Chapter 346 Emotional Sentiment
"Little sister, your older brother is not capable enough. He has not yet passed the imperial examinations to become a scholar or a jinshi. I am afraid that I am not good enough and will not be able to support you in the future."
Every word Xiao Qi spoke struck Lin Yuesha's heart, making her empathize with the pressure her stepbrother was under.
“There’s nothing that you and I, brother and sister, can’t talk about. With your background, going to the capital is like entering a dragon’s den or a tiger’s lair. If you pass the imperial examination and get an official position, even if you don’t have a good time in the capital, I will take you away. Just live the life you like.”
Xiao Qi said that if he were still a poor scholar, he would not only be unable to help Lin Yuesha, but would also be a hindrance.
This is not what he wanted. He only wanted to do his best to protect her for the rest of her life.
"Besides this, elder brother has no other requests."
Xiao Qi's eyes were gentle as he looked at Lin Yuesha, his eyes filled with her image.
"Big brother, you're so kind."
Lin Yuesha felt a pang of sadness and an urge to cry again. She hadn't realized that her older brother was thinking of her in everything. No wonder he had dark circles under his eyes; he must have been staying up late studying for the high school entrance exam.
Indeed, after arriving in the capital, I had no one to rely on.
She entered the Lin family mansion, becoming a dependent, a pitiful girl who had grown up in the countryside. Neither her stepfather nor her biological mother could help her.
The stepfather stopped mentioning it, and the mother, Chen, had no say; on the contrary, she felt very awkward.
Lin Yuesha was also afraid, but what could she do if she was afraid? She could only try her best because she was alone.
During the countless days and nights of rigorous training at the girls' school, she was so exhausted that she wanted to cry, but she had to hold back. She told herself that if she didn't learn the rules now, she would be punished when people in the capital used the rules to criticize her. She worked hard because she didn't want anyone to find fault with her.
"Little sister, we are family. I will work harder in the future to be your support."
Xiao Qi spoke with great certainty, but only he knew the deeper meaning behind his words.
"Big brother..."
Lin Yuesha was increasingly moved, thinking of how her elder brother killed a chicken just to keep her from getting blood on her hands, showing that he was thinking of her in every little way.
On the contrary, she had always disliked Xiao Qi for being an unprincipled pushover. She was wrong; she had let her stepbrother down.
She didn't just spend some money she got from slaughtering a fat sheep; her stepbrother gave his heart, which is the most precious thing.
"Alright, there's no need for formalities between us siblings."
Seeing that his younger sister had taken the bait, Xiao Qi stopped trying to evoke emotions and turned away awkwardly.
"thump."
Qingxing wasn't looking where she was going and bumped her head on a big tree. She was still in shock, stunned by the scene of her master shamelessly seducing the young lady. She rubbed her eyes, afraid that everything she had seen was just an illusion.
Qingxing thought about it and realized that even she would be impressed by the master's acting skills; there was no trace of affectation whatsoever!
"Little sister, I must go to the capital first."
It's already the fifth month of the lunar calendar. Traveling from the north to the capital would take at least a month. The provincial examinations are in the eighth month of the lunar calendar; time is running out.
Xiao Qi looked at Lin Yuesha and instructed her, "You must be careful at home. As a woman, you must not wander around."
His younger sister has a wild nature, and although he has spies around him, he's not entirely at ease unless he keeps an eye on her.
"Brother, take good care of yourself in the capital."
Lin Yuesha calculated the days. Her stepbrother had been in the capital for a little over a month and would be preparing for the provincial examination. If everything went smoothly, he would take the imperial examination for the third time next March and pass it all in one go.
Upon arriving in the capital, they ate and lodged in the guild halls of the students, bought books, visited friends, and needed money to go out, as poor people could not make friends.
Interpersonal relationships are very important, and the stepbrother must have enough money.
Lin Yuesha gritted her teeth, took out her purse, and handed all the silver notes she had on her to Xiao Qi, saying, "Brother, take these silver notes."
I swindled two thousand taels from the Li sisters. I gave two hundred taels to the girls' school and two hundred taels to Chen Xiaohua as a dowry. I spent two hundred taels on that as well, so I still had fourteen hundred taels left.
He had previously sold the gold bracelet and paid off three hundred taels of the pockmarked man's debt. He still had one thousand taels left, which brought his total to two thousand four hundred taels.
Lin Yuesha kept only one tael of silver notes and gave the rest to her stepbrother, which was also a large sum of money.
Xiao Qi was very satisfied, as this showed that his younger sister cared about him.
"Little sister, I can't accept it."
Xiao Qi declined, but Lin Yuesha, with tears in her eyes, said, "Keep it, otherwise you don't consider me a sister."
I'm willing to spend any amount of money on my family; money is just an external thing.
Lin Yuesha turned around, no longer looking at the purse she had handed over, afraid that she would change her mind and snatch back the silver notes she had given away.
She had worked so hard to earn this money; she felt insecure without it. But the other person was her older brother, who needed the money even more than she did.
The brother and sister had a heart-to-heart talk for a while before returning to their respective rooms.
The next morning, Bai Youran's maid Ruyi came to deliver a message: Bai Youran invited Lin Yuesha to her residence for a gathering.
“Miss Lin, this is also our madam’s idea. If you don’t go, she might send a maid to invite you later.”
The maid from the manor came yesterday, but Lin Yuesha went to town, leaving the Bai family's people empty-handed.
"All right."
Lin Yuesha only had three days to spend with her family, and she didn't want to go out. She and Bai Youran lived under the same roof at the girls' school and saw each other every day. However, since Ruyi had already put it that way, it would be impolite not to go.
"By the way, our young lady asked me to inform you that the two young ladies from the Li family and the two young ladies from the Zhao family are guests at our residence."
Ruyi and Lin Yuesha were familiar with each other, and their words revealed a hint of that.
What are they doing here?
Lin Yuesha least wanted to see Li Ruoxue and Li Ruoshuang. The two of them had tried to steal a chicken but ended up losing the rice instead, and they had been secretly plotting to mess with her.
"It's because Yingcheng is far from our prefectural city that the four young ladies have to spend the Dragon Boat Festival in the prefectural city, so Madam invited them to the mansion."
If no one was in the room, he said in a low voice, "Recently, Madam has said that she wants to entrust an official matchmaker to find a spouse for our young master."
As for which family's young lady she had taken a fancy to, the lady did not say, but inviting these four people as guests must mean something.
Lin Yuesha sighed softly. Last time, the Li sisters framed her because Bai Dingfeng sent her calligraphy and tried to curry favor. This time, she was invited to the mansion again, which inexplicably aroused suspicion from others.
If the Li sisters misunderstand, they will only make her a target.
If they weren't in the girls' school, the two wouldn't have any inhibitions. Lin Yuesha would have to come up with a plan to avoid a direct confrontation.
It wasn't that she wanted to be kind to everyone, but rather that she was leaving the North and wanted to minimize her enemies. She had already transferred her money and didn't want to be at odds with the Li sisters anymore, though the two wouldn't let her off the hook.
After learning about the situation from Ruyi, Lin Yuesha took the pastries she had made, along with Qingxing and Qi'er, and headed straight for the Bai residence.
Originally, she planned to bring white tea and Longjing tea, but considering the possibility of unexpected situations, she chose Qingxing Qi'er, who had seen the world, as it would be safer.
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