Back at the Imperial Preceptor's residence, Qin Chuan carried the birdcage to his room, took out a piece of bread, broke it into pieces, and teased the budgie: "Little Eight, did you say something you shouldn't have?"
The budgie "Xiao Ba" rolled its eyes, and as if understanding human nature, uttered a human-like voice: "No!"
"Hehe, Xiao Ba can talk to people now, that's really interesting!"
The young princess, who had followed them into the room, observed the budgie and said with a grin.
Li Aniu, who was standing to the side, also found the bird interesting and kept grinning foolishly as he looked at the budgerigar.
Qin Chuan knew this budgie very well and knew that it was impossible for it to have normal conversations with people.
Sure enough, Little Eight twisted its neck, chirping excitedly: "...I want to get into Tsinghua University...I want to get into Peking University...Coo-coo-coo...Legs are so white...Shoes in front of the window...You and I are naked...Coo-coo-coo...Dog turns into chicken...Signs look at quadrants...Coo-coo-coo..."
After saying all that, it swayed back and forth incessantly, making endless "gurgling" noises.
Qin Chuan stopped teasing it and let the little princess feed it water and food.
The young princess asked in confusion, "Fifth Uncle, what exactly does the saying 'chicken turns into dog but not dog, symbol is seen as line' mean?"
"It's 'odd changes, even remains the same, sign depends on quadrant'," Qin Chuan corrected. "That's a code word used by time travelers; you wouldn't understand even if I explained it to you."
"oh!"
The young princess's delicate, jade-like face showed a new look of confusion: "What does 'time traveler' mean?"
"A time traveler... a time traveler is..."
Just as Qin Chuan was thinking about how to explain, he suddenly heard Butler Zhou scolding someone.
"You country bumpkin! How can you be so clumsy!"
"This is the Imperial Preceptor's official robe, the one he's required to wear to welcome the Loulan delegation. If you get it dirty, you couldn't afford to pay for it even if you sold yourself!"
"I'm so sorry! Steward Zhou! I didn't drop it on the ground on purpose. I'll wash it clean right away!"
The woman's voice was filled with grievance, as if she was about to cry.
Qin Chuan opened the door and saw Li Qiuniang bowing her head and being scolded, while Steward Zhou stood with his hands behind his back, looking arrogant.
Upon seeing the clothes on the ground, Li Aniu exclaimed "Hey!" and went over to pick them up and put them back in the wash basin. He frowned and said, "Girl, how could you be so careless! This is the Imperial Preceptor's official robes!"
The garment that Li Qiuniang was going to wash was Qin Chuan's black official robe with a gilded dragon pattern.
"Brother, I...I didn't mean to, I just accidentally..." Li Qiuniang said, her voice filled with grievance, tears streaming down her face.
"Alright!"
Qin Chuan shouted at Steward Zhou, "Our Imperial Tutor's residence isn't as strict as the palace. From now on, we don't need to bother them with these trivial matters. They're so noisy and disturb our peace!"
"Yes," Butler Zhou bowed and replied.
The Imperial Advisor's emphasis on "the palace" was particularly pleasing to the ear for Steward Zhou, who felt he held a very high status. Therefore, even though he was being reprimanded, he was still very happy.
Li Qiuniang quickly took the clothes to wash again, but Li Aniu snatched the wash basin from her and said, "Sister, the Imperial Advisor has treated us siblings very well. You must never make this kind of mistake again!"
Li Qiuniang reached out and wiped away the tears on her face, then nodded vigorously.
When they arrived at the laundry room, Li Aniu said to Li Qiuniang, "Sister, I have good news for you. The Imperial Advisor has promised to find me a wife, hehe..."
"real?"
"Of course it's true! The Imperial Advisor's word is law!"
Hearing her brother's words, Li Qiuniang was filled with relief: "You used to be looked down upon when you went to the wedding procession, but now it's all good. With the help of the Imperial Advisor, you're sure to find a good sister-in-law!"
"hey-hey……"
...
Jiangzhou, Qin Family Courtyard.
The two lifelike stone Qilin statues in front of the gate make it impossible to guess from the lintel that there is a large courtyard with six entrances and exits inside.
Outside the courtyard is a vast flat area, where a group of bricklayers are currently building a warehouse.
It was quite strange, however, that the building materials provided by the employer were not bamboo or wood, but green iron sheets.
Of course, the bricklayers wouldn't ask too many questions, after all, the wages were so high, three times higher than outside, and the food was so good.
Once again, Su Ruyan led the staff of Zuixianglou to deliver meals to the bricklayers. Seeing that the warehouse, with its green tin shed prepared by her husband, was nearing completion, a smile appeared on her face as she said to Yuan'er, "It's almost finished..."
Yuan'er smiled and said, "Yes, Miss, should we write a letter to the young master?"
“Write a letter? He…he must be very busy right now,” Su Ruyan murmured, gazing into the distance. “It’s best not to bother him…”
“But I’ve been waiting for news from him, and I haven’t received a letter from him. Sigh…” Yuan’er sighed softly.
Su Ruyan glanced at Yuan'er, thinking, "Why is this girl becoming so sentimental?"
Just as the three of them were busy serving food to the bricklayers, two yamen runners came over, bowed to Su Ruyan, and said, "Miss Su, your iron horse has been found..."
Upon hearing this, Su Ruyan's beautiful eyes showed a slight surprise; she had almost forgotten about it.
...
Su Ruyan followed the yamen runners to the government office.
At this moment, Su Zhi Qiu had just finished his official business and was preparing to return home when he suddenly saw his daughter. He thought something had happened, but after asking her, he learned that she had come because of some "iron horse".
So Su Zhi Qiu and her daughter arrived at a spot in front of the government office and saw the "Iron Horse"...
The threshold of the government office was too high, and the "iron horse" could not pass through. The yamen runners figured that since this thing was meant to be ridden, there was no need to carry it into the main hall, so they placed it on an open space near the street outside the government office.
Upon hearing that the yamen runners had brought back some kind of "iron horse," all the clerks and officials in the government office gathered around and, after looking at it for a while, couldn't help but marvel at it.
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