Vice Dean Sun heaved a sigh, instructing Zhao Shijin to send word if any new information was found, and then departed.
Unless things take an unexpected turn, Dean Lin might not be returning this ti, and the academy’s affairs will fall onto my shoulders, he thought. Perhaps, it’s for the better.
The original purpose of the academy was to cultivate pillars of the nation and produce talented individuals for the imperial court. Now, it had transford into a place where Dean Lin nurtured his own loyalists and built his network of connections. On the surface, the students appeared dedicated and ambitious, but in reality, a corrupt atmosphere prevailed.
The academy’s motto was: "Moral education as the foundation, self-cultivation as essential; a heart that worries for the world, loyalty to the Emperor and service to the nation."
Yet now, it was: "Money as the foundation, official status as essential; a heart that worries for one’s career, loyalty to Dean Lin and service to Dean Lin."
Huaishan Academy has beco Dean Lin’s personal domain, where his word is law. It is also an echo chamber for the Empress, and even more so, for the Crown Prince, Vice Dean Sun mused. This is no longer a place for nurturing talent. These students... they might just spoil the whole pot of porridge. He shook his head.
After Vice Dean Sun left, Zhao Shijin’s questioning of the Lin estate servants yielded no useful information. They had all been drugged into a stupor and knew nothing; they were not even aware that Dean Lin and his family had disappeared or that the Lin estate had been burglarized. This news threw the servants into a panic, and they wept in desperation. They were all indentured slaves, their deeds of sale held by their master. If their master could not be found, what would beco of them?
Helpless, Zhao Shijin silently cursed the perpetrators hundreds of tis in his heart before ordering all the Lin estate servants to be confined to a separate courtyard, to await the case’s conclusion before their situation was addressed. He then left a few constables to guard the Lin estate and returned to the county governnt office with his n. After a discussion, he imdiately wrote a report and dispatched it by express horse ssenger to the Capital City.
「Qinghe Village.」
Gu Qingli awoke feeling refreshed. After breakfast, she promptly went to the dicinal field in the back hills with Wuqing.
Adjacent to the dicinal field, she savored the breeze carrying the fragrance of soil and grass. Closing her eyes, she took a deep breath and felt invigorated. The air in the countryside truly is unparalleled. After a mont, she opened her eyes to the sight of over a hundred mu of verdant dicinal plants, brimming with vitality and radiating the essence of spring.
As Gu Qingli walked and observed, she noted that the crops in the field were growing quite well. She paid particular attention to the chili peppers; they had beco lush within a month and had started branching. In another half a month, they should bloom. They seem to be growing much faster than usual.
"Miss, what is this?" Wuyou asked casually, noticing her particular focus on this one type of plant.
"I don’t know. It was mixed in with the vegetable seeds. I’m only looking at it more closely because it seems unfamiliar," Gu Qingli replied nonchalantly. If I said it was chili, wouldn’t that reveal I already recognize it? Wuqing is easy to fool, but the others here have lived in this area.
"Oh."
As they were speaking, a small, adorable white pigeon landed on Wuqing’s shoulder. Wuqing gently took the pigeon and retrieved a small paper scroll from the bamboo tube tied to its leg. Without even glancing at it, she handed it directly to Gu Qingli. Gu Qingli’s eyes remained fixed on the small white bird; it was the first ti she had ever seen a carrier pigeon. In the modern era, such thods of conveying ssages are long obsolete.
She took the scroll. It contained a single sentence: "Safe. Items received."
It’s clearly Mu Jiuchen’s handwriting. He used a carrier pigeon to send a ssage directly to , despite the distance.
Gu Qingli read the note, then folded it and put it away. Looking at the carrier pigeon, she asked Wuqing, "Wuqing, can you get a few carrier pigeons like this one?"
"Yes, Miss. Yun No. 20 can bring them this afternoon. Would you like to teach you how to raise them?"
"I’d be delighted," Gu Qingli said, reaching out to pet the carrier pigeon. With Wuqing nearby, it wasn’t afraid of her. Once I learn how to use carrier pigeons, I can communicate with them this way in the future.
"Miss, do you know where Dean Lin and his family were taken?" Wuqing leaned in and whispered by Gu Qingli’s ear, her eyes sparkling with mischief as she gave a playful wink, as if chiding, You’re not even going to ask?
Gu Qingli chuckled. Bringing her out here so early was precisely to ask about this. Otherwise, I would have already found a place to release Da Bai.
"Alright, you tell ." Gu Qingli playfully tapped Wuqing’s nose.
Wuqing rubbed her nose where it tickled, her face breaking into a wide smile. "Miss, our people took them through the tunnel directly to Tiger Head Mountain, over two hundred li outside the city."
"The Lin estate has a tunnel?" Gu Qingli was surprised.
"Yes, we found it while searching for things. We originally planned to eliminate them all, but then this perfect opportunity presented itself, and it would have been a waste not to use it," Wuqing said excitedly.
"What opportunity? Killing two birds with one stone?"
"Heh heh, Miss, you’re smart! Dean Lin has long been colluding with the bandits on Tiger Head Mountain. The Young Master said we should find a chance to wipe out those bandits who prey on the common folk. This way, we don’t have to lift a finger; we can let the governnt forces handle the bandits."
He was already colluding with bandits? Gu Qingli wondered how Dean Lin, an educator, could be involved with outlaws. His sister is the current Empress; how could he dare to commit such a universally condemned act? Could it be that he was secretly raising a private army, using banditry as a cover to deceive everyone?
Realizing this possibility, Gu Qingli said, "Wuqing, have the Secret Sect deliver this information to the Seventh Prince. He should still be on the road and hasn’t reached the Capital City yet."
Once this information reaches the Seventh Prince, it will be even more impossible for the Empress to protect Dean Lin. Moreover, if the Emperor learns that the Empress is raising a private army, her true intentions will be exposed, won’t they? The Emperor is currently in his pri; he wouldn’t tolerate anyone coveting his throne this early. Heh heh~ At that ti, discord between the Emperor and Empress will escalate the infighting within the harem. The imperial court and the harem are deeply intertwined; if the harem is in turmoil, the court will inevitably follow suit with its own internal struggles. Heh heh, then we can just sit back and watch the tigers fight. This will also divert attention from Xiao Yunjing and the others at the border, giving them more ti to consolidate control over the frontier situation.
"Yes, Miss."
Wuqing imdiately took out a piece of paper and a charcoal stylus from her sleeve. She swiftly wrote the ssage and placed it into the bamboo tube on the pigeon’s leg. Then, she retrieved a small handful of wheat grains from her sleeve, fed them to the pigeon, patted its back three tis, and let it fly away.
Gu Qingli watched Wuqing’s sleeve, which seed like a bottomless pouch, and the charcoal stylus in her hand. For a mont, Gu Qingli felt that the ancients were not foolish at all; rather, they were quite clever. They knew to use charcoal as a writing instrunt, sothing that could be easily carried and used anyti.
After surveying the dicinal and vegetable fields, the mistress and her maid hunted so ga on the mountain and gathered so wild vegetables before returning ho.
The wild vegetables on the mountain were currently tender and plump. Gu Qingli used them to prepare a cold salad, stir-fried another batch with eggs, and also made a hearty ga stew.
At lunch, everyone ate until they were stuffed again.
"I say, Sister-in-law," Ms. Yang said, covering her mouth as she let out a small burp, "with you cooking at ho, I’m gaining weight so fast! What if my husband doesn’t recognize when he returns? What should I do?"
Gu Qingli grinned wickedly. "Then just use those extra pounds to pile onto him!"
Reviews
All reviews (0)