Chapter 4: Clear Daylight and New Clear Sky
The moon came early, and now she was the only one in the school.
Shi Jianli sat down next to her and said, "I heard from Xianyue last night that you were back."
"I came back after having enough fun." Ming Yuelin leaned close to her ear and whispered, "I heard about what happened yesterday. Qiao Jingchuan is a bastard, and the third sister is also shameless. Sister Li, are you sad?"
Sister Li is so beautiful and charming, but Qiao Jingchuan doesn't even like her. She is having an affair with the third sister. She doesn't know whether it is sincere or not, but she must be thinking of getting close to the Anguo Mansion.
Shi Jianli shook her head and said, "What's there to be sad about? I'll just look for another husband. He looks good, and the people who asked around said he has good character, so I agreed to get engaged."
She won't lose anything by exposing it now. The betrothal gifts haven't been paid yet, so it's not a big deal.
Seeing that she didn't look forced, Ming Yuelin felt relieved. "I'm glad you're not sad. When will aunt cancel your engagement?"
"Wait a couple of days. Auntie isn't feeling well, so she needs to recover first."
Ming Yuelin nodded, and when she saw the other sisters coming, she stopped talking about the matter and said, "My cousin will come to our house to study next month."
"Are you here to play?" Shi Jianli had met Mingyuelin's cousin twice.
Throughout the dynasties, it was common for the children of powerful and influential people with good connections to stay and study in the private schools of aristocratic families, but the wife of the Duke, Yuan Yuhe, was from the Yuan family of Runan, a true descendant of aristocratic family.
The Yuan family has a deep academic background, and if she wants to learn, then Mingyue should go to the Yuan family. In addition to coming to play, Shi Jianli can't think of anything else for her cousin.
"Yes, she said she hadn't seen my mother for a long time, and she came with my second cousin." Mingyuelin replied her and greeted the sisters who came in.
Mingyuelin is the second girl in the family. The eldest sister is named Mingyuechu. She is her father's concubine daughter. She is nineteen years old and got married last year.
Mingyue Shuxing is the third sister, two months younger than her. The fourth sister is Mingyue Si, four months younger than her. The third and fourth sisters are all from the second wife, and the three are the same age.
There are also two younger sisters, and the age difference between them is quite large.
Mingyue Si walked in, secretly glanced at Shi Jianli, greeted her, and sat in the back.
The men also came in one after another, greeted each other and sat down.
In this dynasty, the separation between men and women was not strict, so it was common for boys and girls to study in the same school.
Ming Zhouhe walked through the door and sat directly next to Shi Jianli. After looking at her for several times, he turned around and talked to his second brother next to him.
Seeing that he didn't talk to her, Shi Jianli didn't ask him why he was hesitant to speak. She guessed that it was about what happened with Qiao Jingchuan yesterday.
Ming Zhou and Nai Shijianli were born to Aunt Li, and were her cousins. They were the third children in the family and were also the ones who Ming Yueshu mentioned yesterday as being "sold to a noble family as a favor to their third brother."
In addition to the direct descendants of the first and second wives, the deceased old Duke also had several illegitimate sons, who were separated after the current Duke An succeeded to the throne. Although the children were not ranked with the direct descendants, they also came to school together.
Therefore, there are many children studying in the private school of the Duke of Anguo’s Mansion.
Soon the teacher came over, and Ming Zhouhe skillfully collected the homework of the sisters of the direct lineage and handed it to the teacher.
He wanted to help his cousin submit her homework, so in order not to stand out, he simply submitted it for his other sisters as well.
The private school has two hours of classes every day. Today, one hour is devoted to studying classics and one hour is devoted to studying music.
After school, Shi Jianli and Mingyue said goodbye and walked out of the school with their maid.
Ming Zhou said goodbye to his brothers and followed her in a few steps. After walking for a while, there were fewer people around, so he lowered his head to look at her expression.
Shi Jianli looked up at him, raised her eyebrows and smiled and asked, "Cousin, what are you looking at?"
"See if you're sad."
She shook her head.
"real?"
"Really? I don't have any feelings for Qiao Jingchuan to begin with, so why am I so sad?"
"That's good. I've been thinking that if you're sad, I can just marry you."
Shi Jianli looked at the pure-eyed 18-year-old boy in front of her, pursed her lips helplessly, and said, "Cousin, don't joke around. Have you forgotten Zhao Aniu's family at the farm?"
I don't understand what the connection is between her being sad and him marrying her.
My cousin is half a month older than my second cousin from the eldest wife. They were both born in summer, so their names were taken from the saying "The fragrant breeze relieves the sorrow, the daytime scenery is clear and peaceful, and it is the time of the new sky."
My cousin’s name is Zhuhe and my second cousin’s name is Zhuqing.
Ming Zhouhe remembered something and rubbed his arms. "Okay, I won't joke anymore. I hope you're not sad."
He beckoned to the attendant behind him, and the attendant handed an oil-paper bag to Lanxing.
Ming Zhouhe said, "I asked Xuanyuan to buy the mint cake you like."
"Thank you, cousin."
"If you're not sad, then are you angry? I'm going to beat up that Qiao Jingchuan so you can vent your anger."
His cousin was so pretty and nice, Qiao Jingchuan was really blind to fall for Ming Yueshu, a guy who pretended to be nice and cried all day long.
Shi Jianli thought to herself, "That's fine."
Otherwise, Qiao Jingchuan would think she was easy to bully.
Ming Zhou and Lang laughed out loud, "That's right. I'm Ming Zhou and Lang's sister, and I won't let him get ahead of me."
The two chatted and laughed as they walked towards the main courtyard of the West Mansion, Qionghua Courtyard.
"Mother."
"aunt."
The cousins came in and called out at the same time.
Qiao Ruoying asked them to come and sit down with a smile on her face.
As soon as Shi Jianli sat down, she was grabbed by her hand. She said guiltily, "Li'er, I'm sorry for finding such a bad man for you."
"You can't judge a person by his appearance. I used to think he was a good person because he was so humble and polite. I never thought he was actually so utilitarian."
Apart from having a father from a good family, how can Mingyueshu compare to Li'er in terms of appearance, temperament, personality and knowledge?
Shi Jianli shook her head. Seeing that she was in good spirits, she felt relieved. "Don't say that. You are the one who works the hardest for me."
"How can this not be a good thing? It's better to know he's not a good person in advance than to find out he's not a good person after getting married."
Don't get sick because of this. My aunt caught a cold a while ago and is recovering.
"That's right, auntie will find you a better one. If Mingyue Shuai wants one, just take her. We don't want one that can be snatched away." Qiao Ruoying snorted.
"Tomorrow I will send a nanny to get the engagement letter back."
If she went in person, would that give them face? They had treated him with courtesy in the past because Qiao Jingchuan would be Li'er's future husband, and she was happy to hear him call her aunt.
Ming Zhouhe was used to the fact that the aunt and niece would ignore him when they talked, and he poured tea for them skillfully.
He thought, since they were going to ask for the engagement letter tomorrow, he would go with them tomorrow, and beat Qiao Jingchuan up if he got it back.
"Ming Yueshu is the same. She has learned all the etiquette and morality. She even hooked up with a man she was engaged to and said such nonsense. Fortunately, she didn't give birth to my child, otherwise I would be really angry to death."
"She'd better give up this idea, otherwise it will affect the reputation of the daughters in the mansion." It also makes her life difficult as a stepmother.
If a concubine's daughter tries to steal the bride's wife, her mother will also be considered to be uneducated.
"Aunt, let's not talk about her. You always get angry when we talk about her." Being angry too much is really bad for your health. Shi Jianli tugged at her sleeve and asked in a soft voice, "What are you having for lunch today? Do you have my favorite steamed duck with fermented rice wine?"
"Of course I did. I knew you and He'er would come over after school."
After lunch, Shi Jianli felt a little sleepy and walked slowly towards Tangliyuan.
I lowered my eyes as I walked through the corridor. The corner was slightly dark and I saw several figures approaching.
She looked up and saw that the leader was a man wearing a dark blue brocade robe with a cross collar.
The man was tall and as white as jade, with a black jade hairpin in his crown, and a bright and handsome appearance. His waist was tied with a belt with a chaotic cloud pattern and inlaid gold. Although his whole body had a noble and refined temperament, it made people feel that he was hiding his edge.
Shi Jianli's eyes swept across his overly handsome face, and she turned sideways to greet him, calling him, "Cousin."
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
