Hearing movement from the inner chamber, Lan Tingzhou looked up to see Gan Cai’er wearing his oversized outer robe, scrambling under the bed on all fours. Her fair, jade-like feet were pushing hard against the floor.
Lan Tingzhou’s throat tightened slightly. He lowered his gaze to compose himself, then called out, “Mother, please wait a moment.”
Only after confirming that Gan Cai’er was completely hidden did he rise to open the door and welcome his mother inside.
“It’s so late, Mother. What brings you here?” Lan Tingzhou respectfully supported his mother as she entered.
“Seeing the light still on in your study, I thought you were awake, so I prepared some white fungus and lotus seed soup for you.” As she spoke, Lan Mother placed the bowl in her hand on the table. “Studying is important, but you must also take care of your health.”
After saying this, Lan Mother’s gaze drifted subtly toward the inner chamber.
Lan Tingzhou’s study was not large and was furnished simply, divided into inner and outer chambers only by a rosewood screen.
The outer chamber was for studying, the inner for resting.
It was a small space, and the screen was not very tall—a single glance could reveal everything inside.
Lan Tingzhou silently bowed his head. It seemed that news of Gan Cai’er coming to the study had already reached his mother’s ears.
It was no wonder Gan Cai’er feared Lan Mother—she was indeed very strict. She demanded that every word and action of the Lan family adhere strictly to the rules.
Thus, she disapproved of Gan Cai’er’s seductive demeanor and often harshly criticized her for seducing Lan Tingzhou, showing little regard for this daughter-in-law.
If she were to catch him and Gan Cai’er in the study after intimacy… Lan Tingzhou fell silent at the thought, unable to imagine the consequences.
Gan Cai’er knew the consequences well.
In her previous life, she had not hidden but instead deliberately emerged wearing Lan Tingzhou’s outer robe to greet Lan Mother, with traces of their intimacy faintly visible.
Lan Mother was so furious that she demanded family discipline for Lan Tingzhou! How could Gan Cai’er allow that? She shielded Lan Tingzhou, hands on her hips, arrogantly pointing at the servants and declaring, “I’d like to see who dares!”
Except for Zhang Li and Nanny Zhong, all the Lan family servants had been purchased with Gan Cai’er’s money. If she forbade anyone from touching Lan Tingzhou, no one dared to disobey.
Seeing that everyone obeyed her and ignored Lan Mother, Gan Cai’er lifted her chin, triumphantly provoking Lan Mother.
Overwhelmed with rage, Lan Mother fainted on the spot.
In the end, Lan Tingzhou knelt by his mother’s sickbed, requested family discipline himself, and had Zhang Li administer fifteen strokes with a rod.
After that, Lan Tingzhou ignored Gan Cai’er for a long time, not even stepping into her Moyi Courtyard on the designated first and fifteenth days of the month.
Recalling the farce of her previous life, Gan Cai’er sighed softly from under the bed.
In truth, Lan Mother was merely rigid, not a bad person, and had never truly made things difficult for her. She simply disliked Gan Cai’er’s obsessive clinging to Lan Tingzhou and feared it would distract him from his studies.
In her previous life, Gan Cai’er had resented Lan Mother deeply, feeling she was constantly critical, and often defied and disrespected her, opposing her at every turn.
It was only after entering the Weiguo Duke’s Mansion and enduring relentless torment in its deep courtyards, nearly losing her life several times, that she learned what true malice was.
She could only blame her youthful lack of experience.
In this life, she restrained her willfulness, deliberately avoided conflict, and held her breath while hiding under the bed. Surely, this wouldn’t cause Lan Mother to take to her bed for half a month again?
Lan Mother’s visit to the study meant she naturally knew what had happened. Though Gan Cai’er hid to avoid confrontation, Lan Mother still allowed them some dignity, but the necessary admonishment had to be given.
“Tingzhou, you will be taking the examination next spring. Have you chosen an Academy?”
“Mother, I have already discussed it with Teacher Yang. Next month, I will attend the Qizhi Academy in town.”
“An Academy in town?” Mother Lan frowned.
“Yes.”
“Foolish!” Mother Lan slapped the table with a sharp crack.
“Do you know what you are doing?!” Mother Lan scolded.
“Do you know how important a guarantor is? How important the reputation of an Academy is? The most learned teacher in Qingshui Town is merely a Xiucai!”
“Because of your father, you have already been delayed for eleven years. Do you want to delay further?! You, you… you will be the death of me!!”
Mother Lan grew more agitated as she spoke. By the end, she clutched her chest, seemingly on the verge of losing her breath.
It was no wonder Mother Lan was angry. Lan Tingzhou’s opportunity to take the examination had come with great difficulty and could not afford any mishaps.
Lan Tingzhou had studied diligently since childhood and was once hailed as a prodigy. Yet now, past eighteen, he was not even a Tongsheng. This was entirely due to his father’s misfortune.
The Lan family were not originally from Qingshui Town but had moved there from Jingdu six years ago. Lan Tingzhou’s father had been a Censor in the court, but due to his integrity and refusal to compromise, he was targeted by the faction of the Second Prince, falsely accused, imprisoned, and ultimately died tragically in prison. The Lan family was also confiscated and stripped of all possessions.
According to the laws of Da Yong, descendants of convicted officials were prohibited from participating in the imperial examinations.
Thus, Lan Tingzhou had been barred from the examinations. It was only after the Qingfeng Emperor passed away and the Jing He Emperor ascended the throne that a general amnesty was declared. Lan Tingzhou’s father was among those pardoned, finally removing the status of “son of a convicted official” from Lan Tingzhou and allowing him to take the examinations.
This delay spanned eleven years in total. After next year’s County Examination, there would be the Prefectural Examination, followed by the Academy Examination, Provincial Examination, Metropolitan Examination, and Palace Examination… Therefore, Lan Tingzhou could no longer afford any further delays.
Lan Tingzhou knelt before his mother.
“Your son is unfilial.”
“Was it your wife who urged you to do this?”
Hearing Mother Lan’s stern voice, Gan Cai’er, who was hiding under the bed, pursed her lips. It was not her urging but her threat.
In her previous life, she had been shortsighted and foolish, nearly destroying Lan Tingzhou’s path to the imperial examinations for her own selfish reasons.
Da Yong had a regulation: all candidates taking the imperial examinations must be enrolled in an Academy and have two guarantors. Usually, the Academy’s teachers could serve as guarantors. Therefore, anyone wishing to take the examinations had to first enter an Academy.
Attending an Academy required tuition fees. The Academy in Qinghe Town cost five taels of silver per year, while the one in Zhushan County cost twenty taels. If one went to the prefectural capital, it was even more expensive.
And the Lan family had a hereditary lack of money.
Lan Tingzhou’s father had been upright and honest as an official, never willing to taint himself with the smell of money. When the family was confiscated, the total value of all gold, silver, and valuables seized from the Lan household amounted to only two hundred taels. Even the Ministry of Justice officials conducting the confiscation could not bear to look.
Lan Tingzhou had no money, but Gan Cai’er did.
However, in her previous life, Gan Cai’er did not want Lan Tingzhou to study. She had heard many stories from the town’s storytellers about talented scholars who, after achieving success, married noble ladies or princesses. Subconsciously, she believed that once Lan Tingzhou succeeded, he would surely be taken away by other women.
Thus, in her previous life, Gan Cai’er had placed countless obstacles in Lan Tingzhou’s path to studying, even threatening to cut off funds for Mother Lan’s medicine. But she underestimated Lan Tingzhou’s determination to overcome all difficulties for the sake of his studies.
It was only after Lan Tingzhou went hunting in the deep mountains and nearly lost his life to a Xiong Xiazi that Gan Cai’er finally relented.
In the end, the two reached a compromise: Gan Cai’er agreed to let Lan Tingzhou attend the Academy, and Lan Tingzhou promised not to leave Qingshui Town.
Now, hiding under the bed, Gan Cai’er wished she could slap her past self hard and kick herself a few times!
Faced with Lan’s mother’s questioning, Lan Tingzhou’s silence was the best answer.
No one knows a son better than his mother. Seeing her son like this, Lan’s mother understood everything.
Lan’s mother closed her eyes. “It’s all my fault for holding you back.”
“The County Examination is just an exam. It makes no difference which Academy I study at. Staying in Qingshui Town also allows me to take care of the family. It’s not necessarily a bad thing,” Lan Tingzhou comforted his mother.
Lan’s mother sighed deeply. “She is not the right match for you.”
Lan Tingzhou remained silent for a long time before slowly saying, “I know, but she has done our Lan family a great favor.”
These words felt like a slap, striking Gan Cai’er hard across the face.
Indeed, Lan Tingzhou had never liked her!
Although she had long known this, hearing Lan Tingzhou say it himself, even after being reborn, still made Gan Cai’er feel heartbroken, as if a knife were piercing her heart.
She truly liked Lan Tingzhou, but she also truly wasn’t worthy of him.
Lan Tingzhou was a gentleman, as pure and bright as the moon. The one who deserved to stand by his side should be someone like Shen Yunxi—gentle, elegant, and noble, a true lady from a distinguished family, a talented woman renowned throughout Jingdu.
A wave of indescribable bitterness surged in her heart. Gan Cai’er bit her wrist hard, and a tear slid down her cheek.