"Second sister, I secretly learned this outside our village academy."
As Shen Yuyan spoke, she began reciting the Three Character Classic to Shen Danru.
Shen Danru learned from Shen Yuyan that there was a village school in Shangqing Village. A down-on-his-luck old scholar fled to this place due to famine. The village headman kept him and gave him land. The villagers pooled their money to build the village school and let the old scholar teach the village children their first lessons.
Children from this village only need 500 coins a year to attend school, while children from other villages need one tael of silver for tuition.
The Shen family would never pay for Shen Yuyan's education. He envied others who could study and write, so he secretly studied outside the village school window every day.
Shen Danru was somewhat surprised: "You like reading?"
Shen Yuyan nodded.
Seeing the longing in Shen Yuyan's eyes, he felt a pang of pity and said:
"Then will your second sister teach you?"
Shen Yuyan had also heard her parents say that Shen Danru was the future Crown Princess. She had been taught to read by female officials since she was a child, and her literary talent was no less than that of her eldest cousin, and she even knew more than the village schoolteacher.
Upon hearing that his second sister was going to teach him to read, his eyes lit up immediately, and his voice unconsciously rose a few decibels: "Really? Really? Second sister, can I read too?"
His ecstatic expression made Shen Danru's heart tighten.
She and Shen Yuyan were both children of the Shen family. She had been pampered since childhood, and was taught music, chess, calligraphy and painting by famous teachers. It is clear that fate is so unfair.
With that thought in mind, she no longer hated Marquis Xuanping and his wife.
"Your second sister is very strict, aren't you afraid?"
"Don't worry, don't worry, as long as my second sister doesn't think I'm too stupid."
As Shen Yuyan spoke, she kowtowed to Shen Danru and said, "Greetings, Second Sister."
His serious expression amused Shen Danru.
It seems I need to go to town sometime to buy some writing brushes, ink, paper, and inkstones, as well as some primers such as the "Three Character Classic," "Thousand Character Classic," and "Rapid Learning Method."
Now she could only find a small wooden stick and started teaching Shen Yuyan to write.
"You're the second daughter of the second branch of the Shen family?"
A man's question broke the atmosphere of her chatting and writing with Shen Yuyan.
As Shen Danru looked up, a man stood outside the door and asked in their direction.
The man was around twenty years old, of average appearance, and wearing a long robe. Although the fabric was not very good, it looked much more impressive compared to the patched clothes of ordinary farmers.
But his gaze shifted quickly, reminding her of Wang En, and she immediately lost all goodwill towards him.
As Shen Danru sized him up, Chen Lang was also scrutinizing Shen Danru.
Seeing how beautiful she was, I finally felt relieved.
"May I ask who you are?"
"I am Chen Lang."
At this moment, Shen Yuyan suddenly realized what was happening and stood in front of Shen Danru with her arms outstretched in a protective gesture: "She is not. If you want to find my second sister, go to Shengjing to find her."
His brows furrowed in deep sorrow.
They're looking for Song Yuqing. Judging from Shen Yuyan's reaction, their relationship is definitely uncertain, but it has nothing to do with her.
She pulled Shen Yuyan down to squat down and continue writing.
Seeing that she was ignoring him, Chen Lang gave her a flirtatious wink and walked away.
This disgusted Shen Danru.
Seeing Chen Lang leave, Shen Yuyan couldn't help but say, "Pah, a toad trying to eat swan meat, doesn't he even take a piss and look at himself in the mirror?"
Who is this person?
Shen Yuyan: "He was the fiancé of the original second sister."
"oh."
I see!
No wonder he was looking her over like that. Did he think that since Song Yuqing had left, she would come back and marry him in Song Yuqing's place?
"Second sister, don't pay attention to him. Father and Mother will not agree."
Chen Lang was a wealthy man from the neighboring Chen Village, which was in the same village as Chen's maternal family.
When Shen Cheng happened to meet Shen Yuqing, who was still living in the Shen family at the time, he asked a matchmaker to propose marriage, but Shen Cheng disagreed.
Chen Lang's reputation wasn't good; he spent his days fooling around and was said to have developed a gambling addiction. His family even sold twenty acres of fertile land to pay off his gambling debts.
Previously, Chen Lang's family had arranged for him to marry a wife, but every time Chen Lang lost money gambling, he would beat her. Unable to bear it, she drowned herself.
Shen Yuqing was initially unwilling, but later, something happened between the two of them, and she suddenly changed her mind.
Chen Lang offered a generous dowry. Upon hearing that there were thirty taels of silver, Chen Shi secretly agreed to the marriage without Shen Cheng's knowledge. By the time Shen Cheng and Zhou Shi found out, the betrothal had already been arranged.
Chen embezzled all the betrothal gifts, and of course, the money also ended up in Shen Yushu's pocket.
With Shen Yuqing agreeing to the marriage, Shen Cheng and his wife became very passive in their attempts to object.
After Chen Yuqing returned to the Marquis's mansion to acknowledge her family, Chen Lang visited her multiple times, but she refused to hand over the person or return the betrothal gifts, offering various excuses each time.
Shen Danru frowned. Did Chen Lang think that since Shen Yuqing was gone, he would marry someone else in her place?
wishful thinking.
As Shen Danru had guessed, Chen Lang went to the Shen family to find Chen Shi.
"Ding ding, please check the new system task: Find a plant on the mountain, make it into a delicacy and sell it. Once you have sold more than fifty servings, the task is complete."
Plants on the mountain?
Shen Danru has been strolling in the mountains these past two days when she had nothing to do. She digs up some wild vegetables to take home and eat, but it's not so easy to turn them into gourmet food and sell them.
She had no choice but to go up the mountain again.
"Yu Yan, Second Sister is going for a walk in the mountains, do you want to come along?"
"Is Second Sister going to the mountain to dig for wild vegetables? I want to go too."
Shen Danru: "Let's go for a walk in the mountains and then we'll talk."
After telling their parents, the two set off.
The two walked one after the other, with Shen Yuyan carrying a basket on her back and leading the way, while Shen Danru followed behind with a shovel.
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