That wretched vixen has disguised herself as my wife!

Fang Zhiyi smiled faintly and offered a slightly more plausible suggestion.

"Miss, you may not know this, but there are 107 women invited to this year's Joyful Rain Festival. If anyone is missing for no reason, or if the rules are broken, the authorities will investigate and hold us accountable."

Zhang Huahua had obviously thought of this method, but unfortunately it didn't work either.

She didn't lock herself in her house and cry all day; instead, she thought of everything she could do, hoping to delay things even a little longer, but she couldn't find a solution.

Sometimes she felt that fate was something you could see. Her fate with Kong Ming was getting shallower and shallower, leaving only a thin thread, but the two of them clung to it tightly, so they were both trapped in an endless sea of ​​suffering.

"If I had known it would turn out this way, I would have preferred never to have met you, at least neither of us would have suffered so much. The poem is so true: if I had known it would cause such heartache, I would have preferred never to have met you."

Zhang Huahua sighed deeply, her expression haggard and sorrowful.

"Does Miss Zhang believe in fate?"

Fang Zhiyi's smile was gentle and serene, but her eyes seemed to hold hidden undercurrents:

"But I believe that things can be accomplished by human effort."

"It's up to human effort?"

Zhang Huahua was slightly taken aback and didn't understand her meaning for a moment.

"When two people meet, it is fate. Everything after that depends on human effort. If you do nothing and let everything slip away, even the deepest fate is useless, and you will only miss each other."

No sooner had Fang Zhiyi finished speaking than a commotion suddenly broke out outside the cabin.

Aqing had been leaning against the window since she boarded the ship. She lifted a corner of the curtain and secretly observed for a while.

A moment later, she casually lowered the curtain again.

"what happened?"

Jiang Jingming was a little curious, so he casually tugged at her sleeve.

"Nothing much."

Aqing moved closer to him, shook her head, and her calm little face clearly showed her disinterest.

"A scholar fell into the water, and he was shouting something incoherently."

As soon as she finished speaking, the others widened their eyes and all rushed to the window to look outside.

Sure enough, a scholar in blue robes was struggling in the water, grabbing the oar handed to him by the boatman, like a stranded fish.

As he choked on water, he shouted toward the cabin:

"Miss Zhang! Miss Zhang!"

Upon seeing the disheveled figure in the distance, Zhang Huahua covered her mouth and couldn't help but let out a sob.

"You reckless, suicidal scholar! If you want to die, die somewhere else! You can't swim, yet you dare to try to row a boat? Get out of the way right now!"

The boatman was impatiently swinging his oars, trying to shove the annoying scholar aside.

The scholar's slender, bamboo-like arms somehow possessed immense strength; he stubbornly refused to let go and continued shouting her name with all his might.

It was as if he was telling her that he hadn't given up on this relationship.

Chapter 117 Wind

The scholar had drunk countless mouthfuls of water, but his shouts grew louder and louder.

"Miss Zhang! I'm so sorry I haven't been able to see you for so long!"

"Now I have the means. I'm sure I'll pass the imperial examination this year and come back to marry you!"

"Miss Zhang, please don't marry someone else!"

Gradually, people on the shore noticed the noise. The boatman cursed angrily, speechless.

"You son of a bitch! What nonsense are you spouting? This lady on my boat is Miss Wang! Not your so-called Miss Zhang!"

Unfortunately, the scholar was soaking in the water and could no longer hear what he was saying. In his dazed state, he still clung to the oar with all his might.

Just as the boatman was about to make up his mind to throw the scholar off, the boat suddenly sank.

The young man with a long sword at his waist leaped over, snatched the oar from the scholar's hand, and pulled the barely alive scholar from the water onto the deck.

He was clearly on the verge of drowning and losing consciousness. As soon as he got on the boat, he lay limply on the ground and vomited several mouthfuls of water.

"What are you doing...?"

"Excuse me, I'm here to rescue someone on behalf of Miss Zhang."

The young man raised his eyebrows and smiled, as dashing as a long wind.

The boatman was taken aback, then saw another small boat approaching.

"Kong Ming!"

In his drowsy state, the scholar suddenly heard a familiar voice.

He looked up blankly and saw Miss Zhang, whom he had been longing for, waving to him from another boat in the distance.

For a moment, Kong Ming wondered if this was a replay of his thoughts before his death.

If this is the Bridge of Helplessness and the Road to the Underworld, then the King of Hell has been far too merciful to him.

As Kong Ming was thinking this, he suddenly felt a heavy blow to his back.

The intense pain caused him to vomit up all the river water he had just drunk.

"Wake up, you're not dead yet."

A young man's clear voice came from behind him. Kong Ming opened his eyes, turned around, and saw a young face with a slight smile.

"Thank you for saving me, young hero!"

Before Kong Ming could catch his breath, he hurriedly clasped his hands in thanks.

He genuinely thought he was about to die, so he shouted out those hesitant and unsure words with all his might, hoping that Miss Zhang would hear him or know that he had been there.

"I already told you, I'm saving you on behalf of Miss Zhang."

The young man smiled faintly, then grabbed his collar and leaped up with the agility of a wild goose.

After a brief moment of airborne motion, Kong Ming's knee slammed against the wooden board, causing him to gasp in pain, but his mind returned to full clarity.

He looked up and met Zhang Huahua's tearful eyes, which reflected his own disheveled, drenched appearance.

"Miss Zhang!"

Kong Ming's throat trembled, and his voice was so hoarse that it didn't sound like himself.

Calling you a fool is almost like praising you.

Zhang Huahua sighed softly and rolled up her sleeves to wipe his face.

"What are you doing...?"

The boatman punted the boat, his expression shifting unpredictably.

If Master Zhang finds out about this, none of these people will get away with it.

As he was thinking this, he suddenly felt a chill on his back, as if a sharp weapon was pressed against his back through his hemp clothing.

The boatman was startled and turned around to meet the smiling, almond-shaped eyes of the little girl with braids from before.

"Brother boatman, you didn't see anything, you don't know anything, just keep rowing your boat."

She spoke in a relaxed and cheerful tone while slowly turning the object in her hand.

The boatman had already guessed that the thing was the sword she carried at her waist, and he was so frightened that he straightened up and nodded repeatedly in agreement.

"Okay, okay!"

God knows why he thought the little girl was so well-behaved just now!

......

The farce was put on hold, and the small boat continued its journey downstream towards Fengling City.

“I’ve gone back to my hometown these past few days and raised some money. My master also gave me some extra money. It’s enough for my travel expenses to the capital for the imperial examination. Miss Zhang, please wait for me a little longer. I’m sure I will pass the exam this time and I will never let you down.”

Kong Ming sat in the cabin, clenching his fists, his eyes full of sincerity.

Zhang Huahua closed her eyes and sighed again.

“You’re so silly. If I could make my own decisions, why would I care if you could pass the imperial examinations? Even if you were just an accounting apprentice or a useless, pedantic scholar your whole life, I would still like you and want to be with you.”

"Miss Zhang!"

Kong Ming took a deep breath, stood up abruptly, and his eyes burned with a will that did not belong to a pedantic scholar.

"It is precisely because I know that you are sincere towards me that I am determined to make something of myself and never let you down!"

"But......"

Before Zhang Huahua could finish speaking, Xie Yunqi on the other side couldn't stand it anymore.

"Hey! You almost drowned yourself just now, so stop spouting nonsense! We all know you love Miss Zhang, but the problem is she's going to be married off before you pass the imperial examination!"

“I know that the Joyful Rain Festival sounds nice, but it’s really just a matchmaking event, which is why I rushed back... I wanted to see Miss Zhang before that.”

Kong Ming coughed and wiped his face.

"So, given the current situation, all we can do is buy you two more time."

Jiang Jingming stroked his chin, head bowed in thought:

"As long as Miss Zhang doesn't show up at the Rain Festival, the young men from prominent families that Master Zhang had previously arranged to meet with her will likely turn their attention to other people. In that case, Miss Zhang's marriage can be postponed, perhaps until Kong Ming returns from the imperial examination."

“However, the number of women participating in the Festival of Joyful Rain is always the same 107 each year. If I don’t show up, the people in charge of checking the number will definitely notice something is wrong and punish me accordingly.”

Zhang Huahua looked distressed and turned away, unable to bear looking into Kong Ming's eyes any longer.

"That's easy."

Jiang Jingming chuckled and raised an eyebrow in acknowledgment.

"If we just ask any one of these three girls on the boat, wouldn't the problem be solved?"

......

"Although it's an unexpectedly brilliant idea, Jingming, have you considered one thing?"

Lu Zhao patted Jiang Jingming on the shoulder, his expression complex:

"We're fugitives now, shouldn't we keep a low profile?"

Unexpectedly, Jiang Jingming simply nodded slightly after hearing his question.

“I’ve thought about it, but I believe the bigger the commotion we create, the better it will be for us.”

What do you mean by that?

"Given the self-disciplined and propriety-conscious nature of the people of Fengling City, it's unlikely we'll see such a chaotic scene. But if we create a significant disturbance, it will be easier for us to take advantage of the chaos."

Although Jiang Jingming had never witnessed the grand spectacle of the Joyful Rain Festival, based on descriptions from others, people would generally line up along the riverbank to watch the boats and throw flowers.

Although it was lively, it was not chaotic.

After all, the way to select the Rain Master is quite elegant: by looking at the number of flowers on the boat, rather than by who has the most followers.

However, if people on the shore can be made to follow the boat and want to take a closer look at the people on the boat, they can easily slip into the crowd and escape during the chaos.

Even if the guards on the shore recognized the people on the ship, they couldn't catch them in time by weaving through the crowded throng.

If this succeeds, it will be a win-win situation.

Jiang Jingming did indeed want to help Zhang Huahua and Kong Ming, after all, Zhang Huahua had gotten them on board, and Kong Ming was a naive scholar who would be irresistible to anyone who saw him.

Being able to contribute to their relationship is a good deed in itself.

Furthermore, who knows, Kong Ming might actually pass the imperial examination and gain official rank? That would give them even more connections in the imperial court.

"Makes sense!"

Lu Zhao was deeply impressed after hearing his idea.

"I never expected you to be so open and honest on the surface, but so cunning and scheming behind the scenes!"

"Not as upright as Brother Lu."

Jiang Jingming smiled faintly.