"Hey, Chen Qing... Oh, no, Lord Chen, you've just returned?"
At the entrance of the Government Office, an exhausted Chen Qing, with bleary eyes, had just barely managed to rush back with coachman Old Meng. Having toiled back and forth for two days, Chen Qing, whose eyelids were struggling to stay open, suddenly became wide awake upon seeing a familiar group of faces sitting and drinking porridge at the entrance.
"When did you guys get here, Gu Beiquan, the top scholar?"
The one addressed as the top scholar, Gu Beiquan, twitched his cheek slightly, put down his porridge bowl, and stood up: "This subordinate pays respects to the Prefectural Governor."
Although the others were reluctant, they too set down their porridge bowls and performed the salute: "We pay respects to the Prefectural Governor."
"No need for such formalities, we are all old classmates...", Chen Qing said with a smile that narrowed his eyes into slits, though his words were merely polite gestures.
