The Good Concubine of the Qing Dynasty [Red Mansion]

Yun Shuyao received a reply letter from her mother’s family, saying that they were all fine. The doctor said the situation of her father’s injury was optimistic, and her two younger brothers had become calmer and more sensible… Yun Shuyao felt relieved and practiced calligraphy on paper, stroke by stroke.

Except for the wedding night, Lin Ruhai never came again. But that didn’t mean anything, because after he gave the jewelry to her and Jia Min, he became busy and lived in the outer study room and never went into the backyard. Aunt Mei was very upset about this.

She had discovered everything and had made a lot of preparations, but the master was not available, and all her preparations came to a standstill.

The master was busy, so Jia Min was busy preparing delicious food for him in the study and had no time to do anything else. Yun Shuyao had plenty of time, and she had figured out what she wanted to do.

In addition to practicing and needlework, she planned to practice her weak handwriting.

Calligraphy is a specialty of hers, and she didn’t know how to do it before.

After coming here, she learned how to do it with the memories of the original owner. However, the original owner did not take it seriously. She could read and write, but her handwriting was not very good because she had little practice. It could only be said that it was barely neat.

Now she has plenty of time, and practicing cultivation and needlework are things she must do, so practicing calligraphy is just a hobby.

She also taught Hongxiu and the other three to read.

There is no harm in learning to read.

When she wrote their three names on a piece of paper for the first time and gave it to them, Yun Shuyao saw that the youngest girl, Hong Tao, had tears in her eyes: “Is this Hong Tao’s name? So this is my name. Thank you, Auntie. I will definitely learn it!”

On this day, she was practicing calligraphy. She was so engrossed that when she finished a page, she looked up and suddenly saw someone at the door, which scared her.

She didn’t even notice it at such a close distance.

In times of peace, her vigilance dropped.

The person who came was Lin Ruhai.

“Master, have you been here for a long time?”
Then she looked at Hongxiu: “Hongxiu, why didn’t you call me?”

Lin Ruhai waved his hand: “I told her not to disturb you.”
He walked closer to look at the words Yun Shuyao had written.

The handwriting is average, but you can tell from the words that she wrote it very seriously.

This attitude is worthy of recognition.

As for what she practiced, it was very simple—the most basic Three Character Classic.

Hongxiu was able to move now and immediately prepared to make tea for the master, but the tea from Lanxinyuan was not very good. Yun Shuyao asked Lin Yunhai, “Master, would you like to try some scented tea? It’s made from chrysanthemums that my mother specially picked and dried.”

Lin Ruhai, who was used to drinking good tea, would probably put the tea aside if he didn’t want to drink it. But it was different with the scented tea, which was not that bad and could be tasted fresh.

Lin Ruhai knew without thinking that there was no good tea in Lanxinyuan. He didn’t want to drink it either, so he nodded, and Hongxiu went to prepare it immediately.

Lin Ruhai: “What kind of calligraphy are you practicing?”

Yun Shuyao: “I don’t have a copybook; I just want to write more neatly.”

It wasn’t in her dowry, and she didn’t want to buy it.

She looked at Lin Ruhai with her bright eyes: “I heard that the master’s calligraphy is very good. I wonder if the master can give me some of his old writings?”

Lin Ruhai was in third place in the imperial examination, so his calligraphy was absolutely excellent.

There is also a saying at this time that seeing the handwriting is like seeing the person.

If your handwriting is not good during the exam, the examiner may not be in the mood to continue reading, so every candidate should practice good handwriting.

Instead of spending money to buy calligraphy works that are not good enough, it is better to ask Lin Tanhua for his calligraphy directly.

Lin Ruhai raised his eyebrows slightly, and a smile appeared on his bright face: “Who said that?”

Yun Shuyao: “My brother said so.”

Lin Ruhai did not comment, “I’ll have someone send it to you later.”

Yun Shuyao smiled and bowed: “Thank you, Master.”

The scented tea is ready.

Lin Ruhai took a sip. It is sweet. Lightly sweet.

There is also the scent of flowers.

Lin Ruhai, let it go.

It is indeed something that women would like.

Yun Shuyao thought about it and took the initiative to bring up the topic: “Have you finished the things that Master was busy with before?”

He could get back to the mansion before dark today, so he wasn’t busy now.

Before, when he came back, he would go directly to the study to rest and would not go to the backyard.

Lin Ruhai’s gaze stayed on Yun Shuyao for a moment but then moved away.

Yun Shuyao noticed it.

Does this reaction have anything to do with her?

Yun Shuyao quickly thought of a person, Wu Peng.

The smile on her face deepened: “Master, what do you want to eat tonight? I’ll have someone go to the kitchen and tell them.”

Lin Ruhai is a capable man.

Yun Shuyao didn’t know what kind of official he was; she only knew that he was a high-ranking official. If he could be a high-ranking official, then his abilities must be good.

He had not been in office as the prefect of Xingtai Prefecture for long, and the previous prefect was said to be mediocre. As long as nothing serious happened, he would just indulge himself in drunkenness and debauchery.

Now that Lin Ruhai is in office, will he continue his predecessor’s style?

Especially when there are people like Wu Peng who are almost blatantly arrogant under his rule.

Yun Shuyao said she was looking forward to it.

When Lin Ruhai saw the way her eyes sparkled when she mentioned food and remembered her huge appetite on the wedding night, his smile deepened, which made Yun Shuyao stunned.

There are many modern celebrities with various styles, but this one, even with a hairstyle that is very challenging for appearance in the Qing Dynasty, is always one of the best among all the shining stars.

Sure enough, handsome guys are the most handsome, even with shaved heads.

Lin Ruhai sat down happily: “What do you want to eat?”

To say that he doesn’t care about food and drink… that’s absolutely false.

If he didn’t care about food, he wouldn’t have brought the two cooks he was used to.

Yun Shuyao rolled her eyes and said, “I heard that Chef Miao is good at making pastries, and Chef Fang is good at making Gusu cuisine.”

Lin Ruhai looked at her deeply and asked, “Are you like this in the Yun family too?”

A lady was so happy talking about eating. Is it because the Yun family raises their daughter differently from other families?

Yun Shuyao was very frank: “I mostly cook home-cooked meals at home. My mother is a good cook. Home-cooked meals made by her are also delicious. I love them.”

She has a very diverse taste, and as long as it is cooked well, she likes to eat it.

Whether it’s sweet, salty, spicy, or light, she can do it.

Especially after going through the apocalypse, being able to eat enough makes her feel very happy.

Yun Shuyao ordered a few dishes that were not in her portion, and by the time Hongxiu and Hongyi brought the dishes to the table, the table was full.

There are a lot of hard dishes.

For example, there are various dishes with nice names, such as braised pork, roast chicken, steamed pork, squab, etc.

Yun Shuyao really likes the steamed pork with rice flour dish.

It is very smooth; the surface melts in your mouth, and when you bite into it, the inside is elastic and juicy. She couldn’t stop eating, piece after piece.

Don’t talk while eating, and don’t talk while sleeping.

But just by looking at Yun’s expression, Lin Ruhai seemed to hear her saying “delicious, delicious” over and over again.

Her dining manners were not ugly, and it was obvious that she had learned the etiquette. Her dining speed was not very fast, which would not make people think of a hungry person pouncing on his food like a hungry tiger. However, the final result… could indeed be described as a hungry tiger pouncing on its food.

Lin Ruhai ate too much without realizing it.

When he put down his chopsticks, Yun also put down his chopsticks. At this time, the table was basically empty, most of which was solved by Yun.

Lin Ruhai: “…”

Dining with Yun is always such a novel experience.

No matter how many times he saw it, Lin Ruhai felt it was a miracle that Yun’s flat belly could eat all the food.

Yun Shuyao drank the last mouthful of soup with satisfaction: “Take a walk after dinner and live to be ninety-nine. Master, shall we go for a walk?”

Lin Ruhai immediately stood up and silently expressed his agreement.

The two of them were walking in the Lanxin Courtyard. While walking in circles, Yun Shuyao saw how knowledgeable the scholar who had won the imperial examination was.

There was no flower or plant planted in Lanxin Courtyard that he didn’t recognize.

Yun Shuyao knew only a limited number of species of flowers and plants, but after his introduction, she took note of most of them.

When Lin Ruhai saw the same variety again, he was about to say something, but he heard Yun continue. He became curious and pointed to several orchids in succession, “Do you remember these?”

“This is a Cymbidium orchid, with long, slender leaves and large petals in a variety of colors when it blooms.”

“This is Hanlan…”

“This is Molan…”

Lin Ruhai couldn’t help but look sideways.

Yun’s memory is pretty good.

He just said it once, and she remembered it all.

Yun Shuyao: “Master, I heard that these orchids were collected by the previous owner?”

Lin Ruhai nodded.

The Lin Mansion was not an official residence but a house of a wealthy businessman that Lin Ruhai had someone buy in advance.

This wealthy businessman had the title of scholar, and if he had not suffered an injury to his face, he would have planned to continue taking the imperial examinations. He was a person who loved poetry and books, and his family was not short of money, so he put a lot of thought into decorating his home into what it is today.

Lin Ruhai was very satisfied when he came here for the first time.

“You may have heard that his family runs a grain store, Pan’s Grain Store.”

Yun Shuyao had actually heard of it before: “There is a Pan’s near the Yun family. My mother usually goes to Pan’s when she buys grain. The price is more fair, the grain quality is better, and there is less stale grain.”

They chatted, walked around while digesting their food, and returned to their room. It was natural for Lin Ruhai to stay that night.

Compared to the first time, today’s experience was much better, and Yun Shuyao also dared to “boldly” respond proactively.

Lin Ruhai was satisfied, and Yun Shuyao was also satisfied.

Everyone is happy.

The next day, when she went to Jia Min to pay her respects, Jia Min took a closer look at Yun Shuyao.

The master has been busy these days, and as soon as he came back, he went to Lanxin Courtyard… Well, it had not been long since Yun came in, so it was time for him to get someone new.

She suppressed the bitterness in her heart and still looked like the principal wife, who treated her concubine with dignity.

Aunt Mei was much more explicit, and Yun Shuyao noticed several sour rolls of her eyes.

Jia Min did not make things difficult. As soon as they left the Bitao Courtyard, Aunt Mei just waved her sleeves and left. Not long after they returned to the Lanxin Courtyard, the servant beside Lin Ruhai came over with a box.

There is a book of regular script selected by Lin Ruhai in it.

Yun Shuyao also practiced regular script.

But compared to her regular script, which can only be considered barely neat, Lin Ruhai’s regular script is different.

Yun Shuyao doesn’t know how to appreciate it, but she can use the most intuitive description: beautiful and neat, like flowing clouds and running water.

Looking at these words makes her feel happier.

In addition to this copybook, Lin Ruhai also had someone send a can of tea, a set of tea sets, and a set of four treasures from the study.

At the bottom, there is a cookbook.

When Yun Shuyao saw this cookbook: ???

Did he have some misunderstandings about her?

It’s true that she loves to eat, but her cooking skills are limited…

Hongyi looked at these things and came up with a red face: “Aunt, this time the master only sent things to our courtyard!”

The pride in her words was palpable.

Yun Shuyao paused after hearing this.

It seems like she’s going to be in the spotlight this time.

The main courtyard should be okay, but the situation at her colleague’s Meixiangyuan is probably going to be very exciting.

That day, Lin Ruhai went to Bitaoyuan.

The next day, he came to Lanxinyuan again, checked Yun Shuyao’s calligraphy “homework”, enjoyed a delicious meal together, and gave her two more books.

Then, two days later, when he returned to the backyard, Lin Ruhai went to the Bitao Courtyard again. He almost took turns between the two places and had nothing to do with the Meixiang Courtyard.

When she went to pay her respects, Yun Shuyao discovered that her colleague’s eyes had turned red.

Jia Min’s eyes changed a little as she looked at her.

Now the two are evenly matched in terms of the number of hits.

Meixiangyuan has nothing to do with it.

This is something that has never happened since Aunt Mei came into the family.

The master did not go to Meixiangyuan very often. He was not a man of great desires. To be honest, he might have spent more days in the outer study in a month.

But after entering the backyard, before Yun came in, the master came to her place the most often, and he went to Meixiangyuan at most five times a month.

When Aunt Mei first came in, Jia Min was indeed worried for a while because of her appearance, but after observing her for a while, she felt much more at ease. The master did not like her very much.

This can be seen from the number of times.

But now that Yun has come in, things are different. She can actually compete with her!

And he keeps sending her things!

Nanny Qian gave Jia Min an idea: “Madam, why don’t we let that vixen Yun know what the rules are.” She felt greatly humiliated. She really had made a mistake. It turned out that Yun was the real vixen!

Jia Min fell silent for a long time, then shook her head and said, “It’s only been a short time since Yun came in; don’t panic.”

The master just wanted to have something new, and he came to her place quite often. If she stopped him, the old lady would definitely be unhappy.

She only wanted her aunt to give birth to children for the master, so she would never be happy for the master to come to her all the time.

“Has the wandering Doctor Chang been found?”

Madam Qian lowered her head and said, “We already know where he stayed some time ago. It should be soon.”

Jia Min touched her belly and said, “As soon as possible.”

The master’s momentary interest will not have any impact. After all, he still needs to have an heir!

Regardless of whether it is a boy or a girl, please give me one, Goddess of Childbirth. When I get what I want, I will build a golden statue for you!”

Aunt Mei also understands what is most important.

She was so angry with the vixen in Lanxinyuan.

It may seem inconspicuous at first, but it is actually a sign of weakness for the enemy, causing her to become careless!

However, she knew what she had to do, most importantly.

Aunt Mei thought for a long time in bed and finally asked someone to tell her parents’ home to prepare the medicine.

The master often goes to Lanxinyuan. If the first prize is taken away by them, it will be too late to give birth to the eldest grandson of the Lin family.

She must give birth to a son first, and she would accept it even if it meant paying a small price!