In the carriage, Pei Che looked at Jiang Miao with an apologetic look on his face. He wanted to speak several times, but swallowed his words back. This was Jiang Miao's first time at his house. He wanted to take them around after measuring their sizes, and then invite them to stay for dinner.
But he didn't expect that first it was his grandmother's perfunctory attitude, then Pei Qi's bad words, and the Duke's Mansion's obvious displeasure, which ruined all his plans.
When they were almost at Yifeng Street, Pei Che finally asked in a low voice: "A Miao, you won't... change your mind, will you?"
Jiang Miao looked puzzled: "What are you talking about?"
Pei Che shook his head: "Nothing... It's just what happened today. I want to say sorry to you again for making you feel wronged."
"It's okay. It's not your fault. Besides, didn't your grandmother punish them?" Jiang Miao saw that he looked embarrassed and comforted him.
In fact, he was a little unhappy about what happened today. The reason for his unhappiness was not because they were targeting him, but because it caused Xiao Shitou to be discriminated against as well.
Today, when Jiang Miao saw Xiao Shitou looking aggrieved as he fought with Pei Qi to stand up for him, he couldn't help but feel a little guilty.
In fact, when rumors spread that he was the wife of the prince of the Duke's Mansion, Jiang Miao had secretly gone to Master Yu to test his reaction. Generally speaking, scholars are somewhat proud, so they must be very unhappy about this kind of thing, right? He thought that if Master Yu had a strong attitude towards this matter, he would consider letting Xiao Shitou transfer to another school. At that time, he would conceal their relationship to prevent Xiao Shitou from being bullied.
But Master Yu did not show any rejection or dislike. He just treated him as a student's parent and discussed with him about Xiao Shitou's academic problems. That was all. The people around him were also very kind. At that time, he thought the people here were quite open-minded, but he forgot that sometimes the difference between people is greater than that between people and dogs.
"I will explain everything to them after I return home." Pei Che made the promise. He had previously thought that an imperial decree granting marriage would be enough to shut those people up.
"Yeah." Jiang Miao nodded, and suddenly a light bulb went off in his head, and he understood the meaning of what Pei Che had just said: "Hey, you asked me before if I would change my mind, were you afraid that I would regret the engagement?"
Pei Che was a little embarrassed: "I didn't... I just felt a little sorry for dragging you into such a mess."
"Don't worry, I won't run away now that we've come this far." Jiang Miao said. He was not such a mean person. "But I may not get along well with your family members."
"It doesn't matter. I said I won't restrict you. If they want to embarrass you, you don't have to endure it. Just do whatever you want." Pei Che sighed. From the day he received the imperial edict, the Duke's Mansion was destined to never be as peaceful as before. No, or rather, from the moment he grew up, he was destined to be involved in this entanglement. Unless one of them was willing to give up.
Jiang Miao smiled: "That's good, but you don't have to worry, I'm an easy-going person, as long as they don't take the initiative to provoke me, I won't cause trouble everywhere."
"Of course I believe you." Pei Che nodded. This man could get along well with his neighbors and business colleagues, which showed that he was indeed cheerful and optimistic.
As they were talking, the carriage stopped. Jiang Miao gently pushed the two children who were sleeping on him, one on each side, to wake them up.
Little Shitou rubbed his eyes and went out of the car obediently. Pei Mu followed closely behind him, but was stopped by Pei Che.
"Mu'er, you have to go back home with your brother."
Pei Mu shook his head violently, his whole body was filled with the word "rejection". Today's Duke's Mansion was still very annoying!
Pei Che wanted to persuade him again, but after thinking for a while he let go of his hand and said, "Forget it, if you don't want to go back then don't go back." As soon as he let go of his hand, Pei Mu rushed out, and after being carried off the carriage by the driver, he quickly followed Xiao Shitou into the yard.
Pei Che smiled bitterly. It seemed that Mu'er really had no feelings for the Duke's Mansion at all.
"It will be fine when he grows up." Jiang Miao said, "You just asked him to come back home with you. Does your grandmother want the family to reunite?"
Pei Che shook his head slightly and said, "During the Dragon Boat Festival, the palace will hold a banquet for all the ministers as usual to show the great grace of God. In previous years, Mu'er was ill and never went. This year he is much better, so I want to take him in to have a look."
Hearing this, Jiang Miao exclaimed: "Wow, you can go to the palace for a banquet? How many dishes are there in the royal banquet?" Jiang Miao thought of the Manchu-Han Banquet, which had a total of 108 dishes. If he could eat one once in his lifetime, he would be satisfied.
Pei Che laughed. As expected of Jiang Miao, when he heard about the palace banquet, the first thing he thought of was still food. If everyone's mind was as simple as his, there would be fewer troubles in this world.
"What are you laughing at? Just tell me!" In the past, state banquets could only be watched on TV, but now in this ancient time, if someone has personally attended a state banquet, of course he would ask clearly.
"I don't remember the dishes in the palace banquet, and they change every year. But I think the dishes in the palace banquet are not as good as what you usually cook for us."
Jiang Miao laughed: "You are exaggerating. If the dishes I cook can be better than the palace banquets, I will become a royal chef."
Pei Che said seriously, "I really think so." There were many people attending the palace banquet, so the dishes had to be prepared very early. It would definitely be too late to stir-fry them, so most of the dishes served were steamed, boiled, or stewed, or served cold.
"Okay, but when you go to the banquet tonight, remember to observe the dishes and satisfy the curiosity of a commoner like me, right?" Jiang Miao requested.
Pei Che naturally would not refuse, but he thought that Jiang Miao did not need to be so curious. After they got married, there would be countless opportunities to attend banquets in the palace. It would be plenty of time to take time to watch and appreciate it.
Jiang Miao got out of the car, watched the carriage slowly leave with them, and then took them back to the room.
"Xiao Shitou, tell me about your performance today." As soon as he returned to the house, Jiang Miao became a little serious.
Little Shitou immediately lowered his head, then looked up at him guiltily and whispered, "I was wrong. I shouldn't have fought with him. I should have talked to him reasonably." This was the way Jiang Miao taught him to get along with his classmates.
"No." Jiang Miao shook his head.
Little Shitou was stunned, and tried hard to recall what Jiang Miao had taught him every day, but he couldn't figure out what was wrong with this sentence.
"Brother, I can't think of it." Little Stone looked at Jiang Miao pitifully.
"Then let me tell you, your mistake today was not in fighting, but in not protecting yourself. You were the first to start a fight today, right? But before you started, did you observe the difference between him and you? He is older, taller and stronger than you. If Little Wood hadn't been there to help you, you would have suffered a loss in a fight with him. Not only would you get beaten, but you would also be labeled as the first to start a fight. How unprofitable!"
"Ah?" Little Stone was confused and couldn't believe what he heard.
"Ah, what? Listen carefully. Next time you encounter a situation like today where you can't talk it out, you have to see where the gap between you and the other party is. If there is more than one person on the other side, then just hold your breath. A good man doesn't suffer a loss in front of him. There is no need to suffer a loss just for the sake of showing off. Let him scold us if he wants to, and we will just treat it as Dahua yelling. If someone bullies you like this, you must come back and tell me or Brother Pei Che, and then we will help you get back on your feet."
"Yeah!" Little Shitou looked excited and wrote down what Jiang Miao taught him.
"If there is only one person on the other side like today, and he is stronger than you, then wait until you have no way to avoid him and can no longer endure him, then carefully observe his weaknesses and focus on attacking them. Even if you cannot defeat him, you must attack him with all your might, so that he will be afraid whenever he thinks of you..."
These were Jiang Miao's experiences from previous fights. Little Stone listened very carefully and almost took notes. Pei Mu sat on a small stool nearby, petting a cat with his ears erect, and also listened very carefully.
"In short, remember one thing: we don't cause trouble, but we are not afraid of trouble either," said Jiang Miao.
In the past, the children who had been with Xiao Shitou were all ordinary people. They were all powerless, so when educating children, they naturally put the priority on not causing trouble. When getting along with them, it was best to convince them with reason.
In the days ahead, Xiao Shitou will have to deal with different people. Those children from aristocratic families are the apple of their eye and they will naturally act more domineeringly. If you keep giving in to them, they will become even more aggressive.
"Brother, I understand!" Little Stone nodded seriously, and the grievance and frustration left on his face disappeared. He was actually more sad because he felt that he had caused trouble for his brother.
"It's good that you understand." Jiang Miao touched his head and asked him to go into the house to practice calligraphy.
After dealing with the little stone, Jiang Miao came and sat down next to Pei Mu, thinking back to how Pei Qi had called him a "little monster" all the time today, and how no one in the mansion, except Pei Che's yard, took him seriously, as if he didn't exist at all. Obviously, he was the biological son of the late prince and the grandson of the old lady of the Pei family.
"Little Wood, do you want to talk?" Jiang Miao asked.
Pei Mu raised his head and looked at him with a little confusion.
"Even if you talk like I am now, don't you want to call me brother like Xiao Shitou?" During the confrontation in the yard today, Jiang Miao found that when Pei Mu stood there, his whole body exuded a sense of powerlessness and fragility. Because he couldn't speak, others would unconsciously ignore his existence.
Pei Mu tilted his head to look at him, his mouth opening and closing slightly, but no sound came out.
"Yes, just open your mouth and speak. Your brother said that you spoke very well when you were younger. You can speak, and as long as we practice more, sooner or later you will be able to speak like us." Jiang Miao painted a big picture for him and asked him to work hard in this direction.
Pei Mu stared at his mouth while he spoke. After he finished speaking, Pei Mu also tried to open his mouth and close it up and down, but no sound came out.
Jiang Miao took his little hand, put it on his throat, looked into his eyes, and said, "Mu'er, you see, when you speak, it's not just your mouth that moves. The sound comes from your throat. Let's give it a try, shall we?"
Pei Mu felt the vibration under his hand with a look of shock on his face. After Jiang Miao let go of his hand, he put his hand on his neck and tried to make it vibrate, but he failed and his face turned red.
Jiang Miao smiled and began to teach him how to make sounds. Pei Mu could speak once, and he had made other sounds unconsciously before, so he learned very quickly.
By the time Xiao Shitou finished practicing his calligraphy and came out of the study, Pei Mu was already able to open his mouth wide and make a hoarse "ah" sound.
(End of this chapter)