Wen Lingjiao's love could not be more straightforward, and Qiu Yizi really could not refuse it. However, he could not easily let down the Emperor Zheng Rong for raising him.
So he thought over and over and finally said, "Please, please wait for a few more days, a year or so at the shortest, two or three years at the longest, until I have performed great deeds for His Majesty, and have repaid all my kindness to the Emperor, and also found a career for my brothers, then I can live in seclusion in the mountains with you, how about that?"
At this point, Qiu Yizi's eyes were already filled with tears: "This is just a small request from me, I hope you can fulfill it, young lady!"
Wen Lingjiao is not the kind of person who is willful and unsympathetic. As a saint of the Tianzun Sect for more than ten years, she knows the truth that "once you enter the world of martial arts, you have no choice". This is the case in the martial arts world, and even more so in the government. It is understandable that Qiu Yizi has many ties and cannot get away easily. If he agrees lightly, it will make people unconvinced.
So Wen Lingjiao nodded vigorously and said, "Okay, I promise, I'll wait, I can wait!"
Wen Lingjiao's clear and tender words reached Qiu Yizi's ears, making him so happy that his soul flew to the sky. He immediately wiped away the tears that were still swirling in his eyes: "Okay, I also promise Miss that I will not have any attachment at all and will not let Miss down!"
While Qiu Yizhi and Wen Lingjiao were talking, they saw a man running over from a distance. He stopped in front of Qiu Yizhi, bowed and said, "My lord, you are here to appreciate the flowers. It took me a while to find you."
It turned out that Wang Laowu was here.
Qiu Yizi was completely immersed in the oath she had made with Wen Lingjiao. When she saw this unromantic bachelor interrupting their pledge, although she could not scold him, she looked unhappy: "Laowu, why are you here in such a hurry? Are you in a hurry to be reincarnated?" His tone was quite stiff.
Wang Laowu thought to himself, "Master Qiu gave me a sweet bun this morning, why did he slap me in the face before noon?" He didn't know what was going on, so he was naturally confused and had to report tremblingly, "Well, Zhao Touer asked me to come here to inform you, saying that Mr. Lin had written a recruitment notice and posted it at the city gate, and asked you to go over and take a look!"
This is a matter of great importance that cannot be delayed.
Qiu Yizi nodded: "I understand, go back and tell Brother Zhao that I will be there soon."
He watched Wang Laowu turn around and run away, then turned to Wen Lingjiao and said, "Miss, if you have nothing to do, you can come with me to see the fun. After you see it, we can have dinner together."
Wen Lingjiao had no reason to object, so she said, "Okay, then please lead the way, young master."
The two walked a few steps, one in front of the other, and Wen Lingjiao suddenly raised her voice and called out, "He'er, where are you?"
As soon as she finished speaking, she heard a very soft response coming from the corner of the wall: "Coming..." The words were full of grievance and resentment.
After a while, He'er came closer neither fast nor slow, with red spots around her eyes, obviously she had just cried bitterly.
Wen Lingjiao seemed not to notice and said coldly, "He'er, come with me."
He'er didn't say anything either. She lowered her head and went back to the house to get some personal belongings, then followed him.
Qiu Yizi was a soft-hearted person. Seeing He'er's pitiful appearance, she felt a little sorry for her, so she said to her, "Don't be sad, He'er. You know some things, Miss Wen also knows them, and even I can guess some of them. You should always weigh who treats you well and who treats you badly. When you do things, you should always act according to your conscience. Right?"
Qiu Yizi's words were incoherent and did not make sense, but to He'er they sounded like rare advice, making her sob and nod her head.
The three of them walked slowly towards the city gate, and saw two or three hundred people gathered at the city gate, looking up at a two-foot square notice like young birds waiting to be fed. However, most of the onlookers were illiterate, and although the notice was written clearly in black and white, they could not understand the meaning of a single word.
After staring at it for a long time, someone finally recommended an old man who was writing letters for others and set up a stall at the city gate. He said to him, "Teacher Fan, you are a great scholar in this county. Please read us what is written on the notice quickly, instead of us just sitting here and worrying."
The old man surnamed Fan had actually been waiting for someone to ask him to read the notice, but he wanted to put on airs and said, "I'm busy, I'm busy. If I read the notice to you, it would delay my business. Will I have nothing to do today?"
"Hey! Teacher Fan, what are you talking about?" Another person said, "Come on, come on, let's each chip in two cents and buy Teacher Fan a bowl of rice wine, how about that?"
Everyone agreed to his call. Soon, the leader collected five or six hundred copper coins, put them in his saddle bag, and shook them in front of old man Fan. He said with a smile, "Teacher Fan, these copper coins are enough for half a tael of silver. Not to mention a bowl of wine, they are enough for a table at the restaurant next door, right?"
When Old Man Fan heard the extremely pleasant sound coming from the sack, his face lit up with smiles: "Enough, enough." He reached out to take it.
The man was very clever. He immediately raised his sack high and said, "Teacher Fan, you can read the documents for us first. I will give you the money when you are done. You see so many people are here. Are you afraid that I will run away?"
Old Man Fan thought that what the man said made sense, so he agreed, squinted his presbyopic eyes, read the document up and down several times, and sighed, saying: "Our new county magistrate! He is a good man, but I don't know where he got the support of an unlucky lawyer. The document is not well written. It would be better to pay an extra ounce of silver and ask me to write it!"
Before he finished speaking, the crowd immediately burst into laughter. Someone said, "Teacher Fan is talking nonsense again. Although our county master is young, he is at least a Jinshi, a disciple of the emperor, right? Teacher Fan has only been a scholar his whole life. How dare he criticize the county master?"
This sentence touched the sore spot of Mr. Fan. His face turned red and he said, "Don't disbelieve me. When writing documents, of course you have to use classical Chinese, use four-six parallel prose, pay attention to rhyme, make sure the level and tone are correct, pay attention to avoiding taboos, and it's best to use some allusions and rhetoric... Look at this document, it's written like a storyteller, it's not worthy of being in a formal hall, it's not worthy of being in a formal hall..."
Just as Mr. Fan was about to continue, the crowd couldn't wait any longer and started to say, "Teacher Fan, we have to find a way to make back the money we spent. Just hurry up and study. I have to go out to work this afternoon!"
"How much money can you earn from working? For two cents, can you listen to a private school teacher's lecture?" There seemed to be sarcasm in his tone.
Another person said bluntly: "You can listen to anyone's class, not Mr. Fan's. Do you want to be a scholar for the rest of your life?"
After saying this, there was another round of laughter from the crowd.
Qiu Yizi was hiding far away in the crowd, listening to their laughter, but his heart was filled with ups and downs: last year's special examination was conducted by his own teacher Zhongli Kuang, who was the chief examiner. When admitting Jinshi, he was particularly concerned about the true insights in the essays, and did not pay much attention to grammar and rhetoric. Even if there were occasional words that he forgot to avoid, he would just cover them up. However, the literary style of the Han Dynasty had become increasingly exaggerated over the past two hundred years, and it was a habit that was hard to change. It could not be changed by one or two imperial examinations. The most pitiful one was this old scholar who made a living by writing letters for others. I'm afraid his writing was not good and his views were very dull, so he was destined to have no chance of becoming a juren in this life.
While Qiu Yizhi was thinking, he heard the leader say loudly: "Okay, okay, you who can't read a single word, how dare you laugh at Teacher Fan?" He then said to the one surnamed Fan, "Teacher Fan, stop throwing your schoolbags around and finish reading the notice quickly so that we can go back to work and farm."
Old Man Fan's face had turned red like pig liver. He quickly took over the conversation, agreed with a few words, stepped forward, and read the notice:
"All the people of Shanyin County have heard this. Now is a time of peace and prosperity, but there are bound to be mountain bandits and river bandits. I also heard that Japanese pirates came to Mingzhou and they are very fierce. You are all good people, don't provoke others, and if others come to attack you, you can't just let them attack you. Therefore, this county will only recruit 200 local militiamen this time. You don't have to farm, work, or do business. You can only protect the country and the people, and you can eat a share of the emperor's food."
Qiu Yizhi was listening to the document, which was indeed very easy to understand, so that even the illiterate common people could understand it. He couldn't help but admire Lin Shuhan's thoughtfulness, but he heard someone among the onlookers say: "There is such a good thing? I can eat the emperor's food, why should I work for the landlord Zhou?"
Old man Fan, who was standing in front of the notice, saw that the person who spoke had also ridiculed him before, so he returned the ridicule to the person without any reduction, saying: "Want to eat the emperor's food? Are you worthy? Listen carefully, the county lord has conditions for recruiting people: first, they must have upright character, those who commit crimes or hang around in the market will not be hired; second, they must be physically strong, those who are weak or sick will not be hired; third, they must have a strong character, those who can't endure hardship and work will not be hired; fourth, there must be someone to take care of the family, those who are the only child in the family will not be hired."
Someone in the crowd said, "Why are there so many requirements for recruiting a few soldiers? How many people in Shanyin County can meet these requirements? They might as well go farming!"
After hearing this, Old Man Fan smiled and said, "You are destined to be a farmer. Listen to the salary offered by our county lord: two taels of silver per person per month, which will be doubled during the march and battle. Food and drink are free, and those who behead the enemy and make military achievements will receive additional rewards!"
Everyone exclaimed in surprise when they heard this - Shanyin County is considered a poor county in the south of the Yangtze River. The annual expenses for a family of five or six people, old and young, are only about two taels of silver. Now the county lord's military salary is actually two taels of silver per month - the temptation is really too great.
Just when the crowd was silent and everyone was wondering whether they could earn enough to pay the military salary, Qiu Yizi slowly walked into the crowd, bowed to everyone, and said, "My fellow countrymen, I am honored to meet you!"
When everyone saw this, they immediately exclaimed in surprise. A few who reacted quickly knelt down hurriedly, calling Qiu Yizi by his official name.
Qiu Yizi hurriedly asked everyone to stand up, and then said with a smile: "Everyone has heard this notice clearly. I am sincerely recruiting warriors. Although the conditions listed here are a bit harsh, my Shanyin County has at least 100,000 people and 50,000 able-bodied men. Can't I spare these 200 people?"
Seeing that everyone was still skeptical, Qiu Yizi said, "I speak from the bottom of my heart. If you don't believe me, why don't I show some sincerity now?" (To be continued)