The entire marquis's mansion was filled with rolling eyes.
Despite the cold stares along the way, Zhu Ping'an returned to his guest room as if nothing had happened. He washed up, laid out writing brush, ink, paper and inkstone, opened an ancient scroll, and sat at the desk to slowly read it.
Evening arrived as promised, the sky gradually turned dark and hazy, like a painting splashed with ink, and the earth began to fall into a deep sleep.
However, the Fifth Young Lady's courtyard in the backyard of the Marquis's mansion was indeed brightly lit, with maids coming and going constantly. Under the guidance of the little maid Baozi and the two old maids, the maids who came and went were rearranging the courtyard in an orderly manner. The potted plants were replaced, the dressing table was replaced, the bedding, etc. were all replaced.
The Sixth Miss of the Marquis's Mansion had already washed and was about to go to bed, but she was attracted by the noise coming from the Fifth Sister's courtyard next door, so she sent her personal maid to inquire about it. The maid returned quickly and reported the news she had heard to the Sixth Miss.
"Miss Fifth disliked the rough material of the quilt, so she asked someone to replace it with a silk quilt."
"Miss Fifth said that the style of the dressing table was too old and an eyesore, so she had someone make a new one and send it over when she came."
"The Fifth Miss said that the smell of the incense burning in the room was impure, so she asked someone to replace the incense burner and the incense."
... ...
In Li Shu's yard, Baozi, a maidservant, and two old maids directed the maids in the yard to work back and forth, rearranging the yard. Although the workload was heavy, it did not take much time. The reason was that there were a lot of maidservants and old maids waiting to be ordered here. It was very simple, because Li Shu was generous, and any maidservant and old maid who came here to move things according to the order would be rewarded with one or two taels of silver.
Everyone can get one or two taels of silver. Even the second-class maids and nannies in the marquis's mansion only receive about this amount of money per month. Ordinary maids receive even less than this amount.
Therefore, the maids and nannies in other courtyards all came actively to the Fifth Young Lady to wait for orders.
It even got to the point where a certain young lady got angry because there were not enough people to serve in her room.
"Miss, why should we give them money for nothing? You are the master of this house. It is only natural for you to order them around."
Baozi's maid Hua'er and other maids and old women in the yard received their reward money and left happily. Then, she complained to her mistress with a pouty look on her face.
"If you take it beforehand, you must give it first."
Li Shu half-leaned lazily on the embroidered couch, her pair of watery eyes dark and bright, and she spoke softly with the corners of her lips slightly raised.
When the maid heard this, her face wrinkled up. She didn't understand what her mistress meant, but she felt it was very profound.
It was late at night, and the noisy mansion had returned to peace. Except for the night watchman, everyone had gone to bed. However, the light was still on in a guest room, and from the silhouette of the window, it could be vaguely seen that someone in the guest room was still reading a book.
The next day, Zhu Pingan got up and washed as usual, and then he started to grind ink and practice calligraphy. After writing two large characters, he heard the sound of the marquis's mansion gradually waking up, and the servants and maids began to get busy again, helping the masters get up and wash.
After Zhu Pingan finished practicing calligraphy, morning reading, and even finished writing a policy paper, a servant came with a food box to bring Zhu Pingan breakfast. Although it was a little late, the quality of the food was very high. Even for a pseudo-son-in-law who was not valued by the Marquis's mansion, breakfast was four dishes, two meat dishes and two vegetable dishes.
Not long after breakfast, another servant came over to report.
"The teacher who teaches Master Yan Gong in the Marquis' Mansion had something to do at home yesterday, so he asked for a day off today. Originally, Master Yan Zhou was supposed to teach his younger brother Yan Gong. But Master Yan Zhou got up at night and caught a cold yesterday. The old lady thought that Master Zhu passed the imperial examination at such a young age, so she considered asking Master Zhu to urge Master Yan Gong to study hard today. You don't need to worry too much, just urge Master Yan Gong to study hard. I hope you won't refuse."
Now that it has come to this, how can I refuse? Besides, I should be grateful to someone who has given me the gift. I have already eaten two meals at their service, so how can I refuse
Besides, it's just to urge them to read. It doesn't affect my own reading.
So Zhu Pingan packed up a few books and followed the boy to the study of Li Yangong in the Marquis's Mansion. While walking on the road, Zhu Pingan was still wondering who the young master Li Yangong the boy was talking about was. Could it be that naughty kid
When they reached the destination, looking at the provocative little fat face in the study, Zhu Ping'an couldn't help laughing. This damn Li Yangong is really such a naughty kid.
"Why did you come just now, you country bumpkin? I have already read a page of the book myself."
It seemed that this naughty kid had known that Zhu Ping'an was coming. He was not surprised at all to see Zhu Ping'an. He started to speak provocatively, calling him a bumpkin and always complaining that Zhu Ping'an came too late.
This naughty kid should be the devil type in the Marquis' Mansion. It can be seen from the figure of the servant who led Zhu Ping'an to the study and then left in a hurry. He ran away so quickly, he must have been beaten by this naughty kid before.
In the study room, only the naughty boy and Zhu Pingan were left.
Zhu Pingan ignored the provocation of the naughty child and walked into the study with a faint smile. There were only two seats in the study, one was the seat of the naughty child, and the other was a slightly higher seat opposite the naughty child, which was the teacher's seat.
Zhu Ping'an walked to the seat opposite and pretended to sit down.
The naughty kid opposite looked at Zhu Ping'an who was about to sit down, and his fat face couldn't help but grin and almost laughed. But the next second, Zhu Ping'an smiled slightly and stopped sitting down, then turned around and took down the two nails on the seat.
Seeing this, the naughty kid let out a long, frustrated sound.
Then, the frustrated voices of the naughty children began to rise one after another. The bugs stuck in the books, the ink spilled on the table, the glue on the brush holder... ... were all resolved one by one by Zhu Ping'an calmly.
The naughty kid looked at Zhu Ping'an, who was sitting opposite him and reading a book seriously, gritting his teeth. His fat face looked like a bulldog, as if he was always looking for an opportunity to take revenge.
Not long after, a servant came to report that the master of the marquis's mansion would be back at noon, and would check the homework assigned to the naughty child ten days ago.
The boy's words scared the kid so much. His father was very strict. He had been playing all these days and had forgotten his homework. The teacher couldn't control him, so the kid didn't do any of the homework assigned ten days ago.
"The tortoise is long-lived..."
So, after the servant left, the naughty kid didn't bother to trouble Zhu Ping'an anymore. He picked up the book, shook his head with his fat face, and started to recite it with a bitter and resentful look.
Oh, it’s Cao Cao’s “The Turtle’s Longevity”.
Seeing the naughty kid who was reciting with a bitter and resentful look and shaking his head, Zhu Ping'an suddenly raised the corners of his lips. When the naughty kid just recited "The Divine Turtle Lives Long", Zhu Ping'an continued the fat boy's voice and recited it. His voice was clear, his pronunciation was distinct, it was catchy and had a lot of rhythm.
"Although the tortoise is skinny, it still has some meat. Let's make some soup first, and then we can eat some meat..."
Then, the naughty kid who had just recited the beginning became confused and couldn't remember what the original text was. His fat face was about to collapse.
So, the naughty kid started over again, "Although the tortoise is old... "
"Although the divine tortoise is thin, it still has some meat. Let's make soup first, and then we can eat the meat..." Zhu Ping'an continued with a smile on his face.
Do this three times.
When the naughty kid recited again, he started with "Although the divine tortoise is thin, it still has some meat. Let's make soup first, and then we can gnaw on the meat..."!
Hearing this, Zhu Ping'an nodded with satisfaction and looked at the naughty child with encouragement.
Then the naughty kid went on the path of being a skinny turtle and never turned back, stewing soup and eating meat, and couldn't be stopped. (To be continued.)