Upon hearing this, Qin Wan's anger intensified.
Lin's mother hugged Yu Niangzi with a look of heartache.
"Good child, your aunt knows you've been wronged."
Madam Yu glanced at Qin Wan with disdain out of the corner of her eye.
Qin Wan's eyebrows furrowed, and she was about to get angry when Lin Ziqi suddenly spoke up from inside the study: "Wan'er, I have something to say to you."
Qin Wan glared at Madam Yu before walking into the study with a dark expression.
Lin's mother sighed and said, "Look at her! She doesn't even give her mother-in-law or husband a kind look. She's really the daughter of a high-ranking official. We, a humble family, can't afford to marry her. It's just a bowl of medicine. It doesn't matter who brings it, but she has to make a fuss about it. I've lived this long and I've seen enough."
Madam Yu whispered, "I'm afraid my cousin-in-law is disgusted that I'm eating for free here, which has dragged my aunt into it. I'm fine, but my aunt is getting old and finally managed to find a wife for my cousin, and now she has to suffer. My mother always says that in the relationship between a mother-in-law and daughter-in-law, it's either the east wind prevailing over the west wind or the west wind prevailing over the east wind. It seems that's really true."
Lin's mother said fiercely, "Wait until your cousin finishes his exams and see how I deal with her."
Madam Yu quickly said, "Aunt, why bother? Harmony in the family brings prosperity. Don't let me, an outsider, cause trouble. I would feel bad if it did."
The two were showing affection for each other, but Yan Hong, who was eavesdropping behind the door, was furious. She muttered to herself, "If you're so sensible, why don't you get out of here? You're always stirring up trouble here, as if no one knows. Only those two idiots from the Lin family think you're a good person."
Seeing Lin Ziqi leaning against the pillow with a displeased expression, Qin Wan forced a smile, gave a curtsy, and asked, "Are you feeling better, my husband?"
Before she could finish speaking, Lin Ziqi scolded, "Why don't you, as her sister-in-law, be more accommodating to her? Besides, she hasn't done anything wrong. I've never seen you nitpick over these things before. It's clear that my illness these days has made you feel disgusted with her, isn't it?"
Qin Wan opened her mouth to argue, but then closed it again.
She hadn't taken it seriously before, but now she felt that the two were using this opportunity to get closer.
But in the end, she didn't dare to reveal what she had seen at the Marquis's residence.
If Lin Ziqi were to give up entirely, wouldn't she be paving the way for the two of them instead?
Qin Wan would never allow anyone surnamed Yu to steal the credit.
She barely suppressed her anger and pouted, saying, "What are you saying? I only said this because I took her to the Marquis's mansion and saw that her behavior was not like that of a young lady from the capital. You always say that you want her to marry your classmate in the future, so that she will have an extra arm to lean on. If your classmate knows that she is so close to you, what will he think of you and her? Will life be easy for them in the future?"
Lin Ziqi was taken aback, and after a long while, he came to his senses and sneered, "So you still meant well."
Qin Wan forced herself to say, "That's right. Would I, as her cousin-in-law, harm her? If she marries well, it will benefit me too."
She knew that these words would displease Lin Ziqi, but at this point, Lin Ziqi could only go along with her.
As expected, Lin Ziqi slowly exhaled a long breath, his expression softening, and said gently, "Then you should be kind and gentle to her. Before a girl is married, she is always treated like a guest. Besides, she is a guest in her own home. If you don't treat her well, she will hold a grudge, and it won't be good if she whispers in her husband's ear after she gets married. Right?"
Qin Wan sneered inwardly, but said on the surface, "Then I will try my best to treat her well in the future. But if she is someone who can't tell right from wrong, I'm afraid I can't count on her in the future. It would be better to let her be content and marry a countryman, and not think about becoming an official's wife."
Lin Ziqi found that she was unyielding and got angry, which gave him a headache.
But at this moment, he couldn't afford to break off relations and argue with her for Yu Xiaolian's sake, so he said, "Bring me some paper. I'm sick right now and don't feel like studying. Why don't I write a few poems about fireflies to use in the competition?"
Qin Wan immediately went to get the paper and personally ground the ink, while Lin Ziqi half-closed his eyes and rested on the pillow.
After grinding the ink, spreading the Xuan paper on the table, and placing the paperweight on top, Qin Wanfang spoke up, "Husband, the brush and ink are ready. Will you get up to write, or lie in bed and have me read it to you while you copy it?"
Lin Ziqi listlessly lifted his eyelids, glanced at her, and secretly disliked her for lacking any charm or gentleness, but on the surface he put on a tender expression.
"You haven't spent much time with me these past few days. Why don't you stay here a little longer and write this down for me? If you have any good lines, you can write them down too, and we can work on them together."
These words truly resonated with Qin Wan.
Qin Wan's face immediately lit up with a smile.
"That would be best."
In her previous life, she had thoroughly read Lin Ziqi's poems and had imagined countless times the scene of accompanying Lin Ziqi with her beauty and fragrance, so how could she disagree?
But as she wrote sentence by sentence, Qin Wan's heart sank lower and lower.
Lin Ziqi's poems are certainly good, but that's all they are.
Compared to his famous poems from his previous life, it lacks vibrancy and a certain spirit—that kind of charm that makes readers not only applaud but also want to recommend it to others.
Lin Ziqi asked, "Wan'er, what do you think?"
Qin Wan thought for a moment and said, "These poems are all quite good, but they would be even better if you thought about them a bit more."
Perhaps Lin Ziqi is not up to the task due to his illness; once he recovers, he will be able to produce even better work.
Qin Wan put down the brush in her hand.
Lin Ziqi said, "I've been pondering these poems for quite a while, but I feel like they haven't been fully expressed. I don't know what's wrong with them. See if you can find something better among them. The one you dreamed about last time was particularly good."
Qin Wan didn't know what to say.
Lin Ziqi continued, “These past few days, Master Gu’s poetry collection has sold very well, and Qin Siyuan and I have also become much more famous. However…” He paused here, looked at Qin Wan and said, “If I don’t have any outstanding works selected for Liu Ying’s poetry collection when it is released, I’m afraid I will be forgotten by everyone.”
Qin Wan panicked a little and asked, "Does my husband feel that he is not qualified to be selected?"
Lin Ziqi shook his head and said dejectedly, "The poems defending the title this time are all excellent. Master Gu's poems are not very good, but he funded the setting up of the challenge and was also responsible for the illustrations of the poetry collection. The walls of the Imperial Academy are full of poems. I have read them all, and there are quite a few that are eye-catching. Shuhaige also invited many people to challenge the challenger. I'm afraid my poem will have a hard time being selected."
Qin Wan hurriedly asked, "What about my cousin Siyuan?"
Lin Ziqi said with a strange expression, "Ever since he became famous for his poems at Yuyuantan, it's as if he's had a knack for poetry, and his poems have only gotten better and better. He's still holding the title. In any case, he will definitely be in the first volume of this collection of poems by Liuying."
Qin Wan lowered her head and remained silent.
She did want to help Lin Ziqi.
However, Lin Ziqi did not have any poems about fireflies passed down in his previous life.
It should be said that there was no such thing as a poetry contest in my previous life.
Qin Wan suddenly realized what was going on.
Many things in her life changed after she and Qin Yuan switched husbands.
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