At dawn, a figure flashed into the other courtyard and happened to bump into Shen Yang who had just finished practicing.
Shen Yang retracted his fist, and pulled a sweat towel. He wiped it on his forehead casually. He stretched out his hand towards him, "Where is the thing?"
Shen Hua yawned and took out a letter from his sleeve, "I've found out everything clearly. The scholar has nothing to do with Miss Cousin. There is another person who has something to do with him." At this point, he suddenly felt he became energetic and shook his head repeatedly, "I didn't expect that this scholar would be so capable and be able to hook up with..."
He deliberately whetted Shen Yang's appetite, but Shen Yang didn't bother to pay attention to him and just opened the letter and read it.
With ten lines at a glance, he could quickly understand the scholar's life.
Shen Yang collected the letter and turned to leave, "Young Master is about to leave at chenshi. Please pack your things quickly and don't delay."
Shen Hua put his arm around his shoulders, "Hey, hey, Shen Yang, please tell me clearly first, why did you send me to investigate the scholar overnight? Does the Young Master really like Miss Cousin?"
Shen Yang was silent. Shen Hua didn't follow the Young Master as much as he did, so naturally he didn't scrutinise him as carefully as he did.
But Shen Hua touched his chin and thought, "The Young Master has always been indifferent to Miss Cousin. The sachets and belts she used to give him, none of them caught the Young Master's attention. On the contrary, the Young Lady from the Su family... When the Young Master went to Yangzhou to study, he had a good relationship with Young Master Ding, and Miss Su happens to be Young Master Ding's cousin. The Young Master and Miss Su have a good impression of each other. If Young Master Ding had not informed him in private that Miss Su already had a childhood sweetheart fiancé, and asked him to keep a distance from her——"
Shen Yang interrupted him, "You also said that Miss Su has a childhood sweetheart fiancé."
"So what about the engagement? The Young Master can make her marriage stop in a minute." Shen Hua said: "Besides, I see that Miss Su clearly has this intention. She used the Third Young Lady's favour to get in front of the Young Master whenever she has the chance. Think about it. It's because she still has lingering feelings for the Young Master."
Shen Yang said: "With the Young Master's arrogance, do you think he will accept Miss Su again?"
"Uh..." Shen Hua choked slightly as he recalled the Young Master's indifference to Miss Su at the Lantern Festival, "Maybe the Young Master is embarrassed? After all, Miss Su is still engaged. Alas, after all, it's all the fault of this engagement. If Miss Su is not engaged, she and the Young Master's families are well-matched in social position and economic status, both are talented and beautiful, so they are a perfect match no matter what."
He said whimsically and nonchalantly: "How about we trick Wen Rubin into disrupting his engagement with Miss Su. Then..."
"Don't even think about it." Shen Yang looked at him coldly, "You can't interfere in the Young Master's affairs. If you interfere rashly and cause trouble, don't blame me for not warning you."
Shen Hua had an embarrassed look on his face. He put his arm on his shoulder, "Shen Yang, tell me honestly, does the Young Master really like Miss Cousin?"
Shen Yang asked: "So what if he likes, so what if he doesn't like?"
Shen Hua said confidently: "It doesn't matter if the Young Master doesn't like. If the Young Master likes, I will be extremely polite to Miss Cousin from now on, and I won't offend her with a single word!"
Shen Yang was silent for a moment and said, "Then I advise you not to mention Miss Su again in the future. If Miss Cousin accidentally overhears you, be careful that the Young Master will sew up your mouth."
*
Before leaving, Shen Yang took advantage of Cui Muli's breakfast time to talk about the relationship between Sun Shenyuan and Xie Miao.
From Sun Shenyuan's family background and studies, to his acquaintance and love with Cui Xining, to Xie Miao's unexpected friendship with Sun Qiaogu, introducing her to the Shuxiang Paper Workshop to learn skills, to the time when the Sun family's grandmother was seriously ill and asked for help with the old red ginseng. For this reason, Sun Shenyuan was with her in her capacity as a benefactor. The two brother and sister invited her to a teahouse...
No matter how big or small the matter is, it was reported in detail.
After speaking, Shen Yang made a summary without authorization, "After Miss Cousin and the Second Miss met at night a few days ago, the Second Miss prepared a lot of medicinal materials and sent them to the Sun family in the name of Miss Cousin. In the opinion of this subordinate, Miss Cousin should know about the relationship between Young Master Sun and the Second Young Lady, and deliberately concealed it for them."
The subtext is, don't worry, Miss Cousin has no personal relationship with that Sun Shenyuan.
The spoon in Cui Muli's hand touched the edge of the bowl and made a very light sound, "She set up a paper mill outside?"
"No." Shen Yang went into detail about Fang Zhiruo.
After hearing this, Cui Muli said thoughtfully: "She is contrary to what one might expect."
She is a well-behaved boudoir lady, but her temperament changed drastically after a fall. She did everything unexpectedly, but no one could find fault with anything.
She could even stab a wild wolf with a dagger. He was really curious, was there anything she couldn't do?
*
Xie Miao sprained her ankle and originally wanted to take this opportunity to go to Qingxin Temple to recuperate for a while, but was rejected ruthlessly by Madam Xie.
"Either you run to Qingxin Temple or to the paper mill. I think you have a wild and itchy mind and you need to be put in order!" Madam Xie said.
Xie Miao gave up the idea and stayed in Haihua Yuan to copy scriptures.
A few days later, Cui Xining stumbled in. Without even breathing, the first thing she did was to send the servant away.
Seeing this, Xie Miao counted the days and figured out that there should be news from Sun Shenyuan.
Sure enough, as soon as the door closed, Cui Xining couldn't help but hold her hand. Her eyes shining brightly, "A-Miao, Shen Lang, he – Shen Lang, he - has met a noble person!"
"Oh?" Xie Miao pulled her to sit down and poured her a cup of scented tea, "Tell me, what's going on?"
Cui Xining took a sip of tea, calmed down, and said quickly: "According to what you said, Shen Lang, he went to Niutou Mountain before dawn these days. There was a wild boar disaster there, and everyone around him moved away. Shen Lang wandered around there for five days without noticing the least bit of activity. Until yesterday at youshi, he heard a cry for help from a distance at the foot of the mountain! Shen Lang followed the sound and found an old man with white hair stuck in the swamp and he would have died later. Shen Lang tried his best to save him and asked him his name, and where he lived. But the old man was confused and couldn't remember things, so Shen Lang had to take him home. He fed him and changed his clothes, and then after tidying up, he went to Jingzhao Mansion to report to the official. Unexpectedly, he happened to meet the old man's family who were looking for him——" (t/n: youshi is from 5pm to 7pm)
Speaking of this, Cui Xining couldn't help but get excited. She crossed the table and grabbed her hand tightly, "Do you know who the old man's son is? It's Lord Luo Biyu, the Chief Minister of the Ministry of Justice! A high-ranking official of the second rank! An official greater than my uncle!"
The uncle refers to Cui Shishuo, who is the Minister of the Ministry of Personnel and a third-rank official.
Xie Miao was also amazed: Sun Shenyuan actually did it? He seized the opportunity and saved Luo Biyu's old father, so in this life he and Xining...
She said happily: "It's Chief Minister Luo? What a coincidence. I heard that he comes from a poor family, and he always admires talented children from poor families."
Cui Xining kept nodding, "Exactly, exactly! Chief Minister Luo knew that it was Shen Lang who saved his father, so he was extremely grateful and promised golden farmland as a thank you. Shen Lang naturally refused to accept it, saying, 'To study is to cultivate moral character, be virtuous and to do good deeds' First of all, no matter whether the people in trouble are ordinary people or royal nobles, since they are human lives, he will treat them equally and save them."
"Then what?"
"Chief Minister Luo knows that Shen Lang is a student of Qingcai College, so he went to find the Dean. Hearing that Shen Lang is talented, kind-hearted, and of good character, he asked Shen Lang if he would like pay respect to Chief Minister Luo as his teacher!"
Such a good thing!
Xie Miao didn't expect that things would develop so smoothly. She smiled and her eyes curved, "So, your Shen Lang is now a student of the Chief Minister, and he is no longer an unknown person?"
"En!" Cui Xining was overjoyed, her nose was sore, and she choked: "In two days, he will perform the apprenticeship ceremony and officially become the disciple of Chief Minister Luo."
Xie Miao couldn't even laugh or cry, "Silly girl, why are you crying about such a good thing?"
Cui Xining turned away, and pressed the corners of her eyes with her handkerchief. She said in a low and deep voice: "I'm happy. Shen Lang is talented and outstanding. If it weren't for me, he would have won top marks in the imperial examination two years ago..."
"Don't mention the past." Xie Miao said: "With your Shen Lang's talent, he will still pass in two years. Furthermore, there will be no cousin Cui in the next round of imperial examination. Maybe he can reach the top position."
Cui Xining thought about it, oh, that makes sense.
She broke down in tears and smiled, "With Shen Lang's talent, he will definitely be among the top three in the imperial examination."
Xie Miao joked with a serious look on her face: "If Chief Minister Luo can stand in as your matchmaker in the future, I think uncle will have to give him a little face."
Cui Xining's cheeks felt hot, and she covered her face and said, "It's too early to say anything about this. It's still too early."
After sharing the happy event, Cui Xining came back to her senses and asked doubtfully: "A-Miao, Shen Lang said you asked him to go to Niutou Mountain to look for opportunities. How did you foresee that there would be opportunities there?"
This thing cannot be explained by common sense.
Xie Miao simply smiled mysteriously, "I told you earlier, I had Buddha's enlightenment."
"..." Cui Xining was full of disbelief, "Don't try to fool me."
Xie Miao teased her, "Otherwise, think about it for me. How would I know that there are opportunities there?"
Cui Xining was speechless. It seems... as if, apart from the Buddha's enlightenment, nothing else made sense?
"Okay, okay." Xie Miao said lazily: "Why are you thinking so much? Just know that I won't harm you and Sun Shenyuan."
Cui Xining is a clear and transparent girl. Even though she was full of doubts, she gave up her inquiring thoughts when she saw Xie Miao's careless and normal expression.
She knew that A-Miao would not harm her and Shen Lang.
She hesitated for a while and asked: "A-Miao, next... what should I do next?" Her eyes were bright and she looked forward to it.
Ahem, is it too early to talk about coming to an agreement?
Xie Miao said: "Pay attention to your mother's actions and inform me in time."
Only by knowing yourself and the enemy can you win the battle. Cui Shida and Madam Li wanted to choose a husband for Cui Xining, so she will have to adapt to local conditions to make their plans come to nothing. Then use a two-pronged approach, starting with the person who has the most say and is the wisest in the Cui family——
Cui Taifu was also known as a person who cherished talents in his early years.
*
In a short period of time, Sun Shenyuan went from a down-and-out scholar to a disciple of Chief Minister Luo. For Cui Xining, it was no less than a happy event from heaven. She felt refreshed and in a good mood.
What was supposed to be the end of the road, saw a sudden turn of events.
She got carried away for a moment, humming a little tune and walking happily. She was planning to go to the garden to pick some flowers and give them to Xie Miao. Unexpectedly, not far from Haihua Yuan, she bumped into Cui Xijun.
Cui Xijun looked behind her. There was only one place leading there...
She frowned and asked rudely: "Second Sister, did you go to Xie Miao's courtyard?"
Normally, Cui Xining might have responded vaguely, but today she replied openly: "Yes, I went to see A-Miao."
A-Miao?
Cui Xijun felt a knot in her heart and couldn't hide her displeasure, "I don't know when Second Sister became as close as a sister to her, but is quite estranged from me."
Cui Xining calmed down slightly and said, "Xijun, you are my sister, and A-Miao is my friend. In my heart, you are both important."
Cui Xijun said sarcastically: "The Xie family has good skills. I'm afraid the entire Cui family, except for me, has been bribed by them, right?"
Cui Xining shook her head and said in disapproval: "The second aunt is considerate, and A-Miao is pure and kind-hearted. Xijun, you should put aside your prejudices and get to know them again."
Cui Xijun sneered.
Xie Miao has a pure and kind mind, so is she scheming? Only a short time had passed before Cui Xining turned against her. Given time, when the child in Madam Xie's belly is born, would there still be a place for her in Cui Mansion?
She wanted to argue with Cui Xining, but after all, they have been sisters for many years. No matter how angry she was, she could only hold it back in her stomach and said bitterly, "A summer insect cannot talk about ice. Second Sister, you are nothing more than that!" and left angrily. (t/n: the summer insect reference is a metaphor for people's short-sightedness and lack of understanding)
Cui Xining looked at her back as she walked away more and more hastily. She shook her head and let out a sigh.
Xijun, Xijun, when will you become more sensible, like her, and see the advantages of A-Miao after she changes?