In the afternoon, Zhou Shaojin went to Hanbi Mountain House to copy scriptures.
Biyu and Feicui were busy instructing several maids and old women to move tables, chairs, and dishes.
Zhou Shaojin couldn't help but feel a little strange, and asked: "Who is coming?"
Biyu smiled and said, "The third room's aunt is back to visit her parents and will come over for dinner tonight."
I just rejected my grandmother so sincerely... It turns out that it’s not that I don’t have time, it’s just that I can make time for it.
Fortunately, Zhou Shaojin had lived two lives and had seen the fickleness of the world. Although he felt a little uncomfortable, he did not glare at Cheng Xian.
But no matter how kind such people seem, it is better to have less contact with them!
She pondered in her heart, knowing that Mrs. Guo was not in the room, and went to the Buddhist temple with incense.
I didn't expect that Mrs. Guo was actually in the Buddhist temple.
She sat upright at her desk, flipping through the Buddhist scriptures she had copied page by page.
"Madam!" Zhou Shaojin stepped forward and saluted.
"I'm here!" She smiled, put down the paper in her hand, pointed to the armchair beside her with a very kind look, and said, "Sit down! I didn't expect you to copy so quickly!"
Zhou Shaojin smiled and sat down quietly.
Madam Guo nodded with satisfaction and pointed at the words on the paper: "Look, this word should be taken back decisively. This stroke is taken back very well."
Zhou Shaojin followed his instructions obediently.
Madam Guo asked Zhenzhu to grind ink and wrote a few words for Zhou Shaojin to see: "Look, does it look better this way?"
The characters, like horses and swords, jumped out of the paper... Zhou Shaojin felt that even if he continued writing for another 30 years, he would never be able to write characters like that.
However, people often say that a person's name reflects his character, and Mrs. Guo... has an extremely strong personality!
She muttered to herself but kept nodding her head.
Madam Guo smiled with a look of disappointment and shook her head, whispering, "You and I have different personalities... I am forcing you..." As she spoke, she took a deep breath and immediately perked up again, saying, "Just take a look at it, and you don't have to write it according to my words. Everyone has different preferences. Just write what you like."
Zhou Shaojin replied respectfully, “Yes.”
For some reason, she suddenly felt that Mrs. Guo seemed very lonely.
Zhou Shaojin took the tea from Xiaotan and presented it to Mrs. Guo.
Mrs. Guo took a sip and smiled as she instructed her attendant, Zhenzhu, "Go get a few ounces of the West Lake Longjing tea that the eldest aunt just sent over to make tea for the second young lady."
Zhenzhu responded with a smile and turned to leave the Buddhist hall.
Zhou Shaojin quickly stood up and declined.
Mrs. Guo smiled and said, "I seldom drink green tea now, but you little girls can stand it, it's just right for cooling off."
Zhou Shaojin had no choice but to thank him.
Biyu came in and said with a smile, "Madam, the Madam is here."
Madam Guo said "Oh" and was helped up by Manju. After thinking for a while, she said to Zhou Shaojin, "You can stay here for dinner tonight. I will welcome the eldest aunt from the second house. The two children from the Pan family are also here. You young people have the say."
But Cheng Xu will also show up, right
Zhou Shaojin smiled and said, "I have already met them at noon. I didn't expect you to invite them to have dinner. I also promised my grandmother to go back early because she said that it was her birthday tomorrow and she wanted to give us some instructions."
Mrs. Guo thought about it and realized that it was true. She did not force herself and smiled as she was escorted out of the temple by the maids and servants.
Zhou Shaojin breathed a sigh of relief and calmed down to copy a few pages of scriptures. Thinking that since Cheng Xian was coming as a guest, maybe Cheng Xu would come earlier, so she decided to leave early.
When she went to say goodbye to Madam Guo, Madam Guo did not try to keep her, and Biyu walked her out of Hanbi Mountain House.
Zhou Shaojin breathed a sigh of relief, but from a distance he saw two young men slowly walking towards him.
One of them was wearing jade-colored clothes, the other was wearing bamboo-green. One was in high spirits, the other was calm and composed... They were Cheng Xu and Pan Zhuo.
How did these two get together so quickly
In her previous life, she didn't seem to have heard that Cheng Xu and Pan Zhuo had a good relationship? However, in her previous life, she didn't know Cheng Xu at all. Maybe they were very good, but she just didn't know it...
Zhou Shaojin saw that if they walked any further they would definitely run into each other, so she winked at Shi Xiang, and the two of them hid behind a banyan tree that was as thick as a man's embrace.
Cheng Xu and Pan Zhuo didn't notice anything unusual and walked towards this side while talking.
"… Uncle Yi has many social engagements outside, and Mr. Zhang is in charge of the clan school. He was a juren in the Xinmao year of the 14th year of Zhide, and he was in the same class as my fourth uncle. When he was a scholar, he taught in the clan school. He has a solid knowledge. You may as well ask him for advice."
Pan Zhuo nodded repeatedly and said, "Since the provincial examination is approaching, my father wanted to keep me at home to study, but my mother said that reading ten thousand books is not as good as traveling a thousand miles. I don't know how many scholars and juren have come out of the Cheng family school, so she asked me to come and see them. It's a pity that I have to celebrate the birthday of the ancestor of the second house tomorrow, otherwise I would definitely benefit a lot from following you to attend a few classes."
"Studying is not something that can be achieved overnight, so don't be in a hurry..." Cheng Xu comforted Pan Zhuo, and the two of them walked past the banyan tree where Zhou Shaojin was hiding.
Zhou Shaojin breathed a sigh of relief.
The Pan family's ancestral home is Yangzhou. If Pan Zhuo wants to succeed, he has to go back to Yangzhou to take the exam. Fortunately, Nanjing is not far from Yangzhou. If the arrangements are good, it will not delay Pan Zhuo's imperial examination.
In her memory, Pan Zhuo and Cheng Lu were scholars in the same year, and the third house made a lot of noise about it.
If there were no unexpected circumstances, Pan Zhuo and Cheng Lu would probably have been included in the ranks of scholars.
She walked quickly away from the woods.
The clothes for the birthday celebration had been prepared long ago. When they returned to Jiashu Hall, Mrs. Guan couldn't help but look surprised and asked, "Why did you come back so early today?"
Zhou Shaojin didn't want to cause any trouble, so he smiled and said, "I came back early because I was thinking about the birthday celebration tomorrow."
Old Lady Guan did not suspect anything and said, "That's fine. I just happen to have something to tell you." Then she told Si'er to call Mian Dafu and Zhou Chujin over and told everyone, "The female family members are arranged in Siyi Tower, and the male guests are in Jifu Hall. Before the birthday banquet, the ancestor will go to Siyi Tower. At that time, Tang Lao'an from the second house will lead us to pay respects to the ancestor and give him gifts. After that, the ancestor will go to Jifu Hall. When you go back, clean up the prepared gifts to avoid mistakes. There are opera performances arranged at Mudan Terrace and Tonghua Pavilion. We are at Mudan Terrace and they are at Tonghua Pavilion. Don't go to the wrong place at that time. In particular, you must tell the maids and old women not to go to the wrong place for fun. It is a small matter to offend the nobles, but it is a big matter to lose the dignity of the Cheng family. Do you remember it clearly?" At the end of the words, the tone was very stern. This was rare for Old Lady Guan.
Zhou Shaojin and others responded solemnly, “Yes.”
Old Madam Guan's expression lightened up slightly, and she said, "You guys go down!"
Zhou Shaojin and others filed out of the upper room. Madam Mian told them a few words, "Don't be afraid, just follow your elders and don't walk around and nothing will happen." Then everyone left Jiashu Hall and dispersed.
Zhou Chujin couldn't help but feel a little worried.
Zhou Shaojin didn't care.
The arrangements in her past life and this life were the same. In her past life, she had always listened to the arrangements of her elders and nothing had happened. Moreover, in this life, she had already made up her mind to live a peaceful and unobtrusive life.
She washed up and went to bed early.
I slept very well at night, without any dreams until dawn. When I woke up, I felt energetic and my face was flushed.
As Shi Xiang was helping her dress up, she couldn't help but say, "Second Miss has such great skin. This rouge and powder makes her look vulgar."
When others put on makeup, she does the same; when others go bare-faced, she goes bare-faced. She never tries to be different or unique.
Zhou Shaojin said: "How can I not use some rouge and powder on such a big day? Just help me with my makeup as usual."
Shi Xiang felt sorry for a while, but seeing that Zhou Shaojin was determined, she couldn't persuade him anymore and put some light makeup on Zhou Shaojin.
Zhou Shaojin looked very satisfied. He had breakfast with Zhou Chujin and went to Jiashu Hall.
Old Lady Guan and Madam Mian had already dressed up and were sitting there chatting while waiting for them. They saw the sisters, one wearing a crabapple-colored jacket with magnolia flower borders and the other wearing a snow-blue jacket with dark patterns, standing side by side. One was as elegant as a lotus flower emerging from the water, and the other was as delicate as a quiet flower reflecting on the water. They were so beautiful that their eyes lit up. Old Lady Guan turned her head and smiled at Madam Mian, "Look at the two sisters in our room. They are really beautiful! The others are just saying it to please the audience!"
Everyone in the room covered their mouths and laughed.
Zhou Shaojin and her sister blushed with shame.
Mrs. Miao said, "You can only say this in the room, but don't shout it outside, or people will say you are biased!"
"I won't say it, I won't say it." Old Lady Guan laughed, "I'm not a child, don't I know what I can and can't say?"
Everyone laughed again.
Old Madam Guan supported Nanny Wang's hand and stood up, saying, "It's getting late, let's go!"
Everyone smiled and said "OK", then surrounded Old Lady Guan and walked out.
A little maid ran over and reported: "Mrs. Bai is here."
Mrs. Bai, Cheng Lu’s mother, Ms. Dong.
Zhou Shaojin was quite surprised.
In their previous life, they seemed to have gone directly to Siyi Tower, where they met Dong, Wu Baozhang and others who came to pay their respects to the second branch's ancestor.
How could this time be different
She secretly paid attention. Seeing that both Mrs. Guan and Mrs. Mian were very surprised and exchanged glances with each other, Mrs. Mian said, "Please ask her to come over - we are going to Siyi Tower now, it will be a bit late if we are late."
The little maid understood and ran out.
After a while, Dong came over accompanied by two maids.
"Mrs. An!" She bowed to Mrs. Guan and Mrs. Mian awkwardly, and said, "Our Mrs. Wen can't leave for a while. I walk slowly and I'm afraid of delaying the time, so I came to see you. I didn't expect you to have already left. It's just right, I'll go with you!"
"Your Madam Wen can't leave for a while..." said Mrs. Guan thoughtfully.
Dong looked even more embarrassed, and after a while she whispered, "It is said that Master Wen lost the Lantian jade Maitreya Buddha statue that the eldest lady prepared for the old ancestor's birthday..."
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The comments section seems to have become less heated recently...
O(∩_∩)o
Believe me, there won’t be such a frustrating setting…
※(To be continued)