Chapter 6: Mistakenly recognized Ah Shu, why are you running?
In order to give his grandmother a surprise, Pei Huaian trained the two parrots to speak in the room whenever he had free time these days. Originally, the two little guys had learned to speak quite well, but when it was finally their turn to perform today, the noisy little guys suddenly refused to imitate him. He had no choice but to feed the little guys their favorite pine nuts in the room and coax them into speaking before he rushed over.
Although he was a little late, fortunately the two little guys did not disappoint him in the end. The chattering of their two little mouths made their grandmother smile happily, and his good intentions did not go to waste.
Just as he was about to take the two little ones aside, he caught a glimpse of a girl with bright eyes and a gentle gaze sitting in the second seat to the left of his grandmother. The familiar eyes overlapped with those of the girl he met at the temple fair.
He turned his head to look happily: "It's you!"
The other party was stunned and showed a puzzled expression.
He then looked at the other person and found that although the girl in front of him had similar eyebrows and eyes to the girl he met at the temple fair, the lower half of her face was quite different. Obviously, they were not the same person.
"Oh, not you..."
He remembered that the girl at the temple fair had mentioned that she had an older sister who was also at the fair, and he thought that the girl in front of him might be her sister.
What a coincidence, he actually met her sister at the family dinner. It seems that he and that girl are really destined to be together.
Pei Huaian's brain was quick, and he quickly guessed the identity of the girl in front of him. In the blink of an eye, he smiled and bowed to her to apologize: "Sister-in-law, Huaian was rude just now."
Shen Yunshu hadn't even married yet, but he was already calling her "sister-in-law." She hadn't been embarrassed at first, but the elders at the table all cast mocking glances at her, forcing her to feign shyness and stand up to return the greeting. "I wonder who Master Pei Qi mistook me for just now?"
Pei Huaian curled his lips into a smile, but did not answer her question immediately: "It's not convenient to tell my sister-in-law now. After the banquet is over, can you please do me a favor?"
"What's the matter?"
Pei Huaian looked mysterious: "It's hard to say now..."
His mystification made the elders present laugh even more.
Although there should be some caution between the future uncle and sister-in-law, he asked his future sister-in-law for help in front of the elders, which made people think less of it. Besides, he was not a serious person in his daily life, and he was the youngest in the family. The elders treated him as a child, so they didn't say much.
Afterwards, Pei Huaian said goodbye and left, going to the table of the younger generation.
As for Mrs. Pei, because of his interruption, everyone couldn't help but guess for a while what he wanted to ask his future sister-in-law for help. After guessing for a long time, they still had no clue. When they asked Shen Yunshu, Shen Yunshu shook her head and said she didn't know. After all, it was the first time she met her future brother-in-law.
Everyone had to give up guessing and start talking about other things.
Shen Yunshu sat there with a calm expression, but she couldn't help but wonder in her heart: Pei Huaian had just mistaken her for someone else. The only person in the world who looked like her was the third sister. He must have mistaken her for the third sister?
But when did he meet his third sister?
She had never heard her third sister mention him.
For the past two years, her third sister had been confined at home to her, and when she went out occasionally, she would ask her to go with her. There were no secrets between the two sisters. She knew all the men her third sister had been in contact with. The most recent one was that lecher from the temple fair...
Shen Yunshu frowned slightly and took a sip of tea to hide her subtle expression: Could it be that the scoundrel that my third sister met at the temple fair is this famous dandy young man in the capital?
Shen Yunshu's guess was confirmed after the birthday banquet when Pei Huaian took out a Mohele covered with green gauze.
It was indeed him.
"Your sister fell in love with this at the Daxiangguo Temple fair, so I bought it for her. Maybe because I was wearing a mask at the time, she was frightened and refused to accept it." Pei Huaian handed the Mohele to Shen Yunshu, "I didn't mean to scare her that day. Give this to her as my apology..."
Shen Yunshu stared at the Mohelo in his hand, with a hint of wariness in the corners of her eyes and brows: If she hadn't learned from her third sister that he not only picked up her veil, but also tore off the veil on her face, she would have been deceived by his sincere and harmless appearance.
She didn't want her third sister to be entangled by such a person, so she refused and said, "Thank you for your kindness, Mr. Pei Qi, but my sister doesn't like to accept things from strangers. Mr. Qi should keep this Mohele for himself."
"You are my future sister-in-law. In the future, our two families will be relatives by marriage, not strangers." Pei Huaian heard the other party's implication and naturally guessed why she was so defensive towards him. So he said with a smile, "Sister-in-law, there is no need to be on guard against me. I just thought your sister was pretty and bought this thing for her on a whim. I definitely didn't have any dirty intentions. If sister-in-law is unwilling to deliver it on my behalf, then I will have to go to your house and deliver it myself..."
Shen Yunshu was surprised that this man was not only frivolous but also shameless. However, now that he knew her third sister's identity, Shen Yunshu was worried that he would actually go to her house to give her a gift. So she reached out and took the Mohele from him. "Don't worry, Seventh Young Master. I'll send someone to bring the money to you tomorrow..."
Doesn't she really want her third sister to have anything to do with him?
A hint of understanding flashed across Pei Huaian's slightly upturned Ruifeng eyes: "I won't be in the mansion tomorrow."
"The day after tomorrow..."
"I won't be home the day after tomorrow," Pei Huaian said with a lazy expression and a hint of mischief. "Tomorrow I'm going to accompany my grandparents to the farm outside the city to escape the summer heat. I don't know when I'll be back. If my sister-in-law insists on paying me back, you can send the money directly to the farm..."
It's just a few taels of silver. There's no need to go to the farm outside the city to pay it back. I can just pay it back another day when I have the chance.
Shen Yunshu didn't say anything more to him, took the Mohele and turned to leave.
*
The setting sun was fading, and dusk was about to fall. Shen Youran came out of the tile house outside the Liang Gate in the west of the state, still feeling unsatisfied. Qinghe followed her, carrying the things and food she had bought. Danruo helped her tie her veil and urged her, "Miss, please go back quickly. The birthday party at the Pei Mansion should be over by now. We have to get home before the eldest lady..."
Today, while her elder sister was at Pei's house for a birthday banquet, Shen Youran sneaked out with Danruo and Qinghe, and had a great time playing in the tile house for most of the day. She had enough money with her today, so she bought a Mohelo with similar workmanship to the one she saw at the temple fair that day, but it was more expensive here.
She happily held the Mohele in her arms and walked towards where her carriage was parked. Suddenly, she heard someone calling from behind, "Ah Shu..."
Hmm? Which girl has a name so similar to that of my older sister?
Or is it the elder sister who is here?
Shen Youran suddenly became nervous, stopped and looked around, and in the bustling crowd, he met the eyes of a strange man, and then saw the man striding towards him.
The man was wearing a dark green brocade robe embroidered with clouds. He had a narrow face, pale lips, sharp features, and dark eyes that stared at her like an eagle, making her shudder instinctively.
Convinced that she did not know this young man, Shen Youran turned around to leave, but the man took big and fast steps and soon caught up with her.
Her wrist felt heavy, and a big hand clamped her wrist: "A Shu, why are you running?"
There was a hint of questioning in his tone, and it seemed to be mixed with a slight tremor.
Shen Youran was wearing a veil at this time, with only her eyes and eyebrows exposed. Her eyes and eyebrows were very similar to her elder sister's. This person must have known her and mistook her for her.
So she turned around and pulled off her veil: "You got the wrong person..."
The man was startled and quickly let go of her hand: "Sorry." Then he thought of something and raised his eyes to ask again, "Is your father the Minister of Revenue? Is the young lady the third sister of the Shen family?"
Shen Youran couldn't help but wonder: "Who are you?"
The other party introduced himself: "I am Lu Yi, the son of the prefect of Mushroom Prefecture, and also Ah Shu's brother..."
Shen Youran remembered that her sister's family, which she remarried with her mother, was surnamed Lu. She had heard from her sister that the Lu family originally had a legitimate eldest son and three illegitimate children, and that her mother had given birth to another son after remarrying.
I guess the person in front of me is the eldest son of the Lu family and the stepbrother of my eldest sister.
But she had never heard her elder sister talk about this stepbrother, so she naturally had no interest in getting to know this "stepbrother" who had nothing to do with her.
So she said "Oh" and said indifferently and politely: "It's Brother Lu. What brings you to the capital?"
"Didn't Ah Shu tell you? My father was transferred to the capital's Ministry of Civil Affairs as the Right Counselor, so our family moved to the capital. I arrived there first to see how the house was being arranged. My father and mother will be here soon..."
"Mother is also in the capital?" Shen Youran's heart trembled, and his hands involuntarily squeezed hard, trying to suppress the surging emotions.
Her mother, whom she had secretly missed for twelve years, was actually coming to the capital.
"Yes," Lu Yi saw her expression of unconcealed excitement and knew that she missed her mother so much, so he took the opportunity to get closer to her. "I often heard my mother talk about you. She said you were very cute when you were a child..."
Shen Youran was four years old when she left her mother. She was at the age when she began to remember things. She was clearly sleeping in her mother's arms the night before, but when she woke up, she only saw her father and the wheels of the car. She never saw her mother again from that day on.
She asked her father why her mother didn't want her anymore. Did she no longer love her?
My father said that my mother loved her very much, but she just didn’t love me anymore.
Later, her father remarried and she had a mother again. However, she was already eight years old at that time and could never get close to her stepmother. Even though her father gave her endless love, the missing piece in her heart could never be filled.
"How long will it take for mother to arrive in the capital?" She raised her eyes to look at Lu Yi, tears welling in her eyes.
"About two days," Lu Yi said tentatively when he saw that she had lowered her guard, "Since we have the chance to meet, why don't I invite you to the teahouse next door for a cup of hot tea, and we can sit down and have a good chat..." Talk about her mother, and also ask about Ah Shu's recent situation.
Shen Youran was thinking about her mother whom she hadn't seen for many years and was about to accept his invitation, but then she remembered that her elder sister was about to return home. If her elder sister knew that she was lazy and didn't practice calligraphy or study, and even ran out to play, she would definitely scold her.
"Not today, I have something urgent to do." Shen Youran bowed slightly to him as a thank you, "Thank you for telling me the good news, I'll be leaving first."
Then, without waiting for him to say anything, he hurried away with Mohele in his arms.
She got on the carriage and hurried back to the mansion, but was still a moment late. Her elder sister was already waiting for her in her yard, holding a ruler.
Shen Youran was caught red-handed and didn't dare to argue. She handed the Mohele in her arms to Dan Ruo, then walked over with drooping eyelashes and admitted her mistake cleanly and neatly: "Sister, I was wrong. I won't dare to do it again..."
The more readily she admits her mistakes, the more it shows that she has no genuine repentance and will definitely do it again in the future.
Shen Yunshu asked her to stretch out her left hand, grabbed her wrist and hit her five times with the ruler without mercy.
Shen Youran jumped up and down in pain, tears welling up in the corners of her eyes. She said aggrievedly, "I admitted my mistake, and you still hit me?"
"There's no order without rules. You've made a mistake, so you must be punished." Shen Yunshu hadn't been able to bear to actually spank her sister before, usually just scare her with the ruler. But now that she was about to get married, if she didn't get stricter and change her sister's temper, she wouldn't have the chance to discipline her in the future.
But seeing his sister's palm quickly swell up, he felt sorry for her. He gently pulled the hand that was trembling with pain and blew on it at his lips: "If you want to go out to play in the future, don't sneak out. If no one in the mansion knows where you have gone, and you get into danger outside, we don't know where to find you..."
Shen Youran pursed her lips. She was in so much pain that she wanted to cry, but because of her sister's soft and gentle comfort, she felt less like crying.
There was something happy that he wanted to share with her: "Sister, I met your stepbrother outside today. He said that mother is also coming to the capital..."
Shen Yunshu's heart trembled, and a chill instantly spread through her limbs and bones: "Did you meet Lu Yi?"
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