Chapter 578: What does it have to do with you if others pass the imperial examination?
Zhao Paner looked at Lin Hao and said:

"Thank you for what you did just now!"

Lin Hao took another sip of tea, then shook his head and said:
"Why thank me? I didn't help much. I couldn't persuade your sister to leave. Did she just follow that Zhou She?"

"Yes!" Zhao Pan'er looked at the place where Song Yinzhang left, and then said with some concern:
"This Zhou She's words and deeds are inconsistent. I always feel that this person is with Sister Yin Zhang, and it seems that he has ulterior motives!"

Finally, Zhao Paner frowned and said, "It seems that I have to persuade her again when I go back!"

"People won't grow if they don't suffer a little!" Lin Hao shook his head and explained:

"Song Yinzhang and Zhou She are just getting along very well right now. No matter what you say, she won't listen!"

"You have to tell me even if I don't want to hear it. Are we just going to watch it and do nothing?" Zhao Pan'er glanced at Lin Hao, only to see him drinking tea calmly.

Then, thinking of Lin Hao's identity, Zhao Pan'er's eyes lit up instantly, so she took the initiative to pour a cup of tea for Lin Hao and said:
"My Lord, do you have any way to help Sister Yin Zhang?"

"Of course there are ways to help her!" However, when he said this, Lin Hao looked at Zhao Pan'er and said with a smile:

"Instead of thinking about your good sister, you should think about yourself. Song Yinzhang's vision for men is not good, and you are not much better than Song Yinzhang, right?"

"What do you mean?" Zhao Pan'er's face changed and she felt bad.

"I have something to go out for!" After saying that, Lin Hao slowly stood up and prepared to leave.

"No, wait a minute, explain yourself clearly first. Why is it that my vision for men has become so bad?" Zhao Pan'er asked hurriedly.

"Want to know?" Lin Hao shook his head and said:

"Prepare a table of good wine and food for me. When I come back, we'll drink and I'll tell you slowly!"

"Wait a minute~!" Seeing Lin Hao leaving, Zhao Paner chased after him unwillingly.

······
On the other side, after Zhou She sent Song Yinzhang back, he was about to go back, but suddenly his eyes blurred and he saw a different person driving the car.

"Ah~, stop hitting me, please spare my life, stop hitting me, stop hitting me~!" From the ruined temple, screams like a pig being slaughtered and cries for mercy could be heard from time to time:
"I~, I have money, as long as you guys let me go, I will give you any amount of money, and I swear, I will never report it to the police~!"

At this time, Zhou She was beaten and screaming, rolling on the ground, and then the leading man said:.

"Alright, alright, let's take a break. Don't really beat this guy to death!"

After hearing this, several strong men stopped beating Zhou She.

The person who spoke was none other than Lin Hao's follower Lin Zhi. Naturally, it was Lin Hao who ordered him to kidnap Zhou She.

After discovering Zhou She coming to the teahouse in the morning, Lin Hao directly ordered Lin Zhi to take his badge and mobilize ten good men from the local army to assist him in dealing with Zhou She.

Lin Zhi walked up to Zhou She and looked down at him, and this action frightened Zhou She. He closed his eyes tightly, and then a foul smell spread.

“Damn it, this guy is too cowardly~!” Lin Zhi curled his lips in disgust, and then said disdainfully: “He was actually scared to pee!”

But Zhou She couldn't be blamed for being timid. He had heard from the storybook that if you were kidnapped, you must never see the kidnapper's true face.

Otherwise, this group of vicious criminals would probably kill him, and he didn't want to die.

After all, it was his first time in Qiantang. He had no enemies or creditors here, not even an acquaintance. Who would kidnap him for no reason?
He could only be a bandit who was blinded by money. The man in front of him must have seen that he was a foreigner and was generous, so he really thought he was a wealthy businessman, so he took advantage of his unpreparedness and kidnapped him.

But Zhou She felt miserable. He was not a wealthy businessman at all. He was just a down-and-out gambler who was addicted to gambling.

The reason why he came to Qiantang was that he owed a lot of gambling debts in his hometown Huating County. People blocked his door every day to collect debts. He could not make it any longer, so he ran to Qiantang to avoid his debts.

Of course, avoiding debt is only one aspect. On the other hand, he wants to rely on his good looks and elegant temperament to find a stupid and rich girl to repeat his old tricks!

That’s right, this is not the first time that Zhou She has done such a thing of defrauding money and sex.

After several days of observation and screening, Zhou She finally decided on Song Yinzhang as his target this time.

In order to hook up with Song Yinzhang, Zhou She spent a lot of money. He pawned his few ancestral items and dressed himself up.

Only then did he have the money to create the image of a wealthy businessman with generous spending, and took advantage of Song Yinzhang's eagerness to escape from citizenship to attract Song Yinzhang's attention.

But he didn't expect that Song Yinzhang hadn't succeeded in defrauding the criminal yet, but because his acting was so realistic, he attracted the criminals first. Zhou She was so depressed at this moment.

"Oh, from the sound of your voice you sound very rich?" Lin Zhi looked at Zhou She with amusement.

He had a ton of money, but he couldn't say that. If he did, the criminals would get so angry that they would kill him right away.

Then Zhou She started to talk nonsense:
"Yes, yes, yes. I have money. As long as you guys let me go, I will give you whatever amount you want. I won't bargain!"

"Really?" Lin Zhi sneered, thinking that Zhou She was really good at pretending. The Marquis had already warned him that his family had fallen on hard times and had nothing left except the ancestral home!
Thinking of this, Lin Zhi said jokingly:
"Since Master Zhou is so rich, you should take out a thousand strings of cash and give them to your brothers to spend."

"One, one thousand strings of cash?" Zhou She was immediately at a loss when he heard that it would cost one thousand strings of cash. He had no money at all!
"What? Can't Mr. Zhou even come up with a mere one thousand strings of cash?" Lin Zhi glared with a ferocious look on his face.

But now it was not a question of whether he had money or not, but whether he could survive, so he begged for mercy:
"No, no, no, I can certainly come up with a mere 1,000 guan, but you guys don't know that I'm from Huai'an, and I'm just passing through Qiantang and stopping here for a few days. I don't have that much money on me when I go out!"

"How about you, my good men, give me a few days to go home and get it?"

Looking at Zhou She's serious expression, people who didn't know would think he was telling the truth!
But Lin Zhi had already learned Zhou She's background from Lin Hao, so he would naturally not be deceived by Zhou She. Naturally, he wanted to teach him a lesson.

"Heh~!" Lin Zhi almost sneered and winked at several soldiers.

The soldiers of the wing army understood what he meant, and they lifted Zhou She's back with one hand, and then punched him again and again.

"It hurts, it hurts, stop hitting me, my money is really at home..." Zhou She screamed in pain after being beaten.

After asking the soldiers to stop, Lin Zhi said:

"Aren't you from Huating? Why don't you tell the truth?"

Zhou She was immediately filled with fear when he heard this, so he said in a trembling voice:
"I say, I say, good man, spare my life. My ancestral home is Huai'an, and I live in Huating County. Good man, please follow me back, and I will definitely give you a thousand strings of money!"

"Oh~, go home?" Lin Zhi deliberately teased him and said, "Sure!"

"Okay, okay, I'll get it right away!"

Zhou She was delighted. You guys believed this nonsense and thought, "How can you be a robber with such intelligence? You might as well go home and farm."

However, Lin Zhi's next words immediately shattered Zhou She's fantasy.

"But for such a small matter, I won't bother Mr. Zhou to go there in person!" Lin Zhi said calmly:

"Mr. Zhou, just tell us your home address and write us a promissory note, and I will send someone to pick it up!"

Zhou She was speechless. It turned out that this person was playing a trick on him. He thought that the robbers believed him. It seemed that he would not release the eagle until he saw the rabbit.

"Knock knock knock~!" There were knocking sounds coming from the toilet, and the person in the room was Lin Hao.

Lin Hao listened for a long time and felt that there was no need to waste time with someone like Zhou She. Besides, after finishing his business, he was still waiting to go to the teahouse to tease Zhao Paner.

When Lin Zhi heard the knocking sound, he immediately knew that it was the Marquis urging him, so he stopped talking nonsense with Zhou She.

He then took out a pill from his arms, walked up to Zhou She with a smirk on his face, and without saying a word, he pried open Zhou She's mouth and stuffed the pill into his mouth.

"Try it. How does it taste?"

"You, what did you give me to eat?" Zhou She looked at Lin Zhi with horror. After being forced to swallow the pill, Zhou She felt like he was in for fun!

"Broken tendons and rotten bones pill!" Lin Zhi smiled and said:

"As the name suggests, if someone who takes this medicine doesn't get the antidote within a month, not only will their intestines rot, but even their bones will dissolve!"

"Please spare my life, brave man. I have money. I will give you money~!"

"You have no money!" Lin Zhi kicked Zhou She hard, then stepped on Zhou She's head and said:

"I have already checked your background. You are just a gambler who is in debt. You are still pretending in front of me. Aren't you afraid that I will kill you?"

What Lin Zhi despises most is this kind of scum who cheats women of their money. If the Marquis had not given instructions, he would have wanted to kill Zhou She, this scum.

"Listen carefully, do as I say. If you do well, not only will I give you the antidote in a month, but I will also give you a reward. But if you don't do well~"

"Please give me your orders, great man. Even if I have to go through fire and water, I will definitely complete the task you have given me!"

Then Lin Hao asked several soldiers to go out, and then whispered to Zhou She:
"First you do this, then you do that, and then you also..."

······
On the other side, in Zhao's Teahouse, "Pan'er, why is the teahouse closed today?" Sun Sanniang asked while cooking:
"And you specially called me here to help you prepare such a large table of delicious food. Who are you going to entertain?"

At this point, Sun Sanniang's eyes lit up and she said:

"Could it be that Master Ouyang has returned?"

"No, Ouyang hasn't come back yet!" Zhao Pan'er replied with a frown.

"Who are you going to invite to the banquet?" Sun Sanniang asked in a desperate tone.

"Hey, don't worry about who you're cooking for, just help me make it. After you're done, go home and watch your son do his homework!"

Upon hearing this, Sun Sanniang immediately said curiously:

"Good fellow, you called me here to cook for you for half a day, and you won't let me eat after I'm done?"

But no matter how he said it, he was actually helping Zhao Pan'er.

······
At noon, when Lin Hao returned to the teahouse, he saw that Zhao Paner had already prepared a table full of delicious food.

At this time, Zhao Pan'er was sitting at the dining table with her hands on her chin, staring blankly at the direction of the lake.

I don't know what she was thinking about. She didn't even notice when Lin Hao walked up to her.

Lin Hao sat down next to Zhao Pan'er without any hesitation, then took a deep breath and sighed with a double meaning:
"Hmm~ It smells so good...
Zhao Pan'er came back to her senses at this point, and immediately rolled her beautiful eyes at Lin Hao, while secretly cursing him as a scoundrel in her heart.

Did this guy really think she couldn't hear that when he said it smelled so good, he wasn't actually referring to the food?
But at this time, Zhao Paner was too lazy to argue with Lin Hao and moved the stool to the side.

He tried to distance himself from Lin Hao, then said:

"I've prepared all the good food and wine for you. Can you tell me now?"

"What on earth did you mean by that this morning?"

What Lin Hao said in the morning first said that Song Yinzhang had a poor taste in men, and that she herself was not much better than Song Yinzhang.

Just one sentence made Zhao Paner uneasy for the whole morning. Lin Hao's words were too clear in their direction.

I kept thinking about Ouyang Xu's promise, otherwise the teahouse would not have been closed. I really couldn't calm down.

"Do you really want to know?" Lin Hao asked solemnly.

"Of course!" Zhao Paner's answer was also firm.

Zhao Pan'er said, isn't this nonsense? Otherwise, she wouldn't have specially asked Sanniang to help her prepare such a delicious table for Lin Hao.

He even spent a high price to buy Lin Hao a jar of top-quality Huadiao wine.

Lin Hao took the main seat without any hesitation, and then said leisurely:
"Since you want to know, why don't you fill it up for me?"

Zhao Pan'er pulled the corner of her mouth when she heard this, resisting the urge to slap Lin Hao, the guy who was pushing his luck, and gritted her teeth to pour him a bowl of wine, then said:
"Is this okay?"

"Hmm~!" Lin Hao nodded in satisfaction, then picked up the wine and took a sip, then said:
"Your sweetheart's name is Ouyang Xu, right?"

Zhao Pan'er nodded with some trepidation in her heart.

She was not surprised that Lin Hao could guess it. After all, Ouyang Xu had been eating and drinking for free at her place for three years, so it was not surprising that someone guessed it now.

However, just as Zhao Pan'er was concentrating on waiting for Lin Hao's next words, Lin Hao suddenly changed the subject and stared at the plate of cooked prawns in front of him and said:
“The shrimp look good!”

Zhao Pan'er looked at Lin Hao in confusion. "Just eat it because it looks delicious? Are you waiting for me to peel the shrimp for you?"

However, this is exactly what Lin Hao meant.

Seeing this, Zhao Pan'er took a deep breath. In order to hear Ouyang Xu's news as soon as possible, she gritted her teeth to help Lin Hao peel some prawns and put them on Lin Hao's plate.

"Ah~~!" But Lin Hao was not satisfied. He opened his mouth and waited for Zhao Paner to feed him.

It’s coming up, it’s coming up, my anger is rising, my blood pressure is rising, this guy still wants me to feed him?

Faced with Lin Hao's repeated advances, Zhao Pan'er finally couldn't stand it anymore:

"Mr. Lin, don't go too far!"

"Ah~, let's talk about Ouyang Xu~!" Lin Hao shook his head and said:

"Tsk tsk tsk, forget it. Even if I don't tell you, you will know it in a few days. So I'll just let you live comfortably for a few more days. I won't tell you today!"

"Hu~Hu~Hu~!" At this time, Zhao Paner was very angry and wanted to slap Lin Hao's handsome face.

What does it mean to let her live a few more days of comfort?
Could it be that Ouyang Xu failed the exam again?

This bastard had already aroused her curiosity, but he didn't finish what he said. It would be strange if she could feel comfortable in the next few levels.

"Just this once!" Zhao Pan'er took a deep breath again, but compromised once again:
"This time, if you don't finish your words in one breath, I will fight you!"

As he spoke, he picked up the peeled prawns and handed them to Lin Hao's mouth.

Lin Hao opened his mouth wide and took a bite.

"Ah~!" Zhao Pan'er exclaimed, and her pretty face turned red at a speed visible to the naked eye.

Her delicate hand shrank back quickly as if it had been electrocuted. It turned out that this lecher was sucking her fingers.

Just when he was about to find something to hit Lin Hao with, Lin Hao said in time:

"Don't worry, Ouyang Xu didn't fail the exam!"

Lin Hao first gave Zhao Paner a reassurance. He also saw that Lin Hao was not making trouble this time.

Zhao Pan'er was already on the verge of a fit. If he continued, Sister Fairy would really get angry, so she continued:

"Not only did he not fail the exam, he even got the top three place in the imperial examination!"

"Tanhua?" Pan'er was very excited when she heard that. At this moment, she put all the unhappiness behind her and excitedly grabbed Lin Hao's arm and asked:

"Is Ouyang really the top student in high school?"

"You didn't lie to me, did you?"

Facing Zhao Paner's eager yet slightly uneasy gaze, Lin Hao thought that he would make you happy for a while, but soon you would cry.

"The results were announced the days I left Beijing!" Lin Hao then continued:
"Of course, if there is another Ouyang Xu among the candidates from Qiantang, it may not be him!"

"No, no, there is only one candidate named Ouyang Xu in the whole Qiantang!" Zhao Paner said affirmatively.

If it was any other surname, she would not be so sure. After all, with so many candidates, it is normal to have the same name or surname. But the surname Ouyang is rare, and in a small place like Qiantang, the probability of having the same name or surname is basically zero.

"That must be him!" Lin Hao nodded and said.

"Ah~!" Zhao Pan'er exclaimed, and finally covered her mouth and said:
"I know Ouyang can do it!"

Then he hurried to the portrait of Kuixing and put his hands together and said:
"Thank you, Master Kuixing, for blessing me. My son Ouyang will be the top three in the imperial examination!"

When Zhao Pan'er thought about the near future, when Ouyang Xu would marry her and she would become the wife of the third place in the imperial examination, she was so excited that she cried.

After a long while, when Zhao Paner had finished venting her crying and laughing, she sat back at the dining table and poured herself a glass of wine.

Then he raised his glass to Lin Hao and said:
"Thank you, Lord Marquis, for informing me of this good news in advance. I am very grateful. I would like to offer you a toast!"

She was so happy that she didn't even take Lin Hao's unreasonable behavior towards her seriously. She just thought that Lin Hao was joking with her.

What else could he do? Would he turn against Lin Hao?

Are you kidding? He is the Marquis of Jing'an and has great power. If he really turns against him, it will affect Ouyang's future career.

Seeing Zhao Pan'er's happy look, Lin Hao said calmly:

"What does Ouyang Xu's success in winning the imperial examination have to do with you?"

(End of this chapter)