Chapter 627: Pleading for Mercy
After telling Fei Bai about what happened during the day in detail, Xiao Ting burst into tears. “Teacher, please save me!”
Fei Bai was so angry that he kicked him. “Have you forgotten everything I told you on the first day I took you under my wing? As servants, firstly, we have to be loyal. Secondly, we have to not cause trouble for our masters. You, on the other hand, bullied others the moment you had the chance. You’re quite bold, huh. As a servant who doesn’t even have control over his own life, how dare you order a fifth-grade governor around? Who gave you the guts?”
Xiao Ting knelt on the ground and wiped his tears. “Teacher, I really felt that Governor Xu was taking advantage of our lord. Although I’m young, I know that His Highness deserves better than the crappy fields allocated to him. Putting everything else aside, even a Grade 3 official is allocated stipend land that is more sizable and fertile than the ones His Highness, a Grade 2 general, gets.”
Fei Bai narrowed his eyes and asked, “Who told you this?”
The next day, Fei Bai waited outside the main courtyard early in the morning, with Xiao Ting kneeling by his feet.
When Qi Haoran opened the door and came out, he simply glanced at the two of them. Without saying anything, he turned around and went to the courtyard to practice martial arts.
Fei Bai heaved a sigh of relief. As long as the Prince did not interfere, Xiao Ting would be able to keep his life. Although the Princess Consort was sometimes ruthless, she would not easily kill anyone.
The Princess Consort seemed to have woken up late today. When the Prince came back from training with sweat all over his forehead, there was still no movement in the room.
When Qi Haoran returned, he walked around the two of them and snorted coldly before turning around to enter the house. Fei Bai’s hair stood on end, and he felt his heart tremble.
When Qi Haoran pushed the door open and entered, he saw Mu Yangling sitting on the chair drowsily with her eyes half-closed while Rain combed her hair. After washing his face and neck, he placed the towel in another basin of cold water and wrung it. Then, he walked up and wiped Mu Yangling’s face.
All of Mu Yangling’s drowsiness disappeared. She grabbed the towel and glared at Qi Haoran.
Chuckling, Qi Haoran said in a low voice, “Don’t go out today. You should rest instead.”
Mu Yangling placed the towel into the basin and said, “The stipend land needs to be redistributed and Teacher Liu is also arriving today. I’ll wait for him at home, so I won’t go out. What do you want to eat for lunch? I’ll make it for you.”
Qi Haoran proudly ordered a list of dishes.
Mu Yangling chose a few dishes from those he mentioned.
Qi Haoran looked out of the house and said, “If you don’t wish to keep Xiao Ting around, just send him back.” If it wasn’t for the fact that Ah Ling wasn’t ruthless enough, it would be better to kill such a slave who took the initiative to bully others.
Mu Yangling said, “Will he still be able to survive if we send him back?”
Qi Haoran was silent.
Mu Yangling said, “Let’s wait and observe. If he really doesn’t make the cut, we’ll send him to the servants’ courtyard to take care of the horses. This way, everyone can see the consequences of wielding your power to bully others.”
Qi Haoran pursed his lips. “Good idea. If he keeps appearing in front of others, people will always remember his mistakes. It’s better than forgetting them after he dies.”
If they sent Xiao Ting back from here, he probably would not survive. The servants below were not kind people.
Qi Haoran went out after breakfast. He kicked Fei Bai and said, “I’ll give you two hours of leave.”
Fei Bai hurriedly kowtowed to thank him.
Mu Yangling called Fei Bai to the reception pavilion. Fei Bai lowered his head and shouted at Xiao Ting, “Kneel obediently.”
Xiao Ting watched nervously as his teacher entered, his throat moving.
After entering the room, Fei Bai scanned the room. Seeing that they were all the Princess Consort’s personal maidservants, he felt relieved and knelt down.
“How did you teach your disciple?”
Fei Bai kowtowed to apologize. After a while, he said, “Your Highness, I was indeed in the wrong, and Xiao Ting did not know what was good for him. However, this is not entirely his fault. Although it’s considered bullying, he also did it for the sake of Master.”
Mu Yangling looked at him with a dark gaze.
Fei Bai shuddered and hurriedly knelt down again. He explained, “Xiao Ting is still young, so it’s not a problem for him to run errands. However, he doesn’t seem to understand the important matters of the Imperial Court like the allocation of the stipend land. He only knows that in the Jiangnan area, Grade 2 officials can obtain about 330 acres of stipend land of varying grades. However, he doesn’t know that there are different rules due to the differences in geography and culture. For example, in Ju Prefecture, because there are many mountains and few lands, mountain land accounts for a sizable proportion of the fields allocated to the Imperial Court’s officials. And among what little flat land there is, because the soil is generally infertile, the ratio of high-grade arable lands is even smaller. Your Highness, I didn’t know about these things either, even though I served by your side. It’s only because I recently had to check and approve the stipend land that I found out about this from the officials. If this is the case even for me, we can’t blame Xiao Ting for being ignorant.”
“So you want to say that the ignorant are not guilty?” Mu Yangling said in a low voice, “I don’t blame him for standing up for His Highness. What I find fault with is his behavior and attitude. Seeing as he dares to be so arrogant before even figuring out the actual situation, it can be seen what sort of a person he is.”
Fei Bai shuddered and kowtowed. “Your Highness, you’re right. I’ll definitely teach him a lesson when I get back. Although he was deceived, it’s indeed his fault.”
“So what are you going to do?”
Fei Bai hesitated. Having picked Xiao Ting out of thousands of choices, he could not bear to give up on the boy just like that. Though Xiao Ting was not the smartest or the most honest among those people, he was the most intelligent. Furthermore, once this kid set his mind on something, he would persist in doing it. Above all, he was extremely loyal.
As a slave, intelligence and honesty weren’t a must-have, but loyalty and tenacity were the most basic qualities. This was also Fei Bai’s criteria for choosing disciples.
Seeing that he was hesitating and not saying anything, Mu Yangling knew that he still wanted to train this disciple, so she asked, “You’ve been by my side for a long time, so you should know my temper and my bottom line. How confident are you in training him?”
Fei Bai gritted his teeth and kowtowed. “Your Highness, please give me another chance. Considering he’s still young, I want to give it another shot.”
If he could help him mend his ways, after this experience, Xiao Ting would only become more upright. The Princess Consort would only be more comfortable with such a person serving by her side.
Mu Yangling also knew how rare it was to have a good servant. Hearing this, she nodded and said, “Then do bring him back. Ten days later, bring him along for half a day while he takes orders from me for the remaining half of the day. I’ll only give you half a year.”
Fei Bai heaved a sigh of relief and kowtowed.
Just as Fei Bai was about to leave, he thought for a moment before turning around to kneel down. “Your Highness, I want to buy some more servant boys and servant girls in Ju Prefecture. If there’s someone suitable, I’ll take in another disciple.”
Mu Yangling raised her eyebrows and nodded with a smile. “Go ahead and choose. Tell Zhu Liang that after our new residence is built, we will indeed need a few more people.”
After Fei Bai left, Spring said with a smile, “This fellow Fei Bai really knows how to use Your Highness as a raft. I bet Xiao Ting is panicking now, right?”
Mu Yangling only smiled and said in a deep voice, “Go back and ask Fei Bai who said those words to Xiao Ting. Was that person targeting me or were they targeting the entire Prince’s estate? Find out.”
Seeing Mu Yangling’s expression darken, Spring quickly lowered her head and agreed.
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