Xuezhi was a little confused when she saw Yining suddenly sit up straight, as if she was thinking about something.
"Sister, are you thirsty? Songzhi even brought out a pot of mung bean soup..."
Yi Ning shook her head, staring intently at the lotus buds filling the pond. Luo Yiyu was just a little girl, what was she doing soaking in water with lotus leaves? She suddenly said, "Xuezhi, I want lotus buds too, but I don't want you to pick them for me. I think the lotus buds those maids just gave me are great. After they leave Fourth Sister's yard, go ask them for one."
Xuezhi didn't quite understand what Yining was trying to do. With the pond full of lotus buds, it wouldn't make any difference which one she picked. Why did she insist on picking the one that had already been chosen?
Yining didn't know how to explain it to her, she was just a little suspicious.
After saying that, she stood up, dusted herself off, and said to Luo Yixiu, who was still grasping at the branches, "Fifth sister, I'm tired and want to go back first. Let's go quickly."
Luo Yixiu, who hadn't had enough fun at all, came over clutching a few lotus flowers. She was still complaining to Yining, "You're as weak as a kitten now." She pinched Yining's round face and said, "Where's the white flesh on your face? You must be tired from doing this."
Yi Ning never thought that the two had anything to do with each other. She took Luo Yixiu's hand and walked back, saying as she walked, "I haven't finished the glutinous rice chicken I made for lunch yet. There's half a chicken left. Let the kitchen heat it up for you and we can eat together."
Luo Yixiu thought Yining was stingy, but then she remembered that the glutinous rice chicken in Mrs. Luo's small kitchen was the most delicious, so she followed Yining back home eagerly. She ate half a chicken and drank two bowls of sweet mung bean soup before leaving.
In the evening, Yining received a lotus bud that Xuezhi brought back for her.
Luo Chengzhang, Lin Hairu, and Chen came to pay their respects to Old Lady Luo. They'd heard her old illness had relapsed, so they were all outside caring for her. They also mentioned wanting to invite her uncle back from the capital. While they were discussing matters, Yining returned to her own green gauze cabinet.
Xuezhi fanned her to cool her down. Seeing Yining looking at a lotus bud without saying what she was doing, she asked with amusement, "What are you looking at?"
Yi Ning looked at the flower bud and said casually: "I will embroider this when I learn needlework tomorrow. Isn't this just observing carefully?"
Songzhi brought a candlestick to Yining and found that Yining had started to break open the lotus bud. She asked in surprise, "Miss, this lotus bud is fine, why are you breaking it open?"
Yi Ning remained silent, breaking off petals and dropping them into the copper basin at her feet. She finally saw a note tucked into the heart of the flower, and her heart skipped a beat. Xue Zhi asked curiously, "I haven't touched it since I brought it back. How did a note end up in this bud?"
Yi Ning gently unfolded the slip of paper and saw only two lines of poetry written on it. The exquisite dice are filled with red beans, and I wonder if you know how deep my longing for you is.
Yining sneered in his heart.
She had only guessed at first, but she hadn't expected her fourth sister to be so clueless, imitating the young ladies in the opera and passing on poems to others. She wasn't afraid of being beaten to death by Chen. If this matter really got out, not only would she, Luo Yiyu, but all the unmarried girls in the Luo family would be implicated! She was quite courageous.
Songzhi saw that her expression had changed a little, so he came over and asked quietly, "Sister, is there anything wrong?"
Yi Ning handed the note to Song Zhi, who was also quite clever and quickly realized what was going on. His face turned pale. "This...this is impossible! Fourth Miss is so foolish! Our family has already been engaged to the Liu family! If this gets out, you'll be implicated. Seventh Miss, we have to tell the old lady about this. You can't bear it like this."
Yi Ning held the note in her hand, lost in thought. The difficulty now was that if she told Old Lady Luo about this, Luo Yiyu would undoubtedly blame her. But if she didn't tell the old lady, with Yiyu's reckless personality, what if she got into trouble in the future?
She shook her head and said softly, "You two are the only ones in the room serving me personally. Just pretend we haven't seen this note, and don't tell anyone else..." She looked at Xuezhi, "Bring the candlestick over here."
Xuezhi saw that although Yining was young, she was calm and composed. She took a deep breath and turned to get the candlestick.
The flame trembled in the wind, and Yining held the paper up to it and lit it. Songzhi watched from the side. Xuezhi took the incense burner and asked Yining to put the burnt note into the incense burner. Then she closed the lid of the incense burner.
Xuezhi was also a little hesitant: "Sister, are we really not going to care about this? If this gets exposed in the future..."
The Luo family's reputation was affected, and Yining himself probably couldn't escape being implicated.
Yi Ning was afraid they would think she was too clever, almost a demon. How could a child have so many concerns? She simply said, "Sister Yi Yu and I are already at odds. If I tell Grandmother about this, I'm afraid both Yi Yu and my aunt will be unhappy with me."
Xuezhi was still a little worried, but since everything was burned, she didn't say anything else.
At this time, the maid outside came in and said that Mrs. Luo asked Yining to leave. Xuezhi helped Yining put on her shoes and took her to the west side room. Chen had already left. Lin Hairu and Luo Chengzhang were still sitting with Mrs. Luo. Luo Chengzhang saw her come out, smiled and waved her over: "Meimei, I brought you something, do you like it?"
Ever since the tourmaline incident, Luo Chengzhang felt incredibly guilty towards her. Lately, he'd been sending her little trinkets, but Yining hadn't accepted any. She felt bad for little Yining, who had been wronged. Even she couldn't defend herself against such things, let alone a seven-year-old. Her impression of this "cheap dad" had only worsened.
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