Colorful

Chapter 5 Filial piety to Ji Lan (1)
Among the unmarried girls in the Shen family, the eldest is the third girl, Shen Yuan. She is Uncle Zhongyi's legitimate daughter, she is sixteen this year, her marriage has been settled, and she will leave the court next year.

Shen Xian was the oldest among all the people, so she naturally assumed the responsibility of taking care of the younger sisters. She first arranged for everyone to sit down, and then introduced Su Yun and the sisters at home to Ji Cheng, a new cousin.

"This is sister Su Yun. You have met her before. She is my cousin's granddaughter. You seem to be the same age, but I don't know who is older." Shen Xian said to Ji Cheng.

Ji Cheng reported the date of his birth to Su Yun. It happened that Su Yun was only one day older than her, so one became sister Yun and the other became sister Cheng.

The fourth girl, Shen Xun, is also fifteen this year, but she is a few months younger than Su Yun and Ji Cheng. She is the daughter of Princess Anhe, and she was made the head of the county when she was born.

The sixth and seventh daughters of the Shen family have all died young.

As for the Eighth Girl, Shen Zhi is too young, she is only five years old this year, and she is not in Ruiying Hall at the moment, after she greeted her in the morning, she was taken back to the yard by the nanny to play.

After the brief introduction, for some reason, there was a sudden silence.

Su Yun smiled brightly: "Sister Yuan, when I was in Suzhou, I often heard my grandmother talk about the women's school in your house, saying that the female gentlemen you invited were the most knowledgeable in our Daqin. Now when I see all of you sisters and younger sisters, you are all full of surprises." There are poems and books, and the generation of high-spirited, people forget the vulgarity at first sight, and the rumors are indeed true."

Su Yun's compliment is on point. The Shen family is beautiful. If they are praised for their neat appearance, they are used to it. Therefore, the girls especially like others to see the connotation and content under their skin through their beauty. bring up.

And the Shen family really put in a lot of painstaking efforts in raising the girls. The girls of the Shen family have a very good reputation in the capital. Usually, there are hundreds of girls in the family asking for help. The second girl in the front is the second girl who comes to ask for marriage even though she is a concubine. The people who have stepped on the threshold are almost leveled.

Shen Yuan smiled and said: "Sister Yun praised it absurdly. The knowledge of these gentlemen is indeed profound and extensive, and their conduct is also good, but even if they come by themselves, they dare not be complimented by the most knowledgeable people in Daqin. Just listen to the watch My aunt said, this time you plan to stay in Beijing for a longer period of time, if my sister is interested, tell the old ancestor that she can be our companion in the school."

"That's what I wish for." Su Yun said with a smile, her smile was very bright, her teeth were white, her smile was so bright and moving that people couldn't keep their eyes open.

The fourth girl on the side said cheerfully: "That's great. Some time ago, there were only three of us sisters in the school, and the eighth sister didn't stay with us when she was young. It's so sad. If sister Yun came, it would be fun for us to be together. Son."

Shen Xian laughed angrily and said: "You know how to play all day long. Before sister He came out of the cabinet, your old lady helped you with the homework assigned by your master. Now that you see your sister Yun coming, are you thinking about it again? "

"No, no, absolutely not." Shen Xun shook his hands anxiously, "I don't dare anymore, the second elder brother found out last time, he trained me half to death, and the elders in the family would always say something when they saw me , My ears are covered with calluses, but I don’t dare anymore.”

"Will the second brother also train you? I heard that when he was a child, he often asked the elder brother to help him with his homework." Shen Cui said.

"Who says it's not? He only allows the state officials to set fires, but not the common people to light lamps, so he can hide those things from my mother. Heh heh, let's see if I don't sue him next time." Shen Xun said angrily.

"You dare to sue the second brother?" Shen Xian pursed her lips and smiled, obviously not believing it.

Shen Xun was immediately discouraged: "I'm just saying that."

Su Yun smiled and said: "Actually, it's not a big deal to find someone to do homework. Sometimes my husband assigns too much homework, and I have to stay up all night to finish it. This hurts my eyes and my spirit. Sometimes I can't finish it .”

"Does my sister go to school in the south?" Shen Xun immediately asked excitedly, "Oh, look at me asking, your Su family will definitely hire a husband for the girl, the ancestors used to talk about her going to school when she was young It's a matter. Sister Yun, what if you can't finish your homework?"

Su Yun said: "I will tell the truth to my master, and she will not punish me, as long as she knows that I put my heart into it."

Shen Xun stuck out her tongue and said with a playful smile: "I don't dare, my sister is really brave. If we can't finish our homework, the master will let us go back and finish it. I can't afford to lose face."

Under Su Yun's deliberate socializing, Shen Xian, Shen Xun, and her had endless conversations, their branches trembling with laughter, and Shen Cui interrupted occasionally, but they couldn't say a few words, and the three of them became independent again. It's a mess.

Shen Cui was very displeased in her heart, originally she didn't like Su Yun's beauty, but now she felt that she was looking down on herself, and she only catered to Shen Xian and Shen Xun.They are all girls from the Shen family, isn't it because their father is not up to date and their mother is from a merchant?
In fact, this is really Shen Cui's own corner.Even if Su Yun really wanted to flatter and discriminate against her, she would not do it so obviously, let alone a girl from the Shen family, if she looked down on Shen Cui, Shen Xian and Shen Xun might not feel happy, but would look down on her character.

It's just that Shen Cui has a little low self-esteem, so her self-esteem is extremely strong. The few words she interjected were aimed at Shen Xian and Shen Xun, and she didn't take the initiative to talk to Su Yun, but only waited for Su Yun to pamper her.

But Su Yun was also a lady from a famous family, seeing Shen Cui's cold face towards her, she naturally didn't want to flatter her wrongedly, that's why she had such a misunderstanding.

At this moment, Shen Cui felt that Su Yun looked down on her anyway, and then looked at Ji Cheng, she hardly said a word, but she obviously listened very attentively, sometimes smiling, sometimes nodding, as if she didn't notice her at all. Snubbed and belittled.

Shen Cui thought to herself, this can't be a fool, right?So I couldn't help feeling a little sympathy for Ji Cheng, and felt that she and I were in the same camp, so I said, "Sister Cheng, this morning, I heard mother say that you are going to live with my parents, and you are going to the school to follow me." Are you a companion?"

When she arrived at Shen Cui's place, it was as if Ji Cheng had become her special companion.

"Yes, I didn't expect to have the opportunity to learn from Mr. Lian again." Ji Cheng said.

"How do you know Mr. Lian?" Shen Cui said in surprise, "My mother told you? Hey, that's not right, what do you mean by following Mr. Lian again?"

Mr. Lian is a female gentleman invited by the Shen residence. She is well-read and well-versed, she has knowledge of ancient and modern times, and her own conduct is very noble and dignified. The family's status is very detached, and they don't treat her like an ordinary gentleman.

And the female students in Shen's residence also like Mr. Lian very much, because she is very interesting, and she is not the kind of bookworm who reads by heart.

Two years ago, when Mr. Lian came to Shen's residence, the second daughter of the Shen family, Shen He, was not yet married. She was a well-known talented woman in the capital. Take the burden and leave by yourself.

When Mr. Lian came to his residence, he naturally had to meet the second girl for a while.However, she was too lazy to argue with the second girl, and she only asked one question, which completely convinced the girls of the Shen family.

"When I was in Jindi, Mr. Lian once taught me for two years." Ji Cheng laughed.

Later, the Shen family invited famous teachers everywhere, and her father recommended Mr. Lian to Ji Lan.In fact, Ji Cheng was very reluctant to part with Lian Puhui, but she also knew that Mr. Lian's going to Shen's residence would be of great help to her future, so she asked her father to recommend Mr. Lian.

It happened that Mr. Lian was old in the capital, so he happily went there.

"So you are Mr. Lian's former disciple." This was the first time Shen Xun looked at Ji Cheng directly.

Ji Cheng was a little surprised, and didn't understand what "Mr. Lian's former disciple" meant.

Shen Yuan smiled and explained: "Mr. Lian often mentions her former female disciple in front of us, saying that she is smart and cunning, and that she has benefited a lot from that female disciple."

"Uh." Ji Cheng's face turned red in an instant, he really didn't expect Mr. Lian to praise people like this.

"I never thought we would meet a real person one day!" Shen Xun exclaimed in surprise.

Seeing that everyone started discussing Mr. Lian, Su Yun was also very curious. She bent her eyes and smiled and said, "I heard that Mr. Lian seems to be very powerful."

"En, um." Shen Xun nodded sharply a few times, "It's the homework assigned by Mr. Lian. I can't finish it all the time, but I dare not say that I have tried my best." Shen Xun chattered and began to tell interesting stories about Mr. Lian.

Su Yun was fascinated by what he heard, and asked: "At that time, Mr. Lian took the test of the second sister's question, so that the second sister was convinced?"

"Actually, it's not a difficult problem." Shen Xun said, "Mr. asked: There is a truck full of goods. One person pushes it in front and the other pulls it in the back. Is it possible for the truck to move forward?"

Su Yun really didn't expect such a simple question. Of course, her intuition was "impossible", but since Shen He failed the test, there must be a reason.Is it possible to move forward?But it's obviously impossible.Su Yun thought to herself, could it be that Shen He thought the same way as himself, so he said "possible", but in fact the answer was simply "impossible"?
Shen Xun shook Su Yun and said, "Sister Yun, tell me quickly."

"I don't think it's possible." Su Yun said truthfully.

Shen Cui laughed loudly: "Of course it's possible, how simple it is, isn't it possible to move forward when going downhill?"

Su Yun was taken aback: "Yeah, why didn't I think of that? Oh, my brain is so stupid." Su Yun knocked himself on the head.

Shen Yuan said: "Sister Yun is not stupid at all, it's just that she couldn't think of it for a while. In fact, we sisters were all there at the time, and we didn't think of the reason. Mr. Lian said, it's not that we are stupid, it's just that we are used to reading and forget the actual We lived. Later, the principles she taught us were all useful in life. Our daughter’s family does not take the No. [-] Scholar Examination, so the angle of understanding those books is naturally different from that of men. Mr. Lian has led us to a new path.”

Su Yun nodded in agreement.

"Sister Cheng, did Mr. Lian test you with this question?" Shen Xun asked.

Ji Cheng really didn't know how to answer this question, it was her Mr. Kaolian's.Mr. Lian is a widow in Shanxi. He is highly educated but has a good temper. How can he be willing to be the husband of a merchant girl?Ji Cheng made a bet with Mr. Lian and failed Mr. Lian in the exam. That's why she came to Ji's house to be a husband.

This question was one of Ji Cheng's "examination questions".

Ji Cheng smiled and didn't answer, everyone just assumed she didn't answer, a little embarrassed, and didn't ask anymore, it's impolite after all.

Shen Xun continued to argue with Su Yun: "Mr. Lian often asks us strange questions, last time he asked a chess question."

Speaking of this, Shen Xun immediately asked the girl to bring a game of chess. Su Yun thought she was trying to solve the game for herself. She was used to playing Go. She had never played chess before, so she said awkwardly: "Chess, I don't know How did you get down?"

Shen Xun waved his hand: "It's not chess, just watch."

On the chessboard, Shen Xun arranged ten chess pieces into a big triangle, with one on top, four on the bottom, and two and three in the middle.

"Sister Yun, look, now please turn four of these ten chess pieces to their backs, so that no three of the chess pieces facing up can form a triangle with three sides equal to each other. Come and try." " Shen Xun said very excitedly.

Shen Xian raised her forehead, this fourth younger sister just likes to test everyone with the exam questions given by Mr. Lian, and she is very happy every time she fails the exam. "Ah Xun, this question is time-consuming. What are you doing to embarrass your sister Yun at this time? You don't look at the time, but the time. I'm afraid there will be guests coming over later."

Shen Xun pouted and said: "Oh, I was happy for a while. And it didn't take much time. When I took it to the second brother's exam, he just glanced at it and figured it out."

Shen Yuan said: "Do you think everyone is the second brother?"

But Su Yun lost her temper. Since others can do it at a glance, it doesn't make sense that she would spend a lot of time, so she paid attention to it, but tried several times, but couldn't do it, and Chunchan took two The little girl came in to play, so Su Yun had no choice but to give up.

Shen Xun asked Ji Cheng again: "Sister Cheng, can you untie it?"

Ji Cheng smiled again in embarrassment. In fact, she was the one who took this question to test Mr. Lian, and it was all "heretical", but at that time she set a time for Mr. Lian, and Mr. Lian naturally lost.What Ji Cheng didn't expect was that there were still people who could figure it out at a glance.When she came up with this question at the beginning, it was an interesting gadget that she came up with when she was bored playing bilateral chess alone, but she couldn't solve it at a glance.

"Oh, I knew I wasn't the stupidest one. When the second sister went back to her natal home, it took less than a stick of incense to solve it, but I fiddled with it all day and tried almost every method. It's only after you figure it out." Shen Xun said.

At this time, Shen Xian and Shen Cui had already stepped forward to greet the two new girls, but Su Yun was still focused on chess.

The two little girls are the granddaughters of the former Duke of Qi, one is surnamed Yan and the other is surnamed Jiang.

The old lady's big birthday has not yet arrived. During this time, most of the disciples of Duke Qi's mansion will come to pay their respects. On the right day, there will be a big banquet for the imperial officials. I heard that the palace will also send people to celebrate the old lady's birthday.A few days after the official day, the old lady will entertain the relatives and good friends of the Shen family on weekdays, mainly the female relatives, and invite the dancers and singers from the Changchun Garden to perform in Qingyuan for five consecutive days.

Qing Garden is one of the four famous gardens in the capital of the Duke's Mansion.

Therefore, there are probably many guests coming to the Shen family these two days, and Ji Cheng also stepped forward to greet the two little girls. She doesn't talk much, but because she often smiles at the corner of her mouth and is very good at listening, most of the little girls who come to visit I remember her, not to mention that she was so beautiful.

Shen Xian watched from the side, and nodded secretly, he really deserved to be Mr. Lian's disciple, although his background was not obvious, but he was neither humble nor overbearing in every way, and he spoke with great sense of propriety, first of all, he really underestimated this cousin girl.

The girls here didn't talk for a while, Su Yun suddenly shouted happily: "I've untied it."

In fact, it wasn't a difficult question at all, the test was about the time to solve the question, and Su Yun solved it in a short while, which shows that he is a very sensitive person.

Shen Xun smiled adoringly: "Sister Yun, you are amazing, but it only takes a cup of tea to solve it. Let's go and see."

In the big triangle on the chessboard, the top piece has been turned over, the middle two of the bottom four pieces have been turned over, and the middle one of the three pieces in the penultimate row has also been turned over. Sure enough, the other chess pieces could no longer form a triangle.

This time, Su Yun solved the problem, and finally got in the mood to greet the two girls, Yan and Jiang. She was cheerful and lively, and soon got along with everyone.

If the girls who came today think Ji Cheng is good, then they really love Su Yun, they come from the same family, and they are more comfortable talking.

After dinner in the evening, and seeing off the last group of guests, Ji Cheng only felt that the flesh on his cheeks was stiff from laughing, and when he looked at Shen Xian and Shen Xun, they also lost more than half of their energy, thinking that this lady of the family would also It's really difficult, it's extremely difficult to remember the names and tempers of the guests one after another, and to chat and joke with them.

When I went back to Tiemao Hutong as a child, not to mention that Ji Cheng had no strength, Shen Cui already had to rely on the girl to stand, and she didn't care about her image at all.

Fortunately, there was a green curtain car waiting outside, and Ji Lan had to go back to the house for dinner, so Ji Cheng and Shen Cui took the same car at this moment.

(End of this chapter)