Liu Ji eventually got the news, knowing that the local famous merchants were planning to invite him. He hurriedly finished his lessons at the Lotus Courtyard, made his teacher happily fooled, and ran excitedly back home.

As soon as he entered, he found Qin Yao exercising in the backyard, rushed in front of her and excitedly asked, "My dear, where’s my invitation? Quickly, let me see it!"

For the first time in his life, he felt so welcomed by others!

Qin Yao put down her mighty sword, looking at his happy demeanor, he was just a wagging tail away from looking like a joyful dog.

"It’s on the table in my room..." She hadn’t finished saying ’go get it yourself’ before the person in front of her vanished.

Qin Yao’s mouth twitched slightly, she was just about to resume her unfinished exercise when she heard someone’s maniacal laughter from the main house, accompanied by excited shouts, "Even the Fan Family!"

The Fan Family?

Qin Yao vaguely recalled a blurred figure, it seemed that when Liu Ji was in the county academy, he was quite close with a Fan family scholar.

Anyone who could associate with the old Liu Ji wasn’t likely to be decent. Qin Yao directly crossed the Fan Family off the reply list.

Liu Ji didn’t know about this, he only knew Mr. Fan liked to gamble, and if the two families got along well, he could spend others’ silver and witness the world at the gambling house.

He specially put the Fan Family’s invitation aside, looking for a pen to write a reply, but then looked up and realized he was still in the ’bad wife’s’ room.

"Dear, you’re busy with a myriad of affairs, surely you don’t have time to handle these invitations, shall I take them all to the study and reply on your behalf?" Liu Ji leaned out the window and solicited Qin Yao in the backyard obsequiously.

Qin Yao’s mouth curved slightly, "Sure, just write your replies first."

Liu Ji didn’t notice the word ’first’, he only heard her say yes, overjoyed, he grabbed the twelve invitations and headed to the study.

He pondered over many words for the replies but still felt they weren’t enough. During dinner, he invited Qi Xian and Gongliang Liao home, to inquire about their advice while they ate.

Qi Xian had never encountered such a situation, he looked at his delighted junior brother in astonishment, "Aren’t you deceiving the court?"

Liu Ji wasn’t even an official yet, and so many unscrupulous merchants were already seeking him out. What would happen if he became an official in the future?

Liu Ji chuckled, "Senior brother, you’re overthinking. This is a family affair, how can it be called deception? Besides, see where on these invitations there’s anything untrue? If people sincerely offer me lands and shops, I wouldn’t be wronging their good intentions by refusing, right?"

Qi Xian slapped away Liu Ji’s hand attempting to fall on his head and turned to Gongliang Liao, "Sir!"

Gongliang Liao calmly ate, as if accustomed to such matters, said in a peaceful tone:

"Jing Xuan, as long as it complies with the rules, it’s correct."

Qi Xian was surprised by the teacher’s words and quickly questioned, "Is right always correct?"

He was very worried about Liu Ji, who was not a virtuous person, to begin with, and the teacher’s indulgence might only harm him!

Gongliang Liao gave a profound smile, "Right and wrong are determined by people, it only depends on which side the rule-maker is on."

"Jing Xuan." Gongliang Liao gazed compassionately at Qi Xian, "If you think it’s wrong, that’s just your opinion, if you cannot become a rule-maker, then you just have to follow the rules, understand?"

"Of course, I’m not saying you must become someone who only follows rules and forgets your principles, I just hope you can, like your junior brother, blame others more and blame yourself less, be happier."

Sometimes, being someone who goes with the flow is easier.

Of course, Gongliang Liao wouldn’t say such things to someone like Liu Ji, precisely because he knew the young man in front of him held firm beliefs, he wanted him to be a bit more indulgent.

"Sir?" Qi Xian frowned more deeply, looking at the elderly man, whose gaze unusually carried affection, a hint of worry surged in his eyes.

"Why are you saying things like you’re about to leave such advice?"

Gongliang Liao was startled, then burst into laughter.

Liu Ji and Qi Xian exchanged a glance, realizing for the first time in tacit agreement that something was off with their teacher.

After dinner, on the way to sending Gongliang Liao and Qi Xian back to the Lotus Courtyard, Liu Ji tentatively asked the old man if he wanted to go into town to see a doctor.

Qi Xian also chimed in, "Sir, it’s been a while since you’ve had the doctor check on you."

Unexpectedly, as soon as they spoke, Gongliang Liao’s face darkened completely.

The brothers immediately fell silent, only secretly observing the old man’s physique to see if there was any issue.

Yet, from the walk back to the Lotus Courtyard, they didn’t notice anything unusual.

Liu Ji had initially wanted to assist his teacher in bathing, thoroughly inspecting his stumps for any signs of infection, but the old man gave him a resounding slap on the back of his head.

Covering his head and fleeing the courtyard gate, Liu Ji could still hear a roar from behind, "This old man’s body is as strong as ever!"

Liu Ji patted his chest, unexpectedly relieved.

This vitality, even greater than his own, indeed showed that the teacher’s body was fine.

Meandering back home, he saw the light was still on in Qin Yao’s room. Liu Ji handed over the twelve polished replies by the teacher and brother, asking Qin Yao to have Song Yu send them.

"Got it." Qin Yao was watching the investigation ’report’ brought back by Ah Wang, waved her hand without lifting her head to signal Liu Ji to close the door.

Liu Ji, delighted, said, "Then I’ll trouble you, dear."

Closing the main house door, his feet as if equipped with springs, he bounced back to the study, eagerly awaiting the delightful scene of being invited to twelve banquet houses, blissfully drifting into dreams.

But unexpectedly, Qin Yao only replied to three invitations.

"Why?"

Holding back tears upon learning the truth, Liu Ji confronted Qin Yao aggressively, hands on hips, questioning:

"Obviously, only replying to three, why did you make me write all twelve replies, dear?!"

Qin Yao raised her eyebrow in surprise and asked, "Aren’t you upset because you can’t attend twelve banquets in a row?"

Of course! Liu Ji screamed in his heart.

However, saying it out loud would mean he was asking for a beating.

After all, that little scheme of his couldn’t be exposed, so he could only question her about making him write twelve replies.

Qin Yao looked at him amusingly, called Ah Wang and Yin Le over, "Tell him why only three invitations were replied to."

Ah Wang looked at Yin Le, motioning her to explain.

Yin Le cleared her throat, seriously and rigorously explained to her teacher-in-law:

"Like this, after a thorough cross-investigation by Ah Wang and me, we discovered among the twelve merchant families, the Zhang family’s descendants act bizarrely, Xuan family’s master is lecherous. The Wu, Wang, and Fan families favor extravagance, and the Fan family likes gambling..."

"Befriending such people easily sullies your reputation, teacher-in-law, which might affect your career, so we left only the diligent, honest, and virtuous Deng, Qian, and Shen families."

Liu Ji, tears moved by their words, pointed at Ah Wang and Yin Le, repeatedly said, "Good, good."

Well done, not leaving a single path of indulgence!