Chapter 28 - 2#

But most people couldn’t be like that.

Even when Jingzhe was learning, Cen Xuan had to break things down bit by bit to teach him.

Jingzhe: “Director, you have a talent for reading. But most people can’t grasp it as quickly as you. They can only memorize the shape and pronunciation of words through painstaking practice.”

For those without talent, this was not an easy task.

With Jingzhe’s support, Yunkui was no longer so timid. “That’s right, Master. You have to accept that I’m a fool.”

Jiang Jinming laughed in exasperation. Although Jingzhe had a point, this brat Yunkui was just asking for a beating.

“Ah, ah, ah, Master, don’t hit me! Jingzhe, Jingzhe, save me—”

Yunkui’s voice was so loud it almost deafened Jingzhe.

He clutched his clothes, which were about to be torn off, in silence. Weren’t these two, master and disciple, playing a game of cat and mouse around him?

It would be even better if he wasn’t the one being circled.

Despite this, Yunkui privately asked Jingzhe to teach him. He didn’t expect to be able to write well, but he still needed to be able to read.

After going to the Miscellaneous Procurement Office, although Yunkui was doing well, he soon discovered that to survive there, it wasn’t enough to just be diligent. One also needed a certain amount of cunning and shrewdness to live comfortably, otherwise one would be subtly excluded.

Moreover, when making purchases, he needed to know the market prices outside and understand the records of those items to make a successful transaction.

Never before had Yunkui understood his master’s past teachings as well as he did now.

They might have seemed annoying, but they were actually very useful.

Jingzhe naturally agreed.

Afterward, Huiping and Shi’en joined the study group, and finally, Gusheng also came.

Jingzhe welcomed them all, but to avoid attracting attention, they moved their study sessions outside the Department of Palace Services.

Gusheng wondered, “Is it really necessary to be so cautious?”

If they studied inside the Department of Palace Services, they could go back to their own rooms after they were done. But now, they had to go out after finishing their work, and then come back after studying. The back and forth was tiring.

Shi’en said profoundly, “Of course it is.”

He raised his hand and pointed at Jingzhe.

“He’s only been in the Department of Palace Services for a few months, and now he’s the director’s favorite. If it were you, and you weren’t familiar with Jingzhe, wouldn’t you be jealous of him?”

Gusheng pondered.

To be honest, he knew he wasn’t a very generous person.

If he and Jingzhe weren’t friends, he would definitely be jealous and dissatisfied behind his back.

Then, Shi’en pointed at Yunkui.

“As for him, although he’s from the Department of Palace Services, he has already left for the Miscellaneous Procurement Office. So he’s not one of us anymore, and his constant coming and going isn’t pleasing to everyone’s eyes.”

Huiping listened with relish. Unlike the silent Gusheng, he asked, “What’s the third point?”

“The third point…” Shi’en said smugly, holding up a page of paper he had just finished writing on, “is that they want this opportunity to study, but they can’t get it.”

How could they not be jealous?

After hearing these three points, Gusheng couldn’t help but rub his chin.

After Shi’en pointed it out, he immediately understood.

These days, they had been studying with Jingzhe and gradually realized that reading and writing were not simple matters.

Cleaning was manual labor, but studying was mental labor.

Before, after finishing their work, they still had the energy to chat when they went back. But now, even the most sociable Shi’en would fall asleep quickly after returning.

This was all due to exhaustion.

If they, the “students,” were tired, wasn’t Jingzhe, the “teacher,” also tired?

Jingzhe’s free time was completely occupied by them.

If other people wanted to come, Jingzhe wouldn’t have any more time to teach them, and besides, Yunkui and Shi’en wouldn’t agree.

They also had their own little selfish feelings for Jingzhe.

Jingzhe was their friend, and they knew he was a good person.

But to some extent, they didn’t want Jingzhe to have more and more friends.

Besides the small possessiveness that exists between friends, it was also because they knew Jingzhe’s character.

Whether or not one could become friends was a matter of affinity or letting nature take its course. But becoming Jingzhe’s friend seemed to become a kind of responsibility for him.

Jingzhe always cherished what he had.

Whether it was things, people, or relationships.

This could easily become a burden.

While Jingzhe was teaching Huiping to write, Gusheng sidled up to Shi’en, and the two exchanged a look and began to whisper.

These days, it wasn’t as if no one had been badmouthing Jingzhe behind his back, but they had taken care of it all.

When Jingzhe turned back to check their homework, they all looked very serious, and in unison, they began to struggle with the ten characters they had to practice that day.

Yunkui was the fastest learner among them.

He already had a foundation, but Jiang Jinming’s teaching method was too much like pulling up seedlings to help them grow, only suitable for geniuses, not for normal people. After Jingzhe adjusted his teaching method, Yunkui quickly adapted.

Gusheng, Shi’en, and Huiping’s progress was slower, but they were also eager to learn. Sometimes, before going to bed, Jingzhe could hear Huiping reciting his lessons.

But because of this, Jingzhe had very little free time, and his meetings with Rong Jiu on the fifth day of every ten-day period became squeezed in whenever possible.

…Rong Jiu was obviously not happy.

Jingzhe hung himself on Rong Jiu. Although Rong Jiu looked cold, in reality, he never resisted Jingzhe’s advances. “I’m just helping them learn to read. Once they can recognize most of the words, it will be fine.”

Rong Jiu: “Most of them?”

He slowly wrapped his arm around Jingzhe’s waist.

“So, in your opinion, when is ‘most of them’?”

Jingzhe pondered and said tentatively, “At least when they can read documents without not understanding?”

Hiss, the grip on his waist tightened.

It seemed Rong Jiu was not satisfied with his answer.

Jingzhe: “If they learn to read and write, they might be valued by their superiors and have a better chance of getting ahead.”

Rong Jiu kneaded Jingzhe’s earlobe and said slowly, “You’re too good to them.”

Jingzhe said in a small voice, “They often help me shut people up behind my back. They think I don’t know.”

Rong Jiu looked down at Jingzhe’s sparkling eyes.

He looked very happy.

He reached out and touched the corner of Jingzhe’s eye.

The eyelashes fluttered even more, as if they were a little wet.

Rong Jiu really wanted to touch that black grape seed.

He wanted to know if it felt as watery as it looked, and if he could easily squeeze juice out of it.

Jingzhe tilted his head, and the reflection in those two black grape seeds also quietly changed its posture.

Rong Jiu was looking at him.

He was also looking at Rong Jiu.

After a moment, he reached out and touched the end of Rong Jiu’s eyebrow.

“Rong Jiu, have you been unhappy lately?”

It was about something other than the reduced meeting time.

Rong Jiu lowered his eyebrows, looked at Jingzhe coldly, and said slowly, “Where did you see that?”

Jingzhe thought hard. It would have been better if he hadn’t asked. Now that he had, how did he know that Rong Jiu was a little irritable…

He didn’t know.

It was as if he just knew it naturally.

If he had to say, it was a feeling.

When the feeling came, he knew.

Jingzhe had no idea that what he was talking about was a very terrifying thing. To probe the emperor’s mind or to spy on his whereabouts, either one was a capital offense.

Rong Jiu continued his words slowly, “Well, I am indeed unhappy.”

Jingzhe looked up at him.

“A few days ago, after I fell asleep, the manager below woke me up and said that the captured prey had been killed and the body dumped. The prey was so fat, we didn’t even have time to eat it. How could the body be dumped?” The man’s voice was cold, but it had a lazy feeling, which was very contradictory and strange. “Jingzhe, do you think this manager is so stupid? What’s the use of keeping him?”

…Dumping a body?

Jingzhe blinked and suppressed that strange feeling. “If something happens below, the manager will report it in time. He should still be conscientious. It’s much better than those who don’t report things and even betray their own people.”

Rong Jiu: “Jingzhe thinks I should spare his life?”

Jingzhe: “Hasn’t Rong Jiu already spared his life?”

He smiled.

“If you had killed him, you wouldn’t have said that.”

Rong Jiu had his own ideas.

He didn’t need anyone’s advice; he naturally had his own plans.

“But Jingzhe, if you were to look at it, why would this person do this?”

Jingzhe frowned. Stealing prey… and then killing it and dumping the body… But the manager would have been concerned about it, so it must have been a very valuable prey… In that case, killing it and dumping the body was completely illogical.

“Someone wanted to steal it, but was afraid of being discovered, so they created the illusion of a murder and body dumping.”

Jingzhe had a flash of inspiration and said immediately.

Rong Jiu sighed softly, “See, Jingzhe, even you have discovered it. How could those long-serving managers not know?”

Jingzhe frowned slightly. That was true.

Some were really stupid.

And some… were probably already colluding with outsiders.

When Jingzhe thought of this, he became a little worried. “Then do you know who did it?”

“I don’t know.”

Rong Jiu was very calm. “I have too many enemies. It’s hard to know which one it is.”

But it was possible to guess who was most likely to have done it.

Jingzhe: “…”

Ha, he could see that.

With such a bad temper, it would be strange if he had good relationships.

“However, with such means and courage, there are only three or four people who could have done this.” Rong Jiu said slowly, “They are all my half-brothers.”

“…We’re talking about prey, right?”

How did a simple theft case suddenly turn into a family feud? There were already three or four of them, so don’t say it so casually!

So the body dumping just now was a real body dumping!

“Whatever you say it is, it is.”

“If your brothers are all ill-intentioned, then you should make preparations early.” Jingzhe couldn’t help but remind him.