Shen Huaijin's affairs
Since Shen Huaiyin failed to apply to the first-tier prestigious schools, Ling Wan began to prepare for him to enter the second-tier schools.
"That's easy." After hearing Ling Wan's request for advice, Mrs. Tao raised her eyebrows. "Won't Mr. Mei be returning to Beijing to live permanently in a few days? Why should Second Sister-in-law go so far away?"
Mei Ru is over seventy years old. He is a living great scholar who is as famous as Xu Lingwan's maternal grandfather. Ten years ago, he was invited by a good friend to teach at Songshan Academy, a top private academy. He has many students all over the world and is also Shen Huaijin's mentor.
Two months ago, upon hearing that his most prized disciple had won three top honors, Elder Mei, overjoyed, drank excessively, and his old illness was triggered. Fortunately, the Shen family dispatched a doctor and medicine overnight, saving the life of the carefree old man.
After this incident, Mr. Mei accepted for the first time his fate that “it is rare for a person to live to be seventy” and accepted his beloved disciple’s repeated invitations to come to Kyoto for recuperation.
"Mr. Mei is in Kyoto to recuperate. He shouldn't be burdened with any work." Ling Wan immediately shook her head. Mei Ru was renowned throughout the world, and it would be wonderful to receive his guidance, but Xu Ling Wan had never considered it that way.
Mrs. Tao said nothing more, only winked and smiled, "Second sister-in-law is sincere. I'll keep an eye on Huai Yin's matter for you, and I'll let you know if there's any news in a few days."
It was not known whether it was Tao Linglong or Chen Yuanyuan who did not understand the rules, but a few days after Mr. Mei came to the Shen Mansion, Mrs. Shen asked several young men in the mansion who had not yet attended school to go to Qingzhu Garden to study.
Ling Wan was puzzled and asked Tao how she knew that Mr. Mei would open a private school at home.
Mrs. Tao counted the two children and gave them to Elder Mei. She sighed, "Maybe Elder Mei thinks our children are smart and cute?"
That's impossible. Could it be that Mr. Mei and his wife, childless, simply enjoy having children around and playing with their grandchildren? Ling Wan fell into deep thought.
Mrs. Tao couldn't help but laugh: "Second sister-in-law, you...you are so gullible, hahahaha."
Seeing Ling Wan was so angry, she added fuel to the fire: "Let's make another bet and see if Huai Jie and Huai An will come back to school in a few days?"
Ah. What does it mean to go back to school when you don't want to attend Tsinghua University Elementary School?
But Tao was right. Not long after Mei Ru's class started, the old lady ordered her eldest sister-in-law, Lu, to personally go to the Duke of Wei's mansion to apologize, claiming that "the two children had behaved unruly and had offended Mr. Qi." From then on, Huai Jie and Huai An naturally stayed at home to study.
Ling Wan was completely baffled and went to ask for advice from Mrs. Tao. Mrs. Tao curved her lips and raised her eyebrows and said, "Although the Qi family school is good, Master Qi and the Qi family always like to smooth things over."
"It's certainly important to protect yourself, but the men of the Shen family never think of that."
Xu Lingwan paused, as if she understood.
She was not clear about the current situation in the court, but she was not so stupid as to not know the value of having two ministers in one family. The Shen family's success of three ministers in four generations was not achieved by simply being prudent and self-protective.
"If you can concentrate on studying, then study. If you can't, come back and have a good meal." On the first day of school, Ling Wan solemnly warned while holding little Pudding in one hand.
The two children's eyes lit up, and they were no longer surprised. They nodded vigorously and said "yes". This caused Mrs. Tao to sigh in amusement.
Mei Ru's wife's surname is Li. She is a few years older than Madam Shen. However, because Shen Huaijin calls her "Master's Wife", several sisters-in-law of the Shen family treat her as an equal and respect her as "Mrs. Mei".
Madam Mei came from a branch of a prominent family, but her family fell into poverty when she was young, hence her sharp and outspoken nature. It was unclear whether Ling Wan had adapted to her temperament or because she was Shen Huaijin's biological mother, but Madam Mei treated her with exceptional kindness.
"Yun Qing lost his mother at a young age, and he was always very strict with himself, so he developed such a taciturn personality."
"To be honest, he respects you. Last year, Yunqing was so happy to receive the letters from your brothers and sisters every month. He treasured them all and didn't even show them to his teacher."
Before she had even arrived, Madam Mei had a pretty good idea of the Second House's situation. Knowing that Ling Wan was straightforward, she didn't beat around the bush with her.
Speaking of which, this was the first time Chen Yuanyuan learned that Chen Huaijin's courtesy name was Yunqing.
Shen Yunqing. His calligraphy is just like his personality, quite elegant.
"I know Huaijin's personality, don't worry." Ling Wan smiled. These days, she'd been learning from Madam Mei, having nothing else to do. She looked at Madam Mei's bamboo branch painting, then at her own embroidered chicken feet, and her face flushed crimson with shame.
"It's already very good even though it's the first time to embroider it." Mrs. Mei took a look at the embroidery and chuckled.
It was not uncommon for noble ladies from aristocratic families to be ignorant of needlework; but she was somewhat surprised that the girl raised by the Grand Lady herself was not good at playing the zither.
This wasn't Chen Yuanyuan's fault. She wasn't the real protagonist, so naturally she wasn't as refined and elegant as the original. Furthermore, her modern hobbies and interests were limited to those arts, far removed from the ancient poetry, calligraphy, and painting.
Fortunately, she learned cello and painting in modern times. Although these two things are very different from the ancient lyre and Chinese painting, she can learn by analogy and finally learn one or two good things.
"Madam, these shoes are so well made. They are light and soft, and the stitching is so neat. Huaijin is so lucky to have a teacher like you." She is not good at needlework, but that doesn't stop her from praising others.
"I see Huaijin has grown a few inches taller. Although there is an embroiderer in the mansion, I want to make a pair myself when I have nothing to do. Second Madam, please don't think I'm meddling." Madam Mei gestured to Ling Wan to hand over the scissors, thread the thread and tie the knot, and the last step was completed.
"How can the work of an embroiderer compare to that done by the elders themselves?" Chen Yuanyuan was a little envious.
A loving mother's hand is always full of thread. When Chen Yuanyuan was little, her mother would personally knit sweaters and make small dolls for her. Her innocent expression caught Mrs. Mei's eye.
She was a few months younger than Yun Qing. She sighed inwardly, and her dissatisfaction with Ling Wan eased a little.
"The clothes are fine, but only those close to you know whether the shoes fit. Didn't Yunqing's maid notice?"
Ling Wan shook her head: "Huai Jin doesn't like to be served by maids." Not even a female mosquito can fly into his Zhuoying Courtyard.
"Could it be that he doesn't like the person Second Madam sent?" Madam Mei's eyes flickered.
Ling Wan's smile faded slightly: "Huai Jin has his own plans, I'm just a stepmother."
Everyone in Kyoto knew that Shen Shilang had a deep admiration for Miss Wang and refused to even take her as a concubine. Now that Miss Wang had passed away at an early age, he had observed a two-year mourning period for her as a wife.
If she gave someone to Huaijin, she would offend both the Wang family and her stepson, so Madam Mei couldn't say anything more. She and Lingwan sighed again about Huaijin's unfortunate fate. Finally, since she was on her way back to Yanxi Residence, she asked Xu Lingwan to deliver the finished shoes to Zhuoying Courtyard.
Ling Wan didn't know that Shen Huaijin was having a day off today, and she had planned to leave after giving him the shoes. But now that Shen Huaijin came out to greet her in person, she decided to sit in the yard for a while.
Uh, it seems like he's a lot taller than before. He used to be half a head taller than her, but now he's more than a head taller than her.
"What are you looking at?" Shen Huaijin, who was sitting below him, frowned slightly as he was lost in thought.
Chen Yuanyuan quickly averted her gaze, a kind smile playing on her lips. "I was careless earlier. I didn't realize young people change so quickly. Now that you've grown a lot taller, your old clothes no longer fit you."
"It just so happens that you have a day off today. I'll have the embroiderer come over and make a few pieces for you."
Chen Huaijin lowered his eyes and said "hmm" indifferently. With his raven-haired and beautiful face, he was truly a celestial being.
Xu Lingwan suddenly recalled what Old Lady Shen had said to her earlier: "It's good that Huaijin values relationships, but now he is an official after all. How can he return home without someone who understands his feelings and waits on him?"
"A gift from an elder cannot be declined. Lingwan, Huaijin is Wangxi's eldest son, so you will have to worry about him more. He doesn't like the person I chose. If you have a smart person around you, you can send him to Zhuoying Courtyard to take care of him."
Previously, Old Lady Shen had prepared two beautiful, gentle and virtuous maids, but they were both rejected by Shen Huaijin. The old lady had no choice but to assign the job to her.
Chen Yuanyuan just turned a deaf ear to it.
In feudal society, the status of a concubine was vastly different from that of a wife or concubine. In Shen Huaijin's case, as long as he didn't marry, even if he had a bunch of concubines and concubines in the backyard, he would be considered deeply in love.
She couldn't be the stepmother who sent her stepson a concubine. But the fact that he didn't have someone to look after him attentively was a problem.
So Ling Wan thought for a moment and said sincerely, "Huai Jin, although we haven't had much contact, I think you know my personality."
"In the future, whether it's you or Zhuoying Courtyard, if you need anything, I hope you can tell me. We are a family, there's no need to be so distant."
"I'm not very good at taking care of people. I'm not as attentive as my eldest sister-in-law and Mrs. Mei, so I often miss a lot of things. I hope you can understand and forgive me for this. I know that this is not intentional."
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