He didn't harm him, yet he's still threatening to kill someone just because his wife ran off with someone else. Why go to such lengths?
The male lead's charm is too great. Qi Qi now suspects that Chen Dianji and the others have already fallen into the male lead's rebellion. Although the teacher-student relationship between the two is not small, well, that's Gu Siyan after all...
Now that they're so close, it would be a shame not to keep in touch. Remembering how Huangfu Yi had been writing letters to him from time to time these past few days, Qi Qi had an idea. Yesterday, he sent a letter to the mountain academy to subtly probe Chen Dianji's thoughts.
Just then, the guards arranged by Huangfu Yi brought over a letter. It turned out that Chen Dianji had written a reply yesterday, but he asked the guards to stay overnight before letting him go down the mountain.
Qi Qi hurriedly opened the letter to read it.
This sight only made me more uneasy.
Sure enough, Chen Dianji's mind was now filled with thoughts of Gu Siyan—the world was his.
Let's not go for now... It wouldn't be good if Chen Dianji revealed his information to Gu Siyan later.
Thinking this, Qi Qi temporarily abandoned the idea of visiting, learned some disguise techniques, and then went to the city with Qi Defu to check the situation. When Lai Fu and Xiao Pingzi arrived, the house became much more lively again.
Finally, they decided to open a small eatery. The location was on the south side of Luoyang City's moat, a place with beautiful scenery, willows swaying along the banks, and a gathering place for all sorts of people on the other side. If anything happened, it was only a few miles from the south city gate, making it easy to escape. The eatery had a shop front and a small three-courtyard back. They bought it directly, which was enough for Qi Qi and the others to live on.
Land in Luoyang is expensive. Although it was a chaotic time, people with business acumen had already settled here and stockpiled land in advance. Qi Qi had a fake household registration prepared in advance. For the sake of a happy life in the future, he and Qi Defu reluctantly made a final investment and bought a small farm with an area of 100 acres at the foot of Luoyang Mountain for 2,000 taels of silver.
Qi Defu couldn't help but calculate for a long time. Earning money these past two years had been difficult, and spending it was even more painful: "That damned corrupt official! Good land outside the capital only costs forty-odd taels per mu, but this lousy land, which only occupies a corner of the academy, dares to ask for twenty taels per mu. He even dares to call a few dilapidated houses a manor... Who knows what will happen to this place in the future? He dares to raise the price on the spot."
"If I were still in my position, I would definitely teach him a lesson..."
Qi Qi thought to himself that the officials in Luoyang were no longer under the control of the imperial court. Judging from Si Yan's plan, they would probably all be his. The new dynasty was established in Luoyang, and this place was also close to Luoyang Academy, a place of civilization in the future. If he could grow some vegetables and grains and sell them, it would have a literary and cultural appeal. All things considered, it wouldn't be too bad.
Ultimately, it must be because Gu Siyan is short of money. It would be strange if he weren't short of money to support such a large army.
Now that Youdu is full of refugees, they are starting to expand into the surrounding cities. Maintaining such a large army also costs money.
From this perspective, the idea that Gu Siyan would conquer the capital two years later, as he remembered it, is actually unrealistic for him now. So much money and grain couldn't have appeared out of nowhere to support him for so long, especially considering the area outside the Great Wall.
Beyond the Great Wall! To the north, the Xiongnu, Xianbei, and Khitan on the grasslands... are eyeing us covetously. To the west, there are also barbarians, and the dozens of small kingdoms in the western deserts are no joke. These two sides have historically been frequent battlegrounds on the borders of the Xia Kingdom.
In fact, these forces are far superior to the Huangfu royal family and the powerful families of Xia Kingdom...
That's right! Gu Siyan needs to quell the internal strife first before he can deal with external enemies. He doesn't have money, but these families and royal families that have stood in this area for hundreds or thousands of years have money!
Oh wow.
"Dad, it's not a bad deal. We bought it here, so it's not a loss."
Qi Qi finally realized that there was nothing he could do; that's just how robots are—insensitive to politics, even if they were previously in the center of power.
But this has nothing to do with stupid cannon fodder, right...? Qi Qi scratched his head.
It's a good brain, just not very bright right now. In a few years, decades, or even centuries, when it regains its chip, it might become quite intelligent.
I suddenly miss Huangfu Jue. There's still a lot of money he gave me at Fengyi Palace…
Thinking this, when no one was around, Uncle Zhong gave Qi Qi boxes with a kind face, each containing a thousand taels of silver.
It was given to me by Huangfu Yi.
Well, I also miss Huangfu Yi. Compared to Huangfu Jue, he was even poorer.
Without a boyfriend, there are no backaches or butt pains, and of course, no kisses either.
...
Time flies, and three months have passed.
The literary gathering is drawing to a close. After a series of competitions in poetry, prose, essays, and other subjects, the final round has begun. I've heard that the top three winners will receive a mysterious grand prize from Luoyang Academy.
The rewards for first and second place are still unknown, but the rumor has already spread that third place will receive 1,000 taels of silver.
Qi Qi suspected that Gu Siyan was up to something.
However, by this time, Qi Qi had gloriously become the cashier at Qi Fu Ji restaurant by the moat in the south of the city.
Chef: Former head of the Imperial Kitchen, Xiaopingzi and Xiaoanzi.
The gatekeepers were: Uncle Zhong, the 57-year-old former steward of the Fifth Prince's residence, and Qi Laifu, the beloved dog of the Ninth Prince and the former Ninth Prince's chief eunuch, Qi Laibao.
And Qi Defu, the boss in charge of personal relationships and all the above positions on a part-time basis.
As for the waiters... the shop is too small to accommodate more people, so all of the above are waiters.
The shop has three square wooden tables and one long table that can accommodate many people. Its main business is only the imperial secret recipe of refreshing and cooling herbal tea, as well as soup noodles, wontons, steamed buns, flatbreads, and various stir-fries.
Because of rising grain prices in various regions and the fact that the food was made by imperial chefs, Qi Fu Ji's food was initially priced quite high. Even the cheapest bowl of tea cost 20 coins, and as for noodles, with grain prices at several hundred coins, the noodles were naturally not cheap either, costing 200 coins a bowl. They then reduced the price.
The two men, who had been in high spirits after spending nearly three thousand taels on the estate and shop deeds, were now utterly dejected.
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