I have suffered enough in my previous life, my cousin will never marry me

Chapter 13 The Desolate Scholar
Ye Wanshu stared at what was happening before her eyes in shock, but she subconsciously shouted, "Stop."

Hearing the sound, everyone turned their puzzled eyes at the same time.

Seeing the strange looks around her, Ye Wanshu coughed a few times before finally speaking, "Didn't you just hear? This young master said he would try to return the money after the Spring Examination results were announced. After all, he was a juren sent to the imperial court. How dare you take his life so lightly?"

"So what if I'm a juren? Doesn't a juren have to pay back their debts?"

The burly man glared at Ye Wanshu speechlessly. "I say, young lady, aren't you meddling too much in other people's business? Who knows if this loser can pass the imperial examination? If he doesn't, will my master wait until he takes the next imperial examination to ask for the money?"

Seeing someone speaking up for him, the young man spoke confidently: "I will definitely make the list."

The burly man was so angry that he stomped on her again. "You useless thing, you are fooling a three-year-old child. Do you think the imperial court is run by your family and you can be on the list just like that?"

As soon as he finished speaking, he ordered the servant beside him: "Immediately escort him to see the officials, strip him of his honors and bring him back to Tongyang."

Seeing the man being dragged forward, still struggling with blood all over his body, Ye Wanshu thought of her current situation and felt a slight movement in her heart.

Tongyang is a remote small town. There are only a handful of scholars in the entire state, not to mention those who can go to Beijing to take part in the spring examination.

Seeing that the results were about to be announced, she knew how difficult it was for scholars. It would be a pity if she was stripped of her academic title and signed the indenture at this time.

"Wait a minute."

Ye Wanshu scolded those people and asked coldly, "How much money does he owe you?"

The burly man was immediately interested when he heard this. He walked towards her with a grin on his face and said, "Hey, girl, from the sound of your voice, you want to help this loser pay back the money?"

"That's true."

Having lived two lives, the thing Ye Wanshu has the most of is money.

Slowly walking up to the young man, she pushed away the escorting servant, supported him, and took a closer look.

Although he looked very disheveled, his handsome face could be seen through his messy hair.

Well, it would be a shame if I didn’t take her home and get to know her better since she has such a good-looking face.

Moreover, such a gentle and jade-like temperament does not seem to come from a poor family. I am afraid that her family is in trouble.

"Sir, how much money do you owe them? I might be able to help you out first," Ye Wanshu gestured.

Faced with her enthusiasm, the man lowered his head somewhat embarrassedly: "Miss, thank you for your kindness, but I'm afraid you can't help me with this matter."

The burly man approached with a look of disdain, sneering loudly, "How can you, a frail girl like you who doesn't even know him, have the guts to stand up for him? Do you know how much money he owes?"

Chunhong was about to scold her, but Ye Wanshu stopped her with a wave of her hand. She glared at the rough man with a cold face and said, "If you have something to say, just say it. Why are you talking so much nonsense?"

The burly man had no patience for arguing with her. He simply took out the IOU and said arrogantly, "To date, the total is nine hundred taels. Since you want to show off, pay it back for him immediately."

Ye Wanshu snorted coldly, "It's only nine hundred taels of silver. I thought it would empty the national treasury."

Everyone was stunned by these words, and they whispered, "What a big tone!"

"Chunhong, Xingtao, go get those gift boxes from the carriage."

Ye Wanshu gave the order without hesitation, and in the blink of an eye, two maids came back with five boxes in their arms.

The things in the Duke of Rong's Mansion have always been custom-made by the palace and are quite valuable. Rather than letting those ungrateful people get away with it, it would be better to use it to save a human life.

"You can order by yourselves," Ye Wanshu said in a calm tone.

The burly man was completely confused: "Miss, what do you mean? My master wants money, not gifts from you."

Someone in the crowd who knew the value of the box exclaimed, "This is a special gift box made by the Duke of Rong's Mansion, crafted by the Wensi Academy within the palace. The box alone must be worth two taels of silver, and the contents inside are probably even more valuable."

When the rough man heard this, he hurriedly picked up a box and opened it. Inside was a pair of extremely gorgeous hairpins, shining with gold and very eye-catching.

He quickly pulled the old man who had just spoken over and asked suspiciously, "Old man, how much is this thing worth?"

The old man picked up the hairpins and glanced at them briefly, then revealed a look of surprise. "This is a top-grade product made by the Wensi Academy. It's worth a fortune. This pair of hairpins alone must be worth at least two hundred taels of silver."

The rough man's face lit up with joy, and he immediately asked the old man to identify the jewelry in several other boxes. The total estimated value of the five pairs of jewelry was nearly a thousand taels.

"I didn't expect it to be a noble from the Duke of Rong's Mansion."

The rough man didn't dare to underestimate him anymore, and stepped forward respectfully to apologize: "I'm sorry, I'm sorry. Since you have helped us, we will not make things difficult for Master Ji. With these jewelry, we can explain to the master when we go back." After that, he excitedly hugged the box and was about to leave.

"Wait a minute," Ye Wanshu walked forward, opened the last box, and took out a gold hairpin. "The senior just now estimated the value of these jewels at a thousand taels. Do you still want to take them all?"

"Don't dare, don't dare."

The artifacts produced by Wensiyuan can never be faked, and with the prestigious name of Duke Rong's Mansion, the rough man was not afraid that these things would not be enough to pay off his debts. He tactfully took the rest of the jewelry and left happily.

Ye Wanshu glanced at the gold hairpin in her hand, and secretly marveled at her aunt's generosity. She was just trying to please her adoptive father and prepare thousands of taels of gifts for his illegitimate daughters. Fortunately, this happened, otherwise she would have been throwing meat buns at a dog.

Putting the gold hairpin and the IOU into the young man's hand, Ye Wanshu smiled and said, "No one will bother Master Ji anymore. Take this hairpin and exchange it for some silver. Then wait patiently in Lin'an City for the results to be announced."

Then, he led Chunhong and Xingtao and prepared to leave.

"girl."

Ji Yunze stood there in a daze, holding the IOU and the gold hairpin, and until this moment he couldn't believe that all this was true.

Ye Wanshu also stopped and turned to look at him suspiciously.

Could it be that this little beauty really wants to go back with her so that she can get to know her better?
But my current situation is not convenient.

"Miss, did you really help me pay back such a large sum of money?" Ji Yunze looked at Ye Wanshu in disbelief.

"What else?" Ye Wanshu smiled. "The IOU and the hairpin are in your hands, young master."

She was about to walk away carelessly when Ji Yunze called her back again: "Girl, wait a minute."

He fumbled around his body somewhat at a loss, suddenly tore off a piece of cloth, bit his finger, and lay on the ground to quickly write a promissory note.

"Miss, this is the IOU I signed. Please keep it safe. I will definitely return the money to you as soon as possible."

Ji Yunze folded up the bloodstained IOU and forced it into her hand. "My name is Ji Yunze, and I live at the Yunsheng Inn. If you are in urgent need of money, you can come to the Yunsheng Inn and ask for it from me."

"it is good."

Ye Wanshu simply responded with a single word and got back into the carriage.

The excitement faded, the crowds gradually dispersed, and the coachman shouted at the horses to set off again.

Ji Yunze stared blankly at the carriage as it drove away, but his heart was still beating fast.

He didn't expect that when he was at his wit's end, the person who helped him out of his predicament would be a girl he had never met.

The woman's every smile and frown was already lingering in his mind. Without asking where the money came from or why, he spent a fortune on her and paid off his debt directly, even using all her jewelry.

I'm afraid I'll never be able to repay this kindness in this lifetime.

Just thinking of the resounding reputation of the Duke of Rong's Mansion, he immediately stopped thinking about other things.

After carefully putting away the gold hairpin and the IOU, Ji Yunze left slowly and unhurriedly.

Ye Wanshu leaned lazily in the carriage. Without the gift boxes taking up space, she instantly felt that the carriage was much more spacious.

"Ji Yunze."

After pondering for a moment, Ye Wanshu suddenly realized that she didn't seem to have heard of this name when the results of the imperial examination were announced in her previous life.

Could it be that this person really failed the exam? Or perhaps in his previous life, he was like today, stripped of his honors and sold before the results were even announced?

Anyway, it wasn't her own money that was used, so she didn't feel bad about it. She just considered it as a way to accumulate merit.

The carriage went forward for a distance and was about to drive out of Changle Street when it suddenly stopped.

Ye Wanshu opened the curtain, a look of impatience on her face.

She curled her lips and asked Chunhong: "What happened this time? Is there someone causing trouble up ahead again?"

Chunhong shook her head and looked ahead warily: "No one is causing trouble, it's just that the carriage from the Wuping Marquis' Mansion is blocking the road."

(End of this chapter)