Chapter 70 Calculation [VIP]

Xu drank the tranquilizer prescribed by Doctor Li and fell asleep in the house.

Zhao Xiaofu looked at the writing brush, ink, paper and inkstone on the table. After learning of Yang Jizong's intention, he felt a little hesitant.

He wanted to seek justice for his father.

But even if he wrote the petition, what would it matter? Those people would certainly protect each other. He was afraid that both mother and son would be in trouble before he even sent the petition.

They are just servants of the Cui family of Qinghe. The Cui and Zheng families are relatives by marriage. How could they make decisions for mere servants?

When Zhao Xiaofu thought of this, his shoulders slumped involuntarily.

"Brother Xiaofu, what happened in the quarry? Why did Zheng Futa kill people?" Chen Yao poured him a lamp of hot water.

Zhao Xiaofu slammed his right fist on the table and told the two of them what happened last night.

When his father had not returned home for a long time, he went to the quarry. The situation in the quarry was very chaotic at that time. Now thinking about it carefully, there was something wrong. All the laborers were guarded.

After he explained his purpose to the officer, he was led into Zheng Fu's tent. As soon as he entered the tent, he saw Zheng Fu holding a bloody knife in his hand.

His father vomited blood and fell to the ground unconscious.

"I asked him to borrow his horse to go into the city to save my father's life, but Zheng Fu refused. He even ordered the officers to throw my father and me out of the quarry. Later, we met you." Zhao Xiaofu said gritting his teeth, his eyes filled with deep hatred.

Hearing this, Chen Yao and Yang Jizong both felt that this matter might not be so simple.

"Ayao, my family is a slave, and we are servants of Cui. If I want to seek justice for my father, it will be as difficult as climbing to the sky." Zhao Xiaofu's eyes were dim.

Without waiting for Chen Yao to say anything to comfort him, Zhao Xiaofu suddenly stood up and knelt down towards Yang Jizong.

"Young Master Yang, you must have a way to help me, right? As long as you help me, I am willing to deliver the letter for you."

Chen Yao stood up and was about to pull Zhao Xiaofu away, but when she heard this, she unconsciously let go of his hand. Yang Jizong was going to send a letter out? To whom? Why was he hiding it from them?

Their eyes fell on Yang Jizong at the same time.

Yang Jizong looked at Chen Yao with a somewhat obscure look and motioned Zhao Xiaofu to get up first.

"As the saying goes, revenge is never too late. Do you want to trade your life for your enemy's, personally slay them, or do you want to endure hardships and punish them according to the laws of our dynasty?"

"I want……"

Before Zhao Xiaofu could speak, Chen Yao warned him: "Brother Xiaofu, if anything happens to you, how will your mother live?"

Because of this sentence, Zhao Xiaofu instantly regained some consciousness and gradually calmed down.

"I can't die. I want Zheng Fu to also experience what it's like to be a prisoner and have his fate controlled by others."

Yang Jizong handed over the pen and ink. "Then write down how your father died while blocking an assassin's attack for Zheng Fu. Then, take this letter and your father's coffin to the Cui family and ask them to let you and your son become good people in recognition of your father's sacrifice."

As soon as he finished speaking, Zhao Xiaofu slammed the table and stood up, grabbing Yang Jizong's jacket with both hands and shouting: "Who do you take me for?"

He wanted to regain his good status, but not to become a good person by stepping on his father's corpse.

"They don't care how your father died, but if you want to fight them, you have to restore your status as a good person and take part in the imperial examination." Yang Jizong leaned back slightly and raised his hand to signal Chen Yao not to worry about him.

"Since His Majesty ascended the throne, he has been carrying out reforms. Anyone with a good family background will no longer be required to trace their ancestral lineage, and all can participate in the imperial examinations and become an official."

Zhao Xiaofu thought his words were ridiculous: "Become an official? Have you ever seen a child from a poor family become an official in the court?"

"Just because there wasn't one before doesn't mean there isn't one now. You're very smart. All you needed was an opportunity. Now that the opportunity has arrived, it depends on whether you dare to be the first and whether you're willing to sacrifice yourself to pave the way for other children from humble backgrounds."

"But my father's death—"

"The cause of your father's death is just my guess. The exact truth will have to wait for you to personally investigate for your father and punish the real culprit."

Zhao Xiaofu's mind was in turmoil, and he gradually loosened his grip. He had to admit that Yang Jizong's strategy of sleeping on straw and tasting gall was really a brilliant one.

It allows him to realize his ambitions and personally seek justice for his father.

It was a cold winter day. When the villagers learned that Zhao Xiaofu was going to take his father's body to meet the master's family to seek redress, they helped him lift the coffin onto the ox cart without saying a word.

Watching the ox cart driving out of the village, Chen Yao felt a little uncomfortable.

"Ayao, what did you talk about in the room? Aren't we supposed to help the headman with the funeral and burial? Why did it happen so suddenly?" Miao felt that each thing was more bizarre than the last.

"Mom, don't ask anymore. Let's wait until Brother Xiaofu comes back and talk about everything." Huang Dongsheng grabbed his mother's arm and signaled her not to ask any more questions. Didn't you see that his cousin didn't look well?

Although it is unlucky to die in the first month of the lunar year, the villagers still have to go on with their lives no matter what.

They have more important things to do next.

Some went back to raise the rabbits, and worked with Huang Songbai to cut down trees on the mountain and build rabbit houses.

Speaking of rabbits, Huang Dongsheng suddenly remembered what he did with his uncle last night, and he wondered if they had caught any living creatures.

So, under Huang Dongsheng's nagging, Shen Qingshan decided to go cut wood after lunch and check the traps.

"Ayao, auntie, please remember my name. My name is Cui'e." Zhang Chunya held Ayao's arm with a very loud voice.

When she shouted, all the wives and girls in the village rushed over and surrounded Chen Yao.

It was difficult for Yang Jizong to say a word to Shen Yao, and he could only watch her and everyone else return home.

Yang Wenying noticed that something was not right between her brother and Shen Yao, so she asked Shen Yao to rest and she would complete the task.

Yang Jizong had been waiting in the yard. When he saw her come out, he immediately approached her: "Ayao, listen to my explanation."

"Sister Yao, Aunt Miao said that Brother Dongsheng is not at home, so he came to your house to sign up to raise rabbits."

Chen Yao nodded and smiled: "You go in, Sister Wenying is inside."

The little kid jumped into the house and greeted the adults in the house warmly.

There are many people gathered at home and the noise is loud, so it is not a good place to talk.

So Chen Yao glanced at Yang Jizong beside her: "I'm going to walk in the fields, do you want to come?"

"I'll do it."

The two walked one in front and one behind on the stalks of the field, and Yang Jizong's eyes were always glued to Shen Yao.

When they reached their own wheat field, Chen Yao suddenly stopped and turned to meet his gaze: "Why did you help Brother Xiaofu? Why did you send the letter without telling us?"

"Ayao, do you want to hear the truth?"

"The truth."

"Helping him is also helping myself, and it's also helping all the children from poor families in the world to enter the officialdom. Don't you also want the children in the village to change their family background?"

Chen Yao stared at his face and listened to him continue.

"Coach Xing and I had an agreement. I helped him leave the quarry, and he helped me return to the court. This letter is for him."

Chen Yao thought about everything that had happened before, and her expression became complicated. "So all of this was part of your plan? Being willing to go home with us was also part of your plan?"

So you're taking her into account too?

Yang Jizong felt somewhat helpless. How could A Yao think so of him? It was truly unfair, so he pulled her watch and said loyally, "Of course not. I originally wanted to open up the land and grow dragon claw millet to feed the exiles and the hard laborers. This would also allow Xing Fang to gain merit and draw the attention of the emperor."

"But I truly didn't anticipate the landslide and everything that followed. I helped Zhao Xiaofu because he truly had the ability to be an official, but he was trapped by his slave status."

"Ayao, I admit that the advice I gave him was a bit despicable, but I never took my family into account. I like you, so how could I take you into consideration?"

Although Yang Jizong's sudden confession scared her, it also gave her the courage to continue asking.

"You won't even stay here, so why do you say you like me?" Chen Yao shook off her hand and turned away, somewhat unhappy. "Do you want me to wait for you forever just because of this?"

Yang Jizong walked around to her and tried to ask for her consent: "Ayao, what I'm planning might take three to five years to succeed. If you're still unmarried by then, I'd like to come and formally marry you. Will I have the chance?"

Chen Yao looked at him with a serious face, her mouth tightly shut, which was unusual for her.

But Yang Jizong noticed that the corners of her lips were slightly curved upwards, as if she was smiling, so he lowered his head and called her more pleadingly: "Ayao."

Meeting Yang Jizong's affectionate eyes and thinking of the agricultural book he had written himself as a gift to her, Chen Yao's heart suddenly skipped a beat and became a little confused.

So she stretched out her finger to hook Yang Jizong's chin and teased him deliberately: "If you are willing to marry into my family, I can consider it. You know that I am the only daughter in my family. I want to live here with my parents."

Yang Jizong got the answer he wanted. Although it was not standard, it still made him extremely happy. So he went over and shut up the chattering mouth.

Chen Yao's eyes widened, and she felt dizzy from the kiss. Before she could resist, Yang Jizong forcibly held her in his arms.

She could hear Yang Jizong's heart pounding, as if it was about to jump out of his chest.

It turns out he was this nervous too.

Yang Jizong hugged the person in his arms and gently rubbed Chen Yao's hair: "Thank you, Ayao."

"Why thank me? I didn't promise you anything." Chen Yao pushed him away stubbornly, squatting on the stalk of the field with her knees hugged, looking at the wheat she had planted. "Actually, I thought of asking Brother Xiaofu to tell the officials about the method of growing wheat twice a year. This would help him escape slavery and promote it more widely. I just didn't expect Village Chief Zhao to -"

"Life is unpredictable. Ayao, you have done a good job." Yang Jizong squatted down, hooked her fingers, and looked at the green wheat in the field with her.

Chen Yao took in all his little movements, her dark eyes flickering with a faint wave. Thinking of what he had experienced in the past, she turned around and hugged him: "Zi'an, you did very well too. Don't be too hard on yourself."

The corners of Yang Jizong's eyes were red, his emotions were surging, and he buried his head in Shen Yao's neck, greedily absorbing the warmth that Shen Yao gave him.

It was not until Chen Yao cried out that her legs were numb that he reluctantly carried her home.

Yang Wenying held the registered list and watched her brother carry Chen Yao back. She couldn't help but feel happy for the two of them. Her efforts were not in vain.