svetikya Chapter 104 The Gift
Chapter 104 The Gift
Chapter 104 The Gift
Grandma Sheng didn't think that Mo Lan had such thoughts, after all, Mo Lan was only eight years old.
Even if Lin Xiaoniang is stupid, she should know the difference between the Qi and Sheng families.
Moreover, Mo Lan was a concubine's daughter.
Sheng Changfeng and Mo Lan approached Qi Heng likely because of his status, hoping to cultivate a good relationship with him.
However, if Minglan and Qi Heng have any contact, it will attract the attention of the brother and sister.
As for Wang You, she seemed to like him quite a bit.
Old Madam Sheng did have the idea of marrying Minglan to Wang You.
However, the Wang family's social standing, coupled with Wang You's performance, made him someone that Minglan, a concubine's daughter, could not aspire to.
Moreover, Madam Wang had previously hinted that she wanted to marry Rulan into the Wang family.
If Minglan has too much contact with Wang You, it will displease Madam Wang.
"My granddaughter understands."
Although Minglan didn't quite understand why Old Madam Sheng said that, she could feel the kindness Old Madam Sheng showed her.
"Alright, go take your afternoon nap," said Grandma Sheng.
Upon hearing this, Minglan curtsied and withdrew.
"Why didn't the old lady explain this to the sixth young lady?"
Having served Old Mrs. Sheng for many years, Mrs. Fang understands Old Mrs. Sheng's thoughts best.
As soon as Old Mrs. Sheng spoke, she understood what she meant.
Minglan only vaguely understood, and she felt that it might not have any effect.
"Although she may not understand everything, she is very obedient and will definitely do as I say."
Some things you have to figure out for yourself; even if someone else breaks them down and tries to explain them to you, you'll still not take them seriously.
Grandma Sheng sighed, "With her intelligence, she will figure it out."
Wang You and Qi Heng returned to the school and went to the room for their afternoon rest that the Sheng family had arranged for them.
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Xiaoman and Qi Heng's attendants had already made up beds for them.
The room was very clean, with a bed on each side and a screen in the middle, providing some privacy.
Although the two had traveled together before, they were not very familiar with each other. After chatting for a few minutes, they went to bed and went to sleep.
After the afternoon classes ended, Wang You and Qi Heng left the Sheng family together and boarded their own carriage that had come to pick them up.
Upon returning home, Wang You first visited his mother and then went to greet his grandmother.
Both Mrs. Feng and Old Mrs. Wang asked him if he was getting used to studying at the Sheng family.
Wang You praised Zhuang Xuejiu highly, which pleased Feng Shi and Old Mrs. Wang.
In fact, Wang You felt that Zhuang Xuejiu's teaching style was not suitable for him.
Zhuang Xuejiu's teaching ability was undoubtedly excellent, but his main goal was to prepare students for the imperial examinations.
Since Wang You did not take the imperial examinations, this teaching method had limited effect on him.
However, he didn't bring it up, because at his age, his family would never agree to him not going to school.
Ten days passed in the blink of an eye, and the holiday was over.
In ancient times, there were no weekends. Whether one was an official or a student, the normal rule was to rest one day every ten days, which was called a "ten-day holiday".
After ten days of getting to know each other, everyone became familiar with each other.
However, this does not include Minglan, who is always the last to arrive and the first to leave every day.
In modern terms, they arrived right on time.
As soon as Zhuang Xuejiu left during the break, she left the classroom and didn't return until it was almost time for class to start again.
Not to mention Wang You and Qi Heng, they hardly ever talk to Sheng Changbai and the others.
Mo Lan and Ru Lan were quite familiar with Qi Heng, and they changed their address from "Young Master" to "Brother Yuan Ruo".
Mo Lan started using this title, and Ru Lan followed suit when she heard her call it that.
After attending classes for ten consecutive days, everyone was excited to finally have a break.
After the last class ended and Zhuang Xuejiu left, everyone started chattering about what they were going to do on their day off tomorrow.
"Brother Zecheng, now that spring is here and the flowers are in full bloom, there's an estate outside my city where the pear blossoms are in full bloom and the scenery is beautiful. How about we go for a spring outing tomorrow?" Qi Heng suggested.
"Brother Yuanruo's suggestion is excellent."
Before Sheng Changbai could speak, Mo Lan smiled and said, "Children come home early from school and take advantage of the east wind to fly kites. It's not good to fly kites in Bianjing City, so it's quite fun to go out for a spring outing and fly kites during the ten-day holiday."
"Showing off again!" Rulan muttered.
Rulan wasn't really interested in Qi Heng. Although Qi Heng wasn't the rigid type, his polite demeanor always gave people a sense of aloofness.
After all, Qi Heng is still young and does not yet have the air of a refined young nobleman.
Seeing Mo Lan moving closer to Qi Heng, she, who had always competed with Mo Lan since childhood, followed suit and moved closer as well.
But Mo Lan always spoke of poetry and lyrics, chatting happily with Qi Heng, leaving Mo Lan no chance to interrupt.
"Fifth sister, I'm leaving now."
At this moment, Minglan stood up, curtsied to everyone, and led Xiaotao out. As she passed Rulan, she greeted her.
"you--"
Just as Ru Lan was about to speak, Qi Heng stood up and said, "Sixth Miss!"
"Young Master!"
Minglan quickly stopped and turned around to bow in return.
"Shall we go for a spring outing together tomorrow?" Qi Heng suggested.
Wang You glanced at the two of them, thinking to himself, "Could it be that Minglan attracts Qi Heng because she treats him differently than Molan and Rulan?"
Although he didn't know if Minglan's daily life at school in the original drama was the same as it is now.
But judging from Minglan avoiding Qi Heng, this is most likely the case.
During these ten days, Wang You also observed that Minglan had never spoken to Qi Heng, but Qi Heng was always secretly looking at Minglan.
Wang You actually had many doubts about Qi Heng's feelings for Minglan.
Little Minglan now has chubby cheeks and looks very cute.
But apart from dressing up on the first day, her clothes and outfits were very ordinary afterwards.
Moreover, the girl was only seven or eight years old, while Qi Heng was only ten. It was unlikely that they would fall in love at first sight.
Most importantly, Qi Heng doesn't understand Minglan.
In the original drama, when Qi Heng saw Minglan being targeted and wanted to help, Gu Tingye stopped him, saying that Minglan could handle it and that it wasn't as simple as he thought.
Although Gu Tingye had contact with Minglan when he was in Yangzhou, the contact was very brief.
Moreover, Minglan was still young at the time, and Gu Tingye could not possibly conclude that Minglan was hiding her talents based on these facts.
Gu Tingye did not spend much time studying at the Sheng family's residence after returning to Bianjing, but he was able to see that Minglan was hiding her true abilities.
On the contrary, Qi Heng, who had studied at the same school for several years, never noticed.
This shows that Qi Heng doesn't understand Minglan at all, and it's not Minglan's introverted nature that attracts him.
Now Wang You understands that Qi Heng was attracted to Minglan because of this difference in treatment.
Qi Heng came from a good family and had a good character; he grew up surrounded by praise.
While he was studying at the Sheng family's school, Mo Lan and Ru Lan would fawn over him, calling him "Brother Yuan Ruo" repeatedly.
Minglan ignored him completely, and kept calling him "Little Master".
When everyone around you is polite and full of flattery.
If someone suddenly treats you differently from everyone else, you might either get angry or feel that the other person is special.
What attracted Qi Heng to Minglan was probably this special quality.
"Thank you for your kindness, young master, but I usually have to study needlework and don't have time to go out and play."
Minglan curtsied and left with Xiaotao.
After being rejected, Qi Heng looked somewhat disappointed.
Wang You's guess wasn't entirely correct, but it was almost accurate.
He didn't feel that everyone around him was praising him; rather, he felt that everyone around him liked him.
Minglan's usual behavior was as if she disliked him.
He didn't know where this dislike came from, but he wanted to eliminate it as much as possible.
After all, they had only studied together for ten days and hadn't exchanged many words. They were also quite young, so it was unlikely that he would fall in love with Minglan so quickly.
"Yuan Ruo's suggestion is good. Scholars often say that studying requires a balance between work and rest."
Sheng Changbai looked at Wang You and smiled, "Ziqian, shall we go together tomorrow?"
"No, I have some things to do tomorrow. A friend has been looking for me several times, but I haven't been able to see him because I've been studying. I've already arranged to meet him tomorrow," Wang You said.
He wasn't lying. Zhao Sheng had come to his house several times and, upon learning that he was off work the next day, left a letter inviting him to meet at Fanlou the following day to catch up.
Seeing that Wang You wasn't going either, Qi Heng regretted suggesting the picnic.
He was actually somewhat annoyed with Sheng Changfeng and Mo Lanrulan.
His good upbringing simply prevented him from expressing his true feelings.
Wang You and Minglan aren't going; it's just the few of them going. The only one they can talk to is Sheng Changbai.
The thought of being chased by Mo Lan and Ru Lan to call Yuan Ruo "brother," and having Sheng Chang Feng show off his talents, gave him a headache.
But the outing was his suggestion, so we can't just change our minds again.
Wang You had no idea what he was thinking. After Xiaoman finished packing, he stood up and asked, "Yuanruo, are you leaving now?"
"Walk!"
Qi Heng nodded, said goodbye to Wang You and Sheng Changbai, and then left the school.
Qi Heng hesitated for a moment on the way, but after leaving the Sheng family's gate, he finally couldn't help but ask, "Ziqian, why does it seem like Sixth Miss dislikes me so much?"
"Do you hate me?"
Wang You asked in confusion, "Why do you say that?"
"Sixth Miss wasn't like this on the first day. Starting from the second day, she came very late every day, and left as soon as the scholar left," Qi Heng said.
"Maybe that's just her personality? Don't overthink it," Liang An comforted her.
He hasn't decided yet whether or not to help the Prince of Yong and his son.
If we really want to help Prince Yong and his son, it's actually quite simple: all we need to do is make sure Qi Heng doesn't fall in love with Minglan.
The reason why Prince Yong targeted Rong Feiyan was because the Qi family refused to propose marriage.
Princess Jiacheng and Rong Feiyan were vying for her affections, and the Qi family did not go to the Prince Yong's mansion to propose marriage. In the eyes of the Prince Yong and his wife, this was because they were wary of the Rong family, or rather, wary of Consort Rong.
The Prince Yong's mansion may not have been unaware of Minglan's existence, but in their ingrained mindset, the two were considered impossible, and marriage was always arranged by parents.
Perhaps this is why the Prince Yong's mansion hasn't taken any action against Minglan.
However, the Prince of Yong's mansion guessed wrong. Princess Pingning was actually very willing to agree to the marriage, but Qi Heng was on a hunger strike at the time, and they hadn't managed to persuade him. How could they dare to agree?
If she were to agree, Qi Heng would rather die than marry her, or the Princess of Jiacheng would give her a hard time after she entered the household.
If the Prince of Yong becomes emperor in the future, how could he possibly spare the Qi family?
In a sense, Rong Feiyan shielded Minglan from disaster.
However, these are all just his guesses, and he is not sure whether they are true or not.
But one thing is certain: if Minglan doesn't like Minglan, he won't object to the marriage arranged for him by Princess Pingning.
The Rong family and the Prince Yong's Mansion are good choices.
Don't say that the Rong family only has one Consort. With the Emperor having no sons and being old, what difference would it make if she were the Empress?
After the new emperor ascended the throne, although he had to acknowledge the emperor as his father, he would only maintain a superficial respect for the empress dowager, let alone her family.
A mere imperial concubine would be even less likely to care.
If Princess Pingning wasn't stupid, she would have known what choice to make given the already clear situation.
The Prince of Yong's mansion did not take any action against Rong Feiyan, so even if the Prince of Chong wanted to rebel, he had no chance.
Therefore, Wang You dared not say more, in case something went wrong because of him, it would be difficult to turn things around in the future.
"Impossible, even the Sixth Sister wasn't like this on the first day."
"Besides, everyone in the school is her older brother or sister, and you're her cousin. Why would she suddenly change so drastically?"
Qi Heng said dejectedly, "I'm the only outsider here, it must be because she hates me."
"Isn't she the same way to me? Have you seen her speak to me at all these days?"
Wang You patted Qi Heng on the shoulder and comforted him, "Don't overthink it."
"But you all talked when we went to Shou'an Hall for dinner on the first day, which means you are very familiar with each other. You only act like this towards me," Qi Heng said.
[”
Wang You thought about it carefully, and it seemed to be true.
"You have no grudge against her, so why would she do this?" Wang You asked rhetorically.
"I'm also puzzled," Qi Heng said, troubled.
"There's nothing inherently wrong in the world; it's just that fools create trouble for themselves. Sixth Sister is, after all, a young lady, while we are men. Everyone has a different temperament, so there's nothing wrong with what she did," Wang You said.
"Could it be that I'm overthinking things?" Qi Heng murmured.
"You're definitely overthinking it."
Wang You nodded firmly and said, "Sixth Sister is a concubine's daughter and is not favored at home. Her two older sisters are, one is the legitimate daughter and the other is the daughter of a favored concubine, so it's normal for them to be cautious."
"I see."
Qi Heng nodded slightly and said, "It seems I was overthinking it."
"Have fun on the spring outing tomorrow, I'm off now."
Wang You greeted them and got into the carriage.
The next day, Wang You took his sister by car to Fanlou.
"Second brother, will we be able to see Sister Jiacheng?" the little girl asked excitedly.
"Yes, we'll see each other soon. You can finally give your gift out." Wang You rubbed his sister's head.
Mu Jie'er pushed Wang You's hand away and glared at him angrily.
Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.
Wang You chuckled inwardly as he watched the little girl puffing up her cheeks; even this little brat knows how to care about her appearance.
He couldn't resist reaching out to pinch her cheek, but she dodged him.
I teased my younger sister all the way, and before I knew it, we had arrived at our destination.
"Young master, we've arrived at Fanlou." Shi Tou's voice came from outside the carriage.
Now Wang You takes Xiaoman with him when he studies, and takes Shitou with him when he goes out.
Wang You got off the carriage and reached out to help his younger sister down.
Zhao Sheng's attendant came forward and bowed, saying, "Young Master Wang, my master is waiting for you in the private room. This way, please!"
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"Thank you for your trouble."
Wang You nodded and followed him into Fanlou.
"Sister Mu!"
"Sister Jiacheng!"
Upon entering the private room, Princess Jiacheng saw Wang You and Mu Jie'er come in and happily waved to Mu Jie'er.
Mu Jie'er let go of Wang You's hand and ran over.
After running a few steps, Mu Jie'er suddenly stopped and turned around, took the wooden box from the maid, and then ran towards Princess Jiacheng again.
"Sister Jiacheng, this is a gift I prepared for you." Mu Jie'er presented the wooden box like a treasure.
"I told you I was going to prepare a gift for you, but I didn't expect you to give me one first."
Princess Jiacheng accepted the wooden box with a smile.
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