Chapter 558: Chapter 558: How Does My Wife Want to Kill Me

Liu Ji led the villagers of Liu Family Village to buy a coffin for the driver, specially invited a Daoist to select a feng shui spot, and held a grand two-day feast in the village with a performance troupe, implementing a grand burial with actions.

Qin Yao didn’t know if Zhen Yubai was moved, but her money bag sure was, and she couldn’t help but give Liu Ji a good beating after it was all over.

"I asked you to give him a decent burial, not a grand one. Don’t you know what kind of standard our Liu Family Village has?!"

Liu Ji, holding his head, ran wildly around his own courtyard, and responded in grievance as he heard the angry roar from behind:

"Wasn’t I just doing as my wife instructed? Besides, it’s not like we’re short of silver right now. After all this hustle, we have a good reputation. Now, who in the village doesn’t say how righteous you are! Mr. Zhen even said he’d come personally to thank us once he is well!"

That reputation wasn’t so easily earned. It was only because he went everywhere saying: My wife repeatedly advised me that it wasn’t easy for Mr. Zhen to come to our remote place and, given the unfortunate accident, we must properly handle his driver’s affairs, making him feel at home so he would want to stay and teach our children well.

Qin Yao flung a stick upward, "Thank you my foot. If Zhen Yubai’s thanks are worth thirty taels of silver? If he speaks a few more words, our family will go bankrupt!"

"Bankrupt?" Liu Ji agilely dodged the flying stick and asked studiously, "Please enlighten me, wife, what is bankruptcy?"

Qin Yao didn’t expect his dodging skills to be so practiced, actually evading her stick, her gaze turned cold. Suddenly exerting force, she leapt into the air, descended from above, and immobilized the fleeing Liu Ji with a move like a mountain pressing down.

"Bankruptcy means losing everything, got it?" Qin Yao whispered gently in his ear.

The warm breath entered his ear, making Liu Ji’s hair stand on end. He quickly replied, "Got it, got it!"

Qin Yao snickered, and lightly slapped his handsome face as a symbolic punishment before releasing him, warning:

"If you squander my silver like this again, I will kill you!"

Liu Ji, holding his face, instinctively replied, "How does my wife intend to kill me?"

As soon as he spoke, he realized what nonsense he’d uttered, quickly retreating, nervously watching her, wishing he could slap his own mouth.

Qin Yao stared dangerously at him for a few seconds. Seeing his lashes blink wildly from anxiety, she scoffed at his cowardice and turned away, striding off.

Seeing that she really left, Liu Ji relaxed completely, sat down on the ground, and dared to breathe deeply.

But why was there a tinge of anticipation in his heart just now about being killed by her?

Liu Ji was startled by his own thoughts, hurriedly shaking his head to clear out that absurd notion.

To help Zhen Yubai recover quickly, the village arranged for each family’s ladies and madams to take turns cooking and cleaning, taking care of the new teacher’s daily needs.

And because Qin Yao’s family bore the funeral costs this time, the villagers consciously did not schedule their family for duty.

In this way, a little half month passed. By mid-October, Zhen Yubai had mostly recovered and would occasionally go out for a walk in the village when the sun was nice.

To ensure the teacher felt warmly welcomed by all the villagers of Liu Family Village, Qin Yao specially arranged for Liu Qi and other young villagers to take the teacher around the surroundings whenever they were free to familiarize him with his future working environment.

However, Zhen Yubai didn’t seem to be interested in the village’s natural scenery but instead loved to stroll near the Lotus Courtyard.

If he encountered Gongliang Liao and his disciples pushing a wheelchair out for a walk, he’d immediately approach, trying to join in, claiming that he had long admired the scholars.

Initially, Liu Ji didn’t see anything unusual about it, as there were plenty of scholars coming to the village for his teacher.

But once or twice of bumping into each other might be normal, it started to feel deliberate when it happened every time. 𝕗𝚛𝚎𝚎𝐰𝗲𝗯𝗻𝚘𝚟𝚎𝗹.𝕔𝐨𝕞

Other aspiring scholars, no matter how much they wanted to see the scholars, never neglected their studies. Most of the time, these scholars stayed in their rooms, diligently studying, rarely going out.

Especially in this weather, although the sun occasionally shone during the day, the wind by the river was still chillingly cold, and no one would go out to freeze themselves every day.

Yet another time pushing his teacher out, encountering the gleeful Zhen Yubai approaching, Liu Ji started keeping a closer eye on his teacher’s reactions.

And what he found was startling.

Towards other scholars they casually met, his teacher maintained an aloof demeanor, though he secretly was quite annoyed.

But though Zhen Yubai’s attempts to create chance encounters were obvious and frequent, his teacher showed no hint of annoyance!

This was abnormal, very abnormal.

Liu Ji glanced at Zhen Yubai and suddenly realized that this man, of a similar age to himself, was rather good-looking.

Moreover, his speech was witty and humorous, well-informed, able to talk about everything from all over, possessing the generous and bold aura of a wealthy young master traveling around as a ranger.

And then looking at his teacher Gongliang Liao, his gaze towards Zhen Yubai held a hint of appreciation.

Alarm bells rang loudly in Liu Ji’s heart, an intense sense of crisis rising abruptly—his position as the little junior disciple was precarious.

"Wife, wife!"

Upon returning home, Liu Ji urgently sought out Qin Yao, who was in the hall checking the account book, wanting to whisper his findings into her ear.

Qin Yao, sensing someone approaching, extended a hand. Her palm precisely landed on Liu Ji’s face, applying slight pressure with her fingertips, effortlessly pushing him a meter away.

"Speak while seated," Qin Yao said without looking up, continuing to pore over the account book, her tone clearly displeased at being interrupted.

Liu Ji knew well she disliked being disturbed while focused on tasks. To avoid another beating, he found a chair and sat by the brazier, suppressing his urgency and waiting quietly until she finished.

After about half a quarter of an hour, Qin Yao finally put down the account book, picked up a homemade charcoal pen, and made a few notes in her small notebook.

After finishing the records, she set everything aside and looked up at him, "What is it?"

Given his recent tact, her tone was uncharacteristically gentle.

Liu Ji was virtually flattered, thinking to himself how nice it would be if his wife was this gentle every day.

He bravely pulled his chair closer to her. Even though there was no one else in the room but them, he lowered his voice, whispering his suspicions about Zhen Yubai into her ear.

Finishing, he observed Qin Yao, curious about her reaction.

Unexpectedly, she wasn’t at all surprised, smiling lightly, "The teacher seems so idle. I guess it’s time to start our school."

Liu Ji grew anxious, "Wife, why aren’t you worried at all? He must be trying to become a disciple under the teacher, which is why he’s so eager to create these so-called chance encounters!"

If the teacher really fell for it, would he still be the beloved little disciple?