Jing Xingzhi’s Daily Life in Ancient Times

Qu Yongzhi smiled innocently and said, “Young Master Cheng, you come from a wealthy and powerful family, what can I do in Hannan Prefecture? I just want to ask you something. All your expenses today will be charged to my account.”

Cheng Huan stood his ground, unfazed by the prospect of expenses.

Xu Zhongqi’s dowry remained untouched, and the keys to the private treasury were handed directly to Cheng Huan, now he was quite wealthy. Despite Qu Yongzhi’s insinuations, Cheng Huan, confident that no one would dare touch him in Hannan Prefecture and walked inside.

Seated at the table, Cheng Huan said, “Don’t pressure me with money. I have plenty. If you have something to discuss, do it quickly. After that, I can find another place to collect funds.”

He made a mental note to avoid future invitations from Qu Yongzhi.

Qu Yongzhi, undeterred by Cheng Huan’s attitude, smiled and said, “Young Master Cheng, you’re refreshingly straightforward. I heard you have a guest at your house. What’s their background?”

Alarmed, Cheng Huan questioned, “Why do you ask? It has nothing to do with your Qu family.”

Disliking Jing Xingzhi, Cheng Huan’s repulsion became evident when Qu Yongzhi mentioned the guest. Qu Yongzhi, sensing Cheng Huan’s discomfort, explained, “I have a friend who wishes to teach this individual.”

Cheng Huan, aware of Jing Xingzhi’s background, knew his father treated him with respect. Despite his personal dislike, Cheng Huan couldn’t outright refuse. He tentatively responded, “That’s my father’s guest,” hinting at the connection.

Understanding Cheng Huan’s dilemma, Qu Yongzhi assured him, “Don’t worry. It won’t be excessive—just enough to save face and make him uncomfortable for a while.”

Despite his frustration, Qu Yongzhi wasn’t willing to resort to violence.

Moreover, when Qu Yongzhi read Qu Weiping’s letter, he mentioned he should directly jeopardize Jing Xingzhi’s future. Whether it involved maiming or injuring someone, he didn’t worry about any trouble.

However, he feared Cheng Huan might not cooperate, so Qu Yongzhi lowered the stakes to ensure Cheng Huan’s cooperation.

Seeing Cheng Huan’s strong animosity, Qu Yongzhi began to believe that Jing Xingzhi, whom he had never met, was a troublemaker. Offending the Cheng family’s young master shortly after arriving indicated ingratitude towards the master.

Cheng Huan felt unsatisfied dealing with Jing Xingzhi. He tried to concoct a new reason to have him move out of the government office. But the scholar already moved out.

Now, small schemes echoed Qu Yongzhi’s manipulations.

“That person is from a small place, and my father doesn’t like it either. He allowed him to practice in the government office for his friends’ sake. Now he has moved out of my house,” Cheng Huan casually remarked while sipping his tea.

After Qu Yongzhi spoke, he envisioned a positive outcome with the help of some people. This, he believed, would settle the matter as promised by Brother Weiping in the letter. Yearning for the beauties in the capital, Qu Yongzhi couldn’t help but dream about the girls there being much prettier than those in Hannan Prefecture.

Qu Yongzhi gathered information about Cheng Huan and dispatched people to find out where Jing Xingzhi lived and his current whereabouts.

Jing Xingzhi resided near the government office, and Qu Yongzhi’s servants hesitated to act. Fearing the Cheng family, Qu Yongzhi refrained from directly provoking them.

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Ten days later, Jing Xingzhi concluded his experience in the household division, having gained valuable insights from Hannan Prefecture. He moved to the workshop division, where he had the chance to venture outside.

The workshop division, responsible for engineering construction and repairing warehouses, focused on maintaining the river embankments in Jiangnan. Although not subject to the collapsing issues of previous dynasties, the embankments faced the yearly challenge of river floods. Recent reports hinted at a potential deterioration, prompting the workshop division to send someone for investigation.

Jing Xingzhi, a young man with strong physical strength and a good relationship with Chief Sun from the workshop division, eagerly anticipated the outing. Excited about his time in Hannan Prefecture, he had bought various items for the baby, gifts for the teacher and junior sister, but struggled to decide on a gift for Liu Fang.

‘Send yourself? I’m afraid I’ll be kicked out of bed by the white feet.’

Jing Xingzhi picked up half of the traditional Chinese painting he had learned from his grandfather and drew a few paintings to satisfy Liu Fang’s regret of not being able to accompany him.

When he wanted to go out of the city to check the river embankment, Jing Xingzhi also asked people to prepare a few simple painting tools on the road.

A group of people from the workshop division packed up, took the government servants out of the city, and rushed to Liutiao Village outside the city.

Behind them, three servants sent by Qu Yongzhi followed the convoy.

Qu Yongzhi originally wanted to follow him, but when he thought about how hard it was outside the city, and this time he was dealing with a ‘small people’ who even wanted to help build river embankments outside the city, Qu Yongzhi didn’t want to go.

Qu Yongzhi was actually a little bit smarter than Qu Weiping, but he was still a fool. He only knew how to eat, drink and have fun. He just believed what Cheng Huan said and had no doubt at all. Even if the servants occasionally inquired and found out something was wrong, he would make it right in his own imagination.

As for the three servants, one of them originally had some points, but the information given by the superiors was wrong, which made their ‘plans’ very rough and simple. After all, the scholar was a small person, so he should ‘bully’ him whenever he can.

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Liutiao Village was close, and the carriage was moving very quickly.

Wang Zhuang followed the team on horseback, circled back and forth a few times, then dismounted and entered Jing Xingzhi’s carriage.

“Young Master Jing, there seems to be someone following you.”

Jing Xingzhi frowned, thinking, did he inherit Conan’s aura? Something always happen wherever he goes, and everyone would stare at him everywhere?

But thinking about it carefully, Jing Xingzhi still felt that he had not offended anyone, and even if they followed the convoy, they should not be following him.

He was a nice young man, with a good temper and good looks, he didn’t flirt with women, and he didn’t look for anyone to slap him in the face. What an aspiring young man!

Jing Xingzhi thought it was funny, but he asked with a smile: “Who are they?”

Wang Zhuang’s expression slightly solidified: “Ordinary people.”