When Li Ran left Ji's mansion, it was raining, which completely chilled Li Ran and his bad mood.
He didn't even let Chu Dang get close to him, stumbling along the way. Chu Dang didn't know what happened. He repeatedly asked, but Li Ran just walked forward.
"Sir, my wife is obviously in the apricot forest!"
Li Ran felt irritable:
"You...don't say any more!"
Chu Dang had no choice but to remain silent.
Suddenly, Li Ran thought of Confucius' two disciples again. So, as if he had grasped another life-saving straw, he turned around and went to Confucius' mansion in Qufu.
Because Confucius was now the Prime Minister of Zhongdu, in order to facilitate the handling of government affairs, he naturally had a residence in the city. And Confucius has been staying there now.
When Confucius saw Li Ran, he couldn't help being surprised when he saw him in such a desolate state.
Li Ran explained his purpose. Confucius thought about it and said:
"Neither Qin Zinan nor Shi Ziming came back, but they did send some letters, which seemed to mention Madam. They said that after entering Haojing, Yihe and Madam went to seek medical treatment together. As for what happened next, , they also don’t know..."
Li Ran couldn't hold on anymore, and suddenly collapsed on the ground, and Taotao burst into tears.
Confucius had never seen Li Ran looking so lost, so he hurriedly went to help him.
"My benefactor, what's wrong with you?"
Li Ran couldn't help but cry:
"She... is gone... gone!"
Although Confucius did not know the details of Ji Le's condition, it was obvious that he was seriously ill.
Therefore, Confucius was not surprised by this.
Seeing that Li Ran was so sad, Confucius waved and immediately called two servants to help Li Ran sit down.
"The deceased has passed away. Please extend my condolences to my benefactor. If your Madam knew about it under the spring, she would not be able to bear to see you so sad..."
Li Ran and Ji Le were in harmony and happy with each other, and he believed that he had an unshirkable responsibility for Ji Le's heartache.
Therefore, the grief and anger in his heart could be described as unspeakable, and for a while he actually had the idea of seeking death again.
Chu Tang opened his mouth, but Confucius secretly shook his head at him.
Chu Dang remembered that he had made his lord unhappy just now, so he didn't say anything else.
Confucius said:
"My benefactor, no matter what, Liguang is so well-behaved and lovely, and her loving mother has recently lost her father. I can never take away her father again. My benefactor, why don't you think more about Guang'er?"
Li Ran was stunned and didn't speak. Kong Qiu couldn't help but become worried when he saw Li Ran's demented look.
So, he put down what he was doing and personally escorted Li Ran back to Xinglin.
Li Ran, on the other hand, sat in the carriage and returned to Xinglin like a zombie.
His mind was filled with the figure of Ji Le, and every detail between the two of them was now appearing before his eyes as if they were a lifetime apart.
"Father!"
Hearing his daughter's call, Li Ran suddenly woke up. It turned out that without realizing it, he had returned to Xinglin.
Seeing Liguang, Li Ran hugged her and kissed her face. Thinking that his daughter would never have a mother again, tears could not help but flow out again.
When Liguang saw her father crying, she felt uncomfortable in her heart, and she also shed tears.
The father and daughter couldn't stop crying. Fan Li and Sun Wu were at a loss as to what to do.
Confucius asked all his disciples to take good care of Li Ran. Later, he found Yan Yan. Yan Yan was still worried about the talents of the Yue Kingdom. When he saw his master coming, he was also overjoyed:
"Master, you are finally here. These Yue girls are too difficult to discipline. Please give me some advice."
However, Confucius obviously had no interest in this:
"Let's talk about it next time, Ziyou, Mr. Ziming's wife passed away..."
Yan Yan's eyes widened when he heard this. He had never seen Ji Le, but he still knew about Ji Le going to Qin to seek medical treatment.
"Ah? We still couldn't save...were we able to save him after all?"
Kong Qiu also nodded very seriously.
"Well, the two of them are deeply in love. Mr. Ziming...hey...it's difficult to handle!"
Yan Yan scratched his head and couldn't help but think of Gong Eryue not long ago.
"Master, actually...a strange thing happened a few days ago..."
When Confucius heard this, he couldn't help but raise his head and look at Yan Yan.
Afterwards, Yan Yan told Confucius everything about Gong Eryue in the past few days. After hearing this, Confucius couldn't help but frown:
"Oh? There is such a coincidence in the world?"
Yan Yan sighed:
"The disciples don't know much about this, but they all say that the two of them are very similar. At that time, in the gentleman's mansion, the servants kowtowed to him directly and called him 'Madam'. Even , even Mr. Ziming’s daughter calls her ‘mother’ every time!”
Confucius frowned.
"Where is she now? I want to see her!"
So, Yan Yan took Confucius to the residence of those talented people from the Yue Kingdom. He could only hear the bustle inside. After knocking on the door, Yan Yan pushed the door open without caring about anything else.
As soon as the courtyard door was opened, what they saw was a woman dancing a sword in the courtyard, while other talented people watched, cheering and applauding from time to time.
Confucius stood at the door and watched for a while, and he suddenly discovered that the sword-dancing woman looked exactly like Ji Le!
Confucius thought that it might just be a similar appearance, but he didn't expect that the expressions could also be similar.
He also stood blankly on the spot, while Yan Yan said loudly:
"Yue! Don't dance with guns and sticks here. How can you behave like this?"
When the talented people heard Yan Yan's words, they immediately dispersed. They were still laughing and joking before leaving. Yan Yan put his hand on his forehead and felt a headache.
Originally, some of these talented people were very good at learning, but just because Gong Eryue was so different, they actually "returned to their true nature" from time to time.
Gong Eryue was originally dissatisfied. After hearing the words, she first put away her sword and was about to leave, but Confucius called him out:
"Girl, please stay!"
Gong Eryue turned around and replied disdainfully:
"I got it! You have to eat without speaking and sleep without speaking. Even if you eat vegetables, soup, melons and sacrifices, they will all be the same. If the table is not straight, you will not sit down..."
Confucius saw that she was memorizing the book and she seemed to be talking clearly, so he couldn't help but nodded.
"Although the girl loves to play, she also has a good memory!"
Gong Eryue looked Kongqiu up and down.
"Who are you?"
Kong Qiu didn't go back to Xinglin much during this time. He had never seen these talented people, so Gong Eryue couldn't recognize him.
Yan Yan scolded:
"This is your respected master! He is also your master. You must not be rude!"
After hearing this, Gong Eryue still tilted her head:
"So it turns out that these nonsense words are all made by you? Although the big principles you said sound right, they are actually a bit pedantic, and many of them are even more unrealistic and rigid. Yeah, it just makes people stupid."
When Confucius heard this, he was not angry. After all, this was not the first time Confucius had heard such words. Even Li Er, whom he admired the most, didn't say the same thing about him back then?
What's more, now is not the time to sit and reason with her. He came here to ask about something important.
"Miss Gong'er, are you... really from the Yue country? Were you born in the Yue country and raised in the Yue country?"
Gong Eryue couldn't help being stunned when she heard this. She obviously didn't expect that the other party would ask such a question.
"Of course...are you doubting my identity?"
The reason why Confucius asked this was actually not because he doubted her. Just because she and Ji Le look so much alike, no one would doubt that the two of them are blood relatives.
Moreover, it is obvious that his accent sounds like that of a southerner, but it seems closer to the Mandarin of the Central Plains.
However, Confucius then thought again, maybe this world is so big and full of wonders.
Just like him and Yang Hu, they are somewhat similar in nature. What he can be sure of is that there is no blood relationship between himself and Yang Hu.
"It's not that I doubt the girl, it's just that she looks too much like the same person."
"Oh, is this the lady named Mr. Ziming? But I haven't left the cabinet yet, so how can I allow you to talk nonsense here and ruin my reputation for no reason?"
Hearing this, Confucius quickly explained:
"Don't get me wrong, girl. The two of you are indeed very similar. Even Mr. Ziming's beloved daughter is somewhat similar to the girl. If the girl has seen her, she should feel the same way, right?"
Gong Eryue couldn't help but have a smile on her face when she thought of Liguang.
"That little girl is so cute, she does look a lot like me."
Kong Qiu also nodded to her in the affirmative.
