Chapter 25 [VIP]
When Mi Yao came out of Tingsong Courtyard, she told Xiao Liang and the others that she would go to Xiao Chuan's place first, and if there was nothing else, she would return and take a walk with them.
When she came out of Xiao Chuan's place, she looked sullen. Instead of going to Ting Song Courtyard, she took off her clothes, got into bed, and lay down covered with the quilt.
Feeling bored after lying down for a while, she reached out from under the soft quilt and started reading the book she hadn't finished yet.
Seeing this, Shuanghua and Yuxiu exchanged a relieved glance. They had been by Miyao's side the whole time, so they knew her temper and mood swings very well.
In the past, Mi Yao was often angry. She would get angry if she didn't get the jewelry she wanted, or if not many people praised her at poetry gatherings. Sometimes, if she bumped into her stepmother, Li, a few times at home, she could be angry for half a day.
But in the past six months, Mi Yao seems to have lost her vitality, and she immediately expresses any dissatisfaction she has.
So when they suddenly saw Mi Yao's gloomy expression, they were all a little uneasy.
Now, seeing her lounging on the couch as usual, reading a book, and smiling when she was happy, they felt relieved.
Since Mi Yao herself didn't mention going to Ting Song Courtyard, naturally no one would rush her out of bed. Just before the lights were about to be turned off, Shi Ya stepped forward and asked, "Madam, should we bring the young lady over?"
"Okay, and by the way, let me tell you that I went to the town magistrate's place and got tired, so I went back to my room to rest. I didn't go for a walk with them."
Mi Yao blinked her sore eyes and didn't hesitate on this matter.
When she first left Xiao Chua's place, she was feeling down and didn't care about anything or want to talk to anyone. But after a quarter of an hour, she realized that she had been led astray by Xiao Chua.
Why should she care what Xiao Chuan thinks?
Being a wife is different from being an employee. The former relies on her looks and coquetry to obtain what she needs in life, while the latter works like a beast of burden in exchange for fodder to survive.
Besides her appearance, she also has a family background. Putting aside the fact that she already knows Xiao Chuan is the winner, just as Xiao Chuan said, he is now just a knife that doesn't know if he will die on the battlefield tomorrow, while she is the legitimate daughter of the Yu family.
He was a newly rich man, she came from a prominent family.
In this way, she only needs to put on a good show; there's no need for her to suppress her emotions for his sake.
Since the decision to start the "raising a child" game has been made, let's wait until she's had enough before making any further moves.
Xiao Chuan and Mi Yao lived in the same courtyard. When she sent someone to pick up Xiao Shan, Xiao Chuan naturally got the news.
“Governor, perhaps I should remind the lady?” Pu Qing asked.
Although he thought it was a good thing that the young lady had started to learn to speak because of Yu Nu's teachings, it was wrong since his master was not satisfied.
"No need."
Xiao Chuan didn't realize that Mi Yao hadn't understood his words, but rather that she hadn't taken them to heart.
Since he said she didn't take it to heart, there's nothing more to say.
Mi Yao thought she would have to endure a few more cold looks from Xiao Chuan, but the next day Xiao Chuan started leaving early and returning late. The two lived in the same courtyard and their occasional encounters were always brief.
She had initially thought that after they got married, they should eat together, since he was always on the move and she wouldn't have to worry about it.
You can continue to order food from the kitchenette based solely on your own taste.
"My brother-in-law is like this, sigh..."
Yu Xiu sighed heavily. After sighing, she saw that her elder sister ignored her and was still making dumplings with Xiao Liang and Xiao Shan. She could only purse her lips and worry to herself.
Mi Yao didn't even bother to look at Yu Xiu's bitter face; she really didn't know what Yu Xiu was anxious about every day.
She had no shortage of food and clothing in the mansion, and no one disobeyed her wishes. They treated her as the second-in-command of the inner quarters, so Xiao Liang relaxed and began to smile more often. She was the only one who worried about whether Xiao Chua was happy or not.
"If you're standing there and the meatballs taste bitter after cooking, then it's your fault."
After making the glutinous rice balls with Xiao Shan and the others, before cooking them, Mi Yao was worried that they wouldn't taste good, so she deliberately shifted the blame onto Yu Xiu.
"Sister, I didn't do anything." Yu Xiu looked aggrieved.
"You're sighing and complaining like a bitter gourd. How can you expect the food to taste sweet when you're making it all so unpleasant?"
Mi Yao kneaded glutinous rice balls with flower fillings, including gardenia, plum blossom, and camellia... Flower petals can easily turn bitter if not prepared properly, so even though she used white vinegar to season them, she was still afraid of making a mistake.
This was actually the first time she had ever seriously cooked.
She grew up in an orphanage where the food wasn't great, but there were caregivers so she didn't have to cook. When she started school, she ate in the cafeteria. After graduating, she started her own business and was so busy that she ate all kinds of takeout. Her cooking skills were limited to just being able to cook noodles.
I recently had the idea of cooking, and it's actually somewhat related to Xiao Chuan.
Personnel management in this era was much simpler than in modern times. Once a contract of servitude was signed, everyone had to think twice before doing anything.
So even though the Xiao family had more than forty servants, Shuanghua quickly got the hang of it. She prepared a booklet as instructed by Mi Yao, assigning tasks to the servants each day, and then checking and marking them after they finished.
As soon as she arrived at the manor, she began interviewing chefs and hired two new ones for the main kitchen, hoping that Xiao Chuan would eat better.
During the interview, she interviewed a chef who was skilled at making Fujian-style dim sum.
Remembering her previous life, where she collected information everywhere and had the main characters make amazing desserts for passersby, she became interested and added a new cook to the small kitchen to make them every day.
They were like little shadows, following her everywhere she went, which led to the current scene: wearing temporary aprons and sleeves made by the embroiderer, their faces flushed, making sweet dumplings.
Yu and her friends are innocent and naive, happy as long as they have food and drink. But what can she do? She's not a child who doesn't have a brain and takes things for granted.
Seeing her older sister and Xiao Shan eating honey dumplings sprinkled with dried osmanthus petals, she took a bite and found them sweet and not bitter at all. She felt even more resentful and went out of the courtyard to wander around.
She went to find Shuanghua first, but found that she was too busy to talk to her.
She stood there for a while, then, feeling bored, went to the lotus pond.
Compared to the muddy swamp when my elder sister first arrived at the Xiao residence, the lotus pond is now mostly just withered stalks, but with clean, flowing water, the water is clear, and you can occasionally see a few big fish surfacing and blowing bubbles.
In addition, many evergreen trees that were not there before have been planted along the pond, as well as a few flowering trees without branches and leaves. One can imagine what the scenery will be like in spring.
In the Yu family, the eldest son's family came first, followed by the second son's family. The second son's family was also controlled by Madam Li. Mi Yao, being the legitimate daughter, lived in a good courtyard, but because the second son's family had many children, other illegitimate daughters were also arranged to live in the side rooms of the courtyard.
Back then, even my older sister couldn't find enough space to plant flowers in the yard, let alone her.
Now, before planting a tree, her older sister will ask her what kind of flowers she likes. If she likes any, she will ask Shuanghua to buy them together and have the gardener take care of them.
Compared to now, things are much better. No one in the Xiao family will bring up the fact that she is an illegitimate daughter; she is her elder sister's younger sister and is therefore the mistress of the household.
She was still not satisfied, and looked gloomy every day. No wonder her older sister was annoyed.
After thinking it through, Yu Xiu's anger had mostly dissipated. She shrank her neck, which had been chilled by the cold wind, and decided to go back and apologize to her older sister.
She stopped after taking only a few steps.
"Who do we have here? It's you, hiding here secretly."
Yu Xiu heard the rustling noise but didn't make a sound immediately. Instead, she tiptoed to the back of the artificial hill. She didn't call out to Xiao Yi when she saw him, but only spoke up sarcastically after he noticed her.
Yu Xiu glanced at Xiao Yi's hastily put-on clothes and snorted, "I thought you were so powerful, but it turns out you've been bullied like this outside."
Xiao Yi noticed that she had discovered him quickly, but she still saw the bruises on his shoulder and the ointment in his hand, and she understood what he was doing hiding here.
"Auntie, I fell."
Xiao Yi lowered his eyes and defended himself.
"Why are you hiding here secretly applying medicine after falling? Besides, if you fall, you should hurt your knees and face, or the back of your head. You clearly hurt your shoulder."
"I also injured my leg, and I hit my shoulder when I fell..."
"It turns out there were quite a few places where I was hit."
Yu Xiu didn't believe his nonsense. There were many children in the Yu family, and she had been bullied by her sisters a lot when she was young. However, since they were all female, they wouldn't beat her. But she had heard from others that the male children would beat someone until their nose bled.
If Xiao Yi had simply fallen, he wouldn't have hidden himself to apply medicine. The fact that he hid shows that he felt guilty and didn't want anyone to know.
If it makes him feel guilty, then the other party must be someone he can't afford to offend.
As an adopted son without parents or Xiao family blood, there are too many people he can't afford to offend. Before, he and Xiao Liang were even afraid of the four-year-old tiger head from the Ma family.
“Aunt, I come from a poor family. It is already a blessing that my father adopted me into the mansion. They hit me to teach me manners. I do not want my mother and father to worry about me. Please pretend that you did not see me today.”
Noticing the contempt in Yu Xiu's eyes, Xiao Yi knew she looked down on him, so he simply belittled himself to let Yu Xiu know that he would suffer even more if he didn't spread the word about how he was being bullied.
Sure enough, as soon as he finished speaking, Yu Xiu snorted coldly: "I just came to see if there was a thief when I heard the noise. Who has the patience to bother with your business?"
After saying that, Yu Xiu turned and left, and Xiao Yi breathed a sigh of relief.
After putting away the ointment, he didn't immediately return to Tingsong Courtyard. Instead, he found another sheltered spot and rubbed the lump on his shoulder through his clothes.
He can take punches and kicks elsewhere without any problem, but when this spot swells, it hurts when he holds a pen to write, and when it hurts, he can't write well.
If the teacher dislikes his handwriting and refuses to teach him, that would be worse than being bullied.
When he felt the smell of medicine on his body had dissipated, he returned to Tingsong Courtyard. As soon as he entered the courtyard, he heard the nanny say that Mi Yao had arrived.
Upon hearing that Mi Yao had arrived, he stared blankly at Yu Xiu, who was holding her head high with pride.
When she met his gaze, Yu Xiu rolled her eyes.
Of course, she wouldn't meddle in his affairs, but her older sister was her support, so how could she possibly hide anything from her sister?
As soon as she left the artificial hill, she told her older sister her guess, saying that Xiao's eldest son looked capable, but was actually a fool who was bullied by others and dared not utter a word.
"Why are you only coming back now? Your older sister has been waiting for you for the time it takes to drink a cup of tea."
Yu Xiu said impatiently to Xiao Yi.
*
Mi Yao was waiting for Xiao Yi in the study of Tingsong Courtyard. There was no wind and she could read a book. She didn't feel tired while waiting, even though she had a cup of tea.
After a while, she even had the idea of setting up a study in her yard.
When the new servants entered the manor, she not only assigned several more to Tingsong Courtyard, but also reassigned the use of several rooms in Tingsong Courtyard.
Originally, the three children lived in one room, Xiao Liang's nanny lived with the embroiderers in the courtyard, while Granny Fan lived in a separate room.
In Granny Fan's words, she was just helping the young lady guard the house, so she couldn't be considered to be living alone.
The room was opened, and the interior was decorated according to children's preferences, with the chairs lowered, much like Xiao Yi's room. However, there were not many of Xiao Shan's belongings, and there was a sour smell from Granny Fan, an old woman who didn't bathe often in winter.
Sometimes Mi Yao really felt that it wasn't that she was overly compassionate, but rather that the things she encountered were so illogical that she couldn't turn a blind eye to them.
After fining Granny Fan three months' wages, Mi Yao began to redecorate Xiao Shan's room, paying off the debts of three rooms: one for Xiao Liang, one to be used as a study, and one as a playroom.
"It's not about making you sleep in a separate room from your brother right now, but about giving you your own room where you can put all your things. When you feel you're old enough to sleep on your own, you won't feel unfamiliar when you enter this room."
After instructing Xiao Liang, she also explained the uses of the other two rooms.
After assigning rooms for the three children, Mi Yao didn't concern herself with the rest. It was none of her business whether Granny Fan slept with them; she could sleep in the courtyard anyway, and she couldn't take over the master's room.
When Mi Yao did this, Xiao Yi was at the academy. When he returned to the mansion, he heard Xiao Liang excitedly tell him about it.
He made a special trip to thank Mi Yao and accepted her kindness by moving his reading and writing space to the study instead of continuing to use the small round table in the room where he kept snacks as his desk.
"May Mother be well."
After exchanging a few glances with Yu Xiu upon entering the room, Xiao Yi saw Mi Yao looking at the scrap paper he had placed on the table for practicing calligraphy, and couldn't help but blush. "Mother, my handwriting isn't good."
Compared to the scions of noble families who began their education at the age of four or five, he was illiterate before being adopted by Xiao Chuan. After being adopted, he had no intention of learning to read or write. Instead, he tried to train his strength and learn martial arts, hoping to join the army like Xiao Chuan.
This year, after learning that his father would study characters and read military books at home, he finally understood and began to seriously learn to recognize characters.
Because he started learning late, his handwriting was the worst in the academy.
Therefore, the other students around him often mocked him, and Mi Yao was the eldest daughter of a prestigious family who valued learning and discipline the most... Xiao Yi was a little uneasy for a moment.
"For your age, it's very well written. When I was your age, I couldn't even hold a pen properly."
Looking at the neat regular script on the scrap paper, Mi Yao didn't bring up the original owner's learning progress, but instead talked about herself.
She first touched a calligraphy brush in first grade. Because the orphanage didn't teach writing much, she practiced holding a pencil for a long time before she learned the correct way to hold it.
When she started holding a calligraphy brush, she couldn't change her grip, and as she wrote, she started holding it like a pencil, which led to her being scolded by her teacher for being stupid.
This made her think that she was really mentally underdeveloped and unable to control her hands. It wasn't until she grew up that she learned there was such a thing as "there is no fixed way to hold a pen".
"Come over and write a few words so I can see them."
Thinking of holding a pen, Mi Yao asked Xiao Yi to come forward. Seeing that he was writing with his wrist suspended, she felt that he was practicing quite well.
As for the trembling in his strokes, she glanced at his arm.
The people who bullied him were clever; they didn't hit his face, but instead hit his arm where he was holding the pen, so that the adults wouldn't find out, yet they still made him suffer.
Xiao Yi wrote down the sentences the teacher had taught him that day. After finishing, he put down his pen, lowered his head, and stood in front of Mi Yao without taking the initiative to speak.
“Sister, I told you he doesn’t appreciate kindness. Your visit was pointless. He just pretends to be mute and won’t say anything.”
“No, I know I’m grateful to my mother for worrying about me… I just fell.”
Upon hearing Yu Xiu's words, Xiao Yi, fearing that Mi Yao might misunderstand, spoke up to explain.
As he spoke, he stole a glance at Mi Yao's expression, unable to discern her emotions.
Over the years, he had come to realize that Mi Yao was a kind-hearted person. She would teach her younger sister to speak and, fearing that her second brother would be lonely, would often ask him to go to the main courtyard.
In this situation, he really wanted to save himself some trouble and not cause Mi Yao any more problems.
But no matter how well he behaved at the academy, some people still had their eyes on him and found him an eyesore.
"I'll go to your academy tomorrow, and you can point out to me where I fell."
As Mi Yao spoke, she thought of the time Xiao Yi usually left for school, and paused, "Of course I won't leave with you. I can't get up that early. Let's arrive before noon tomorrow."
“I’m really fine, Mother, you don’t need to go out for me.”
Knowing that Mi Yao didn't believe him, Xiao Yi pursed his lips. His second brother and younger sister were still young and of the Xiao family bloodline, so it was normal for them to receive Mi Yao's care. But he was just an adopted son.
"Would you like to have lunch at Tingsong Courtyard today, or come with me to the main courtyard?"
He was still thinking about how to persuade Mi Yao, but Mi Yao had already stood up to leave. Hearing her question, Xiao Yi was stunned for a moment and replied, "I can stay at Tingsong Courtyard."
Mi Yao responded calmly. Xiao Yi couldn't tell whether she really meant to go to his academy tomorrow or was just saying it casually.
After the meal, the doctor who had treated his external injuries came to the courtyard, and Xiao Yi knew that Mi Yao had taken his matter to heart.
After being examined by the doctor and having every injury treated with medicine, Xiao Yi, blushing, hesitated for a long time before finally going to the main hospital.
After Mi Yao married her father, he prepared to greet her every day, but Mi Yao did not have the habit of getting up early, and she was still not up when he went to the academy every day.
Unable to greet him in the morning, he switched to greeting him in the evening.
But after that one time, Mi Yao said she didn't follow those rules and told him to either play or go to sleep after finishing his dinner and homework, instead of having to stand in front of her as punishment.
He understood that Mi Yao disliked him appearing in front of her so often, so he never came to the main courtyard again after that incident, only occasionally seeing Mi Yao in Ting Song Courtyard.
Thinking about all this, he was even more confused as to why Mi Yao wanted to hire a doctor for him and why she would make a special trip to the academy tomorrow.
Does that mean he's no longer a burden or a nuisance just because he's injured?
Seeing that Xiao Yi stood there silently after thanking her, Mi Yao ignored him and continued to agonize over the flowers in front of her.
Because she usually spent her time reading, she noticed that her eyesight had deteriorated compared to when she first started reading. So, in addition to making desserts, she added flower arranging to her hobby.
She had never learned flower arranging in modern times, nor had the original owner of this body had ever been involved in it.
So her learning method was to dig out all the flower arrangement pictures in the mansion and learn how to arrange flowers from other tasteful literati.
After a few times, I actually got some enjoyment out of it.
Today, she has prepared a large, blue-glazed vase with wintersweet and nandina as supporting branches and camellia as the main flower.
The flowers were not mixed, but no matter how she edited them, they still differed from the vase design, so she focused all her attention on trimming.
"Isn't my floral arrangement beautiful?"
After everything was finished, Mi Yao admired it from a distance for a while before asking the only audience member inside the room.
"Mother, the flower arrangement you made is very beautiful."
Xiao Yi never expected that a few flowers could be arranged to look so beautiful. In the past, he thought that Mi Yao was not like what others said, a noble lady from a high-class family who was different from ordinary people.
But now it seems she is still different from ordinary people.
Seeing Xiao Yi's expression, Mi Yao knew what he was thinking: "I was just looking for some entertainment when I had nothing to do. I learned the shapes from the painter's paintings, and I had someone buy the flowers. Although I don't deny my skills, I'm not as good as you think."
After Mi Yao finished speaking, she asked Shi Ya to take the flower arrangement out and then returned to the main topic.
She dislikes trouble, so she naturally wouldn't bother with Xiao Yi's affairs if he wanted to keep things simple. But being bullied is no small matter, and she certainly couldn't turn a blind eye.
Since Xiao Yi is unwilling to be honest, then she has no choice but to take the initiative to clarify things.
"Your father's abilities are undeniable, so anyone who would provoke you wouldn't be an ordinary person. I initially thought it might be the Ma family, but Granny Ma is brainless and treats the Xiao residence like her own backyard. I fired her relative from the head kitchen and fined Granny Fan her monthly wages. Her recent silence is really unlike her. But seeing you looking like you'd rather die than speak, what, is it the Zhao family who's bullying you?"
What kind of people can a child offend?
When Yu Xiu mentioned that Xiao Yi was being bullied, Mi Yao immediately thought of herself.
She first thought of the Ma family. Seeing that Xiao Yi was unwilling to speak in the study, she thought about it more and remembered that she had rejected Zhao Qiniang's invitation two days ago.
Xiao Yi was surprised that Mi Yao guessed the reason so easily, and even guessed the right person, so he was even more unwilling for her to go to the academy tomorrow.
"The person who attacked me today was my careless cousin. He is much older than me, and my boxing skills are not as good as his, but I suffered a loss today. He should stop bothering me from now on."
"If you suffer a loss, how can he stop? You've got it backwards. He'll only stop if he suffers a loss."
After Mi Yao finished speaking, she asked Shi Ya to take the cloak: "Go find a few strong and healthy old women to go out with us."
Thinking that the people in the mansion were all new and that they might not be able to find enough women to keep things in order, Mi Yao said, "Go find Pu Qing and ask him to give me two guards."
She doesn't mind making a scene at someone else's house late at night for the sake of her child, but safety must be guaranteed.
Upon hearing Mi Yao's instructions, Xiao Yi realized what she was about to do and stood in front of her, saying, "Mother, you don't need to do this for me. Ma Chengchun was careful and didn't seriously injure me."
Mi Yao truly admired Xiao Yi; who else could say that the other party had acted with restraint even after being beaten up?
“I know you’re afraid of the Ma family’s backers, and I also know that it was probably the Zhao family who instructed the Ma family’s son to attack you. Don’t worry, when I go to their door, I’ll pretend I didn’t hear anything the Ma family said.”
Mi Yao patted Xiao Yi's shoulder to reassure him: "They're not the only ones who understand the principle of bullying the weak and fearing the strong; I understand it too."
Xiao Yi was still processing Mi Yao's words when he saw her already dressed in a brocade cloak, looking radiant as she left the courtyard.
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