Chapter 104: Opening the Book but Not Recognizing

They thought they were waiting along the road, but they didn't expect the young master to want to go straight through.

How far would that be? It's too...

They didn't know what to say, was this a bit too childish? Did the family know?

The guards glanced at each other, wanting to dissuade him, but then saw Fang Chengyu abruptly rein in his horse, looking somewhat nervous and uneasy.

"Quickly turn around." he said, with a sense of urgency and a bit of panic, seemingly unsure of where to go.

What happened? The guards were stunned for a moment before hearing the noise ahead, and then they saw a troop of people appearing on the road with many and tall colored banners.

"It's Top Scholar Ning returning." Fang Chengyu said, "Let's quickly avoid them."

Tenth Noble Son Ning, who had become the top scholar, the guard suddenly realized, watching the approaching procession and recognizing the young man surrounded by the crowd.

But since everyone is from the same hometown, shouldn't they congratulate him? Why avoid him?

Was it because of the old grudge between the Ning Family and the Fang Family?

The guards didn't understand, and Fang Chengyu had already steered onto a side path, heading straight for a village nearby.

"By both sentiment and reason, I should congratulate him." Fang Chengyu said.

He had helped Miss Jun, and solved her predicament; he should be thankful.

He indeed was grateful, very appreciative, but...

"But I just don't want to see him." he said, with a hint of grievance.

The guards couldn't hear his muttering to himself, but whatever the young master said went, and they closely followed him off the main road, hearing the noise at their backs fading from near to far.

......….

Ning Yunzhao had arrived near Yangcheng, Fang Chengyu left Yangcheng to greet him, whereas Miss Jun was still traveling at an unhurried pace.

This stretch of the road was an official route, smooth and steady, the carriage's jolting also much reduced.

Liu'er flipped through the small bookshelf in the carriage.

"Which book does Miss want to read?" she asked.

Miss Jun looked at the small bookshelf.

"What day is it today?" she suddenly asked.

"It's been thirteen days." Liu'er said, "Shopkeeper Qi said it will take another five days to reach Yangcheng."

Miss Jun hummed and nodded her head.

"It's been such a long journey." she said.

Has it been so long that she has read all the books on this bookshelf? Liu'er thought, seeing Miss Jun reach out to take the medicine box and open it, pulling out a book.

Was she going to read a medical book? Liu'er didn't ask further, leaning against the cushion playing with a clay figure bought from the road.

It's been long enough, the Jinyiwei have not appeared again, it's safe enough now, this book can be taken out.

Miss Jun's hand trembled slightly as she placed this thick, somewhat crudely made notebook on the table.

Since she had obtained it, after encountering so many incidents, she had not had a chance to read this book, fearing it would be discovered.

If there are marks from Divine Doctor Zhang in this notebook, her identity would make Lu Yunqi even more suspicious.

Now, finally away from the capital and nearing Yangcheng, with no one prying, she could see her master again.

Master.

Miss Jun took a deep breath and opened the cover.

The first page had a line of words that jumped into her sight, her expression inadvertently stiffening as she looked at the flamboyantly written characters.

The handwriting was exquisite, the content of the words also unique.

"I am a fool"

I am a fool.

Miss Jun could never have dreamed that the front page of the book would bear such a sentence.

Initially, when she had flipped through her master's handwritten notes, she directly skimmed to the middle, where the pages were filled with dense text, and she hadn't seen clearly what was written.

She had always thought it was a medical book, her master's personal medical experiences.

Recorded were her master's true skills, which he hadn't taught her.

Her master certainly hadn't really taught her, otherwise, it was all either chess or playing pitch-pot, or memorizing other people's medical books.

And she had not really wanted to learn her master's medical skills, she just wanted to learn how to save her father.

Her father had died, and she had sealed all this away.

Only to rediscover, after starting over, that these things she thought useless turned out to be of such great help to her.

Although her father had died, she could still use the techniques taught by her master to save herself, save her brother, and reclaim her father's lost empire.

This would probably also be a form of rescue for her father.

The casual teachings of her master allowed her to achieve so much; what hidden treasures and secret techniques might then be contained in the guarded, unseen handwritten notes?

Never would she have thought that her master, who seemed like an immortal, had given herself such a title.

She thought that the title page would either be left blank, or covered with a seal and a title such as Mr. Ethereal from Qingfeng Hermit.

Of course, she had never heard her master having a title.

But in any case, she did not expect it to be this sentence.

I am a fool.

In the eyes of the world, Qingshan, who was like an immortal, had given such an evaluation of himself?

Miss Jun stared at the title page blankly for a moment, chuckled, and then her eyes reddened.

Even if a fool, that fool is no more.

Let's see what this fool wrote.

Miss Jun extended her hand to turn another page.

She paused again.

This time it wasn't a regular page, but a large piece of folded paper.

Miss Jun pulled out and unfolded this paper.

And on it, still no words, but… a map.

But she wasn't surprised about the map.

Her master used to draw maps, she had seen that a few times.

But this map...

Miss Jun ran her hands over it.

Detailed markings of mountains, rivers, towns, and villages, many place names densely packed and unrecognizable to her, the name of the prefecture marked at the top.

Zhuo State.

This name she recognized, she had seen it in history books, and in the maps in the imperial grandfather's study.

Miss Jun's breathing became hurried; she reached out and turned another page.

Still a large folded paper, still a map.

This time it was You Prefecture.

She turned again.

Ruzhou, Tanzhou, Jizhou, Yingzhou, Huanzhou…

Until Yunzhou, a total of sixteen pages.

Sixteen pages, sixteen prefectures.

These are the Sixteen Prefectures of Yanyun.

These once belonged to the great Zhou, taken away one hundred years ago, later six prefectures were reclaimed by Duke of Chengguo, and to this day, stationed to fend off the invasions of the Jurchen people.

Because it has always been a battleground and occupied by the Jurchen multiple times, even the preserved maps of the imperial palace had scanty strokes for the Sixteen Prefectures of Yanyun.

When Duke of Chengguo reclaimed the six prefectures, it took a lot of manpower and financial resources to barely map these six prefectures and present them to the emperor.

She had seen the presented map by Duke of Chengguo; although she didn't remember clearly, she could certainly say it wasn't as detailed as what her master sketched in his notes, and as for accuracy, she had never been there, so she didn't know.

Did her master, go there?

Otherwise, how could he have drawn these?

She knew how painstaking and difficult it is to draw a map, and several of these prefectures are still in the hands of the Jurchen.

Her master was only in his forties.

This covered the territories of sixteen prefectures.

Could her master really be an immortal?

Of course not.

Or perhaps this was an ancient treasure passed down, only possessed by her master?

But looking at this paper, this ink, and the familiar style of the writing, it was clearly hand-drawn by her master.

This was truly unexpected, what was going on?

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Thank you Brother Zhen for the 520 gift of the spirit pet egg.

Thank you Mu Mou 2004 for the reward of fairy fruits.

Thank you Pee Pee's Book, Ice-Heart Black Coffee, Polaris HXL, Southern Ice, Three Visits Three Brights, Dream Seeking Miss Yi, Iced Tea O Leaving, Iced Tea O Leaving, Envolis, ?The Last Shot?, Dusk ~ Yan, MAX Stone for rewarding He's Bi.

Thank you everyone, thanks, thanks.

July has been tough on everyone, continue to ask for your support starting August.

Starting the new moon, seeking base support for the monthly ticket.

Thank you, thank you.