Chapter 14: Don't Dare to Slack Off Anymore
Nanny Li never imagined that this cousin whom she once despised could so easily resolve the situation she had set up, and even caused her to displease her own young lady.
After the little maid replaced the writing brush, ink, paper and inkstone, she did not dare to be negligent any more. She only hoped that the two young ladies could pick up their pens and copy the scriptures as soon as possible without wasting the auspicious time, so as to avoid being blamed by the lady.
At this time, a new desk had been moved in front of her. Su Ying tried it gently and found that the table top was flat and did not move at all.
Afterwards, her eyes fell on the four treasures of the study that had been replaced.
At this time, Nanny Li was breathing rapidly, her face showing tension, and her eyes were fixed on Su Ying, watching her carefully check the four treasures of the study one by one, fearing that this cousin would point out something wrong again and cause her trouble.
Su Ying was seen holding the pen in one hand and stroking the tip of the pen with the other hand with a calm expression.
After a moment, he slowly said, "The hairs on the tip of the pen are soft and fluffy, which shows that the pen tip is flexible. Not bad!"
Then, she stroked the paper again, scratching it lightly with her fingernails, her tone still unhurried: "This rice paper doesn't absorb ink, it's perfect for copying scriptures, very good!"
After checking the ink stick and inkstone in the same way, Su Ying showed satisfaction and smiled and nodded at Du Wanyi, saying, "They are both good things."
Hearing Su Ying's approval, Nanny Li breathed a sigh of relief and quietly retreated to a corner of the flower hall, lowered her head and frowned, waiting for instructions, not daring to overstep her bounds again.
"Sister, you clearly said that you are not good at poetry and prose, so why are you so knowledgeable about writing?"
Du Wanyi was confused and couldn't help but express herself.
Seeing Wanyi's bewildered expression, Su Ying felt a tinge of regret. She wasn't deliberately trying to show weakness by concealing her true talents. She was simply trying to avoid unnecessary trouble. After all, she was just a guest living in the Du Mansion, and she would need to rely on the family for her future marriage.
Besides, how could a guest, just by moving in, get in the way of the host lady? But she couldn't confess the reason to Wanyi without any concealment.
Then, with a slight blush on her face, she explained in a low voice, "Sister, you know, my grandfather had a small academy at the foot of Yandang Mountain in Zhejiang. I grew up in the academy, arranging pens and ink and collecting paper for my grandfather every day, so I know all this."
Wanyi understood and replied, "I understand. It's just like I'm not good at copying scriptures, but after all these years, I know which scriptures are best to copy during different festivals. It's the same principle."
Obviously, Du Wanyi had already thought that Su Ying was as playful as herself, and she thought that Sister Ying must have been forced to do this and that in the academy. She obviously didn't like studying, but because her family had an academy, she had to be trapped there every day to prepare pens, ink, paper and inkstone for her grandfather.
Alas, fortunately there is no academy in my family, only my grandmother and brother.
In comparison, Wanyi felt that the hardships she usually felt were nothing, and she felt an extra layer of pity and closeness towards Su Ying.
Su Ying was unaware that Wanyi in front of her already had a lot of sympathy for her. She simply continued, "Although I'm not good at writing poetry, I'm quite familiar with the things that scholars often use. In the future, I will organize the books in my aunt's library. If you have any books that need repairing, you can come to me."
After just a few days at the Du Mansion, she knew that Wanyi was kind-hearted and quite sociable.
She briefly mentioned a few things about the future to prevent Wanyi from mistakenly thinking that she was distant.
Unexpectedly, Wanyi's interest piqued upon hearing this. "Sister, you can repair books! That's great! I have a teacher who comes to my house every seven days to give me lessons. Last time, while doing my homework, I accidentally tore a page. I was wondering what to do next time I see the teacher. Now that you're here, I don't have to worry anymore."
She thought about it and suddenly had a good idea. She suggested excitedly, "Sister, why don't you come with me to attend the female teacher's class? I know you don't know poetry and prose, and I don't really like it. But my grandmother said that girls from families like ours usually marry into families with officials. If you don't know anything about poetry and prose, you'll inevitably have nothing to say to your husband in the future."
Su Ying smiled when she heard this. It was the first time she had heard a girl her age speak so openly about marriage, without any affectation or pretense. Her affection for Wanyi grew even stronger.
However, she still needed to discuss the matter with her aunt. After all, the female teacher was hired for Wanyi, and she didn't want to rashly go to class with Wanyi. This would definitely displease the eldest lady.
Su Ying quickly intervened, "I appreciate your kindness, sister, but I know nothing about poetry and prose, and I'm afraid it will hinder the teacher's teaching. Besides, I just agreed to tidy up the library with my aunt, so why don't we put this aside for now? It's getting late, let's just copy the scriptures first!"
When Du Wanyi heard the word "copying scriptures", she nodded quickly and said, "Yes, yes. Sister, you are right to remind me. Copying scriptures is the most important thing now. We can talk about taking classes with the female teacher later. Thank you for the reminder."
So the two sisters sat in the flower hall, holding their breath, concentrating their minds, and copying the scriptures.
Meanwhile, Du Heng, back in his study, was filled with inspiration, and he finished writing a policy paper with great eloquence. He calculated the time and found it was a quarter of an hour faster than usual.
It seems that people should not be too rigid. Walking around from time to time is beneficial to keeping one's mind sharp.
So he got up and planned to go for a walk to his grandmother.
Since his main task was to study, his grandmother told him to concentrate on preparing for the exam and not to pay his respects every day. To avoid disturbing his grandmother's peace, he didn't go directly to the main courtyard, but instead asked Qingquan to go first to report.
While waiting, he didn't want to stay in the study, so he just walked out of the west courtyard and stopped on the corridor between the east and west courtyards.
As lunchtime approached, there were many maids and servants coming and going.
The eldest grandson of the Du family's eldest son, the future head of the Du family, was seen standing with his hands behind his back, gazing into the distance.
At this moment, a breeze passed through the corridor, gently blowing his clothes, attracting attention.
They seldom saw their young master standing on the corridor in such a refined manner, and were stunned for a moment.
Aside from his early morning sword practice in the garden, the young master usually spent most of his time studying behind closed doors. It was rare for him to find the leisure and leisure to stand quietly in the corridor like today.
It's no wonder that when he stood by the corridor and looked into the distance with such a calm expression, he looked a bit like a banished immortal, making people dare not disturb him lightly.
Especially the maids, after bowing to him, they couldn't help but secretly look back and take a few more glances.
"Where do you serve?"
A little maid just glanced at Du Heng secretly, and was discovered by him. She was frightened and quickly turned around and knelt down, answering: "Your servant, your servant is serving in the young lady's room."
Thinking that her previous bold glance had displeased the young master, her voice trembled noticeably.
Unexpectedly, the young master asked her to get up and simply asked, "Has Wanyi finished copying the scriptures?"
The little girl breathed a sigh of relief, nodded quickly, and replied seriously: "The sutra has not been copied yet, but the auspicious time has passed, so the young lady and her cousin did not continue and will only copy it tomorrow."
Du Heng nodded and asked, "Where is the copied sutra? Have you sent it to the old lady?"
"I delivered it. I just came back after delivering it."
Du Heng then waved his hand and nodded, "Okay, go ahead!"
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