After being reborn, her aloof ex-husband and her crazy deceased husband got into a fight.

In his previous life, Lan Tingzhou did not compete for any special imperial examination quota, but directly participated in the provincial examination and became the top scholar.

Why does Huang Tinghai insist on dwelling on the Lanting Boat?

Gan Cai'er felt there was something wrong with this.

Although Wu Xin could no longer enter the Lan family's door, and was imprisoned by Wu Songping in a nunnery outside the city, it seemed that everything had been settled.

But Niu Si's death made Gan Cai'er wary.

Gan Cai'er felt that this matter would never be over until Huang Tinghai's motives for targeting Lan Tingzhou were cleared up.

The next day, Gan Cai'er went to the Du residence to see Aunt Zhao. Although she had stopped learning disguise techniques from Granny Huang, her relationship with Aunt Zhao had become closer.

Perhaps it was because Aunt Zhao had a similar temperament to Wei Yulan that Gan Cai'er felt a sense of familiarity with her.

Aunt Zhao and Wei Yulan both had their heads full of gold and jade hairpins, liked bright red and green, and were so flamboyant that they were almost vulgar. However, they were straightforward, laughed and scolded from the heart, and were very easygoing.

Aunt Zhao also liked Gan Cai'er very much because Gan Cai'er never treated her differently because she was a courtesan, nor did she look down on her because she was a concubine.

Therefore, whenever Jinxiufang launched new dresses, Aunt Zhao would order three to five sets of each style. Before long, she had become a VIP customer of Jinxiufang.

"Oh my, this cloak is so beautiful!" Aunt Zhao held a peach-colored satin cloak with gold brocade, admiring it and praising it incessantly.

“Ah Cai, I don’t think anyone in Danzhou makes clothes as nice as you. Why don’t you open your own shop and I’ll invest in it.”

Aunt Zhao took the clothes and happily tried them on.

"Let's talk about it after my husband takes the imperial examination this autumn. If he doesn't pass, I'll open a shop in Danzhou Prefecture and stay here with him to study for another three years. If, by some stroke of luck, he passes the provincial examination, I'll go to the capital with him."

"Alas, then your shop is definitely not going to be able to open." Aunt Zhao sighed with a smile. "If even Young Master Lan can't pass the imperial examination, then no one in Danzhou Prefecture will be able to pass it."

"In the county examination, the prefectural examination, and the provincial examination, Young Master Lan always came in first place! Not to mention Danzhou, there are very few people like him in the entire Dayong. Even my master said that he is sure to pass the imperial examination."

"He's just good at studying." Gan Cai'er smiled modestly, then rolled her eyes and tentatively asked, "By the way, I heard that if you get a special imperial examination spot, you don't have to take the autumn examination and can directly participate in the spring examination?"

"That's true." Aunt Zhao nodded. "The imperial examination is a special favor bestowed by the emperor upon the students, hence the name 'enke' (恩科).

Gan Cai'er was surprised that Aunt Zhao actually knew. So, she leaned closer to Aunt Zhao and asked mysteriously.

"I heard that there were three spots in Danzhou this year. Do you know who they were given to, Auntie?"

“Your husband doesn’t need this, why are you asking about it?” Aunt Zhao glanced at her sideways.

"I was just curious. Besides, this matter ultimately depends on Lord Du's decision. Is there anything about Lord Du's affairs that you, Aunt, don't know?" Gan Cai'er smiled sweetly, flattering him incessantly.

"You're so good with words." Aunt Zhao was indeed flattered and delighted, chuckling as she poked Gan Cai'er's head with her finger.

"Actually, this isn't exactly a secret. The number of places was decided by the master and the heads of several major academies. The Wei family got one, the Wei family got one, and the other was the eldest son of Registrar Qian."

"Are all the spots confirmed?" Gan Cai'er asked in surprise.

Since the spots have already been decided, why did Wu Xin still promise Huang Lanxiang that she could help Huang Tinghai get them?

"It was decided a long time ago, and it should have already been delivered to His Majesty's desk by now."

Gan Cai'er left the Du residence with a heavy heart.

Back home, she thought about it over and over again, feeling that something was wrong, so she went to Luming Academy to find Lantingzhou.

In order to ensure Lan Tingzhou achieved good results in the autumn imperial examination six months later, Ouyang Shu personally confined him to the academy, forbidding him from leaving even a step. No matter how much Lan Tingzhi threw a tantrum and tried to take Lan Tingzhou home, it was no use this time.

In addition, rumors of a shrewish wife in the Lantingzhou family have been circulating recently, and Ouyang Shu was afraid that Gan Cai'er would bully his good student, so he kept a closer eye on her.

Gan Cai'er told Lan Tingzhou everything Huang Lanxiang said before she died, as well as the information she got from Aunt Zhao.

She talked on and on for ages, until her throat was dry, but when she realized the other person wasn't responding, she became a little annoyed. She looked up and glared at Lan Tingzhou.

But she saw Lan Tingzhou staring at her intently, unblinkingly, even with a hint of greed.

Gan Cai'er was startled by his overly focused gaze. She couldn't help but raise her hand and touch her face, asking, "Is there something wrong with my face?"

Lan Tingzhou raised his hand, his fingertips gently tracing the corner of her mouth, his eyes dark, and said, "Your lip rouge is a little smudged."

A slightly cool touch brushed against her warm lips, and Gan Cai'er was stunned. Her mind went blank for a moment, her whole body trembled, and the hairs on her body stood on end.

"I, I said it, did you hear me?!" Gan Cai'er's face suddenly turned red, and she stammered a little.

Lan Tingzhou twirled his fingers, lowered his eyes and chuckled softly, saying in a low voice, "I heard you all clearly."

"So what do we do now?" Gan Cai'er asked.

“You don’t need to worry about it. I’ll take care of the rest,” Lan Tingzhou said.

"Huang Tinghai is ungrateful and narrow-minded, you must be careful," Gan Cai'er warned.

"You seem to have always been particularly concerned about Huang Tinghai?" Lan Tingzhou frowned, slightly puzzled.

"Well, that's all because of Huang Lanxiang," Gan Cai'er said guiltily, averting her gaze and giving a perfunctory reply.

Seeing that Gan Cai'er was unwilling to say more, Lan Tingzhou sighed slightly and did not press her further.

"By the way, you just said that Niu Si is also dead?" Lan Tingzhou asked.

"Mm." Gan Cai'er nodded.

"I heard he died in prison, apparently from some kind of illness."

On the day of the banquet, Niu Si was thrown into the government jail by Wu Songping on charges of "trespassing" and "harassing respectable women".

Who would have thought that he would die before he could even stand trial?

Lan Tingzhou's expression hardened, and he said seriously, "Try to minimize going out recently. I've asked Tingzhi to stay home for a while, and if you need to go out, make sure he accompanies you."

Gan Cai'er looked completely bewildered. Niu Si was dead, what did that have to do with her? Why couldn't she go out just because Niu Si was dead?

"Why?" Gan Cai'er asked.

“There’s something fishy about Niu Si’s death. You need to be careful,” Lan Tingzhou said.

“He ruined Wu Xin’s reputation; he’s a stain on her name and made the Wu family a laughingstock. It’s perfectly normal for the Wu family to want to get rid of him. But what does that have to do with me?” Gan Cai’er didn’t understand.

"Wu Xin's scheme against you backfired, harming herself instead. The Wu family is well aware of the whole story. Since they haven't let Niu Si go, they probably won't let you go easily either," Lan Tingzhou said calmly.

"It was Wu Xin who wanted to harm me, so am I supposed to just obediently let her do it?" Gan Cai'er was furious.

Lan Tingzhou raised his hand and stroked Gan Cai'er's hair, as if to comfort her.

"Don't be afraid. After the autumn examination, I will take you away from Danzhou. No matter how powerful the Wu family is, they can't control the sky in the capital."

Gan Cai'er arrived looking preoccupied, and left looking even more worried.

However, when she returned home, she learned that an even bigger disaster awaited her.

She had barely approached the door when Zhu Xiaoxiao, who had been waiting at the entrance, pulled her inside.

"Ah Cai, the man who disappeared before is back!"