Chapter 271

The mentor and disciple chatted for a long time before stopping.

Liu Jing'an smiled: "Your mentor's wife misses you very much and often nags that you don't come to see her often. Go to the back courtyard to pay your respects."

Jia Cong felt ashamed: "The mentor's wife loves Jia Cong the most. Recently, the disciple only remembered to be busy with his own affairs and did not show filial piety, which is truly shameful."

Jia Cong remembered that when his biological mother's spirit tablet could not enter the ancestral hall, the mentor's wife, Qing Niangzi Cui, had specially sent her grandson to send sacrificial offerings to the Jia mansion to stand up for him, and her love was overflowing.

In Jia Cong's heart, Jia She and Lady Xing were what kind of relatives? Only this pair of old people in front of him treated him sincerely, and he had long regarded them as his closest relatives.

Liu Jing'an smiled: "You are also busy with official business; your mentor's wife will understand. Go and see her."

Liu Jing'an looked at Jia Cong's departing back and sighed softly.

He had given Jia Cong the courtesy name "Yuzhang," hoping only that he would be a well-learned scholar and live a peaceful life.

But with his intelligence and strategy, he was clearly someone who wanted to do great things and stir up the wind and clouds; how could a few books contain him?

Qing Niangzi Cui smiled: "Cong'er is about to go north to handle imperial affairs. This trip will take quite a while. He came specially today to bid farewell to his mentor."

Speaking of this, the beautiful woman also shed tears.

Her hand plucked the pipa until the last string sound, the lingering sound echoing endlessly, the aftertaste leisurely and continuous.

Qing Niangzi Cui looked puzzled: "You have confused me. Are you acquainted, or are you not?"

Qing Niangzi Cui exclaimed: "Truly, the blue comes from the indigo but is better than the indigo; compared to your mentor's prime, it is even better."

Qing Niangzi Cui said at the end, her voice slightly choked.

Liu family inner courtyard, Qing Niangzi Cui's room.

"Xiuqing is fortunate to have received such a good disciple as you, inheriting her mantle."

The beautiful woman comforted her: "Aunt Cui, don't be sad. Back then, I was also recommended by a noble person to be able to worship under the mentor's door..."

Behind her stood a young woman, tall and graceful, with a beautiful face, a pair of bright eyes like lacquer, and a brilliant spirit.

"Speaking of which, I have contributed to the fame of Aunt Cui's disciple. How will Aunt Cui thank me?"

"When the mentor passed away, she was already over sixty and lingered on her sickbed. All the medicine was useless."

Qing Niangzi Cui smiled: "So that's the reason. That's even better. Meeting today makes it even more harmonious."

Qing Niangzi Cui saw that she had stirred up her sadness and hurriedly stopped the topic, asking: "This poem was written by Cong'er when he was in Jin Ling. How can you play it so skillfully?"

The beautiful woman asked curiously: "Meeting today? Did Aunt Cui's disciple also come to the mansion today?"

The beautiful woman smiled slightly: "I can be considered acquainted with Aunt Cui's proud disciple, but it's not a true acquaintance."

She wore a green cold-plum satin facing jacket, a white cross-collar padded jacket, and a rice-white long skirt. Her posture was graceful, and her elegance revealed a hint of cold beauty.

It was just that the old copper hairpin on her hair was a bit eye-catching, completely out of place with her overall attire...

The beautiful woman smiled: "Back then, the music lady of the Qingyin Pavilion brought this poem of his back. I loved it very much, so I personally composed the music and sang it. Since then, this song has spread very quickly in Jiangnan."

A tall and graceful beautiful woman, with her hair in a high bun, without any hairpins, wearing a snow-white Daoist robe, her posture was transcendent, and her brilliance was dazzling.

The young woman standing on the side flashed her eyes when she heard this...

After Jia Cong entered the Liu residence's back courtyard, the Liu family servants all knew that he was the old master's most favored disciple, and the old mistress regarded him as her own.

Naturally, no one would stop him from entering the inner courtyard. The so-called "disciple who has entered the room" meant entering the house, and the deep kinship was no less than that of blood relatives.

Jia Cong was led by a maid into Qing Niangzi Cui's room and was slightly surprised to see that it wasn't just the mentor's wife in the room.

First, he saw the woman with her hair in a high bun, without hairpins, wearing a snow-white Daoist robe. Her appearance was clear and beautiful, her bearing was extraordinary, and beside her was a pipa with a jade string groove.

He remembered the clear pipa sound he heard when he just entered the Liu residence and probably guessed who this woman was.

Qing Niangzi Cui saw Jia Cong and was happy, then complained: "You child, you are busy everywhere every day, and you don't remember to come and move around. You only come to see your mentor's wife when you have to travel far."

Jia Cong smiled: "It is all the disciple's fault. I will definitely change in the future. I will definitely come to see the mentor's wife every few days. As long as the mentor's wife doesn't find me annoying."

Jia Cong's words pleased Qing Niangzi Cui, and she said: "There is a new guest today. Let me introduce you."

Jia Cong smiled: "Mentor's wife, just now when I entered the mansion, I heard the heavenly sound of the pipa. Back then, I heard it once at the Zhuojiang Tower in Jin Ling, and I have never forgotten it."

"If I am not mistaken, this lady must be the 'Jade Pipa Heavenly Sound,' the Pavilion Master of the Jin Ling Qingyin Pavilion, Lady Qing. It's just that I heard the sound from behind the curtain back then and didn't get to see her true face."

Lady Qing smiled slightly: "Jia Young Master recognizes people by the sound of the music; you are truly a soulmate."

Qing Niangzi Cui smiled with interest: "Qing Niangzi was right. You and Cong'er are truly acquainted yet not acquainted. This is also interesting."

"Cong'er, Qing Niangzi's surname is Du. She is a disciple of the former Pavilion Master of the Qingyin Pavilion. The former Pavilion Master's surname was Li, named Xiuqing. She was my handkerchief friend in Jin Ling when I was young. Speaking of it, we are not outsiders."

Jia Cong was slightly stunned when he heard this. He knew that his mentor and mentor's wife were both from Jin Ling, so it was not strange to have handkerchief friends from Jin Ling.

It was just that the name Du Qingniang was only one word different from his biological mother Du Jinniang's name, which was a coincidence.

Qing Niangzi Cui added: "Cong'er, your mentor and I don't go out of Mount Luocang much. Qing Niangzi is now a pipa instructor in the Jiaofang Division. If you encounter anything, you must help your mentor's wife take care of her."

Jia Cong smiled: "Mentor's wife, don't worry. If Lady Qing has anything, she can send a message to the Rongguo Mansion. I will definitely do my best."

At this time, Jia Cong's gaze noticed another woman in the room. When he saw her appearance, his gaze couldn't help but freeze slightly.

"Isn't this Miss Zou?"

Zou Min'er's heart trembled slightly, and the past rolled in her mind: the noisy and magnificent Zou mansion, her father drawing his sword, blood spilling all over the birthday banquet.

And she was locked in the women's prison, watching her mother die of worry and anger, and finally was sent to the Jiaofang Division, almost becoming a prostitute...

Thinking of these, it seemed that a smell of blood was permeating, and her heart suddenly turned cold, saying: "So you still remember me."

Jia Cong saw her expression and mostly guessed what she was thinking. There was no point in saying more about such things. Although he had a clear conscience, the grudge was settled.

He just replied casually: "Naturally, I remember. Back then at the Ziyun Pavilion, I even gave up a jade belt for you. Now that you are safe and sound, that is good."

When Jia Cong left Jin Ling, he heard that Zou Huaiyi was guilty of heinous crimes, and his family members were all implicated and imprisoned.

Although with his future concepts, he did not approve of implicating family members, the laws of the present were like this, and he could not interfere.

Now seeing her safely by Du Qingniang's side, it was mostly due to the other party's protection, which could be considered a good thing.

At this time, Qing Niangzi Cui and Du Qingniang both felt the coldness and stiffness between the two.

Du Qingniang just turned her bright eyes slightly, not knowing what she was thinking.

And Qing Niangzi Cui was puzzled in her heart. This disciple of hers was surprisingly popular and had always been favored by girls.

Every time Jia Cong came to the house, those unmarried granddaughters of Qing Niangzi Cui always found excuses to secretly look at him, not knowing how to be shy.

If it weren't for the fact that scholarly families valued seniority the most, and Jia Cong was the old master's disciple who had entered the room, and was of the same generation as her son, she might have already recruited him as a granddaughter's husband.

Qing Niangzi said that this girl was a disciple she had just accepted. Qing Niangzi Cui saw that her appearance was outstanding and found her pleasing to the eye.

But she didn't expect that when she saw Jia Cong, she would be so cold, which was also strange...

On the mountain road of Mount Luocang, a carriage traveled through the shade of the trees all over the mountain.

Du Qingniang closed her eyes in the carriage to rest, but suddenly opened them again to look at Zou Min'er beside her.

"Back then I was also in Jin Ling, and I also heard that Jia Cong entered the Zou mansion to make arrests, and your father committed suicide on the spot."

"Your father committed too great a crime. Even without Jia Cong, there would be others to arrest him, and in the end, he would still be unable to escape the crime..."

Zou Min'er felt a pain in her heart when she heard this. After the incident, she was locked in the Yingtian Prefecture women's prison, and the yamen matrons had long read her father's crimes to her.

This was also what the government always did to the families of the guilty, letting them know why they were implicated and imprisoned.

The crime stated that her father instructed the soldiers of the Water Supervision Division to rob dozens of foreign merchant ships, and every time they plundered wealth, they killed everyone on the ship...

At that time, her mother died of worry and anger in prison, mostly because she heard what her father had done, was frightened, ashamed and angry, and lost the will to live.

Qing Niangzi was right; even without Jia Cong, this would have happened.

But she would rather it be someone she didn't know who broke into the mansion to make arrests, but it just happened to be Jia Cong!

"Today I heard Jia Cong's words and realized that the jade belt you often take out to look at in the room was given to you by Jia Cong, right?"

Zou Min'er's face turned pale when she heard this, and the silk handkerchief in her hand was twisted into a ball...

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 272 =====