I knew we’d found the right person this time.
Feeling relieved, Jing Yi, the one responsible for those two injuries, curled his lips into a smile and said, “It’s fine. Just say whatever comes to mind. This isn’t part of the exam. I just want to hear your thoughts. It’s okay if you’re wrong.”
Chu Chu turned her head to look at Xiao Jin Yu again, and Xiao Jin Yu felt his spine stiffen.
Fortunately, Chu Chu didn’t make another move. Her gaze lingered on the two injuries for a while before she suddenly clapped her hands and exclaimed, “I’ve got it! You must have had your head squeezed by a door and your nose kicked by a donkey!”
Xiao Jin Yu’s face darkened, while Jing Yi’s turned pitch black.
You’re the donkey—your whole family are donkeys…
The Clerk had a vague sense of foreboding and was about to dismiss Chu Chu when she turned back to face Xiao Jin Yu.
“I need to check your pulse.”
Jing Yi stopped coughing and hurriedly looked at Xiao Jin Yu.
Anyone who knew Xiao Jin Yu was aware that this was one of his major taboos. In fact, the only living person in the world who dared mention checking his pulse was probably Master Ye from his household.
If Xiao Jin Yu were to suddenly lose his temper with this little girl…
Fortunately, Xiao Jin Yu hadn’t fully recovered from Chu Chu’s earlier shocking actions. He merely froze for a moment, frowned, and gave her a cold glare before replying stiffly, “No.”
Jing Yi quietly let out a sigh of relief.
But Chu Chu had no intention of stopping there.
“Then I need to check your legs.”
Jing Yi silently sucked back the breath he had just exhaled.
This time, even he had no idea how Xiao Jin Yu would react. After all, he had never heard anyone say such a thing to Xiao Jin Yu before.
In fact, it was indeed the first time Xiao Jin Yu had ever heard such words.
Xiao Jin Yu’s gaze sharpened as he looked at Chu Chu, but to his surprise, the girl met his glare with a fierce stare of her own.
Xiao Jin Yu was momentarily stunned, his mind going blank. By the time he regained his composure, his anger had dissipated, and he could only reply coldly once more, “No.”
Chu Chu was genuinely starting to get angry with this person. His face kept changing colors—red, white, and black—so it was clear his injuries weren’t limited to his head. Yet, he wouldn’t let her check his pulse or his legs, and he even glared at her like that. What kind of living corpse behaved this way? If she failed this exam, it would all be his fault!
But as she looked at him sitting in the wheelchair, thin and injured, Chu Chu couldn’t bring herself to vent her anger at him. Pressing her lips together, she decided to take a step back for the sake of peace.
“Fine, if I can’t touch you, then just take off all your clothes and let me take a look.”
“...!”
Before Xiao Jin Yu could utter a word, Jing Yi quickly interjected, “Alright! Chu Chu, that’s enough here. You can go to the back for the oral exam now.”
Chu Chu looked at Xiao Jin Yu’s gloomy expression with reluctance. “But I haven’t finished the examination yet.”
“This is an exam. You don’t need to finish the examination. I’m the examiner, so listen to me. Be good, hurry up, go quickly! You’ll be late for the next part!”
Jing Yi was practically shouting, but Chu Chu showed no sense of urgency. After taking her wooden token, she turned to the Clerk, who was standing frozen in shock, and said, “Sir, aren’t you supposed to write down everything I said? Why don’t you even have a pen?”
“I… I… I have a good memory. I’ll remember it… in my head. I’ll write it down after you leave, after you leave…”"Alright, don't forget!"
"I won't, I won't..."
He'd remember this even in death...
"Goodbye, Brother Jing!"
"Goodbye, goodbye..."
After Chu Chu skipped cheerfully out of the room, Jing Yi's heart, which had been stuck in his throat for quite some time, finally settled back into his chest. Xiao Jin Yu wasn't the type to seek revenge afterward; if he didn't lose his temper on the spot, it meant the matter was over.
Xiao Jin Yu's expression softened slightly. While the clerk was off to the side racking his brains for the right words to record Chu Chu's recent "heroic feat," he whispered to Jing Yi, "Is she the one you mentioned?"
Jing Yi leaned in closer. "I told you she's absolutely unique..."
Xiao Jin Yu had already regained his usual calm composure, as if nothing had just happened, and frowned slightly. "I said I wanted someone with a clean family background and simple origins."
Jing Yi didn't know whether to laugh or cry. "She's so simple she's practically natural! How much simpler do you want?"
"On the exam application, she claimed to be from an official family."
Jing Yi was taken aback.
When he met her on the street, that wasn't what she had said.
He could usually spot a lie from even the most cunning and shrewd capital officials at a glance. In theory, if this young girl had lied to him, he should have been able to tell.
But the exam application wasn't something one could just fill out with random falsehoods.
As Jing Yi was pondering where the discrepancy came from, a clerk entered from outside, bowed to Xiao Jin Yu, and said, "Wang Ye, the Minister says it's about time. He requests your presence to oversee the trial."
"Inform the Minister that I'm feeling slightly unwell and cannot attend. Please ask General Wu to oversee the trial in my place."
"Yes."
☆、5 Jujube Ginger Soup (Five)
The paths within the Ministry of Justice compound weren't difficult to navigate at all. Every hall and office faced south, arranged in neat, orderly rows without any twists or turns. Getting from one place to another required at most three turns. However, today happened to coincide with the trial of some major case, and several routes were blocked off with guards preventing passage. A place that should have been just around the corner from the side hall ended up requiring Chu Chu to circle nearly half the Ministry of Justice compound before she finally reached the entrance.
Thinking she must certainly be late, Chu Chu rushed breathlessly into the room and slammed her wooden identification plaque onto the desk in front of the elderly examining clerk. "Chu Chu... Candidate Number One, Chu Chu!"
"Oh my, this reckless girl... No need to hurry, no need to hurry..."
The old clerk nearly had a heart attack from her sudden action. While soothing his chest, he unhurriedly picked up Chu Chu's plaque, examined it closely, then nodded. As he spread out paper and prepared ink, he muttered, "Yes, yes, but you've come far too early... Don't be scared, don't rush. All those matters dealing with the dead... they've already finished testing those in the previous two rooms... Here we'll just discuss a few small things. Once we're done, you'll have completed the entire exam... Understand?"
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