Chapter 201 The Invisible Storm
Li Nanke clenched her hands, barely managing to calm her rapidly beating heart, her face blank with confusion.
"Who is Zhou Huai'an? No one has ever taken my daughter as a student."
The emperor frowned.
"Didn't you bring Zhou Huai'an back to the Marquis's mansion from the refugee camp?"
"Refugee camp? Your Majesty is referring to Old Zhou?"
"You call him Old Zhou?"
Li Nanke nodded. "He said his name is Lao Zhou, and that's what everyone in the refugee camp calls him too."
"Your Majesty, is he a very capable person? Wait, that's strange, Prince Xie was also there, why didn't he recognize him?"
She tilted her small face up, her dark eyes filled with confusion.
In fact, her hands, tucked into her sleeves, had begun to tremble slightly, and her heart was practically in her throat.
The emperor stared at her for a moment, then smiled.
"So he didn't tell you his true identity. You said Prince Xie was there too? If you didn't know who he was, why were you willing to bring him back to the Marquis's residence?"
After thinking about it, Li Nanke decided to tell the truth.
Shen Cong said that there were spies from the Imperial City Guard roaming around, so they must have known about what was happening in the refugee camp a long time ago.
Moreover, Xie Xuanxiao was also present at the time. If she lied, her lie would be exposed immediately if His Majesty asked Xie Xuanxiao about it later.
She recounted the key points of her encounter with Zhou Huai'an.
"...This humble woman truly does not know who he is. The refugee camp is about to be disbanded, and he has nowhere to go, and he is determined to die."
"I then forcibly took him back under the pretext of making him repay a debt of gratitude. The Heir Apparent of the Duke of Xin's mansion witnessed this; Your Majesty can question Heir Apparent Xie."
The emperor was dumbfounded.
"You said Zhou Huai'an was determined to die, so you took the initiative to help him die, tying the rope for him every day, and he was willing to go back with you?"
Li Nanke chuckled.
“Actually, every time I tie the rope, I make it a little higher than before, so that he just can’t reach it. That way, he quickly gets used to hopping on one leg.”
The emperor's expression was strange.
If an ordinary person saw Zhou Huai'an like this, they would surely try to persuade him to think more positively.
Once a renowned, aloof, and proud scholar, Zhou Huai'an suddenly lost his entire family and was left unable to walk. No matter how eloquently anyone spoke of it, he probably couldn't come to terms with it.
Li Nanke did the opposite, and unexpectedly, he achieved the desired effect.
"You little rascal, you're quite clever. At such a young age, you already know how to do the opposite of what's expected."
Li Nanke smiled and said, "I didn't think that much about it. I thought he was just a refugee in the refugee camp and I didn't want him to die like that."
And Old Zhou, ah, no, the great scholar Zhou…”
She changed her form of address and continued, "The great scholar Zhou followed me back to the mansion without revealing his identity."
He lived with my family's accountant at the Marquis's residence, and even had to fetch his own water and wash his own clothes.
The emperor looked bewildered.
Empress Xue's voice was shrill.
"You expect the world-renowned Confucian scholar Zhou to fetch water, wash his clothes, and do all the rough work himself?"
Li Nanke looked innocent, but was also quite self-righteous.
"This humble woman did not know he was the great Confucian scholar Zhou. When this humble woman met him, he had not eaten for several days, and his eyes were sunken. He looked quite frightening."
Empress Xue was furious but couldn't find the words to refute her.
The Emperor waved his hand, "Alright, ignorance is no excuse. Zhou Huai'an has lost his will to live and is not suitable to be the princess's study companion. Let Scholar Wu go with her to teach. A Cong, you should choose a place as soon as possible and try to get them to study as soon as possible."
The emperor made the final decision.
Shen Cong smiled and agreed.
"Your Majesty, I will go to select a site tomorrow."
Although Empress Xue was still unwilling, there was nothing she could do.
Only then did Li Nanke secretly breathe a sigh of relief, knowing that he had dodged an invisible storm.
The eunuch brought the drafted imperial edict to the emperor for his review. After confirming that there were no problems, he went out to announce the edict.
Consort Wang had already gathered all the young girls outside.
Seeing the eunuch come out, the girls, who had been tired all day, straightened their backs and their eyes shone with longing.
After all, most of them were sent by their families to participate in the selection process, and their families had given them instructions beforehand. They all hoped to become the princess's companion.
Only Wang Tongyun didn't care at all, her gaze fixed intently on Li Nanke who came out with the eunuch.
He pulled her over, looked her up and down with concern, and only after making sure she wasn't hurt did he pat his chest and whisper to her.
"Ke'er, are you alright? Your maid said you disappeared when you were changing clothes, and she was so worried she almost cried herself to death."
My aunt sent several groups of people to look for you, and when she heard you were with His Majesty, she was terrified.
Li Nanke felt a warmth in his heart.
This trip to the palace wasn't all bad; at least I got to know Wang Tongyun.
She smiled and shook her head. "I'm fine. I'm sorry to have worried you. I'll invite you to my house another day."
Wang Tongyun, being a child at heart, immediately beamed with joy upon hearing this and readily agreed.
"It's a promise, you can't forget."
Li Nanke smiled and nodded, "I won't forget."
Consort Wang frowned and looked over.
Wang Tongyun chuckled and quickly made a sealing gesture.
The eunuch bowed to Consort Wang and greeted the group of young girls.
"Follow me out of the palace. Your elders should already be waiting at the palace gate."
The girls' eyes dimmed when they didn't hear the imperial edict.
They obediently lined up and followed the eunuch out.
By this time, the sun had already set in the west, leaving only a dazzling pinkish-purple hue that draped the entire palace in a radiant glow.
Recalling the events of that day, Li Nanke felt as if a ferocious beast was lurking within the magnificent clouds.
I unconsciously quickened my pace.
Zhao Wanqing, who was originally walking in front, deliberately lagged behind by two steps and moved closer to her.
He lowered his voice and asked her softly, "Cousin, didn't you go to change your clothes? Why are you here talking to His Majesty again?"
What did you and His Majesty discuss in the room just now?
Li Nanke turned and smiled at her.
Do you want to know if His Majesty has chosen you as his study companion?
A strong hope suddenly burst forth in Zhao Wanqing's eyes.
"Cousin, do you know?"
"No!"
Li Nanke twitched the corner of his mouth and uttered two words.
Zhao Wanqing's breath hitched, and when she understood the meaning behind Li Nanke's words, her face turned pale instantly.
No, that's impossible!
She worked hard and ranked sixth, and her etiquette was impeccable. She didn't have time to perform the pitch-pot game, but His Majesty will definitely choose her based on her performance in the women's admonitions test.
Xue Ting has already been sent away, which means that four of the remaining five people will be chosen as study companions!
Mother said that with Prime Minister Han backing her up, His Majesty would never refuse to choose her!
at the same time.
Outside the palace gates, a number of carriages arrived one after another.
As soon as Song Hui got off the carriage, she saw Song Yi waiting anxiously beside her.
She straightened her hair, walked up to Song Yi, and said with a smile, "Sister, you don't know what happened in the palace, do you?"
Song Yi looked bewildered. "What happened in the palace?"
Song Hui lowered her voice and said, "I heard that the third young lady of the Xue family lost her composure in the palace and was sent away. I also heard that someone offended Consort Shu, who had just found out she was pregnant."
His Majesty was furious and wanted to punish that person on the spot. My sister overheard someone from the Han family mention that the person who offended Consort Shu was Ke'er.
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