Chapter 30 Encounter with the Peony Soul

Since he was to leave for the provincial capital the next day, a journey that would take about three days, Shao Yanzhe got up early and went to the bookstore to exchange some money.

When he arrived at the bookstore, he found only a young shop assistant there; the bookstore owner was nowhere to be seen.

He exchanged the silver with the shop assistant and received five taels of silver.

He asked curiously, "Why is the shopkeeper nowhere to be seen today?"

The young man didn't look well; he had a worried look on his face and was sighing, as if something bad had happened.

Seeing that the shopkeeper treated the scholar with such courtesy, the young waiter didn't hide anything, thinking that perhaps the scholar could be of help to the shopkeeper.

Thinking of this, he briefly explained the situation to Shao Yanzhe.

"The shopkeeper has been taken away by the county government officials. I heard that the owner committed a crime, which implicated the shopkeeper. Scholar, I dare to ask you to go to the county government office and see if the shopkeeper will be implicated."

After all, the scholar and the shopkeeper had some connections, and I really had no other choice but to ask the scholar for help.

The young shop assistant looked at Shao Yanzhe with a pleading expression. Even if he went to the county government office, they wouldn't let him in.

Upon hearing this, Shao Yanzhe became curious. Since he still had some time, he headed towards the county government office.

Soon, he found out who the shopkeeper's owner was.

His expression was complicated. He hadn't expected that the shopkeeper's owner was Shen Moyuan. Because he had also been involved, he had also received some information.

On the surface, Shen Moyuan's bookstore sold writing implements, books, and other items to scholars. However, behind the scenes, he not only collected information about these scholars but also secretly selected talented individuals and offered them numerous benefits under the guise of investment. As a result, Shen Moyuan gained control of the scholars, and without their knowledge, the two parties entered into a transaction agreement.

Shao Yanzhe sighed, thinking back to how Shen Moyuan had almost possessed Shen Jingzhou. Sure enough, the old man was right: there's no such thing as a free lunch. If a free lunch did fall from the sky, you might accidentally get hit by it.

Tsk tsk, luckily he was well-versed in scams, and in his previous life he had even installed an anti-fraud app and watched countless anti-fraud videos, so he wasn't tricked by that shopkeeper.

Otherwise, I might have been possessed by Shen Moyuan at that time.

Having learned of the shopkeeper's current situation, he kindly shared some of the information he had with the young shop assistant, urging him to quickly find another job, and then left the distraught young shop assistant as he left the bookstore.

On the way, Shao Yanzhe picked out some dry food that he would need for the journey, and he also remembered to buy Xuan Yao the dried fish that it had been longing for.

"Scholar Shao!" A somewhat familiar voice rang out behind him.

Shao Yanzhe recognized the voice and turned around to see Uncle Li carrying a bamboo basket on his back.

"Uncle Li," he greeted.

Uncle Li stepped forward, looked around, and then pulled Shao Yanzhe to hide in a secluded place.

He lowered his voice and said, "Scholar Shao, do you know that Shao Ran from the village head's family has disappeared? The village head and the others have been searching for him everywhere these past few days, but they still haven't found him. I heard that Shao Ran dropped out of Wenyuan Academy because of you. I think the village head and the others have a lot of resentment towards you. If it's not necessary, you shouldn't go back to the village."

Shao Yanzhe was not surprised when he heard this. He had roughly understood Shao Ran's personality the moment the village head found Wenyuan Academy. They would not reflect on whether they had done something wrong, but would directly blame others.

Well... how should I put it, she looks absolutely radiant.

Shao Yanzhe looked at Uncle Li. He knew that Uncle Li had taken a risk by tipping him off. If the people of Qingshan Village found out about his actions, they would definitely ostracize him.

He thanked Uncle Li sincerely and stuffed the food he had bought into his hands as a token of his gratitude: "Thank you, Uncle Li, I understand."

Uncle Li wanted to decline, but seeing his firm attitude, he accepted the things somewhat embarrassedly: "It's alright, you didn't do anything wrong in this matter. Okay, I'll be going now, it's about time."

"Okay, Uncle Li, take care."

After seeing Uncle Li off, Shao Yanzhe replenished his food and returned to Wenyuan Academy. After saying goodbye to the teacher, he walked out of the academy, where the carriage he had hired was parked right at the entrance.

After boarding the carriage, we headed towards the town gate.

He and several others had arranged to meet outside the city gate. This time, Shen Jingzhou, Wen Yanqing, and Su Yuheng were not traveling with them. They were going to visit their elders in other places first, and then head to the provincial capital.

Besides Liu Mingyuan, Zhou Jiming and Chen Yunhe, who came uninvited, accompanied him this time. The small team of less than ten people set off for the provincial capital.

On the other side, as darkness fell, Sun Heqing reported the situation to his superiors.

"Oh? So Shen Moyuan's true colors were exposed by a mere scholar?" Emperor Xirui was somewhat surprised.

Then, he thought of that extraordinary woman who was once so beautiful and talented, who ultimately met a tragic end, her soul scattered while trying to save someone. He couldn't help but sigh.

"What happened back then was my fault, Minister Sun. You should make amends for me. Spread the word about the Yun family woman and make her famous. If she can be remembered in history, she can rest in peace."

Sun Heqing lowered his eyes, cupped his hands, and said, "Yes."

Located in the southwest of the palace, amidst the glittering starlight, pavilions and towers rise in layers. Passing through several pavilions and covered walkways from the main gate, one enters a space illuminated by glittering jewels and huge candles, making the entire space as bright as day.

A group of beautiful women dressed in gorgeous clothes and wearing luxurious jewelry danced gracefully. Their beautiful faces and light dance moves, accompanied by the melodious singing of phoenixes, made the people around them unable to help but be captivated.

Seated in the main seat was a stern-faced middle-aged man. He wore a simple robe and exuded an imposing aura. He looked at the dance in front of him with indifferent eyes, as if he and everything around him were in a separate world.

Just then, a man with a dark brown mustache walked in from outside the door, silently approached the middle-aged man, and whispered a few words to him.

The middle-aged man glanced at him casually, then lowered his head and began to straighten his sleeves, the spider pattern on the inside of the sleeves faintly visible.

Without looking up, he said, "You don't need to tell me about this little thing. You can handle it yourself."

"yes!"

As soon as the man with the mustache left, he felt a chill run down his back and broke out in a light sweat.

"Butler, what should we do?"

The man with the mustache mimicked the middle-aged man's mannerisms, glanced at the people waiting outside, and said, "Since Shen Moyuan is no longer of use, then we'll find someone else to replace him. As for that little scholar who ruined your plans, let's observe him first. If he proves useful in the future, we can recruit him directly!"

"yes!"

At this moment, Shao Yanzhe and his entourage were traveling slowly towards the provincial capital in a horse-drawn carriage.

"Brother Shao, come on, stop reading and play chess with me!" Liu Mingyuan snatched the book from Shao Yanzhe's hand and pulled him to sit opposite him.

Helpless, Shao Yanzhe sat up straight, straightened his clothes, put Xuan Yao in his arms, and touched him from time to time. He glanced at the chessboard and said, "I am not good at playing chess."

"Nothing much, just killing time," Liu Mingyuan said, lightly tapping his folding fan.

"good."

Just as the two finished a game of chess, the carriage suddenly stopped.

Curious, Liu Mingyuan lifted the carriage curtain to look outside and asked the driver, "What's going on?"

The coachman bowed slightly and reported to him, "Sir, there seems to be a carriage stuck in a ditch ahead, blocking the way."

Liu Mingyuan looked up and saw a carriage ahead. Half of the right wheel of the carriage was stuck in a ditch.

Upon hearing this, Shao Yanzhe immediately stood up and got off the carriage, with Liu Mingyuan following suit.

Zhou Jiming and Chen Yunhe, who were in the carriage following behind, were also unaware of what was going on. They got off their carriages and came over to ask, "What happened? Why did the carriage stop?"

Shao Yanzhe told him what he had just heard.

Just as they were discussing what to do, a young man dressed as a scholar walked over.

He bowed to the crowd and said, "My name is Leng Zhijie, a scholar who has gone to the provincial capital to take the imperial examination. May I ask how you gentlemen address me?"

As he approached, Shao Yanzhe noticed that Xuan Yao in his arms tensed up for a moment, as if he were reacting to a stranger. He quickly reached out and touched him to soothe him.

Shao Yanzhe looked up at him and said, "My name is Shao Yanzhe."

Liu Mingyuan: "Liu Mingyuan."

Zhou Jiming: "Zhou Jiming".

Chen Yunhe glanced at Leng Zhijie, a hint of disdain in his eyes: "Chen Yunhe."

Leng Zhijie's hand, hidden in his sleeve, tightened slightly, but he quickly regained his composure. He looked at the group and said earnestly, "As you can see, my carriage is stuck in a pit and I can't get out. Could you please help me push it out of the pit?"

Shao Yanzhe glanced at the carriage in front and found that no matter how the driver urged the horses, the carriage was still stuck in the ditch and could not get out.

The road is not very wide, making it difficult to pass by.

If they don't help push the carriage out of the ditch, their carriage simply won't be able to move forward.

“Alright,” Shao Yanzhe agreed.

Liu Mingyuan and the other two nodded in agreement and followed the coachman to help.

The carriage Leng Zhijie was riding in was loaded with something and was extremely heavy. It took a lot of effort for everyone to push the carriage out of the pit.

Leng Zhijie wiped the thin layer of sweat from his forehead, bowed to Shao Yanzhe and the others and thanked them: "Thank you very much, brothers. Otherwise, I might have had to sleep in the wilderness tonight."

"You're welcome. We'll take our leave now!"

Shao Yanzhe exchanged a few polite words and then prepared to leave.

Unexpectedly, at that moment, a bolt of lightning streaked across the already gloomy sky, followed by a deafening rumble of thunder.

Shao Yanzhe looked up at the sky, and a raindrop fell right onto his forehead.

"It's raining!"

"Oh no! We need to hurry! Otherwise we won't make it to the next inn!"

No sooner had Liu Mingyuan finished speaking than a torrential downpour began.

They hurriedly took out umbrellas from the carriage and held them over their heads. Just as they were about to get into the carriage, Leng Zhijie stopped them.

"Brothers, it's dangerous to travel in the rain now. I saw an abandoned house not far from here last time. Why don't we go there to take shelter from the rain?"

“Okay! You lead the way!” Liu Mingyuan immediately agreed. He knew all too well the dangers of traveling in the rain, and it would be good to have a place to take shelter from the rain.

Shao Yanzhe opened his mouth as if to say something, but after glancing at the misty rain outside the umbrella, he remained silent. The rain was too heavy, and traveling like this was indeed dangerous.

However, they were not familiar with Leng Zhijie, and they always felt uneasy following him.

The group boarded the carriage, led by Leng Zhijie's carriage, and soon stopped in front of a mansion.

Outside the house, peonies were in full bloom, their bright red color becoming even more vibrant after being washed by the rain.