Chapter 12 Stop Pretending
As soon as Qingshu finished speaking, the carriage curtain was lifted, revealing Shen Qingyuan's cold and upright face.
Chunxi replied softly, "My brother sprained his ankle while playing with his classmates at school, and I wanted to go see what happened."
Shen Qingyuan glanced at Cao Wen and his eyes fell on Zhou Qin.
Without waiting for Chunxi to introduce herself, Zhou Qin took the initiative to say, "I am Mr. Zhou Qin, a teacher at Qingsong Academy. Miss Chunxi's brother has been unable to move around easily these days, so I'm here to help pick him up."
Zhou Qin recognized Shen Qingyuan.
He was not a smart person and failed the exams every year until he was 24 years old before he passed the examination to become a scholar, while Shen Qingyuan became the top scholar at the age of 17.
The seventeen-year-old number one scholar, dressed in a red robe, walked through the street with high spirits. That scene was deeply engraved in Zhou Qin's mind and could not be forgotten.
At that time, everyone thought that such a genius would rise all the way to the top and even be granted a title of nobility and appointed as prime minister. However, ten years later, Shen Qingyuan was still only the chief secretary of Jingzhao Prefecture.
No progress at all.
Shen Qingyuan didn't recognize Zhou Qin, so he nodded slightly as a response, then said to Chunxi, "The rabbit meat we had last time was delicious. I'll have Qingshu send the food box to your house later."
Chunxi was very happy to be praised by Shen Qingyuan. She couldn't help but take two steps forward: "I have already dried the meat. If the weather is good, it will be ready in five or six days. I will send it to you then. Oh, do you like sweets? I can also make some cakes."
"Anything is fine. I'm not picky."
Shen Qingyuan did not refuse politely, and Chunxi became even happier.
She had a thousand taels of silver reward from Madam Wei, and planned to buy a shop to sell some food. If Shen Qingyuan could come to the shop often to eat, she wouldn't have to worry about anyone causing trouble.
The two talked for a while, then Shen Qingyuan lowered the curtain and told Qingshu to continue on to Jingzhao Prefecture.
As soon as the carriage drove away, Zhou Qin couldn't help but ask, "Are Miss Chunxi and Lord Shen familiar with each other?"
Zhou Qin had admired Shen Qingyuan before and had privately inquired about Shen Qingyuan's situation in order to make friends with him. Unexpectedly, others said that Shen Qingyuan had a cold personality and was not an easy person to get along with.
But just now, Shen Qingyuan's attitude towards Chunxi was very gentle.
Zhou Qin felt a little uncomfortable.
Chunxi didn't know what Zhou Qin was thinking, so she said truthfully, "By chance, Lord Shen helped me twice before, so I wanted to make some food to express my gratitude."
From the conversation just now, Zhou Qin knew that Chunxi had already sent rabbit meat once, and would send dried meat and pastries later. Wouldn’t this gratitude be endless?
Zhou Qin stared at Chunxi for a while and said, "It is the duty of an official to care for the people. There is no need for you to be so grateful. Besides, this Lord Shen was publicly pelted with rotten eggs a few days ago. It is best for you not to have anything to do with him."
Chunxi was puzzled: "Sir, do you know Lord Shen?"
Zhou Qin shook his head and said softly, "I wouldn't say I know him, but I've heard a bit about him. This Lord Shen entered Jingzhao Prefecture as the top scholar, but he made no achievements in the past ten years and has not been promoted. Don't be fooled by him, young lady."
Zhou Qin's tone was quite arrogant, as if it was ridiculous that Shen Qingyuan had not been promoted for many years, but he forgot that he was about to reach the age of thirty and was still only a scholar, and had not even got an official position.
You don't know what he looks like, you don't know who he is, but you dare to comment on him at will. You are really arrogant.
Chunxi immediately realized that Zhou Qin was not someone worthy of trust.
She didn't say anything else and decided to explain everything to Matchmaker Zhang when she got home.
Zhou Qin did not think that he had said something wrong. Instead, he talked about Shen Qingyuan with Chunxi with great interest.
After Shen Qingyuan became the top scholar at the age of seventeen, he entered Jingzhao Prefecture. For many years thereafter, he did not write any brilliant articles. Zhou Qin thought that he had lost his talent because he became famous at a young age and was too proud and complacent.
Zhou Qin also deduced that Shen Qingyuan was able to become the top scorer in the imperial examination because he had a father who was a marquis and received special treatment from the chief judge and His Majesty. In fact, he had no real talent or knowledge at all. Otherwise, how could one explain why Shen Qingyuan had been doing nothing for so many years?
After talking about talent and learning, Zhou Qin talked about Shen Qingyuan's personal affairs.
Shen Qingyuan is 27 years old this year. He has married two wives, but both of them passed away not long after they got married, leaving no offspring.
These things clearly had nothing to do with Zhou Qin, but he became increasingly excited as he spoke, and finally, he pretended to sigh, "Perhaps he really shouldn't have won the top spot in the imperial examination, otherwise he wouldn't have wasted his good fortune and ended up with a wife and no children."
When Zhou Qin said this, the corners of his mouth were raised, and he couldn't hide his sense of superiority.
It seemed that as long as he could have a son, he would be far better than Shen Qingyuan.
"Mr. Zhou," Chunxi called Zhou Qin, and rolled his eyes when he looked over. "You are a teacher after all, so you should be more polite with your words."
Zhou Qin's expression froze. Just as he was about to defend himself, he heard Chunxi say to Cao Wen, who was lying on his back, "Ah Wen, you've been studying in academy for several years. You should know that a true gentleman wouldn't gossip about others behind their backs, right?"
Cao Wen hesitated for a moment, then nodded: "Sister, you are right. What you just said is indeed not that of a gentleman."
Zhou Qin had originally thought Chunxi was just a cowardly and ignorant little maid, but he hadn't expected her to actually mock him like this. His face immediately fell. "I was kindly reminding you because I was worried you'd be deceived, but you misinterpreted my meaning like this. You're truly ungrateful. It seems I don't need to bother covering up your brother's misfortune."
Zhou Qin put Cao Wen on the ground and said, "Your brother pushed another student yesterday, causing him to hit his head. Today, that child's family will definitely come to the school. You are so eloquent, so you can explain to them later."
Zhou Qin said this and left.
Cao Wen stood with his head down, not daring to look at Chunxi at all.
Chunxi squatted down in front of him, and seeing the panic and fear on his face, she rubbed Cao Wen's head and said softly, "I haven't been home these years, and I don't know what your temper is like now, but I don't believe what your husband said. Can you tell me what happened?"
Cao Wen was surprised by Chunxi's trust. His eyes instantly turned red and he choked up and said, "Sister, I didn't mean to push Zhao Dabao. He was the one who scolded me first."
As soon as he said this, Cao Wen burst into tears in grievance.
Chunxi wiped his tears and said, "Don't cry so quickly. Explain the matter clearly first. Otherwise, how can I help you get justice?"
Hearing that justice could be sought, Cao Wen quickly stopped crying and continued, "Zhao Dabao knows I was born without a father, and he always gangs up on others to bully me. A few days ago, during a test, Zhao Dabao asked me to give him the answers, but I refused. Yesterday, he brought some people to beat me up. I was so scared that I pushed him. When the teacher found out, he didn't listen to my explanation and just asked me to apologize."
It turns out that Zhou Qin is not only conceited and narrow-minded, but also unable to distinguish right from wrong.
Chunxi asked for some more details and quickly came up with a solution, but she didn't expect that the person waiting for her in the school was Wei Lingze.
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