Chapter 11: Enlightenment

In Calligraphy Shop.

Uncle Zhong added another cup of tea for Shen Li, standing before him with his head bowed, and said, "Milord, I have found out. The woman's name is Zhou Qing, just an ordinary farm girl from Qingyang Village."

Uncle Zhong paused, then added, "If there is anything unusual about her, it’s that she is a bit more spirited than ordinary farm girls."

Shen Li showed no expression, sipping his tea slowly.

"What is her family situation?"

"Her mother passed away early..."

Uncle Zhong briefly described Zhou Qing's family situation. "During the day, she came to buy brush and ink. She plans to let her father study."

Uncle Zhong shook his head and chuckled, "The idea is good, but it's too unrealistic. How could a bookstore possibly let her father copy books?"

Shen Li said nothing, just nodded slightly to indicate Uncle Zhong could leave.

After Uncle Zhong left, Shen Li put down his teacup and leaned back in his chair with his eyes closed.

Copying books...

That means she is likely to come to the town again tomorrow?

After lying on the rattan chair with his eyes closed for a while, Shen Li suddenly opened his eyes, got up, and walked to the corner bookshelf, pulling out several books.

After pulling out the complete set of the Four Books and Five Classics, Shen Li thought for a moment, lifted his robe, squatted down, and retrieved a dusty book from the bottom of the bookshelf.

The book had no cover and wasn't a proper book, it just contained some information about the magistrate of Qinghe County that he had investigated when he first arrived.

Zhou Huaishan wants to study, and his first test would be the Tongsheng exam, held at the county government office. The examiners would be the county magistrate and the prefect.

After finding all the books, Shen Li took them to Uncle Zhong.

Uncle Zhong was puzzled and looked at Shen Li, "Milord?"

Shen Li, with a blank expression, said, "If Miss Zhou comes tomorrow to request permission to copy books, agree to it. Let her take these books back to copy."

Uncle Zhong...

He looked at the books, then at Shen Li, and back at the books.

Wasn't he uninterested in that girl?

Has he changed his mind?

A hopeful glow appeared in Uncle Zhong's eyes.

"Milord, have you...become enlightened?"

Shen Li was nineteen this year. Men of his age usually already married, but Shen Li was still single.

If he were from a poor family, it wouldn't matter, but the Shen family was not poor. They even had a noble title in the capital, and Shen Li himself held an official position.

He wasn’t the best, but he was far from the worst. Moreover, Shen Li was a handsome young man.

Yet, he just couldn't find a wife.

The reason was appalling.

The capital's most beautiful woman once took a fancy to Shen Li, and not only did he reject her, but he did so in a terribly insulting manner: "Too ugly!"

After that, who would dare to propose marriage to him?

Shen Li's marriage had become a thorn in the side of the entire Shen family.

As someone who had watched Shen Li grow up, Uncle Zhong looked at him expectantly, fearing a disappointing answer. He steadied himself by gripping the counter and took a deep breath.

Shen Li looked down, his eyes unreadable. After a long silence, he said, "I suppose so."

Uncle Zhong was delighted, "What do you mean, 'I suppose so'? What do you like about Miss Zhou? Or rather, what about her moved you?"

Compared to the capital’s most beautiful woman, this village girl was far inferior.

The capital’s most beautiful woman had fair skin, a beautiful face, and long legs, with skills in all the refined arts.

Miss Zhou...

Could it be that his lord's taste in aesthetics was really off?

Fortunately, his family had declared that as long as the daughter-in-law was a decent girl, they wouldn't be picky about her status.

Seeing Uncle Zhong's expression, Shen Li's mouth twitched.

Moved?

Impossible.

He couldn't possibly say that last night when Zhou Qing helped him onto his horse, her hand had firmly supported his privates, could he?

It was truly...a firm support!

At that moment, he was extremely...

After getting on the horse, he didn’t even have time to say thank you and left in a hurry, embarrassed.

But when he saw Zhou Qing again today, he was surprisingly excited and eager to talk to her.

Is this what it means to be enlightened?

Not knowing how to answer Uncle Zhong, Shen Li took a breath and said, "She saved my life."

With that, Shen Li turned and entered the inner room.

Uncle Zhong...

So, you intend to repay her with your body?

With one hand supporting his chin, Uncle Zhong looked sorrowfully at the wide-open door of the Calligraphy Shop.

At this moment, a man with a full beard strode in.

Seeing the man, Uncle Zhong's thoughts scattered, his eyes gleaming, and he stepped forward, "What would you like to buy, sir?"

"A block of Anhui ink." the man walked straight to the counter and slapped down a banknote.

"Alright, please wait a moment."

Uncle Zhong quickly took out an Anhui ink and handed it over, "Here is your Anhui ink, the best ink from our shop..."

The bearded man looked at him with disdain, took the ink and stuffed it into his pocket, and pushed the banknote with two fingers towards him, "Keep the change."

With that, he turned and left.

As soon as he left, Uncle Zhong took the banknote into the inner room.

"Milord, someone from the capital has arrived."

Shen Li was still reminiscing about last night. Hearing this, he frowned and took the banknote.

There were several lines of tiny writing on the silver note. After reading it, Shen Li placed it over a candle flame and burned it.

"They want us to set up a training camp for assassins and start training as soon as possible, aiming to train an elite force within a year."

Shen Li was part of the Shadow.

The Shadow did not belong to the six ministries of the court and only took orders from the emperor himself.

In essence, it was an assassin organization raised by the emperor.

It specialized in investigating tricky cases for the emperor and eliminating tough obstacles.

Shen Li, as gentle as jade, was a sharp blade in the emperor's hand.

Watching the banknote burn out, Shen Li's fingers lightly tapped on the table, "Just proceed according to the original plan."

The original plan was to use the mountain near Qingyang Village as the training base.

The reasons for choosing that location were its proximity to the town, the presence of many poisonous creatures and fierce beasts, and the fact that the dense forest made it almost inaccessible.

Thinking about the training base, Shen Li thought of Zhou Qing again.

Unexpectedly, he had encountered her.

Is this fate?

...

At this moment, Zhou Qing, whom Shen Li was thinking about, was examining the characters Zhou Huaishan had written.

As a dandy, he was indeed knowledgeable. Many of the 'happiness' and 'blessing' characters he wrote were ones she had never seen before.

Zhou Huaishan lay sprawled on the kang, crying.

"Oh my God, my hand is going to break. Daughter, I can't write tomorrow. If I keep writing, my hand will be crippled."

Zhou Qing carefully rolled up the written characters, "Then go to the field tomorrow."

"Daughter, can't you show some pity for your father? Can you stop threatening me?"

"Is the chicken ready?"

At the mention of the chicken, Zhou Huaishan immediately jumped up from the kang, grabbed the fire tongs, and prepared to retrieve the chicken. But as soon as he saw the stove, his face froze.

Seeing Zhou Huaishan's stiff expression, Zhou Qing got off the kang and looked into the stove.

"Pfft!"

There was no fire in the stove!!!

Zhou Huaishan bent over the kang and started crying.

"My chicken~~~"

Zhou Qing couldn't help but laugh and patted Zhou Huaishan's back, "Accept it and move on."

Zhou Huaishan...

"My chicken!"

"Get some rest. Tomorrow, I want you to memorize the Analects, and also teach Ping five big characters."

Zhou Huaishan...

The blow doubled instantly!

If it weren't for the fact that it was late at night, he would have howled in tears.

"Then tomorrow morning, cook the chicken." Zhou Huaishan turned to Zhou Qing with a face full of grievance.

Zhou Qing pulled the chicken out of the stove, "We can't eat chicken every day. Do you really want to eat the family into bankruptcy? I'm taking this chicken as a gift tomorrow."

Shen Li had given her so many things; she had nothing to repay him with.