After my father was sent to marry into the princess's household, I became the darling of the en

"Don't you walk silently?"

Shen Jingque clutched her chest and took a step back, glaring at Rong Jing who had appeared behind her at some unknown time.

Rong Jing didn't respond to her words, but walked past her and stood in front of the star map.

Long, slender fingers slid slowly along an ink line on the leather map, finally stopping on a star marked with cinnabar.

Shen Jingque's attention was drawn back by this action.

She took two steps closer, staring at the enormous celestial chart with a frown: "Who exactly lives here?"

Before Rong Jing could answer, she fired off a barrage of questions: "Why did the Headmaster entrust the key to the forbidden area to a foreign hostage like you?"

Rong Jing turned around, his brows furrowing slightly as if he had heard a strange joke.

"I have the key, what does that have to do with the headmaster?"

Shen Jingque was stunned. "Isn't the Hundred Herbs Garden a forbidden area of ​​Qishan Academy?"

Rong Jing pulled out a rattan chair and sat down, slowly tidying the hem of his clothes.

"The Hundred Herbs Garden came first, then the Qishan Academy. This courtyard never belonged to the academy."

Shen Jingque's mind went blank for a moment. "Huh?"

"The academy has designated this place as a forbidden area, probably because... the headmaster is afraid of disturbing the owner of this place."

Shen Jingque blinked, a ridiculous thought popping into her mind: "You're the owner of this place?"

She immediately rejected the idea as soon as she said it.

How old is Rong Jing? Qishan Academy was established more than 30 years ago. He probably hadn't even been reincarnated yet at that time.

Rong Jing shook his head, a faint smile appearing in his dark eyes.

"He is my master."

Shen Jingque's eyes widened suddenly.

She had thought that Rong Jing's teacher would be a well-kept secret, but it turned out that his teacher actually lived in the capital, even in the back mountain of Qishan Academy, where aristocratic families gathered.

It really is true that true masters live in seclusion in the city.

The fact that the Embroidered Uniform Guard couldn't find out means that this master must either be of extremely high status or have extremely sophisticated methods, so sophisticated that even the imperial intelligence network couldn't reach him.

The headmaster, Bai Heling, personally designated the Hundred Herbs Garden as a forbidden area, forbidding anyone from setting foot there.

It wasn't because the medicinal herbs inside were precious, but because they were wary of the garden's true owner.

Thinking about it that way, it makes perfect sense that Rong Jing has the key to this courtyard.

It is only natural for an apprentice to look after the yard for his master.

On the contrary, she herself used a hairpin to pick the lock in front of the apprentice, and even broke one of them.

Shen Jingque silently closed her eyes.

How embarrassing...

She cleared her throat: "Who is your master?"

Rong Jing didn't answer the question, but lazily stretched and said, "Have you finished looking at all the herbs? Do you want to pick a few to take back?"

A huge question mark appeared above Shen Jingque's head.

"It's your master's territory, and you're just going to be so generous as to send things out on his behalf?"

Rong Jing sighed, his face full of disgust: "Before that old man went out to travel, he left this medicinal herb field to me to take care of. I have to water it and remove the pests every day. It's so annoying."

He gestured with his chin toward the herb garden, "Pull up a few more plants to lighten my load."

Shen Jingque was so tempted that she almost reached out her hand.

But she still shrank back, shaking her head and saying, "Forget it, we agreed that we were just here to come and take some food and drinks. What kind of behavior is this?"

Rong Jing raised an eyebrow, his smile deepening.

"You're quite particular."

"Then let's try another way. If you really feel bad, you can come and help me take care of the garden from now on. I'll be happy to have some free time."

The voice just fell.

A tattered cloth shoe flew in from outside the door with a sharp whistling sound, aiming straight for Rong Jing's face.

Shen Jingque gasped.

Rong Jing dodged, the cloth shoe brushing past his nose before slapping against the bamboo wall behind him.

A loud, forceful curse came from outside the door.

"You brat, I asked you to manage my yard, and what you did was bring a little girl to do the work for you?"

An elderly man with white hair and a white beard walked in.

An old man with white hair and beard walked in. His hair was messy and tied into a bun with a twig. His eyebrows were so long that they almost reached his cheeks. His worn gray robe was covered with mud, and he was barefoot.

Rong Jing stood up, a rare look of surprise appearing in his eyes. "Master? Didn't you say you wouldn't be back until autumn..."

The old man hopped twice on one foot, bent down to pick up his shoes from the ground, shook off the mud, and put them back on.

"Don't call me master, I don't have a lazy apprentice like you."

Rong Jing went over to help him, but the old man slapped him away.

"Don't give me that crap. Why weren't you this dutiful when I was tending my precious medicinal herb field?"

Shen Jingque was stunned for a moment before she reacted and quickly bowed to the old man.

"Hello, sir. My name is Shen Jingque. I didn't touch the herbs in the yard; I just came in out of curiosity."

The old man withdrew his gaze from Rong Jing's face and turned to look at her.

The moment his gaze fell on Shen Jingque's face, the wrinkles on his face suddenly smoothed out.

He turned to look at Rong Jing, "Is this your friend?"

Rong Jing met his gaze and nodded very slightly.

"Yes, she was curious about the herbs in the yard, so I brought her to see them."

The old man's gaze lingered on his apprentice's face for a few seconds, as if he had confirmed something.

When he turned back, his face was full of kind smiles.

"Good, good, so the little girl likes herbs?"

Shen Jingque was taken aback by the speed of this change of expression, and nodded cautiously, "I...I know a little bit."

To everyone's surprise, the old man simply pulled out a key and, without saying a word, put it in her hand.

"You can come whenever you want from now on, without having to beg this brat."

Huh? We just met for the first time, why did you give her the house key?

Shen Jingque got goosebumps, feeling that the old man was looking at her as if she were a tender little cabbage.

"Thank... thank you, Grandpa." She took half a step back, forcing a smile as she handed the key back. "I can't accept this, please keep it. I'll have Rong Jing bring me next time..."

The old man's face hardened: "Take it when I tell you to, no refusing!"

Shen Jingque withdrew her hand, clutching the key in her palm, afraid to move it again.

The old man was finally satisfied, his gaze sweeping over her, finding her more and more pleasing to the eye.

"Girl, calling me 'old man' is too formal. Just call me Grandpa Feng."

Shen Jingque obediently called out "Grandpa Feng," clutching the key with a somewhat bewildered expression.

After much deliberation, she decisively chose to flee as the best of the thirty-six stratagems.

"Grandpa Feng, it's getting late. I have class this afternoon, so I'll be going now."

After saying that, he waved to the two of them, grabbed Tian Jiu, and ran out without looking back.

The bamboo house fell silent.

Sunlight slanted in through the gaps in the bamboo window, with tiny dust particles floating in the beams of light.

The old man stood there, watching the small figure pass through the herb garden and finally disappear outside the gate of the herb garden.

He looked away, his voice lowering.

"That variable...is it her?"

Rong Jing gazed into the distance and nodded gently.

"Yes, it's her."