Mammy Li quivered and kept silent. No one knew whether she remembered the past or Su Li’s cold voice of tips a few days ago.
“Mammy Li, now I just want to stay quiet in Jinyuan Court. It’s best if I will not be bullied by anyone. But if I were bullied, I want to have the strength to fight back. Before, life and death were out of my control. But now, I don’t want to experience that feeling again.”
Speaking of this, Su Li showed a bitter smile, “My mother…she is really cruel! I thought that if I did not resist, even if I have a hard life, I would not die, so I kept silent and did not resist. However, I was too naive.”
Mammy Li was so moved that she realized it was her, not the Second Miss that was stupid. She was so foolish that she was even scared by Erya’s cold voice.
But thinking carefully, thought Second Miss was so young, she had to think about how to live every day. If she were not smart, how could she live to the present day?
And before, Second Miss also repeatedly rescued her from the First Madam’s control, and where could she find another Miss who was so kind!
For a moment, the guilt like turbulent sea almost drowned her out.
“Second Miss…” Mammy Li firmly grasped Su Li’s hand and said, “No matter what you say or do in the future, I will support you unconditionally!”
Su Li turned her eyes, smiled brightly, like a spring breeze, and put her other hand on Mammy Li’s hand.
It was not easy to finally had the first loyal follower.
Mammy Li’s tears flickered, at this time, she couldn’t help but think of the previous Miss who had died. If that girl could use her brain to escape, maybe she would not die in such a miserable way that year…
The sun was shining the next day.
Su House recovered to be quiet, and Qi Xianqing taught Su Li to read as usual, and the Xuangong’s practice was temporarily put down. In fact, Qi Xianqing was very angry. If not for Zhu Yan, Erya was going to break through to the second level, as a result, Zhu Yan made trouble and delayed the practice.
“Second sister, you look much better today!”
At the end of the course, Su Qinghao jumped from his position and came to Su Li’s side, touching her forehead like an adult.
Su Li smiled and was about to touch Su Qinghao’s head with her hand, but Su Qinghao was pulled away by one hand.
Su Li looked up, restrained her smile slightly, giving a courtesy with respect and said, “Good morning, second mother.”
“Morning, Erya.”
Li Yuelian looked at Su Li with a rather complicated look, because she always had a sense of fear for Su Li, “Qinghao has martial arts classes, so he won’t stay here for long.”
Su Li nodded cleverly and waved her hand, “Then goodbye, second mother.”
Li Yuelian looked gentle and then she pulled Su Qinghao away. She thought to herself, Su Erya was so clever and sensible. Was it a coincidence before or she was too extremely suspicious to think too much.
Seven days after such a quiet time, Zhu Yan and Su Zipei finally returned to the Su House that night and looked at the Jinyuan Court lit brightly. Zhu Yan gritted her teeth with hate.
“How dare Mammy Zheng, she even ran away regardless of anything. Damn Erya, I will let you live for a period. Jinyuan Court is my son’s. Nobody can take it away!”
Su Huanli was shocked to hear that Zhu Yan returned. He thought his wife would stay at her mother’s family for more than half a month.
Zhu Yan was also forced to go back. She was already a married woman, just like water poured out by Zhu Family. Moreover, she not only often asked her parents for money recently, but also returned to the Zhu Family for free food and drink. She had already provoked a lot of gossip. Su Zipei cried all the time. Finally, she had to go back to the Su Family.
“Dear, I’m afraid Mr. Qi is still angry. You don’t have to go to the class to be uncomfortable. Don’t go to Jinyuan Court either. After the last incident, Mr. Qi often went to Jinyuan Court to review the injuries of Erya.”
Su Huanli came and said to Zhu Yan hurriedly. Zhu Yan stared at him angrily and said, “Lord, you are going to restrict my action for an outsider? What’s the reason for this? We are a couple, and our love for so many years cannot beat that poor scholar?”
Su Huanli took a deep sigh and then comforted her,
“Dear, I am also thinking about the big picture. Although Doctor Qi has no money and no power, but none of his students is easy to deal with. They are all officials of the central government. And he has high prestige in his college. If you don’t comfort him, the future of our Su Family will be over, so, dear, you must bear it!”
Although Zhu Yan knew that the Lord would push her with the overall situation, she was still too angry to eat and sleep. In a short period of half a month, Zhu Yan lost so much weight. When did she suffer such depression? This was ridiculous!
“When I give my Zipei to a distinguished family to be their daughter, I must ask for justice by myself!” Haven’t done her big plan, Zhu Yan looked at Su Zipei’s beautiful, pink and energetic face, and was cheered up soon.
In the morning class after a few days—
“What are you scrawling, even your brother Su Qinghao writes better than you. Shamed on me! Su Zipei, you are not qualified to be my student, so you don’t need to come tomorrow.”
Qi Xianqing grabbed the paper and sprinkled it to Su Zipei’s face. Su Zipei was so wronged that tears welled up in her eyes. She looked at the paper on the ground angrily and wanted to refute a few sentences. But as Qi Xianqing said, her handwriting was distorted and the ugliest.
Su Qinghao’s handwriting, though not good-looking, but the font was straight and neat. And Su Erya’s handwriting…It was so beautiful! Every stroke of her handwriting was elegant and natural!
Compared with the handwriting of Su Erya, Su Zipei’s handwriting was really scrawl, as ugly as shit!
“That’s talent! Qinghao, your second sister has the best talent in calligraphy that I’ve ever seen. Maybe she will become a calligraphy master in the future with her own characteristics. You need to learn harder from her.”
Qi Xianqing exhorted with a laugh, and Su Qinghao stared at the handwriting of his second sister, and admired her in his heart. Unfortunately, girls were not allowed to learn martial arts, or he could compete with his second sister.
“Mr. Qi, you are kidding. I’m only a shallow learner, and I have to learn more.”
“Second sister, you are too modest. I think you are as good as our eldest brother…”
“Haha, Qinghao, you little boy…”
The three people chatted happily, but Su Zipei was left alone as if she was not there. Her eyes were red again.
“It’s not the same as what mother has told me. Mother said that I am the best, but why second sister is better than me, why fourth brother don’t admire me? It’s not the same as what mother has told me…”
“You are all bad guys, and I don’t want to talk to you anymore. I will find my mother!”
Su Zipei left crying, leaving two stunned faces of Su Qinghao and Su Erya.
Qi Xianqing stroked his white beard, smiled, and he knew that Su Zipei was like her mother. She was so young, but she even wanted to kill her sister by herself. It was clear that her nature was vicious. How could he teach that kind of vicious girl to read. So he forced her to go directly.
“Mother…mother!”
Su Zipei cried and rushed in from outside. Seeing Zhu Yan, her grievance became more intense and she plunged into her mother’s arms.
“What’s wrong again? I’ve told you that you should calm yourself down when things happen, what’s the use of crying? Buck up!”
Zhu Yan rebuked her seriously and sighed in her heart. Everything has gone wrong recently, and God must be against her on purpose. Everything she wanted to accomplish had not been done, and it brought her all kinds of trouble.
“Mother, my teacher said that my handwriting was too ugly, so he did not want to teach me, and I was not allowed to go to the class.”
Boom!
Zhu Yan clapped her hand on the tea table and the cup was shook with a crisp sound.
“Qi Xianqing, you push me too far!”
Obviously, I had already succumbed, but you were more insatiable. Did you really think I was easy to offend?
Zhu Yan was furious. She got up and went out. When she reached the door, she remembered Su Huanli’s advice. Remembering this period of time in Zhu family when she was not welcome, she slowed her steps down unconsciously.
“Mother, Won’t you help me get justice?”
Seeing her mother stop halfway, Su Zipei asked with grievance after her.
Zhu Yan sighed deeply, because she had too much to care about. She squatted down and stroked Su Zipei’s face and said in a warm voice, “Zipei, I have my own reason. Tomorrow I’ll find a teacher for you. Then, I’ll send you to the best school, okay?”
“No, it’s not good at all!”
Su Zipei suddenly became ferocious and she shrieked, “Compared with Mr. Qi, the other teachers are far behind, then how can I surpass my second sister? Mother, you are partial, and I don’t like you anymore!”
Shocked and angry about what her daughter said, Zhu Yan subconsciously gave Zipei a slap.
Snap!
Su Zipei’s face swelled up quickly. She covered her right cheek dully with tears welled up quickly in her eyes. She shouted sadly, “Mother, you hit me!”
Zhu Yan’s heart was full of remorse and she didn’t know what to do, so she only reached forward to comfort her, but Su Zipei, who was full of hatred on her look, flapped her with one hand.
“Don’t be so smarmy! You want to change a daughter, didn’t you? Go and find Su Erya, I would piss off, ok!”
Su Zipei sneered and left resentfully. Zhu Yan sighed deeply and felt so hurt.
“I planned so hard and got into the situation, and it was all for you…”
…
Time went so fast that no one realized that it’s early summer already.
In the corridor of the Jinyuan Court, Su Li lay on a wicker chair, and the wind in the hall was very comfortable. Since Qi Xianqing drove Su Zipei away last time, she and Su Qinghao were the only two students left in the class, and it seemed there was not so much fun.
The injury on her back was healed as early as half a month ago. There was no scar thanks to the medical treatment of Qi Xianqing. But the scars left before were still there. To eliminate them, the wounds had to be cut again. Su Li didn’t do that, because she thought that there was not so much time for her to waste.
“Miss, I got less regular money from the counting house this month.”
Mammy Li came in from the courtyard with a sad face, “Last month, I received 200 taels. This month it’s only thirty. I talked to the old butler, but he said that he had gave Jinyuan Court 300 taels, so I suspect…”
“Mammy, don’t guess unreasonably. If someone hears you, we will have trouble again.”
Su Li stood up, took Mammy Li’s hand and comforted her, “I still have a lot of savings, which can support us for several days.”
Mammy Li sighed slightly, blaming herself for being useless. Second Miss was so kind that she even comforted her.
The truth was that the Second Miss had never done anything bad since she was a child. Why did the First Madam always offend her? What hatred couldn’t be dispelled between mother and daughter?