Jiapingguan Chronicle

Chapter 2846 Master Qingsong 64.0
Song Yaojia couldn't help but smile when he recalled Wu Qingruo's expression as she told him this story.

"Your Highness, what's wrong?" Jin Miaomiao was startled by Song Yaojia's sudden laughter and looked at him in shock. "It's the middle of the night, and to do something like that all of a sudden is really creepy." As she spoke, she rubbed her arms and stretched them out in front of Song Yaojia. "Your Highness, look, I'm getting goosebumps."

“Really? That’s so embarrassing.” Song Yaojia stroked her chin, made an apologetic gesture to Jin Miaomiao, and said, “I didn’t mean to, I just suddenly remembered the expression on my uncle’s face when he told me this story, and I couldn’t help it. If you saw my uncle’s expression at the time, it would probably be similar to mine.”

"What kind of expression is that?" Jin Miaomiao looked at Song Yaojia curiously. "Your Highness, why don't you try it?"

"Let me think!" Song Yaojia moved his facial muscles, then patted them lightly, first revealing a mocking smile, then disdain, indifference, and finally a mixture of these three expressions. After doing this, he looked at Shen Haolin, Shen Cha, then at Jin Miaomiao and Meilin, and raised an eyebrow slightly, "See? It's roughly like this. I didn't imitate it very well, but that's the meaning."

"I wonder what stupid thing Gong Sheng and Gong Wu did to make Uncle Huang make such an expression?" Shen Cha turned her head and tugged at Shen Haolin's sleeve. "Brother, have you ever seen Uncle Huang make such an expression before?"

“…” Shen Haolin thought for a moment, then nodded slightly and said, “I’ve met you.”

"Huh? When?"

"When you encounter an utterly stupid idiot who thinks they're clever," Shen Haolin raised an eyebrow at Song Yaojia, "you know, that kind of idiot!"

"Ah!" Seeing the meaningful expression on Shen Haolin's face, Song Yaojia immediately realized, "I know, that! That stupid guy from the Cui family who doesn't even realize it!"

Shen Haolin didn't speak, but simply nodded slightly.

“The idiots in the Cui family?” Shen Cha thought for a moment. “Could it be Cui Yuantong? He’s the only idiot I know who’s stupid but doesn’t realize it and thinks he’s incredibly smart.”

"It's him, who else could it be?" Song Yaojia rolled her eyes. "Only he can live up to Uncle's description of him as utterly stupid. Just leave everything to him and you can worry about it. There's nothing he won't do that's stupid enough."

“Cui Yuantong?” Jin Miaomiao thought for a moment. “That name sounds familiar. Let me think.” She took a piece of glutinous rice cake, took a bite, and said, “I think I’ve heard His Majesty mention him before. This person here…” She pointed to her head, “has a problem.” “More than just a problem, he has a huge problem.” Shen Cha rolled her eyes and said, “What did His Majesty say to you that he would mention this idiot?”

“It happened when His Majesty was young. Haolin and His Highness should know about it.” Seeing Shen Haolin and Song Yaojia nod slightly, Jin Miaomiao continued, “When Cui Yuantong was young, he used his family’s connections to become His Majesty’s bodyguard. At that time, his intellectual disability didn’t seem to be very obvious yet, so being a bodyguard didn’t seem to be very… well, not quite right. When His Majesty was two or three years old, he was watching his ponies at the Imperial Horse Ranch, and Cui Yuantong was accompanying and protecting him. I don’t know what happened, but he left the Imperial Horse Ranch by himself, leaving His Majesty’s child there. The East Palace was missing, and the whole palace was in an uproar. Cui Yuantong was summoned by the late Emperor, the Empress Dowager, and the late Grand Empress Dowager for questioning, asking him where he had left His Majesty. He swore that he had taken His Majesty back to the East Palace.”

“That’s true, but it’s nothing compared to all the stupid things Cui Yuantong has done.” Shen Cha nodded to Jin Miaomiao, then looked at Merlin, who was standing next to her with his mouth agape and a look of shock on his face. “Close your jaw, don’t dislocate it.”

“No, what was he thinking? Even though His Majesty was only two or three years old at the time, he was still a living, breathing person. How could he just throw him away like that?” Merlin quickly closed his jaw and rubbed it, saying, “How did he do that?”

"He ran into his childhood friend at the Imperial Horse Ranch. The two hadn't seen each other for a long time and were catching up happily. Cui Yuantong completely forgot that he had accompanied His Majesty to the Imperial Horse Ranch. When his friend was about to leave, he followed him. As a result, he walked straight home. Even when the palace summoned him and asked where His Majesty was, he didn't notice anything amiss. Later, his friend was also summoned for questioning and said he remembered taking His Majesty to the Imperial Horse Ranch. It was only then that a group of people found His Majesty at the Imperial Horse Ranch. His Majesty was quite carefree; he fell asleep on a pile of straw at the Imperial Horse Ranch. Luckily, it was summer; if it had been colder, he would have caught a cold!" Jin Miaomiao rolled her eyes like Song Yaojia. "At that time, Cui Yuantong was about seventeen or eighteen years old. Although he hadn't undergone the coming-of-age ceremony, compared to His Majesty, who was only two or three years old, he was already an adult, yet he was still so... careless."

"And then?" Merlin looked at Jin Miaomiao with curiosity. "Didn't the late Emperor, the Empress Dowager, and the late Grand Empress Dowager punish him?"

“How could they not be punished!” Jin Miaomiao spread her hands. “It seems they were fined three months’ salary, given five strokes of the cane, and were thrown into the Imperial Guard to start as a lowly soldier.”

"Oh? Wouldn't that cause even more trouble?" Merlin couldn't help but worry. "The commander of the Imperial Guards at that time should have been Commander Bai's father, right?"

“Yes!” Shen Cha nodded. “Uncle Bai had a terrible headache with this guy. How should I put it? He completely displayed his stupidity in the Imperial Guard. As a soldier, he had to undergo daily training. While others trained with spears, doing it quite well, he…” She took a deep breath and rubbed her head. “He would either poke someone else or himself, either someone else’s leg or his own foot and calf. He caused a little commotion every day. Uncle Bai eventually couldn’t take it anymore and discussed it with the Cui family, so he sent him to the cook camp, thinking it was a good arrangement. But little did he know, this was just the beginning of a nightmare.”

"Did they burn down the mess hall?"

"You got it right!" Shen Cha snapped her fingers at Mei Lin. "On the first day, he almost hurt himself with the wood-chopping axe. On the second day, he almost blew up the stove while learning to start a fire. On the third day, if someone hadn't discovered him in time, he would have burned down the barracks." She spread her hands helplessly. "When Uncle Bai saw this, he had no choice but to go to the palace to inform the Emperor and have the Cui family take Cui Yuantong away. Their Imperial Guard is too small to accommodate such a big Buddha."

"And coincidentally, the time he almost burned down the kitchen camp, his uncle witnessed it." Song Yaojia said helplessly, "He gave Cui Yuantong that look just now."