Chapter 215: Returning to the Capital
As they spoke, Wen Mingqian had a chance to see the Emperor’s true face.
He was around forty years old, with streaks of gray at his temples. Yet he stood tall and imposing, with an imperial aura. His eyes, in particular, were unforgettable.
“I think Your Majesty should reward her with something! After all, she is a person of merit,” the Empress said with a smile, speaking up for Wen Mingqian.
“Since it is the Empress’s wish, she shall be rewarded. Let’s give her some fabric and some gold and silver,” the Emperor did not bestow anything particularly rare upon Wen Mingqian.
Wen Mingqian naturally knelt to express her gratitude and then withdrew respectfully.
Meanwhile, Gong Changan and Zhang Ma received Wen Mingqian’s letter and learned that she had entered the palace.
“Summer is almost over, and we should return to the Capital City,” Zhang Ma said, looking in the direction of the Capital City. “It’s time to go back.”
“I also want to go back quickly, I miss my mother so much,” Gong Changan said. “I’ll go and urge the tutor again.”
“Tutor Zhuge is always unhurried, whether you urge him or not, he’ll likely be the same,” Zhang Ma said with a smile. “But you can tell him that the river delicacies in the Capital City are at their best right now, it would be a shame not to eat them.”
“Understood!” Gong Changan jumped three feet high and ran towards Tutor Zhuge’s courtyard.
Halfway there, he was stopped by a group of senior brothers, who said, “Where are you running off to? Why don’t you kick a ball around while you’re at it?”
Gong Changan wriggled out from under his senior brothers’ arms and said, “Please spare me this time! I’m really not free right now.”
“I heard you’re going back to the Capital City?” Gong Changan was finally grabbed by someone. “If you leave, who will we tease?”
“Don’t let anyone hear you say that, or they’ll say you, who are destined to save the world, are neglecting your studies and lack ambition,” Gong Changan slipped away like a loach. “I can’t be a sinner for all eternity.”
He was like a mischievous monkey, so young, yet so clever and intelligent. The tutors and senior brothers here all liked him.
Normally, whoever caught him would play with him for a while, but if it got too out of hand, Tutor Zhuge would always step in to stop it.
For example, one time a senior brother named Zhu Qingping set a beast trap and hung Gong Changan from a tree.
He was only joking, but the rope wasn’t strong and broke midway. Gong Changan fell and scraped his forehead.
Tutor Zhuge was furious that time, his more than a foot long white beard almost flying with anger, scaring Zhu Qingping so much that he almost offered to die to atone.
In the end, Zhu Qingping’s tutor brought him to apologize for three consecutive days, and they compensated Gong Changan with many things before the matter was finally put to rest.
Everyone then knew that Gong Changan was Tutor Zhuge’s life.
Gong Changan darted into the tutor’s room. Tutor Zhuge’s face turned cold and he said, “Why are you like a wild horse all day? They say you are already nine years old, you should be more composed.”
“Tutor,” Gong Changan didn’t care and pounced forward, clinging to the old Mr. Zhuge’s back. “Didn’t you say we were going back to the Capital City? When are we leaving? Zhang Ma said if we leave now, the river delicacies will be plump by the time we reach the Capital City, and she cooks them wonderfully. Those who have eaten them dream of eating them again!”
Where could one find river delicacies? San Jing Academy had mountains and water, so river delicacies were naturally available, but for some reason, the flesh of the river delicacies here was always a bit tough.
Tutor Zhuge was an elderly man and could not eat them.
Gong Changan then hugged Tutor Zhuge’s neck and recited a list of dishes, making the old tutor involuntarily swallow.
“You little rascal, you’re so eager to return to the Capital City, you’ve lost interest in your studies. You deserve a beating!” Tutor Zhuge put on a stern face.
“Isn’t it because my grandmother passed away suddenly? As a grandson, I couldn’t even show filial piety at her memorial. I just want to go back quickly to pay my respects at her grave, and fulfill my filial piety!
The tutor teaches his disciples every day that the most important things for a person are loyalty and filial piety. A person who is not loyal or filial is useless, no matter how much they study.”
“Hmph! I know you well enough,” the tutor snorted. “Don’t try to shut me up with those high-sounding words.”
“See through but don’t expose, if the tutor says that, then I’m being contradictory,” Gong Changan said with a grin, repeating over and over, “Let’s go! Let’s go! Let’s go quickly!”
There was one thing about Gong Changan that Tutor Zhuge could do nothing about: no matter how stern he tried to be, Gong Changan was not afraid at all.
He would just snuggle into your arms, climb onto your back, and act spoiled and clingy.
Tutor Zhuge had no children, wife, or concubines in his life and lived a carefree and unfettered existence. Who would have thought that his reputation would be tarnished in his later years by this little imp.
“I’ve already promised to return to the Capital City, and I will keep my word. Why are you still rushing me? Come down quickly,” Tutor Zhuge said. “Be careful, or I’ll spank you.”
“If the tutor departs tomorrow, a spanking is fine. If you don’t depart yet, I’ll secretly pull your beard,” Gong Changan continued to act shamelessly. “You don’t know that people down the mountain want your beard as a folk remedy! They say that using it in medicine will result in children who are intelligent and long-lived.”
“You little scoundrel!” Tutor Zhuge cherished his beard dearly, and even a single fallen hair would cause him heartache. How could he bear to hear Gong Changan talk about pulling it out.
Gong Changan chuckled mischievously. “Let’s go! Tutor, let’s go tomorrow! While the weather is clear, wouldn’t it be wonderful to travel and enjoy the scenery along the way? My mother wrote to say she’s gone into the palace,”
Tutor Zhuge was at his wit’s end with him and finally said, “Alright, alright! Come down quickly, tell someone to pack my things, and we’ll leave tomorrow.”
Upon hearing this, Gong Changan indeed jumped to the ground, cheering and went to find people.
The next day, Tutor Zhuge, along with Gong Changan and Zhang Ma, set off.
The tutors and disciples of the academy saw them off at the foot of the mountain, watching the departing horse carriage with reluctance.
Gong Changan sat in the carriage, looking out the window, quiet and still, as silent as a little adult.
“Why are you unhappy again? Didn’t you keep saying you wanted to leave?” Tutor Zhuge glanced at him and said.
“I’m not unhappy, I was just reminded of the time my mother and Zhang Ma and I returned to the Capital City from Shuangxi,” Gong Changan turned his face from the window and said. “Tutor, if a path is very, very dark, but it is the path destined for me, should I still walk it?”
“If it is destined for you, you must walk it whether you want to or not,” Tutor Zhuge said, reaching out to affectionately stroke the back of Gong Changan’s head. “But even the darkest path, your tutor is willing to light a lamp for you.”
Gong Changan said nothing more. He reached out and tightly hugged Tutor Zhuge.
He knew that there were more than one person like the tutor who wanted to light a lamp for him on the road ahead, there was also Zhang Ma, his mother, Lord Zhu…
Zhang Ma drove the carriage, her fleshy face now bearing a few more lines of age.
She was no longer young, but her heart was as fiery as it was back then…
