When Hao Cheng concentrates on doing something, she cannot see anyone or anything around her. Therefore, when she looks at the third daughter of the Bai family very intently, her gaze is extremely aggressive, as if in her eyes, you are the only one left in the world.
The latter wanted to avoid her passionate gaze, but when she turned her head away to avoid Hao Cheng, she felt as if she was inferior. As the daughter of the Bai family, she was actually afraid of a poor scholar who came from a small vendor. If she told others about this, people would laugh at her. So she gritted her teeth and said, "Why are you looking at me like that? Am I wrong?"
Hao Cheng smiled slightly, her smile softened her brows and eyes, and she thought it was refreshing. However, Bai Yan saw something sinister in her eyes: "Hao has always heard that Lady Bai is knowledgeable and talented, and I admire her and want to get to know her. But I never thought that Lady Bai is narrow-minded, ignorant of the sufferings of the people, and even despised by the Holy Emperor!"
Bai Yan was very pleased when she heard the first half of the sentence. Although Hao Cheng was from Qiao Mu's side and was of humble origin, and had fallen into depravity and brought shame to scholars, everyone liked to hear good words. But the second half of the sentence made her feel uncomfortable. When Hao Cheng accused her of disrespecting the Emperor Gaozu, she screamed in anger and said, "You poor wretch, you have fallen into depravity and now you are slandering me. How could I be disrespectful to the Holy Emperor Gaozu?"
"Hao is an honest scholar. He earns money with his skills to support himself and his family. The ingredients he uses to cook are always fresh, and he has never done anything dishonest. Lady, you keep calling me a pauper and a lowly person. On the contrary, you think those romantic scholars who rely on men are more innocent and noble. Isn't that narrow-minded?"
She paused, and a sarcastic smile appeared on her face: "Ms. Bai's remarks just now all looked down on those hard-working farmers, the honest people who don't cheat or play tricks. The lives of the common people are not easy, and you live a wealthy life only because of the protection of your ancestors. The poems you wrote are all about why don't you eat meat porridge, don't you know the suffering of the people?!"
Seeing Bai Yan's face flushed, she spoke rapidly, "As for disrespecting the Saint Emperor, the Saint Emperor was just a village headman and relied on his own skills. Lady Bai looks down on me, but can she look down on the Saint Emperor who used to make lanterns for a living?"
In order to integrate into this world as quickly as possible, she read a lot of official and unofficial histories of this era. The Holy Emperor Gaozu, who founded the Jin Dynasty, was originally a lantern paste writer. However, in order to make the history books look better, they deliberately praised the Holy Emperor Gaozu's life with words like "Heaven's will must first make one suffer" and so on.
It was precisely because the Holy Emperor Gaozu understood the difficulties of the people that he thought of ways to reduce taxes and became a wise ruler. If you want to trace the roots, the ancestors of many celebrities were not very glorious. Hao Cheng wanted to exaggerate, and Bai Yan really couldn't say anything to refute.
After all, her insults to Hao Cheng were really unpleasant to hear, and there was nothing to say, it was nothing more than grabbing her weakness, saying that she was of low birth and insulting the reputation of scholars. But after careful study, although people are divided into different classes, Hao Cheng's status is indeed not noble enough compared to her.
But she was not a slave, nor was she a lowly person. She was a genuine good citizen, and not the kind of cook who had to eat at the pleasure of others in the houses of dignitaries. When she called her lowly, Hao Cheng could have extended her criticism to mean this kind of people.
In the final analysis, her words were harsh, but as long as Hao Cheng didn't care about his identity, he didn't think it was a big deal. Instead, she became more and more angry and said something she shouldn't have said.
It's okay to lose face today, but if today's conversation spreads, her reputation as a scholar will be ruined. Not caring about the people's livelihood and disrespecting the emperor, these two big hats will definitely affect her career.
Bai Yan's brain is actually not that good. A truly smart person would not offend others so blatantly from the beginning. Hao Cheng suddenly became aggressive, and her face turned pale.
Seeing this, Qiao Mu added fuel to the fire. It was the woman who was used to being a peacemaker who smoothed things over and made Bai Yan admit that he was just being rude and said something without thinking.
Bai Yan apologized with a frustrated look on his face, saying that he was just in a bad mood. Hao Cheng also stepped down the stairs: "Since Lady Bai doesn't look down on people like us, I think I misunderstood."
It is better to offend a gentleman than a villain. If she does not fight back, everyone present will look down on her. The first impression she gives is that she is weak and can be bullied, and others will treat her as a fool.
But she couldn't fight back too hard, and she wasn't prepared to develop any deep hatred with Bai Yan.
Because of Bai Yan, Hao Cheng was not very happy after all. He stayed for less than half an hour and said he had to leave because of urgent matters.
Qiao Mu also followed her out: "I didn't know that annoying girl would follow me. She is such a pig-brained person. But seeing how she looks today, I am happy."
Hao Cheng sighed, "I know Sister Qiao means well, but I'm a stranger, without parents, so I shouldn't offend too many people. In the future, if the Bai family appears, Sister Qiao should not take me with you."
Qiao Mu used soft words again, and invited a banquet as an apology. How could Hao Cheng really keep being angry with her? If he put on too much airs, it would be artificial. So he took advantage of the situation and let her go.
After the meal, Qiao Mu walked with her for a while. When they reached the corner, he said, "I have something else to do today, so I won't go back with you, my dear sister."
Hao Cheng was very understanding and let her go. But when she returned, she saw a person she didn't want to see at all standing at her door. She subconsciously hid herself, stuck her head out to take a glance and then retracted her head. She rubbed her eyes and found that she was not mistaken!
How could this man come to her house? Hao Cheng was extremely shocked. But then she thought, what is she afraid of? This is her home. She can't run away for such a man. After some psychological comfort, she walked over with gritted teeth.
When she reached the door, she treated the man as if he were air and was about to raise her hand to knock on the door. A happy smile appeared on the man's face facing her, but the next moment he suddenly fell softly towards her and fell into Hao Cheng's arms.