Jiapingguan Chronicle

“The Marquis of Xibo’s mansion is quite a peculiar existence.” Song Yaojia chuckled. “Every now and then, a charlatan like this appears, who is said to be…” He raised an eyebrow slightly, “inheriting the true legacy and the true family business.”

"His ancestor," Jin Miaomiao whispered, "was he just a charlatan?"

“Hey!” Song Yaojia snapped his fingers. “That’s really true. No need to whisper it, most people in Xijing City know the origins of the Marquis of Xibo’s mansion.” He raised an eyebrow slightly. “They’re not some kind of charlatan, but fortune tellers who are good at observing celestial phenomena. They’re really skilled. When the previous dynasty was first established, they specially recruited a group of such people to look at feng shui.”

"Feng shui?" Shen Cha frowned slightly. "The imperial palace?"

“Not only that.” Shen Haolin shook his head slightly. “We need to look at all the residences of the royal family members and the residences of the powerful clans. The previous dynasty believed in feng shui the most, probably the most in all the dynasties.”

“They should believe in this, after all, their ascension to the throne was illegitimate.” Shen Cha sneered. “I didn’t expect the Marquis of Xibo to have such a legendary experience. Gongsun Yue’s obsession with these things can’t be considered neglecting his duties.”

“This is his true profession. The people at the Imperial Observatory would even ask Gongsun Yue to take a look at some celestial phenomena that they couldn’t understand, but neither his son nor his grandson inherited this skill.” Song Yaojia raised an eyebrow slightly. “But it seems that Lord Tan has made some achievements in this area, though he is still far behind his father. It’s just that I didn’t expect Gongsun Yue to have such a good relationship with Master Qingsong.”

"I heard they also busted a fraud gang that used this kind of mystical stuff to scam people, and they ended up running into them."

"It seems there is such a thing. I'm not very interested in this, so I haven't inquired about it." Song Yaojia yawned, looked at Jin Miaomiao, and said, "Uncle said that Master Qingsong has a very magical ability, that he can forget whatever he wants, is that right?"

“That’s what my great-uncle said too.” Jin Miaomiao nodded. “Master has forgotten most of the things that happened when he was a child, especially the bad things and the bad people. Even if that person appeared in front of him again, he wouldn’t recognize them.”

Jin Miaomiao quickly recounted what she had heard from Chu Han and the Third Grandfather, mentioning the two people who had once stabbed her, and how they had been framed in their youth and later saved by Master Qingsong.

"Cheating? Cheating on a quiz?"

Song Yaojia looked at Shen Cha curiously, but Shen Cha waved her hand and pointed at Jin Miaomiao, indicating that she should speak.

“Yes, cheating on the quiz.” Jin Miaomiao nodded, took a sip of tea, and said, “Actually, this was all a setup.”

"They wanted to find something wrong with them, so they set a trap for them, luring them to cheat during the quiz. Generally speaking, if a student like that appears in the academy, they will definitely be expelled, right?"

"That's true. Wang Qin and Dong Qian come from families that aren't well-off. Sending them to a school like this has basically drained their savings. They have no other way to make ends meet except by setting up a stall day and night. To be honest, these two kids aren't bad people. They just feel sorry for their parents and grandparents, so they're thinking of ways to earn money to help them out."

"They usually work at the academy, helping the young masters of wealthy families with their homework. They earn one or two taels of silver a day. With that money, they can save up to pay for their tuition the following year, relieving their families of such a burden." "The idea is good, but unfortunately..."

"Poor judgment of people."

“They’re young and inexperienced, they never considered the treacherous nature of people. Most importantly, they’re too eager for quick success and instant benefits, which is why they fell into other people’s traps.” Jin Miaomiao sighed and said, “They know that my teacher is the only one in the entire academy who is quite unconventional and doesn’t interact much with others. So, they don’t associate with my teacher either. Moreover, my teacher is smart and wouldn’t spend money to have someone help with his studies, so he’s not their target. As a result, they isolated my teacher just like everyone else.”

"It's quite ironic that the people who were isolated by them ended up saving them."

"Don't rush, I haven't finished yet!" Jin Miaomiao looked at Shen Haolin, then at Song Yaojia, pointed to Xia Jiu and Shen Jiu who were already asleep with their heads together, made a "shh" gesture, and said in a low voice, "Let's keep our voices down and not wake them up."

"They won't wake up." Merlin appeared silently behind Jin Miaomiao. "I just covered them with blankets, and they didn't react at all. They're sleeping very soundly. As long as we don't talk too loudly, they should be fine."

"That's fine then." Jin Miaomiao glanced at Mei Lin sitting next to her, then turned to look at Song Yaojia. "Then I'll continue."

"Tell me, I want to hear what they've got to say." Song Yaojia sneered. "The one who set them up, could it be those people who usually pay them to do their homework?"

"You're right!" Jin Miaomiao snapped her fingers and said, "It's them, but not all of them. There are about seven or eight people who asked them to do homework, but they are divided into two or three different small groups. The one who set up the scheme was one of the small groups. This small group paid a lot of money and was very generous, but the only condition was that they could not do homework for the other two small groups. Wang Qin and Dong Qian considered it carefully and refused."

"Because the money they're paid isn't enough to cover the fees they get for doing homework for other people, is it?"

“Yes.” Jin Miaomiao nodded and sneered, “Actually, those kids were a little short on money and wanted to exchange their lessons for a lower price. This was just the first step. Next, they would have to pay less, and eventually, they might not pay at all. But unexpectedly, Wang Qin and Dong Qian refused, which caused their plan to fail.”

“That’s a good idea, but you’re too hasty. You can’t afford the money, but someone else can. Are you going to work for free? If it were me, I wouldn’t do it either!” Shen Cha yawned and said, “They couldn’t think of anything else, so they came up with an even worse idea: to set a trap and lure them into cheating. They paid Wang Qin and Dong Qian to pass them notes during the quiz, and then deliberately made a scene to shift the blame onto those two poor kids.”

"That's absolutely awful."

“That’s true.” Jin Miaomiao nodded. “But it takes two to tango; both sides bear responsibility, it’s just a matter of whose responsibility is greater. Things were going smoothly initially; during their joint quiz, they successfully pinned the cheating charge on these two. But just as they were about to be expelled from the academy, the clerk stepped forward.” (End of Chapter)