Chapter 50 - 49: Shaoyuan: How Did the Eldest Miss Become His Girlfriend?
Chapter 50: Chapter 49: Shaoyuan: How Did the Eldest Miss Become His Girlfriend?
Before she could finish her sentence, Old Madam Xu’s face had already turned livid.
What wealthy family’s daughter would sneak out of the house in the middle of the night? And by climbing over the wall, no less?
"Mom, don’t blame me for speaking out of turn," Xu Zhao Yu sighed. "Everyone in Jianghuai’s circle knows that Chengli brought Changying back. Even though the two of them have been living in Ming Village, they now represent the Xu family to the outside world."
Old Madam Xu’s gaze was heavy. "You’re right."
"I also know that you and Dad are preparing a banquet for him to officially enter Jiang’s social circles," Xu Zhao Yu said worriedly. "If anything goes wrong, the Xu family will lose face, and it will leave a bad impression of him on the other families."
"Chengli is perfect in every way, except that he spoils his daughter far too much!" Old Madam Xu slammed her chopsticks down, her voice trembling with anger. "This is what happens when a child lacks a mother’s guidance—just look at the menace he’s raised!"
If she could, she only wanted to bring Ming Chengli back. She didn’t want a burden like Shi Changying at all! As for Shi Changying’s mother, Ming Chengli had always kept his mouth firmly shut. But if the daughter was like this, how much better could the mother be? It was absolutely infuriating!
Suppressing a faint smile on her lips, Xu Zhao Yu gently patted Old Madam Xu’s back. "Mom, don’t be angry. As the saying goes, the environment shapes the person. I was thinking of hiring a tutor for Changying to properly educate her."
"That is very thoughtful of you, Zhao Yu. We really should hire a tutor," Old Madam Xu said flatly. "If the tutor fails to teach her well, we’ll just have to send her to your second brother’s place for some discipline."
"My second brother trains soldiers. How could a young girl like Changying go to a place like that?" Xu Zhao Yu disagreed. "Mom, just leave this to me."
Old Madam Xu finally smiled again. "Thank goodness we have you, otherwise our family wouldn’t be this harmonious."
Xu Zhao Yu pursed her lips into a smile. "Let’s eat, Mom."
Meanwhile, Shi Changying had also finished her lunch and returned to the classroom with Lu Mi.
Song Qingmu was engrossed in a newly compiled history book. Shi Changying glanced over and saw the prominent title on the cover—
One Hundred and Eight Ways for Emperors to Die.
Seeing her look over, Song Qingmu said animatedly, "Senior Sister, this book is so interesting."
Shi Changying sat down by the window and asked perfunctorily, "What is it about?"
"Empress Taichu was struck to death by lightning, which has to be the most bizarre death in history," Song Qingmu continued with excitement. "That’s even more tragic than the emperor who was strangled to death by a palace maid. What was his name again?"
"Xuan Shizong," Shi Changying said expressionlessly. He was her biological grandfather.
"Right, right, Xuan Shizong." Song Qingmu remembered. "The emperors of the Xuan Dynasty all died in very unusual ways. Some drowned, some died from taking poisonous elixirs, but none of them compare to being struck by lightning!"
Shi Changying raised an eyebrow. "What about your idol?"
"My idol? Emperor Chengtian, of course." Song Qingmu stroked his chin. "The history books only say that he died of an illness at the age of twenty-eight, but they never specified what kind of illness."
Lu Mi rested her chin in her hands. "The medical standards two thousand years ago were definitely not high. Even a minor cold could have been fatal."
Other classmates chimed in. "If only our charming ancestors could have lived a few more years!"
"Sigh, if I could time-travel back, I’d carry ten kilograms of penicillin with me first!"
Shaoyuan gazed indifferently out the window, not participating in the lively discussion, as if he were completely out of place in this world.
He had indeed died of an illness, but the illness had come about very strangely. Even after being reborn, he still didn’t know why his body had rapidly deteriorated within just a single month in his past life. Even if the medical standards of that era were backwards, it shouldn’t have been impossible to find the cause. He also wondered why he had opened his eyes again, arriving in a world two thousand years later, and living for another eighteen years. Was it because even the heavens knew of the resentment in his heart?
Shaoyuan gently touched his left chest. The beating of his heart reminded him that he was alive.
After an unknown amount of time, a small fruit jelly suddenly appeared in front of him. Shaoyuan turned his head and narrowed his eyes, not intending to take it.
Shi Changying said lazily, "Today’s favorite."
Only then did Shaoyuan take it. "Love me that much?"
Hearing this, Song Qingmu shuddered, then glared at Lu Mi. He didn’t speak, but his eyes clearly screamed the message: "Look what you’ve done."
Lu Mi looked up at the ceiling in despair. As an expert at livening up the atmosphere, she used to do this kind of thing all the time, but she had never seen their young master remember it so clearly. How could she be blamed for this?
Shi Changying’s expression didn’t change. "You’re in a bad mood," she said slowly.
Shaoyuan’s gaze paused slightly. When he looked up again, his eyes held the sharpness of a ruler surveying his empire.
"I need you to explain these problems to me, so you can’t be in a bad mood." Shi Changying pushed her workbook toward him. "Come on, Young Master."
Having sat on the imperial throne for so long, Shaoyuan was accustomed to being obeyed. Wherever his gaze fell, people would bow in submission. Even with his closest officials, there was always an insurmountable distance between monarch and subject. Yet, the way she mimicked his tone to call him made him suddenly feel incredibly close to her. He indulged this junior from a later generation, and she pushed her luck in return, but surprisingly, he wasn’t annoyed.
Shaoyuan picked up his pen.
"Oh my god, oh my god, huge news!" someone suddenly shouted. "Brothers and sisters, some of you are about to get your hearts broken! Our master Xie Lin has a girlfriend!"
A chorus of wails immediately erupted in the classroom from both boys and girls.
"What’s going on?"
"Impossible, I don’t believe it! How old is our Little Xie anyway?"
"Isn’t it a bit much to call him Little Xie? That’s Brother Xie!"
"To be honest, I’m a mom fan."
Someone walked up to the podium, turned on the computer, pulled up the top headline of today’s entertainment section, and projected it onto the screen.
[EXPOSED! At 2:30 AM, Xie Lin secretly meets girlfriend on Jianghuai Thirteen Street!]
Thirteen Street was a very famous snack street in Jianghuai. It opened at 7:30 PM and stayed open until 4:00 AM. In the picture, the man was standing behind a girl as they waited together for fried skewers.
"Brother Xie eating fried skewers is so down-to-earth! But he’s got good taste—those are the best fried skewers on Thirteen Street."
"Sigh, and here I thought there would be intimate photos of them kissing. They’re just eating skewers."
Lu Mi curled her lip. "They can fabricate a whole novel from a single blurry photo. The media these days really has some nerve."
"Exactly! Besides, Xie Lin is already twenty-six. So what if he’s dating? But can anyone recognize who the girl in the photo is?" Song Qingmu zoomed in on the picture. "Is she the wealthy heiress of some family, or is she an industry insider?"
Shaoyuan cast a careless glance at it.
Shi Changying’s mind was solely focused on ranking first in her grade. "Stop looking and explain the problem."
Shaoyuan, however, put down his pen and leaned back in his chair. "Because I’m very curious as to how the young lady who claimed not to know Xie Lin last week suddenly became the girlfriend he was secretly meeting."
The classroom instantly fell dead silent.