Sun Yaowen never expected things to go so smoothly, so smoothly that he started to suspect he must be exceptionally lucky this year! Barring the previous incident of being beaten up and the boat overturning incident, that is.
However, the moment he thought of those incidents, he was reminded of the beautiful young lady. He clicked his tongue, unable to resist musing, "That young lady is so extraordinarily beautiful, a native of Lian’an Town, likely doesn’t go out often, I had an opportunity to encounter her, but I wasted it, what a pity."
Guiyuan’s complexion turned cloudy at his words, and she awkwardly remarked, "Young Master, that incident was quite bizarre. The boat capsizing was extremely strange, wasn’t it? Why did only our boat overturn, while the lady’s boat, docked so close to ours, was untouched?"
Guiyuan had an astute mind. As she thought back on those events, she felt a lingering fear. Particularly because the servant who had been sent to sabotage the lady’s boat died in that lake. The Young Master thought it was bad luck and had the body thrown away without examining it. But Guiyuan had closely studied the body and found no wounds, yet the man had bled to death from his orifices. It was a gruesome sight.
Knowing all of this, Guiyuan was especially afraid, always feeling there was something peculiar about that incident. That young couple might not be as simple as they seemed.
So Guiyuan wanted to subtly persuade her young master to think twice.
Sun Yaowen waved his hand impatiently, "Enough with that incident! I’ve already had a spell cast to ward off nefarious spirits, they won’t dare to come near me. As for the young lady, you better start looking for her! She lives in Lian’an Town, I don’t believe I can’t find her!"
Obviously, Sun Yaowen was not discerning enough to understand Guiyuan’s words.
Guiyuan did not dare to talk more, understanding the temperament of her young master, who ordinarily didn’t allow people to disagree with him. She hurriedly complied, "Yes, I will immediately arrange for it."
She then hesitated momentarily before asking, "About Aunt Yun, who just entered the house... do you plan to favor her?"
Sun Yaowen frowned, "Who is Aunt Yun?"
"The girl is Yi Ling, her real surname is Yun."
Sun Yaowen immediately thought of Yi Ling’s bruised and swollen face. Frowning deeply, he dismissed the thought, "Forget it."
With her face beaten to such an extent, he certainly had no patience for such a nauseating sight.
At this time, Yi Ling was lying on the bed, pale as a ghost, covered in wretched bruises. She had been in the house for three days, and Sun Yaowen hadn’t come to visit her once. She knew exactly why and felt even more hatred for him!
After planning for so long, she had ended up being reduced to a concubine and looked down upon by Sun Yaowen. Thinking about it, made her blood boil with rage!
"Madam, you should eat something. If you keep on fasting, you are only harming yourself, while you are just causing trouble for us who have been going back and forth warming up your food," said the little maids that the Sun family had arranged to serve Yi Ling. They were all arrogant and looked down on this concubine of lowly origins.
Most importantly, this woman fell out of favor as soon as she entered the house, so naturally, nobody paid any attention to her.
The minor comments made to her were clearly very casual.
A murderous look flashed across Yi Ling’s eyes, but she swallowed her anger. She understood that someone must have plotted against her in secret. Now any wrong steps led to even more mistakes. She had no choice but to bear it for now.
Time will tell, she didn’t believe that she wouldn’t be able to deal with such an imbecile!
——
The weather had finally cooled down a bit over the past few days. It was almost September so autumn was approaching.
Shulan was ordering the little maids to remove the ice pot from Xin He’s room.
"Now that the weather is getting cooler, it should be more comfortable." Shulan laughed.
"Yeah, right! Even when it was hot, you weren’t affected. You spent all day by the Madam’s side with a pile of ice for cooling, how could you feel hot?" Xiaoyu joked.
Shulan pouted, "Okay, okay, I can’t argue with you."
Xin He was idly lounging on a plush couch, lightly tapping a feather fan with her fair hand. Her beautiful eyes lightly closed, but she was clearly not sleeping, and instead, lost in thought.
Walking cautiously to her side, Shulan said, "A messenger from the academy came a while ago. He said that Young Master Xiaobei couldn’t recite the text that the teacher demanded in class, so he’s been kept behind for punishment. He won’t be back for a while."
Xin He sighed helplessly, "This child, is becoming naughtier by the day."
"That’s really not the case! I heard from someone a few days ago that Chongde Academy has got a new teacher now, and he’s absolutely strict. If a student makes even a single mistake in reciting the text, they are punished. Young Master Xiaobei was always obedient and could even get caught making mistakes. I reckon this teacher must be quite severe," Shulan explained.
As Xin He pondered over it, she agreed. Xiaobei had always been an honest and obedient child, and a diligent student. Him being kept behind for punishment was unprecedented and most likely, the new teacher was quite hard-nosed.
"I heard that the teacher who recently joined Chongde Academy is a retired official from the Hanlin Academy in the capital. He is highly respected and esteemed. Otherwise, why would he think of becoming a schoolteacher?"
When Xin He heard the words "capital", she subconsciously opened her eyes and offered a faint smile, "If he has this teacher, it should be a blessing for Xiaobei. Even a little hardship is good for a boy."
Xiaoyu, seeing Xin He getting up, grabbed a soft pillow and placed it behind her, laughing, "I think Young Master Xiaobei can try taking the child scholar test in the upcoming spring after he’s done with his studies. He might even be able to pass."
Xin He nodded, "That’s what I’m thinking too. He’s only eleven, but there’s no harm in trying once. Xiaochai should be able to take the exam as well. He’s smarter than Xiaobei, so he should do well."
After chatting for a while, they heard a commotion outside, like the sound of drums and shouting. Shulan immediately widened her eyes, "What’s happening? If I didn’t know any better, I’d think someone has become a top scholar."
Xiaoyu playfully poked her head, "What’s going on in your head, thinking all this nonsense? We don’t even have an Autumn Examination this year!"
So she turned around and went out, "I’ll go take a look."
Xin He took this opportunity to get up. Secretly she had an inkling of what was happening, but her face betrayed nothing.
When Xiaoyu returned, she spoke gravely, "It’s the Yihong Courtyard. They are promoting with great vigor, they’re planning to launch a girl group at the end of this month."
Xin He sneered, "They are really making good use of the stolen goods."
"The haughty way Yihong Courtyard is currently strutting around; just seeing it irks me! It’s about time for you to tone down their arrogance, Madam!"
"Why should I put in so much effort to clip their wings?" Xin He retorted scornfully, "I want to leave them penniless!"
Having said that, she put down the fan in her hand and got up, "Prepare the carriage, I’m going out."
"Yes."
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