405 Saving People (2)
If not for what happened yesterday, Emperor Chong’an would not even be willing to give him this official position.
However, he quickly figured it out. Song Jingchen didn’t have the Bulwark Duke’s residence and the Song family’s army.
Song Jingchen was just a paper tiger. If he wanted to gain a foothold in the capital, he had to work for him.
The position of the court minister was just right. He also had the right to investigate cases. Song Jingchen could help him investigate the whereabouts of the missing girls.
The investigation of that case was a deal between him and Song Jingchen. There was no need to say it explicitly. The two of them knew it very well.
After Eunuch Li presented the rewards, he left. Apart from some cloth, the rest were hairpins and jewelry.
Although it was said to be a reward for Song Jingchen, there was nothing that men could use. Instead, it was for some young women.
It was not appropriate for Madam Li to wear these at her age. Sister Huan was still young and had no use for them. It was better to say that they were all given to Shen Yijia.
Shen Yijia wasn’t interested in these things at all because Song Jingchen had told her.
These things could not be sold!
How stingy. Didn’t they know that what they lacked the most was money?
Of course, Emperor Chong’an knew, but he felt that women loved money to buy these things.
That’s right. After learning from Eunuch Deng that Shen Yijia was a money-grubber, Emperor Chong’an decided to bribe Shen Yijia.
He felt that Song Jingchen would not have his guard up against her.
Unfortunately, Shen Yijia was not an ordinary person. She liked pure money.
Not only did she not understand Emperor Chong’an’s intentions at all, but she also despised him.
After asking Mo Yuan and the others to move the things into the storeroom, she urged Song Jingchen to go out.
Although men’s and women’s studies were both available at the Autumn Deer Academy, they were actually not in the same place. There were two alleys between them.
Shen Yijia understood that there was a huge difference between men and women.
Autumn Deer Academy was on the west side of the city, not far from Liu’er Street. They could reach it in a carriage in about half an hour.
The director was the only top scholar who had won three Yuan in a row during the late emperor’s reign. His wife was also a famous talent in the capital at that time.
Of course, she was a talented girl, not a fake like Shen Ruyun.
Originally, she was supposed to be a talented official in the cabinet. However, ever since the dean’s wife was seriously ill, the dean resigned and opened Autumn Deer Academy in the capital.
The dean’s wife’s name was Qiu, meaning autumn, and everyone called her Madam Qiu. The dean’s surname was Lu, meaning deer. That was the origin of the name of Autumn Deer Academy.
The couple was in charge of male and female studies, respectively. However, Madam Qiu was not in good health, and the matters regarding female studies were basically handled by the institute. If they could not make a decision, they would look for her.
It was rumored that Dean Lu loved Madam Qiu so much that he resigned to spend more time with her. Managing an academy was also what Madam Qiu wanted to do in her life.
In short, their love story was earth-shattering. It was not inferior to the old prince and the old princess consort.
Madam Qiu, who had been sick for 20 years, was still alive. It could be said that the heavens did not want to see a lover separated from the world.
The truth was that Dean Lu had resigned because he wanted to accompany Madam Qiu more. Opening the academy was also what the two of them wanted to do.
However, the reason why Madam Qiu could hold on until now was because Director Lu had been using good medicine to nourish her. Moreover, she was only weak, not terminally ill.
When the carriage stopped at the entrance of the women’s school, Song Jingchen had just finished introducing them.
Shen Yijia treated it like a novel and listened with relish. If not for Sister Huan’s reminder, she would have asked Song Jingchen to talk more about it.
Song Jingchen had to accompany Brother Hao to the boys’ school, so Shen Yijia brought Sister Huan and Lin Miaomiao in.
At first, Song Jingchen didn’t trust her. It was only when Shen Yijia patted her chest and promised to be serious that he finally agreed.
Shen Yijia handed Song Jingchen’s business card to the old woman guarding the door. The old woman went in with the business card and came out less than 15 minutes later.
She brought them straight to the etiquette hall.
The invigilator was a woman in her early forties. She looked very serious.
She sized up the three of them and finally looked at the two children. “How old are you? Have you studied before?”
She looked serious, but her words were quite gentle.
Actually, Shen Yijia did not look old. If not for the fact that she had a married woman’s hairstyle, the institute would definitely mistake her for a student who was coming to school.
Sister Huan and Lin Miaomiao answered her question obediently.
The institute director nodded and got someone to bring over two exam papers. She thought for a moment and said, “You don’t have to be nervous. These are a
