Transmigrated as a Stepmother: Time to Bring the Family to Prosper!-Chapter 259 - 258: Night Watch

Having encountered many like Liu Ji who sought to leverage connections, Qi Xian found it a bit disorienting to meet someone like Qin Yao, who treated him with such normalcy.

After a pause, he continued in a mature tone with a child’s face:

"Madam, we’ve met three times, but I still don’t know your name. Could you tell me? Thanks to your help, we’ve been able to escape. Once we return home and settle down, Jing Xuan will certainly send a generous gift to express our gratitude."

"My name is Qin Yao," she smiled at him, "Is Jing Xuan your nickname?"

Qi Xian shook his head and explained, "It’s a name given to me by my teacher."

When dealing with a true benefactor like Qin Yao, Qi Xian’s attitude was completely different compared to those he treated as pseudo-benefactors like Ding Shi and Liu Ji, answering Qin Yao’s questions much more politely.

Qin Yao looked at the young boy before her, similar in build to her own Da Lang, his clothes in disarray, hair unkempt, and face stained with some unknown grayish dirt, yet his eyes were clear and bright.

"The courtyard of this Daoist Temple isn’t spacious, but it has walls, so you don’t have to worry about wild animals intruding at night. It’s quite a rare good spot. If you don’t mind, you can rest here tonight and head out at dawn tomorrow."

While speaking, Qin Yao glanced at the wagon whose doors had never been opened, "There’s a mountain spring nearby. You can heat some water to wash up."

She finished speaking and waved impatiently at Liu Ji and Liu Li, "Come in and cook!"

She included Liu Li because she was entrusted by Liu Dafu.

As for Ding Shi, whatever he intended to do was not her concern. She was not going to give up her advantageous position.

Liu Ji wanted to meet the esteemed scholar himself, but the wagon doors remained closed and with Qin Yao calling ahead, he could only bow helplessly towards the tightly shut carriage door and withdraw.

Liu Li also looked back several times, eager to see the esteemed scholar.

Unfortunately, Ding Shi was here, and his chance had not arrived.

Qi Xian watched as Qin Yao and the families of Liu Li set up their tents in the corner between two intact walls on the east side of the courtyard—the only undamaged walls in the entire Daoist Temple, while the rest were somewhat crumbled. 𝓯𝙧𝙚𝒆𝙬𝙚𝒃𝙣𝙤𝒗𝓮𝓵.𝙘𝙤𝙢

Ding Shi generously offered the space his guards and coachmen occupied to Qi Xian and his teacher.

Thinking of the teacher in the wagon, Qi Xian thanked him and turned to instruct Shi Tou to have the guards set up the tent and then help bring the teacher down from the carriage.

Ding Shi volunteered to help, and Qi Xian glanced at him, nodding in acceptance of his goodwill.

After all, he seemed more agreeable than Liu Ji, who straightaway demanded a meeting with the teacher so egregiously.

The Qi family hadn’t lost much, only some food. Their important books and valuables were untouched.

But at the moment, lacking food could be dire.

Fortunately, Ding Shi gifted them half a bag of rice, and Shi Tou organized the guards to hunt some meat in the mountains, securing dinner for the night.

Qi Xian wasn’t anxious about this. At dawn, he could have the guards use silver to purchase grain from nearby villages.

Expensive or not, this amount of silver was negligible to them.

Once Qin Yao and the Liu Li families had finished their dinner and were preparing to sleep in the tent, Ding Shi led the group including Qi Xian into the temple.

The first to enter were four guards, followed by Qi Xian himself.

The four guards carried a palanquin with a curved backrest where an elderly man, dressed in white Confucian robes with a small, lean frame and gray hair, was sitting.

Upon entering the courtyard, the old man’s sharp, bright dark brown eyes, unlike the usual clouded appearance of others his age, scanned around.

Facing the main gate, Qin Yao was arranging sleeping spots within the tent for four children when she saw Liu Ji, kneeling beside her, spring to his feet in excitement, exclaiming softly, "It’s Gongliang Liao!"

Curious, Qin Yao turned her head, but the old man’s gaze had already shifted, and he was being carried by the guards toward the tent they had just erected.

Qi Xian stood respectfully by the palanquin, accompanying it all the way.

When the palanquin was set down and the guards came to carry the old man on their backs, it became clear why Qi Xian was so reluctant to order the guards to abandon the vehicle and break through earlier.

Because Gongliang Liao had no legs.

Beneath the Confucian robe, it was empty, and everything below the middle of his thighs was gone.

Liu Ji and Liu Li gasped, and Liu Ji couldn’t even imagine the pain it entailed.

Liu Li recalled his own days when bandits broke his legs and he could only lie in bed, moving slowly with a wooden wheelchair. If not for his recent marriage and the ties to his wife, he might have wished for death.

But just now, seeing Gongliang Liao, his sharp eyes, straight back, he even reminded his disciple Qi Xian to come to his tent to check homework before sleeping.

"How old is he?" Qin Yao asked softly.

Liu Ji counted on his fingers before answering uncertainly, "Fifty or sixty?"

Liu Li was more reliable, "He should be sixty-three."

Qin Yao, looking at the tent opposite them in astonishment, thought how remarkable it was in Sheng Country, where the average lifespan was barely forty.

But it was late. Better to just wash up and sleep.

The summer night wasn’t cold, but mosquitoes were plentiful. Fortunately, Liu Ji had bought some mugwort sticks from the inn and burned them on a stone outside the tent to drive the insects away.

To prevent unexpected occurrences at night without a response, Qin Yao assigned Liu Ji to watch the first half and herself the second half of the night.

Liu Ji dared not disagree and kept the fire blazing, secretly observing the opposite side.

Yet the fire was so intense it made him sweat, prompting him to sit slightly forward while listening closely for any disturbances on the other side.

However, Gongliang Liao had not emerged since entering the tent, and after watching for a full half-hour, everything went completely quiet. The guards were divided into three shifts, on duty at the gate, yard, and wall, ensuring no mal-intentioned vagrants could sneak in.

Liu Ji suddenly felt that Qin Yao’s requirement for him to keep watch was redundant.

Ding Shi had also returned to the makeshift room under the corridor by the temple gate where the coachmen were staying.

Given the limited courtyard space, after yielding the space to Qi Xian’s group, they could only rest under the temple gate’s eaves.

Fortunately, the weather was warm, negating any risk of cold-induced illness.

The temple gradually quieted down, with only the soft footsteps of the Qi family guards and the crackling of the fire audible.

Feeling bored, Liu Ji fiddled with the fire... slumped against the carriage, and fell asleep.

While dreaming of a glorious moment of ultimate power, a slap landed on his face, shattering his dream and jolting him awake.

"I told you to keep watch, and you’re sleeping?" Qin Yao questioned in a low voice.

Liu Ji wanted to see who had disturbed his dream, and upon opening his eyes saw the familiar fierce face. His heart trembled as he tried to explain, "Darling, I, I..."

Qin Yao threw her head disdainfully, "Get in there!"

Liu Ji glanced at the moon overhead, realized it was already the middle of the night, and scrambled up, giving Qin Yao a sheepish grin before retreating into the tent.

Soon enough, his gentle snores emanated from within.

Kneading her brow, Qin Yao sat down, suppressing for the hundred and first time the urge to strangle him, ready to watch over the second half of the night.