Chapter 275: The Second Prince’s Invitation
Translator: Dragon Boat Translation Editor: Dragon Boat Translation
“Master Song, as a descendant of the Song family, have you never thought of redressing the injustice and exonerating your grandfather?” the Second Prince quickly asked.
Upon hearing the Second Prince point out his identity, Song Que’s body trembled momentarily.
After a long while, he cupped his hands and bowed to the Second Prince.
“I’m just a commoner. My words carry little weight. I don’t dare to have such outrageous thoughts.”
In his previous life, it was because of these words that he resolutely followed the Second Prince and left Mountain Spring Town.
Thereafter, he would assist the Second Prince to climb to the top step by step.
However, in this life, he had something that he cared about and only wanted to lead a low-key peaceful life.
Things like exonerating the name of the Song family and restoring his ancestors’ glory didn’t mean much to him.
The Second Prince looked at Song Que and thought that he was just being polite.
Thus, he said, “What if I can help you?”
Song Hong’s descendants would definitely be of great help to him.
In addition, he didn’t want to give up a battle talent like Teacher Qin.
Teacher Qin didn’t want to follow him because of her female identity and also she couldn’t bear to leave her attractive husband.
If he brought her husband along, Teacher Qin would naturally follow him.
If he could obtain these two, then he would have profited tremendously on this trip to Hua An Prefecture.
Song Que’s body froze momentarily.
“Thank you for your kind intentions, Your Highness. However, Grandfather’s final words were for Father to take his family away from the capital. He also instructed that for the next thirty years, the descendants of the Song family were not to not enter the Imperial Court.”
This was also the reason his father had enrolled him in the academy later than usual and did not rush him to take the imperial examination.
In reality, strictly speaking, before his father passed away, there was still a long time before the thirty-year restriction his grandfather had imposed lapsed.
However, his father had high hopes for him and didn’t really care much about the thirty-year restriction.
The Second Prince was stunned.
Then, he glanced at Song Que.
“Thirty years…” he muttered.
“The reason Prime Minister Song set the thirty-year restriction was that he felt that Empress Jia’s faction could not stay in power for 30 years.
“But the facts have proven that Prime Minister Song overestimated the ability of Empress Jia’s faction.
“Now that Empress Jia and Emperor Father’s health is deteriorating day by day, whether it’s our Huangfu family or the ministers in the court, the opposition to Empress Jia is growing stronger by the day.
“Empress Jia’s fall will occur sooner or later.” In other words, once his Emperor father passed away, everyone would have no scruples, and Empress Jia would soon fall from power.
Song Que was silent.
In his previous life, after he had followed the Second Prince, the Emperor passed away two years later.
Following that, the Second Prince stormed the palace with his troops and forced Empress Jia to relinquish the reins of power to the Huangfu family and make him the next Emperor in waiting.
After the Second Prince ascended the throne, he did exonerate the Song family and even promoted Song Que all the way until he became the new Prime Minister.
Looking at the present state, the current Empress Jia, like the Emperor, was in her twilight years. Now that she was no longer as ruthless, her grip on the Imperial Court was indeed not as strong as before.
If Song Que wanted to, he only needed to follow the path taken in his previous life.
Glory, wealth, prestige, and reputation would all be at his fingertips.
Unfortunately, he no longer wanted to walk the same path as he did in his previous life.
The Second Prince gazed at Song Que. When he saw that the latter did not respond, he was a little annoyed.
He felt that Song Que was uncompromising and inflexible. At the same time, he doubted whether he had made the wrong judgment about this guy.
However, when he thought of Qin Xiaoyao, he felt that he had to fight harder to win over Song Que.
Just as he was about to speak, Qin Xiaoyao returned.
She was quite surprised to see her husband standing in front of the Second Prince rigidly, not even daring to raise his head.
When the Second Prince saw Qin Xiaoyao, he quickly changed his expression and asked Song Que to return to his seat.
Song Que did not stand on ceremony and cupped his hands at the Second Prince before returning to his seat.
Qin Xiaoyao didn’t ask any questions and poured tea for the Second Prince.
Then, she poured one cup each for Song Que and herself.
Following that, she sat down and invited the Second Prince to have a taste of the tea.
The Second Prince was extremely keen on recruiting Qin Xiaoyao, so he was very obliging.
“It’s been a long time since I’ve had tea so leisurely.” The Second Prince took a sip of tea and said with a sigh.
Of course, this tea was not really very excellent tea.
However, he was in a rare mood to appreciate tea.
In the past few years, the Second Prince had been fighting wars outside almost all the time because of Empress Jia’s political machinations in the Imperial Court as well as the enmity between the Imperial Court and the surrounding states.
This time, he came to Hua An Prefecture to suppress the rebellion and finally came to Mountain Spring Town. It was considered an unusual expedition.
And now that it was close to the end of the year, he was allowed to station troops in Mountain Spring Town and recuperate until after the Lantern Festival. It brought him a rare period of welcomed peace.
This was the first time he felt that the quality of tea was not determined by the tea leaves or the skills of the person who brewed it, but by the mood of the person who drank the tea.
Qin Xiaoyao smiled. “That’s because Your Highness is busy with a lot of work.
“If Your Highness is willing to take a break from your busy schedule, there is a lot of such tea available.” Although the tea leaves she bought were not bad, they were not the best either.
It was impossible for her to catch the eye of this person by just using the quality of the tea leaves.
When he saw Qin Xiaoyao talking to him without restraint and was very at ease in front of him, the Second Prince was quite pleased inwardly.
“Teacher, you have a point.
“It’s just that the Imperial Court has assigned me to station my troops in Mountain Spring Town and manage the county affairs. It’s hard for me to get free time…” The Second Prince sighed again.
As he spoke, his gaze once again turned to Song Que.
“The mountain bandits rebelled and killed wantonly. Many officials in the county have been killed, and there aren’t many suitable candidates in Zhao County that I can use…”
Qin Xiaoyao could catch the hidden meaning in the Second Prince’s words and she followed the Second Prince’s gaze to look at Song Que.
“Your Highness is short of manpower?” Then, she smiled and asked the Second Prince.
The Second Prince was clearly interested in recruiting her husband.
If it was only helping with the county affairs, it was definitely a good opportunity for her husband.
It would be beneficial for her husband’s future development if he could get familiar with the staff at the government office.
Upon hearing Qin Xiaoyao’s question, Song Que looked at his wife.
When he saw Qin Xiaoyao wink at him, the man felt a little helpless.
When he was faced with the Second Prince’s recruitment offer, he had resisted the pressure and chosen to refuse.
However, his wife did not understand him…
Then again… he might as well try. The Second Prince would not stay in Mountain Spring Town for long anyway. It was fine if he only went to the government office to help deal with some administrative tasks.
At the thought of this, Song Que smiled faintly back at Qin Xiaoyao.
The Second Prince noticed the couple’s interaction and found it intriguing that Song Que was finally relenting.
“Indeed, we lack manpower. This time, I’m not just here to visit you two. I also want to ask you two to help the government office with some work,” the Second Prince added.
Qin Xiaoyao was very surprised.
“I have to go too?” she asked.
She could understand why he was looking for her husband. After all, her husband was famous for his talent in Mountain Spring Town.
However, what did he want her for?
She didn’t know anything about government affairs. Other than her strength, she didn’t seem to have anything else worthy of the Second Prince’s attention.
The Second Prince smiled and nodded.
“Teacher’s martial arts skills are outstanding. If you can agree to help train the troops, the soldiers will definitely benefit a lot.
“As for Master Song, you can go to the government office to help.”
When she heard the earlier statement, Qin Xiaoyao was a little reluctant.
However, when she heard the last statement, she did not want her rejection to affect her husband.
Although she didn’t want to admit it, it was clear that a martial arts expert like her was more highly-valued by the Second Prince than her husband..