Chapter 163 3/3

Jin Xiaoye wasn’t angry… Li Qingzhi smiled, “Xiaoye, I’m feeling down today because I remembered something from the past. Can you give me a hug?”

Jin Xiaoye hugged Li Qingzhi, “Don’t dwell on it. You’re living well now, and your family must be happy for you… Ah Qing, you can’t tell anyone about this.”

“I’ll only tell you,” Li Qingzhi said.

Hearing Li Qingzhi say this, Jin Xiaoye felt quite good—Li Qingzhi was willing to confide in her, indicating he trusted her a lot.

This was a matter of life and death!

Actually, upon learning Li Qingzhi’s background, she was worried too, but then she thought… Li Qingzhi could even participate in the imperial examinations now, so his current identity must be secure.

Moreover, Li Qingzhi’s appearance had changed a lot.

So, as long as she and Li Qingzhi kept this matter to themselves, no one would know, and Li Qingzhi would remain safe.

In that case, it wasn’t such a big deal!

Fang Jin’niang changed her identity and was living well in the prefectural capital, right?

Jin Xiaoye embraced Li Qingzhi, patting his back to comfort him.

Whenever Li Damao and Li Ermao cried before, she did this.

Li Qingzhi hugged Jin Xiaoye for a while before letting her go. “Xiaoye, I’m not feeling great today because I plan to write about the flood in Yuxi Prefecture. I’ve recalled many things and written some… Do you want to take a look?”

Of course, Jin Xiaoye wanted to see it. So Li Qingzhi handed her the manuscript he had written and continued writing.

Thanks to Li Qingzhi’s influence, Jin Xiaoye was learning quickly now. Presently, she recognized most common characters and had no trouble reading simple texts.

She could understand what Li Qingzhi had written.

After she finished reading… she genuinely felt heartache.

Li Qingzhi must have endured a lot on the journey of famine and later was forced to mine stones…

Jin Xiaoye looked at Li Qingzhi with affection and couldn’t help but pat his head.

Li Qingzhi: “…” Jin Xiaoye’s gaze made him feel a bit strange, as if it were filled with maternal love.

Anyway, after telling Jin Xiaoye about this matter, he could write the book freely without worrying that Jin Xiaoye would find it odd after reading it.

As for others… he wouldn’t let anyone else into the study.

“Aqing, what are your plans after finishing this book?” Jin Xiaoye asked. “Will you print it yourself?”

“I plan to give this manuscript to Governor Zhang and ask him to print it or send it to Lu Qingxi,” Li Qingzhi said.

“Can you do that?” Jin Xiaoye asked.

“Yes, Governor Zhang is a good official,” Li Qingzhi said.

There were indeed some issues with the book he wrote, but they were aimed only at King Jin.

According to the information he received, Lu Qingxi had been very dissatisfied with the delay in sending relief funds and supplies to Yuxi Prefecture.

Therefore, even if Governor Zhang printed this book, it would only make King Jin hate him more; no other problems would arise.

As for King Jin… even if Governor Zhang didn’t print the book, King Jin already disliked him.

He wouldn’t tell Governor Zhang his true identity; he would simply say that everything he wrote was based on what he saw and heard while fleeing from Yuxi Prefecture to Chongcheng County. Few people knew about this event, but it wasn’t a secret.

Jin Xiaoye said, “We send gifts to Governor Zhang every day now. After you finish writing, we can deliver them together.”

Since the Juewei Zhai in the provincial capital opened, people had been delivering food to Governor Zhang every day.

Li Qingzhi said, “No need to wait for me to finish. I’ll probably write six thousand words today. When I finish those, I’ll take them to Juewei Zhai and have them sent to Governor Zhang tomorrow.”

He could send them more often and have more interaction with Governor Zhang.

That day, Li Qingzhi indeed wrote six thousand words.

After finishing, he sealed them in an envelope and handed them to the two laborers who delivered food to the provincial capital. He instructed them to put the envelope in the food box and deliver it to Governor Zhang.

The food they delivered was all given to Governor Zhang’s trusted gatekeeper. That gatekeeper would definitely hand the letter to Governor Zhang.

The next day at noon…

Seeing that it was almost time, Governor Zhang’s gatekeeper began to look around.

It was time for them to bring food to the governor!

Since the Juewei Zhai in the provincial capital opened, they had been delivering food to Governor Zhang every day.

At first, Governor Zhang didn’t want to accept it, but those people left as soon as they put it down… Governor Zhang had no choice but to accept it.

But Governor Zhang also reciprocated… he collected some books and had them sent to Li Qingzhi by people from Juewei Zhai.

The gatekeeper liked the people from Juewei Zhai a lot; the food they brought was really delicious and made Governor Zhang eat a few more bites.

During this time, Governor Zhang’s complexion had been getting better and he had gained a little weight.

As he was thinking, the gatekeeper saw the people from Juewei Zhai coming, carrying a food box.

The gatekeeper took the food box from them and, while doing so, handed them the food box they brought yesterday. He smiled and asked, “What do we have today?”

“Our shopkeeper made pork intestines especially for Governor Zhang last night. He’ll definitely like it!” one of the laborers delivering food from Juewei Zhai said with a smile. Then he lowered his voice, “There are also things from my master inside.”

As soon as the gatekeeper heard that there were things from Li Qingzhi inside, he said, “The governor happens to be at home. I’ll take it to him right away.”