Chapter 125: Goal Achieved

I've been waiting for just these words!

Yin Qi felt secretly delighted in his heart, but a look of suspicion flashed across his eyes.

Three hundred taels of silver a month—even the Crown Prince doesn't receive such a high salary for his studies.

Anyone with normal intelligence would be suspicious.

If he had agreed immediately, it would have made Yuan Fei suspicious instead, suspecting that he was either blinded by greed or had ulterior motives; neither situation would be suitable for being a teacher to that group of little foxes.

"Rest assured, I won't deceive you!"

Yuan Fei chuckled, and with a flick of her hand, a small gold ingot appeared after she spread it open: "Here are ten Red Gold coins, consider it your deposit for the first month, how about that?"

Yin Qi gritted his teeth and said: "Fine. But it is already late today, let us set off tomorrow morning."

Yuan Fei's expression turned solemn, and she said firmly: "No, we must set off now."

Yin Qi thought for a moment and could only pretend to compromise: "Alright. But wait a moment, let me pack my luggage. By the way, how far away are your relatives? If it is too far, traveling by night won't do."

Yuan Fei smiled lightly: "Don't worry, it's not far, it's right in this vicinity."

"Good!"

Yin Qi nodded; he went into the room to pack his luggage, a bundle and a book basket.

"Let's go!"

Watching Yin Qi come out, Yuan Fei stepped forward and grabbed him, then leaped, arriving outside the temple courtyard.

"Ah, so fast!"

Yin Qi feigned an exclamation of surprise.

Yuan Fei giggled: "Hee hee, I have to be fast; it's a sixty-li round trip, and I still have to rush back to the city!"

"Sixty li, didn't you say it wasn't far?"

"That's right, sixty li is not far!"

Yin Qi was speechless and said no more.

After acting for half a day, the goal was finally achieved.

For an expert like Yuan Fei, sixty li was indeed not far; they arrived in less than an hour.

………

This was a quiet valley.

A large bonfire was burning in the center of the valley.

Beside the bonfire sat dozens of snow-white furred foxes.

They were half-squatting and half-sitting, holding books just like humans, making strange and peculiar sounds with their mouths.

It seemed like they were reciting, but their articulation was unclear.

Yin Qi feigned a look of horror, struggling to swallow his saliva, putting on an appearance of forcing himself to calm down.

Seeing this, Yuan Fei's eyes brightened even more.

He actually hadn't been scared into fainting!

Chirp! Chirp!

The arrival of Yin Qi and Yuan Fei soon startled the foxes.

Three young foxes' eyes lit up; they threw away the books in their hands one after another and scurried over in a flash, jumping and leaping around Yuan Fei, full of joy.

"Xiao Sang, Xiao Fei, Xiao Shu, stop making a scene; we have a guest today. Do not lose your manners. Why are your hands still crawling on the ground? You cannot change your beastly habits, making the guest laugh at you."

A voice suddenly rang out.

This voice was very stiff, with a strange tone, as if there were a fish bone stuck in the throat.

But the pronunciation was still considered clear, and it was quite formal.

Yin Qi looked in the direction of the voice; it was an old fox, standing upright like a human, its front limbs cupped in a salute, walking over in a wobbly manner, like an old pedant.

This must be Tu Lao.

Yuan Fei smiled and said: "Tu Lao. Xiao Sang, Xiao Jiu, Xiao Shu are still ignorant; the little teacher is a wonderful person and shouldn't blame them for their lack of manners. These are your future students; what do you think?"

She finally looked at Yin Qi, full of smiles.

That smile seemed to be saying, aren't you bold, do you dare to teach them?

Yin Qi smiled bitterly and shook his head: "I knew it, there is no such thing as a free lunch, but for you to ask me to teach them to read, this..."

Tu Lao spoke unhurriedly and formally: "The teacher's visit to Yougu today truly makes Yougu shine with brilliance. As a scholar, the teacher should know that even beasts have a heart that yearns for the Dao and understands reason; in the past, there were fierce tigers and lions that listened to sages preach."

"Yuan Fei invited the teacher here today without the slightest bit of malice."

"Moreover, our Pure Fox Clan is not an ordinary wild beast with undeveloped intelligence."

"We understand reason and know the ways of the world."

"Scholars investigate things to understand principles; you should know that in ancient times, there was no difference between humans and demons—all ate raw meat and drank blood, were covered in hair, and were no different from apes. It was only later that they gradually stood upright, ate cooked food, and created writing, thus becoming humans."

"We Pure Foxes have long lived in the deep mountains, which is no different from the uncivilized people of ancient times."

"Since that is the case, why would the teacher think we are unworthy of education?"

Yin Qi opened his mouth, cupped his hands in a salute, and said: "The old gentleman is right; it is I who was narrow-minded. Between humans and beasts, there is actually no essential difference; the only difference lies in cultivation and education."

"Hahaha!"

Tu Lao was very happy, his whiskers twitching.

Being called 'old gentleman' by a human scholar was definitely the highest compliment to him.

Yuan Fei's beautiful eyes shimmered as she smiled and said: "It seems you have agreed, that is good. To tell you the truth, before you, I brought several people here, but they were all scared into fainting. By the way, I still don't know your name?"

Yin Qi cupped his hands and said: "My surname is Yin, given name Qi."

Yuan Fei raised her eyebrows and said: "Your surname is Yin; what is your relationship to the Yin Duke Mansion?"

There are not many people with the surname Yin in Yujing City, and Yin Qi, whether in his attire or his conduct, does not look like someone from an ordinary family.

"The Yin Duke is my father."

Yin Qi replied. Seeing Yuan Fei's puzzled expression, he added, "I am a Concubine-born Son, and my mother passed away from illness many years ago, so I have no choice but to pursue the path of the imperial examinations."

The Yin Duke Mansion is a family of generals, and the best path forward is to practice martial arts.

With the connections of the Yin Duke Mansion, one could rise through the ranks quickly by joining the army.

For instance, Yin Qi's eldest brother, Yin Xuan, is already a lieutenant in the Divine Machine Battalion at the mere age of twenty-six;

his fourth brother, Yin Jie, is the commander of the Golden Feather Battalion, which can be considered a young man of promise.

One must know that the Divine Machine Battalion and the Golden Feather Battalion are both among the five units of the Imperial Guard, directly under the Qian Emperor.

"So that is how it is!"

Yuan Fei suddenly understood, smiled, and said, "It is getting late, I should return. Yin Qi, I entrust them to you."

"To eat the ruler's salary is to be loyal to the ruler's affairs."

"Very well, we shall meet again."

Yuan Fei nodded, turned around, and left.

She walked away cleanly and decisively, disappearing into the night in the blink of an eye.

A group of foxes looked at Yin Qi, their eyes filled with both curiosity and timidity.

They chirped, though it was unclear what they were saying.

Tu Lao said, "Young Master Yin, it is getting late. I will take you to rest first; we can discuss the matter of teaching tomorrow."

"That is fine."

Yin Qi nodded and said, "By the way, the books I brought are not suitable for Enlightenment. Do you have any appropriate books here?"

"We do, of course we do!"

Speaking of books, Tu Lao said with great pride, "The collection of our Pure Fox Clan is not inferior even when compared to the Confucian Dao families in your Yujing City. It is just that, Young Master Yin, we do not know how to organize them and can only pile them up in a mess, making them very troublesome to find. Therefore, I hope Young Master Yin can help us organize our collection in the future."

"You actually have that many books?"

Yin Qi feigned surprise and said, "If there really are that many books, they do need to be organized well for the sake of future reference."

"Of course! Come, let me take you to see our collection, Young Master Yin."

Tu Lao seemed somewhat impatient.

It was like a child with a new toy, eager to share and show it off to a companion.