Ban Han got off the sedan chair and asked the servant who came to greet her, "Has Shizi returned?"
"Lord, Shizi returned an hour ago." The servant bowed and answered, "He is reading in the study."
"Reading?" Ban Han raised her eyebrows. Her younger brother would feel dizzy when he entered the study. If he could calm down and read, he would be the best person in the world. "Let's go. I'll go see him."
"Confucius said: Don't worry about others if you don't know yourself; don't worry about others if you don't know yourself …"
Ban Han had just walked to the door of the study when she heard Ban Heng reading. Ban Han opened the door and saw him shaking his head with a serious expression. She crossed her arms and said, "Don't pretend. You are reading the 'Analects of Confucius', but you are reading the 'Book of Rites'. You are really good."
"I'm confusing calligraphy. In my eyes, I'm looking at the Book of Rites, but in my heart, I'm memorizing the Analects of Confucius. This is the only way to improve my memory." Ban Heng defended himself without blushing or skipping a beat. "You're a woman.
"Hm?" Ban Han raised her eyebrows. "What did you just say?"
"I, I didn't say anything." Ban Heng put down the 'Book of Rites' in his hand and smiled in front of Ban Han. "Sister, you know my brain is not good. I was just talking nonsense."
Ban Han ignored him and walked to the bookshelf to take out a set of 'Mencius'. When she opened it, she found that it was just the cover of 'Mencius'. It was actually some miscellaneous notes. Before she could open it, the book was snatched away by Ban Heng.
"Sister, my good sister, you can't read this book." After Ban Heng snatched the book, he stuffed it into his arms. He couldn't let his sister read this kind of book. Otherwise, his mother would beat him to death.
"I don't need to read it to know what it is. It is nothing more than some stories about encountering a fox fairy in the mountains and the young master and young lady promising each other for life." Ban Han glanced at the bookshelf full of books. "Why are you so honest today?"
Ban Heng lowered his head and didn't speak.
"Did you get into trouble again?" Ban Han looked at him suspiciously. "Or are you short of money?"
"That … that's not a big deal." Ban Heng looked at the ceiling and the floor, but he didn't dare to look at Ban Han. "It's just a small matter."
"Tell me, what happened?" Ban Han sat down on a chair and pointed to the seat next to him. "Sit down and tell me."
"Today, when I was riding back, a person suddenly jumped out from the side and was accidentally kicked by my horse." Ban Heng felt that he had been wronged. He was obviously riding at a very slow speed. Who would have thought that someone would suddenly run out and startle his horse, causing him to be kicked over by the horse?
This horse was given to him by his grandmother. It was said that it was a pure-blooded horse from beyond the Great Wall. Its legs were very strong. He suspected that the person who was kicked was seriously injured.
"And then?" Ban Han frowned. Although his brother was idle and didn't do a proper job, he definitely wouldn't do something like riding a horse and injuring people in a busy city.
"Then, when I was about to take him to see a doctor, a few people suddenly rushed out from the side. They pulled him up from the ground and ran away. I didn't even have time to react." Ban Heng touched his not-so-smart head. "What do you think we should do?"
"Report it to the government." Ban Han peeled the dried fruit in the fruit bowl and ate it lazily. "We can't find him anyway, and we don't want to be plotted against. Let's just report it to the government."
"What if they take me away?"
"Do you have a pig brain?" Ban Yu glared at Ban Heng, exasperated at his failure to live up to his expectations. "You won't tell me that you saw someone being chased today and bumped into your horse. You were worried that something would happen and came to report it to the officials. Besides," Ban Yu touched the blood jade bracelet on his wrist. "Who dares to touch you now?"
"That's true." Ban Heng thought that his family wouldn't be unlucky for five years, so he suddenly felt confident. "But what if it wasn't a chase?"
"Do you know what 'suspected' means?" Ban Han clapped his hands and stood up. "Who cares if it was a chase or not? Get yourself out of it first."
"I understand. I'll go right away." Ban Heng's brain wasn't very good, but he had one advantage, and that was that he could listen to good words. So, when Ban Han said so, he obediently did as he was told.
At night, Jingcheng County Magistrate Zhao Dongan was about to change out of his official robe and go home for dinner when he heard the yamen runner say that the heir of Marquis Jingting had come to report a case.
As an eighth-rank minor official in charge of the security of the capital, Zhao Dongan had been living in an abyss of suffering. Because this was under the rule of the Emperor, any small matter could become a big matter. In addition, there were many nobles in the capital. Even ordinary people might have one or two prominent relatives. So, for the security of the capital, he was simply worried sick.
Now that he heard that the heir of Jingting Marquessate had come to report a case, he almost vomited blood.
He was the grandson of the Princess Royal. What problem couldn't he solve? Even if there was a problem, he should have gone to the capital governor. Why did he run to an eighth-rank minor official to report a case? Although his heart was extremely sullen, County Magistrate Zhao didn't even dare to show his face. He straightened his robe and strode out to greet him.
Just as he reached the door, he saw a young master wearing a brocade robe, hair tied up with a jade crown, and a brocade belt around his waist standing in the courtyard. At first glance, he was an elegant young man.
Unfortunately, he only looked like him.
"This official Zhao Dongan greets Ban Shizi."
"Official Zhao is too polite." Ban Heng saw that Zhao Dongan was young, but his hair was quite white. He sympathetically reached out to help him up. "I came today to report a case to you."
County Magistrate Zhao's heart trembled. "What case does the heir want to report?"
"It could be a murder case."
Murder, murder?!
County Magistrate Zhao's heart collapsed. Don't think that you can talk nonsense just because you are the heir. It's not a small matter when it involves a human life.
Ban Heng didn't care how Zhao Dongan's heart collapsed. He roughly told County Magistrate Zhao what happened in the afternoon. Finally, he sighed. "Thinking that this person was injured and taken away by an unknown person, my heart felt uneasy. So after thinking it over, I still came to report a case. County Magistrate Zhao won't blame me for making a fuss over nothing, right? "
What could County Magistrate Zhao say? He could only respectfully send him out of the yamen and praise him as a good citizen of the Great Cause.
"County Magistrate Daren, what should we do?" After Ban Heng left, a yamen runner looked at Zhao Dongan with difficulty. "Should we investigate or not?"
"Jingting Marquis Shizi personally came to report a case. Do you think we should investigate?" Zhao Dongan sighed. "Not only should we investigate, but we should investigate with great fanfare. But we can't investigate as a murder case. In order to improve the security of the capital, we need to strengthen the patrol."
Although the yamen runner didn't understand why they had to do this, he still arranged according to County Magistrate Zhao's wishes.
Zhao Dongan scratched his white hair in annoyance. He felt that after tonight, there would be a few more white hairs on his head.
"Sister, I've already done it." Ban Heng excitedly ran to Ban Han's courtyard. After drinking two cups of tea, he said with satisfaction, "That county magistrate praised me like a flower. I blushed when I heard it. I don't know how he praised me."
"Don't worry. After you are no longer the heir, no one will go against their conscience to praise you." Ban Han didn't move from her chair. She stretched out her hand to let the servant girl paint her nails. "Now there are still people willing to praise you. You should enjoy it."
"You are my good sister." Ban Heng moved to Ban Han's side. He stared at Ban Han's hand for a long time. Suddenly, he said: "Sister, I found that your hand is very beautiful."
"En, I think so too. Congratulations on living with me for fifteen years and finally discovering this fact." Ban Han raised her chin. "There are a few banknotes in the book box over there. Take them and spend them."
"Sister, I know that in the entire manor, you are the best to me." Ban Heng happily found the banknotes and stuffed them into his clothes. "How did you know that I was in need of money?"
"When did you not lack money?" Ban Han's beautiful eyebrows raised slightly. "But you can use this money to fight chickens and crickets. You can't step into places where you shouldn't go. If you dare to do that, you don't need father and mother to discipline you. I will beat you first."
Ban Heng remembered that his sister had learned martial arts from his grandfather. He immediately swore that he would never go to brothels or casinos.
His grandfather had been a great general when he was alive. He had led the other generals on the battlefield to kill the enemy. The previous emperor had praised his grandfather as the "number one general in the imperial court." Unfortunately, his grandfather had injured his arm on the battlefield and never went to the border again.
It was said that when his grandfather was alive, he had loved his sister very much. He had protected her like a treasure since she was young. He had given her all the gold, silver, and jewels as if they were free. Thus, his sister had become like this.
One day at the end of September, Ban Huai went out early in the morning. He didn't return until the curfew was over. The other three people in the family saw that the corners of his clothes were stained with dirt and his face was full of mystery. They were curious as to what he had done.
"I buried two jars of silver in our manor." Ban Huai said in a small voice. "Even the servants don't know that I buried something today."
The Yin Clan couldn't help but ask: "What's the use of burying it in the manor? When the new emperor comes to confiscate the property, will we still be able to enter the manor?"
Ban Huai froze when he heard this. He had only thought that the manor would be searched, but had forgotten that the manor would most likely not belong to him after the incident. Thinking of this, his entire body drooped. He had worked for nothing today.
However, this gave Ban Han an idea. They couldn't bury silver in the manor, but they could bury silver in some sparsely populated forests. Tomorrow, she and Ban Heng would take some people to walk around and see if there were any places that weren't easy to find. After the property was confiscated, they could still dig out silver. Moreover, they had to bury silver in a few more places. Even if some were discovered, there would still be some that slipped through the net.
The next morning, the Ban Family siblings took a few bodyguards out of the city. Then, in the name of training their younger brother's physical strength, they had Ban Heng carry the two bags of sand up the mountain himself. They also didn't allow the bodyguards to help.
"The fist techniques that grandfather left behind cannot be stopped here." Ban Han had purposely worn a set of riding clothes that were convenient for movement. He said to the bodyguards behind him, "Go outside and stand guard."
The bodyguards thought that the village lord wanted to teach the Shizi the fist techniques that the Ban Family didn't teach to outsiders. Thus, they tactfully retreated outside.
If they were discovered to have secretly learned something, it would be a serious crime. They were doing well in the marquis fu and didn't want to cause trouble for themselves.
"What are you waiting for? Hurry and dig!" Ban Han took out a small iron shovel that was hidden in the bag and half-knelt on the ground to dig.
"Sister, my arm is about to break." Ban Heng grimaced as he shook his sore arm. He resigned himself to his fate and began to dig. Occasionally, he would make sounds of practicing to avoid suspicion from the bodyguards.
The siblings dug very seriously with their hands and feet, but they did not notice that someone was walking towards them.
"What are you doing?"
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