Chapter 59: Fascinating and Exhausting
"Oh, Miss Chang?" The woman's voice contained a hint of surprise and smile.
Chang Suining looked and saw that it was the wife of Duke Zheng, Duan.
"Mrs. Duan." Chang Suining sighed in his heart and greeted her.
Duan smiled and said, "What a coincidence! I didn't expect Miss Chang to come here to observe the phenomena as well."
"Greetings, Madam Guogong." Yao Xia also stepped forward to pay her respects, and couldn't help but ask, "Didn't Sister Wei come over?"
"She doesn't have the time and effort to do this. She can't compare with you." Duan replied, and looked at Chang Suining casually, and her tone was equally casual: "But my good-for-nothing son is here."
The maidservant beside Duan felt very complicated. The Madam's "casual mention" was as blunt as someone saying that the weather was nice today. Madam covered her mouth and said in surprise: No way, you know that my unengaged son is here too? But... I didn't even ask about this! Fortunately, she had been with Madam for many years and had developed a thick skin, so she didn't blush at this time.
Fortunately, Miss Chang reacted normally and just nodded and said, "Minister Wei is an important official of the court and should accompany the saint."
The emperor prays for seven days, but he cannot forget about all state affairs. It is just like going to a mountain resort to escape the heat in summer, but no foolish emperor would really just go there to escape the heat leisurely. Otherwise, after avoiding the heat for several months, the weather will get cooler, and the country and the throne will also become cool.
To put it bluntly, it's just a temporary change of location to handle state affairs.
Lady Zheng Guogong sighed with a smile: "I haven't seen a single trace of him the whole day."
He didn't say anything more, just took Chang Suining and Yao Xia's hands, one on each side, and said, "Let's go and take a look over there..."
The divine elephant was certainly attractive, but after looking at it for too long one would lose much interest in it. Most of the people present were officials and their wives who had seen the world, and soon, as it was getting dark, they dispersed in groups of three or four, chatting and laughing.
Duan invited Chang Suining and Yao Xia to her place to have a vegetarian meal together, and then copy some scriptures, saying that they just wanted to keep her company.
She was so kind that Chang Suining tried to decline politely but to no avail, so she had no choice but to go with her - of course, subconsciously, she was half-hearted, because if she really didn't want to go, even if she held a knife to it, she wouldn't be able to go.
If she had nothing to do, she would still like to stay with Duan and listen to her chatter.
Chang Suining and Yao Xia accompanied the wife of Duke Zheng to have a simple vegetarian meal, and the maid had already prepared paper and pen for them.
…
On the other side, Yao Ran was also accompanying Pei in copying scriptures.
At this time, Pei's dowry maid came in and bowed.
"I heard that the eldest son has returned from watching the elephants. The old lady told you to go to bed early and not to copy too late, as it would be stressful."
Pei didn't raise her eyes. She sat upright in front of the small table and wrote, "Since I'm here, why should I worry about getting upset?"
"Second sister is back too?" Yao Ran asked subconsciously.
Pei side-glanced at her with displeasure.
Yao Ran realized that she had said something wrong. Her mother had never liked her being too close to her second sister... so she quickly lowered her head and continued copying.
The dowry maid was not sure what she was thinking, but she answered her question politely, and looked at Mrs. Pei: "The second lady hasn't returned yet. It is said that she and Mrs. Chang were invited by the wife of Duke Zheng to copy scriptures together."
Pei paused as he wrote, and the ink spread, instantly ruining the entire piece of paper.
She sneered and simply threw down the pen: "Duan's shallow vision is just like this."
Obviously, Ran'er from her family was the most outstanding in terms of family background, character and talent, but that Duan deliberately pretended to be stupid in front of her, and even took that little bitch and even Yao Xia, that idiot, in her eyes! Since she was young, she has always been proud of her status as the eldest daughter of the Pei family. Not to mention outsiders, she also thinks she is superior to all the sisters of the Pei family. Pei, who was raised by others, thought about the various unfortunate experiences since she married into the Yao family, and the strange looks from those illegitimate sisters who married better than her every time she returned to her mother's home...
And now even a Duan family member dared to embarrass her and chose to set her eyes on that little bitch. Pei closed her eyes, the fire in her heart burning more and more fiercely.
Yao Ran wanted to persuade her, but she didn't know where to start. She couldn't help but feel a little guilty - if she could win the favor of the wife of Duke Zheng, her mother wouldn't be so angry, right? But she felt a little conflicted... From childhood to adulthood, if she didn't do well, her mother would definitely be disappointed, punish her, and ridicule her. If she did well, her mother would only sneer and say, "If you had done this earlier, you wouldn't have to be punished." She would even say when she was extremely angry, "If you were a boy, why would I force you to this?"
Thinking about this, Yao Ran continued to copy the scriptures quietly.
No matter what she did, in her mother's heart, she was the culprit who caused her biological mother to be unable to have children, and the source of all evil that went wrong - and the one who was even more "sinful" than her was her father.
After the old woman finished answering, she did not do anything else or step aside, but remained standing where she was.
Pei opened her eyes and looked at the old woman, who said nothing for a moment.
Pei looked at her daughter and said, "It's getting late. Go back and rest. Don't delay the blessing ceremony tomorrow."
"My daughter is not tired yet." Even so, Yao Ran subconsciously stopped writing. However, after hesitating for a moment, she finally said, "Mother has not looked well recently. My daughter is worried about her. I want to serve her and rest first."
Pei frowned slightly: "There are servants here, so why do we need you to serve us? Don't waste my breath."
Yao Ran clenched her hands on her knees. The fear accumulated over the years made her dare not say anything more. She could only say "yes", stood up and bowed, and left.
After the door was closed, Pei looked at the old woman.
Yao Ran deliberately walked slower, paying close attention to the movements in the room behind him, but he didn't hear anything.
She had no choice but to quicken her pace and return to the meditation room adjacent to Pei's, where she listened silently through the wall.
But it was unusually quiet next door, as if there was no sound at all.
Yao Ran felt a little relieved, but he couldn't relax his clenched fingers.
…
On the other side of the wife of Duke Zheng, Chang Suining and Yao Xia had each finished copying a scripture.
When he was about to copy the second article, Chang Suining suddenly had an idea in his mind -
After she became Ah Li, whether she was writing a reply to Zhou Ding or writing to Yao Xia, she had deliberately imitated Ah Li's handwriting. Although it couldn't be said to be completely similar, it was at least 80% similar.
Due to some unusual experiences, she is very good at changing and imitating other people's handwriting.
For example, the Buddhist scripture she had just copied was also written in A Li's handwriting - this would be the style she would most commonly use in the future.
But since she was "reborn", there was only one time when she used her original handwriting...
In Hezhou, in Zhoujia Village, when she just woke up, she couldn't tell what day it was, nor did she know who she was. Her mind was in a mess, and many of her actions were driven by instinct. She did not act cautiously at all, but just did things randomly -
When she asked the couple to confess their crimes, she wrote the confessions in her own handwriting.
And she gave the confession to Wei Shuyi.
This matter is not a big deal, but it can also be small or big——
Wei Shuyi was particularly shrewd, and he always wanted to find out more about her, so he had to give her a reasonable explanation as soon as possible to avoid any possible trouble in the future.
"Do you want to take a break?" Seeing that she had stopped writing, Lady Zheng Guogong asked with a smile.
Yao Xia on the side was about to nod, but heard Chang Suining say: "Thank you, Madam, you are not tired yet."
Seeing her continue to copy the sutras with her head down, Yao Xia almost sighed - Chang's sister is so beautiful, why is she still working so hard? How can there be such a charming and exhausting sister in the world? It 's really irresistible - in two senses.
One of them was that Yao Xia had no choice but to continue copying the scriptures.
When Chang Suining finished copying the one in his hand, he put down his pen, placed the two pieces side by side, and pushed them in front of Duan: "Madam, please help me see which of these two pieces of calligraphy is better and more suitable for copying scriptures?"
Duan didn't understand what it meant at first, but after looking at the two pieces of calligraphy, especially the second one, he was stunned: "This handwriting..."
After a while, she finally moved her eyes away from the words and looked at the girl beside her in surprise: "Ms. Chang can actually write in two different handwritings? I just don't know who taught you the second one?"
The girl answered straightforwardly: "I learned it by copying the handwriting of Princess Chongyue when I was young."
It is indeed His Highness's...
Duan asked softly: "Why do you want to learn the calligraphy of Her Royal Highness the Princess? Her Royal Highness's calligraphy is not easy to learn..."
"When I was young, I was naughty and accidentally found a collection of poems by the eldest princess in the library at home. The handwriting on the collection was vigorous and powerful. I was very pleased to see it, so I took the initiative to learn it for a while. Later, after being reminded, I realized that it belonged to Her Royal Highness the Eldest Princess and was left behind by the late Crown Prince by chance." Chang Suining said as calmly as possible.
"I see..." Duan smiled and said, "You are very talented. You have learned very well and you look very similar."
Chang Suining: "Not even one tenth as good as Her Royal Highness the Princess."
Humble, but not humble at all - this state is quite strange.
"No, it's already very good." Duan looked at the calligraphy again and said, "You are right. Her Royal Highness's calligraphy is very powerful and elegant. I was once fortunate enough to be selected as her study partner. I am very familiar with her calligraphy... It is rare that you are 80% similar to her. It is already very rare."
Chang Suining was silent for a moment - there were still eight points left, she had originally wanted to get seven points.
As for the time when she was in Hezhou, she was too weak to hold the pen when she first woke up, so it was only about 70% "similar", so she could get away with it.
"I heard that you were saved by the late Crown Prince?" Having brought up this topic, Duan asked another question.
Chang Suining nodded.
"Your Highness, the former Crown Prince, and Princess Chongyue are twin brothers." Duan looked at the girl in front of her and said with emotion: "In this case, you and Her Highness the Princess do have some fate."
Chang Suining nodded again.
It's hard to disagree.
"This calligraphy is also very beautiful, gentle yet lively, also very good." Duan looked at another piece of calligraphy, praised it, and said with a smile: "In my opinion, both are very good. It depends on which one you like more and which one is easier to write... When praying for blessings and copying scriptures, just be sincere from the heart, and the Buddha will respond."
Chang Suining pretended to think for a moment, then nodded seriously: "Thank you, Madam, for your enlightenment. I understand."
This made Duan laugh in surprise - she could enlighten others! She actually had such potential? At this moment, the two of them suddenly heard a "bang" sound, which shook the small table in front of them slightly.
Chang Suining and Duan turned their heads to look at the same time.
A chapter of more than 3,000 words, to make up for yesterday's hiatus~ Note: Princess Chongyue and the former crown prince are twins. As for why one is the "princess" and the other is the "crown prince", and it seems like they are a generation apart, it is because people are used to calling them their last identities before they died, that is, the former crown prince was the crown prince when he died, and Princess Chongyue was the princess when she died. (There will be explanations later, but I've seen some comments recently that seem to have misunderstood, so I'd like to note in advance that the two are siblings, and the previous article has stated it many times.) Good night ~ (End of this chapter)
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