Hongye and Cuiming were almost finished, so they got up to clear away the cups, bowls, and plates to avoid Gu Baozhu seeing them.
Just as they finished tidying up here, Gu Baozhu's voice rang out from there.
"Third sister-in-law, have you eaten yet?"
Hongye couldn't help but mutter under her breath, "What kind of sister-in-law is this?"
Cui Ming said softly, "Don't talk nonsense. If people hear this, they'll say that Miss and Seventh Miss are not on good terms."
Hongye remained silent, lowered her head, and hurriedly carried the tray out.
Qin Yuan responded from inside, saying, "I just finished using it. Why did you suddenly decide to look for me now?"
Gu Baozhu immediately said, "Third Sister-in-law, I went to the main room to pay my respects to Mother as soon as I got up. Mother invited me to stay for a meal, otherwise I would have come to talk to you much earlier."
After they finished speaking, the man lifted the curtain and came in. He saw Qin Yuan sitting on the daybed, leaning against the small kang table, slowly drinking tea.
"What kind of tea did you drink, sister-in-law?"
Gu Baozhu familiarly moved closer.
Qin Yuan raised her eyebrows and smiled, "Would you like to try some Cloud Mist Tea?"
Gu Baozhu asked, "What are the benefits of this tea?"
Qin Yuan thought for a moment and said, "This is Yunwu tea from Tiantai Mountain. Wen Tingyun once praised it, saying that drinking it would give one wings. Tea lovers all love to drink it, and it has a reputation as the 'dew of Buddha's heaven' and the 'elixir of the imperial garden'."
He then pointed to the tea leaves in the cup and showed them to Gu Baozhu, saying, "They are tightly rolled, green in color, fragrant, mellow in taste, and beautiful in appearance. They can be considered the king of teas, which is very rare."
Gu Baozhu listened attentively and silently made a mental note of it.
Qin Yuan was a little surprised and asked with a smile, "When did Seventh Sister become interested in the tea ceremony?"
He then instructed Mozhu to brew a cup for Gu Baozhu.
Gu Baozhu smiled and said, "I think you are very refined, and you are extremely good at all the things that scholars and literati enjoy. I would like to learn a few things from you. If you can learn to ride a horse, can't I learn to appreciate tea from you?"
Qin Yuan could only nod and say, "Yes, you can."
Gu Baozhu held the tea in her hand and savored it slowly with Qin Yuan.
She didn't say what she wanted to say, but just sat and chatted for about half an hour before finally asking, "Third Sister-in-law, do all scholars like these things?"
Qin Yuan thought for a moment and said, "Probably. There are some people who don't care about these things, but most people love to drink tea. Yesterday, I heard your third brother talk about how people in the northern frontier drink tea. Their tea-drinking habits are very different from those of us in the Central Plains, but they still love to drink it. It shows that tea is a good thing, and most people like it."
Gu Baozhu kept asking questions for a long time before finally saying goodbye.
Hongye had already brought Qi Xiaoge back from Mr. Songshan's place. Seeing this, she asked, "What brings Miss Qi on this trip?"
Qin Yuan shook her head, "I don't know either. If she's just sitting around doing nothing, that's fine. But if she doesn't have to explain her purpose next time, let her be."
Hongye said, "Seeing Miss Seven reminded me of something. The girl who bumped into the high rope in the Wuqiao acrobatic troupe last time was originally begging to come and thank you for the reward, but she saw that the manor was busy and didn't come to Miss's side."
Qin Yuan nodded, "This child likes to watch. We can invite them to come and play again during the Mid-Autumn Festival. Kang Ge'er and Fu Ge'er should also take a holiday and stay home to celebrate the festival."
Hongye happily replied, "Great, I love watching that too."
Qin Yuan couldn't help but laugh for a while when she thought of Gu Baozhu's recklessness. She took her hair out, rested for a while, and had just gotten up to change her clothes when she heard that Gu Baozhu had come again.
Qin Yuan: "!"
Why are you here again?
Hongye, who was outside looking at the account books, came in to serve when she heard the noise. She whispered, "Seventh Miss is here again. I don't know what she wants. She's just bored and asked me some questions about my time at the Qin family."
Qin Yuan's heart skipped a beat, and she asked, "What did you ask?"
Hongye thought for a moment and said, "It was just about how the Qin family taught their children to read, and they asked what books Miss had read, how long she had been reading, and so on."
Qin Yuan breathed a sigh of relief. "Oh, could it be that you, like Sixth Master, also want to study?"
Hongye suddenly laughed and said, "If Mr. Songshan stays in the manor, it shouldn't be a trouble at all to teach another Seventh Miss."
Qin Yuan adjusted the hairpin by her ear, looked at the dressing table, and said, "Why do you think like that? Even Sixth Master is unwilling to take on Mr. Songshan. If you ask him to teach Seventh Miss her enlightenment, I'm afraid he won't stay."
Hongye stuck out her tongue. "Is Mr. Songshan really that eccentric?"
Qin Yuan said seriously, "Let me tell you, Mr. Songshan is very talented. Others would like to invite him but cannot. It is because of the Marquis's great fortune that he has been able to get such a good deal. It is our blessing that Mr. Songshan is willing to stay in the mansion for a long time."
Hongye immediately replied, "Miss, rest assured, I will take good care of Mr. Songshan's daily life. If there is anything amiss, I will immediately inform you and the Marquis."
Qin Yuan nodded, "I trust you with everything you do, but I'm afraid you might underestimate him because you don't know how capable he is. Scholars value etiquette above all else, and you should know that after staying in the Qin family for so long."
Hongye said, "Of course I know. My master often says that scholars are aloof and pay attention to etiquette, and they must be careful and proper in everything they do."
Qin Yuan remained silent. After tidying up, she had someone invite Gu Baozhu in.
Gu Baozhu smiled and said, "Sister-in-law, you were planning to take a nap. I'm the one who disturbed you."
Qin Yuan asked her to sit down and asked, "Why did you come back again? Is there something important you want to ask me?"
Gu Baozhu said, "Can't I come if I don't have something important to say? Didn't we agree that we'd be number one in two days? I had nothing to do at home, so I wanted to come and talk to my sister-in-law."
Qin Yuan could only chat with her idly.
After finishing her tea, Gu Baozhu asked, "Sister-in-law, would you like to go horseback riding with me?"
Qin Yuan shook her head.
"I don't want to ride today. I need to write a few letters. You've been helping me entertain guests these past few days and you must be tired. It's good for you to relax a bit, but don't forget to practice your embroidery. The Qixi Festival is in a few days, and your third brother has been wanting to see it for a long time."
Mentioning this, Gu Baozhu was no longer so calm and composed. She immediately complained with a bitter face, "Third sister-in-law, you know that although I am very talented, I started too late. Wouldn't it be embarrassing to go to the Qixi Festival like this? Third sister-in-law, could you talk to Third Brother and ask him to exempt me from going out and making a fool of myself?"
Qin Yuan couldn't help but smile.
"Seventh Sister, do you think I didn't try to persuade you? Once your Third Brother has made up his mind, no one can change it. Besides, you said the other day that you wouldn't embroider a fan cover for your Third Brother anymore, which made him very angry. How could I dare to plead for him?"
Gu Baozhu sighed, "I knew that my third sister-in-law and I were the best of friends. She would never have the heart to see me lose face. Oh, my third brother, he's so petty... He's so much older than me, old enough to be my father, yet he still holds a grudge against me. He's really shameless."
Qin Yuan struggled to suppress her laughter before changing the subject, asking, "Have you visited your sixth sister-in-law?"
Qin Yuan hadn't visited the family in the past few days. After Sixth Master decided to countersue the Xu family, she was at a loss for words and kept putting it off.
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