As they did the chores in silence, Xue Cong, Yue Jie, and Yue Xin tried to figure out a way to help Lin Xuan Qi.

Alas, they weren't able to think of something.

In Da Qian Dynasty, most women didn't have the choice to do much except help the family with chores, and when their age was suitable, they would be married off to another family.

And the cycle would repeat for most of them.

Only outliers like Liu Shi Shi had the opportunity to learn martial arts and lead a much different life than theirs.

Yue Xin cursed at the fact that she still didn't have the chance to learn martial arts from Lin Xuan Qi.

But the feeling of knowing something was about to happen and they didn't have much agency to help their master bothered them a lot.

Crack.

Yue Jie got distracted in her thoughts, and she dropped the plate that she was holding in her hands.

"Are you all right?" Xue Cong came over and asked.

"I'm fine." Yue Jie bent and picked up the pieces of the broken plate scattered on the ground.

Her heart sank as it was a bad omen.

Yue Xin came over to help, and as she did so, she made a decision.

"I don't care, I'm going to ask Liu Shi Shi to teach us some moves to protect ourselves. That's the least we can do."

Xue Cong and Yue Jie's hands froze in the air for a moment.

They glanced at each other, and they nodded to Yue Xin's suggestion.

...

The Magistrate Residence.

Magistrate Ho sat in his chair made of expensive wood, laced with jade, fuming.

His servants cowered behind him, breathing lightly, afraid of making any noise to antagonize him further.

"Where is that spoilt brat!" He wasn't too pleased with his son, disappearing out of sight for days.

His son was supposed to study hard for the imperial exams that were coming up soon.

And yet, he was nowhere to be found in the residence.

His son's teacher was shaking and drenched in cold sweat, standing before him.

"Young master... I..." His son's teacher tried to cook up an excuse but couldn't do so.

"Huh." Magistrate Ho blew out some air, and his long beard ruffled.

Before he could say anything else, a servant ran into the hall and knelt in front of Magistrate Ho.

"Magistrate Ho, we've found young master."

Magistrate Ho smashed his hand onto the tea table beside him, and he shouted, "Where is he then!"

"He is on the way as we speak." The servant quickly replied with his body trembling.

"Let me go!" A young man held by two servants was brought into the hall.

He tried to struggle free but couldn't do so.

When he was brought in front of Magistrate Ho, they let go of him.

The young man, Ho Kun, tried to turn and run away but froze when he heard a familiar voice shouting loudly at him.

"Where do you think you are going!"

Magistrate Ho picked up a teacup beside him and threw it at the young man.

Whoosh.

The teacup came at Ho Kun's face, and he ducked at the very last minute.

Ho Kun took the opportunity to kneel down in front of his father.

Magistrate Ho fumed and shifted his long beard to the side.

"Where have you been?" His eyes opened wide, and he stared at Ho Kun.

Ho Kun's eyes darted away from his gaze, and he stammered, "I... er... went to Cui Hua Lou..."

"Hmph. Cui Hua Lou, a nice sounding name for a brothel indeed." Magistrate Ho said and wagged his finger at Ho Kun, holding the expletive speech he had inside of him.

"Father, it's a brothel, but I was there to study." Ho Kun tried to explain himself.

"Study what exactly?" Magistrate Ho's face turned red from the anger he had when he heard his son's nonsensical excuse.

"It's true, father. There were two poems making waves among the circle, and I would be an outcast if I didn't know them."

"Poems? Let me hear it." Magistrate Ho lowered his finger and waited for his son's response.

"Ahem." Ho Kun cleared his voice and started to recite the first poem he had heard.

...

"...as endless rivers eastward flow." Magistrate Ho closed his eyes, mumbled the last line to himself, absorbed in the atmosphere of the poem.

When he was done, he opened his eyes and nodded his head at Ho Kun.

Magistrate Ho leaned forward and said, "What's the next one?"

Ho Kun, seeing that his father was also equally enthralled by the poem like he was, stood up and began to recite the second poem from Lin Xuan Qi.

This time, the first sentence of the poem hit hard compared to the first one.

When Ho Kun was done, all that Magistrate Ho could think of was "Had life remained like the first embrace".

"They are great poems indeed." Magistrate Ho leaned back onto his chair and mumbled the poems over again.

The servants got to work quickly while their master was still mesmerized by the poems.

They picked up the broken teacup from the ground and poured a new cup of tea for Magistrate Ho.

Magistrate Ho picked up the teacup and took a sip from it.

"So... Can I go now?" Ho Kun asked warily.

His father put down the teacup and stopped him.

"Do you know who wrote the poem?" Magistrate Ho asked.

If he could catch hold of the person, he would be able to get the person to write one poem for Lee Zhen Ren's birthday.

The poem would be a gift that would be worth more than the usual gold and jewelry the other rich clans and merchants would give.

He waited patiently for Ho Kun's answer.

"Err... I only know the first poem is by someone who had a challenge with Sima Long from the Sima family.

"As for the second poem, no one knows who it was.

"The person disappeared right after reciting the poem."

Magistrate Ho frowned at what he heard.

It would be tricky for him if the Sima family was involved.

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