Chapter 75

，Half Immortal

Forced into a corner, Chong'er had no choice but to muster the courage to step forward and ask, "I beg your pardon. May I ask if Young Master Asheng is residing here?"

He had only been there for a few days and was already looking for Y Qing. However, when he went to the Lizhou Guild Hall to inquire, he learned that Y Qing had moved out, just like his young master. He tried to ask the people at the guild hall for Y Qing's address, but they were too lazy to deal with a lowly servant and dismissed him, citing the confidentiality of the candidates' residences.

He, of course, knew this was not a secret but rather a matter of the guild hall officials looking down on him due to his low status.

As a servant, he had seen such situations many times and understood the situation well.

With no other choice, he returned to the Cao residence.

It wasn't until a few days ago, when the Cao residence paid the servants, including him, and even gave him a bit more as a reward, that he had some money in hand. Yesterday, he found an opportunity to go out and returned to the Lizhou Guild Hall, where he gave some money to the guild hall official to get Y Qing's address at the Zhong residence.

Actually, besides providing him with food and lodging, the Xu family also gave him a small amount of money each month, though not much. He saved it and had accumulated about half a tael of silver, which he kept in his travel bag. However, when the bag was lost, so was his savings.

After obtaining Y Qing's address, he found out that the journey was quite far. He still had daily tasks to do for Xu Fei, and there wasn't enough time, so he had to return.

It wasn't until today that he managed to finish his tasks in the morning and asked Xu Fei for the afternoon off. With Xu Fei's approval, he finally had enough time to walk all the way to the Zhong residence.

When the doorman heard he was looking for Young Master Asheng, his attitude immediately relaxed. Standing on the steps, he asked, "Who are you? Why are you looking for Young Master?"

Chong'er knew the guild hall official hadn't lied to him. Young Master Shiheng indeed lived there. He immediately explained, "I am the servant of Young Master Xu Fei, Young Master Asheng's good friend. I accompanied Young Master Asheng to the capital for the exams. My master entrusted me to bring something for Young Master. Could you please inform him?"

Hearing this, the doorman didn't dare to be negligent. He slightly bowed and said, "Please wait a moment," before quickly turning and leaving.

Y Qing, who was meditating in the room, was awakened by the call of "Young Master" from outside the courtyard.

He finished his meditation, took a book in hand, and then went out.

It was Mr. Ming's day to visit every other day. Despite being alone in the small courtyard, he still used the excuse of studying to avoid being disturbed.

The servant, who dared not enter, saw him and quickly ran over, bowing respectfully. "Young Master, there is a person outside who claims to be the servant of your good friend, Young Master Xu Fei. He says Young Master Xu Fei entrusted him to bring something for you. Would you like to see him?"

Xu Fei? Y Qing's eyes instantly lit up. What could Xu Fei have sent? His first thought was that Xu Fei was sending money to repay his debt. He immediately said with joy, "Please, quickly, please him in."

"Sure," the servant nodded and hurried off.

Y Qing, holding a book behind his back, was full of anticipation, pacing back and forth under the eaves, looking quite like a scholar.

Soon, the servant led Chong'er to the courtyard gate.

Y Qing was already laughing and waving, "Chong'er, over here."

Chong'er's eyes also lit up, and he immediately lost his nervousness, leaving the servant behind and running happily to the eaves, bowing, "Young Master Shiheng."

Y Qing waved his book, "Come, let's go have some tea."

"Sure," Chong'er nodded with a smile.

Y Qing walked into the study with his hands behind his back, and Chong'er followed up the steps, looking around the study, feeling increasingly surprised.

When he first met Y Qing, Xu Fei had already determined that Y Qing was from a poor family. Now, seeing this grand mansion, it was no less impressive than the Cao residence!

He hadn't noticed Young Master Shiheng's martial arts skills earlier, and now he realized he had misjudged him again. Chong'er felt that Young Master Shiheng was really very low-key!

Y Qing sat behind the desk, threw the book on the table, and pointed to the metal jar.

Chong'er immediately knew what to do, quickly going to rinse the teapot with clear water, refilling it, and then opening the metal jar. He lifted out the fire cricket, which looked like a hanging ghost, and smiled, "Big Head, Big Head, we meet again."

Y Qing casually took a folding fan, opened it, and propped his feet up on the desk, leaning back in the chair and gently fanning himself.

Chong'er looked up, "Young Master, has Big Head been well-behaved these days?"

Y Qing chuckled, "He's been fine, as long as he gets fed on time, he's quite obedient."

Chong'er skillfully submerged the fire cricket in the teapot, and soon the teapot began to emit steam.

He then dunked the fire cricket in the boiling water, drained it, refilled it with clean water, and submerged the fire cricket again. After the water boiled, he lifted the fire cricket and put it back in the metal jar, sealed it, and then took a pinch of tea leaves from the tea can and steeped them in the boiling water.

His actions were smooth and fluid, and using the fire cricket to boil water for tea was not at all out of place.

After all, during the journey to the capital, Chong'er had mostly been the one doing this, so his technique was definitely more proficient than Y Qing's.

Chong'er presented the first cup of tea to Y Qing with both hands, placed it on the desk at Y Qing's gesture, and then sat by the tea set, taking a small sip. He noticed Y Qing smiling at him and returned a gentle smile.

Y Qing thought he had a good understanding of Chong'er. Chong'er never dragged things out, so he didn't rush to "collect the debt." However, this time Chong'er seemed different. He sipped the tea slowly, but didn't speak about the main matter. Y Qing couldn't hold back any longer and chuckled, "Chong'er, I heard from the servants that you said Xu Fei asked you to bring something for me. Why don't you take it out and show me? We can enjoy the tea later."

Chong'er obediently put down the teacup, but his expression became visibly anxious, and his fingers fidgeted nervously under the table.

What's going on? Y Qing put his feet down from the desk, sat up straight, and asked, "What's wrong, Chong'er? Where is the thing? Don't tell me you lost it."

Chong'er immediately shook his head, clearly conflicted, but finally took a deep breath, steeled himself, and walked to the desk. He pulled out a folded piece of paper from his sleeve and handed it to Y Qing.

Y Qing looked at the paper with suspicion. This wasn't a silver ticket, and he could tell it wasn't a monthly ticket even with his eyes closed. He didn't know what Chong'er was up to, but he slowly took the paper and unfolded it to see what it was.

When he opened the paper, he saw a few lines of text and muttered, "A national scholar is favored by the emperor's grace, bearing the mandate of heaven..." He quickly scanned the rest of the content, which was incomprehensible, and looked up, asking, "Chong'er, what is this?"

Chong'er's teeth almost bit through his lip before he finally managed to reveal the truth, "It's the exam question for this year's imperial examination."

"Exam question? What exam question? Uh..." Y Qing's eyes widened, and he asked again, "What did you say?"

Chong'er repeated the difficult truth, his inner fear indescribable.

Y Qing couldn't sit still. He knew that the early leak of the exam questions was a serious matter. Moreover, after spending half a month with Mr. Ming, who was very knowledgeable, he understood some things. The examiners hadn't even been decided yet, so how could there be exam questions?

He put away his fan, stood up, and used it to lift Chong'er's chin, looking him in the eye, "Chong'er, do you know what you're saying?"

Chong'er's face was full of distress, and he didn't know how to answer.

He himself couldn't fully understand why he had done such a thing. This time, he had acted purely on instinct.

Y Qing tapped Chong'er's shoulder with his fan, suspiciously asking, "Did Xu Fei ask you to bring this to me?"

Chong'er shook his head and told the truth, "I'm just a servant, and the doorman at the Zhong residence wouldn't let me in easily. I had to use my master as an excuse. The exam question... I stole it from my master's study."

Stolen? Y Qing's mind was filled with doubts. He was full of suspicion and asked, "How do you know this is the exam question, and how could there be an exam question in Xu Fei's study?"

Chong'er lowered his head again, not knowing how to answer. He felt he had done something wrong but couldn't resist acting on his instincts.

Y Qing saw something was off from his reaction, sat back in his chair, and calmly waited, saying, "Chong'er, this is a serious matter. If you don't explain clearly, I'll have to take you to the authorities."

He was testing him with words, and the more severe threats hadn't even been said yet.

Chong'er looked at him in a daze, his eyes red, and large tears rolled down his cheeks.

"Uh..." Y Qing was caught off guard by his sudden reaction, opened his fan, and fanned it in his face, "Stop, stop, why are you crying like a woman?"

Chong'er didn't follow his lead and directly revealed the truth.

"That day, I was cleaning behind the bookshelf in the study. Uncle and my master suddenly entered the study. My master must have seen me carrying water to clean, but I didn't expect him to discuss such confidential matters with Uncle in the study..."

The story was a jumble, and by the end, Chong'er was in tears, sobbing and wiping his face with his sleeve.

Y Qing roughly understood the situation. Xu Fei's uncle had connections with a powerful figure in the capital and had used his influence to obtain the exam questions to help his nephew's future.

He found this quite shocking. Without even knowing who the examiners were, they could obtain the exam questions. He had overestimated the integrity of some people.

But he still didn't understand, fanning Chong'er's face, "Stop crying. Chong'er, I ask you, why did you tell me this, and why did you give me the exam question?" He couldn't quite figure it out!

Chong'er looked at him with tearful eyes, "Young Master saved Chong'er's life several times on the journey. Chong'er is just a servant, with nothing to offer and no skills. I don't know how to repay Young Master's kindness..." As he spoke, he slowly squatted down, hugging his knees and burying his head, sobbing bitterly, as if he had committed a grave sin, eventually crying his heart out, sobbing and gasping, "Chong'er is sorry to the Xu family. Chong'er will work for the Xu family for the rest of my life to repay them."

Y Qing felt a bit of a headache. It turned out to be that kind of so-called repayment of kindness. He scratched his head, wondering if Chong'er didn't know that Xu Fei had promised to pay, and that was why he had protected them and brought them out of the demon realm?

Xu Fei hadn't told Chong'er? Y Qing was now a bit worried. Was Xu Fei trying to avoid the debt by not telling Chong'er, not wanting too many people to know about the debt?

That was four thousand taels!