The Story of a Destitute Noblewoman Farming

The first round of examination of the academy will begin when all the candidates who came in the morning gather here. The registration period of the academy has lasted for several days. Almost all the people have come today, and the teachers did not announce the start, but just asked all the candidates to go to another place.

Next, let them stand over there, and all the people who came with them from home sit in another place and watch.

Seeing that no teacher came and no one came forward to explain the rules of the assessment to them, everyone stood there for a cup of tea and felt strange.

Those parents didn't understand what the test was about, but seeing Lu Linlang sitting there with them and doing nothing, they just whispered to each other and didn't say anything else.

"How come no one shows up right after the teachers announced the start of the assessment? What exactly is this assessment about?" Some of the people who came knew each other. Seeing that no one was in charge and no teachers came, they all gathered together and talked about the assessment.

"I don't know how the exam is going to be conducted, and I've never heard of the method before. Mr. Lu is still sitting there, so why don't we go over and ask him?"

"This is not good. Didn't the teachers just ask us to stand here? If we leave without permission, will the teachers think that we are unwilling to continue to take the test?" Someone felt a little uneasy. He looked left and right, but he did not see the teachers appear.

"But we've been waiting here for a whole cup of tea, and no one has come to talk. We can't just sit here and wait, can we?"

"Hey, have you seen my purse? I saw it when I just walked over, but now it's gone?" Suddenly, a man said in surprise, staring at others with malicious eyes, suspecting that they had stolen it.

"You must have remembered it wrongly and left your things with your family. We all come to the academy to study. How could we steal your money?" Some people felt that there was something wrong with what he said.

"I seemed to have really seen him take out the purse just now. He showed it to us and said that he really brought it with him. He also said that it was for the tuition fee for admission. Why didn't you ask your family to keep it for you?" Another person remembered that he had indeed seen him holding the purse when he walked over just now.

"I saw it too. He just said that this was the money his family gave him. He also said that his family was busy setting up the stall, so they let him take it himself."

Another person also spoke loudly. After hearing several people confirm the words of the man whose money was stolen, everyone else turned around. They began to suspect that the people around them might have ulterior motives. They were waiting for an assessment. If such a person also entered the academy, they would have to keep an eye out for thieves at all times, which would make their life uneasy.

"Everyone, calm down. The teachers are nowhere to be found. We must work together to find that person. Otherwise, how can such a corrupt person study in the academy? Wouldn't that ruin the academy's reputation?"

"I agree. This stage is meant to test our character. If someone like this enters the academy, it would be bad for the academy's reputation. We can work together to find this person. Admitting one's mistakes and correcting them is the greatest virtue."

"Yeah, since the assessment hasn't started yet, I think we should find that person first. Now everyone, stand still and state who you were standing next to. Find everyone who was next to the brother who was robbed. That way, we can rule him out. If all else fails, we can search him."

"Body search? This is not okay. We are women. We can't let people search us in public." One girl shook her head, not wanting to accept this method.

"Then let's first find the people who just appeared next to this brother and let them tell us what they did."

Everyone agreed with this statement, and then everyone said where they had just stood and who they were next to.

Finally, we locked onto several people who appeared around that brother.

There were five people, two women and three men. Judging from their clothes, one of the two women was from a landlord's family, and the other was wearing clothes with fewer patches. Two of the three men were from wealthy families, and one was wearing cloth clothes. There were no patches on his clothes, but his hands were rough, so he was obviously a child from an ordinary family.

"Tell me first, each of you, what were you doing during the time he lost his money? Is there anyone who can prove your innocence?"

While the students here were trying to find the thief, Lu Linlang and the elders who had brought their children to school were also looking over there curiously. Seeing a group of people talking about something, they were also curious.

"What happened over there? Why is there a commotion before the teacher even announces how the assessment will be conducted? Miss Lu, could the first level of the assessment have already begun?" Lord Xu asked Lu Linlang who was standing beside him when he saw this.

"Adults are really insightful. The first stage of the character assessment has already begun. We just need to sit back and watch the show. We will know who has passed in a moment." There are melon seeds, peanuts, tea, etc. here. Hearing this, the other parents also quieted down. They were also curious about how the assessment would be held there.

The students' noise had attracted the attention of a teacher, who came out and asked these people what was going on.

"Then you should see if you can find the thief first. We were originally going to start the first round, but we just ran into a little trouble. The teachers are preparing. Once they are ready, we will arrange the first round of assessment."

After the teacher explained, those who had suspected that this was the first stage of the test were relieved. However, when they looked at the five suspects, they subconsciously turned their gaze to the two students, a boy and a girl, who were dressed in the most ordinary clothes.

"I've already said that I really didn't steal anything from him. I was standing there the whole time and wasn't familiar with anyone else. I didn't hear him say he had any money. If you're worried, you can search him."

When the man in plain clothes saw everyone looking at him, embarrassment and anger appeared on his face. He touched his body with his hands, trying his best to prove that this matter had nothing to do with him.

"Me neither. I was just eating. I didn't have time to eat when I came out. My mother made me an egg pancake and told me to study hard and get into the academy if I had a chance. I must make a name for myself. There's no way I'd do something that would ruin my future." The patched girl also said this, but she wasn't angry. Instead, she spoke calmly about it.

"Perhaps you and other accomplices are among us examinees. After you succeeded, you immediately moved the things away. If we want to find the money, we can only search everyone one by one, which will waste even more time. In addition, the examination is about to begin. If the teachers hadn't encountered a problem at the last minute, as long as we calculated the time accurately, finding the money by then would be like looking for a needle in a haystack."

One of the rich kids who was wrongly accused looked at them and spoke condescendingly, even pointing at others and telling them to be careful of accomplices.

These words undoubtedly increased the students' suspicions. They felt unsafe when seeing strangers around them and tightened their clothes.

"I told you, I didn't do this at all. How could you doubt me? I think it was someone else who did it, and now you're blaming me. I swear to heaven, if I did it, I'll be struck by lightning."

The boy's words and anger made the others turn their attention to other people.