"Little girl, why don't you tell us then, why do you feel that way? Why would you think we let that prisoner escape?" Walking up to the two of them, Chief Constable Lei looked at Jian Xin, who was being tightly shielded, and asked. His tone was ordinary, lacking the anger the surrounding people had expected. Jian Xin heard no trace of anger in it either; her mouth parted to speak, but Chen Jian covered her mouth.
Hearing Chief Constable Lei ask this, Chen Jian hugged Jian Xin tighter and said cautiously, "Chief Constable Lei, the child was just talking nonsense. I apologize to you on her behalf. Please be the bigger person and don't hold it against a child..."
Sensing the fear in Chen Jian's words, a smile formed on Chief Constable Lei's face. "It's fine. Even if she says it, I won't do anything to you two; I'm not some cruel and merciless person."
"Well... surely someone of your stature wouldn't deceive us." Chen Jian seemed to relent, lowering the hand she had been using to cover Jian Xin's mouth. Looking at Jian Xin with a helpless expression, she said, "Darling, tell us what you're thinking." Yet the hand she pulled away gave a gentle pinch to Jian Xin's lower belly.
"Because..." The moment Jian Xin uttered those two syllables, her lower belly received a pinch even heavier than the last. She guessed that her mother wasn't trying to let her speak, but rather wanting her to shut up. Though she didn't know why her mother was doing this, she obediently swallowed the rest of her words.
"You see, the child is just talking nonsense. She doesn't even know what she's babbling about," Chen Jian said to Chief Constable Lei while looking at the silent Jian Xin, all the while gently stroking the spot she had just pinched, thinking to herself, *I'm sorry, Xiner, you mustn't blame your mother!*
"Little girl, don't be afraid. Tell me, and Uncle will give you a reward." Seeing that Chen Jian was completely impervious to reason, Chief Constable Lei turned his attention to Jian Xin, squatting down slightly and looking at her with a benevolent expression.
"..."
Faced with Chief Constable Lei's gaze, Jian Xin felt rather baffled. She wanted to speak, but her mother's hand was still pressed against her stomach—she couldn't just blurt things out!
"If you aren't going to talk, then I'll just have to arrest you both! Guards! Take these two..." Seeing that Jian Xin remained silent and seemingly losing his patience, Chief Constable Lei straightened up, extended his right hand, and signaled the soldiers standing by the stone house to make the arrest.
Seeing this action from Chief Constable Lei, Jian Xin ignored the hand Chen Jian still had on her stomach and blurted out an answer. She and her mother certainly didn't want to go inside a stone house like that! It definitely smelled terrible in there!
"The curtain?" Chief Constable Lei glanced back at the stone house, asking somewhat puzzledly, "What does that prove?" But the moment he asked, he regretted it; he had realized something, and when he turned back to look at Jian Xin, his eyes carried a hint of appreciation.
"Just now, a gust of wind blew into the house, and the outer curtain kept moving, but I didn't see any movement inside."
"And what does that prove?" Chief Constable Lei pressed further, the appreciation in his eyes growing even stronger.
"Are you slow?" Jian Xin said with a pout, whereupon her stomach was pinched again. "The window is that big, and the outer and inner curtains should be the same size. Both are bigger than the window. The inner curtain wasn't blown by the wind, which means the distance between the curtain and the window frame is quite large. In other words, the curtains inside were drawn all the way. No one breaking out of prison would pull the curtains open like that! Besides, a prisoner could at most break the bars; it's impossible to pull down the entire curtain, because tearing down the whole rod would make far too much noise."
"What a sharp little girl! Well everyone, I let this person go on purpose." After listening to Jian Xin, Chief Constable Lei gave a round of applause and explained to the surrounding crowd.
Hearing Chief Constable Lei's words, the entire scene erupted into an uproar. He went on to explain: "Following investigations by the academy and our yamen, there is another accomplice. I came up with a ruse to flush out the snake and sent men to tail him. Military Officer Cao, the suspect is at the yamen! Take your men and go!"
"Yes."
"What about my reward?!" Amid the bustling noises of the crowd, Jian Xin's words weren't even heard by Chen Jian standing right beside her, let alone by Chief Constable Lei who was still speaking. So she had to shout even louder, "Hey! Hey!! Where is my reward?!"
"Xiner!" Chen Jian hurriedly covered Jian Xin's mouth. *Goodness! What are you trying to do? Are you trying to scare your old mother to death?!*
"Xiner, Ajian, what... what is going on here?" Catching sight of the mother and daughter amid the crowd, Jian Wei hurriedly set down his bundles and rushed over. People were scattered along his path, but unusually, no one uttered a complaint.
"Dad, he... ouch!" Jian Xin pointed at Chief Constable Lei and started to tell Jian Wei, but Chen Jian immediately pinched her again.
"Hahaha, you must be this girl's father, right?" Chief Constable Lei said to Jian Wei.
Jian Wei was a bit confused by the situation and looked worriedly at the mother and daughter. "Yes. What does Your Honor want? Is there something wrong with my..."
"I see this child is clever, and I'd like to give you an invitation letter. It will allow you to participate in the academy admissions a month from now—Qiupo Academy, no less!" Chief Constable Lei produced a letter from inside his tunic and handed it to Jian Wei.
"Gasp! Qiupo Academy!"
"Is that the academy located in Qiupo City?"
"It must be. Only that academy is ever called Qiupo Academy."
The surrounding crowd instantly surged into a frenzy. Everyone knew that Qiupo Academy was the supreme institution of higher learning in the Qiupo Empire. Without exception, those who entered to study there were youthful prodigies; if one merely had outstanding talent, even crossing the threshold of the academy was a formidable hurdle. To enter this academy, one had to pass an extremely difficult entrance trial, and not everyone was even permitted to take part in those trials.
There were two ways to secure a spot. One was to possess genuine strength and talent, making a name for oneself within one's home county at a young age and earning recognition. The other was to encounter graduates hailing from the academy and obtain an invitation letter from them. Although the second method sounded simpler than the first, merely crossing paths with a graduate was already a difficult task, because graduating from Qiupo Academy meant a guaranteed seat in officialdom. Every single graduate was a prodigy in their own right and a high-ranking official of a region. Winning their recognition was even more exceptionally difficult. Yet this Chief Constable Lei had gone ahead and handed an invitation letter to a little girl just like that?! It simply shocked everyone present!
"This..." Jian Wei took the letter with trembling hands, looking at Chief Constable Lei in sheer disbelief. Chen Jian, standing behind him, wore an equally incredulous expression, and her hand covering Jian Xin's mouth loosened slightly. Seizing the opportunity, Jian Xin blurted out her question, "What is Qiupo Academy? Is it go—" Before she could finish, her mouth was covered by Chen Jian once again.
Chief Constable Lei placed his hands behind his back. "This is the academy invitation letter along with the instructions. If you want it, come find me at the yamen a month from now, and I can send you off. Goodbye, little sister." He raised a hand and waved at Jian Xin, and Chen Jian hurriedly grabbed Jian Xin's hand and waved it as well.
"I have high hopes for you, little girl," Chief Constable Lei said with a smile, then turned and walked away, leaving the family surrounded by a tight circle of onlookers.