After the three national examinations ended, all the scholars who appeared seemed to be exhausted. In addition, the dusk just ended, most people would choose to stay in the city at night, and those who are rich or whose family is not near Guangzhou Fucheng will continue to linger until the list is issued. However, some people have very different choices from most people. After leaving Gongyuan Street through Danguili, they immediately went to the carriage and horse store to rent horses and hurried out of the city and headed straight to their homes. That was Du Maode, who knew very well that his paper would be sent to the post.

When he was keen on fame and fortune, he participated in the provincial examination many times, so why didn’t he know the word count requirements for each test?

After leaving the city, he rode his horse wildly. When Du Maode arrived at the entrance of Datong Village, it was already dark. After escaping from the pirates, he moved his family here to avoid possible troubles, and was not indigenous. At this time, most of the villages were dark. After all, lighting the lamps requires money for oil. There are few rich households and many poor households in the village. Most of them had to go out and go to bed after dinner. When walking on the road in the middle of the village, they had to be very careful. Fortunately, he was familiar with the road, and he was walking slowly while it was dark, as if he was paying attention to the road under his feet. His eyes were always sweeping around. Before he knew it, he discovered some clues and frowned slightly.

When he arrived at his door, he knocked on the door lightly. After a long time, a voice came from inside: "It's so late, who is it?"

Du Maode felt relieved when he heard that it was his wife's voice and raised his voice a little: "It's me who's back!"

With his answer, he could only hear the sound of speaking inside for a moment, followed by the sound of opening the door and the sound of footsteps. When the courtyard door was opened in front of him, he saw his twelve-year-old son Du Ming holding the lamp in front and his wife behind him, all full of surprises. After the two of them welcomed him into the door, Du Ming leaned out and looked outside, then slammed the door and handed the lamp to his mother. He even bolted the door latch quickly, and hung a big iron lock directly on the wooden door latch. For this kind of action, even if Du Maode had already expected and prepared when he went out, his face still became gloomy.

Therefore, when he entered his main room, he immediately asked in a low voice: "Why, after I entered the trial stage, they didn't let you go?"

"When my husband left before, I said that Qiu Sihai saw you enter the test site, and Zhou Zhan, the deputy envoy of Shanghai Road, would also be the inspector. In order to monitor you, he also tried to take the line of Zhou to observe this line, and he would definitely try to sneak into the tribute court. This is true. A Ming walked around the village and saw his subordinates, but he did not see Qiu Sihai himself. But I tried to let A Ming go out of the village to see his grandfather, but someone stopped me. Obviously, I would not allow my mother and son to leave half a step. If other people in the village had interacted with me, my mother and son, someone would immediately warn us not to play tricks, so I simply took A Ming to stay away at first."

Although Du's wife, Hong, was born in a small family, had her parents-in-law died, and her husband had been in the exam for so many years. Although she was a teacher in the society to subsidize the family income, she was the one who was in charge of the land in the family and hired people during the busy farming period. Then her husband went out for a trip and finally disappeared. The whole family was supported by her. Especially when everyone was rumored that Du Maode was dead, she used the policy of scholars to be exempted from two people and told the clan leader to come forward. She insisted that her husband was not dead, but insisted that he had not died until the person came back. After Du Maode came back, she wanted to move, and she followed him without saying a word.

Although he had been a military advisor with Lin Afeng for several years and should have a huge fortune, when Du Maode escaped, he only took thirty taels of gold and brought it back. However, Hong did not use such a sum of money that could improve his life. In her words, it would be better to prevent the villagers from talking too much.

So, knowing his wife's ability, he couldn't help feeling guilty when he heard her actions after he left: "It's all that I've dragged you down."

"What is this about my husband? You have been away for many years and have to commit to the thieves at the most dangerous time, but you don't forget your original intention. I was a woman who was in charge of housework and educated my son, which is what I should do. However, before I finished what I said just now. Just when A Ming and I could only stay at home, his grandfather suddenly sent a message to the village, saying that he was suddenly seriously ill. The man was from the village, I knew him, but for such a big thing, the other party sent a message, but he also brought an unknown letter. I opened it and found that a classmate of my husband's school in Guangzhou recommended him to an adult."

The more Du Maode listened, the more he felt heavy. His father-in-law was far away in Xinhui. He wanted to send real villagers to his wife in this name to report a so-called serious illness message to his wife. The effort he spent was imaginable. But when he heard that someone left him a letter in the name of a classmate of a prefecture, he was a little surprised. These days, the county schools and prefectures were all in the same way. Few scholars who entered the school would really go to school to attend classes, unless there were no academies in the county schools! Therefore, except for the few people who entered the school in the same year, he was almost unfamiliar with the scholars of the prefectures, let alone being trapped in a few years, these people in the imperial examinations seemed very far away.

At that moment, he didn't know how many thoughts or conspiracies had changed in his heart, and finally asked briefly: "Where is your faith?"

When Du Ming saw his mother winking at him, he hurriedly pulled into the inner room and soon received the letter. He opened the seal and took out a thin piece of letter paper. He looked at the beautiful small regular script with a hairpin. Although he felt that his handwriting was not familiar, he immediately confirmed that the other party must be a person who read poetry and books. This small regular script has not been tempered enough, and it is definitely not well written, but there is no signature! The content in the letter is very simple. The other party claimed to have followed a Guangdong official and even recommended him to the other party, saying that he had been received by Yin Zhengmao and was very talented, but he was a little rebellious, so he was not tolerated in the officialdom... After reading this letter, he couldn't help but be stunned.

The words in the letter seemed to be written to a friend by a scholar who voted for a good boss, and the words that praised him were indeed quite pertinent, and it seemed that he didn't know that he had been involved in a thief. However, if the other party was just such a scholar, would it take him to send this letter through his father-in-law? Does that mean that the person who sent him to pick him up was the one who was the boss?

But if you are really an official, why should you be so cautious when dealing with these unknown people? It should be noted that with the destruction of the Japanese pirates, the offensives are often extremely fierce when dealing with pirates, so the pirates have been having a hard time these years. Otherwise, because Lin Afeng once beat Lin Daoqian to the point of falling, he would even dare to go to Luzon alone. Why should he ask for help after he comes back?

"Have you finished reading it?" Seeing Du Maode pinching the letter, Hong called out, but his expression was obviously in a daze, she continued to say. "After this letter was sent, at dusk, someone climbed over the wall and came into the house. He said that he knew that his husband had been entrusted by others in the past and did something against his wishes. Now there are strangers in the village who can't linger. It seems that these troubles have come to the door again. So, he sent a message that he could use A Ming's grandfather's illness to let me sell some items other than the land and real estate in my house, and look worried and want to visit him. After discussing with A Ming, I did as I did."

Du Maode thought about his wife's decision again, but he felt confused. The person who recommended him in the letter seemed to have no idea about his past, but the one who came to the door exposed the window paper. But no matter what happened, it would be impossible to act deaf and dumb now and remain unmoved. He had to move first and then see how the other party reacted.

Just like his moves in the policy paper that will definitely be posted, isn’t it hope that Qiu Sihai can see the flaws he left in the paper paper, so he thinks he is disheartened, and he decided to return to his old career after this time. In this way, he can relax his vigilance and let him rush home to plan his escape at the end of the provincial examination?

Of course, he still had one-ten thousand hopes, hoping that the one he met when he left the group of thieves at the beginning of last year could be in Guangzhou and could help him. At that time, the other party led the pursuers away for him, so that he could escape. Afterwards, the two of them drank for fun and even had martial arts skills. As a result, he was no match for the defeat at all. It was because of the appreciation of the other party's extraordinary skills and outstanding demeanor. I also heard that it was Lu Guangwu, who was fighting against the Japanese under Hu Zongxian's troops in the past, so he did not hide his real name, and even told the other party that the three years he had been in pirates.

Lu Guangwu mentioned that he would come to Guangdong this year. He joked that he had left his hometown for many years and planned to participate in the provincial examination this year as a farewell ceremony for leaving the imperial examination. At the moment, the two of them made an appointment to see each other again at the tribute court when the provincial examination was issued. Unexpectedly, Lu Guangwu was still missing, but Qiu Sihai, Lin Afeng's confidant, appeared and ran into him in Guangzhou City. After all, he was very lucky! But he couldn't even shout out that he had a rant. After all, he had been a thief!

Whether it was full of worries or suspicions in his heart, Du Maode asked his wife, "Then after you sold your things, will this person appear again?"

"Yes." Hong looked at his son and then replied, "He said that on the night when the third session of the Gongyuan Court ended, someone would be sent to pick A Ming and me up from the village. But I didn't expect that you, my husband, will be back at this time."

It was actually tonight? Well, he rushed back in a hurry, but he had plans to escape at night, so let's take a bet!

Du Maode took a deep breath and immediately said in a deep voice: "Since I'm back, let's go together. With me here, if the other party really has evil intentions, at least it is better than only you, mother and son!"

After saying this, Du Maode went into the inner room. There were only rough furniture left here, and all the decorations were gone. At this moment, he moved away the secret lattice below the bed board and took out an iron ruler. Compared to the common double-sided iron ruler, this iron ruler has only one side branch, which looks like a guard. The middle handle is a sharp pointed tip, but it is a popular ten-hand design in Japan. It was seized by the master who taught him martial arts that year claimed that he had killed a Japanese pirate and seized it. It is very suitable for locking swords and other weapons. I think among the pirates who are good at men, he finally saved his life and innocence with this iron ruler and courage.

"I didn't expect to rely on this old guy again!"

Seeing Du Maode coming out with an iron ruler, Hong suddenly recognized her husband's weapon for self-defense. Although Confucian scholars could wear a sword, Du Maode often said that the sword was too silly, and he was far less capable than using the sword. However, Du Ming, who had always been keen on his father's iron ruler, stared at him until his father waved and called him forward, laughing and saying that he would teach him how to use it in the future. He almost burst into tears. In this situation, Hong almost burst into tears. She only hoped that the family of three could be reunited, not for wealth and honor, but God just teased people like this!

She had already packed up her fineness and had barely calmed down. Seeing Du Maode being instructed by Du Ming, she forced a smile and said, "You should have rushed back all the way after the show is over. You must be hungry. There are still some ready-made rice noodles in the kitchen. I'll do it now. Everyone eats a little, so you can keep your energy and be strong."

She said, regardless of whether the father and son objected, and immediately turned around and went to the kitchen. Soon after, she brought out three bowls of steaming rice noodles on wooden plates. How could Du Maode not know about his wife's feelings? In addition, he couldn't eat well and sleep well in the narrow house. At this moment, he ate a bowl of rice noodles to fill his stomach with his stomach in a few bites, and became excited without realizing it. When Hong cleaned up the dishes and chopsticks, the family of three sat in the main hall and didn't know how long it had been. Du Maode suddenly heard the sound of stones rolling to the ground, and immediately strided to the door without hesitation.

When he opened the door, he saw a man in the yard that should have been empty. His pupils suddenly contracted and he simply crossed the threshold and went out.

Relying on the moonlight in the sky, Hong, who was following behind, barely recognized that the other party was the one who had been here before, and quickly explained to her husband in a low voice. The visitor found that there was one more person in the Du family and his ears were very good. He caught Hong's explanation. He stepped forward and bowed, but his voice was very light: "Since Mr. Du is here, that's great. The mule cart has been parked on the back wall of your house. If you want, you can leave now."

"Okay, then let's go now." Du Maode knew that he had no back door, and if he wanted to walk, he would have to climb over the wall. He nodded calmly.

When the man climbed over the wall first, he saw Du Ming bringing a ladder to the back wall, and then put his robe on his waist, asking Du Ming to support his mother and follow him, and then quickly climbed up the wall in three or two steps. He confirmed that there was indeed only a mule cart there, and the driver in front of the cart was the one who had just happened. Apart from that, he couldn't help but wonder more about the so-called response. However, at this moment, he didn't care about that. After jumping and landing steadily, he saw that his wife had been stuck on the wall, and whispered: "Madam, don't be careful, I will follow you."

Although she was an old couple for many years, when she heard such words in this situation, Hong felt a chuckle in her heart. After she completely turned over to the wall, she did not hesitate and closed her eyes and twitched. When her hands steadily caught her, she didn't have time to speak, but she heard a soft sound. It turned out that Du Ming had already gone downstairs.

"Get in the car, I'll say something back!"

Feeling that her husband had squeezed her hands hard, Hong took a deep breath and forced a smile. After getting in the car, she couldn't help but touch her calves shins with her hands.

There, a small skirt knife is tied! (To be continued.) Mobile phone users, please visit http://m.piaotian.net
Chapter completed!