Chapter 278: Drinking Tea Casually
The next morning, Li Xiaonan received a letter and an invitation.
The letter was from Miss Shi, with only a few sentences asking her to come over for tea when she was free.
The invitation was brought back by Li Wenliang.
The person who delivered the invitation was Madam Sun, the wife of Zhao Simin, the President of the Pingjiang Guild Hall.
Zhao Simin had met Old Scholar Hong, Uncle of Hong Shi’an, once. Using this acquaintance, he first found Hong Shi’an, and through Hong Shi’an, he met Li Wenliang, and then sent this welcome feast invitation to Li Xiaonan, and of course, to Li Wenliang and Hong Shi’an.
President Zhao’s welcome feast was arranged for the day after tomorrow. Li Xiaonan asked Wan Jing to paste an envelope on the outside of the invitation, write the two characters “Shi Gun” on it, and asked Li Wenliang to hand this invitation to the steward arranged by Gu Yan, asking the steward to forward it to Shi Gun.
Whether President Zhao was standing behind that Mr. Dongxi, or someone else, she had no idea. Whether she should attend such a welcome feast was for the Young Lord to decide.
As for Miss Shi’s letter, after Li Xiaonan sealed the invitation and handed it to Li Wenliang, she had A Wu hitch the carriage and leave the city. She was free now.
Miss Shi waited outside the hanging flower gate and smiled as she looked at Li Xiaonan.
She had expected Li Xiaonan to come, but Li Xiaonan arriving so soon, meaning she came immediately after receiving the letter, made Miss Shi feel an indescribable sense of comfort.
Meeting Li Xiaonan, Miss Shi smiled and said, “I invited you to come over and have some tea and pass the time when you’re free. There’s no need to rush over so quickly; there’s nothing urgent here.”
“When I received the letter, I was wondering where to spend today,” Li Xiaonan said with a smile.
This was the truth.
“Aren’t you going to copy sutras anymore?” Miss Shi slightly bowed and gestured for Li Xiaonan to enter.
“You haven’t heard?” Li Xiaonan’s voice rose, a genuine question.
Miss Shi paused, swallowed her retort of ‘Heard what?’, and nodded, “Ninth Lady Pan came to see me yesterday and told me.”
“The Young Lord spoke to me yesterday afternoon. My plan to copy sutras is no longer suitable. Alas, being a noble person is not easy; methods that ordinary people can use are not suitable for nobles,” Li Xiaonan sighed.
There were many things she needed to change; she needed to redefine herself and re-evaluate worldly affairs and human relationships.
“There are also many methods that nobles can use, but ordinary people cannot,” Miss Shi looked at Li Xiaonan and then smiled.
“For example?” Li Xiaonan stopped and asked.
“For example, did the Young Lord visit your home yesterday? Was it a grand affair?”
Li Xiaonan thought of the two large baskets of lotus flowers and piles of pastries and nodded, “Yes.”
“Was it a gesture of apology?” Miss Shi continued to ask.
Li Xiaonan thought for a moment, “If you say it was an apology, it wouldn’t be wrong.”
“This is the Young Lord expressing his attitude. When you marry into Prince Rui’s Mansion,” Miss Shi paused, thinking about her own engagement and subsequent broken engagement with the Young Lord.
Li Xiaonan tilted her head slightly, looking at Miss Shi, who had suddenly become lost in thought. The word “marry” must have reminded her of the past.
“You don’t have to wait until you’re married. Once everyone believes you will definitely marry into the Prince’s Mansion, like now, you can act like the Young Lord, where every word and action is a means to an end,” Miss Shi stepped over the threshold.
“Ah, isn’t that even harder? I can’t even speak casually,” Li Xiaonan followed her into the room.
Miss Shi sat cross-legged on a padded seat and was stunned by what she heard. After a moment, she said with a bitter smile, “Yes, everyone wants to talk to you, but there’s no one to talk to.”
Li Xiaonan looked at Miss Shi, who was not looking at Li Xiaonan. She picked up the tea caddy and began to make tea.
“You said just now that they would speculate about my every word and action. What will they think when I come to your place?” Li Xiaonan asked, looking at Miss Shi.
Miss Shi looked up at Li Xiaonan, “Are they thinking about you, or about me?”
“What they think about you? And what they think about me?”
“That means they’ll be thinking all sorts of things, but probably only in their minds, and probably no one will dare to say it out loud,” Miss Shi said slowly.
Li Xiaonan fell silent, watching Miss Shi gracefully wash the cups and tea, place a cup in front of her, and pour tea.
Li Xiaonan touched the cup with her finger; it was still a bit hot.
“What do you do every day?” Li Xiaonan withdrew her hand and asked, making small talk.
“In the morning, I do morning prayers. After returning, I eat breakfast, then go to the back garden to pick some flowers and plants to offer to the Buddha and Bodhisattvas. After returning, I copy sutras. After lunch, if someone visits, I drink tea and chat. If no one visits, I read leisure books. In the evening, I do evening prayers,” Miss Shi said casually.
Li Xiaonan touched the cup again, picked it up, and took a sip of tea. She put down the cup and, after Miss Shi poured her tea, replied, “In my village, many women’s furthest travels in their lives are only to our Kunshan County Town, and many haven’t even been to the county town. The furthest they go is back to their maiden homes. There was one woman who grew up as a child bride; by the time I left the village, she was so old that she had lost all her teeth. She never left our small village in her entire life.”
Miss Shi looked at Li Xiaonan, waiting for her to continue.
“When I was still in the village, I often wondered, what’s the point of living a life like those women in our village?”
Miss Shi looked askance at Li Xiaonan.
“I’m not talking about you,” Li Xiaonan smiled and bowed, meeting Miss Shi’s sideways glance. “You are different from them. They had to live that way, but you chose to live this kind of life.”
“I also had no choice but to live this way,” Miss Shi said, lowering her eyes.
“You do have a choice. Except for not being able to marry the Young Lord, you can do anything else you want,” Li Xiaonan said frankly.
“Even if I married the Young Lord, what then? Like my mother, who wanted to be Princess Consort, managing household affairs and administrative duties all year round. Compared to the women in your village, it’s just a bigger place,” Miss Shi snorted.
“If you say that, then even the Emperor, who spends his days in the palace reviewing memorials and meeting people, is just dealing with matters and people. It’s no different from the women in our village,” Li Xiaonan quickly added.
“That’s true. Life is actually quite meaningless,” Miss Shi thought for a moment and smiled.
“Have you heard of Marshal Sang’s Biography?” Li Xiaonan asked.
“Yes,” Miss Shi nodded.
“I want to write several books about the investigation of things, and I also want to establish an academy to teach the investigation of things. I want to tell everyone: the investigation of things is more useful than literary composition,” Li Xiaonan said, looking at Miss Shi.
“When did you start thinking like this? Since you were in your village?” Miss Shi was not very surprised.
The Young Lord was already building her reputation; her mastery of the investigation of things was her leverage.
“When I was in my village, my ambition was to be the richest person in the world. This idea only came to me on the way to the Capital City,” Li Xiaonan smiled.
It was that Marshal Sang, that senior, who had guided her. She also wanted to do something. Regardless of the future or the outcome, she wanted to do her best.
“Does the Young Lord know your ambition?” Miss Shi asked.
“I haven’t figured out how to do it yet. I’ll tell him when I have a plan.”
Miss Shi looked at Li Xiaonan, who became inexplicably confused by her gaze. “What’s wrong? Your look is strange, what’s wrong?”
“Nothing,” Miss Shi quickly replied, averting her gaze and changing the subject. “The food here is plain. What do you want to eat? I’ll have them make something special for you.”
“I’ll eat whatever you eat,” Li Xiaonan said, looking at Miss Shi, and changing the subject as well.
