4 conflicts
◎It's okay, Ciying will forgive her.◎
During the three days of rest, Ciying spent most of her time reviewing her lessons.
After all, Tingshuang Courtyard had once been the residence of the eldest daughter of the Xie family, and its level of refinement and luxury was only second to the main courtyard. After Xie Suwei's death, aside from some clothing and bedding that needed to be burned, most of her belongings were preserved, including some ancient books and manuscripts in her study.
Ci Ying carefully spread out the manuscripts, then a piece of rice paper, and carefully copied the young lady's handwriting. This wasn't difficult for Ci Ying; her handwriting and the young lady's had the same roots. In the past, when the young lady was too tired to do so, Ci Ying would take over and finish the work.
Ci Ying straightened her body and wrote down similar characters one after another. In fact, they were very similar from the beginning. As Ci Ying controlled the strength and width of the brush, the characters on the two pieces of rice paper almost overlapped.
“Tick-tock…”
The handwriting was blurred, but Ciying's face showed no significant expression, but the tear was clearly there. After experiencing a moment of light, death was indeed a long process.
Ci Ying never tossed and turned during these days and nights. On the contrary, she slept well because of the daily busyness and fatigue of the academy. Her dreams were full of all sorts of things. Only occasionally in the corner of her memory did she think of things about the young lady.
For example, she was now copying the young lady's poems, and suddenly she remembered that because the young lady was in poor health, the window of the study was only open on the side. Under the rows of bookshelves, two years ago in spring, the young lady, who was in good health, stood up from her wheelchair, held her with one hand and the bookshelf with the other, and her green fingers turned the curled books. Finally, the two of them fell to the end of the bookshelf together. The young lady laughed first, and then she laughed too.
Ru Zhen asked her what was the point of studying?
Ciying didn't know.
She only knew that on the ink scroll with the young lady's name on it that she was going to show to the lady, the teacher's score must be among the top three.
After the break, according to the convention of Lishan Academy, the first day is the assessment day, and the results will be announced within three days after the assessment day.
It was already dusk when the last policy was answered. The students had different expressions, but none of them looked good. Some students from remote branches who came from remote areas and were not good at their daily studies or poetry had begun to look depressed, and some even began to cover their faces and cry.
The head of the Xie family and the others of the same age as Ci Ying had no expression on their faces. The teacher was flipping through the scrolls of everyone.
Amidst the hushed chatter, Ci Ying suddenly heard her own name. She looked towards the source of the voice and saw an expressionless face: Xie Anyun, the third daughter of the Xie family.
Xie Anyun and Ci Ying were the same age, and next year they would reach the age of marriage. The girl wore a long, pale blue, cloud-woven dress, the hem of which resembled a blooming flower as she knelt on the ground, her posture high and proud.
Ci Ying always seemed a little distracted when she saw Xie Anyun, and today was no exception. Of the seven children of the Xie family, Xie Anyun was the one who looked most like Xie Huaijin. She rarely had the chance to see Xie Huaijin, but she would always run into Xie Anyun at the mansion or the academy.
Ci Ying bowed: "Third Miss."
Xie Anyun raised her eyelids, still unable to understand why her father and even her brother would tacitly allow a servant to replace the master's absurd behavior. The teacher had already left, and the students in the school had dispersed. Xie Anyun stood up from the ground, and the servant knelt on the ground to adjust his clothes.
Without saying a word, Xie Anyun took a step forward and nonchalantly stepped on Ci Ying's hand as she saluted.
The people around did not dare to say a word, the servants lowered their heads, and the others hurried away.
In an instant, a sharp pain came from her fingers, and Ciying's drooping eyebrows trembled, but her posture of saluting remained unchanged.
Xie Anyun chuckled softly, as if she had encountered something amusing. Her foot was still on Ciying's hand, but she leaned down slightly and petted Ciying's head as if it were a small animal. Her voice was soft, but every word was clear: "Ciying, she loves you so much, why didn't she take you with her to die? It doesn't matter if her father and brothers dote on her so much, she still can't even be buried in the ancestral grave after she dies."
As she spoke, Xie Anyun rubbed Ciying's hand. Tiny beads of sweat caused by the intense pain flowed down her neck into her clothes. Not sure if it was because of the pain or Xie Anyun's words, Ciying's body trembled slightly and she slowly straightened her back.
She stood up and looked directly into Xie Anyun's eyes while Xie Anyun was looking at her with a playful expression: "Miss, you are right, you are really stupid."
After hearing what Ci Ying said, Xie Anyun opened his eyes wide in disbelief, and soon laughed sarcastically. The mask he had just put on was completely shattered at this moment, and he raised his hand to slap her.
Nearby, a young lady from the side branch who had been watching the show and was on good terms with Xie Anyun finally spoke up, stopping Xie Anyun's hand from striking. The young lady whispered something in Xie Anyun's ear, and Xie Anyun calmed down a bit, but still sarcastically whispered, "Alright, I won't touch you now, Ciying. Let's see how many people can really protect you. My deceased sickly second sister and her sickly mother, I want to see how long they can protect you."
Ci Ying watched Xie Anyun walk away. The hem of her dress blossomed into a green flower on the ground. Ci Ying sat down silently and wiped the place where Xie Anyun had just stepped with a handkerchief dipped in water.
At the end of the school, a young girl suddenly spoke up: "Just stay away. She will suffer in the future. She really thinks that the Xie family's strong support can protect her bad temper forever."
Ci Ying looked up and saw the girl had already walked up to her and dropped a box of ointment: "Apply it on."
Ci Ying took the ointment and recognized the person in front of her as a young lady from the Xie family in Qingzhou. Two months ago, Ru Zhen told her that the leader of the Xie family in Qingzhou was recently transferred back to Chang'an, and several young masters and young ladies also moved in.
"Thank you." Ci Ying did not rashly address the person's identity.
Xie Ran chuckled lightly: "No thanks, you're right, Xie Anyun is just stupid, she didn't even think about it, the second young lady couldn't be buried in the ancestral tomb after her death, how could she be buried in it?"
There was a hint of undisguised sarcasm in his words. Ci Ying didn't say anything, but looked up at Xie Ran.
Xie Ran was a very free and easy person. Seeing Ci Ying's reaction, he curved his lips and introduced himself: "Xie Ran."
Ciying handed the ointment back and said softly, "Ciying."
Xie Ran reached out to take the ointment, raised her wrist, and saw whip marks of various sizes all over her slender white arm under the thin sleeves of her summer dress, but she didn't mind being seen at all.
......
At midnight, it started raining in Chang'an.
The sound of summer rain lingers, the windows of the study are all open, smoke curls from the incense burner not far away, a young man in plain clothes sits at the desk, holding a pen and lightly sketching the white lotus in the rain.
The guard with half of his face covered knelt on the ground to report the situation. He leaned forward and spoke in a flat tone. When he mentioned the academy, the hand of the young man in plain clothes paused, and a drop of ink dripped from the brush, just covering the sound of rain outside.
The servant boy beside him hurriedly bent over and handed over a new piece of drawing paper. The paper was outlined with gold edges. It was the most popular sandalwood gold paper in Chang'an at that time. Xie Huaijin lowered his eyes and drew a new stroke where the ink was placed. The place where the ink drop spread out became a small fish.
The young man's hands continued to move, a pale color between his brows. In the long corridor of the study, where the sound of sandalwood and rain lingered, a cold voice spread faintly: "Mo Yu, send a message to the third sister's courtyard. She is confined to her house for one month and fined three months. She is also required to copy twelve volumes of Buddhist scriptures to pray for her deceased second sister."
A young man in black brocade clothes leaned over and said, "Yes."
The guards' departing footsteps interrupted the sound of rain in the corridor for a moment. When the world returned to silence again, Xie Huaijin stopped writing. His soft plain clothes swayed down as his master stood up, and the maid respectfully stepped forward to change his clothes.
Not far away, thin smoke was wafting from the incense burner, flowing quietly and peacefully into the dead silent inner room.
*
Meanwhile, Ci Ying was talking to Ru Zhen about the academy. She didn't want her to worry, so she omitted Xie Anyun's story and spoke of Xie Ran: "Like spring grass, pale green and full of life..."
Ru Zhen absentmindedly hummed, and Ci Ying stopped and rubbed Ru Zhen's shoulders: "Are you too tired today? Then I'll turn off the lights and go to bed tonight."
Ruzhen nodded.
Ci Ying got out of bed and turned off the light, then said with a smile, "I'll make you some lotus seed soup when I have my day off next month. The curtains in the West Garden are ripe, so we'll go pick some in a couple of days."
Ru Zhen nodded again.
Ci Ying caressed Ru Zhen's head as she slept, tucking a strand of her hair behind her ear. She didn't know if it was her imagination, but she felt like Ru Zhen had lost some weight recently. If there was something, Ru Zhen would usually approach her, given her personality, but she'd still ask tomorrow.
After thinking about Ru Zhen, Ci Ying finally had time to think about herself. She had offended Xie Anyun, which was neither a big nor a small offense. Although Xie Anyun was a young lady, she had the madam standing behind her, so even if she slapped her, there would be other young ladies to stop her.
If she continued to tolerate it today, Xie Anyun would only become more aggressive. Although it was a bit rash, Ci Ying didn't want the young lady to hear those dirty words in the underworld.
If he offended Xie Anyun, there might be some trouble in the future, but it was also the result of Ci Ying's careful consideration.
Xie Anyun was born from a maid's climbing onto her bed. On the day she was born, the maid was beaten to death. Although Xie Anyun was treated like a young lady from childhood to adulthood, she was not favored in the Xie family compared to the young ladies born to the wife and the sixth young lady raised by the old lady.
When the young lady was still alive, she would always chuckle and shake her head when talking about Xie Anyun.
Ci Ying lowered her eyes, and they trembled for a moment. In fact, she hadn't thought about it that much at the time. How could she tolerate Xie Anyun mocking the young lady and cursing the lady like that?
After the young lady died, she was really overwhelmed by the "pie" that everyone talked about.
In the middle of the night, Ru Zhen suddenly woke up from the bed. After sitting up, her eyes kept trembling.
Ci Ying was so tired these days that she slept soundly. Even though Ru Zhen's voice was quite loud, she didn't wake up. Ru Zhen turned and looked at Ci Ying beside her, her eyes blurred with tears.
Ru Zhen wanted to wake Ci Ying and tell her everything that had happened in the past few days, about her father and Yun Xia. But looking at Ci Ying's sleeping face, Ru Zhen suppressed her urge to speak several times.
Yun Xia's mocking words from today echoed in her ears again without her knowing when: "Some people are just unlucky. They dream of turning a sparrow into a phoenix every day, but the advantage is always picked up by others."
The last scene between the pictures echoed in her mind. Yun Xia lifted her face, her eyes narrowed into a pointed shape: "Ru Zhen, I looked around, you look like Miss Ci Ying..."
Yun Xia deliberately twisted her tone when she pronounced the words "Miss Ciying". A smile spread across her face when she saw the expression on Ru Zhen's face. She slapped Ru Zhen's face away and laughed heartily: "You really have such thoughts in mind. What if I tell Ciying..."
Ru Zhen said stubbornly, "Who do you think she believes in?"
Yun Xia calmed down, and the smile on her face mostly faded: "Of course I know that Ci Ying trusts you more. She trusts you more, so you are more ridiculous."
Ru Zhen's eyes couldn't help but turn red. She put her hand on Ci Ying's shoulder and wanted to lift her up to apologize.
She was sorry that she really had such thoughts. She had thought many times that it would be great if the lady had admitted her mistake, and if everything Ciying had now was hers. She was so mean, even though Ciying was so good to her.
......She also cheated Ciying of her money to pay off her father's debt. Although Ciying never asked her to pay it back, she lied just to save face. Ru Zhen's tears fell. She couldn't count how many lies she had told Ciying recently.
The rain outside had stopped. Ru Zhen's lips were trembling, and her hands were stiff on Ci Ying's shoulders, but she still couldn't wake Ci Ying up. She didn't know when she lay down and gently held Ci Ying's hand.
Ru Zhen closed her eyes and thought tremblingly, it’s okay, Ci Ying will forgive her.
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