Off duty

Tai Shi Zheng squeezed through the crowd, passed through the towering Suzaku Gate, and arrived outside the Imperial College just in time for the gate to open.

Zheng hurried forward, then stood behind the red gate, peering around, fearing she'd miss Cui Zhijun. Suddenly, amidst the crowd of students, a charming young woman with lively eyes appeared, drawing the attention of every passing student.

But Zheng's mind was full of how to greet his Erlang later, so how could he care about everyone's strange looks.

But why didn’t Cui Erlang go home immediately after work? Why hasn’t he been seen for such a long time?

He, he,

Is it worth it to like it so much?

Zheng curled her lips, crossed her arms, and muttered to herself.

But then, a dashing doctor in official uniform emerged from the crowd of students, full of vigor and energy. Seeing the pretty woman's back, he immediately recognized without hesitation that this was his warm and amiable—

"Xiao Zheng."

Cui Zhijun didn't dodge today. He smiled knowingly and walked towards the familiar figure. Cui Zhijun asked, "Why are you here? Did you come looking for me specifically?"

As soon as these words were spoken, the round head buried in the fur collar turned around and laughed heartily.

Zheng called out sweetly: "Erlang~"

Zheng's worries were dispelled by Cui Zhijun's gentle call.

She looked around, and those rude and self-righteous men could never compare to Choi Shik-jun. Zheng, at this moment, found Choi Shik-jun pleasing to the eye. Her eyes and nose liked him, especially... when he was working hard at night.

Zheng was delighted and opened her arms to throw herself into the arms of the man who came.

Unexpectedly, at this moment, a group of noisy and quarrelsome students passed by from behind. The students first glanced at Cui Zhijun, said nothing, and prepared to slip away quietly. But when they noticed Tai Shizheng, they recalled their last encounter at Sangjiawazi. They seemed to have a good impression of this generous teacher's wife, so they immediately greeted her loudly: "Hello, teacher's wife—"

It was just the moment when everyone shouted.

Zheng was so frightened that she hastily retracted her arm. Subconsciously, she changed her movements and reached out to touch the door closest to Cui Zhijun. She pretended to be busy while muttering casually, "Erlang, look at this door of your Imperial College! It looks quite like a door."

Isn't this nonsense?

What if the door doesn’t look like a door?

Seeing her innocent look, Cui Zhijun couldn't help but sneer. But he still nodded in agreement, choosing to play dumb along with her. Zheng turned back to look at the students who had greeted her, as if she had just seen them, and whispered, "Hello... hello..."

The students looked at each other and thought that the woman the gentleman had just married was really interesting.

Although the students were young, they could tell the difference in their appearance. They didn't bother her much, and after a brief exchange of glances with Taishi Zheng, they left with a loud voice, "Master's wife, there's nothing else to do. We'll take our leave."

"On the way, go slowly." Zheng waved happily, finally breathing a sigh of relief. But Cui Zhijun stared at the boys' departing figures and frowned.

Why do you only ask the master's wife and not me?

Tomorrow in class, when we have to recite, these brats should be asked some tough questions.

Cui Zhijun turned his head and saw Taishi Zheng opening her arms again while no one was at the door, then he slowly relaxed his brows. Cui Zhijun didn't want to show his joy, he wanted to respond as if nothing had happened, but he was interrupted by the shouting from the other end.

“…”

This is too much to learn and it makes me restless.

The man paused not far from the door, unable to see the direction outside. He shouted impatiently, "Keep me in class, keep me in class. Why does this idiot teacher always keep me in class? How did I offend him? I just recited a poem called "Cordyceps" and made some mistakes... ten, twenty... Oh, it's just forty or fifty words -"

"Is he really that serious?"

Forty or fifty words?

How come he wasn't completely wrong?

Listening to this person complain, the classmates around him couldn't help but become suspicious.

Has this person in front of me really been to Zishan Hall?

Is this just bragging?

The classmate shook his head. Although he didn't dare to offend the man, he kindly reminded him, "Master Xia, let's just say... is it possible... that the poem you asked us to recite today is from the Book of Songs, Zhaonan, Grass Insects, not some kind of insect grass. And this poem, it's only about 80 words..."

As soon as these words were spoken, the man exclaimed in bewilderment, and froze in his place. "What? I worked so hard for half a day, and I even got the question wrong!"

It’s over. I wasted another day’s study.

If he continues like this and fails to pass the imperial examination, his life will be over...

Zheng pricked up her ears outside the door and listened. That familiar voice was clearly that of that idiot Xia Laowu. Zheng slapped her forehead in shame, but still turned to Cui Zhijun for help. She asked weakly, "Erlang, haven't you been supervising his homework recently? How could he be so bad..."

Although Xia Laowu has always been like this.

Speaking of this, Zheng couldn't help but think of the past in Zishan Hall. Whenever Xia Laowu dared to get sick or go to the toilet, she would be the last one to be embarrassed.

Therefore, they can be said to be even better than before.

Fortunately, Tai Shi Zhengjiang never cared about Zheng's studies. He just wanted Zheng to eat well, sleep well and be happy. After all, in his family for three generations, except for a saint, there has never been a smart person.

Xia Laowu was different. Although he was also from a noble family, his father was obsessed with his dream of raising a successful man. He wanted Xia Laowu to pursue a career as a civil servant and never follow the old path of his military generals who often suffered losses.

But the facts proved that Xia Laowu...was not that kind of person. Zheng sighed.

Cui Zhijun was embarrassed and didn't know how to explain to his wife.

He could tell Taishi Zheng that he had sent him to the Diligent Study Hall every day to recite and debate on current affairs, and that he had practically given him all his life's knowledge. But the knowledge he had carefully imparted to Xia Laowu flowed through his head like water, rushing out without retaining a single bit?

Xia Buyu...Xia Buyu...

It would be foolish of him to change his name to Xia Zhen...

Cui Zhijun sighed. He explained, "Xiao Zheng, this Xia Buyu...it's not that I don't teach him. On the contrary, I'm following your orders and diligently supervising him every day. But since I started teaching, I've never seen a student like him. I'm really at my wit's end."

Cui Zhiyun even suspected that it was his own problem.

Ke Zheng saw Cui Zhijun's helpless look and felt sorry for her own Erlang.

Look, she reached out and patted Cui Zhijun's shoulder, expressing her sympathy: "Erlang, don't say anything more. I feel sorry for you. It's really difficult for you to meet a fool like Xia Laowu. Not only you, but also Bai Chengzhi, who was once the emperor's teacher, would be the same..."

"It seems that this is Xia Laowu's fate. Let's respect him."

The young couple looked at each other and sighed.

But suddenly there was a burst of sneezing sounds from inside the door. Xia Laowu rubbed his nose and cursed inside: "Who is it! Who said bad things about me!"

As he spoke, he stepped out the door. When he accidentally looked up and saw Taishi Zheng's serious face, Xia Laowu was instantly overjoyed and called out, "Zheng, Zheng! Why are you here? Did you miss me? Or did you come to play with me?"

Xia Laowu is still so self-indulgent.

He raised his hand and habitually reached for his dear friend's neck. Unexpectedly, Cui Zhijun, who was a head taller than him, forced him to stand in the middle. Cui Zhijun looked at Xia Laowu and thought to himself that he had gone through so many difficulties today and still hadn't been able to hug her. How could he let this guy succeed in front of him?

Xia Laowu looked at Cui Zhijun, who stood between him and Taishi Zheng like a wall, and said with a pout, "Cui Cui, get out of the way! You're blocking Zheng—"

Cui Zhijun, however, frowned and replied, "If you have anything to say, just say it."

"?"

Xia Laowu didn't understand.

Zheng was hiding behind Cui Zhijun, laughing secretly. Seeing the stalemate between the two, she took Cui Zhijun's arm and said to Xia Laowu, "Play, play, play, all you know is play. You memorized over 80 words and got 40 or 50 of them wrong, you idiot! If I were your teacher, I'd be furious. How can you pass the imperial examination with this attitude! Lift your feet now, don't turn around, and go home to study hard!"

"Let's go, Erlang. I won't pay any attention to this guy until he passes the imperial examination. Let's go home." After Zheng said that, she snorted at Xia Laowu, turned around and left with Cui Zhijun.

"Eh? That's not right!"

Xia Laowu pointed at the departing couple, turned around, and said as if he suddenly understood something: "Taishi Zheng, stop pretending! You were the two who were saying bad things about me just now -"

-

They walked hand in hand for several dozen feet, and the Imperial Academy was no longer visible behind them. Zheng suddenly stopped, covering her aching waist. Cui Zhijun pulled her arm and asked with concern, "What's wrong?"

Zheng said, "My waist hurts, and my legs hurt too."

She had been running around non-stop today, not taking a single moment to rest since morning. She hadn't taken care of it before, but now that she finally had some free time, Zheng realized that her legs and waist were feeling a bit out of control.

Cui Zhijun didn't understand. He asked in confusion, "Are you tired from walking? Did you walk to find me today?"

Zheng shook her head, she was too embarrassed to speak.

Cui Zhijun was even more confused. "Then what's wrong with you? Do you need to see a doctor?"

Zheng pursed her lips and said no. She was afraid that Cui Zhijun would really find a clinic for her, which would make the situation awkward. So she leaned over to his ear and whispered, "Actually... you were a little too rough last night. You told me to do this from this morning on. It seems like you should just rest."

After saying this, Zheng hurriedly left Cui Zhijun's side, her whole face flushed.

Cui Zhijun was even more shocked after hearing this. He stuttered as he spoke, "Well, then I'll rent a car right now and we can go home... Or, if there's any restaurant you want to eat at today, I'll call a car to take us there, and we can eat... and then go home."

Cui Zhijun looked like he wanted to apologize, but between husband and wife, there shouldn't be so much "you, you, me, me".

We've already slept together, why are you still being so polite?

Zheng touched her waist and deliberately leaned against Cui Zhijun. She said, "Let's do it another day. Today is not suitable. The old lady is sick. I have asked a doctor to see her, and she doesn't seem to be in good condition. I came here today to ask you to go back early and see the old lady."

"Grandma is sick?"

Cui Zhijun put his arm around Tai Shi Zheng's shoulders, a hint of surprise flashed across his eyes, and then there was no more emotion.

"Then let's go back."

Later, the carriage on the way home was shaking. The mottled setting sun reflected in Cui Zhijun's eyes as he looked at Taishi Zheng. He suddenly called out, "Xiao Zheng..."

"Yeah." Zheng looked up at him.

Cui Zhijun actually said to her very seriously: "I will move you more gently next time."

“…”

The idiot remained silent for a long while. Why was he still thinking about this? Zheng slowly turned her eyes away from him upon hearing this. She awkwardly looked out the window at the road home that was getting closer and closer. She softly replied, "You, just know it in your heart."