What was he angry about?
Qin Yi lowered his eyes. She did not know what he was thinking about, she waited for a while and when she did not receive his reply, she raised her head surprised, “What is wrong with you?”
Qin Yi woke up from his thoughts. He spoke without any expression, “Nothing. I just felt that it is fortunate that you are born in the Marquis residence. If you were born in the Imperial family, you would have reincarnated early on.”
“Hey. You…” Chu Jin Yao was angry. She glared at him before discovering that this person’s brows did not even move one bit. She puffed up in anger, but when she thought that if she was born into the Imperial family, she indeed would not be one that could live well and her anger was in vain, “Forget about it, you are right. It is fortunate that ZuMu is fair and reasonable. It is alright for me to be stubborn with her, but if it was in another family, one would not imagine how I would be punished for contradicting the elders like this.”
“It is good that you know that.” Qin Yi said unhappily. After a while, he added, “Next time when you are wronged by others, hold your anger back first, yield and apologise to the elders first. After the elders’ anger subsides, you should clarify the truth. There were so many people at that time, so when you did not yield and stuck your neck out, other than suffering from beatings, what good would that be?”
“I understand the logic, but at that time I was wronged by Chu Jin Miao. It is fine if it was others, but when it comes to Chu Jin Miao, I just don’t want to yield and make her feel pleased about herself.” She continued, “Moreover, I was not wrong at all.”
When Qin Yi looked at Chu Jin Yao, in a trance, he seemed to see the scene that day when several cabinet minsters came to the Eastern Palace to earnestly talk to him with well-intentioned advice, “Your Highness, please bear with it and yield to His Majesty and Her Highness. We all know that you are right. When His Majesty’s anger has passed, this official will advice His Majesty and seek justice for Your Highness.”
What had he said then? He too had said, “I, Qin Yi, am not considered to a gentleman, but would never regret what was done. Since he dared to allow the palace maid to beat the drums in front of all civil and military officials, did he have the image of a Monarch and a father? And still he dares to dislike not being given face. It is impossible for me to admit my wrongdoing for trumped-up charges.”
When the cabinet minister heard this, he almost fainted in shock and even if the rest spoke good things around him tremblingly, he was not the slightest softened. Unexpectedly, it was Qin Yi’s turn to play the role of the ‘cabinet minister’.
Chu Jin Yao suddenly discovered a very light smile on Qin Yi’s lips that had a biting coldness to it. She asked curiously, “What are you smiling about?”
“It is nothing.” Qin Yi said lightly, “It’s just that I have remembered my teacher. I finally understood their emotions at that time. It is a pity that it has been too long.”
Chu Jin Yao felt that the current Qin Yi was very strange. Her instincts told her that he did not like others to ask about these things, but she could not just ignore him, thus she could only ask softly, “Are you alright?”
Qin Yi turned back and saw Chu Jin Yao’s large eyes filled with worry and also hesitation as they looked at him. Her eyes were dark and bright and as they focus at him intently, there was only Qin Yi’s faint reflection in them. It was as if there was nothing else that mattered under Heavens. The waves in Qin Yi’s heart calmed down miraculously that he did not notice that the undercurrent in his eyes had also subsided. It was filled with a gentle light as he spoke to Chu Jin Yao, “I am fine.”
Qin Yi suddenly had an urge, even if it exposed his identity, he did not care less. He asked Chu Jin Yao, “Do you still remember the Crown Prince?”
Chu Jin Yao was stunned for a moment. Why did he suddenly talk about this? She smiled, “Of course, I remember. That time Father had said that the Crown Prince had offended the Empress and was still in DaTong.”
“He overestimated his capabilities and struck a stone with an egg. Actually he is as stupid as you.”
Chu Jin Yao felt complicated at those words. “You are sure powerful that with one sentence you can offend two people. No. It is not two people. You have offended the entire court of officials! It is fine for you to talk about me because I too feel that I am stubborn and stupid but the Crown Prince is different. He dared to shoot and kill the favoured maid in front of everybody and even risked offending the Emperor and the Empress just to uphold the prestige of the country and lift the army’s morale. How can a brave action like this be called stupid?”
Qin Yi smiled, “Maybe he did that because he felt the Emperor and Empress would not punish him severely and could also avenge his private wrongs using public environment in passing. Why would he not do it?”
“You always think about the bad side of people.” Chu Jin Yao was very worried and began to educate Qin Yi, “You cannot be like this. Although it is said that the affairs of the world are fickle, one should always think about the good in everything. Like this your heart will feel comfortable and will also view matters positively, so that good things can continuously happen. You are more comprehensive in your thoughts so why can you not understand this simple logic? You are accustomed to thinking towards the negative side when you encounter things. Even though this can indeed prevent many accidents, but in the long run, the pressure in your heart would increase. Won’t you collapse under the weight of it?”
Qin Yi found it funny and could not help but laugh, “Are you teaching me a lesson?”
Chu Jin Yao said seriously, “Don’t laugh! Don’t think that because I am a female, you can view my words lightly. I am saying it for your good. In the future, when you leave me, you will still encounter many people and events. If you still continue to be like this and keep everything in your heart and constantly think everything carefully, you will definitely wear yourself down sooner or later. You are obviously very smart and can learn everything very quickly so why do you like to erect thorns around yourself? You will be very tired like this.”
“Tired?” Qin Yi looked at Chu Jin Yao and spoke mercilessly, “Only a young lady like you that is raised in deep boudoir can say such things naively. Which person under Heavens is not tired? Who does not curry favour and take big actions for that little gain? For the Imperial family, it is about status and power, for the court officials, it is about reputation and career, for merchants, it is for wealth and fame. It is like this for all under Heavens. Even your residence of Marquis Chang Xing. Just for a small little position of a study companion for a County Princess, it is like one is rivalling a great enemy. Isn’t it all for the extension of the Marquis Chang Xing title? In the end, everyone under Heavens is the same. It is just that some people would say it out and some would refuse to admit it.”
He was splitting hairs again. Chu Jin Yao could only speak to him softly, “You speak logically. Water flows downhill, whereas people walk upwards. Everybody wants to live a better life. You look at me, raised in a farmer family since young but currently in a Marquis residence. It is said that one returns to one’s biological parents’ side but in fact, is it not because of the Marquis residence’s wealth? If the Chu family were a normal farmer family, how could there be so many things?”
At those words,Qin Yi was displeased for no reason. He frowned and said, “Don’t talk about yourself like this…”
“Listen to me first.” Chu Jin Yao interrupted him before continuing, “There is nothing bad to admit to it. You have seen that I have returned and ZuMu has acknowledged me but did not let Chu Jin Miao leave. First, the Marquis residence could not lose face. Second, it is because the Chu family is rich and does not care about raising an extra young lady. Everybody under Heavens is as such, everyone wants to live better a bit. Chu Jin Miao created so many things so that she herself can go higher. I have never blamed her for being as such. If a person does not have ambition, I will then look down upon them. I don’t like her because she does not conduct matters in an upright manner. There is no wrong in scheming for your benefit, but it is wrong to harm other for oneself. You said that everyone under Heavens would move according to their gains, this is indeed correct. But you cannot not see the genuine feelings in the human world because of human’s selfishness. When I was in the Su family, I had to wake up earlier in the cold winter and use ice cold well water to wash clothes. They deliberately changed my identity and yet treated me like this. Do I hate them? I naturally hate them but at the same time I have to admit that most of the Su family are bad, whereas Older Sister would use her own methods to take care of me. She, in fact, knew of my identity and the details of it! One cannot deny everyone just because one person is bad. Even if the entire world is hypocritical and selfish, you have to look at the portion of people that treat you well!”
Chu Jin Yao talked for a long time that she became thirsty in the end. She picked the teacup and took a sip. However, during this process, Qin Yi unexpectedly kept quiet and did not interrupt her.
After Chu Jin Yao moistened her throat, she looked carefully at his expression and asked softly, “Do you understand my meaning? How about we be quietly rebellious for once and use the Crown Prince as an example? You see that he has been sent to the border and it is rather tragic but because of this, all the officials in TaiYuan carefully protected him fearing that he would suffer from the slightest mishap. Moreover, I have heard from Father that there are numerous officials in the capital that offended the Emperor to speak for the Crown Prince and pled for him to be summoned back to the capital. See. even if the Crown Prince was unjustly sent away, behind the scenes, there are a lot of people that are silently good to him. We do not have a complicated identity like the Crown Prince and also do not have a tangled and intricate background like him, so the people that treat us well would only be more and purer!”
Qin Yi listened calmly and upon hearing the end of it chuckled lightly, “Your logic… It is really simple and straightforward.”
“I did not speak wrongly.” Chu Jin Yao did not concede to that, “The Crown Prince has that kind of complicated background and yet there are people who treat him well willingly. We, the commoners, would only have even more sincere people! Don’t worry. We will at least be better than the Crown Prince.”
Qin Yi glanced at Chu Jin Yao coolly. She felt guilty after being looked at and her voice suddenly softened even more, “I used the Crown Prince as a negative example and did not use you. Why glare at me…”
Seeing that Qin Yi did not speak, Chu Jin Yao quickly flattered with a sentence, “You have to believe me. You are smart, rational, quick learner and have a good heart. People like you should live very very well. You should not restrict yourself!”
Qin Yi felt very complicated. Since five years old, he had not been able to trust others but now was taught a lesson by a little girl that he had heavy thoughts, always considered the negative side of people and would be restrained by himself in the future. He thought to himself that Chu Jin Yao’s words were all over the place but this sentence hit successfully by a lucky stroke. He was indeed restricting himself.
He was sent to the dangerous frontier by his father and did not care about his life and death at all. The reason was only that he killed a favoured maid of the Younger Qi Empress and the Emperor and Empress lost face. He left the capital and arrived at DaTong where swords have no eyes, and even the officials, that he had never known before, were protecting him carefully, while his Uncle and Maternal Grandpa complained about his bad temperament and did not give the Younger Qi Empress face.
Empress Wen Xiao of the Yuan dynasty was the Di daughter of the Marquis of Zhen Bei and the succeeding Empress was also from the residence of the Marquis of Zhen Bei and the biological younger sister of Empress Wen Xiao. The Empress sisters were named Eldest Empress Qi and Younger Empress Qi by the common folk. For the residence of the Marquis of Zhen Bei to produce two Empresses, it was especially honourable. How would they be bothered about the life and death of him, a son of the previous Empress, even though he was the Crown Prince? Anyways, Younger Empress Qi also gave birth to a son, so it would be the same if it was changed to another Prince. Maybe it was even better since the younger daughter was even more favoured.
On the eighth year of Jian Xing, when he was only five years old, his mother was lingering on the sickbed and his younger YiMu came to visit but in the end hooked up with the noble brother-in-law. When the incident was exposed, his seriously ill Mother was angered to death, while the two initiators did not even bother to pretend. After two months, the young Madam Qi entered the Palace and was titled as the succeeding Empress. Six months after the Younger Qi Empress entered the Palace, the Third Prince was born. Qin Yi felt the irony. It turned out that the two of them had long colluded before his mother fell sick.
This was simply a gigantic joke. He, as a Crown Prince, lived in the Eastern Palace and all civil and military officers had to kneel and bow when they met him. However, his Father, YiMu, JiuJiu and WaiZuMu were all standing on the opposite side of him. The Crown Prince refers to oneself as alone and this was not wrong at all. Qin Yi was really all alone by himself. Whether it was his Father’s or Mother’s clan, no one stood at his side to think as he thought and hurt as he felt pain.
In the end, it turned out to be a young little girl, who did not even know him, that said, “People like you should live very very well. You should not restrict yourself!”
There was no indication on Qin Yi’s face, but there were ten thousand shocking waves in his eyes. However, he still did not speak. Qin Yi glanced down at Chu Jin Yao’s brush and said, “You perhaps might need to change to another paper. The ink at the tip of your brush has dripped on it.”
Chu Jin Yao’s eyes widened and she quickly lowered her head, “I am about to finish writing on this piece of paper, so how can it be ruined! When I was talking just now, I actually forgot about this!”
Qin Yi smiled lightly as he lowered his head to read, while Chu Jin Yao stood opposite him scrambling to tidy things up.
Chu Jin Yao heartbrokenly changed to another paper and when she thought about enduring the pain in her head to write another sheet of calligraphy, she felt that her future was all gloom and her life was hopeless. She scowled miserably and wrote pitifully. It was obviously a pitiful matter but Qin Yi always wanted to laugh when he saw it, “Forget about it if you don’t want to write.”
“You are just making cynical remarks.” Chu Jin Yao glanced at him indistinctly, “I have a feeling that you had long seen the ink at the tip of the brush but had to wait for the ink to drip onto the paper before reminding me of it.”
Finally Qin Yi could no longer control and burst out laughing, “Yes. I just wanted to see if you, a foolish goose-head, would realise what stupid things you are doing. Afterwards, you really did not have any awareness…”
Chu Jin Yao watched Qin Yi laugh silently and the more she watched, the angrier she became. How could there be such a loathsome person in this world? She advised him sincerely so that he would not push himself too hard, but this person actually quietly watched and waited to see her become a laughingstock!
Chu Jin Yao really wanted to throw the brush at Qin Yi. Who asked him to still laugh! However, the maids outside stopped her from performing such an indecent behaviour. Ding Xiang spoke from the outside, “Young Lady, Eldest Young Lady sent someone over to ask you to make a trip to Rong Ning Tang.”
“Alright. I will be right there!” Chu Jin Yao answered loudly before standing up and glaring at Qin Yi harshly, “Wait till I return and settle the bill with you!”
There was a faint smile hanging on Qin Yi’s face. He did not think that Chu Jin Yao was capable of realising such words.
After Chu Jin Yao packed up, she hurried over to Rong Ning Tang as one should not neglect the elders’ summons. When she arrived, she saw Old Chu Furen smiling and said to her upon her arrival, “You have arrived at the right time. I have just spoken to the other young ladies that after your GuGu returned, she spoke to the Prince Consort about you sisters. The Prince Consort likes lively young ladies and invited you all to the residence of Prince Huai Ling as guests in a few days time!”
Chu Jin Yao was startled. The Prince Consort wants to see them? Does it mean that the matter of the study companion has been finalised?
It was unexpectedly fast!
