Two young boys were standing nearby. The taller one was wearing a red robe and holding a majestic-looking dog in his hand. With his order, the dog galloped out like lightning.
Next to the little young master in red was a younger boy in white clothes, looking around four or five, staring at the black dog with envy. The two children were very young, so a crowd of attendants followed behind them. No one was surprised at this situation, and they simply watched their respective young master attentively, like an apple in their eyes. Anyway, it was just a servant girl. Nothing serious could happen. It's good as long as the young master was happy.
When the servant girl walked into the garden with a tray, a black and fierce-looking dog suddenly jumped out from the side. The servant girl was shocked and fell to the ground with a scream. The dog was of a high-quality and expensive breed, with slender limbs, a thin waist and legs, a keen sense of smell, and could run extremely fast. It was a specialized hunting hound, and Erlang Shen's Xiaotian dog was based on this breed of hound. It happened that this young master also named his dog 'Xiaotian Dog.' This dog was smart. Seeing the servant girl fell to the ground, it took the opportunity to jump on and searched for the pendant ordered by the little master.
Seeing such a fierce dog with scary teeth at close range, the servant girl was so scared that she almost fainted. She wanted to run, but couldn't stand up and could only shout in despair. There were many Yichun Marquis manor's servants in the garden. Hearing her scream, they wanted to come forward to help, but hesitated after seeing their third young master standing not far away.
Inside the garden, the servant girl's cry was particularly conspicuous, but the red-clothed young master was so amused that he clapped his hands and laughing. Seeing him like this, the expression of Yichun Marquis manor's servants became uglier and uglier, but they didn't know what to do.
When they were completely at a loss, a figure came out from behind a vine tree and commanded with a slightly raised tone: "A fierce dog is making trouble inside the manor. Why don't you drive it out?"
When the servants heard this voice, they were momentarily stunned. After looking back and saw Cheng Yujin, they finally found a backer and were overjoyed: "Yes!"
It's just one dog. Even though a servant girl wasn't its opponent, with so many gardeners and other servants, could they still unable to subdue it? Everyone stepped forward with all hands and feet, and soon trapped the dog. Du Ruo helped the servant girl who fell on the ground and comforted her gently: "Don't cry. Eldest Miss is here."
When the servant girl heard Cheng Yujin's name, her fear changed into joy. Her tears still came down heavily, but her sobbing gradually stopped. When Cheng Yujin saw the servant girl's arms and the back of her hands were scrapped bloody by the pebbles on the ground, she sighed and said: "Help her down and rest. She doesn't have to do errands today. Du Ruo, go and deliver one bottle of wound salve and two broken silvers to her later. Consider it medicine money from me."
The servant girl was taken aback. She sobbed and said, "How can I accept it..."
"Take it." Cheng Yujin's tone was not too heavy, but it brought forth an authoritative aura that couldn't be defied, and the servant girl no longer dared to try to refuse.
The young master in red was still watching happily when a group of servants suddenly rushed to catch his dog. He was so displeased and pointed his fingers at the crowd: "Impudent! Lowly creatures, don't you dare to touch this young master's dog!"
When Cheng Yujin heard the loadful of crap from the child's mouth, her eyes became cold. Today, the children who came to Yichun Marquis manor were not many, and there was probably only one with such arrogance and unruliness. If she guessed right, this should be the shizi of Duke Cai, Zhai Qing.
Old Madam Zhai doted on this grandson, but Cheng Yujin wouldn't. Her face was indifferent, as if she has just seen Zhai Qing now, and said: "It turns out that Cai Duke manor's young master is also here. I am just about to deal with a wild dog, and didn't even see shizi. Shizi, please wait a moment. After I remove this vicious dog and let people beat it to death, I will show you around the garden."
"Dare you!" Zhai Qing was furious. No matter at home or outside, he has always been flattered and pampered, and everyone followed his every will and demand. People couldn't wait to hold him on the cusp of their palm, who ever dared to touch his things? Now that Cheng Yujin was going to kill his precious hound, Zhai Qing was shocked beyond belief. He couldn't believe that there were people in the world who were not afraid of him: "That's my dog, how dare you!"
"Oh, it turns out that this dog has a master." Cheng Yujin responded indifferently. "I thought that this kind of dog that runs rampant and hurt people in public is a wild dog who is raised but not disciplined."
Zhai Qing was still young. He couldn't understand the mockery behind Cheng Yujin's words, but he vaguely noticed that Cheng Yujin's indifferent tone didn't seem to contain goodwill. Zhai Qing snorted and said haughtily: "Since you know who this young master is, hurry up and let go of my Xiaotian dog."
Erlang Shen is a war deity in mythological China, said to be accompanied by Xiaotian Dog (Howling Celestial Dog) with the ability to subdue evil spirit.
Zhai Qing was still young. He couldn't understand the mockery behind Cheng Yujin's words, but he vaguely noticed that Cheng Yujin's indifferent tone didn't seem to contain goodwill. Zhai Qing snorted and said haughtily: "Since you know who this young master is, hurry up and let go of my Xiaotian dog."
Cheng Yujin laughed softly: "Since it is Zhai shizi's dog, then I cannot beat it to death. Let's throw it out. Before that, don't forget to put a muzzle on it, lest it hurt people in the street and damage our Yichun Marquis manor's reputation."
When Zhai Qing heard that Cheng Yujin was going to throw his dog out, he was immediately anxious: "Dare you! This is my dog!"
"I know." Cheng Yujin glanced at Zhai Qing indifferently. "So what? A dog is forbidden in the inner courtyard. Could it be shizi's dog is better than other dogs? Maybe it has divine power and cannot be categorized as ordinary dogs?"
Zhai Qing was so angry that he almost couldn't speak. He pointed at Cheng Yujin and scolded: "How dare you talking to me like this! Who said that dog is forbidden in the inner courtyard?! Our family allows it!"
Cheng Yujin didn't even bother to look at him: "As shizi said, that is your family. I don't know about Cai Duke manor, but our Yichun Marquis manor has its own rules, and these servants have to listen to me." After Cheng Yujin finished speaking, her eyes swept over the crowd of servants. Her eyebrows moved slightly: "Why are you still not moving, didn't you hear my words?"
As if being awakened from a dream, the servants suddenly reacted. They secretly glanced at Zhai Qing. This only son of Duke Cai was undoubtedly noble and high, but now he was flushed in anger. The servants shook their heads, then quickly lifted the dog away.
No way. Even if the Zhai family's little shizi was noble and spoiled, in the Cheng family, it was their eldest Miss who had the final say.
Zhai Qing watched as his favorite dog was thrown out under his nose. He was anxious and angry, and shouted furiously, "Are you all blind? Stop them for this young master!"
Cai Duke manor's guards were hesitant. They were ordered to take care of little master, but didn't come to offend Cheng family. After all, it was another family's inner courtyard. Zhai Qing's dog was the one who scared others first, and then Cheng family's eldest Miss ordered the dog to be thrown away. Zhai Qing's guards truly didn't have any stand to stop it.
Even more, they thought it's good if little shizi's dog was gone. Old Madam Zhai has been worried about letting her grandson raise such a fierce dog. If weren't for Zhai Qing crying and making a fuss, Old Madam Zhai would have let people deal with this dangerous hound. With such a scruple, Cai Duke manor's people didn't follow Zhai Qing's order. At first, they were a step slower, then they didn't move. Zhai Qing found that his family's servants were useless, and was about to explode in anger. He ran over to drag Cheng Enbao: "This is your house, tell them to come back!"
Cheng Enbao glanced up at Cheng Yujin, and his courage instantly withered down. Unable to speak, he lowered his head obediently. It was useless for Zhai Qing to ask for help. Zhai Qing has never suffered this kind of grievance. It was the first time someone didn't cater to his demand and wasn't afraid of his threat. He pointed his fingers at Cheng Yujin tremblingly and suddenly shouted "Waaa!!", sitting on the ground, and crying.
...
Zhai Yanlin's father's generation has some friendship with Old Master Cheng, so he came to attend the 49th day passing ceremony today. Zhai Yanlin disliked the hustle and bustle of the ceremony at the front yard, so he avoided other guests by strolling in the garden. Zhai Yanlin was a dignified Duke, so Cheng family couldn't let him unaccompanied. Both Cheng Yuanxian and Cheng Yuanhan had a low official position and were unsuitable for accompanying Zhai Yanlin, not to mention their own lack of skill. Therefore, Cheng Yuanjing came forward and accompanied Zhai Yanlin to walk around Yichun Marquis manor's garden.
Men talked less when together, and Cheng Yuanjing was originally not a talkative person. The two walked silently across the garden. When they walked on a bridge, they saw a girl in a white dress on the opposite bank, playing with the water.
They couldn't see her face through the weeping willow, but could feel that it was a young and beautiful girl. Zhai Yanlin stopped: "That is..."
When Cheng Yuanjing saw the girl was wearing a white dress, he was unwilling to continue forward. But Zhai Yanlin asked out, which was improper. Cheng Yuanjing didn't like Zhai Yanlin's behavior. But before he could do anything, the girl on the other side has heard the voice and stood up.
"Ninth Uncle?" The girl asked out in surprise, seemingly didn't expect to meet Cheng Yuanjing here. It was too late for Cheng Yuanjing to led Zhai Yanlin away, so he nodded and said: "Second girl."
Old Madam Cheng was going to discuss the wedding with Huo Xue-shi. It wasn't proper for Cheng Yumo to stay and listen, so she ran out secretly. After she came out, she didn't know where to go, so she hid in the garden and played with the water. Unexpectedly, she encountered Cheng Yuanjing and Zhai Yanlin here.
Cheng Yumo lifted the hem of her skirt and ran to the bridge, then quickly curtsied to the two men: "Niece pays respect to Ninth Uncle. Ninth Uncle, this person is..."
"Duke Cai, Zhai Yanlin." Cheng Yuanjing gestured to Zhai Yanlin, "This is Yichun marquis manor's second Miss."
Zhai Yanlin vaguely knew that Yichun marquis manor had twin sisters. He heard that the eldest one was smart, beautiful, and had a wide reputation. Zhai Yanlin saw that the girl before him had a pair of bright eyes, a face like spring flowers and autumn dawn, and an innocent and charming expression, so he guessed that she might be the famous elder sister.
For the first time, Zhai Yanlin felt that rumors could also be true. Women judged others by their own looks, so it was easy for half-falsity to mix in. But this rumored Cheng family's eldest Miss was indeed a rare beauty.
Zhai Yanlin said: "I have long heard Cheng family's outstanding reputation. Seeing it today, you are truly worthy of the virtuous and beautiful name personally commended by His Majesty."
Cheng Yumo's smile stiffened. She raised her hand to put aside the hair on her temple and said with a smile: "Duke Cai recognizes the wrong person. I am the Cheng family's second daughter. It was my eldest sister who got the Emperor's reward."
"Oh?" Zhai Yanlin was really surprised. Seeing that this girl had a beautiful face, he confidently concluded that she was the elder sister who was famous for her beauty. But actually, it was only the younger sister?
This girl was already so beautiful, yet her name was unknown. How beautiful her twin elder sister could be?
Zhai Yanlin was surprised, but also feeling awkward. It wasn't an honor for any woman to be mistaken for others. He apologized to Cheng Yumo: "Second Miss Cheng, I am sorry. I've never met Cheng family's daughters before, so I made a mistake."
Zhai Yanlin's apology was insincere. Rather than apologizing, it was better to say that he was merely justifying his behavior. Hearing Zhai Yanlin's words, Cheng Yuanjing frowned again. Initially, he thought that the girl across the water was Cheng Yujin, and didn't want to disturb her with an outsider male. But when the other party stood out, he noticed that she was Cheng Yumo. Anyway, it was not Cheng Yujin, so Cheng Yuanjing introduced Zhai Yanlin casually, but didn't expect that Zhai Yanlin would mistake the wrong person.
When Cheng Yuanjing heard the words' virtuous and beautiful' came from Zhai Yanlin's mouth, why did he feel so uncomfortable? But the person who was being mistaken was Cheng Yumo, and as an uncle, it didn't make sense for Cheng Yuanjing to rebuke on her behalf.
Cheng Yumo smiled. She wasn't feeling offended by Zhai Yanlin's insincere apology, and blinking her eyes playfully instead: "It's okay, I don't care. Duke Cai shouldn't take it to your heart. If the one you meet is my eldest sister, she wouldn't react like me."
"Oh?" No one disliked a beautiful girl. Zhai Yanlin was curious and asked cooperatively, "Then, how will she react?"
Cheng Yumo took back her smile, imitated Cheng Yujin's movement to clasp her hands, meticulously put it forward, and put on a cold and dignified tone: "There is no need to be so polite. Things cannot happen thrice. It's alright as long as Duke doesn't mistake people again."
Seeing the girl's vivid imitation, Zhai Yanlin was smiled amusedly. His mind has been sketching out an image of the so-called famously beautiful eldest Miss Cheng. It seemed that she was just another dignified and solemn young lady, as dull as a wood. No wonder, such a personality would indeed give her a good reputation among the madams.
Zhai Yanlin felt bored. Just a wooden puppet who adhered to rules and etiquette perfectly. No matter how beautiful, it was meaningless. The young girl before him now was much better: lively, charming, and affectionate.
Sure enough, half of the rumor was false. Instead, the real beauty was being overlooked.
When Cheng Yumo imitated Cheng Yujin, Zhai Yanlin felt she was cute, but it was extremely repulsive in Cheng Yuanjing's eyes. Of course, Cheng Yumo's imitation was very clumsy. Cheng Yujin's demeanor was elegant and perfect. Cheng Yumo couldn't even imitate ten percent of her sister, but it was Cheng Yumo's behavior that disgusted Cheng Yuanjing.
In his heart, Cheng Yujin was Cheng Yujin, and Cheng Yumo was a different person. Although the two were twins sisters, their appearance wasn't exactly the same. The reason lay in the fact that they were the same as dragon and phoenix twins, except that dragon and phoenix were of boy and girl, while Cheng Yujin and Cheng Yumo were both girls. Seeing Cheng Yumo imitated Cheng Yujin's words and movements gave Cheng Yuanjing the illusion that she wanted to replace Cheng Yujin.
Cheng Yuanjing felt very repulsive, even disgusted.
Dragon and Phoenix twins: Male and female fraternal twins.
Cheng Yumo was also amused. She giggled for a while, and tears came out from the corner of her eyes. At this moment, a group of servants passed by the roofed corridor on the lakeside, carrying all kinds of food boxes and plates in their hands. Cheng Yumo saw them, pointed to a servant girl, and ordered: "Put those things down. Go to the front dock and tell a servant woman there to row a boat here. I remember that there are lotuses just blooming on the east lake. I'm going to take Ninth Uncle and Duke Cai to see the lotus."
The servant girl pointed out by Cheng Yumo paused her steps and replied embarrassedly: "Second Miss, this servant is going to the back hall to deliver the fruits."
"Just put down the fruits first. It won't take long, and the guests in the front hall don't need so many fruits either. Me taking a guest to see the lotus is more important."
The servant girl exchanged a glance with her fellow servants, but she was still hesitant: "But, this is eldest Miss' order..."
Cheng Yumo did not expect that in the presence of Cheng Yuanjing and Cai Guogong, a small servant girl didn't give her a face and dared to refute her words repeatedly. Cheng Yumo's face sank: "Eldest Miss, eldest Miss. Do you think that only eldest sister's words you should follow, but not mine?"
The servant girl hurriedly knelt down, but even so, she firmly held the fruit plate in her hand: "Second Miss, forgive me. But eldest Miss said, each person has their own post and has to fulfill their own duties. If this servant left the assigned task to take care of other things, eldest Miss would punish this servant."
The servant girl leading in the front also stepped forward to persuade: "Yes, second Miss. This is eldest Miss' words after all. You should listen to eldest Miss."
Cheng Yumo's face was completely gloomy now, but Cheng Yuanjing almost laughed. He remembered that young girls had thin skin. It must be embarrassing if he laughed out, so he held back his laughter.
Although Cheng Yuanjing hadn't seen it with his own eyes, just by the servant girl's few sentences, he could imagine how Cheng Yujin gave them such order. Sure enough, this was Cheng Yujin. Even if she wasn't here in person, just a sentence 'This is eldest Miss' order' could suppress the direct order from another master.
Cheng Yumo was here, ordering the servants personally, but it didn't matter. Whatever she said to them, the servants only listened to their eldest Miss, and even advised Cheng Yumo to obey her sister's words.
Cheng Yumo was very upset, but Zhai Yanlin became curious instead: "Your second Miss is here and personally giving you order. Don't you suppose to put down your current task temporarily and ran to do her errand first?"
"How can that be." The leading servant girl blurted out, and her fellow servants also echoed in agreement: "This is eldest Miss' rule."
"What if your eldest Miss is wrong?" Zhai Yanlin asked.
Hearing this, the servant girls laughed harder and began to walk away: "How can eldest Miss be wrong?"
Zhai Yanlin had never encountered such a situation before. He watched the group of servants walked away. Zhai Yanlin was amazed, but also curious about this boring eldest Miss Cheng, who was regarded by the servants like a god.
If possible, he would like to see this eldest Miss Cheng.
Cheng Yumo was already feeling stuffy and upset. When she looked up to see Zhai Yanlin' showed an obvious interest in Cheng Yujin, she became even angrier. Zhai Yanlin was in thought for a while, only to notice that he had neglected the beauty. He quickly said: "Second Miss Cheng, I lost my mind a bit just now. Where is the lotus you mentioned?"
Cheng Yumo's expression finally became better. Although everyone praised Cheng Yujin, she wasn't as good as Cheng Yumo when interacting with her peers. Although it was a bit against etiquette, Cheng Yumo blinked at Zhai Yanlin and said: "I can take Ninth Uncle and Duke Cai to go see the lotus, but you have to promise me one thing. You can't tell my sister about it. She is most conforming to the rules. If she knew, she would scold me again."
Zhai Yanlin nodded. It seemed that the eldest daughter of Cheng family was a bit rigid. It a pity that the beauty was such a pedantic. Ultimately, she was just an empty skin. Women were better to be like Cheng Yumo: lively and playful. Even if they were a bit bad at managing the household, it's okay. After all, there were professional stewards and housekeepers
Cheng Yuanjing didn't respond. He might be a pedantic person, but he remembered that Cheng Yumo has been engaged and was about to discuss the wedding. At this time, it might be inappropriate if she went to see the lotus with two outsider males.
Cheng Yuanjing was about to refuse, but suddenly, a servant boy ran over the garden path all the way to the bridge and stopped in front of Zhai Yanlin, panting heavily: "Duke."
"What's the matter?"
"Shizi insisted on bringing the Xiaotian dog into the manor with him. Us servants couldn't persuade him. The housekeeper sends this servant to report."
Zhai Yanlin's face immediately turned black. How absurd. Here was Cheng family's inner courtyard, but Zhai Qing brought over a hound without any lash. What if it ran into Cheng family's womenfolk?!
The fleeting interest to enjoy the flowers suddenly disappeared. Zhai Yanlin calmly said: "Lead the way. I will take care of that evil creature."
The servant boy joyfully responded, and quickly led Zhai Yanlin and the others to stop Zhai Qing. Hearing that people from Cai Duke manor were bringing a hound in, Cheng Yuanjing's eyes turned cold. Afraid that something might happen, he followed around. Seeing both Cheng Yuanjing and Zhai Yanlin had a dark face, Cheng Yumo dared not to speak. She put back her hands. When Cheng Yuanjing and the others strode forward, she also followed behind.
When Cheng Yuanjing and Zhai Yanlin arrived, they happened to hear a child yelling furiously: "Impudent! Lowly creatures, don't you dare to touch this young master's dog!"
Zhai Yanlin's footsteps suddenly stopped. Cheng Yuanjing raised his eyebrows slightly, glancing at Zhai Yanlin impassively. Zhai Yanlin was so embarrassed and angry, and was about to go out to scold this unruly son of his when a woman indifferent and clear voice rang: "It turns out that Cai Duke manor's young master is also here. I am just about to deal with a wild dog, and didn't even see shizi. Shizi, please wait a moment. After I remove this vicious dog and let people beat it to death, I will show you around the garden."
The newly-came group paused their steps at the same time, closed their mouths, and quietly listened to the situation over there.