Master Xu brought back the sobbing Yuan Ge’er, who was gasping for breath.
Upon seeing her son, Li Niang was greatly alarmed. After hearing the whole story, she keenly sensed Xu Lang’s impatience, which left her feeling flustered and anxious.
Her son was her anchor to secure a foothold in the Xu family, yet he was deeply disliked by all the Xus except his own father.
With a phoenix-like legitimate older brother like Yue Ge’er standing ahead, if this continued, not only would they struggle to secure a place in the Xu family, but being driven out was also a real possibility.
Her mind racing, Li Niang coaxed Master Xu with all her wiles, then gathered several valuable items to distribute throughout the Xu household.
Being clever and willing to spend generously, she gifted the second branch with a gold Buddha statue, weighing a full five taels—no small fortune.
When it reached the hands of Li Shi from the second branch, it indeed brought smiles and repeated praises for Li Niang’s propriety and understanding of etiquette.
Li Niang humbled herself, skillfully flattering and using every trick in the book to grasp the situation within the Xu family.
But the more she understood, the more tricky she found it!
Yue Ge’er, as the eldest legitimate grandson, held an innate status.
Raised personally by Landlord Xu since childhood, he was treasured like a pearl—this meant he had the elders’ affection.
Gifted and exceptionally clever from a young age, he was taken under the wing of a Jinshi and highly regarded—this meant he had talent and capability.
Facing such an opponent, even if he was only three years old, as a powerless woman in the inner quarters, Li Niang felt that despite having countless tricks up her sleeve, she couldn’t find a way to act immediately.
Burdened with worries, Li Niang forced herself to deliver gifts of hairpins, Xiangsheng flowers, and rouge to the young ladies.
She endured Yuan Niang’s overt and covert sarcasm and mockery for a long time, even overhearing just as she turned away:
“Miss, where should we put these things?”
“What rubbish, it’s filthy. Throw it all away so it doesn’t dirty my eyes.”
Li Niang swallowed her anger, knowing that even if she made a scene, considering Yuan Niang’s legitimate younger brother, she would be the one to suffer.
Returning to her room, she felt a throbbing pain in her chest, both sore and aching.
“My Yuan Ge’er, Tian Jie’er, why did you have to be born to me, without a single day of peace!”
Li Niang hugged her two children, glancing around the shabby room and its furnishings, tears streaming down her face.
Yuan Ge’er was too frightened to speak, while Tian Jie’er bit her lower lip, her peach-blossom eyes—so like Li Niang’s—blinking softly as she said:
“It’s all that Yue Ge’er’s fault. If he weren’t here, little brother would be Father’s only son, and I could be a daughter of the Xu family…”
Tian Jie’er’s voice grew even softer:
“If only Yue Ge’er weren’t here, Mother, little brother, all of us would be happy…”
“Enough!”
Li Niang scolded sharply, slapping her daughter hard. Seeing Tian Jie’er still defiant, she laid bare their reality to her children:
“In the Xu family, we three are the newcomers. We don’t even have a trusted servant to rely on. How can we compete against the cherished legitimate son?”
“Your father is a man. Seeing his son so accomplished, his heart has leaned mostly that way—he’s unreliable.”
“Taking action is absolutely not an option.” Li Niang’s voice choked with sobs, her words bitter as if steeped in coptis:
“Our only choice is to endure. Yuan Ge’er must be a good older brother—no, act as Yue Ge’er’s little follower, to win his favor.”
Then she looked at Tian Jie’er and felt even more like crying.
“Go and be a dear little sister to Yuan Niang. No matter how much you’re slighted, you must endure it. My good daughter, you’re not of Xu family blood, so your situation is even more difficult.”
Tian Jie’er nodded through her tears.
The three of them clung together weeping, feeling they were the most pitiful people in the world.
…
As the saying goes, walls have ears, especially since the rooms arranged by the Xu family were rather flimsy to begin with.
The words Li Niang and her children had spoken in the heat of emotion were soon reported to Landlord Xu by an alert servant.
“Just as I thought – the seed is rotten from the root, it can’t grow into anything good.”
Landlord Xu snorted coldly, his eyes narrowing in thought. After a moment’s contemplation, he summoned a servant:
“I’ve heard that wretch has been giving many gifts away. She must have some money left. That fool of an elder brother is so muddled when it comes to women, who knows how much he’s been squeezed for.”
“Money can make the devil turn the millstone. When silver falls into the hands of those with ill intentions, it will inevitably lead to trouble sooner or later.”
After this righteous condemnation from his moral high ground, Landlord Xu cheerfully ordered his trusted aide to secretly steal most of the money from Li Niang’s possession.
When Li Niang discovered the theft, it struck her like a thunderbolt. She immediately fell ill and remained bedridden for four or five days.
These private savings were what she had painstakingly accumulated for security – some given by Tian Jie’er’s biological father, some by patrons trying to win her favor, but mostly contributed by Master Xu.
Money had been Li Niang’s foundation of confidence, and now that foundation was gone.
When Xu Yue learned of this from the system, she remarked coldly:
“Truly, ‘Year after year she stitched gold thread, for the wedding dress of another!'”
…
When Xu Yue went to Teacher Feng’s home this time, no one expected her to stay for a full seven or eight days.
Nothing particularly noteworthy happened, except that one day when checking his disciples’ progress, Teacher Feng found all four had made remarkable improvements. Greatly satisfied, he set aside the books and joked:
“All my disciples are outstanding talents. With luck, we might achieve the elegant reputation of having all five teacher and disciples become Jinshi – something worth recording even in the history books.”
The praised disciples looked somewhat embarrassed.
Feng Yi had an open and humorous personality, believing in teaching students according to their aptitude. Although his prodigy disciple Xu Yue often surprised and delighted him, he would never belittle his other disciples because of this.
Instead, he noticed their incremental progress and never hesitated with daily praise.
Thanks to this, the relationship between the four disciples appeared quite good on the surface, showing genuine camaraderie.
Then Feng Yi said:
“Although we scholars aspire to the imperial examinations, we shouldn’t bury ourselves solely in books.”
“Actually, most scholars nowadays are like this – studying their whole lives, growing old while exhausting the classics, with only fame and rank engraved in their hearts, caring about nothing else. They’re like bookworms, with nothing but books in their bellies.”
Feng Yi admonished his disciples:
“But since you’ve become my disciples, I absolutely won’t allow you to follow this trend. Not to mention the Six Arts of a Gentleman, but things like music, chess, calligraphy, painting, poetry, wine, flowers, tea, stargazing, blending incense, brewing wine – all such pursuits, you should either dabble broadly or specialize in one according to your personal preference. This is how we cultivate our nature.”
The disciples nodded in agreement. Xu Yue, with her hands behind her back, asked curiously:
“Can you do all these things, Teacher Feng?”
“Of course not.”
Feng Yi replied matter-of-factly, spreading his hands in amusement:
“Your teacher here passed the Jinshi examination before turning thirty. Being successful at a young age, naturally I spent most of my time studying hard. Of these scholarly pursuits, I’ve only mastered a few.”
Xu Yue, standing nearby, smiled inwardly – “only mastered a few,” what a humblebrag.
These arts like music, chess, calligraphy and painting were all easy to learn but difficult to master.
Thus, Feng Yi began to impart his past learnings to his disciples in a simplified manner, testing each one to observe their talents and interests.
Just as Xu Yue had anticipated, although Teacher Feng claimed to be “only proficient” in playing the zither, stargazing, and gardening, he effortlessly taught other subjects as well.
Feng Yi: Somewhat versed…
After a full seven or eight days, this teaching session concluded, and each person had chosen their own interests.