Chapter 187 Gu Tingye is lost and self-conscious

It is early spring and the wintersweets are in full bloom.

Jiying Lane.

In the courtyard where Sheng's private school is located.

The four plum trees surrounding the school are in full bloom in the cold spring, with elegant light red petals and a rich fragrance.

The private school started on the seventh day of the first lunar month.

Thanks to Qi Heng's request for a plaque from Sheng Hong when he was in the second grade of junior high school, Lord Sheng suddenly became interested and also gave the school a plaque, calling it "Qiming Pavilion".

It's a blessing.

This private school had no name in the past. It was just a courtyard specially vacated by the Sheng family for Zhuang Xuejiu to teach students. Perhaps when the school is closed in the future, it will become a guest house for entertaining guests, or it will be idle again.

But now, in the last days of its existence, it has its own name, which has a different meaning.

Perhaps after the students leave, this will become a place for the Sheng family to discuss matters?

After all, the children in the family have grown up. If they all enter officialdom, there must be a place for family meetings.

Or maybe if the Sheng family becomes more prosperous in the future, this Qiming Pavilion might become the location of the Sheng family school?

There is no way to verify this, we can only wait and see in the future.

Under the four corner eaves of Qiming Pavilion.

At the top, Master Zhuang was leaning on a blanket with his eyes closed, resting. The incense burner on the desk was emitting wisps of green smoke, beneath which were the students' homework from yesterday.

He asked the students in the audience to recite the classics individually to find out what they had missed and fill in the gaps.

I am the one who marks the homework.

However, due to his old age, he was not in good spirits, so he took a short rest every once in a while.

The classroom below the stage is separated by a long screen.

Chang Feng leads the group on the left, and behind him are the three girls from the Sheng family, Molan, Rulan, and Minglan, sitting in order of age.

On the right are the gentlemen.

They were either reciting classics on their own, or Yang Wenyuan was coordinating everyone to look for the works that had been listed among the candidates by the previous Jinshi students.

Everyone has their own business, and they are content.

However, although the purpose is the same, personal habits of reciting and reading aloud are different.

Changbai likes to sit upright at his desk, studying with a book in his hands.

Chang Feng also sat at the desk, but his posture was not very elegant. He often supported his face with one hand and held the textbook with the other hand. He also yawned or lost his concentration from time to time.

Yang Wenyuan and Gu Tingye are completely different.

Yang Wenyuan may have inherited the habit from his previous life. He liked to walk around when he was reciting or reading. After getting the permission from Mr. Zhuang, he began to pace around the school and read.

Gu Tingye is the most relaxed one, and he has the loudest voice. He does whatever he feels comfortable with, and sometimes even lies on the ground.

Qi Heng was originally very serious, but after meeting Yang Wenyuan and Gu Tingye, he began to walk around freely in the Qiming Pavilion. However, he was probably having ulterior motives and often hung around at the back of the classroom in the hope of seeing Minglan more often.

In this regard, the young master Qi Heng is far inferior to Gu Tingye.

Although they both had their own plans in mind, Gu Tingye was not as absent-minded as Qi Heng. He studied hard when he should study, and he said he would not go to Guangyuntai and other brothels and theaters and never went there once.

Knowing that the imperial examination was the top priority at that time, even though Madam Wu's polo match was resumed a few days ago and Miss Sheng, Hualan, and Yu Yanran all went, he was able to suppress his thoughts and did not even ask.

On the other hand, Qi Heng is inferior in many ways.

Before the polo match, he wanted to go together so that he could have more contact with Minglan openly. At the same time, he vaguely urged everyone to go together so that it would not be too abrupt for him to go alone and would not be acceptable to his mother, Princess Pingning. However, except Changfeng who was very interested, everyone else firmly refused.

Even though the polo matter failed, Qi Heng usually paid more attention to Minglan. Going around under the guise of endorsement, but actually his mind was mostly on Minglan, was one of his many actions.

Seeing how deeply in love Qi Heng was, Gu Tingye actually felt quite embarrassed.

And why is Gu Tingye in such a dilemma?

It was because Gu Tingye noticed Minglan looking at him with strange eyes several times while he was reading these days.

He was already an expert in martial arts and was quite sensitive to other people's gazes, let alone Ming Lan's almost direct stare.

At first, Gu Tingye thought Minglan had something to say to him, so he waited for Minglan several times after class.

But Minglan avoided him. Before he could say anything, Minglan lowered her head and left "shyly", leaving Gu Tingye alone and confused.

"What's going on? Could it be that the sixth daughter of the Sheng family was attracted by my heroic performance in the last game of pot tossing and took a fancy to me? Otherwise, why would she keep looking at me?"

Gu Tingye was terrified.

"But the one I like is the eldest daughter of the Yu family!"

If Gu Tingye only had doubts at the beginning, but seeing that Minglan paid more attention to him after she went to a polo match a few days ago, Gu Tingye felt that his doubts were well-founded.

Otherwise, why did Qi Heng show so much affection to Minglan, but she mostly focused on herself?

In order to prevent Minglan from getting "deeper and deeper", and also based on his uncle-nephew relationship with Qi Heng, Gu Tingye can only choose to turn a blind eye to Minglan's gaze and ignore it.

At the same time, I thought to myself:
"What a pity! If you were two or three years older, I might have really taken a liking to you. After all, apart from your ugly handwriting, everything else about you is pretty good. But now it's impossible."

Gu Tingye: Yuanruo, your second uncle has sacrificed a lot for you!

Gu Tingye: Minglan, I'm sorry, but unfortunately my second uncle already has someone in his heart, and I'm afraid your efforts will be wasted!

At this moment, Minglan was quietly looking at Gu Tingye who had his back to her.

Ever since she learned about Gu Tingye's intentions from her grandmother and her grandmother's emotional and logical explanation, Minglan has paid more attention to Gu Tingye, especially after he met Sister Yanran at the polo club a few days ago.

Although Minglan did not mention this to Yu Yanran, she felt a sense of mission in her heart, or perhaps it was a spontaneous compensation for hiding the secret from Yu Yanran, her best friend.

She decided to use her subjective initiative to help Sister Yanran observe Gu Tingye's character and whether he was trustworthy!

That's why Minglan pays so much attention to Gu Tingye.

As for whether this will cause unnecessary misunderstandings...

Minglan didn't think so much.

Moreover, she has successfully concealed her edge at home for so many years, so Minglan is still very confident in her ability to conceal.

Besides, who would have thought that Gu Tingye would be such a master of imagination?
Fortunately, this wonderful misunderstanding may never be discovered by anyone in this lifetime.

After observing for a period of time and asking her third brother Changfeng indirectly, Minglan is now more convinced of her grandmother's judgment.

If Second Uncle Gu really likes Sister Yanran, maybe this would be the best of both worlds!

I don't know when Mr. Zhuang, the scholar on the stage, stood up.

He was seen sitting at the desk, glancing briefly at the people below the stage, then withdrawing his gaze without saying a word and continuing to correct everyone's homework.

The girls' homework is mostly calligraphy practice manuscripts, which only need to be glanced over briefly. The men's homework is all about discussing current affairs and current problems, which requires careful consideration before giving suggestions.

The morning passed quickly, and Zhuang Xuejiu had finished marking everyone's homework.

He immediately slapped the table with a ruler.

After everyone fell silent and returned to their seats, he spoke:
"All assignments have been graded. When you finish your meal, you can come to the desk and pick them up. In the afternoon, I will explain your assignments in detail."

Master Zhuang assigned different assignments to each person, all based on their individual shortcomings. In the afternoon, he asked them to gather together to discuss the issues. Everyone spoke freely and discussed the issues that they did not understand or had insights into.

After saying these words, Master Zhuang signaled everyone to leave for dinner.

When everyone stood up, Master Zhuang did not leave as usual, but called Minglan.

"Sixth Miss, please wait a moment."

Minglan's face turned bitter when she heard this, and she knew that she was going to be kept in class and reprimanded again.

She also guessed what it was. After all, she and her two sisters were all assigned to practice calligraphy, but her own handwriting stood out from the crowd.

The students were not surprised to see Minglan being called down by Master Zhuang. They immediately tidied up their desks and went out to eat quickly.

Rulan, who was sitting in front of Minglan, stood up quickly and whispered to Minglan while tidying up her desk:
"I'm afraid that Master Zhuang will ask you to copy books again, but you must remember to help me make the purse. Don't forget it."

The weather is still very cold at this time, so the girls don't need to come in the afternoon.

The rest of the day was mostly spent on needlework.

Rulan and Minglan are now learning needlework under the guidance of the housekeeper at Shou'an Hall. These days, the housekeeper also has a homework, which is to let Minglan and Rulan embroider purses.

Although Rulan can embroider, she is very lazy and would rather not do it if possible. She tentatively asked Minglan if she could help her, and Minglan agreed without any hesitation.

Although Minglan will now be given more homework by Mr. Zhuang, Ruolan is not willing to just run away as a free laborer.

"I understand, Fifth Sister." Minglan nodded slightly in response.

Minglan always responds to the requests of her two elder sisters.

Should I just think of it as something that I, the youngest concubine's daughter, should do? Or should I think more optimistically that this is the "fee" for me to live a stable life at home?
Moreover, Minglan knew Rulan's personality. She was as simple and straightforward as the eldest lady, and was very easy to deal with.

After getting Minglan's assurance, Rulan left happily, while Qi Heng, who was not far away, was slowly finishing his homework and heard all the words.

After everyone else left, Qi Heng slowly walked out of the house.

After the students left, only Zhuang Xuejiu and Minglan were left in Qiming Pavilion.

Minglan was standing there, hesitating and nodding. When everyone had left, she came to Zhuang Xuejiu timidly, bowed, and said with her head down:

"Mr. Zhuang."

Zhuang Xuejiao nodded slightly, picked up Minglan's manuscript, looked at it, and said directly:

"Your handwriting..."

"Didn't I ask you to practice hard after class? Why haven't you made any progress yet?"

Minglan whispered:
"I was slacking off."

"It's good to know!"

Zhuang Xuejiao pulled out a piece of white paper from the side, handed over a brush dipped in ink, and said to Minglan:
"Wang Youjun's eight strokes for the character Yong are the best way to practice calligraphy. I have told you many times before to practice more. Now if you write the character Yong well, you can avoid the pain of copying books."

"Ah?" Minglan opened her cherry-like lips slightly, looking at the paper and pen so close to her with an embarrassed look on her face.

She knew her own handwriting, and it was definitely not worthy of Zhuang Xuejiu's liking, so she didn't want to show her embarrassment in front of him, and said dejectedly:
"Sir, I have been practicing hard for many days but have not made any progress. I really don't dare to embarrass myself in front of you. Please punish me by making me copy the book."

"You went to a polo match a few days ago?"

Zhuang Xuejiu's words made Minglan feel uneasy. As expected, she heard Zhuang Xuejiu's next words:

"Since you have so much time, please copy the Salt and Iron Treatise and give it to me for review in three days."

"what?"

Minglan became even more worried when she heard this.

If I could finish copying the Salt and Iron Theory within three days, plus the purse I promised my fifth sister, I would probably not have any sleep for the next few days.

Minglan's big eyes rolled around, and then she immediately put on a pleading expression and said earnestly:

"Student, I have to do housework these days, I'm afraid I don't have enough time."

"You have time to go to the polo club, but no time for needlework?"

"That……"

Minglan remembered that Zhuang Xuejiu loved to eat, so she said quickly:
"The student will make you a dish of water chestnut and sea bass soup!"

Seeing that Master Zhuang was interested, Minglan took advantage of the situation and said:

“Fried quail with bamboo shoots…”

"White Jade Fish Soup..."

When foodies meet, they know whether there is any or not.

Minglan herself has loved food since she was a child. With the guidance of the old skilled nanny at Shou'an Hall, she is very proficient in various dishes. When she blurted out a string of dish names, she immediately stunned the gourmet Zhuang Xuejiu.

"Okay, okay, okay! As long as you are kind-hearted, I will be satisfied."

Zhuang Xueji couldn't suppress the smile on his face, so for the sake of his teacher's ethics, he could only keep a straight face and say:

"But there's no need to go through so much trouble. Just give me two bowls of bamboo shoots and two bowls of rice.

Considering your filial piety to your teacher, I will give you two more days. Present it to me after five days."

"Thank you, scholar!" Minglan smiled sweetly.

"Okay, let's go eat."

Zhuang Xuejiu shook his head and then walked out quickly.

Minglan asked Master Zhuang to grant her two more days, and her mood immediately improved. She returned to her seat, packed her bookcase, and went to Shou'an Hall with Xiaotao, who was waiting in the corridor (there was no school in the afternoon, so all the girls went back to their rooms to eat).

Minglan and Xiaotao were each holding a book. Just as they passed the hanging flower gate of Qiming Pavilion, they saw Qi Heng and Buwei waiting at the corner.

Minglan and her servant paused.

Qi Heng came forward with a look of joy on his face.

Xiao Tao was no longer surprised by this scene.

Since last winter, such encounters have become more frequent, and with the start of classes at the seventh grade school, they have become even more frequent.

I just "encountered" it by chance at the polo club a few days ago, and it happened again today.

Xiao Tao chuckled into Minglan's ear, then took the book from Minglan knowingly. Ziruo and Buwei went to the side to keep watch, leaving the space for the two masters to talk.

　I will make up 4,000 this morning or tomorrow afternoon^^
　　
　
(End of this chapter)