C24 Line of Separation

In the afternoon, Zuo Shaoqing was lazily lying on the soft couch in front of the window with a book in his hands.

"Master, are you listening?" Luo Xiaoliu saw that there was no movement from him after talking for a long time and felt powerless.

Zuo Shaoqing's posture did not change. He only said two words softly, "Continue."

Luo Xiaoliu pulled up his long hair and continued, "This servant has already bought a few wives with small mouths from their families as per your orders. I learned that Zi Zhu's mother does not have any intentions of making a big fuss, after all, her daughter died in disgrace, making the whole family look bad."

"Before Zi Zhu died, her body was broken. Without a doubt, her mother definitely wanted to help her earn some reputation. This servant encouraged them to go and tell her about it, so I believe there will be an outcome soon."

"Yes." Zuo Shaoqing pulled up the thick blanket in front of his chest and said with a tired expression, "Remember to take off all of your clothes."

"This servant knows."

After an unknown amount of time, a light rain began to fall outside the window. A cold wind began to blow in, and the heat in the room dispersed very quickly.

Nanny Liu came in and added charcoal twice, then found a thick fur coat for Zuo Shaoqing to wear last New Year's Eve and draped it over the blanket.

"It's a good thing that you made this thick blanket for me in private last year. Otherwise, this winter wouldn't have been so good."

Her heart gradually drifted away. Lady Ruan had only been gone for two months, yet he hadn't seen her for seven or eight years. She vaguely remembered that she was a very gentle girl who would secretly stuff him with delicious food and dress him.

Thinking about it, Zuo Shaoqing's hatred began to swell again. He closed his eyes and shouted softly, "Lil 'Six!"

"Yes …" Luo Xiaoliu drooped his head. What he was most afraid of right now was San Ye's call; it was definitely not a good thing!

"Go to the lady's place and tell her that the hometown examination is around the corner. I want to go to the academy to ask a few questions from the teacher."

"Master …" The Madam is angry, so this servant will not dare to touch this bad luck. "

"What are you afraid of? It's not like she's going to eat you alive! " Zuo Shaoqing turned around and glanced at him. He threw the book in his hands into his arms and urged, "Go quickly!"

Luo Xiaoliu protested that it was no good and could only walk to Wu Hengyuan in fear.

Mrs. Xue was reprimanding her eldest son and daughter-in-law in her room. She was scolding her eldest son and daughter-in-law that they couldn't even manage their own little yard, yet they managed to make people run away in the middle of the night.

"Hold back the anger in your heart! Do you think this is your He family? He couldn't do anything small! What man doesn't have a problem? You should be thankful that your husband has dragged into the room those who have neither gone out nor smelled anything. In all these years, which part of him has treated you unfairly? "

Mrs. Hoe's eyes were red and swollen. Her head was almost hanging to her chest. No matter how her mother-in-law scolded her, she did not dare to retort. However, the bitterness in her heart was slowly accumulating.

When she had just entered the Zuo Family, she had indeed been overjoyed. Her husband was handsome, and he was an outstanding scholar that was renowned far and wide. Moreover, his ancestors even had a Tutor, so many people envied her for marrying a good family.

However, the good times didn't last long, and her beautiful dreams were shattered bit by bit. Granny disliked her family's low status and never showed her good face. Hubby's personality was unstable, and he actually …

Everyone thought that she had ascended to the Zuo's Mansion, so how would they know the suffering in her heart?

"Madam, Lil 'Six is here." Mrs Zhu pushed open the curtain and came in. She greeted the two of them and secretly threw a pitying look at Mrs. Hoe.

"What is he doing here? Isn't it too late? "

"He said that Lord Third sent him here."

"Hmph, what are you trying to do if you don't take good care of his injuries? "Go call them in, I want to see what that evil creature is going to do this time."

Luo Xiaoliu walked in with trembling legs. He lowered his head and quickly relayed San Ye's words to him, then stood there quietly.

"He wants to go to the academy?" Mrs. Xue suddenly raised her voice and shouted in a weird tone, "Do you really think that he can ascend to the heavens after reading for only a few days? To think that you would want to pass the hometown examination at such a young age. You sure are conceited. "

Everyone in the room knew that Mrs. Xue was using this as an excuse. Who didn't know that even though Mrs. Xue had been studying for so many years, she still couldn't rush to the capital to take the exam.

"Go back and tell him to go wherever he wants to, but he has to remember. If he dies outside, he better not leave it to us, mother and son!"

Luo Xiaoliu frowned. He couldn't understand why Mrs. Xue would be so hostile towards San Ye, but this was not something he could deal with, so he bowed and took his leave.

The cold wind was blowing outside. Zuo Shaoqing wanted to go up the mountain. He was worried that the thatched cottage would leak rain. Even if it didn't, it wouldn't be able to stop the wind.

As soon as Luo Xiaoliu entered the room, Zuo Shaoqing impatiently walked out with his arm on his shoulder. When there was no one around, he walked as fast as he could. Sometimes, he walked as if he was weak, and sometimes, he took three steps to catch his breath.

They arrived at the market just like that. Zuo Shaoqing bought all of his clothes, gloves and charcoal, along with a few hot dishes. Then he took Luo Xiaoliu and went into the back door of the school.

Zuo Shaoqing brought Luo Xiaoliu to a hidden tree and asked: "Is there a lot of homeless people living in this broken temple in the south of Zhen?"

Luo Xiaoliu nodded and looked at his master with a puzzled expression.

Zuo Shaoqing threw a few pieces of silver to him, "Take this money and try to find a new face to get on good terms with them within three days."

"Master, you want to use them? Those people are all hungry ghosts. If they have milk, then they are a mother.

"It's not like I'm asking them to kill someone and set them on fire. It's just a precaution."

Luo Xiaoliu secretly felt relieved when he heard this. He took the silver and walked out of the academy through the other side door.

Zuo Shaoqing carried his stuff to the back of the mountain. When he climbed to the middle of the mountain, the fur on his robe was already wet with the hem of his coat and his hair was dripping with water. Even his undershirt was wet from running.

Pushing the door open, Zuo Shaoqing clearly felt that the temperature inside the room wasn't any different from outside. He immediately ran over to the charcoal brazier and took a look. There really wasn't a single spark inside.

"Didn't I tell you to put more charcoal in the basin?" Zuo Shaoqing was furious and shouted at the man who was healing himself.

Lu Zheng stopped his training and opened his eyes. His black pupils seemed to be dyed with a layer of gold, making them look exceptionally bright.

"No problem!"

"How could it be alright? What if you catch a cold and have a fever? "

Lu Zheng looked curiously at Zuo Shaoqing, who seemed to have offended his ancestors for eighteen generations. He did not understand why this scholar did not care about his image anymore.

"Not cold!"

Zuo Shaoqing reignited the charcoal brazier and put his frozen hand on top of it. After a long time, he finally understood that Lu Zheng was not a southerner, but a soldier who spent the new year in the frozen northern border. He reckoned that the winter of Youuxi Town was warmer to him than spring.

He immediately felt that his previous worries were foolish. He was in a bad mood as he curled his lips and said, "I wonder what you guys ate to grow up. Why are you so resistant to the cold?"

He could still remember the past few years in the capital. Winter was the most difficult time for him. He could only hide inside the house wrapped in a thick blanket every day. Even when he opened the window, it would still feel cold.

Lu Zheng stared at Lu Zheng's flushed face as he climbed up the mountain. He was surprised to find out that the boy's appearance was more exquisite during the day than at night. It gave people a feeling of unease.

Zuo Shaoqing lit up the brazier, and when he felt some warmth on his body, he handed the bought food to Lu Zheng. He also recovered his usual courtesy and said, "It's raining tonight. I was afraid that you would get cold, so I rushed over to take a look."

Lu Zheng did not say anything, nor did he reveal his different attitude. He took the food without saying a word, picked up a meat bun from the paper bag and stuffed it into his mouth.

The way he ate was not elegant, it could even be said to be bold and unrestrained, but it did not make people feel rude. Zuo Shaoqing thought, "Men who have been to the battlefield are just different, compared to the soft scholar, they are full of masculinity."

"This was made by the most famous meat bun in our town, Xi Shi. It is said that many people came to propose when she was young, but who would have thought that she would marry a butcher."

"That must be the butcher."

"No!" He's big and tall, not gentle at all, and his temper is especially bad! " When Zuo Shaoqing talked about the butcher in the town, he wrinkled his nose. He finally looked like a thirteen year old teenager.

Lu Zheng stared at Zuo Shaoqing for a while and said, "A man with a bad temper loves women."

"What kind of logic is this?"

"How many of those self-styled gentle scholars are unkind?" This was one of the reasons why Lu Zheng didn't like scholars. His mouth was full of righteousness and morals, but in reality, he was doing the work of a male thief or female slave.

Zuo Shaoqing immediately thought of Master Zuo and nodded in agreement, "That's right. There is often only a thin line between being dissolute and indecent."

Lu Zheng was stunned by his attitude. He thought that the young man in front of him would at least defend the scholar.

It seemed that not all the descendants of Zuo Family were as pedantic as Tutor Zuo. It could also be that this young man in front of him did not inherit Tutor Zuo's straightforward character.

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