Chapter 207 Talking and Laughing

"Young lady, not everyone learns to speak by starting with the Three Hundred Tang Poems."

Xueyan covered her mouth and laughed.

"I heard that the girl couldn't speak yet, so the lady read her 'Li Weng's Rhyming Dictionary' every day. The girl mumbled her first words as 'Heaven to Earth, Rain to Wind'..."

"Stop making fun of me! Everyone learns to speak by calling out 'father' and 'mother' first, but I'm the exception!" Daiyu persisted, chasing after Xueyan to pull her mouth open.

Xueyan laughed as she dodged.

“Miss, what we heard from Granny Wang back home wasn’t just made up.”

"Granny Wang is old, and it's possible she misremembered for a moment. She must not say such things again!" Daiyu said, both anxious and angry.

She didn't want to be seen as an oddball.

Baoyu is a perfect example. It's not like any other child is born with a piece of jade in their mouth, but he was one of them. His second aunt even publicized it to everyone.

Now that my grandmother has come to her senses, she realizes it's inappropriate and has started forbidding anyone from mentioning the matter again.

But it had been said for so many years that, while not everyone in the capital knew about it, most of the powerful and wealthy families did.

Although Xueyan's words were just a joke, Daiyu still felt they were quite inappropriate.

She's not a genius at all; at most, she's just a little clever.

If this gets out, the first thing she says won't be "father and mother," but a line from a book. That would likely cause trouble again.

Now that she's a princess, she's already a figure of interest, and she really doesn't want to attract too much attention.

"You must all remember the young lady's words, actions, hobbies, and all the words and phrases she has written, including the poems she has composed on the spot. Not a single word of them is to be passed on to anyone outside." Yuan Hongqu glanced at the maids.

"You all received training before coming to the young lady's side, so I don't need to say anything more, right?" Yuan Hongqu said coldly.

"Granny Yuan, it was my fault for being presumptuous." Xueyan lowered her head and admitted her mistake upon hearing this.

"Go and copy the Lin family rules, the one about maids, ten times. Also, didn't you say you were going to copy 'Li Weng's Rhyming Dictionary'? Copy that ten times too."

Even within her own household, rumors about the young lady were already circulating, yet she still dared to speak ill of Daiyu in front of her. Is this the kind of manners a head maid should have?

It seems that after returning to the Lin family, these maids became too relaxed, which led to a decrease in their vigilance.

“You lot also need to memorize the maid's code of conduct, each of you copy it three times.” Yuan Hongqu decided to tighten their relaxed attitude.

"Granny, there's no need to be so harsh. It's not a big deal," Daiyu pleaded softly on their behalf.

She really felt that the nanny's punishment of Xueyan and the others was too severe.

"Prevention is better than cure. Make everything a habit in ordinary times, so that things won't go wrong at crucial moments," Yuan Hongqu explained, adding...

“If you’re going to the academy in a few days, you can bring two people with you. Lan Su is definitely going, and there’s one more person. You can discuss who should go, and then choose two more to stay outside and wait for orders.”

“Mr. Yuan, could I not go to the academy to attend classes with Miss Lin? You see, I’m a guard, and I don’t know how to serve tea and water, lay out paper and grind ink,” Lan Su said, her head spinning at the thought of being called out first.

She's a martial artist, you know. She's not going to take the imperial examinations. Asking her to listen to a teacher's lectures would probably give her a terrible headache.

Lan Su pleaded with a mournful face.

“Mr. Yuan, I really can’t go to those classes. Listening to them spouting those classical Chinese phrases is like listening to monks chanting sutras; it’s like a sleeping potion for me! I’ll definitely fall asleep then… So please leave me outside!”

“Granny, why not stop making things difficult for Sister Susu? Forcing someone who doesn’t like studying to listen to others read is just torture.” Daiyu felt there was no need for Lansu to attend classes with her.

Blue pigment can be left on the outside.

What dangerous things could happen inside the academy that would require close protection from guards?

Yuan Hongqu looked at Lan Su and saw that she seemed genuinely terrified. However, after thinking for a moment, she said...

"Girls' academies don't teach classical Chinese; the courses are more interesting and less boring. They teach things like horseback riding and archery."

Upon hearing this, Lan Su's eyes lit up, but then her expression dimmed again.

"It's impossible to teach horseback riding and archery every day, Granny, don't try to fool me."

"While the girl is in class, you just wait outside the classroom and keep an eye on her," Yuan Hongqu said.

"Why don't you just forget about it? Choose two other people and discuss it yourselves first."

"Granny, are you really that confident that I can pass the exam? Didn't you say that although the exam questions weren't difficult, there were other aspects? What if I don't do well in those other aspects?" Although Daiyu was confident, she had still considered the possibility of not passing the exam. However, judging from Granny Yuan's expression, she seemed to completely believe that she would definitely pass.

This made her feel inexplicably pressured!

“It’s just a girls’ academy, how could there be a situation where someone can’t get in? If you can’t get in, then no one can. Besides, if the academy doesn’t even admit you, then there must be something wrong with the academy!” Yuan Hongqu never thought that Daiyu would fail the exam.

Daiyu felt a little embarrassed when she heard Yuan Hongqu speak so decisively.

"Granny, actually I'm not that sure. As for whether or not I go to the academy, I'm not that eager to go anymore."

"It's okay, if you don't want to go, we won't go. If you still want to study at home, then we'll continue studying at home."

Yuan Hongqu thought it was normal; children's thoughts change quickly.

"Granny, if I pass the exam but don't go to school, would that be bad? Maybe I should just not take the exam at all!" Daiyu suddenly had a whimsical idea.

"Anything is fine." Yuan Hongqu felt like vomiting blood. Was this kid trying to push his luck?

"Granny, I was just teasing you. I've already registered, how could I not take the exam!" Daiyu laughed heartily.

"My dad's name is on my registration form. If I don't take the exam, I'll make my dad lose face. I won't do something like that!"

Daiyu smiled smugly.

"See? I finally managed to fool Granny once!"

Yuan Hongqu pretended to be angry and tickled Daiyu. Daiyu hid behind Lan Su and made faces at Yuan Hongqu...

The room was filled with laughter.

Just then, a voice announced from the doorway.

“Mr. Yuan, there are mother and daughter from the Xue family outside the door who are requesting an audience. They say they are old acquaintances from the Rongguo Mansion.”

The laughter inside the room immediately stopped.

"The Xue family mother and daughter, could it be them?" Lan Su frowned and asked.

"We haven't had much contact with them since we came back, so why are they suddenly coming to our house now?" Xueyan also found it very strange.

“Granny Yuan, shall we invite her in and ask her?” Zijuan asked.