It was that old nanny from Madam Cheng's courtyard again.
He came before, intending to discipline Shen Qing, but failed. Later, due to the mourning at the Cheng family residence, he was busy accompanying Madam Cheng and did not appear for quite some time.
Now that the funeral arrangements are finished, they continue to knock on the door before dawn.
Cheng Zhiwen opened the door and shooed the people away, then stood at the door and loudly recited "Women's Virtues".
Unable to sleep due to the noise, and seeing that it was almost dawn, Shen Qing simply put on her bathrobe, opened the door, and let the person in.
Seeing her sitting on the sofa in only pajamas and a robe, the old woman recited, "A woman has four virtues: first, wifely virtue; second, wifely speech; third, wifely appearance; and fourth, wifely work. As for wifely virtue, it means that a wife should have virtuous conduct and be upright..."
Naturally, Shen Qing left him speechless.
Unable to argue with her, the old woman used Miss Liu as a threat, saying she would sell her to a brothel.
Shen Qing was so angry that when Cheng Zhiwen returned in the afternoon, she started complaining to him.
"I thought being a concubine was just a lowly position, but I never imagined I'd be sold to a brothel! If I'd known I was going to be sold to a brothel, I would have preferred to have been killed that day..."
Before she could finish speaking, Cheng Zhiwen pulled her arm, and she fell into his arms.
He sat on the sofa, pulled her into his arms, lowered his head and kissed her eyebrows and eyes, saying affectionately, "No one can sell you to a brothel. I can pull you back from the executioner's blade, and I can send you wherever you want to go."
Shen Qing's heart softened immediately, but she restrained herself from hugging him.
She's still angry that her fiancée might sell her to a brothel!
We must adopt this stance!
She raised her hand to push against his chest, trying to break free from his embrace, but he held her too tightly. After struggling for a moment, she was still locked in his arms.
She gave up and just let him hold her like that.
She was thinking about his words—"I'll take you wherever you want to go."
She asked herself, where is the place I want to go?
After thinking about it, I still want to go back to the modern era the most.
But how could Cheng Zhiwen possibly have the ability to send her back to the modern world?
What about modern times?
Where do you most want to go?
I want to go back to Jiangzhou, I want to be Shen Qing again.
I want to see Chunju, the female workers, and the children.
So you should try to clear your name if you have the chance.
Thinking that she hadn't seen Qi Zhenheng for a long time, Shen Qing asked, "Do you know where Brother Qi went? He told me the other day that he had something to do at the Textile Bureau and had to go there. It's been several days since he left. Is he alright?"
Cheng Zhiwen smiled and gently pinched her high nose bridge: "It's not that something happened at the Weaving Bureau, it's that he went back to the Qi family to say he wanted to marry you and bring you back to the Qi family, and his father locked him up."
"Huh?" Shen Qing exclaimed in surprise, "Locked up? What about the official duties of the Textile Bureau?"
"Is there any other way for the Qi family?"
"Too."
Looking back on everything that happened during her time living in the Cheng family's house, Shen Qing felt that she had brought varying degrees of hardship to Cheng Zhiwen and the people in the courtyard.
I feel a little guilty...
Let's do something to treat everyone...
Shen Qing broke free from Cheng Zhiwen's embrace and asked expectantly, "Have you ever eaten barbecue?"
"I've had this in Europe before."
"Go and prepare some pork belly, beef, and lamb this afternoon, along with various seasonings such as salt, sugar, pepper, and salt and pepper. Oh, and also oil, bamboo charcoal, and bamboo skewers."
Cheng Zhiwen looked at her amusedly: "What? Want to try barbecuing?"
"I'll show you what nightlife is all about tonight! I'll show you what nightlife is all about!"
...
Shen Qing then took a refreshing afternoon nap.
When she woke up, everything she wanted had been washed and placed on the stone table in the pavilion.
She instructed Ziyan and the other maids to skewer the meat, while she went to collect pebbles under the artificial hill to build a barbecue grill.
There weren't many discarded pebbles in the yard, not enough to build a platform, so she went to the garden to collect them.
As I was picking things up, I ended up behind the artificial hill.
A servant girl passed by, whispering among herself:
"Have you heard? Master Liu and Madam Liu came to visit today."
What brings you here?
"We've come to discuss the wedding date of the second young master and Miss Liu with the master and mistress!"
Upon hearing this, Shen Qing nearly dropped the pebble in her hand.
I stood up, hid behind the artificial hill, and listened carefully.
"The young master just passed away seven days ago; it's not appropriate to hold a wedding at this critical juncture, is it?"
"I heard it's possible within 100 days, but after 100 days, you'll have to wait three years..."
"Miss Liu has been waiting for the second young master for seven or eight years. The young girl has practically turned into an old maid, and she probably doesn't want to wait any longer..."
The voices of the servants faded into the distance, and Shen Qing emerged from behind the artificial hill.
So much has happened lately that she's almost forgotten Cheng Zhiwen has a fiancée.
According to the servant, the Liu family probably wanted to hold the wedding within 100 days...
It is indeed too cruel for a young woman to wait another three years.
Despite feeling heartbroken, Shen Qing composed herself and quietly returned to the courtyard.
She and Ziyan built a small, elongated recess with pebbles, lined it with bamboo charcoal, lit a fire, and finally placed strings of meat on it.
The charcoal fire slowly grilled the meat skewers. When they were done, she brushed oil on them and sprinkled various seasonings on top.
Sprinkle cumin on top, brush on a layer of oil, flip it over, and the meat juices, oil, and cumin fall into the charcoal fire, sizzling and releasing a fragrant aroma.
Cheng Zhiwen entered the courtyard, walked over and looked at the food, then smiled and said, "Did you work as a cook before? You bake so well."
Shen Qing picked up a skewer of pork belly slices that were already seven-tenths cooked and brought it to his mouth: "Try it!"
He opened his mouth, took a bite, chewed a few times, and exclaimed, "Delicious!"
Shen Qing then held a skewer of mutton to his lips. He took a bite, then held it back to Shen Qing's lips, so that Shen Qing could eat it too.
Shen Qing took a bite, only to realize afterward that his bite was smeared with the saliva he had just used.
Ziyan and the other maids, who were waiting to the side, covered their mouths and chuckled.
Shen Qing was a little embarrassed, and in a huff, she said she wouldn't eat anymore, then squatted down to grill the meat again.
Cheng Zhiwen ate a meat skewer as she went inside. After a while, she came out and called Shen Qing to come in.
Shen Qing carried in two large platters of roasted meat, only to find that the man had already placed two bottles of foreign liquor and two wine glasses on the coffee table.
Three candles were lit on a European-style candle holder, illuminating a corner of the sofa area.
Cheng Zhiwen stood in the candlelight and beckoned to her: "Come here."
Shen Qingxin thought to herself: That's kind of romantic.
I looked down and smelled the odor on my shoulder; it was all the smell of cooking oil and meat.
"I'll take a shower first and then come out to eat!" She put two plates of barbecue on the table, ran quickly into the bedroom, grabbed her pajamas, and went into the bathroom.
I'd already forgotten to ask the girl to prepare hot water for my bath.
When the door opened, Zixia and her three maids were waiting outside with smiles on their faces, each carrying a hot water bottle.
"The second young master said you want to take a bath and asked us to prepare hot water."
Shen Qing stepped aside to let them go in and pour water.
Her hair smelled strongly of barbecue, so she washed her long hair and came out smelling nice.
Cheng Zhiwen sat on the three-seater sofa, one arm resting on the back of the sofa, the other holding a wine glass, legs crossed, leisurely sipping her wine.
Shen Qing walked over, drying her hair: "Do you want to wash it?"
He turned his head to look at her, and smiled at her, saying, "I'll wash later."
After saying that, he patted the seat next to him and said, "Come sit down."
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