05. Learning Together (1)

Bai Zhi did not expect to hear such hard words from Yu Qingjia’s lips. her eyes had a look of surprise, her face was gleaming and happy, and she hurriedly said, “Miss, you are right to think that way. You are the legitimate daughter of the second household. The governor treats you like a jewel, and you are not any worse than the one in the first household. She is always secretly instigating concubine daughters to deal with you, just because she is jealous that you are loved by the governor.

As for the madam of the first household, well, the governor would always treat her indifferently, so she torments the lady with some dirty tricks, such as deliberately making Madam Yu take charge of the household affairs, and making her stay in front of the Old Madam Yu to attend to her illness, just to get her out of the way, so she will have the opportunity to get close to the governor. Tsk.. What a joke!”

Yu Qingjia had seen it with her own eyes, how her Mother struggled to make ends meet through the constant bullying of the people at the ancestral house, and she felt sorry for her mother, but she was a young lady with no status nor power. So what can she do? She told her father about her mother’s grievances, but she also knew that her father could not do anything about it. If only her father had been more firm when it comes to her and her mother. He would have brought trouble on both Madam Li and her daughter.

The Old Madam Yu was arbitrary, and Madam Li is valued so much by her. Yu Wenjun can try to protect them for a while, but there will always be a time when he won’t be around.

When his wife died after only a few years of their marraige, Yu Wenjun was so devastated that he had to leave the ancestral house with Yu Qingjia, even at the cost of breaking up ties with the entire family.

Her life in Guangling county was quite peaceful compared to the past. So Although she knew that her father would lose so many opportunities if he stayed in Guangling, she still selfishly hoped that he would stay and not return to Yanzhou.

But the Old Madam Yu’s letters were harsher than the previous ones, and who knew how long this stolen happiness could last. Moreover, the hidden danger that Yu Qingya poses for her, cannot be left unattended for too long.

Bai Zhi saw the worry on Yu Qingjia’s eyes, and immediately comforted her.

“Miss, don’t worry, the governor loves you so much. He won’t let you go back to the Ancestral House to suffer again. Besides, he also had his own views on his own career. He will not easily yield to the Old Madam Yu and the family, just because of a mere official position. They will eventually have to give in.”

Yu Qingjia smiled gently. Bai Zhi’s words were too thoughtful, but if such a beautiful fantasy could put her mind at ease, it was not bad.

She doesn’t want to talk about, how dissatisfied the Old Madam Yu was to them, and how Yu Qingya and the system was trying to slander her. She doesn’t want to talk about such heavy topics anymore. She is not in Yanzhou, and she probably won’t return in a short period of time. It is better to worry about the current problem at hand.

“I have always felt that although my mother left early, my father was at least sincere about her, because he had not taken in a concubine for four years after her death. But who knew that today father would unexpectedly bring back a concubine.”

When she thought of this, she couldn’t help but gnash her teeth. She loves and cares for Madam Yu. So of course she can’t accept having another woman occupy her mother’s position.

Bai Zhi was also a bit upset about this, but she still tried to persuade her.

“According to Miss, this concubine is very beautiful. I’m afraid that she’s probably a gift from his friends or colleagues. The governor is too kind. So it will be difficult for him to refuse. He probably brought her back as a pretence. Miss, you can rest assured that those people who try to serve others using their body, do not last long. Once she fall out of your father’s favor, you will be able to punish her.”

In fact, Yu Qingjia also did not want to do anything to Jing Huan, but it is necessary for her to know her place. Yu Qingjia said, “Bai Zhi you have not seen her, she looks… different from the conventional kind of beauty, she looks like a demoness. One look, and you know she’s a vixen. She is also too much, she not only does not listen to me, she even pushed me!”

Bai Zhi went in to warm up her bath water, and almost couldn’t hold back her laughter when she heard her words. She knew that Miss must be holding a grudge against Jing Huan for pushing her, and she’s afraid she had been angry because of this.

After losing her first battle, Yu Qingjia was still burning with enthusiasm for another house fight, she carefully arranged her plans, “There must be a reason for everything, I don’t have anything on her now, even though she pushed me, I can’t use this to punish her. If I make a fuss about her now, it’ll only startle the snake, and maybe she’ll bite back, making father think that I’m being unreasonable. Therefore, I should stay put now and wait for her to let her guard down and reveal her true personality, then I will capture her in one fell swoop and send her to my father.”

Of course, Bai Zhi agreed and praised Yu Qingjia’s plan as perfect. The three of them then discussed their next course of action in great detail, and only went to bed after they were satisfied that there were no more loopholes. They wanted to make sure that they succeed in thoroughly teaching that arrogant concubine a lesson.

The next day, Yu Qingjia went to greet her father early in the morning, and during the meal, she talked about the content of the letter from the ancestral house with her father.

Yu Wenjun also had nothing to do with his domineering grandmother, but he had already lost his wife over it. He will never make the same mistake again and let his daughter suffer on his behalf.

Yu Wenjun said with a stern expression, “A man should build a career on his own. What is the point of him always relying on his family and relying on the family elders to arrange his official positions? I don’t do such spineless things, and I don’t think Qingzhou is a vulgar place. It’s because it’s so remote that one must remain down to earth and become practical. Jiajia, I will write back to the family later, so you can live your life in peace.”

Yu Qingjia was greatly relieved that her father did not intend to go back. She immediately beamed with joy. She didn’t even care about that vixen Jing Huan sitting in front of her.

Of course, Murong Yan doesn’t care about the troubles of the Yu family, and it looks like he had no recollection of him shoving her away, so her slight hope of him feeling guilty and ashamed about what he did was instantly shattered.

She was carrying her own ‘Revenge Plan‘ inside her heart, so she gritted her teeth and endured the vixen’s abominable attitude. At the the end of the breakfast, Yu Wenjun suddenly asked coldly, “Jiajia, do you want to learn riding and archery?”

“No.”

Yu Qingjia refused without thinking, “I don’t like archery, why should I learn it?”

The veins on Yu Wenjun’s forehead immediately twitched, and he continued to hint earnestly, “You always said that you have nothing to do, why not take this time to learn more about history and martial arts, it is also an additional skill.”

Yu Qingjia thought about it, and still felt that the life of doing nothing is still more comfortable, “Archery is tiring and unattractive, I don’t want to learn it.”

A light laugh came from the opposite food table, and Yu Wenjun looked at Murong Yan who was slowly wiping his fingers with a smile at the corner of his lips. He became even more embarrassed, “Jiajia, you want to.”

“Huh?” Yu Qingjia was a little confused, “I don’t want to ah… Well, then I’ll learn I guess.”

Yu Qingjia inexplicably took additional courses. She had thought that it would take some time to find a suitable teacher. She did not expect that three days later the teacher would come into the mansion.



“Nowadays, if you want to refer to the politics of the previous emperors, the people would often be restrained. That’s because the emperors themselves did not expect to change the laws of the past. Hence, the law can be permanent when it comes to the world’s affairs, because it had always been the same.”

Fu Zi who was wearing a long robe with wide sleeves, finished reading the famous chapter of governance, looked down at their heads, “Do you understand?”

Murong Yan nodded slightly. The teacher was very satisfied, and immediately drew out the volume to start the next chapter.

“Wait a minute, I didn’t understand it.” Yu Qingjia was simply stunned, she was inexplicably stuffed with a brain of raw pre-Qin articles, and before she could read through it, she immediately had to start the next one, Yu Qingjia felt strange, “There is an allusion that I didn’t understand earlier. What does it mean that the reason Emperor Yan lost his country was because he practiced benevolence and righteousness?”

The hand of the teacher scrolling through the book suddenly paused. He obviously did not expect that the extra student that was used as a cover up, will also ask questions. If he explain it to her, It will definitely delay the progress. The teacher’s face can not help but show some hesitation.

Yu Qingjia felt that since her father returned after visiting his friends, things at home had become indescribably strange, and she suddenly said in consternation, “Wasn’t the Master hired to teach me?”

Why does the teacher focused more on the vixen who was just there to accompany her, and not care about her at all?

Murong Yan’s eyes moved slightly, he swept a glance towards the desk on the left, and finally nodded. The teacher received Murong Yan’s instructions, and he was stunned and surprised. When did Prince Langya ever care about others? 

He would even ignore the crown prince’s orders, let alone at this critical juncture when he was building up his strength to restore the country.

It may be because they needed to act properly, especially in front of Yu Qingjia.They needed her as a cover up. In this way, it is really not easy to ignore her too much. The teacher tried to find a reason for his actions, and then spread out the volume of the book, and once again explained the details from the very beginning.

After finally getting through the break, Yu Qingjia could not resist anymore and quietly moved to the vixen’s side and gently slapped his arm, “Tell me the truth, do you really understand?”

Once she came over, her wide sleeves immediately covered the scrolls on the desk. Murong Yan originally did not want to pay attention to her, but then thought that if he did not answer, he’s afraid that she will bother him endlessly again. Murong Yan could only lightly respond with a “Hmm.”

Yu Qingjia was not convinced. She is the daughter of a noble family. She even grew up reading and writing calligraphy. She still found it very difficult to understand the five classics yet, Jing Huan, who was a mere concubine with little literary sense, can easily keep up with the lessons.

“Stop pretending, Tell  me the truth and I will not laugh at you. If you can’t understand either, we can talk to the teacher and ask him to speak more slowly during the next lesson.”

Murong Yan looked at the completely suppressed pen and ink in front of him, and could not stand it anymore. He reached out and grabbed her arm, and directly moved her entire body away from his desk. After she experienced being pushed away with a flick of his arm, she once again experienced the great humiliation of being shoved away by him.