After Xiao Jinghan returned, Ruo Hong wanted to report his arrival to Yi Qing but was stopped by Xiao Jinghan. He tiptoed towards Yi Qing.
"Back already?" Yi Qing suddenly turned around and made a funny face at Xiao Jinghan.
Xiao Jinghan smiled at Yi Qing's antics and walked over to see what she was looking at. "Why are you reading this?"
"I didn't like the Xie family before, so I didn't know much about Duke Xie. I didn't expect him to be so talented in writing." Yi Qing sighed. "Are these the only three works of his?"
Xiao Jinghan wasn't too sure. "I'll send someone to check."
"No need. I was just asking out of curiosity. Let's go to the Floating Cloud Academy." Yi Qing said as she stood up.
"Are you going to investigate Xue Bozheng?"
"I just want to take a look. Now that the court officials are making such a big fuss about the Xie family, no matter who comes next, as long as we resolve the matter of the Xie family first, everything will be fine."
Xiao Jinghan nodded.
Yi Qing took Baozi and Xiaoran with them. She hadn't taken the children out since she came back, so she took this opportunity to have some fun.
"Floating Cloud Academy?" Xiao Duo was a bit surprised when he heard they were going there.
"What? Don't you want to go?" Yi Qing saw the strange expression on Baozi's face.
"No, it's just that I heard that any scholar who has been to the Floating Cloud Academy won't be accepted by Yunyang Academy."
"Why?" Yi Qing was surprised.
"I don't know either. Maybe it's because the children who go to the Floating Cloud Academy are from poor families and can't get into Yunyang Academy anyway." Xiao Duo guessed.
"Do you think so too?"
Xiao Duo shook his head. "Yunyang Academy is not just about teaching. A lot of troubles happened during the year when the headmaster Lu was away."
Yi Qing of course didn't know about this. "We're just going to take a look."
"I don't mind." Xiao Duo comforted his mother.
It was already afternoon when the family of four arrived at the Floating Cloud Academy. The sound of children's innocent reading came from inside the academy. There were chickens and ducks running in the yard. When they saw the visitors, a young servant walked over.
"Are you here to study?" the young servant asked politely.
"We're here to see Mr. Yu." Yi Qing nodded slightly. The young servant, though wearing shabby clothes, was very polite.
"Please wait a moment. The master will finish his class soon." The young servant led them to a thatched pavilion in the yard.
Xiaoran, being a child, was very interested in the small animals in the yard. Yi Qing took him to run around and play.
Xiao Jinghan felt ignored. He turned around and saw Xiao Duo listening attentively to the reading. "Haven't you learned this?"
"I learned it a long time ago." Xiao Duo looked cold, but the slight curl of his lips couldn't hide his pride. "Have you learned it, Father?"
"This is 'Riding the Waves' by Duke Xie." How could Xiao Jinghan be outdone by his son? "Do you know when Duke Xie wrote it?"
"It was written in the second year of Jianhe at his own birthday banquet." There was a hint of contempt in Xiao Duo's eyes. "It's just a bit strange."
"Strange?"
"Duke Xie has three works that are most well - known to the world: 'Where to Go', 'Ask the Boundless', and 'Riding the Waves'. Among them, 'Riding the Waves' is the most widely spread. In the article, the rain leaking through the roof at night and the fish gasping for breath in a dry rut are the most desolate things in life, but in his writing, there is a sense of calmness. Sailing on a broken boat with wine, even after experiencing all the storms and knowing that the future is uncertain, he still doesn't change his direction." Xiao Duo got a bit excited as he said this.
Xiao Jinghan knew "Riding the Waves" and was also touched by it, but he didn't understand it as deeply as Xiao Duo. This was what was called talent.
"I did some research. At that time, Duke Xie was already a duke and the leader of all the scholars in the world. In his position, what could he have that he couldn't get even after trying his best and not regretting it?" Xiao Duo looked at his father.
Xiao Jinghan really hadn't thought about it. "Maybe..." He couldn't even make up an answer.
"I heard you were looking for me." Yu Yike came over and bowed.
When Yi Qing saw Yu Yike coming, she carried Xiaoran over. "Are you Mr. Yu from the Floating Cloud Academy?"
"That's me." Yu Yike thought these two people looked extraordinary and must not be ordinary people.
"We want to know something about Mr. Xue Bozheng's life." Yi Qing said directly.
Yu Yike's expression changed slightly. "May I ask who you are..."
"I'm Xiao Jinghan, the Marquis of Zhenbei." Xiao Jinghan said directly.
Yu Yike immediately knelt down. "I've seen General Xiao and Lady Xiao."
"You don't need to be so polite." Xiao Jinghan said calmly.
Yu Yike still kowtowed. "I heard from Brother Song that thanks to Lady Xiao, the poor scholars were able to win this time. Please accept my bow."
"Alright, no need to be so polite. We're just here to learn about Xue Bozheng." Yi Qing didn't know how to ask further with all these bows.
Yu Yike invited them into Xue Bozheng's room. The things inside were almost untouched and very clean. "This is the master's room."
"What's your relationship with Xue Bozheng?" Yi Qing saw that all the things in Xue Bozheng's room were very simple and thought he was a very simple person.
"Mr. Xue is my benefactor and teacher. When I came to the capital for the imperial examination, I ran out of money and caught typhoid fever. As a result, I missed that special imperial examination. Later, Mr. Xue was implicated. Before he was imprisoned, he entrusted the Floating Cloud Academy to me and told me to let more people learn to read and understand the principles of life." Yu Yike's eyes began to get wet as he said this.
"Did Mr. Xue leave any calligraphy or paintings?" Yi Qing noticed that there was a desk and a bookcase in the room, but no writing tools.
"When I met Mr. Xue, he had already stopped using writing tools. I heard that he hadn't touched them since he established the Floating Cloud Academy. Even when he needed to write something, he would ask someone else to do it for him." Yu Yike was also very curious.
"Was his hand injured?" Yi Qing asked out of her professional habit.
"Mr. Xue's hands were fine." Yu Yike thought Lady Xiao's question was a bit excessive, but he didn't dare to say anything.
Xiaoran came over with a wooden carving and proudly showed it to his mother.
"This was made by the master." Yu Yike explained.
Yi Qing took the wooden carving from Xiaoran's hand. It was a vivid rabbit. She turned her head and saw a pile of wooden carvings in the corner. They were the twelve Chinese zodiac animals.
"The master liked to make wooden carvings when he was free." Yu Yike sighed slightly as he said this.
Yi Qing thought Xue Bozheng was even more strange. A scholar not using writing tools...
No!
Xue Bozheng must have used writing tools before. Otherwise, how could he have participated in the imperial examinations twice? It was very likely that he stopped using them after establishing the Floating Cloud Academy. So what exactly happened that made him stop using writing tools?
Xiao Jinghan also thought of this. "Does Mr. Xue have any family members?"
"I heard he has a son and a daughter in his hometown. After Mr. Xue had an accident, we wanted to collect some silver to send to his family, but Mr. Xue just wouldn't tell us where his hometown was." Yu Yike was also very confused when he said this.
"It seems that Xue Bozheng has a secret, and it's not a small one." Yi Qing said when she heard a crashing sound. She turned around and saw Xiaoran had knocked down a pile of wooden carvings. "Xiaoran, don't touch other people's things randomly."