Chapter 18: “If You Say So, I Won’t Be Tired Anymore!”
On this night, Ye Ning’s name spread throughout the capital city.
And with exaggerated speed, it spread to the entire Great Zhou.
Too many people couldn’t sleep because of Ye Ning, but Ye Ning slept soundly.
There was nothing as significant as life and death, and Ye Ning wasn’t afraid of death. What else could keep him awake?
He stretched lazily and got up from the bed.
In comparison to modern life, the life of ancient people was naturally inconvenient.
This made Ye Ning somewhat uncomfortable.
But it didn’t matter. After all, he had passed the imperial examination, although his official position was not high, he still had a house on the outskirts of the city, where he could come and go freely.
There weren’t many people at home, just an old servant and a cook.
After breakfast, Ye Ning lay comfortably on the rocking chair, pondering his heroic deeds.
The previous attempt was just a coincidence.
Ye Ning was determined. He wouldn’t give up just because of one failure.
But his thoughts were constantly interrupted.
“Master, someone has sent another invitation!” The old servant, surnamed Huang, didn’t have a name, and he called himself Lao Huangtou.
Of course, Ye Ning called him Uncle Huang.
Whether Lao Huangtou was yellow enough was hard to say, but he was flustered now.
I, Lao Huangtou, the master’s servant.
I used to live a simple life.
On this day, the master went to the palace as usual to attend the court session.
What I didn’t expect was that everything changed after the court session ended!
When I woke up from a nap and pushed open the courtyard door, it was full of people!
There were scholars in Confucian robes and servants from wealthy families wearing silk outside.
They all had one purpose: to pay their respects to Ye Ning.
Lao Huangtou was somewhat dazed. Such a bustling scene actually appeared at the door of a minor imperial official!
“Master must have done something extraordinary!”
He piled up the invitations like small mountains and brought them to Ye Ning.
Ye Ning didn’t even look at them and threw them all aside.
He wasn’t in the mood to meet these people.
Lao Huangtou considered that while ordinary scholars outside were one thing, some people were obviously the sons of officials.
So many second-generation officials, wouldn’t it be bad to offend them?
He didn’t understand grand principles, but he also knew that in officialdom, what mattered was putting up a show of respect. Ye Ning was being disrespectful, which wasn’t the way of an official.
But Ye Ning’s response made Lao Huangtou feel absurd.
“If I see them, will they kill me?” This question left Lao Huangtou dumbfounded.
“That… is not very likely,” he replied hesitantly.
Ye Ning was uninterested and disappointed.
“If they won’t kill me, why should I see them?”
Lao Huangtou hesitated to speak. “Master, are you sure you didn’t say that backwards?”
After all, Lao Huangtou was just a servant.
If the master didn’t want to see guests, what more could he say? As for those second-generation officials outside, their fathers weren’t high-ranking officials anyway. Offending them was offending them.
But out of courtesy, he still went out to explain.
“Gentlemen, our master is studying and is not in the mood to receive guests. Please understand.”
He thought there would be dissatisfaction from the crowd.
But to his surprise, they had no objections at all.
“No wonder Master Ye is so distinguished, always studying diligently, truly putting us scholars to shame!”
“Waking up early to study is the right thing to do for us scholars.”
“I’ll learn from Master Ye and go back to study. I’ll come to pay my respects tomorrow!”
The crowd had no objections and even praised Ye Ning.
Lao Huangtou’s face twitched. He randomly came up with a reason, and it actually garnered praise from the crowd.
This world was too surreal.
“What did Master do exactly?”
He was curious.
Although there was a lot of commotion yesterday, he was just an uncultured, ignorant servant.
He had been shivering inside the house and hadn’t gone outside, so he didn’t know what had happened.
One group of scholars left, and another came to pay their respects to Ye Ning.
Lao Huangtou casually made up excuses.
“Master hasn’t woken up yet.”
“Of course, Master Ye is concerned about the country and the people and indeed needs rest.”
“Master has a stomachache.”
“Master Ye is a precious talent. Take care of yourself. I have some money here. Why not take it to buy some medicine for Master Ye?”
—
In short, whatever excuse he made, they all licked it up.
Lao Huangtou was speechless.
He sent away one group after another.
Then, finally, someone arrived who made Lao Huangtou have to pay attention.
“Liu Sanyuan, the son of Left Minister Liu Shen and the current assistant minister of the Ministry of Personnel, requests to see Master Ye!”
Seeing the man standing outside in a green long robe.
Lao Huangtou shivered.
Sss!
The son of the prime minister!
This was a big shot!
Lao Huangtou, who had never seen a big shot in his life, felt weak in the legs and ran into the house in a daze to report.
“What? The son of the prime minister?” Ye Ning said impatiently.
“I won’t see him.”
He didn’t have the time, nor did he want to give face. If it annoyed someone just right, they could come and kill him. He would thank their ancestors for eight generations.
However, a moment later, Liu Sanyuan still entered the door.
The reason was that Lao Huangtou simply didn’t dare to refuse the son of the prime minister. After stammering for a long time, he still let him in.
Liu Sanyuan had a smile on his face.
“Brother Ye, I’ve long admired you!”
Ye Ning frowned, almost blurting out, “Who are you?”
But then he heard Liu Sanyuan say, “Brother Ye, do you know that you are in a dangerous situation right now, and your life is in danger at any time!”
What’s that?
Danger to my life?
If you say so, I won’t be tired anymore!
Ye Ning instantly became energetic and became enthusiastic.
“Brother Liu, come in quickly! Hey, why did you bring gifts? We’re brothers. Why be polite?”