409 A Blockade (2)
Under the court minister were the left and right deputy ministers. It was not easy to wait until the previous court minister retired from old age.
Everyone, including the deputy ministers, thought that one of the two could be promoted to replace the minister of the Court of Judicial Review and bring up another person to replace the deputy minister.
Even if he might not be the one promoted, at least he had some hope. Now, he could forget about it.
Severing their career advancement was like killing their parents. It would be strange if they treated Song Jingchen nicely.
Everyone bowed to Song Jingchen perfunctorily. When they saw Luo Sicheng enter behind Song Jingchen, they all went up to him.
“Lord Luo is here.”
“Good morning, Lord Luo.”
Speaking of which, the most miserable person among them was Luo Sicheng. He had stayed in the Hanlin Academy as the top scholar for a year before coming to the Court of Judicial Review to take on the position of left deputy minister.
As soon as the previous minister of the Court of Judicial Review retreated and Minister Luo and Count Xuan Ping worked together, he could naturally take the position of the head of the Court of Judicial Review.
Others might not know, but he knew very well that he was the one who had been recommended by the previous court minister.
He was just waiting for Emperor Chong’an to promote him. However, he did not expect someone to appear.
When he saw the official documents from above yesterday, he almost couldn’t maintain his smile.
It was fine if he was suppressed by Song Jingchen in school, but even now, Song Jingchen was still in his way.
He suspected that Song Jingchen was here to counter him.
Luo Sicheng suppressed the indignation in his heart and cupped his hands at his colleagues with a smile. “Sirs, there’s no need to gather here. Please do whatever work you need to do.”
Everyone smiled awkwardly and cupped their hands before leaving. They weren’t even so respectful to Song Jingchen.
Only then did Luo Sicheng look at Song Jingchen. “Congratulations.”
Song Jingchen nodded and returned to his office.
It was as if he could not remember who Luo Sicheng was.
Luo Sicheng’s face alternated between red and white, and he clenched his fists under his sleeves.
After Shen Yijia bought the vegetables and planted them at home, it was already lunchtime. The three students and one working professional would not come back for lunch.
Madam Li, Lin Shao, and the others waited for her to come back for lunch.
Shen Yijia had just walked into the main hall.
Madam Li came up to her. “Sister Jia, where were you? Why are you only back now?”
She did not blame Shen Yijia for returning late, but the capital was too chaotic. She was worried that Shen Yijia had encountered something outside.
Shen Yijia was too embarrassed to say that she was not familiar with the capital. She brought Mo Yuan along and took many wrong paths. She only said that the road was blocked, so they took a detour to buy groceries.
After dinner, Shen Yijia brought Lin Shao and Bruiser to set up the trellis and placed it on the stone table in the front courtyard.
She also bought grape seedlings that could be planted next to wooden stakes. When the seedlings grew, they could be used to block the sun.
They set up a swing in each of the three courtyards.
After doing this, it was almost time for school to end. Shen Yijia hurriedly took a shower and changed her clothes before leaving.
When they came from Xiagou Village, they drove three carriages. One was now used for Song Jingchen to get to work, and Shen Yijia used another. Shen Yijia let Pinellia and the others use the last one.
When she arrived at the men’s school, there were already many carriages parked there. They were all here to pick the students up.
Shen Yijia asked Mo Yuan to stop the carriage and was about to look for Brother Hao.
Brother Hao came over himself.
“Sister-in-law,” Brother Hao called out weakly.
Shen Yijia thought that he was tired and rubbed his head to let him get into the car first.
Brother Hao opened his mouth, but in the end, he didn’t say anything and obediently climbed into the car.
“Mo Yuan, stay here and watch over Brother Hao. I’ll go pick up Sister Huan and Miaomiao.”
It was too crowded in front. It was faster to just walk.
After instructing him, Shen Yijia darted into an alley at the side and went from the alley to the women’s school.
The time taken for boys and girls to leave school was the same. Sister Huan and Miaomiao must be waiting at the door. She was afraid that the two of them would be anxious if she were late.
Shen Yijia wanted to hurry up, but another obstacle appeared in the alley.
It was not that they were stopping her, but that someone was beating someone up in the alley. They were students of Autumn Deer Academy, four to five people were beating one person up.
There was a straight road in the alley. As soon as Shen Yijia appeared, the other party discovered her.
The academy did not allow students to fight. This alley, which few people walked, became a holy land for them to fight.
The people were shocked. They looked up and saw a delicate young lady. Interest flashed across their eyes.
Shen Yijia frowned and glanced at the student lying on the ground.
She did not intend to interfere in this matter. They were only blocking the way. Shen Yijia could still go over.
However, those people did not intend to let her go. They reached out and blocked the remaining half of the path.
“Young lady, where are you going?” The student in the lead stared at Shen Yijia’s good-looking face and asked without blinking.
Autumn Deer Academy had a good reputation, but there were troublemakers everywhere.
For example, these people all had some status in their families, but the quota for official studies was limited. They were all given to children with better aptitude.
Since they could not go, they could only come to Autumn Deer Academy. On the surface, they were good students, but behind their backs, they vented their grievances on the commoners and lorded over Autumn Deer Academy.
“Do you have money on you?” Shen Yijia asked the people blocking her way.
“What?” The leading student did not understand. Shouldn’t he be screaming and asking what they wanted to do?
Shen Yijia sighed and asked again, “Do you have it or not? I’m in a hurry.”
The leader pondered over Shen Yijia’s words and came to a realization. He laughed and said, “Yes, yes. As long as you have fun with us brothers…”
“That’s good.” Shen Yijia interrupted him and nodded in satisfaction.
Before the leader of the students could react, his arm was suddenly grabbed.
The scene played out.