Chapter 125 Farewell

The thorough investigation and severance of righteousness requested by Meng Taotao were easily accomplished. The testimonies from all sides that she had obtained under a pseudonym for so many years were enough to prove that when the disaster struck, Du Wenshan took the property of the prefect and fled the city. Because of his identity as the prefect's husband, the suffering people had a misunderstanding and even killed the prefect Meng. However, the excessive interrogation at that time was not a glorious thing, so the matter was suppressed, and even the compensation for the Meng family fell on Du Wenshan.

The Ministry of Justice soon came to a conclusion. Du Wenshan was exiled 3,000 miles away, all the property of the Meng family was returned, and Meng's mother was allowed to break off all ties with him and move out of the Du family's ancestral tomb. Meng Taotao was eager to clear his mother's name and did not pursue the matter of deception.

However, unlike the traditional practice of first-class Jinshi entering the Hanlin Academy directly, in the 21st year of Jingwen, only the second place winner of the first-class Jinshi remained in the Hanlin Academy. This not only soothed the sensitive nerves of the old-school people in the court after two of the first-class Jinshi were women, but some people also said that this was the punishment for this Meng Zhuangyuan.

Regardless of what outsiders said, the day of the relocation of Magistrate Meng arrived soon. The late spring drizzle wet the sleeves of Si Li, who came to supervise as the Crown Princess. The elders of the Du family stood by timidly, not daring to say much. The grave was dug and the coffin was taken out. Meng Taotao's blue shirt had been dyed a different color in the mud and water. She staggered when she stood up, and Si Li stepped forward to support Meng Taotao, who had just kowtowed.

"You have completed the ninety-nine steps. Don't strain yourself and collapse on the last step. The prefect would not want to see you like that."

Meng Taotao, who always smiles gently, has a blank expression. It is hard to tell whether the water on her face is rain or tears. "I want to go home, Ali."

"Have a safe trip." Si Li hugged her tightly.

Meng Taotao received a transfer order to be the sixth-rank Tongpan of Xinzhou, Yunyue Province. The actual official position was higher than the traditional sixth-rank position granted to the top scholar in the Imperial Academy. However, considering the nobleness of the Imperial Academy and the fact that the officials in Beijing were one level higher than those in ancient times, and the fact that Yunyue was mountainous and had many ethnic minorities, this was not a good place to go. However, she was happy with it and even chose an auspicious day to carry the coffin back to Xinzhou.

In her words, her mother had worked hard for Xinzhou all her life, so it was natural for her to go back. Si Li respected her wishes and went with Xiao Qi to see her off.

"The same goes for you." Meng Taotao looked at Xiao Qi next to her, "We're going to the south and the north, remember to write to me."

Xiao Qi patted her shoulder and hugged them both. Her smile was as bright as ever, but more stable. "I will."

After sending Meng Taotao to Shili Changting, Xiao Qi and Si Li took a car back to Beijing. The journey was silent, and Si Li broke the silence, "When are you leaving? If you need my help, just tell me."

The third place winner Xiao Qi asked to be transferred to Yanyun Province in the northwest, where she worked as a sixth-rank provincial governor, very close to Liangzhou in the northwest where she grew up. After the spring exam, the days of separation came one after another. Si Li looked at Xiao Qi, who had lost a lot of weight, and didn't know whether to comfort or encourage her.

"Well, you've annoyed me!" Princess Le'an's violent act of divorcing her husband, including her words and deeds that day, had spread throughout the capital. Xiao Qi deliberately put on a charming expression and stuck to Si Li, saying aggrievedly, "Otherwise, you go with me? You know I can't do without you."

"No need to talk." Si Li pushed her away before she could get close to him. "You want to copy the examples of Qun Ying Academy and Craftsmanship Academy and go and fool those students yourself. I can only give you two books at most."

Xiao Qi did follow Si Li's suggestion and went to find the teachers of the Qun Ying Academy. I don't know how she managed to kidnap a teacher from the newly established Miscellaneous Department. She didn't fool the students away. The day before Si Li sent her away from Beijing, she found Xiao Qi at the Qun Ying Academy and happened to hear her promise, "When you have achieved academic success, no matter how the imperial examinations turn out, there will always be a place for you in Liangzhou."

Well, it turns out it’s just a scam about sustainable development.

Si Li felt a headache. If she didn't know that the current people in power would not be suspicious of the border guards because of this, Xiao Qi's words alone would be enough to send her to hell.

Xiao Qi, who had only been in the capital for more than two years, was sent out by his reluctant classmates. Seeing Si Li waiting for him, he bowed with a playful smile and said, "Master Si, sorry to have kept you waiting." He looked a little more lively than when they first met.

"Not staying two more days?"

Xiao Qi, holding her little red, followed Si Li out of the city gate slowly. Looking back at the towering walls of the capital, she smiled and said, "It's time to go. You know, time waits for no one. I can't wait to go back to Liangzhou and leave the names of the heroes on that fertile land."

"Even if Di Luo is destroyed, there are still the Qiang people. Even if the Qiang people are gone, there are still the foreign tribes outside the grassland. We can choose not to go to war, but we cannot let the soldiers be afraid of fighting. I have written half of the textbook, but the best military science can only be born in the border. After all, the capital is too prosperous and not suitable for me. I want to go back to find my uncle."

Si Li did not deliberately ask what they talked about with Jiang Hengyun in the East Palace study before the three top students were appointed as officials, but she knew that they were all working hard to make Daning a better place.

"Then I'll wait for you to be called the headmaster." Si Li smiled and saw another carriage coming out of the city gate, followed by a cart and guards. She held Xiao Qi, who was about to get on the horse, and said, "Wait, someone will be traveling with you, and you'll have someone to take care of you on the way."

Jian Qingya stuck her head out of the carriage behind and waved, "Jinguan!"

Jian Qingya and Songnian were married at the beginning of the year. This time they were going to the northwest for business. Jian Bingde had already gone out to sea, and Mrs. Jian and Jian Quanfu stayed at home. They were all familiar with each other, so Si Li didn't need to introduce them. Si Li confirmed that the goods of the Jian family were complete, and then sent the three away.

The Jian family's truck not only has porcelain and colored glass that they have sold in the past, but also milk tea bags that Si Li has just made. It is perfect for nomadic people to drink immediately after brewing. Porcelain, silk and tea have always been a powerful tool to enrich the central country. The Jian family caravan is mixed with the Ministry of Rites. If the situation is good, they will go deep into the grassland to explore the trade route.

The shadow of the caravan gradually disappeared from the Shili Changting. Si Li broke off a willow branch and sighed. Suddenly, the sound of wheels came from behind. When Si Li turned around, he saw the servant lifting the curtain of the carriage. The face of Minister Xiao sitting in the carriage was more serious than before, and his old age was revealed in his wrinkles.

When he saw Si Li, Minister Xiao was stunned for a moment and didn't say anything for a long time. It was not until Si Li said goodbye and was about to leave that he called her and asked in a low voice, "Is she gone?"

Xiao Qi had never been home before leaving Beijing, and Si Li, who had spent the New Year with her at Jian's house, was very clear about this. She nodded, and Minister Xiao's kneeling figure paused slightly, and it was hard to tell whether his expression was regretful or emotional.

Si Li said goodbye quietly, took a detour, and entered the city from the south gate. Students were leaving the city upstream, and girls in clean and simple clothes gathered together, the sound of them reciting their lessons carried into the carriage by the wind.

The business of Wanglai Ju was still booming. Shopkeeper Tang carried Wang Xiaochong, who had just returned from school, on his shoulders and was entertaining customers with a smile. Si Li gestured to Qinghe to get the scorpion hotpot that had been ordered long ago under someone else's name, without alarming anyone.

The smell of the lamb and scorpion pot cooked by Ah Xiang is now exactly the same as hers. The tomatoes in season are floating in the pot, dyeing the lamb spine red. The sweet and sour aroma wafts far away. Si Li adds heat to the stove, spreads out the vegetables and tofu, and quietly writes a new textbook plan while referring to the Queen's manuscript, waiting for the Jiang brothers and sisters who went to the meeting to return.

When she raised her head again, the moonlight had already covered the candlelight and sprinkled all over the floor. Hulu, who had just entered the room, took a deep breath to stop himself from drooling. "Your Highness, Your Highness and the Princess will be in Wenyuan Pavilion for a while. Please eat first and don't hurt yourself."

Si Li nodded, not surprised. The emperor was imprisoned in the palace, and Jiang Hengyun came to the stage more and more often. Jiang Rufei, who was dragged by him to handle government affairs, was also growing up very fast, and there were many days when she came home late.

At night, the rain gradually stopped. The heat forced into the room by the rain made people sweat. Si Li asked Qinghe and Xiaoque to go eat, leaving Hulu to wait. On the stove, the sweet and sour lamb and scorpion pot was cooked with green vegetables and frozen tofu. The freshness of the lamb and the freshness of the fruit made the dish more delicious. Si Li divided a small half of the pot of soup, covered the rest with a lid, and called Hulu in to take it away.

"Shizhi and the others must have been too busy to eat. I remember there is a small stove in the tea room. Please take the pot and give them a midnight snack. Be careful not to let Shizhi eat too much. He has a domineering temper and will not stop eating."

Hulu was stunned when he picked up the copper pot, "Would you like to eat more?" Last year, Si Li's loss of appetite during the bitter summer made the entire East Palace feel like it was facing a formidable enemy. With the Crown Prince setting an example, the eunuchs close to him took turns watching Si Li eat. When Jiang Hengyun could not come back, he also let Hulu see how much Si Li ate, so that these guards even guessed privately whether the Crown Princess was pregnant. It was not until winter came that they realized that the Crown Princess really had a small appetite.

Si Li pointed to the large bowl of soup and cooked vegetables and urged, "Go quickly."

Hulu responded and secretly took note of it, preparing to tell His Highness when he saw him that the Crown Princess seemed to have a poor appetite today.

The sweet and sour tomato soup didn't take long. By the time all the vegetables in the bowl were picked out and the soup had reached a temperature that was just right for drinking, Si Li blew away the oil that floated on the surface of the soup and drank it all in one gulp, with a thin layer of sweat on her back.

The stars were bright outside. Si Li was already sweating, so he was not in a hurry to wash up. He tidied up the bits and pieces in the warm room of the side hall. He saw some scraps of paper that Jiang Rufei had dropped at some point, and shook his head and threw them into the bowl that still had some water stains on it. The ink marks quickly spread.

Jiang Hengyun often stayed in the warm room in the palace. The soft couch by the window had not been used for a long time since winter was over. Si Li moved the chessboard on it and accidentally dropped a chess piece.

The white jade chess piece rolled to the edge of the couch. Si Li leaned over to take it and suddenly touched a gap. He moved it and it seemed that the chess piece was stuck underneath. He had to take out the object stuck in the gap.

Si Li hooked the edge pattern of the rectangle stuck in the gap and pulled it out, but it turned out to be a very light box.

Could it be that Jiang Hengyun hid some private money behind people's backs? Si Li remembered that this was the seat he often sat in, but she dismissed the thought as soon as it came to her mind, shaking her head in amusement. Why would a prince of a country need to hide some private money?

Putting the fallen chess piece back on the chessboard, Si Li pulled the bolt. The lock of the wooden box was very delicate, like a puzzle. With nothing else to do, Si Li simply indulged her curiosity and competed with the puzzle lock.

The etched copper patterns matched each other, the box lock clicked open, Si Li opened the lid, and a familiar printed note came into view.

How come?

Si Li was stunned for a while. After the last exposure incident, she found that she actually accepted this discovery well. Thinking about the hand seen by the system appraisal and the fact that the senior's comments and the system's comments appeared separately, the previous clues were connected.

The conversations with the "senior" after the time travel were recalled bit by bit by the well-preserved notes. Si Li poked the original note that said "unpalatable" and snorted.

Wenyuan Pavilion is not far from the East Palace, much closer than the Inner Palace. As the night deepens, the footsteps in the palace corridor are hurried and brisk. Jiang Hengyun enters the gate. The candlelight in the side hall brings the breath of home. His sister is left alone to deal with the guilt of the old men. He is forced to hide his mood of not waiting to see his wife. He has just finished weaving the gardenia bracelet in his hand. He pushed open the door and asked, "Who made the pot today?"

A smiling voice echoed in the warm room. Si Li would have been happy to hear him recognize that it was not her cooking. After all, Ah Xiang's current level was almost the same as her level in making scorpion hotpot. But when she heard Jiang Hengyun's voice today, she was not in the mood to laugh.

The silence in the room was different from what Jiang Hengyun had expected. He soon saw the wooden box in Si Li's hand. His face turned pale, and the bracelet he had folded and wanted to give to his beloved girl fell to the ground silently.

"Lili, listen to my explanation!"

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The author has something to say:

Prince: I'm done.

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The countdown to the end is coming. I am considering a modern paro extra. If no one wants to read it, I won't write it orz

The completed ancient food article "After traveling to a world without peppers" is available for you to read~

The next two are an ancient time travel romance infrastructure novel "I Stole the Male Lead's Script After I Traveled into the Book" (a one-sentence summary: a cannon fodder disguised as a man ascended the throne) and a fourth Western fantasy disaster infrastructure novel "Becoming a God Starts from Summoning Players" (a one-sentence summary: click to watch the Dark Saint lead people to kill gods online). Those who are interested can take a look.