Lin Chen sighed deeply, silently reminding himself that this was his master and he couldn't get angry.
Fortunately, Yun Qing quickly noticed the awkward atmosphere between the two of them. After opening the window, she turned around and asked, "What's wrong, Lord Lin? Is there something you want to tell His Majesty? If it's inconvenient, I can leave for the time being."
Yun Qing's serious words quickly broke Xie Rang's composure. He walked to Yun Qing's side as if nothing had happened, blinking innocently, "It's nothing, I was just joking with Lord Lin."
Lin Chen naturally wouldn't choose to undermine him at this moment, so he nodded and said, "Yes, Your Majesty was just joking with me."
Yun Qing didn't care, but that didn't mean she didn't know anything. She just didn't want to expose them, as if she was saving face for the two of them.
"good."
Both the emperor and his minister breathed a sigh of relief.
Yun Qing pressed on, "Speak, what is it that you want to see His Majesty?"
"This..." When it came to actually speaking, Lin Chen hesitated a bit. His gaze swept over Yun Qing, but no words were enough to explain everything.
Xie Rang felt this matter could not be tolerated and said sternly, "Speak."
Lin Chen had no choice but to say, "Among those remonstrating officials, a large portion are still dissatisfied with the Grand Tutor, and they might take action if pushed too far."
To be precise, these people originally belonged to Jiao Wenli's command. With this shield falling, they no longer had anyone to lead the charge, and they were afraid that one day Yun Qing would turn his attention to them.
"Pedantic!" Xie Rang said angrily. "If they really cared about me, why didn't they impeach Duke Liang Zhi and Prince Pingjiang? Why did they only target the Grand Tutor? Do they think the Grand Tutor is easy to bully?"
Lin Chen hesitated, then said, "That's exactly it."
After all, compared to Duke Liang Zhi and Prince Pingjiang, Li Taifu's foundation was still shallow, making him the weakest party.
"So what if they don't like me? Aren't there plenty of people who don't like me? A few more won't make a difference."
Yun Qing found it amusing.
They say kind people are easily bullied, but what can I do? I'm just a kind person by nature.
"Besides—as Lord Lin has already said, it's only a large part. There's still a small group of people who at least have faith in me, isn't there?" Yun Qing shrugged. "I'm not the people... cough cough, I'm not gold, how could I possibly be liked by everyone?"
Besides, even the Renminbi (RMB) isn't universally liked.
Yun Qing stopped abruptly halfway through her sentence, causing Lin Chen to pause. Xie Rang gleaned some insight from her thoughts and instantly realized that this was indeed the Grand Tutor's character—unperturbed by external things and unharmed by rumors.
But he still felt a little sad. There was too much noise from the outside world. They couldn't see the good in the Grand Tutor. They only used words to slander him and stubbornly believed that they were right.
"Alright, let's stop dwelling on this." Yun Qing smoothed the young man's brow, her voice gentle yet firm. "The system of remonstrating officials also needs reform; we can discuss that later. By the way, Lord Lin, could you please keep an eye on those people for me and let me know immediately if there are any developments?"
Lin Chen clasped his hands in a fist and said, "This is my duty, Grand Tutor, you need not be so polite."
Based solely on the Grand Tutor's position in the Emperor's heart, Lin Chen had already made a judgment. At least until their teacher-student relationship underwent a qualitative change, he should treat the Grand Tutor as an equal to the Emperor.
"That's it, then."
Xie Rang felt as if the Grand Tutor's hand had some kind of magic. He had been extremely agitated just moments before, but the moment that hand touched his forehead, his emotions completely disappeared. However, he found Lin Chen particularly displeasing, gritted his teeth, and began to shoo him away.
Lin Chen suddenly had a strange intuition and quickly slipped away, saying, "Your Majesty and the Grand Tutor can continue their conversation. I'll take my leave now!"
Yun Qing shook her head.
[What's wrong with you, little tyrant? Trying to scare people again. Luckily, Lin Chen is loyal, otherwise what would you do?]
"How is Your Majesty's horsemanship and archery practice going? I happen to have some free time now, may I take a look?"
The Six Arts of a Gentleman are something that almost every member of an upper-class family must learn, but the level of proficiency varies. For example, the original owner of this body, Li Yunqing, was not very skilled in these arts. Since waking up, Yunqing had been recuperating for more than half a year. Because of Mr. Yu's instructions, she had hardly touched these things. She didn't even know if she could still remember them with muscle memory. She was quite distressed.
But that's okay, if you can't roll it yourself, just urge someone else to roll it.
[With such promising young talents in front of me, I suddenly understand the mindset of mothers who push their children to excel.]
Many things only become clear in that instant.
Xie Rang remained silent, afraid that if he didn't say something, Yun Qing would think in an even stranger direction, so he quickly said, "Let's go, Grand Tutor, let's go to the horse farm."
Yun Qing didn't think twice: "Okay."
Upon arrival, the boy changed into lighter riding clothes. Guards had already set up targets at the horse farm, next to which was a black horse with a sleek coat that didn't look very good.
Yunqing was the one who hired Xie Rang's master. She would occasionally tell Yunqing about Xie Rang's studies. This was the first time she had come to see him in person, which startled her master.
Yun Qing waved his hand, indicating that he didn't need to bow. The main reason for coming today was to see the results of the little tyrant's training.
At first, there was a fixed target. Xie Rang stood still, and in the blink of an eye, several arrows shot out, all hitting the bullseye without exception.
Then there were moving targets, with mechanisms installed underneath that soldiers could pull at will. Yun Qing stared intently, but still felt her eyes were getting dizzy.
Xie Rang focused his gaze, and this time he was much more cautious. He shot each arrow at the target with solid accuracy, and still managed to hit the target every time!
Yun Qing's eyes lit up: "Your Majesty is amazing!"
[To achieve this level after only a few months of study, this child is incredibly hardworking!]
Xie Rang raised an eyebrow at her, his inherent confidence shining through: "There's something even more impressive, Grand Tutor, just watch!"
As they were talking, the guards brought over the horse. The young man nimbly mounted the horse in one swift motion. At the same time, some chickens with red ribbons tied to their bodies suddenly appeared out of nowhere, chirping and running around the field.
[And she was still a live target!]
Xie Rang raised his head with some pride, but fearing that the Grand Tutor would see that he was too proud, he restrained himself a little and rode his horse to the center of the field. Although he was still a young boy, he was quite steady. He drew his bow and aimed, and his strength was accurate. The arrow that flew over startled the chickens that were being used as targets, but in the end, it only passed through the red silk tied to their bodies and did not kill them.
Until the last target was hit, the boy tightened the reins, and the horse suddenly raised its front hooves and let out a long neigh. Yun Qing happened to see Xie Rang looking over at her.
It was truly the unbridled spirit of youth. In that instant, Yun Qing seemed to glimpse the future little tyrant—at that time, he should perhaps not be called a tyrant, but rather, like now, he should be shining brightly from head to toe.
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