someone who can marry up to him?"

Seeing that Minglan seemed really angry, Bai Ziyang quickly begged for mercy: "Okay, okay, it's my fault, I said the wrong thing... But in my opinion, it's not a question of marrying up or not, but that Qi Heng is not worthy of you, Minglan, you deserve the best!"

Minglan was startled by the seriousness in Bai Ziyang's eyes at this moment. Although she vaguely understood what Bai Ziyang meant, she had never understood it as clearly as she did at this moment.

Bai Ziyang knew that Sheng Minglan was not a person who only cared about love, and some things should not be said too clearly now, because he was afraid that if he said it too clearly, he would scare away this "little white rabbit" who had just shown up. It would be better to wait... wait...

As the imperial examination draws near, everything in the Sheng family has to give way to the examination, since there are two candidates in the family. Even Minglan is busy sewing knee pads for her two brothers whenever she has free time.

Seeing that it was getting dark, Danju put down her needlework and said, "Girl, it gets dark too early in winter. Why don't we sew tomorrow to avoid damaging your eyes."

Minglan kept working without raising her head and said, "My two brothers are about to enter the examination room and they are also getting up early and working late. I have to make these two pairs of knee pads for them quickly, otherwise I won't be able to finish them."

Danju jokingly said, "Two pairs of knee pads? Miss, I'm cutting one pair here, Xiaotao is cutting one pair there, why are you sewing another pair in your hand?"

Xiao Tao lowered her head and said directly: "I wonder if Mr. Bai will be eliminated this year? Could it be that this pair of knee pads is made for him?"

Minglan said, "You, what nonsense are you talking about... Besides, what does it have to do with me whether he gets punished or not! I just haven't made this kind of thing for many years and I want to make a pair of knee pads to practice, don't talk nonsense!"

Seeing Minglan's stubborn look, Xiaotao and Danju looked at each other and smiled secretly.

With the arrival of the imperial examination day, Minglan had sent people to deliver Sheng Changbai and Sheng Changfeng's knee pads, but the only one left in her hands. Minglan placed it next to her pillow, looking at it day and night but had no chance to give it away.

On the day of the imperial examination, the entire Sheng family, except for Mrs. Sheng, went out to send Sheng Changbai and Sheng Changfeng to the examination room. Bai Ziyang came early in the morning to accompany Gu Tingye to the Imperial Examination Hall. It was pitiful to say that for such a big event as the imperial examination, Gu Tingye was accompanied by only Shitou and his younger brother Gu Tingwei.

On the way back home, Minglan lifted the curtain of the carriage and saw Bai Ziyang going to the examination room with Gu Tingye. Bai Ziyang also saw Minglan when he glanced, but there were many people passing by, so it was inconvenient to say hello. He just nodded slightly and left.

As they passed each other, Minglan thought of the pair of knee pads that were still placed next to her pillow. Just when she was about to call Bai Ziyang, she glanced at Rulan who was sleeping soundly with her head resting on her shoulder, and had to swallow her cry again.

Xiao Tao, who was following the carriage, was already familiar with Ting Feng and Shitou. When no one was paying attention to them, they chatted for a while. Then she returned to Minglan's carriage and said, "Ting Ting Feng said that Mr. Bai didn't win the exam this year!"

Minglan's expression in the carriage was unclear. She just said vaguely, "Oh? Really..."

After sending Gu Tingye to the examination room, Bai Ziyang quietly left the city when there were many people around. When the results were announced after the imperial examination, the whole city was paying attention. Bai Ziyang returned to the city quietly. Except for the people around him, no one knew where he had left and went.

After Bai Ziyang returned to the mansion to rest, he listened to Feng's report and learned that two major things had happened during his absence. One was that something happened in the Sheng Mansion again. It was not a big deal, but Sheng Hong was detained in the palace by the emperor. Bai Ziyang had dealt with Sheng Hong for several years, and he knew this man too well. What mistakes could he make that would be worth the emperor's detention? Bai Ziyang was extremely curious, so he said, "Go and find out!"

Ting Feng said: "Yes!"

Not long after, Tingfeng came back to reply. After hearing the cause of the incident, Bai Ziyang couldn't help but smile and shook his head and said, "Alas, isn't this a typical case of a cheating father? He deserves it for raising such a son!"

After laughing, Bai Ziyang said to Tingfeng: "Find a chance to tell the Sheng family. Well... don't say too much, just let them be at ease!"

Ting Feng said: "Understood!"

The second thing is that Gu Tingye actually failed the exam. He also knew the reason. Since it was a foregone conclusion, he was powerless to change it. He just felt sorry for Gu Tingye's hard study for the past ten years. However, a good man has ambitions, and there is more than one way to succeed in the imperial examination. Knowing that Gu Tingye should not be in a good mood now, Bai Ziyang was about to comfort him, but he didn't expect the servants to come and report that Gu Tingye actually came.

It turned out that when the Sheng family heard that Sheng Hong was detained in the palace, they were really scared to death. Wang Ruofu and Lin Qinshuang were like the sky was falling, and one was plotting to sell off their property and run away. When Tingfeng and others outside the door found out, they said they were also drunk. When Sheng Changbai asked around, he found Gu Tingye. Gu Tingye wanted Sheng Changbai to go to the Duke of Qi's Mansion, but thought that although the Prince of Zhao had always been low-key, Bai Ziyang might know something, so he asked Sheng Changbai to go back and wait for his news, and he went to the Prince of Zhao's Mansion to find Bai Ziyang to ask.

After Bai Ziyang knew the purpose of Gu Tingye's visit, he laughed and patted Gu Tingye's shoulder and said, "Don't worry, I have already sent Tingfeng to Sheng Mansion. Sheng Hong is unlucky and raised a son who only pits him... Go back and tell Changbai to rest assured that Master Sheng will be able to go home in two days!"

Tingfeng arrived outside the Sheng family's door and knew that he naturally could not tell Sheng Changbai the news directly, otherwise he would definitely ask how Bai Ziyang knew this news that even they didn't know. So as a considerate and advanced intelligent robot, he waited until Xiaotao went out and then showed up and called her over.

Telling Xiaotao the news is naturally equivalent to telling Minglan. If Minglan knows, Old Lady Sheng will also know. If Old Lady Sheng knows, the Sheng family will no longer be in chaos... Yes, that's right. At such a difficult time for the Sheng family, his young master stepped forward and sent out the news despite "many dangers". This can definitely be compared to a hero saving a beauty, okay? How could his future little princess not be moved?