Chapter 39: Last Letter

When they arrived at Yongyangfang, she took the people in the mansion for a walk, but found no trace of Shangluo.

He asked the servants he brought with him to search everywhere in Yongyangfang. Qiandeng was wondering where Shangluo would be hiding when he looked up and saw Yu Guangling's house where he had been last time.

Looking at the shabby thatched hut, her heart moved slightly. She walked over, pushed open the wooden door, and walked in.

The Yu family's house collapsed, but the temporary shack in the yard was still there. Qiandeng saw that there seemed to be movement in the shack, so he went around to the back to take a look.

It was Shangluo. He was wiping his tears, clasping his hands together in front of a table, and muttering something.

Qian Deng listened carefully and heard him muttering while bowing on the table: "Brother Guangling, today is your seventh day. I wonder where you are at the Ghost Gate, the Yellow Spring Road, and the Naihe Bridge. If you know about this in the afterlife, could you please give a message to Jian Anting for me? He is your best friend and will definitely listen to you..."

Qian Deng couldn't help but ask, "You're all studying at the Imperial College. Why can't you tell Jian Anting what you want to say yourself? Why do you have to ask someone who has passed away to deliver the message?"

Shangluo was startled. He immediately covered his right eye and turned his head, stammering, "County Master...you, why are you here?"

"I heard you were causing trouble here and hiding, so I came to take a look." Qian Deng said, and then he went into the house and took a look, and asked, "Why are you worshiping the table?"

Shangluo covered his eyes and said vaguely, "I think this should be what Brother Guangling used for studying. If he is still alive, his soul might be attached to it..."

He himself died a violent death, how can he protect you?

Although Qiandeng thought so in his heart, he still took a look at the table. He saw that this old table had a broken leg and was placed on the stone behind it to maintain stability. There seemed to be some ink residue on the table, which must have been used by Yu Guangling for study.

She walked over and touched it, then casually opened the drawer and took a look. She found a stack of homework manuscripts written by Yu Guangling inside. Each page was neatly arranged, with very small handwriting. There was writing on the front, back and margins of every page, without wasting an inch of space.

She sighed slightly in her heart and flipped through the pages, only to find a letter at the bottom. She shouldn't have read it, but at a glance, she saw that the envelope was addressed to the county lady herself.

Shangluo also saw it and cried out in surprise: "County Lady, County Lady, this is a letter from Brother Guangling to you!"

Qiandeng hesitated for a moment, took out the letter, pulled out the letter paper and looked at it, his expression gloomy.

Shangluo covered his eyes and asked curiously, "County Lady, what does the letter say?"

"He wanted to tell me something. Perhaps because I invited him to stay at the palace, he could tell me in person, so he didn't bring the letter..."

But who knew that before they could talk in detail, he fell forever in a pool of blood on the street.

Qiandeng put away the letter and looked at Shangluo's face: "What's wrong with you? Why are you covering your right eye?"

Shangluo wanted to dodge, but Qiandeng had already grabbed him and pulled down his hands that were covering his face. He saw a red and swollen spot at the corner of his eye, but fortunately the skin was not broken.

"County Lady, Jian Anting hit me!" Shang Luo complained angrily when she saw him. "If he had hit me just a little bit off and hit my eye, I'd have gone blind and I'd never be able to be your husband again!"

Although Qiandeng thought he was exaggerating, Shangluo was, after all, a candidate for fiancé, and he was only thirteen years old. She couldn't help but frown: "I saw that he was quite polite when he was with Yu Guangling, so why is he such a person behind the scenes?"

"That's right, he is not a good person! County Lady, please help me..." Shangluo obviously had something to hide. He stammered as he spoke, only talking about aspects that were beneficial to himself. But Qiandeng was not someone who could be easily fooled. As soon as he heard his description, he roughly pieced together what had happened.

Although Cui Fufeng said he would help him, Shangluo was not sure that he could surpass Jian Anting and become the top student in the Imperial College. As the small test was today, he went to Jian Anting privately to ask him to go easy on the answer sheet so that he could get first place.

Unexpectedly, Jian Anting remained unmoved and kept talking about high principles, starting with "Heaven moves with vigor, and a gentleman should constantly strive for self-improvement" and ending with "You are still young, you should work harder and not cheat." Shangluo was given a headache by these high-sounding words.

Because he was angry and anxious, Shangluo naturally performed poorly in today's quiz. Now, let alone competing with Jian Anting, he might not even be able to squeeze into the front row.

Furious and close to collapse, he followed Jian Anting all the way after the quiz, begging him to show mercy next time. However, all the way to Yongyangfang, Jian Anting never looked back at him.

Shangluo finally burst into angrily and even grabbed a book and threw it at him in a rage. Unexpectedly, Jian Anting slapped the book back with his backhand, and the book hit Shangluo's eye corner, leaving this scar.

After listening to Shangluo's crying, Qiandeng looked up at the sky in silence, with only two words popping up in his mind - you deserve it.

"County Lady, why is Jian Anting so mean? I'm in such a miserable state, and he won't even help me..."

"You were definitely wrong in this matter. You should have done as Jian Anting said and focused on your studies instead of harboring any evil thoughts." Qian Deng wouldn't give him face. "He's upright and has the integrity of a gentleman. You should take him as a role model and be good to yourself."

"What uprightness, what steadfastness! He is not a gentleman at all. County Lady, you don't know that his family, his parents... are not good people!"

Seeing him getting angry and embarrassed, Qian Deng didn't bother to listen anymore and turned around and said, "Come back with me and review your lessons carefully. You didn't seize the opportunity in this quiz, so you must do well next time, understand?"

Shangluo followed her listlessly: "Yes..."

"Stop slandering your classmates behind their backs, okay?"

"No, I saw it with my own eyes..." He muttered aggrievedly, following Qian Deng through the streets and alleys, glancing at the closed door of Jian Anting's house.

Seeing that the door was the same as when he passed by just now, there was no change. He rolled his eyes, grabbed Qiandeng's sleeve, and looked at her aggrievedly: "Well, County Princess, I know I was wrong. I want... I want to go and apologize to Brother Anting. It's just that I feel a little embarrassed to be alone. Can you accompany me?"

Qian Deng saw that he looked embarrassed and his face was wrinkled, looking very pitiful. His heart softened and he said, "You should apologize to him. Go ahead."

"Brother Jian, Brother Jian, are you home? I'm Shangluo, and I'm here to apologize to you!"

Shangluo went to the street corner to buy some red dates, knocked on the door and shouted loudly inside.

The neighbors nearby were alarmed and looked out to see what was happening.

Qiandeng looked at him in surprise, but before he could stop him, he heard a flurry of noises from inside the door as something was knocked over.

The Jian family was a humble family, without a courtyard wall. The place where they stood was the gate, and inside the gate was the residence. However, in such a narrow space, it took a long time before a panicked woman hurried over, opened the door a crack, and peeked out.

Seeing that Qiandeng and Shangluo were two strangers, she reluctantly smoothed her hair and forced a smile on her face: "Who are you two? Are you here to look for Anting?"

Before Qiandeng could answer, Shangluo raised the red-paper wrapped dates in his hand and pushed open the door to squeeze in. "Yes, we're here to see Brother Jian. I offended him today, and now I know I was wrong, so I'm here to apologize to him..."

The woman was holding the door, but Shangluo, despite being young, was much stronger than her. He pushed the door open and walked in.

The woman was panicked and looked back subconsciously while trying to stop him.

Qiandeng followed her gaze and saw a figure moving at the back of the main room. It seemed that there was a man huddled inside.

Qian Deng remained calm, grabbing Shangluo's sleeve and pulling him back: "Don't be rude. You came to someone's house to apologize, why didn't you ask if they were here today?"