The Royal’s Little Lady

When Zuo XiuYan said this, the others present were also a little skeptical. 

 

They had never heard of this poem either.

 

As they glanced at each other, they all noticed their doubts.

 

In the end, Lu QingYi spoke up, “Sui’er, where is this poem from?”

 

She had taught Gu Sui’er, so naturally, she wished for her victory. She couldn’t bear to see her embarrassed.

 

When she asked, the gazes of the two Young Madams and Xiao Jin fell on Gu Sui’er.

 

At this moment, Gu Sui’er was also a little hesitant. How could a talented person like Zuo girl be wrong? It must have been a mistake on her part.

 

But on second thought, she didn’t discover anything wrong with it ah. This poem was indeed taught to her by Xiao Heng.

 

He had even read it to her one word at a time.

 

Therefore, she explained at last: “Lu girl, do you still remember that the third Young Master had asked me to memorize a collection of poems called «Jiu Zhou’s Glorious Sword» that is told to be compiled during the previous dynasty? The line I just said is from that anthology.”

 

From the side, Zuo XiuYan immediately retorted: “How is that possible! Although I’m not familiar with this «Jiu Zhou’s Glorious Sword», I have read almost all the collection of poems of the previous reign. There is absolutely no such sentence in any of those poems!”

 

Her sharp tone made Gu Sui’er a little apprehensive, who bit her lip lightly, and conceded: “Since Zuo girl said so, it naturally can’t go wrong. Then, this poem probably belongs to the years under the current Emperor’s reign, not the previous one…”

 

“I have read almost all the new poems by the poets of the current reign but I have never heard of such a good sentence!”

 

In short, Zuo XiuYan could be considered to have negated Gu Sui’er’s words.

 

She didn’t think of blaming herself for losing this round.

 

Instead, she felt that it was Gu Sui’er who implicated her.

 

The two Young Madams and Lu QingYi’s expressions were a little unsightly.

 

They were playing this game just for fun. Moreover, Gu Sui’er had barely started learning how to read after she entered the residence. Why did she have to be so serious with her? It was already very good that Gu Sui’er could come up with such a beautiful line, why not let it pass?

 

“This poem is quite well composed. It might not be a notable work but it is still a good sentence.” The eldest Young Madam spoke for Gu Sui’er.

 

“Indeed pretty good. If one examines it carefully, the words ‘long’ and ‘silence’ in this line are applied particularly nicely here.” The second Young Madam agreed with her sister-in-law’s words.

 

When Xiao Jin heard it, she said, “Regardless of whether it’s good or bad, it’s bound to have a source. If it doesn’t have one, Sui’er has to drink for breaking the rules!”

 

Saying this, she asked Gu Sui’er, “Sui’er, do you have any evidence?”

 

She used to call Gu Sui’er ‘Little Sister-in-law’ but not anymore.

 

Gu Sui’er lowered her head and thought for a while, “There’s no evidence that I can remember clearly. I must have made a mistake somewhere.” 

 

The two Young Madams didn’t want this matter to escalate further, so they announced with a smile, “That’s not important; we are just playing for fun. There’s no need to take this so seriously.”

 

But Zuo XiuYan continued, “Sui’er girl, please have the poetry collection you mentioned brought here, I wish to improve my knowledge.”

 

Gu Sui’er knew which book it was, but feeling that Zuo XiuYan would be embarrassed if she really took it, she deliberately tried to skip the topic. However, the latter actually wanted to have her bring it over.

 

Immediately, she ordered someone to bring it. Unexpectedly, as soon as the person went out, GuiZhi rushed in, gasping for breath. There were some residual snowflakes at the tips of her hair.

 

She stepped forward and said respectfully, “Young Mistress, here is the collection of poems you asked for.”

 

She had always been a resourceful person. When Zuo XiuYan first expressed her doubts about the poem, she had already hurried back to fetch it. Luckily, the eldest Young Madam’s courtyard was not far away from Ting Zhu Courtyard, so she wasn’t late.

 

“So there’s really a collection. Bring it here, let us see it.” Zuo XiuYan said with a smile.

 

Gu Sui’er brought it over and opened it. Then she quickly turned it around to let the others read.

 

Almost immediately, everyone huddled together to take a look.

 

Xiao Jin let out a low exclamation: “Wah, so this poem is penned by Zhao WeiRan, the great general of the current reign?”

 

Lu QingYi was also a little surprised. After reading the line, she couldn’t help laughing: “Then our Sui’er was indeed correct ah!”

 

The two Young Madams also pursed their lips and laughed: “It hasn’t been long since Sui’er began to be educated and she is already so knowledgeable. She has read up everything from ancient to recent works, and even knows this kind of not-so-popular poetry!”

 

At this time, no one looked at Zuo XiuYan because everyone was busy complimenting Gu Sui’er.

 

Despite that, Zuo XiuYan’s complexion altered between red and white.

 

She provoked Gu Sui’er just now because she believed the latter was making it up. But now she was so embarrassed that she couldn’t look at them.

 

If it was someone else, it would have been fine. But the other person was a mere concubine!

 

But this Zuo XiuYan was able to bow, submit or stand tall. Watching everyone compliment Gu Sui’er, she took a deep breath, and put on a gentle smile to praise her along: “Sui’er is really talented. To not even know this is really ignorant on my part.”

 

Gu Sui’er didn’t expect to be praised by Zuo XiuYan so much. She hurriedly said, “Zuo girl, I just happened to get lucky. This is all I know of.”

 

Xiao Jin asked: “Sui’er, this collection of poems is so obscure. Moreover, all it describes are glinting blades of swords as those are wielded. Do you actually like it?”

 

Gu Sui’er explained: “The third Young Master taught me all this. Although I don’t really like it, he insists on improving my literacy skills. So every night before going to bed, he will do random checks to assess my knowledge and if I can’t recall it properly, I feel guilty. As a result, no matter what I have to do, I can only take out some time for studying.”

 

She was just explaining this matter, but in their ears, the situation had turned ambiguous and cozy.

 

In the silence of the night with lingering smoke of incense and dimmed light of a candle, the cold and cheerless third Young Master embraced his little concubine to evaluate her proficiency…

 

Most importantly, the setting was so charming and gentle.

 

The two Young Madams pursed their lips and smiled without saying a word.

 

They were happily married women sharing a good relationship with their husbands, so they were naturally aware of its appeal.

 

Not realizing this, Xiao Jin simply snorted: “Third brother really likes you, he has never taught me!”

 

Zuo XiuYan’s gaze swept Gu Sui’er lightly. She noticed her beautiful face and slender physique that was not at all bloated like any other woman who had just given birth to a child.

 

Merely a concubine ah.

 

Heard that she came from the countryside and was illiterate.

 

But such a concubine actually accompanied Xiao Heng every day and night!

 

And Xiao Heng even taught this little rural concubine to read and write?

 

She, the gifted young lady of the Zuo family of the dignified Duke AnGuo residence, had been defeated by that illiterate concubine!

 

Zuo XiuYan pinched her palm so hard that it almost bled.

 

Back at TingZhu Courtyard in the evening, when Gu Sui’er recalled this, she was a little worried that she might have irked Zuo XiuYan. However, for some reason, she also felt a little glad.

 

She was startled when she realized this.

 

Most probably, Zuo girl got very angry today because she didn’t speak much afterward. Playing a while more, she also went back with Xiao Jin so everyone just disbanded.

 

And she was still feeling glad inwardly?

 

Gu Sui’er was terrified; she suppressed these thoughts and simply went to ask Nanny An.

 

Nanny An had naturally heard about this whole matter from GuiZhi beforehand. She frowned and shook her head: “Young Mistress, it has already happened. You cannot do anything about it now. If GuiZhi hadn’t brought over that collection to prove your innocence, it is possible that everyone would have thought that you were deceiving them. Hence, she cannot be blamed for being meddlesome. If someone should really be blamed, it can only be Zuo girl for not knowing how to admit defeat. It’s just a cup of wine, what’s the big deal in drinking it? Why be so serious when you’re playing a game?”

 

If she was not serious, no one would look for her faults. But since she was serious, she was simply inviting trouble!

 

Gu Sui’er thought about it. These words seemed plausible.

 

Just, this matter made Zuo girl lose face. And her losing face was the same as Xiao Heng losing face, so this matter should not be done again.

 

“I should not casually join them in this game in the future. That way, I don’t have to worry about causing trouble to anyone.”

 

“That’s right, if you don’t join in, you won’t have to worry so much.”

 

Just at this moment, little Ah Chen woke up so Gu Sui’er didn’t have the spare time to think about it anymore.

 

When Xiao Heng returned in the evening, she attended to him while dinner and sometimes talked about the things that happened during the daytime. Xiao Heng was somewhat interested, so he asked her in detail.

 

“I played feihualing with the two Young Madams and the misses for a while. But Ah Chen cannot be without me for a long time, so I came back.” Gu Sui’er vaguely explained.

 

However, Xiao Heng was quite interested: “Feihualing? How did you do? Did you remember the poems I had taught you before?”

 

Gu Sui’er had to say: “I remember. I got a few right, but ultimately, I don’t know much. So I’ve been penalized a few times too. I can’t drink now, so we decided to substitute the wine with tea. I drank several cups of tea.”

 

Xiao Heng: “Apart from you, did anyone else get punished?”

 

Gu Sui’er’s words were vague again: “A few times, yes. There are times when even a tiger dozes off. No one can be correct every time.”

 

Xiao Heng raised his eyebrows: “What are you hiding from me?”

 

He now understood Gu Sui’er very well. When she kept avoiding his gaze, it was clear that there was something fishy.

 

Gu Sui’er raised her eyes and looked over, only to feel that his profound eyes seemed to see through her.

 

She had no choice but to bow her head and truthfully explain what happened.

 

“I made Zuo girl lose face today.” She was rather helpless: “I don’t know if she will be angry with me. I’ll try to do something to make her feel better tomorrow.”

 

She added again after thinking for a while, “Although I don’t know much about Zuo girl’s literary prowess, I think she ought to be excellent based on how much the eldest Young Miss praises her. Perhaps her train of thoughts was disrupted because of me just before her turn?”

 

Seeing her confused and worried little face, Xiao Heng felt helpless and distressed for a while. After that, he grabbed her, turned over, and pressed her down.

 

Him over her, her under him.

 

He fixed her to the place firmly by using his lower limbs and focused on commencing the act.

 

She looked at him in astonishment, not understanding how he began it when he was just talking to her so properly.

 

He lowered his head, took a bite of the tender tofu-like skin, and said sullenly in a hoarse voice, “It’s just feihualing. You don’t need to take this trivial to heart. If anyone really gets upset due to this, it’s a person with a small belly and chicken guts1Small belly and chicken guts [小肚鸡肠] – It is an idiom used to refer to a narrow-minded or petty person.. How can you be suitable for being my main wife?”

 

Gu Sui’er suppressed a sigh of relief, feeling that this really made sense.

 

……

 

After a long time, the man, with several beads of sweat on his chest, got off the bed wearing only a pair of white silk trousers and grabbed two poetry books. Then, he went back to the bed and lay down beside Gu Sui’er.

 

“You should memorize these books when you have nothing to do.”

 

“Ah?”

 

“The next time you play feihualing, you are not allowed to drink the penalty wine even once.”

 

“Ah!”

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1Small belly and chicken guts [小肚鸡肠] – It is an idiom used to refer to a narrow-minded or petty person.