The Country Maiden: Fields and Leisure
Chapter 613 - 611: You Have Me From Now On

Chapter 613: Chapter 611: You Have Me From Now On

Moreover, she was focused on another matter, "How old were you when you became a Scholar?"

Song Chongjin replied awkwardly, "Eighteen years old!"

"Eighteen years old?" Wang Yongzhu widened her eyes as she looked at Song Chongjin. Although he was a year older than Wang Yongan when he passed the scholarly exam, before he was ten years old, Song Chongjin had no one to teach him and he struggled even to get enough to eat.

By this calculation, Song Chongjin’s natural gift for learning might be even higher than Wang Yongan’s.

"Then why didn’t you continue your studies afterwards? Why did you go back to the countryside to hunt?" Wang Yongzhu was curious. Normally, shouldn’t one continue to study and then take the imperial examinations, and after passing, participate in the higher-level exams?

Song Chongjin didn’t expect that Wang Yongzhu would be so concerned about such an odd point, showing not the slightest hint of anger, of course, he wasn’t so foolish as to ask why Wang Yongzhu was not angry.

Hearing Wang Yongzhu ask this question, his body stiffened.

After a long while, he murmured, "After I started learning martial arts and literacy, my surroundings became somewhat unsafe, and accidents would frequently occur. My mentor discovered this and arranged for someone to covertly protect me, also assigning a group of people for me to develop, tracing back through the various accidents that happened to me."

"At first, they were just minor incidents, but after I passed the Scholar exam, the methods became more intense. Several times, if it hadn’t been for my going home to buy medicine or grains for my mother, narrowly missing these incidents by chance, I probably would have lost my life! And because of this, even my classmates were implicated."

"During that period, I was always anxious about whether I would fall victim to a hidden plot and couldn’t concentrate on reviewing my studies. My Teacher also persuaded me, saying that my becoming a Scholar was just good fortune, and indeed, there was some luck involved when I passed. Before the exam, my Teacher had given me a few topics to write essays on. My essays were critiqued and corrected by my Teacher. Later, during the exam, by chance one of the topics from my Teacher appeared."

"My Teacher said since I couldn’t study in peace and concentrate on learning, it would be better to resolve the issues before continuing."

"Moreover, he had things to do and couldn’t stay in the town anymore, so before he left, he handed over all of his people to me, including the Token he left behind," Song Chongjin slowly explained.

Wang Yongzhu suddenly understood, which made sense. With Song Chongjin’s age and background, how could he, in just over a decade, go from a child with nothing to passing the Scholarly exam at eighteen and having such a vast intelligence network?

It was all because of that so-called mentor.

"You never suspected that mentor?" Wang Yongzhu asked directly. This mentor was indeed an enigma; how could a teacher educate not just one, but two Scholars.

How did he manage to create a separate household registration just for Song Chongjin? How could he have a bunch of subordinates to protect Song Chongjin and teach him how to build his own intelligence network?

"I did suspect it, and later I found out that all of this was related to the Noble Patron who Song Chunhua met back then. Once I learned this information, I bid farewell to all the old members of the intelligence network and replaced them with people I personally selected later. However, since they are new, their ability and speed to gather information are somewhat inferior compared to the old members."

"Otherwise, there would not have been so many days without news about Wang Yongan’s matter," he added.

Song Chongjin didn’t hold back anything and explained everything clearly.

Although Wang Yongzhu felt there were still some unclear points, she more or less understood the whole picture.

She hugged Song Chongjin in comfort, "Don’t worry, if there’s anything in the future, you still have me!"

Song Chongjin looked at Wang Yongzhu with intense eyes and hugged her tightly, thinking, yes, whatever happens in the future, it’s good as long as Yongzhu is by his side!

※※※

After resting for one night, they only reached Jing County at noon the next day.

After bidding Wu Zhongbao farewell, the Wang family headed to the Escort Agency to inquire about whether there was an escort heading to Qi City in the next two days. If there was, they could travel with them, and they wouldn’t have to worry about safety.

They were in luck; the Escort Agency did have an escort passing through Qi City that could give them a ride, setting them down at the dock when the time came.

However, the escort would not leave until the afternoon of the next day.

The people at the Escort Agency warmly told them that if they were in a hurry, they could find a boat at the docks that was heading to Qi City with a favorable wind, though safety couldn’t be guaranteed.

After discussing it, the Wang family decided it would be better to stick with the Escort Agency they were familiar with—a case of not troubling two hosts when one will do.

Having made their decision, they needed to find an inn to stay in.

Song Chongjin, more familiar with Jing County, found an inn that was fairly priced, well-situated, and with a good reputation, and arranged accommodations for the Wang family.

After settling them in, he bid Wang Yongzhu farewell. He had already found there was a boat heading to Qi City that afternoon on which he could catch a ride. He would then find a chance to covertly meet up once they reached Qi City.

Wang Yongzhu, using the excuse of seeing Song Chongjin off, sent him onto the boat and then went to look for Yan Zhongren, whom they had met before.

Yan Zhongren was overjoyed upon seeing Wang Yongzhu, first congratulating her on the New Year, then exchanging pleasantries for a time.

Only then did they get to the point, "There’s something I would like to discuss with Miss Wang. Remember the small courtyard you bought last time? It was rented out before the New Year, wasn’t it? The tenant, a businessman, has gone home for the holiday, so the courtyard is vacant at the moment. With the imperial exams drawing near, Changqing Academy has students coming from different regions to study from February on, and Jing County’s houses will be in high demand."

"I was considering that your courtyard has two sections. If we tidy it up a bit, it could potentially house four families. What do you think?" Yan Zhongren explained as he gestured for Wang Yongzhu to wait.

He went inside and returned shortly with a rental contract and a bulging wallet in his hands, placing both in front of Wang Yongzhu.

"Here is the contract for the last time the courtyard was rented, along with the rent. Please count it," he said.

Wang Yongzhu picked up the contract and noted that renting out the two-section courtyard for a few months had yielded an income of three to four taels of silver.

After thinking for a moment, she asked, "What exactly needs to be fixed up in that courtyard, and how much is it going to cost?"

Excited that there was interest, Yan Zhongren quickly explained that they were experienced in such matters. For a large courtyard like that, a little renovation and some partitions could be done. If needed, two separate entrails could be made so that the tenants wouldn’t disturb each other, which would be most suitable.

After listening to Yan Zhongren’s introduction, Wang Yongzhu deliberated before saying, "Please take care of the renovations for the front section of the courtyard and rent it out. Build a wall between the sections and also fix up the back courtyard but leave it empty for now."

She then pushed the silver back to him, "Use this money for the renovations. If it’s not enough, deduct the rest from the rent. As for the commission, just deduct however much it is. I am often away from Jing County, so I will have to trouble you with these matters!"

Yan Zhongren humbly declined, insisting it was all part of the service, especially since he had earned handsomely from their last deal. For a distinguished client like Wang Yongzhu, such minor tasks were simply courtesies easily rendered.