Ning Shu replied straightforwardly, “Thanks, Dahua. But my motive in coming here this time is to stay with my cousin.”


  He Dahua waved his fan with a disdainful expression. “Wen Ruhua doesn’t even count as a man. You shouldn’t associate with him too much, lest you get infected by his mental illness.”


  Ning Shu smiled without replying.

  Ning Shu and Yue Lan ate their fill. To thank He Xiaohua, Ning Shu gifted her a good quality rouge and some silk flower ornaments.

  “Young Lady, you shouldn’t wear gold hairpins. You’re young, so silk flowers would look better on you,” said Ning Shu.

  He Xiaohua was delighted with the gifts and reached out to clap Ning Shu’s shoulder. That pat almost made Ning Shu choke. God, this girl was way too strong!

  “Little beauty, want stay at Big Brother Dahua’s place? This place isn’t fit for humans at all, even my pig pen is in better condition.” He Dahua fanned himself in a feigned elegant manner.

  Ning Shu: …


  Once the He family siblings left, the door behind her opened with a creak. Wen Ruhua walked out with a dark expression and glared at Ning Shu before walking into the kitchen. He grabbed a ladle of cooled water and started eating a maize pancake.

  What a bitter and resentful expression ah. Ning Shu was speechless. She really couldn’t understand what Wen Ruhua was thinking.

  She walked into his room and saw that there were a lot of books on the worn out table. She was surprised since she hadn’t taken him to be someone that studious.

  She casually picked up a book and flipped through it. Then her expression cracked. This book was about a down-and-out scholar that had encountered a fox spirit. Most of it was about how sexy the fox spirit was and the erotic things the scholar did with the fox spirit.

  Ning Shu: …


  She picked up another book and flipped through it. This book was about a chivalrous hero’s journey in combating evil, killing corrupt officials, and being worshipped by the people.

  All of the books on the table were of the same type: a scholar and women in the pleasure quarters, a scholar and the young daughter of a wealthy family… In addition, the details were all focused on dat. It was basically just ancient era porn books.

  These were the types of books that Wen Ruhua read intensively?

  Now it made sense why he didn’t want to take the imperial exams.

  Could it be that he spent his time rubbing himself while reading these books? Suddenly, she felt like all the stains on the table were Wen Ruhua’s that.

  “Who permitted you to touch my things?” Wen Ruhua stormed over and snatched the book from Ning Shu’s hand. “Get out! Don’t you dare touch my books again!”


  Ning Shu wiped her hand with a handkerchief, feeling grossed out. Then she asked, “Cousin, these are the books you usually read?”


  “Could it be that you don’t review the lesson books at all? How exactly do you usually teach the kids?” Ning Shu was disgusted. Wen Ruhua seemed like a beast.

  “I’ve already memorized those books, so I don’t need to look at them at all. I only flip through these books occasionally out of boredom,” replied Wen Ruhua without a trace of embarrassment on his face. “Women shouldn’t meddle in men’s business.”


  “So Cousin, you like reading books about heros upholding justice?” asked Ning Shu. “This hero completely disregards laws and kills whoever he likes even though officials that have done wrong would eventually be punished by the imperial court’s laws. The way the hero is acting is also treating human lives like grass.”


  Wen Ruhua gave a cold humph. “What do you know? The bureaucracy is completely corrupt. Who knows how long it would take for them to be caught and punished? The sooner they’re killed, that’s one less day the common citizens have to suffer. Since law won’t punish those corrupt officials who milk the commoners of their labors, a hero like this should step up to get justice for the commoners.”