Chapter 31 Chapter 31 Leisure

Chapter 31

A sudden rainstorm hit, and the originally clear sky was covered by dark clouds, and it was dark and gloomy. Immediately, a strong wind blew, blowing the branches of the sycamore trees in the yard to the left and right. After a while, it began to rain, soaking the hot ground.

In the misty rain curtain, the two-character plaque of Zhao Mansion, which was personally bestowed by the late emperor, was looming.

There was a clang in the house, and the priceless Duan inkstone was thrown to the ground by Zhao Di. The Duan inkstone was solid and not damaged, but it smashed a big mark on the bluestone slab on the ground.

Several people behind the desk looked at each other, but did not dare to look up. One of them said, "My lord, calm down."

Zhao Di was still not satisfied, and shouted to the outside, "Beat them hard, beat these dogs who don't know how to protect their master to death!" The people outside heard this and started to beat them hard.

Only screams were heard from outside.

The screams entered the house and made people tremble with fear. Only one middle-aged woman had a pale face. She was Zhao Chunpeng's wet nurse, Xu. She knelt down and cried, "Sir, please spare my life!"

Zhao Di was already furious. Seeing Xu, he was even more furious. He pointed outside and said, "Why don't you go and be beaten together? If it weren't for you traitors, who usually don't persuade me to study at home and do the learning of sages, but instead instigated me to eat, drink, gamble and whore, how could today's incident have happened?"

"My master is suffering in prison, and you can't live freely here."

After that, the wet nurse Xu was dragged out as well. She screamed immediately, but it soon turned into a whimpering sound. It was obvious that her mouth was blocked by someone.

Mrs. Zhao, Min, was no longer in charge of the family affairs. She had already handed over the affairs of the family to her youngest daughter. She was taking a nap when she suddenly heard a noise outside. It was her nephew's wife, Mao. She was wearing an amber floral jacket with folded branches and a ruby-colored gold hairpin on her head.

She had a full moon face and willow-shaped eyebrows, which made her look rich. But now she looked anxious and cried, "Aunt, save me."

Min was unhappy, but she had to intervene. She asked, "What's the matter?"

Mao knelt down and said, "Uncle wants to kill my niece!"

"What?"

It turned out that after Zhao Chunpeng was arrested and imprisoned in the Ministry of Justice, Zhao Di had a tantrum and arrested several people who served him. He had just heard that the wet nurse Xu was dying, so he called Mao over to question her.

Mao was really scared, so she shamelessly came to Min.

Min sighed. She really didn't want to get involved in this matter, but the situation was too big now. She was sulking with her head down. Miss Zhao Wu took the teacup from the maid and handed it to her mother, saying, "Mother, calm down first. Dad is also very angry now. I don't know how many people are watching us outside. If someone dies, they will not let go."

Mr. Zhao had no sons, only five daughters, so he kept the youngest daughter at home and recruited a live-in son-in-law.

Min drank a sip of warm tea and saw that her daughter was talking very well. She was finally persuaded. Mao looked at Miss Zhao Wu gratefully, wiped her tears, stood up, hugged Min's arm and said, "Aunt, you still care about me."

Min looked at Mao with disdain, but did not push her away.

The group arrived at the study. A person-high Taihu stone stood in the center. There was a spring flowing out of it. The sound of water was gurgling, and it seemed dark on the rainy and cloudy day.

Min remembered that when the mansion was first built, it took a lot of effort to find the location of the spring. In the end, they bought out a family's ancestral home and built it. Zhao Di's favorite place was naturally here. Sure enough, a study was built, and he stayed here the most.

Now, just as the Feng Shui master predicted, her husband has become the Prime Minister with great power in the court. There are many flatterers around him, and someone even sent a thin horse from Yangzhou. At her age, she would not be jealous, but her husband was a little out of line because of this coldness. The couple had not spoken to each other for a long time, and gradually became alienated, and she also felt a little uneasy.

If it hadn't been too big today, she wouldn't want to care.

The wet nurse Xu opened her eyes when she heard the footsteps, and when she saw Min, she screamed, but because her mouth was blocked, she couldn't speak.

The eldest lady Min saw the blood on the ground and several unconscious people next to her, and she was full of anger. She lifted her skirt and walked in.

Mrs. Mao was so frightened that her face turned even paler. She just grabbed the hand of the eldest lady and refused to let go.

Miss Zhao Wu lowered her head, not knowing what she was thinking.

***

The new house was very well equipped and had even just been renovated, but even so, a lot of things still needed to be added. Mrs. Du felt stretched to the limit. Fortunately, Jiang Yu had already considered this and brought an extra 1,000 taels of silver to fill this gap.

Mrs. Du naturally felt a little embarrassed, but Jiang Yu was her own daughter after all, and with the joy of moving into the new house, she soon forgot about it.

Jiang Yu took Du Qing to live in Datong for five or six days, helping her mother move, and accompanying her mother to buy new furniture. They were ready to go back only when everything was almost done.

It had rained for several days in a row, and there were potholes everywhere, with frogs occasionally jumping in them. Du Qing had recently fallen in love with catching frogs, and always asked Cuiping to hold a small bamboo basket and put one in it. Sometimes she would catch a bamboo basket and show off in front of Jiang Yu. She would blink her eyes and say to her mother cunningly, "Mom, are you afraid of frogs?"

Jiang Yu would count them seriously, and then say, "Well, these are too small, but they are enough to make a fried frog meal."

Du Qing would jump away, and then hold the bamboo basket in her arms like a treasure, fearing that Jiang Yu would really make a plate of fried frogs, which made Jiang Yu laugh.

However, Du Qing discovered that there was someone who was a little afraid of frogs, and that was his uncle Jiang Yan. Du Qing would take the bamboo basket to scare Jiang Yan every day. Jiang Yan always tried to remain calm, but his pale face revealed his fear, and he still had to ask Jiang Yu to rescue him.

Jiang Yu found that as she grew older, Du Qing became more and more naughty, but she liked such a daughter, and felt that she was becoming more and more like a real child.

Jiang Yu was originally preparing to go back, but she received a letter from Du Haoyu, saying that the capital was not peaceful at the moment and asked her not to come back yet.

Jiang Yu was a little confused, but she didn't know what happened, but she didn't have time to think about it. In the morning, Mrs. He, the governor of Datong, sent her a visiting card.

Jiang Yu changed into a rose purple and gold brocade narrow-sleeved jacket, and wore a hibiscus flower hairpin with red gold inlaid flowers on her head, and the same style of hibiscus flower earrings on her ears. Different from the simple and elegant before, she was really rich.

He had been waiting at the door for a long time. When she saw the person, she couldn't help but exclaim in admiration, and said, "What a symbol! I thought it was a fairy visiting the mansion. She is really radiant." When she was waiting to see Du Qing again, she saw a lovely little girl with a pair of black and white eyes, staring at her. When she saw her looking at her, she smiled sweetly at her, and her smile went straight to her heart. He was so surprised that she said, "This is the eldest lady in the mansion. Oh, then this is the little fairy!"

Jiang Yu was shy after being praised, and said, "You are too polite."

He went up to Du Qing and asked, her tone so gentle that water could drip out of it, "Your name is Qing'er, right? This is a gift from your aunt. Take it quickly." Then she took off a ruby-covered red gold hairpin from her head and gave it to Du Qing.

Although He's husband is Jiang Feng's boss, he is younger than Jiang Feng, so according to seniority, it is not wrong to call her aunt.

The gift from He is too precious. It is worth a lot of money. The ruby inlaid on it is the size of a thumb, not to mention the tassels on it are made of rice-sized pearls, which shine in the sun and are very beautiful.

Jiang Yu declined several times, but He insisted. Finally, He said, "I really like Qing'er. It's a token of my love. Don't be polite."

Jiang Yu thought of the last time and knew that it was probably to thank her for her help, so he asked Du Qing to thank He and asked the maid Cuiping to put it in the bag.

After entering the hanging flower door, tea and snacks were already placed in the flower hall. As soon as I entered, I felt cool as autumn. When I looked again, I saw ice behind the screen.

He invited Jiang Yu to sit down, and the maids brought tea and snacks, as well as a bowl of iced cheese. Jiang Yu had walked all the way with her daughter, and the weather was hot, so she was very thirsty. Naturally, she liked it. Jiang Yu held her daughter, ate a bite herself, and then fed her daughter a bite.

Du Qing was also very well-behaved, sitting in Jiang Yu's arms and eating ice.

The more He looked at her, the more she admired her, and said, "Your eldest daughter is so well-behaved, unlike my boy, who can't be at peace all day long."

He had three sons in total, the eldest son was twelve years old, the second son was ten years old, and the youngest son was five years old, just two years older than Du Qing. This age was just the right time for him to be naughty, and he would go up to the roof and tear off the tiles every day, which made He angry.

When she looked at Jiang Yu's daughter again, she was so well-behaved and obedient, so she naturally liked her very much, and wished she could hold her by her side and raise her. She asked someone to bring cakes over, and then she went to get the candied fruit that the child loved to eat, and she was very enthusiastic.

After waiting for a while, two boys came in. They were He Min and He Rui, the second and youngest sons of He Shi. He Shi asked them to pay their respects to Jiang Yu.

Jiang Yu saw that the two children were really good-looking, with sharp eyebrows and bright eyes. This appearance should be inherited from He Shi. Among them, the youngest son He Rui, his eyes were rolling around, and he looked very smart.

Sure enough, when asked, it turned out that He Rui was the most knowledgeable among the children, while He Min was mediocre.

Mr. Zhang was born in a poor family. If it weren't for the financial resources of He Shi, he would not be where he is today. But no matter what, since he is a scholarly family, he also attaches great importance to reading, so he has been very strict with his three sons since they were young.

Several children started to learn at the age of three, and the eldest has already gone to the academy to study.

Jiang Yu also prepared a gift for meeting. The last time he came too suddenly, he had been preparing to entertain the prince, and now he finally had the opportunity to have a good chat.

He said with some pride, "He is useless, but he has memorized the Three Character Classic and the Book of Songs."

Jiang Yu praised, "He is only six years old this year, right? He is really amazing."

He smiled and looked at his youngest son He Rui, who finally settled down temporarily because of the guests. Then he looked at Du Qing, who was sitting next to Jiang Yu and eating candied fruit quietly. He felt very happy and an idea came to his mind.

Probably to let Jiang Yu know how smart He Rui was, he asked him to recite in the hall, "Don't embarrass me, memorize it well, or I will spank you."

He Rui seemed a little unwilling, thinking that reciting the Book of Songs in public was too boring, but he shrank back when he heard about spanking his palm. When he looked up, he saw Du Qing stopped eating candied fruit and looked at him with black and white eyes, like the little girl in the New Year picture that he begged his father to buy. She was so cute that she winked at Du Qing.

Du Qing was still a child after all, so he smiled.

He Rui felt as if he had been praised. While reciting the Book of Songs, he did not forget to secretly make faces at Du Qing.

He Rui was really smart. He recited it all. Mrs. He was full of pride. Jiang Yu was also ready to praise and agree with him. Du Qing, who had been silent all the time, said, "You recited a few paragraphs wrong."

Jiang Yu tried to cover Du Qing's mouth, but it was obviously too late. He Rui had always been praised for his intelligence, but no one had pointed it out like this before. He suddenly felt competitive and said, "What's wrong?"

Mrs. He was also very surprised. Seeing Jiang Yu covering Du Qing's mouth with his hand, she was afraid that Du Qing would suffocate, so she hurriedly said, "It's so hot today, don't cover the child."

Jiang Yu let go, but saw He Rui coming straight over and said unconvinced, "You said I recited it wrong, but why don't you tell me which part? Don't you think you are just bragging?"

Mrs. He was so angry that she was fuming, because He Rui was the smartest among the children, and the family naturally had high hopes for him. But this child was also the most noisy and had a bad temper. She had beaten and scolded him, but he just had this bad temper.

"He Rui, what are you talking about?"

He Rui said aggrievedly, "She slandered me!"

Du Qing also got angry, stood up, and began to point out where He Rui was wrong, but He Rui said, "No, you must have remembered it wrong."

Du Qing held her little face high, very calm, which was very inconsistent with her age. She said confidently, "Go and get the Book of Songs."

At first, He thought that Du Qing was playing, or that the child was unconvinced, which was always excusable, but seeing that Du Qing said it in a serious manner, she said, "Go and get the book." At

this point, Jiang Yu knew that there was nothing she could do to stop her. She was not the kind of person who liked to suppress her daughter to help others. She thought that if the child did the right thing, she should praise it well, so she let the maid go and get the book.

When the maid brought the Book of Songs, He couldn't wait to open it. She was stunned when she saw the content. He Min and He Rui also came over, especially He Min. He thought that a three-year-old child could remember anything.

Of course, He Rui thought so too. As a result, the two brothers stopped talking as soon as they read the book.

He was very surprised and said, "How did the eldest lady in the mansion know this?"

Jiang Yu said, "I am not talented. I just finished reciting the Book of Songs."

The Book of Songs is divided into three parts: Feng, Ya, and Song. There are more than 300 poems in the whole book. The longest poem has more than 400 words. It is very difficult to recite them, let alone remember them so clearly.

This is why He was proud of her son, but she did not expect that Jiang Yu's daughter Du Qing was so smart. Moreover, this is not smart anymore. She is really a child prodigy.

He Rui has been reciting for more than a year. Just for this speed, he was praised by his father for being extremely smart. He couldn't help but said, "I don't believe it unless you recite it before me."

Du Qing was not stage-frightened and started to recite directly.

"That's enough. Don't carry her anymore. It's so hot. Don't be too tired." He was surprised at first, but then she felt distressed. She felt that such a small child was really precious. The most important thing was that her two sons were better than her. If she continued to carry her, He Rui would be embarrassed.

He was so amazed that she said, "She is worthy of being the daughter of Du Zhuangyuan. It's really amazing. It's a pity..." The rest of the words were not said, but Jiang Yu was shocked. It seemed that she remembered that the old Hanlin said the same thing a long time ago.

It's a pity that she is a girl.

He asked someone to take a few people to play next door. It was obvious that she had something to say to Jiang Yu.

Jiang Yu was still a little worried, but He assured her, "There are old women and maids watching them. Besides, although our two children are naughty, they are not ignorant of the limits." Sure

enough, after a while, the laughter of children came from inside, and they had obviously forgotten the unpleasantness just now.