Quick Transmigration: I Actually Became a System Bug

And that was indeed the case. Ji Han and his convoy departed later than the imperial convoy, but returned to the capital earlier. After entering the city, the two of them went straight to the palace without even going home, and gave a work summary report.

In fact, the officials had already sent memorials to the emperor on horseback regarding what they were talking about. Their presence here was merely to demonstrate their loyalty and obedience to the emperor.

However, although the work report wasn't the main point, they did have something important to do: retire and return to their hometowns. Anyway, all the money they needed to spend would soon be deposited into the imperial treasury. Now they could say they were carefree and could just leisurely wait for the imperial court to spend all the money.

To be honest, even the emperor was stunned for a long time after hearing their request. He had previously thought that Ji Han and Shi Shaoyu returning their military power was the biggest concession they could make.

After all, Ji Han and his companions were young. They entered officialdom through the imperial examinations, exchanging their military power for civilian positions. If given the opportunity later, they could have pursued careers as civil officials. However, what were these two thinking? They wanted to retire and return to their hometowns at such a young age!

Keep in mind that they are only twenty-three years old. Many people at this age haven't even passed the imperial examinations and become scholars. They are already thinking about retiring. So the emperor rejected them without hesitation. How could he let go of such well-rounded talents who don't care about power and wealth so easily?

Ji Han and Shi Shaoyu were impatiently driven out of the palace by the emperor. As they walked out of the main hall, they could still hear the emperor's feigned helplessness behind them.

"You two are just lazy. I agree that you don't have to attend court every day as before, but I will absolutely not agree to let you go back to your hometown to retire. You're so young, yet you have no ambition!"

Ha! Hypocritical!

Ji Han and Shi Shaoyu had a rare moment of shared thoughts. This emperor was like that: he was afraid that if you weren't capable, he wouldn't be able to use you effectively, but he was also afraid that if you were too capable, he wouldn't be able to control you. The best scenario would be like the two of them now, where those with ability held nominal positions without real power, and could be summoned and dismissed at will!

However, this situation is also a subtle consensus reached by both parties. For example, although the emperor rejected their resignation this time, the two of them do not need to attend court and do not have any serious business on weekdays. If they want, they can pack up and go back to their hometown. Whether they want to retire or visit relatives is up to them.

When Ji Han and Shi Shaoyu returned to the Shi residence, the goods that had accompanied them to the capital had already been unloaded into the storerooms in their two courtyards. The children were also waiting at the gate, and as soon as they saw the two of them arrive, they turned and ran towards the inner courtyard, shouting as they ran.

"Grandparents, Father and Mother, Uncle and Uncle Shi are back together!"

When a traveler returns home, his mother, as usual, will comment on how dark and thin he has become. However, looking at Ji Han and Shi Shaoyu's fair complexions, it's not really a matter of just being dark-skinned; she can only steer her words towards things like "thin" or "suffering."

Ji Han and Shi Shaoyu enjoyed a sumptuous welcome-back feast that evening, each taking a relaxing hot bath before falling into a deep sleep in adjacent rooms.

Even Shi Shaoyu, who had been having dreams that were either pleasant or nightmares for several days in a row, slept soundly without any dreams after returning to his safe and secure home. Of course, it's also possible that he was just too tired beforehand.

Because a large amount of gold and silver jewelry was still arriving in the capital, Ji Han and Shi Shaoyu's return did not cause much of a stir in the capital. In particular, those spoiled brats who were originally dissolute had made great progress after this experience, and many families had even bought them positions, just waiting for them to take up their posts.

Ji Han and his companion took this opportunity to rest well. To avoid causing unnecessary trouble, they rarely left the manor this time. Even when they did go out, they traveled light, taking their nephew and niece shopping and eating with them.

After all the imperial entourage's finances had entered the capital, the emperor held a special celebration. Only then did Ji Han and Shi Shaoyu hurriedly pack their belongings and leave the capital the next day, heading towards Gutang Village.

In July, Gutang Village had completely changed from when they left. After leaving the official road, a wide and straight road led directly into the village. The open spaces on both sides of the road were now planted with various fruit trees, the most numerous of which were peach and apple trees.

After entering the village along the main road, the sound of reading still echoed from the school at the village entrance, but now the sound was noticeably louder than before. Standing at the school gate and looking ahead, the main road in the village had also been widened and leveled, and most of the houses on both sides of the road had been rebuilt into brick and tile houses.

The once grandest school in the village now looks somewhat dilapidated, but fortunately, it is almost always occupied and kept quite clean inside and out.

Ji Han and Shi Shaoyu did not enter through the main gate at the back of the school, but instead went around to the side gate and opened the gate of the Shi family's house. The Shi family's house looked alright, after all, Shi Xiucai had entrusted the house to the village chief to help look after and clean it, on the condition that the village could use the school next door for free. He had also introduced a good teacher to the school at that time.

Perhaps someone saw Ji Han and Shi Shaoyu return along the way, because soon the village chief and his wife, carrying a basket of vegetables and a small rooster, knocked on the Shi family's door.

"Your Highness, Your Lordship, I heard from my second son that he saw you return. Time was short, so I could only bring some fresh vegetables from home. I hope you won't find them too cheap!"

It had been so many years since they last met, and Ji Han and the others' identities had changed so much in between; otherwise, the village chief's second son would have greeted them when he saw them.

"Oh, Second Grandfather, you're too kind. Don't bother calling us 'Prince' or 'Marquis.' In Gutang Village, we're just Shi and Ji kids. You can just call us by our nicknames."

Shi Shaoyu's words were very respectful to the village chief, and although the village chief happily agreed, he still addressed him as "Prince" and "Marquis."

Through the village chief, Ji Han and his group learned about the development of Gutang Village over the years. Since the successful grafting of peach trees by Ji Han and his group, the entire Gutang Village began to be replanned. Of course, the farmland continued to grow grain, but the idle wasteland, the mountains and slopes behind, etc., were gradually planted with fruit trees.

As the first people to pick peaches, Gutang Village had a booming business in the first few years. During those years, almost every household in the village started to demolish their old houses and build new ones. Of course, the roads inside and outside the village were also repaired at that time.