For some reason, after Zhu Ping'an praised the Li family's cook, the atmosphere in the study seemed to improve, and the black-bellied girl also felt much more at ease.
After the atmosphere became good, the little maid Baozi would occasionally ask Zhu Ping'an some questions out of curiosity, such as whether a juren was an official, did a juren not have to pay taxes, could a juren eat in a restaurant for free, etc.
"Do you think that if you pass the imperial examination, you can become an official? Do you think that if you pass the imperial examination, you don't have to pay taxes or perform corvée labor? Do you think that if you pass the imperial examination, you won't have to worry about food and clothing? Do you think that if you pass the imperial examination..."
Zhu Ping'an put down the book in his hand, turned to the chubby-faced maid, raised the corners of his lips and asked several rhetorical questions in a row.
After hearing Zhu Ping'an's question, the chubby-faced maid covered her mouth in surprise, "Isn't it true?"
"Let me tell you, this is all true." Zhu Ping'an curled the corners of his lips and continued in a joking tone.
Baozi little maid...
"Silly girl, don't listen to his nonsense. Juren only has the qualification to be an official. Successful candidates will not be directly assigned an official position. Only those who fail the Jinshi exam will go to the Ministry of Personnel to register as candidates. There are hundreds of people queuing for one vacancy. If you don't have connections, you will never get a chance even if you wait for a long time..."
The scheming girl Li Shu curled her lips in disdain, and dragged out the ending syllables of the three words "not her turn".
"If you get the chance, you'll be an official, right?"
The maidservant Baozi puffed up her lips in disbelief. Zhu Ping'an in front of her was just a little cowherd boy before, and his clothes and food were not as good as hers. It has only been a few years, and the cowherd boy can become an official.
That's not the point, okay!
The black-bellied girl glared at the little maidservant with disappointment. The little maidservant looked confused and shrank her head subconsciously, not understanding why her own lady glared at her.
Seeing this, Zhu Ping'an smiled faintly, then lowered his head and continued reading his book.
The years were peaceful and the study was quiet, except for the occasional bell-like laughter from the scheming girl while she was reading "The Heaven Sword and Dragon Saber".
Time left an indelible scent of ink in the book. Zhu Pingan was concentrating on reading on the desk, and the black-bellied girl was also sitting quietly reading. The sunlight through the window shone on the two of them, casting a golden glow on them, just like a golden boy and a jade girl.
Hua'er, the little maid who was eating snacks, dozed off, with her chubby hand supporting her chin. Her little head was still nodding like a pendulum, and finally when she nodded, her chubby hand stopped supporting her chin, and her little head suddenly fell on the table, making a "dong" sound, breaking the silence in the study.
Zhu Ping'an, who was reading a book intently, was startled by the noise. He shifted his gaze from the book to the pitiful little maid who was covering her chin, and then looked out the window. He didn't know when, the red glow outside the window had dyed half of the sky red.
It’s getting late, time to go home.
Zhu Ping'an stood up and began to pack his schoolbag, putting the books into it.
On the other side, the black-bellied girl glared hard at a certain pitiful and chubby little maid.
After Zhu Pingan put away the books, he said goodbye to the black-bellied girl and the others. He slung his schoolbag across his shoulder and left the Li family in the afterglow of the setting sun.
Shortly after Zhu Ping'an left, the scheming girl Li Shu went to the bookshelf and casually flipped through the books on the shelf. She slowly walked to the bookshelf on one side where celebrity biographies were placed, and casually picked out a few biographies written by contemporary people.
The books chosen by the black-hearted girl were all held by the chubby little maid. There were six books in total, all of which were very thin booklets. They were "Biography of Gan Luo", "Biography of Huo Chen", "Biography of Kong Rong", "Biography of Wang Rong", "Biography of Sima Guang" and "Biography of Yang Tinghe".
"Go and call Wang Xiaoer, and then go to the kitchen to arrange dinner. Miss, I want to eat something light today, you can ask them to prepare it." After the black-bellied girl selected six books, she stopped and gave an instruction to the little maidservant who was holding a book beside her.
"Yes, miss."
The little maid carried the book and put it on the desk. Then she ran out of the study, holding her skirt high.
"Brother Wang..." The chubby little maid ran to the stable in the front yard and called out.
Soon, Wang Xiaoer came to the study and stood at the door waiting for the evil girl's instructions.
"Here, send those biographies to my father as soon as possible. To do business, you need to read more books. Well, if the master doesn't read them, have someone read them to my father at night."
The scheming girl Li Shu casually pointed at the six biographies on the desk and gave instructions to Wang Xiaoer nonchalantly. However, the cold light in her eyes made Wang Xiaoer know that this instruction from his young lady was very important.
"I will follow the young lady's instructions. I will take the horse right away." Wang Xiaoer replied respectfully and prepared to get the book from the desk.
"Wait a moment." The sinister girl waved her hand.
Wang Xiaoer stopped in response, bent over and stood at the door without moving.
The scheming girl took the pen and ink from the desk, found a fine-bristle brush and dipped it in ink, then opened one of the celebrity biographies and dropped the brush on the blank space on the back of the first page of the cover.
The words written by the scheming girl in the book were almost exactly the same as the font used in the main text of the biography. If the ink had not dried yet, one would really think that these words were originally there.
On the back of the cover of the book is a proverb:
I would rather bully the white-bearded man,
Don’t despise the young because they are poor;
There will be a day when the dragon will pass through the phoenix.
I don't believe that you will have holes in your pants all your life.
After writing this proverb in the biography, the black-bellied girl nodded and said casually that it would be more comfortable to read this way.
After finishing writing, the black-bellied girl took another book and wrote a sentence on the back of it. The font was exactly the same as the font of the main text of the biography, and the location of the inscription was just right, not abrupt at all:
Thirty years in the east, thirty years in the west; Wu and Bai rose and fell, and the destiny was mysterious.
Then, in the other four biographies, The Dark Girl also added one or two sentences on the back of the cover page, all in the same font as the main text, and they were the following verses:
"In the morning, I was a farmer, and in the evening, I was in the emperor's palace; generals and ministers are not of the same species, and men should be strong."
"You must study hard when you are young, and literature can establish you in life; all the nobles in the court are scholars."
"I have been very talented since I was young, and I have always had high aspirations; others carry swords, but I have a pen that is as sharp as a knife."
"Don't say that scholars are wrong, poetry and books will not let you down; if you are rich, you can be the prime minister of the world, and if you are poor, you can still be a good person."
After finishing writing all six biographies, the scheming girl Li Shu put down the brush in her hand, called Wang Xiaoer, who was standing at the door, to the table, pointed to the back of the cover of one of the biographies and asked casually:
"Look, are the words I just wrote exactly the same as the words in the text?"
"If the young lady hadn't reminded me, I would have thought these words were already there." Wang Xiaoer said, bending down.
"Well, I am confident in your ability to do the job. Go ahead, and remember to work harder and talk less in front of the master." The sinister girl waved her hand.
"I understand." Wang Xiaoer nodded vigorously, put away the biography, bent down and left the study.
"Let's go back too."
After Wang Xiaoer left, the scheming girl Li Shu said something to the old maid and other maids who were serving in the study, and then walked out of the study. The others followed the scheming girl out of the study and walked to the backyard. (To be continued.)