Yu Shu stayed outside for seven days to get rid of the darkness on her body. Then she packed her things and went home.
Xue Rui was going back to the yamen today. In the morning, he asked Lao Cui to send her off and went to the Supreme Court in a sedan chair.
Zhao Hui and He Fangzhi hadn't heard the news that someone died in the Taishi Shuyuan. They only knew that Yu Shu hadn't been back for a few days because she was busy with her studies. Yu Shu didn't intend to tell them. She didn't want to ask for trouble.
Returning to her room and changing into fresh clothes, Yu Shu went to the big room to greet the old lady and was "driven" to Zhao Hui's room.
Yu Shu sat on the chair beside Zhao Hui's bed. Zhao Hui, who was still in confinement, leaned on the pillow and talked to her. After a while, the wet nurse came with the baby.
The seven or eight-day-old baby was so small. He clenched his small fists and curled them into a ball. He was so soft that Yu Shu didn't dare to touch him. Zhao Hui was not afraid. She smiled and asked the wet nurse to hand the baby to her, which made Yu Shu flustered.
"Mom, I can't hold him well. Forget it."
"You can hold him more. You're not as good as Xiaoxiu. He runs to see Xiaochuan as soon as he gets out of school. He's more stable than your father."
After washing his third son, the old lady decided to give He Fangzhi's only son a nickname, Xiaochuan. His real name hadn't been decided yet.
Yu Shu held the baby stiffly. She looked down and saw that the little guy squinted his eyes and yawned. There was no sign of crying. She slowly relaxed and freed a hand to touch his face.
"Don't touch his cheeks. You'll make him drool." The wet nurse reminded her. Yu Shu quickly withdrew her hand, which made Zhao Hui laugh again.
For some reason, the child who was sleeping soundly heard Zhao Hui's laughter and pouted. He opened his pair of blank eyes and let out a "wah" without any warning. She began to whimper and cry.
Yu Shu was so scared that she quickly handed the baby to the wet nurse. She watched as the wet nurse gently coaxed the baby and turned to look at Zhao Hui helplessly.
Zhao Hui, on the other hand, wasn't nervous at all. She patted her hand and said, "You have to howl like that every day. Just in time for you. "
Yu Shu thought about it and searched her body. She found the silver chain with the little bell that Xin Liu had given her before and shook it in front of He Xiaochuan.
Strangely enough, the sound of the bell was crisp and small. Yu Shu shook it a few times, and He Xiaochuan sniffled. The crying stopped just like that.
The wet nurse and Zhao Hui are both surprised. "Eh?" they say. Yu Shu is also surprised. Maybe the Heart-cleansing Bells given by Xin Liu work or something else.
As she shook the bell to tease the child, she said to Zhao Hui with a smile, "It was given to me by a friend when he heard that we had a baby in our family. He hung it in the room where he was sleeping and when he was crying, it would ring. It has some use for calming the mind. "
As she said this, she handed the bell over. Zhao Hui took a look and knew that it was a good thing. She took Mother Shen to put it.
Yu Shu looked at the child and sat with Zhao Hui for an hour before returning to her room to tidy up her clothes. She packed up a few handwritten letters and the books that she often read.
Yu Shu didn't plan to stay at home. Before there was an explanation for the matter at Taishi Library, she wanted to live outside. Moreover, there were a large number of files in Wang Ji Tower that she needed to sort out. It wasn't convenient for her to take the things from the Supreme Court back home.
She didn't stay at home for lunch. Yu Shu had Liu Zhong hitch up the carriage and send her to Baichuan Academy to see Yu Xiaoxiu. She didn't know if she would have time to go home when she got busy. She had to talk to her younger brother in person so that the child wouldn't worry and think too much.
Baichuan Academy's entrance was not as strict as Taishi Library's. Yu Shu said which one she was looking for, and the guards let her in.
It was morning, and the classes in the academy hadn't ended yet. The faint sound of reading came from the courtyard, sometimes high and sometimes low. Yu Shu passed by the small garden and saw two naughty children bending down to catch grasshoppers in the grass. They must have skipped class.
Yu Shu walked to the third study room on the long corridor and stopped. Listening to the sound of the headmaster inside, she looked through the window and saw a few neat rows of tables and stools. More than 20 children were sitting in one room. They were all about 12 or 13 years old. Some were obediently listening to the lesson, some were sleeping with their books upright in front of them, and some were eating cakes with their heads down.
Seeing this scene, Yu Shu couldn't help laughing. She thought back to when she was in school at this age and found Yu Xiaoxiu and Bai Ran sitting in the second row from the back. Seeing that her younger brother was writing with his head down and his back straight, she was immediately gratified.
However, she didn't think too much about it. Yu Xiaoxiu wasn't the same as the other young masters in this house. He had grown up suffering. Just a year ago, he was still wearing patched clothes, eating the food of servants, sleeping in a small bed, and being looked down upon everywhere he went. From time to time, he would even get beaten up.
Now that he didn't have to worry about food and clothing, how could he not care about the blessings and work hard to learn?
Not long after Yu Shu stood by the window, she was seen by the absent-minded children. It was none other than Hu Tianer, who was sitting behind Yu Xiaoxiu.
Hu Tianer was anxious to get through class so that she could go out and play with the slingshot. Unexpectedly, she turned her head and saw the figure outside the window. Her eyes immediately lit up, and she grabbed a brush, leaned forward, and poked Yu Xiaoxiu's back.
Yu Xiaoxiu looked up at the headmaster who was talking excitedly. Seeing that the headmaster wasn't paying attention to them, he turned his head and looked at Hu Tianer to ask what she was doing. Hu Tianer pointed outside the window with a face full of excitement. Yu Xiaoxiu turned his head again and saw Yu Shu, his mouth wide open in surprise.
Yu Shu also saw Hu Tianer's small movements. Seeing that Yu Xiaoxiu had found her, she smiled at him. She originally wanted to wait here for him to finish class, but who would have thought that there would be a good thing next to her —
"Headmaster, Yu Xiu's sister is looking for him!"
Hu Tianer's voice woke all the children who were sleeping in the room. The headmaster raised his head and looked outside with a frown. He saw Yu Shu standing by the window and was about to reprimand Hu Tianer when he heard a child say, "Sister Yu Xiu, isn't that the female fortune-teller?!"
Yu Xiaoxiu had Hu Tianer as a friend. In the entire Baichuan Academy, there were probably only a few people who didn't know that this year's new fortune-teller was the biological sister of Yu Xiu, who was studying in Xiaoxuan's class.
Instantly, the children all became alert and stretched their necks to look outside. Most of them had heard of the story of the female fortune-teller from the adults. Pairs of curious and excited eyes stared at Yu Shu, wanting to see through her.
The headmaster also came back to his senses. Knowing the identity of the young lady outside the window, he didn't dare to neglect her. He put down his scroll and quickly walked out to ask, "Is this the new fortune-teller?"
"Yes."
"Greetings from Chen Huaizhou, a ninth-grade fortune-teller."
Chen Huaizhou was a fortune-teller in the past and had a deep understanding of etiquette. When he saw Yu Shu, he also had to greet her. He didn't dare to look down on her because of her age.
The children loved to join in the fun. Seeing the fierce-looking headmaster bowing to a young lady, they all chattered excitedly.
"Headmaster, you don't have to be so courteous. Thank you for teaching my younger brother."
Yu Shu raised her hand to return the greeting. Naturally, the headmaster was very friendly towards Yu Xiaoxiu's teacher. As a parent, no matter how capable they were outside, they were all like bears in front of the teacher.
"Not at all. Yu Xiu is a sensible and smart student. He doesn't cause trouble …" The headmaster started to praise Yu Xiaoxiu. He wasn't lying.
While Yu Shu met the headmaster outside, Yu Xiaoxiu was surrounded by some children in the study room. Many eyes were filled with envy. After all, not everyone could have a fortune-teller sister.
Yu Xiaoxiu had been surrounded by many people recently. He was used to it. He glared at Hu Tianer, who was eager to see the world in chaos, and whispered, "You're meddlesome."
Hu Tianer laughed and nudged him with his shoulder. He leaned over and whispered, "If you don't like it, don't admit it. In the future, I'll just say that my sister is here."
Yu Xiaoxiu glanced at him again and said unhappily, "In your dreams."
On the other side, Chen Huaizhou finally finished talking with Yu Shu. He turned his head to look at the mess in the room. He coughed and gave a warning look to a few naughty children. He then waved at Yu Xiaoxiu, asking him to come out.
Yu Xiaoxiu went out obediently. Bai Ran, who was his study partner, didn't follow.
Yu Shu and Chen Huaizhou greeted each other and led Yu Xiaoxiu away. As soon as the siblings were far away, the headmaster entered the study room with a straight face. He pointed at the students in the room and told them to sit back down. He lectured, "You naughty monkeys, don't think about making trouble all day long. Did you see that? That female fortune-teller is only a few years older than you, but even I, the headmaster, have to bow when I see her. This is because she is good at learning. If you want everyone to admire you, you are mediocre just by relying on your family name. You need to learn diligently so that you don't disappoint your parents … "
.....
"Achoo!"
Yu Shu, who was walking on the road, suddenly sneezed. Yu Xiaoxiu asked with concern, "Sister, did you catch a cold?"
Yu Shu rubbed her nose and shook her head. "No, someone might be talking bad about me behind my back."
***
At noon, Yu Shu brought Yu Xiaoxiu to Wang Ji Lou and had the kitchen prepare a lot of delicious food. She accompanied him for lunch and gave him a small bag of silver for him to spend. She told him that she wouldn't be going home for a while and told him not to run around, to study and practice calligraphy, and to listen to He Fangzhi.
Before the afternoon, Yu Shu had Liu Zhong send Yu Xiaoxiu back to the Academy.
At noon, Xue Rui didn't come back. Yu Shu didn't plan to wander around the Taishi Library. She stayed in the study and continued to copy the files. She had done a divination last night and felt that the day of the accident hadn't come yet.
In the blink of an eye, it was evening. Xue Rui didn't come back, but a distinguished guest came to Wang Ji Lou.
"Miss, Jing wangye has come and asked you to come over to speak." Lin Fu stood at the door to report to Yu Shu.
As soon as Yu Shu heard that Liu Tan had come, she quickly put down her pen and paper. After tidying up her clothes, she followed Lin Fu to an elegant room on the opposite side of the second floor. She passed by the guard outside and knocked on the door to enter.
The candles in the room were brightly lit. Liu Tan was sitting beside a pear blossom half-moon table. There was a wine pot beside his hand. He was dressed in a green silk upper garment. He was dressed in ordinary attire. He was still the same person. However, Yu Shu had not seen him for only half a month. She could tell that he was somewhat different.
"Greetings to wang ye." Yu Shu changed the way she addressed him, guessing why he had come today.
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