To be honest, Qin Zhao and the little emperor had no relationship other than teacher and student.
At first, he was so absorbed in handling government affairs that he thought the kid was a hindrance and stupid. If his father had not taught him to uphold the imperial power and that there was really no one in the royal family who could replace him, he would have given up on the little emperor.
But Jing Li doesn't care about these.
He felt extremely jealous when he thought about the little emperor receiving instruction from Qin Zhao and witnessing the other party's initial demeanor and spirit.
Why didn't such a good thing happen to him
Qin Zhao reasoned with him: "You haven't been born yet."
"But you didn't take me back after I was born." Jing Li said righteously, "Yes, that's your problem. If you had taken me back to the capital a year ago, there wouldn't be so much trouble. Maybe you could have even avoided the assassination."
Qin Zhao: “…”
Fallacy.
He was still busy with his retirement affairs at that time, so how could he go to such great lengths to bring a fish back to Beijing. If he hadn't known in advance that this would be his future husband, and that he would love him so much in the future, he would have given everything to keep him by his side.
Unfortunately, there is no if.
"However, since you are behaving well now, I forgive you." Qin Zhao was still worrying about how to coax him, when he heard Jing Li say this lightly.
Qin Zhao raised his eyes and saw the other party's smug look, and reacted: "You did it on purpose."
Jing Li didn't say anything.
Qin Zhao patted the seat next to him and said, "Come and sit here."
Jing Li hesitated for a moment, Qin Zhao raised his eyebrows, with a hint of threat in his eyes.
"… "
Jing Li walked away obediently.
Being hugged by her.
"We'll be seen." Jing Li grabbed his wrist and whispered.
"Are you scared? I won't do anything..." Qin Zhao placed his palm on the other person's waist, rubbing it gently as if he was interested. "When did you learn to be a bad person? You can scare me now."
"without… "
"No?"
"It's just a joke." Jing Li said, "You have such a close relationship with the little emperor, don't you want me to be jealous?"
"I have nothing against him, and he doesn't know who is friend or foe." Qin Zhao was helpless, "You know clearly that I..."
Before he finished speaking, he saw Jing Li tilting his head to look at him with some secret expectation in his eyes.
Just waiting for this sentence.
Qin Zhao stood up and said solemnly and gently: "You know very well that I only love you one."
Everyone has different preferences when they are in love. Qin Zhao was not the type to talk about love all the time. Besides, he and Jing Li have been together for such a long time, so why would he need those sweet words
And Jing Li is not someone who would say love easily.
However, Qin Zhao recently discovered that although Jing Li doesn't like to talk, he loves people very much.
Jing Li said nothing, and did not resist Qin Zhao's hug. He leaned on Qin Zhao's shoulder, listening to the sound of water hitting the side of the boat outside the window, and the joy in his eyes and mouth could not be hidden.
It's as sweet as eating a piece of honey.
On the third day, the group finally arrived at the town's pier.
Qin Zhao did not reveal the specific time of his return to the village this time, and no villagers came to pick him up at the dock. However, their attire was different from that of ordinary villagers, so it attracted a lot of attention.
Ah Qi first went to the post station to find a carriage. Qin Zhao held Yuzai in one hand and Jing Li in the other, and found a slightly hidden place on the side of the road to wait.
Next to me, several villagers were chatting.
"Brother Shunzi, have you been to Linxi Village again? I told you that Master Yuan would not come back so soon, but there is still no news from their village chief, right?"
"If you don't go and see for yourself, who knows if he hasn't come back or is deliberately not telling you." The man who answered drove the ox cart and stopped beside Qin Zhao and the others. "You don't know, ever since we knew that Linxi Village had a champion, how many people in the nearby towns and villages want to worship that master as their teacher. If I don't go more often, others will get there first!"
"Didn't you want your son to take the imperial examination before? Did you suddenly come to your senses?"
The man chuckled and said, "Isn't it true? Now I finally see the benefits of studying. I hope my son can pass the imperial examination and become a scholar. No, he can even pass the examination and become a scholar. It's much better than farming all your life."
"... Come to think of it, I saw Qin Zhao and his husband from a distance when they left their hometown. Who would have thought that after more than a year, they are completely different now."
The two were originally talking beside Qin Zhao and Jing Li, and didn't notice them. But when Xiao Yuzi saw the familiar name, he leaned over Qin Zhao's shoulder and asked, "Huh?"
Qin Zhao and Jing Li looked at each other, then walked aside calmly and moved away silently.
The little fish boy said in a baby voice: "Dad... they are talking about Dad."
"Yes, we're talking about father." Qin Zhao responded.
"Why?"
The kid looked up at his father, not knowing whether he was asking why he mentioned Qin Zhao, or why Qin Zhao left silently.
Jing Li interrupted and said, "Because your father is very powerful."
The little fish blinked, seemingly not quite understanding.
Ah Qixun’s carriage had already arrived. Er Xi didn’t explain any more and got into the carriage carrying the fish calf.
The carriage was swaying along the mountain road, and Jing Li looked outside. It was almost noon, and many villagers who came to the town for the market were returning to the village.
There are many things on the road, but you can still see slight differences from the past.
Jing Li said: "There are many people holding books in their hands."
On the mountain road, many villagers were carrying books in their hands or in baskets. Looking further away, you could see some people reading in the morning in an open space in the mountains.
"I didn't expect your influence to be so profound." Jing Li felt a little emotional.
Two years ago, when village chief Qin Zhaohe wanted to open a private school, many villagers disagreed. Unexpectedly, now so many people are willing to study.
Qin Zhao said: "They just lack an example."
The people in these remote mountain villages are not against studying, but they have made a living by farming for generations and are accustomed to this kind of life. Few of them are willing to make changes.
But as long as someone takes this step and succeeds, the people will see the benefits and will naturally follow suit without any persuasion.
Therefore, any town that produced tribute students had a much better study atmosphere than other areas, and produced more talents than other places. Qin Zhao had witnessed this many times in the past.
After climbing up the mountain, we arrived at the plain outside Linxi Village.
The scenery here has remained the same for decades, and after more than a year, it has not changed at all. Now it is the end of the autumn harvest, the cut golden wheat straw is piled on the edge of the field, and there are farmers working in the fields.
"It's a bumper year." Jing Li said.
After a while, the carriage stopped outside Linxi Village.
There were many farmers working in the fields outside the village. When they saw an unfamiliar carriage approaching, they all looked up.
"Then...then Qin Zhao?!"
"Master Qin Zhao, Master Qin Zhao is back!"
"Go and inform the village chief!"
Qin Zhao did not mention the reason for writing the letter this time because he wanted to keep a low profile. During the year he was in the capital, the village chief had helped him a lot. This time he just wanted to keep a low profile and visit the village chief to greet him without causing too much trouble. Who knows...
The plan failed before even entering the village.
The news spread quickly and soon a crowd gathered at the entrance of the village.
The man walking at the front had just returned from the fields. He wiped the sweat off his forehead and looked a little nervous: "Mr. Qin... Mr. Qin, why didn't you come back today without writing to tell us that we should go to the town to pick you up!"
"You don't have to call me Dali, just call me like before." Qin Zhao said.
The man in front of him was Li Dali, who had just rented the land to Qin Zhao. However, after more than a year of separation, his skin had become several degrees darker and Jing Li almost did not recognize him.
"Hey, move aside, let me take a look." A man squeezed up and said, "Qin Zhao, I don't want to go back to the village now that I'm rich. It seems that I still have a conscience!"
"Uncle Lin, what are you doing?" Qin Zhao said, "I will never forget your care for so many years."
In Linxi Village, apart from the village chief, the person who helped Qin Zhao the most was Lin Er. When Qin Zhao was ostracized in the village because of his status as an outsider, he was the only one willing to interact with Qin Zhao.
When saying hello, the thing that attracted the most attention was the baby in Jingli's arms.
It was the first time for the little fish boy to see so many people, so he was not very scared. Jing Li asked him to call them whatever they wanted. After calling them "uncle" and "uncles" a few times, everyone's hearts softened.
"This child is so cute, he looks just like Qin Zhao!"
"Has Qin Zhao arranged a marriage for him? My child was born last year!"
This actually has a deeper meaning. According to the rules of the village, if you want to arrange a baby marriage, you have to give proper gifts and find witnesses, you can't just do it with a few words like this.
However, Qin Zhao still answered honestly: "I don't have such plans."
The villager who made the suggestion sighed with regret and was then ridiculed by the crowd.
After a moment, a loud and vigorous voice interrupted the conversation: "The village chief is here!"
This time, Jing Li could guess who said it without even looking.
Apart from Chen Yanan, who else would dare to yell in front of Qin Zhao
The crowd parted ways and Chen Yanan supported the village chief and walked over.
That day was still Chen Yan'an, but it was completely different from a year ago.
He lost about a dozen pounds and grew a lot taller. He looked upright and energetic, looking brand new.
During this year, they kept exchanging letters. Jing Li had long said that Chen Yanan had successfully lost weight, and he had been bragging about it before, but he didn't expect that he had actually done it.
Qin Zhao didn't care about these things and went to greet the village chief: "Why did the village chief come out in person? I will go to visit you first."
"I dare not. You are the first place winner now." The village chief was already old, and the white hair on his temples had increased after not seeing him for a year. He coughed twice while speaking, looked around, and said, "Don't blame them. Linxi Village has never had a first place winner. When the official came to announce the good news, the villagers were very happy. They have been waiting for you to come back, and they all want to come up and say hello to you and share in your happiness."
Qin Zhao: "My fellow villagers think highly of Qin Zhao."
The village chief nodded and looked at Qin Zhao with admiration. The village chief was also about to take the imperial examination, and when he saw many people who passed the examination, he stopped associating with his hometown, which was a betrayal.
But Qin Zhao is different. Although he is a high school graduate, his words and deeds are not impetuous, and his good character can be seen from this.
The village chief exchanged a few pleasantries with him, and then said, "Come to my house for dinner later, bring Xiaoli's child and this young man with you."
Ah Qi had been following Qin Zhao and Jing Li silently, carrying his luggage like a slave, but the village chief still treated them equally.
Qin Zhao replied: "Yes."
"Okay, everyone. Qin Zhao will come back soon. Why do you always act as if you haven't seen him? Aren't you embarrassed?" The village chief dismissed him with a few words and told Chen Yan'an, "Yan'an, please see Qin Zhao off. You two have a good relationship now. You should have a lot to talk about after not seeing each other for a long time. I, as the leader, will not bother you any more."
The village chief had great prestige in the village. As soon as he spoke, the crowd dispersed one after another.
Qin Zhao was finally able to walk into the village.
Chen Yanan and Qin Zhao didn't say much. As soon as they parted, he immediately rushed to Jing Li and asked the little fish in his arms: "Fish, do you remember me?"
The little fish looked at him in confusion for a long time before shaking his head.
"I used to hold you in my arms, and gave you a lot of clothes and a little fish doll. Don't you remember?" Chen Yan'an looked very hurt.
Chen Yanan liked Xiao Yuzai from the first time he met him. Not only did he give him a bunch of gifts, he also tried every way to get Qin Zhao to agree to an arranged marriage with him.
Unfortunately, both Qin Zhao and Jing Li rejected his request sternly.
The little fish doll he gave to the little fish was exquisitely crafted and has always been the little fish's favorite toy.
"Little Fish Puppet... I don't like you." The little fish boy frowned, stretched out his hands, and drew a big circle on his body, "Fat Uncle."
Chen Yanan: “…”
Qin Zhao: “…”
Jing Li: “Pfft.”