The sunlight was dazzling, and the pleasure boat bobbed up and down with the ripples of the water. In the distance, the sounds of people chatting could be heard. Ning Yi and Xiaochan were sitting on the side of the pleasure boat that was close to the lake. In their field of vision, there were still boats sailing over from afar and birds flying in the sky.
"Alright, what's going on?"
After sitting down, the atmosphere between the two was somewhat silent. Xiaochan did not sit properly and sat sideways on the edge of the chair. This was a somewhat restrained way of sitting. If it was in a normal family, a servant girl would not dare to sit properly in front of their master. This would be how it was. But in front of Ning Yi, Xiaochan had long put down the formality of respect. Suddenly having this kind of attitude, perhaps it could only mean that she was thinking about something difficult to decide. Seeing that her fingers were still tightly twisted together, Ning Yi reached out and held one of her hands in his palm. That hand was fair and delicate. After it was placed in Ning Yi's hand, it trembled slightly, but at least it made Xiaochan take a breath.
"Go-son-in-law …"
"En?"
"Son-in-law … can you promise me one thing?"
The young girl asked timidly and her voice gradually became softer. Ning Yi smiled slightly. "If you don't tell me what it is, I don't know if I can do it."
"I-I want son-in-law to promise me that when I talk to son-in-law later, if … if son-in-law does not agree, please don't tell Young Miss, okay …"
"Oh? You can't tell your Young Miss? "
"That's not it …"
Chan 'er shook her head softly. One of her hands was held in Ning Yi's and she felt slightly at ease. At this time, she thought for a while and decided to speak, but her face gradually blushed.
"Son-in-law, can son-in-law … talk to Young Miss, say … say … tonight, no, tomorrow night … any day is fine … son-in-law and Young Miss, take a night out and don't stay with Young Miss, okay …"
Her words were spoken with great difficulty and were rather ambiguous. Moreover, as a maidservant, she was asking the two masters not to stay together at night. This was truly an action that was too overstepping her boundaries. Ning Yi was slightly stunned. Xiaochan must have realized the ambiguity of her words. Her face turned red, white, and anxious. She usually had an innocent and cute smile on her face, but at this moment, all kinds of emotions were mixed together. Her left hand that was held by Ning Yi shrunk. She wanted to pull it back, but Ning Yi used force in his hand. She couldn't pull it back, so she touched her right hand, lowered her head, and arched her body on the chair. Ning Yi could no longer see her face. He only felt that her skin was burning. Not only her palm, but her originally white neck was also burning red.
"Son-in-law only needs to accompany Xiaochan, accompany Xiaochan … son-in-law only needs to accompany Xiaochan to sleep for one night."
She said these words forcefully and lowered her forehead to Ning Yi's hand. At this time, in the shadow of the ship, the young girl's frail body seemed to curl up into a ball in front of Ning Yi. Ning Yi thought for a while and then sat a little closer. He placed her forehead on his shoulder and sighed, "After a few days, after passing the door, won't it be fine?"
There were ships coming from afar. If they looked carefully, they might be able to see the situation here. But at this moment, Ning Yi didn't care. Xiaochan shook her head slightly on his shoulder, "No, but passing the door …"
After saying this, she moved her body back and wiped her eyes. She slightly raised her head and revealed a forced smile, "Xiaochan has thought about it. But passing the door, Xiaochan … after Xiaochan and son-in-law do that, son-in-law, after that, she can just be a servant girl. She doesn't need any status, that's fine too."
Ning Yi looked at her and didn't speak. His view was different from the people at this time. Status and what not mattered to him. But for Xiaochan and the others, it was not the same. In terms of concept, the one who served in bed could be a servant girl or a concubine. With the ceremony, there was an additional status. Even if the status of a concubine was not high, but many servant girls only pursued this status. For them, it might have some important symbolic meaning.
Even if Ning Yi could use his own influence to make this family as harmonious as possible, as … strange as possible, but for Xiaochan and the others, there would always be some things that could not be eliminated. In fact, it was not just the status of a concubine. With the intimacy between Ning Yi and Xiaochan, the two of them could have done more things long ago. The reason why Ning Yi didn't move forward was because he knew, at least for Xiaochan, those ceremonies, should have meaning.
She was only a maidservant, but she could still have a ceremony. This ceremony might be very small, maybe only a few people in the family would participate, but at least in that ceremony, she could be valued like a normal girl. She could bow to heaven and earth, serve tea, and have a wedding night. These would have meaning in her life. Therefore, Ning Yi hoped that these experiences of hers could be complete. But right now, she said she only wanted one night. The thoughts in her mind, could be imagined.
For a moment, she didn't know what to say. Xiaochan looked at him with pleading eyes. She, as a servant girl, couldn't tell Miss about this matter. She also knew that Ning Yi had a position in the family, so she begged Ning Yi to speak for her. After a while, she added, "I, I have thought about it for a long time …"
She tried her best to calm down and said in a low voice, "I, Juan 'er and I originally didn't follow Miss's servant girl. Only Xing' er jiejie followed Miss from the start. Later on, Miss said that she needed two helpers, so me and Juan 'er then went to Miss's side. We have always been helping Miss to do things. If we really married, the family's view would be different. Maybe they would say that Xiaochan is a concubine and it would not be good for her to show her face in public. Some things that Xiaochan was in charge of in the past would not be easy to manage. Otherwise, she would be said to be restless. I, even if I follow Young Master, I still have to follow Miss to do things … "
At this point, she raised her head and looked at Ning Yi, "Young Master, don't think too much. I like Young Master very much, but … but … anyway, Xiaochan can take care of everything. She can also help Miss and serve Young Master. It doesn't matter …" She lowered her voice and then returned to normal, "And, and Juan 'er and Sister Xing' er, we are all servant girls. If I follow Young Master, my identity will be different in the future. Our relationship might not be as good as before … I have a good relationship with Juan 'er and treat Sister Xing' er as my own sister. I don't want to be alienated …"
At this point, the courage in her heart finally ran out. Ning Yi organized his words, "I … won't talk nonsense to your Miss. But with her shrewdness, if I say that I will deal with it according to your idea, do you think that she will not think that this is your idea? Or will she not think of what you are thinking? "
"Huh?"
"Think about it. After I pass on the message, what will happen to your Miss?"
"I can't imagine …"
"She may find you and pretend to be angry, but in the end, the result will be the same …" Ning Yi played with her delicate fingers, "Some things are decided in this era, but for me, I really … like you very much. I don't want to let you go, Xiaochan …" He put his palms together and wrapped the young girl's palms in them, "In this lifetime, you only need to think about one thing. Do you want to marry?"
Towards some of Ning Yi's words, Xiaochan obviously did not understand, but at this time, she only slightly blushed, "Xiaochan, Xiaochan is Young Master's and Miss's. It doesn't matter if I marry or not … but I don't want to make Miss unhappy …"
"In that case, let me and your Miss handle it, en?" Not answering the second half of Xiaochan's sentence, Ning Yi smiled and made a decision. Xiaochan was stunned, then nodded, revealing a shy smile. Many things did not necessarily have a perfect solution. At this time, Ning Yi was a little touched, but he did not necessarily have specific ideas. Of course, some things did not actually need to be solved, in fact, it was enough to let Xiaochan feel that she had a backbone.
In his previous life, he had been in such a circle. When he reached the highest point, wives were rarer than mistresses, and one-night stands were more practical than love. Money and power could not bring true feelings. On the contrary, the more material desires there were, the more distorted the surroundings became. After experiencing a lot, when one was tired, one would yearn for things that were pure, but it did not mean that one would completely idealize these things.
Su Tan 'er's sudden surge of emotions, Xiaochan's lovable compromise, were all part of this purity, and the troubles between the two were part of this era. At this time, when there was no concept of monogamy, it was actually not a very serious matter.
Ning Yi took responsibility for this matter, and with a few words of comfort, Xiaochan, who believed in Ning Yi, also became cheerful. At this time, at this time, when she recalled that she had begged Ning Yi to sleep with her for a night, she became shy again, saying a few words such as "the clouds in the sky are like fish scales, how strange", and running away in a hurry. Ning Yi originally wanted to disembark with her to see a group of great scholars recite poems, but at this time, she naturally could not be found.
After this delay, in fact, almost all the people who were supposed to arrive today had arrived. Little Yingzhou itself was a long and narrow ring-shaped island. At this time, although there was also a beautiful water garden, it was not as large as in the future, and there was no place on the island for a large number of people to gather. Although it was a poetry meeting, because of the large number of people who came, at this time, people walked and sat in the forest to enjoy the scenery, which seemed to be similar to an outing.
However, of course, there was still a poetry meeting. At this time, there were almost a row of ships moored on the shore, big and small. The real poetry meeting was actually not held on the shore, but on several big ships moored on the shore.
"The Beginning of Autumn is still too hot, so it is not usual to hold a poetry meeting at this time. It was a precedent set by Xiong Ruming, who was a prefectural magistrate here a few years ago. At that time, there were disasters everywhere, and Hangzhou had not yet reached the autumn harvest, but all kinds of resources had been used up — of course, this is not a big problem. Prefectural Magistrate Xiong invited many people to this island for sightseeing. He asked the big families to provide some resources, and asked the scholars to write some poems to express the spirit of everyone in the difficult times. At that time, he invited people like Qian Xiwen, Mu Bozhang, Chang Yuan, and Chang Yuan to help strengthen the spirit. Now that Chang Yuan has passed away, the poetry meeting at the Beginning of Autumn has been preserved. If not, these scholars' gatherings would not invite so many merchants to strengthen the spirit. "
It was almost time. Luo Tian, who had walked for a while below, also came to the pleasure boat, ready to pick up his wife for the official meeting. He casually mentioned the origin of the Beginning of Autumn poetry meeting. Ning Yi thought for a while, "I'm afraid it will not be very harmonious, right?"
"There was once a noble scholar who used poems to mock the merchants for being stingy with money, but there were also people who used the past to refute. At that time, those who had money, and those who had power, contributed, and earned a good reputation for everyone. And those who were invited, more or less, had a background in poetry, like my wife, who was a famous talented woman in the past. Ah … actually, the Beginning of Autumn poetry meeting is not as utilitarian as it used to be. Tour the garden, write poems, and in the evening, there will be a feast prepared by the head chef of Fu Qing Lou. At night, there will be some water lanterns to pray for blessings, and it is quite lively … "
After saying this, Luo Tian left with his wife. When Juan'er was cleaning up the tea and fruit plates, Su Tan'er pulled Ning Yi to the side and said softly, "Just now, I saw Chan'er's eyes were red. Did she say something to you?"
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