Chapter 316: 315 Sir, Are You There?

Qin Yao sat up straight and pointed to the chair opposite, indicating for Ah Wang to sit down and speak slowly.

In truth, her understanding of Gongliang Liao was quite superficial, primarily based on the names and titles mentioned by Liu Ji and Ding Shi, embellished with tales of grandeur, combined with his status as a scholar, she guessed he must be a notable figure.

Moreover, he had Qi Xian as his prodigious disciple, so his scholarship was undoubtedly not lacking.

But now, seeing Ah Wang’s somewhat solemn expression, Qin Yao’s heart skipped a beat, “Is there something wrong with this person?”

Ah Wang asked, “Does Madam know why he appeared in this place?”

Qin Yao originally wanted to say, isn’t he the one who resigned from his official position? Just retired and finding a place to enjoy his twilight years.

But seeing Ah Wang’s reaction, it was evident the matter wasn’t so simple, she shook her head, “I don’t know.”

Ah Wang said, “This person was exiled from the Capital due to impeachment against the Holy Empress.”

Qin Yao raised an eyebrow, the Holy Empress again, it seemed the current court situation was quite delicate.

“The impeachment reason was the Empress’s power in the palace, disturbing the court order, and criticizing the Emperor as being henpecked and incompetent at a restaurant.”

This Gongliang Liao, really quite bold. Qin Yao clicked her tongue twice and asked if Ah Wang had anything more sensational, wanting to hear!

Indeed, there was more.

“Two years ago, the Emperor convened ministers to discuss the abolition of the Crown Prince and the intent to establish the Princess as the Crown Princess. Gongliang Liao, accompanied by three hundred disciples, kneeled outside the main hall for three days to oppose vehemently, threatening with his life, after which the matter of abolishing the Crown Prince came to nothing.”

“And two months later, Gongliang Liao accidentally fell from a restaurant, resulting in the amputation of both legs to save his life.”

“So…” Ah Wang rarely showed worry, solemnly asked, “Does Madam still wish to associate with this person?”

Qin Yao lifted the teacup on the table and took a sip to calm her shock, Gongliang Liao’s legs were ninety percent likely crippled by the Princess.

However, he still remained a scholar!

Qin Yao took another sip of tea, put down the empty cup, and looked up at Ah Wang, “When you went to the Qi Family to deliver the letter, did you notice any spies or scouts?”

Ah Wang shook his head, “None were found.”

“Then there’s no rush.” Qin Yao breathed a sigh of relief.

No spies or scouts around Gongliang Liao indicated he couldn’t stir any trouble.

And with his legs now crippled and age advancing, he probably didn’t have many good years left, posing no threat to the court’s dignitaries.

But speaking of which, Prime Minister Qi is quite bold, sending his great-grandson to be under Gongliang Liao at such a time, could he also be part of the opposition?

Qin Yao shrugged, who cares, she’s not involved in the court battles, they had just one small goal—to reduce conscription and tax burdens.

Therefore, the thigh of Gongliang Liao, this old man, had to be held onto.

No, it should be the arm; the old man’s legs were already gone.

Ah Wang, observing keenly, saw Qin Yao’s visibly relaxed expression and knew her answer, said no more, and went to the back mountain to feed the horses night grass.

Qin Yao watched Ah Wang’s departing back, contemplating whether to tell Liu Ji about these details.

“Forget it.” Letting him know would mean explaining more, such as why Ah Wang knew these things, “Better not say.”

Avoid Liu Ji accidentally letting something slip before the scholar, offending him instead.

Moreover, some things are purer if unknown.

It’s decided. Qin Yao decided not to tell Liu Ji this information, reached for another sip of tea, found the cup empty, and decided to just go to sleep.

But after drinking strong tea before bed, the more she lay down, the more awake she felt, Qin Yao felt on the brink of collapse, tossing and turning until the middle of the night before she felt a bit sleepy.

Thankfully, Ah Wang was back, no need to wake up early tomorrow to prepare breakfast for the children to send them to school, she could sleep in a bit.

But that simple desire couldn’t be fulfilled.

Qin Yao was woken up by Liu Ji urgently calling, “Darling! Darling!”

She didn’t have morning grumpiness, yet the noise gave her a bit of it, with bloodshot eyes, she burst open the room door, scaring the dusty and travel-worn Liu Ji to retreat five meters!

“Weren’t you at the academy? You just went a few days ago, why are you back now?” Qin Yao coldly questioned, her scrutinizing gaze sizing Liu Ji up and down.

No signs of fighting, didn’t seem like he was in trouble.

Liu Ji patted his chest to calm his startled heart, quickly explained:

“Something urgent to tell you, so I came back early, I’ll head back to the academy once the message is delivered, it won’t affect my studies.”

After speaking, seeing Qin Yao’s fierce vibe somewhat eased, he dared to step forward and say, “Darling, there’s a conscription again.”

“Lord County Magistrate just issued a notice this morning, ordering the repair of the city wall, commanding conscripts from each region to serve for two months.”

Qin Yao squinted, so, you hastily came just for this?

Liu Ji widened his eyes, wasn’t this reason enough to hurry here?

Last year’s hardship transporting grain was vividly remembered, Liu Ji was now like a startled bird, shivering at even a whisper of conscription.

“Darling, you won’t send me off to conscription again, right?” Liu Ji swallowed hard, asking tentatively.

Qin Yao yawned and stretched lazily, under Liu Ji’s anxious gaze, waved her hand lightly, “The letter to Gongliang Liao has been delivered, if he replies, you won’t have to go to conscription.”

Liu Ji first rejoiced, then froze, “Ah this, this…”

Qin Yao raised an eyebrow, “The matter’s been discussed, why aren’t you heading back yet?”

Liu Ji felt half-heartedly hopeless, but he refused to just resign to fate!

Holding his timely growling stomach, pitifully pleaded, “Darling, can I stay home and eat breakfast before leaving?”

Qin Yao clicked her tongue, nodded slightly.

Liu Ji immediately went to the kitchen to find food, Ah Wang left some steamed white buns warming on the stove, Liu Ji took one out, smelled it, the aroma was irresistible, his stomach growled even more fiercely.

He put half in his mouth to stave off hunger, then rolled up his sleeves, and made a pot of egg noodle soup for both himself and Qin Yao, enjoying it with the buns.

Only when Qin Yao showed signs of impatience did he enter the room, pack up some belongings, and swiftly return to the county.

The first thing Liu Ji did upon returning to the dormitory was lay out paper and pen to write a letter.

At this moment, he was extremely grateful for the savings he had accumulated while running the literacy class in the village.

As the saying goes, with diligent effort, even an iron rod can be ground into a needle!

Liu Ji was determined, under the impact of his ’sincerity’, Gongliang Liao would surely reply to his letters!

Thus, letter after heartfelt letter flew into the ancestral mansion of the Qi Family like snowflakes.

Initially, the first few letters, hadn’t even been delivered into the Qi Mansion before being returned.

Yet, unable to withstand the fact that the letters were delivered over a dozen times a day, quickly attracted attention from the mansion’s steward.

Finally, upon receiving the thirtieth letter from the academy in Kaiyang County, the steward couldn’t bear it, things seemed amiss, it was necessary to report to the master.

Qi Xian watched the steward extend a basket of letters, swallowing hard.

He initially didn’t want to hand them to the teacher, but was quite curious about the contents.

Yet, privately reading others’ letters was ungentlemanly, so after a number of hours of indecision, he decided to present the letters to his teacher.

Under Qi Xian’s curious gaze, Gongliang Liao slowly opened the roughly packaged envelopes, inside were words written in visibly anxious handwriting—

[Sir, are you there?]

[Sir, thinking of you.]

[Sir, have you eaten?]

[Sir, awaiting your reply.]

[Sir, Ji misses you deeply.]

[Sir, the weather is clear today, are you healthy?]

[Sir…]

It took Gongliang Liao a full two hours to read through all the letters.

The two teacher and student exchanged a glance, Qi Xian surprisingly found himself somewhat moved, “How about, I accompany the teacher for an outing, to visit Liu Family Village for an autumn trip?”

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep