In the village, Li Haiyun was seized by several yamen runners.
He never could have imagined that the one who sold him out was a child he had taught with all his heart—and for merely a hundred taels of silver!
"The knowledge I taught you is worth ten thousand gold pieces!" he said angrily.
"But my father said silver is what matters most. In the end, scholars study for silver anyway, so why shouldn't I get silver from the start?" The child held two large snowflake silver ingots, looking utterly pleased with himself.
"You!" Li Haiyun was left speechless.
"Let go of Mister Li!"
"Let go of Teacher Li!"
Fortunately, another group of children, defying the adults in their families, stood in front of Li Haiyun and refused to let the yamen runners take him away.
A group of young and able-bodied villagers also glared at them menacingly.
"Hmph, are you trying to rebel? Rebellion means execution of nine generations!" The yamen runners glared back.
This was not the drought-stricken northwest, where everyone was a rebel.
The villagers still shrank back, watching helplessly as Li Haiyun was taken away.
Two days later, Li Haiyun returned.
He found it absurd.
The reason he had been released was simple. When the county magistrate held court and ordered his trousers removed for a beating with the Deterrence Rod, they discovered the Inner Guard Waist Token he carried close to his body! The county magistrate was so frightened that he immediately released him.
The Central Plains were, after all, closer to the Capital City, and the Inner Guard often appeared here.
By then, he had already given up hope in the emperor and in his superiors.
Still, his superiors had not confiscated his waist token. It had actually saved his life now.
After all,