I'm a humble concubine. My acting skills are off the charts. You can check my performance.

On the night that Zhao Minshan returned from Meng Yanzhen's coming-of-age ceremony, he stayed at Qingpingyuan again.

The lotus-shaped candlesticks were topped with newly replaced white wax. The eldest lady trimmed the wicks short while Zhao Minshan sat beside her reading a book.

"The eldest prince is getting old. It will be autumn at the earliest and spring at the latest. The palace will definitely hold a beauty pageant."

"Your Majesty is in the prime of life. I wonder if you will expand your harem this year."

Zhao Minshan said without even raising his eyes: "Set up Jin'er's marriage as soon as possible, and arrange Wei's marriage as well."

The eldest lady's eyebrows were wrinkled. When she thought of seeing Meng Yanzhen dressed up today, she felt reluctant and said, "I just hope Yanzhen can find a good home."

"Fang Yu knows how to work hard. When Jin Er and Wei Er get engaged, I will invite an old nanny to come back and teach them the rules."

"It's strange, Huai'er got drunk and had a fight with the second son of the Meng family in the garden. I don't know why. When I asked them, they both said it was due to drunkenness and there was no grudge between them."

Zhao Minshan didn't like to hear these trivial matters, so he interrupted her: "It's common for boys to fight and quarrel. It's not worth it. He's not a tactless boy who can beat someone's brains out."

Soon, the lights in the main courtyard went out.

The next day, the eldest lady called Zhao Fangyu over, opened the map of the mansion and said, "You are getting old, and you learned how to be a housekeeper from Jin'er. I am not worried that you can't manage well, but I am afraid that it will be too hot to move in the middle of summer."

"You come and pick them out, and once you've made your selection, set them up first, and then move in when the weather is good."

Zhao Fangyu agreed, thanked her and walked to the lady to look at the map.

There is a small courtyard near Zhao Fangjin and Zhao Fangwei, which is farther away from the eldest lady's Qingping Courtyard. Zhao Fangjin wanted this house at the beginning, but he was impatient to walk a long way every day, so he chose the Yiqi Courtyard.

Zhao Fangyu also liked that small courtyard, so he decided to stay there.

"Give it a name. The house is a bit old. Let's move in after it's renovated. Give it a new name. A new house will have a new look."

Zhao Fangyu remembered that there were many banana trees in the yard: "Let's call it... Jiaolu."

The eldest lady agreed, and arranged for Mother Cui to go to Jiaolu with her to see what needed to be purchased and arranged later.

Zhao Fangyu didn't need to worry about the renovation of the house. He looked at the empty space in the yard and said, "Mother Cui, please help me find a sweet-scented osmanthus tree to plant here."

Then she pointed out a few places where she wanted to plant cherry trees, and there were some other small matters like pruning here and cutting there, which Mother Cui wrote down one by one.

The summer passed quickly. Zhao Fangyu read books, prepared perfume and practiced embroidery during the day. In the evening, she relaxed by playing shuttlecock with Zhao Fangmo in the garden for a quarter of an hour.

The news that Zhao Fangjin wanted to see her came along with an autumn rain.

Zhao Fangjin pushed aside the pearl curtain at the door and came in. Zhao Fangyu was leaning against the window and making tea on a square table with a black lacquer carving of osmanthus and a magpie.

Zhao Fangjin sat opposite her and watched Zhao Fangyu make tea with her bare hands. There was only a tea set and a small bottle with two sparse osmanthus branches in it on the table.

There was a cool fragrance in the room, the sound of rain hitting banana leaves outside the window, and the sound of tea being ground. Zhao Fangjin's heart instantly calmed down.

Zhao Fangjin unceremoniously took the pillow that Zhao Fangyu had made for him and leaned against it. He wished he could just take a nap in such a comfortable environment.

"You can hide away."

Zhao Fangyu smiled and brought the ordered tea to Zhao Fangjin: "Big sister, what you said is really heartless. You just dragged me over to settle accounts yesterday, and you spent half a day there without even paying me a meal. Today, you came to drink my tea and rest on my soft pillow, and you still want to criticize me. It's so unfair."

Zhao Fangjin didn't answer and pretended to be asleep. Zhao Fangyu didn't pursue him. He ordered another cup of tea, sat by the window listening to the wind, and ate the osmanthus cake made in his own yard. He felt completely fulfilled.

Zhao Fangjin just felt that Zhao Fangyu was full of fairy spirit. If she were a man, she would be the first to marry a girl like her fourth sister.

She is good at playing music, chess, calligraphy and painting, and can manage the household and take care of the accounts. She can be the mistress of a large family and at the same time enjoy the romantic life.

With a face as beautiful as a lotus, she had never seen anyone who could surpass Zhao Fangyu in appearance, and he was only nine years old.

"You know, someone has taken a fancy to you."

Zhao Fangyu paused while drinking tea, and a smile appeared on the corner of his mouth. He looked at Zhao Fangjin who was sitting awkwardly with amusement: "Such a beautiful view, but elder sister keeps saying things that spoil the fun."

Zhao Fangjin sat up quickly and looked Fangyu up and down with his eyes, "Aren't you curious?"

Do not believe!

Zhao Fangyu ignored Zhao Fangjin's scanning gaze and calmly picked up another piece of osmanthus cake.

"My elder sister isn't in a hurry, so why should I? I can't be like a pork seller at the market, going to meet anyone who comes. If my mother didn't tell me, it means the time has not come yet, so I just have to wait."

Zhao Fangjin didn't get the response he wanted, and angrily pretended to pinch Zhao Fangyu's nose, but failed, so he leaned back into the soft pillow.

"I'm glad you think so. It's not that I can't bear to see you doing well. It's just that the family is too poor. I just heard it by chance. They are not a good family. They are just a small official of the sixth rank. They are old and it's not their first marriage."

Zhao Fangyu's hands trembled slightly.

It wasn't that she was afraid, she just never expected that this sixth-rank official would be so bold!

No matter how insignificant her father was, he was at least a third-rank assistant minister of the Ministry of Revenue. He was less than 40 years old, so it was no exaggeration to say that he was favored by the Emperor.

"He's so bold that he said he saw you from a distance at cousin Yan Zhen's coming-of-age party last time, and thought you were young and good-looking, so he wanted to settle you down first. He's really short-sighted, and can only see his own little piece of land."

"They don't even consider what position we hold. They think we are one of those illegitimate children. If someone comes to ask for marriage, they will marry anyone who offers a high price."

"Besides, you are registered under my mother's name, and you are the legitimate daughter if anyone tells others about it. You are a match for a sixth-rank official who is much older than him. Even a lunatic would not do such a stupid thing."

Zhao Fangyu nodded in agreement, he was really crazy.

Given their family status, even if she were a concubine, she would not marry a sixth-rank official as a concubine.

Zhao Fangjin rubbed Zhao Fangyu's hand. Her cold, white hand was delicate and white, just like the finest mutton-fat jade. "Don't worry. Mother beat her out before she could finish."

Zhao Fangyu had never been afraid, but that didn't stop her from trying to win Zhao Fangjin's favor. The room was big, so the couch next to the window was small and big, so it was no problem for two people to sit on one side.

Zhao Fangyu hugged Zhao Fangjin's waist, and almost tucked himself into her arms for warmth: "Yu'er knows that big sister loves me the most."

Zhao Fangjin smiled and pinched Zhao Fangyu's face, and the uneasiness in his heart caused by the meeting also subsided.

"This year, my grandmother is having a birthday party, and my mother wanted me to take care of it. I told her to ask you to come and help me."

Zhao Fangyu accepted Zhao Fangjin's kindness and rubbed against Zhao Fangjin's arms again, like a kitten.

"When the time comes, Sister Yan Zhen will also come. I will secretly prepare a banquet at the waterside pavilion next to you. We don't have many opportunities to see each other, and the less we see each other, the better."

Zhao Fangjin drooped his eyebrows slightly, feeling a little lost. He was thinking that once he got out of the house, he didn't know how many times he would be able to see Meng Yanzhen or even Zhao Fangyu in front of him in a year.

"Come to think of it, cousin Yan Zhen asked me to ask you what you meant by her Erlang."

Zhao Fangyu: "..." Meow meow meow? Who? Meng Yangjiang?