Her guards

Chapter 53 Peace and Tranquility in the Night

Mo Zheng came in and turned on the lights in the room first.

“Miss, you need to light a lamp even when you’re studying hard. You have to be willing to spend money on candles for your studies,” she said.

Actually, she had been thinking about things since she came back and hadn't been studying hard, Yang Luo thought. Besides, she hadn't entered the National Academy for the purpose of studying.

"Steamed pork and crispy fish from Xinghualou." Mo Zheng placed the dishes on the table, "To celebrate Miss's successful completion of her first day of school."

Did she go out to buy it again after returning home? Lost in thought, she didn't notice. This young guard was genuinely happy for her studies and even congratulated her. Yang Luo sighed inwardly, but she didn't even plan to tell him that Wei Jiao had come to the National Academy.

Not only this, but she had many things she was hiding from this boy, and she suddenly felt a little guilty.

Yang Luo got up, took out a small box from his book bag, and took out two pastries.

“These are pastries made by the royal chef that the princess took to the Imperial Academy,” she said. “I secretly put two pieces for you to try.”

Mo Zheng looked at the snacks she had already eaten that day with some surprise.

She knew that Miss Yang was not at the Imperial Academy to study, and that facing the reappearance of the young lady from the Ding'an Duke's Mansion today must have been quite a mental or physical exhaustion.

I never expected that he would remember to bring her the pastries made by the imperial chef.

No matter how many things were being kept secret, no matter what selfish motives were involved, the fact that this young lady wanted her to try the pastries when she saw them must have been genuine, a smile flashed in Mo Zheng's eyes.

“It’s good that you’re good at studying, Miss. You can even afford to feed the guards royal meals!” she said, raising an eyebrow as she reached out to take the food and popped it into her mouth. “You can use it to offset some of the pay when you settle your wages later.”

Yang Luo was amused: "Then you must protect me well, and there will be even more benefits in the future."

Mo Zheng lifted her foot and hooked the wooden stool over to sit down: "Alright, Miss, please eat quickly. We still need to continue studying tomorrow."

The Imperial Academy's curriculum for the princess and her companions consists of four days of classes followed by three days of rest, with no classes held during holidays.

Today is the first day, and I have to go to class tomorrow.

Yang Luo nodded. Yes, as long as we live, we must keep going.

"You should sit down and eat too," she said with a smile. "You'll still have to pick me up and escort me to school tomorrow."

Mo Zheng said "okay," sat down, picked up her bowl and chopsticks, and ate heartily.

As dusk fell, the day's studies at the academy came to an end.

The students in the library had already left, and the guards carried food boxes and lanterns upstairs to deliver meals to the chief priest.

Wang Zaitian's meals were simple: a pot of hot tea, a piece of dry food, and a piece of stewed meat.

As the guard brought the food and was about to leave, Wang Zaitian, remembering something, asked, "Did Wei Jiao come today?"

The guard nodded. "I came this morning."

Wei Jiao claimed to be studying under Wang Zaitian, but in reality, he never went near Wang Zaitian, and the teachers didn't even know he was there.

"The princess came to see him and even wrote in the library to keep him company," the guard continued.

Wang Zaitian nodded. "I was wondering why I felt like someone was talking down there earlier." He then broke off a piece of dry rations and started eating.

The guard left the room and walked down the stairs, then looked up at the upper floor again, as if remembering something.

"What's wrong?" asked the guard sitting at the door.

The person delivering the food looked at him and asked, "So, has Wei Jiao left?"

Wei Jiao was eccentric and wouldn't greet them, so they didn't want to give him a second glance.

The guard at the gate said, "He saw the princess off when she left, so naturally he went with her."

The food delivery guard remembered, and then, recalling how quiet Wei Jiao's usual floor was when he went downstairs earlier, he shook his head. "He probably won't come tomorrow. I don't know what use he'd be here."

"The title of disciple of the chief priest sounds good," said the guard at the gate. "Even if you do heinous things, who wouldn't want a good reputation?"

The two sat down to eat as they talked, and the library returned to silence.

Night fell over the entire academy.

Wei Jiao woke up from a pile of torn books. All he could see was darkness. For a moment, he was disoriented, not knowing where he was or what time it was.

His lips twitched as if he were about to call out "Mother," but he regained his senses the moment he opened his mouth and closed his lips tightly.

He knew what time it was, knew he wasn't a four or five-year-old child, and knew his mother was gone. Wei Jiao slowly sat up, his vision adjusting to the darkness, and reached out to touch his dry lips.

I haven't eaten or drunk anything all day.

The people at the library wouldn't remember to bring him tea or food.

But it doesn't matter; he's used to being forgotten.

I also know that a person won't die from being hungry or thirsty for a few days.

Moreover, there are many things in this world that can be eaten.

Wei Jiao reached out and grabbed a handful of paper from the ground, stuffing it into his mouth, one handful after another, chewing and swallowing continuously until he could no longer put any more in.

He exhaled and stretched.

"You've slept well and eaten your fill," he said. "Now you can continue reading."

Without lighting a lamp, he reached out and accurately grabbed a scroll from the table.

Touching the paper, feeling its roughness, and in the dim light filtering in from the palace lanterns hanging on the eaves outside the library, I could see the perfunctory words on it.

The books he read were not treasures from the library, but copies made by his students.

The one that was sent over so perfunctorily must have been Ling Yu.

"The Tao is always inactive, yet nothing is left undone; if the human heart is good, then the Tao of Heaven is good..."

Wei Jiao read those words aloud, then sneered and reached out to tear it off.

In the darkness, the woman's fair figure seemed to reappear before my eyes...

"Pah!" He spat at the illusory figure before him, and the woman's figure vanished. "They're all beasts!"

The scroll in his hand was instantly torn into pieces and flung out like snowflakes.

……

.......
As night deepened and the last drumbeat signaling curfew sounded, Master Wei returned to the old Wei family residence with his entourage.

The courtyard, which had been simply cleaned and had a few lights on, was much better than yesterday, but most of the houses remained quiet and desolate.

Wei Xu, with half his face swollen, answered, "So? What did he say this time? He can't just refuse to see anyone while having dinner with the Emperor and Empress, can he?"

One of the attendants said, "We haven't seen her. She said she went to study at the Imperial Academy. We waited all day, but she didn't come back even when it got dark. Xiuyi said she stayed up all night studying hard."

Wei Xu glared: "What kind of books does a mere Embroidered Uniform Guard have? His lies are getting more and more absurd."

Master Wei Qi sat down and waved his hand: "That's not absurd at all. Back then, the General sent him to the capital to study with Wang Zaitian. Now Wang Zaitian is the Chancellor of the National Academy."

Wei Xu was taken aback: "Study? Weren't we sent here as hostages to appease the emperor..."

Master Wei shouted, "Shut up!"

Wei Xu shut up and stopped talking.

Master Wei glared at him, then glanced at the others.

“Watch your words. We’re not in Longxi now, we’re in the capital,” he said, then looked outside, “at the foot of Dengshan Mountain.”

Although Emperor Deng Shan came from an ordinary background, he had been emperor for more than ten years after gaining the throne, and was the rightful Son of Heaven, as mandated by Heaven.

No one in the world dared to call him by his name, and they even forgot his real name.

At this very moment, right under the emperor's nose, the seventh master of the Wei family, who didn't even hold an official position from Longxi, casually uttered this name.

Neither Wei Xu nor his attendants showed any surprise, clearly having grown accustomed to it.

Although Cui, the commander of Longxi, raised his army later than Dengshan, his strength was comparable to Dengshan's.

It was only because Deng Shan ascended the throne and became emperor first that one became a monarch and the other a subject.

The Wei family was not convinced.

(End of this chapter)