Nanny Ruan arrived, and the two sisters moved into Yaoyuan Building. Two days later, Xiao Jingmin and his wife also returned to Songjiang.
Xiao Yao and Xiao Yuan's study schedule and content were significantly adjusted. Surprisingly, Nanny Ruan didn't take up all their time, still leaving most of the morning time for Mr. Zhao. They then studied one of the following arts each day: qin (qin), chess, calligraphy, painting, needlework, or pharmacology, rotating every six days. After a nap, they focused on etiquette and clothing coordination, and then had free time to play.
What was different from the past was that they had to get up an hour earlier every day. Xiao Yao lamented in her heart, "Ah, Zhou Gong, we are getting together less and less."
News of Nanny Ruan's invitation to the Xiao family quickly spread throughout Kyoto, and everyone was curious about what kind of outstanding child had been chosen by the discerning Nanny Ruan. Those who had met Xiao Yao couldn't help but admire Nanny Ruan's vision. In terms of appearance, Xiao Yao was definitely one of the best in Kyoto. In terms of family background, all the men in the family served in the court, and some held high positions such as generals and ministers. It seemed that the Xiao family was planning to send the child to the palace, and even if not, a royal or marquisate was a sure thing.
Some even thought that their own conditions in all aspects were more compatible, and had already begun to secretly inquire about the eldest daughter of the Xiao family, intending to take the initiative when the time was right.
After hearing about this, Mu Fengwu has been lobbying Yun Yichen to visit General Xiao in the name of visiting him. In fact, he is too curious about what this legendary junior sister looks like and wants to go to the Xiao family to investigate in person.
Yun Yichen didn't want to join him in his madness. Besides, what the Xiao family was like had nothing to do with him. Whoever wanted to know could go and find out. He might as well practice archery instead! Nowadays, when he shoots still lifes, he can hit the target 100% of the time, and always hit the bull's eye. For this, King Jing gave him a fine bow that he had treasured for many years. Now, for him, Miss Xiao was far less attractive than an arrow.
"Xiao Zhuangzhuang and Xiao Pangpang are not coming to practice martial arts anymore, otherwise they could find out a thing or two. Hey, don't you think it's getting more and more boring?" Mu Fengwu complained boredly.
The Ninth Prince actually agreed with him. None of the Xiao family's children were annoying, especially the fat boy, who was simply too funny. If Mu Fengwu hadn't mentioned the two boys, Yun Yifan wouldn't have thought much about it. But Mu Fengwu's words reminded him that it seemed that ever since the fat boy said his sister was pretty in the martial arts arena, the two brothers hadn't come to the arena again.
Besides, no one knew Nanny Ruan better than him, because the Third Princess's own sister was taught by Nanny Ruan herself. She was not an ordinary picky person. She dared to find faults in the palace, so there was no reason for her to lower her standards when facing officials outside the palace.
Perhaps the young lady of the Xiao family is really outstanding. If so, why didn't they let the young lady come out to greet General Xiao at his birthday banquet? If she caught the eye of the royal family, her meteoric rise to prominence would be just around the corner.
After thinking about it over and over again, Yun Yifan finally confused himself. There were too many things in the whole thing that didn't make sense.
If the daughter of the Xiao family was really outstanding and was taught by Nanny Ruan, any discerning person would know that she was intended to be sent to the palace. However, their family never took advantage of the opportunity of General Xiao teaching the royal children martial arts to bring people here to make the acquaintance of the nobleman.
If he had no intention of trying to curry favor with a rich and powerful man, why did he invite Nanny Ruan to his home?
Two people were lost in thought, one was concentrating on archery practice, and General Xiao stood under a tree at the side of the field, watching with a cold eye. In the past, he would have taken the opportunity to give the Ninth Prince and Mu Fengwu a good beating, but considering that they were in a good mood today, he let them go.
Both of his granddaughters finally stayed with him, and moved into Yuanyao Building, which was closer to Ninghe Hall. He was really smart. When he built the Embroidery Building, he secretly asked someone to modify the blueprints and move it closer to Ninghe Hall.
Now, if my granddaughter is studying in the distant building upstairs, I should be able to hear her while standing in Ninghe Hall.
General Xiao didn't feel the slightest bit embarrassed about his secret cheating behavior. His son and daughter-in-law had been monopolizing his granddaughter for many years, and it was his turn now.
How many years can a girl live in her parents' home? Fifteen, eighteen years. So he could monopolize her... or rather, the time he spent with his granddaughter was only a short ten years or a little more. Was that too much? Was it too much? General Xiao shook his head, feeling that his request was reasonable and not a bit excessive.
If anyone feels unfair, they should go to that Nanny Ruan. After all, no one takes up as much time as she does. Music, chess, books, and painting are all for show but not for use. Ping'an and Ruyi just need to be happy and carefree. Why bother with all that crap? If it weren't for his granddaughter's willingness to object and if he didn't want to bury Ping'an's painting talent, General Xiao would have objected long ago.
Nanny Ruan could not hear General Xiao's dissatisfaction. Even if she heard it, she had no time to care about it at this moment, because she devoted all her heart and soul to teaching the two little girls.
In her opinion, it would take a long time for the group to adjust to the new environment, because it was obvious that the two children had never suffered hardship or fatigue, and she was really worried that they would not be able to adapt to so much learning content all at once.
But what she didn't expect was that after the initial confusion, the two sisters encouraged and helped each other and actually persevered. Nanny Ruan could see that Xiao Yao was sincerely helping her sister, persuading and guiding her, doing everything she could to make her persist in her studies; although Xiao Yuan was discouraged and angry at times, it didn't take long for her to rekindle her fighting spirit and listen to her sister and get back to work.
Although they are young, they have a spirit of never giving up and never retreating that many young ladies from wealthy families do not possess.
Seeing that her daughter and Ruyi had lost some weight after studying for more than ten days, their spirits remained intact, Tong Mingyu finally relaxed. She had been worried that the two children would give up halfway, but now that the hardest time was over, she believed that with Nanny Ruan's careful guidance, her daughters' shortcomings would definitely change.
As the busy time entered the tenth month of the lunar calendar, Tong Mingyu became worried again. It was not until this time that Nanny Ruan found out that the entire Xiao family had concealed Xiao Yao's injury from the old general.
After five years of careful nursing and treatment, Xiao Yao looked like a normal girl. Only her intolerance to cold and heat remained.
"If there are hot springs, combined with medicinal baths and acupuncture, it should have a very good therapeutic effect."
"Hot spring villa..." The Xiao family really doesn't have this one. A hot spring in a good location is hard to come by. In Kyoto, where every inch of land is valuable and where dignitaries gather, it's probably really hard to find one.
"We have a hot spring villa at home. I will have the title deed delivered here later. It will be a gift from me, as a grandmother, to my granddaughter." Mrs. Tong, who came to visit her daughter and granddaughter, heard the conversation between the two before she even entered the door. So she gave away the hot spring villa under the name of the Tong family without hesitation. After all, it is better to keep it in the family. Maybe it will return to the Tong family in a dozen years!
Nanny Ruan bowed slightly and left the room. She was just an outsider, and whether to accept or not, or to give or not, was not her business.
"This is your dowry villa. I absolutely cannot accept it." Tong Mingyu refused very bluntly.
"Since it's mine, I have the right to decide. I don't feel bad at all about giving it to my granddaughter. I've never heard of a grandmother who can't give her granddaughter a gift." Mrs. Tong did not back down. Not only the Xiao family felt bad for Ping'an, but the Tong family did too. If she could do her part to improve her condition, she believed her husband and son would not object.
Tong Mingyu failed to convince her mother in the end and had to accept the hot spring villa.
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