cold clothes

When Leng Yi returned to her room and still couldn't find Xia Hua, she felt a little relieved. Although she wasn't afraid of confrontation, she was exhausted after a long day. After soaking her feet for a while, she fell into a deep sleep under Ling Cao's skilled massage.

"Miss, Miss, wake up."

"I just fell asleep, why do I have to get up again..." Leng Yi mumbled sleepily.

"..." Bellflower was almost in tears. The four young ladies had gotten up early, while their own young lady was still lazing in bed. It would be terrible if the nannies found out.

"Miss... Miss Ningbi... Little Ningbi... Get up quickly..." Under Lingcao's desperate pleas, Lengyi finally regained consciousness. Upon waking, Lengyi suddenly sprang up on the bed, the violent movement pulling on her sore muscles and causing intense pain.

"Ouch, ouch, ouch, ouch..." Leng Yi wailed.

"If I hadn't massaged you last night, it would have hurt even more. Miss, please bear with it. It always hurts like this at first. You'll get used to it."

I really don't want to get used to this...

After washing up, I went outside and glanced at the sky. I saw that the sky was just beginning to lighten, and the pale moon and sun were both in the deep purple sky, a scene of day and night alternation.

If she hadn't traveled through time, she probably would never have seen such a beautiful night sky in her entire modern life; it was far more beautiful than the artificial neon lights of the city.

But even an era with such beautiful scenery was not people's ideal world. Thinking of this, Leng Yi's expression darkened, and to stop herself from thinking about it, she quickly went downstairs.

After finishing breakfast, Leng Yi felt lost. It wasn't time for morning classes yet, and she really didn't know what to do. Suddenly, she heard the sound of a zither coming from the corridor on her right. Leng Yi followed the sound and saw Nong Yue playing the zither.

For a moment, the place where the four of them were together seemed to be the same as Nongyue's alone (Lingcao and Nongyue's maid Qingluan were always there). Lengyi listened silently and found that Nongyue was playing the same piece that Yunqiu had played yesterday, but it sounded a little less charming and more aloof than Yunqiu's.

After finishing her piece, Nongyue glanced at the motionless Lengyi, a reserved smile playing on her lips, and asked, "What are your thoughts on my piece?"

Leng Yi paused for a moment before realizing Nong Yue was joking, then gave a wry smile and said, "What brilliant idea do I have..." Then she asked, "Are we having a music lesson today?"

"Music? Hmm, it is indeed music and instrument lessons. The instruments I am good at are the qin and zheng. Ningbi, have you thought about which instrument you want to learn?"

"Uh, I don't know."

"Then let me introduce you to the instruments in the instrumental room." Nongyue took Lengyi's hand and walked into the instrumental room, starting with the vertical flute and horizontal xiao on the outer wall, followed by the pipa, ruan, and large instruments such as the yangqin and konghou, and even small instruments like the xun... Lengyi had heard of some of them, but had never heard of others.

Nongyue spoke very patiently and meticulously, genuinely wanting to teach Lengyi, but Lengyi felt a little apologetic because she knew nothing about vocal music and had no particular interest in it.

Nongyue was always so perceptive. She noticed that Lengyi was losing interest, so she stopped talking, her ink-black eyebrows furrowing slightly, revealing a hint of heroic spirit.

"Ningbi, which musical instrument are you interested in?"

Leng Yi frankly admitted that she didn't know, feeling that she had let Nong Yue down. She apologized, saying, "I'm sorry, I've never been exposed to musical instruments before, and I don't know how to choose one."

"It's alright." Hearing Leng Yi's apology, Nong Yue's expression softened, and then she said with a smile, "Why don't you learn the guzheng with me? We can play together in the future!"

“Okay,” Leng Yi readily agreed.

So the two girls happily began playing the piano. Lengyi was someone who easily trusted those she met; perhaps she was naturally naive, even after experiencing betrayal several times, she was still willing to believe others. Therefore, she quickly developed feelings for Yunmei and Lingcao, and now she felt the same way about Nongyue. She thought Nongyue was a very kind girl, easy to get along with and willing to help her, just like Yunmei. Sometimes she wondered why gentle and elegant women like Yunmei and Nongyue were prostitutes. And the girls Lengyi had seen at Fengxiang Pavilion were either bright and beautiful or delicate and lovely. They would get up early to practice dancing and singing, and in their spare time, they would gather to play cards and embroider. They were all so vibrant; flowers should bloom in the spring sunshine, not be caged canaries. They shouldn't have been born so lowly.

Before they knew it, it was time for class. This morning was calligraphy class. Nongyue and the others had to copy the article they learned yesterday twenty times. Lengyi, who was new to the school, was fortunate enough to receive one-on-one tutoring from the nanny, starting with the simplest character "一" (one).

Leng Yi confidently wrote the character "一" (one). As a top student who had received fifteen years of education, writing a "一" was a piece of cake, wasn't it? But look at her swift and powerful strokes—oh dear, the tip of her brush has split open.

The old woman's face was not good at all. She said in a deep voice, "Hold the pen upright, keep your wrist steady, and place the pen evenly."

"Don't let your hands shake!"

"Don't write crookedly!"

"...Your wrists are weak, so just hold them up like that all morning." After a quarter of an hour, the nanny completely lost patience with Leng Yi and made her hold the correct writing posture for the whole morning, while she sat comfortably on the bamboo couch to the side.

Seeing Leng Yi being scolded, Wei Feng laughed gleefully, as if she had won by seeing Leng Yi humiliated. Xia Hua's proud little face also smiled, but rather than gloating, she felt less hostile and more at peace towards Leng Yi because the threat level had decreased, and her tense nerves relaxed slightly. But when she finished copying the poem and looked at Leng Yi again, alarm bells rang in her heart.

Leng Yi remained silent and persistent.

The rules of Zhuoyu Pavilion are strict. If the nanny says Lengyi has to hold a pen for a whole morning, then it's for the whole morning. If Lengyi lowers her hand even slightly or relaxes her back, she'll get a beating with a ruler. Lengyi has already been beaten two or three times, but even so, she doesn't utter a sound. Gradually, if she relaxes her guard, she'll correct herself. Xia Hua dares not say she can match such willpower.

Large beads of cold sweat gradually seeped from Leng Yi's forehead. The world slowly blurred, and even the pain in her right arm went numb. The only thing she could clearly perceive was her own labored breathing. At times like this, an unknown stubbornness would rise from within her to support her. She would never give up easily, nor would she admit defeat.

At first, the nanny watched coldly, but gradually she became restless. It seemed to be the first time she had seen such a patient child. If it were a child crying loudly, she would definitely make them write all morning. But Leng Yi was terribly silent. Finally, when she saw that Leng Yi was trembling uncontrollably, she quickly shouted, "Enough, put down the pen."

The cold clothes were ignored.

The old woman thought she was about to faint and hadn't heard her clearly, so she repeated herself. But unexpectedly, Leng Yi said something almost inaudibly.

"What did you say?"

"I'm telling you, who do you think you are, to be told to lift something and put it down just like that?"