Chapter 290

Everyone instinctively looked toward the sound.

Then they saw Youyou push the plate with the wo-si candy in front of Yuanxiao.

Fu Tingjun's brow grew colder by a few degrees.

"How can that Young Master Li be so wicked?" Yuanxiao said. "Don't the people in his family discipline him at all?"

The words were on the tip of Chunbing's tongue, but he swallowed them back down.

He couldn't help but lower his head.

"I'm not going," Youyou said. "Father isn't home, and my little brother and I are still young. Mother can't manage us all by herself." Not only was she not disappointed, she was even quite happy as she said, "We'll eat zongzi at home then."

Fifteen-year-old Aluo immediately went to push open the window lattice.

Back in the main hall, Third Cousin asked with concern, "What did Madam Li say when she came?"

She instructed Yuwei to put away the gifts, and instead of inviting Madam Li inside to sit, she stood under the eaves and said politely, "Have you had lunch yet? Would you like to have a bit more?"

"We had guests at home, so we started lunch a little earlier," Fu Tingjun said, making conversation as she once again invited her to stay for the midday meal.

This way, she could take Youyou to see the dragon boats, and she could bring Xige'er and Xu Ge'er along too—Youyou would definitely be thrilled!

"Something like that really happened?" Yuanxiao was greatly intrigued, urging Xige'er, "Hurry up and tell me about it!"

Yuanxiao rubbed his head.

This matter should of course be reported to the elders, who would then go negotiate with the neighbor's master... How could he have forgotten about that?

Li Shisan's face flushed bright red at the remark, and he defended himself, "You're the one being sneaky! I just didn't want to come with my mother..."

Aluo brought over pastries arranged in a crabapple-flower patterned box.

Fu Tingjun greeted the guests at the hanging-flower gate.

Chunbing grunted an "Mm" with a grim face and instructed Aluo, "Close the window!"

The wet nurse looked embarrassed.

Yuanxiao, however, said, "This tea tastes better than the big-bowl tea."

"Forget it," Fu Tingjun said. "Consider it as getting to know the family. Just be more careful when dealing with them in the future."

Youyou shot Li Shisan a fierce glare. Thinking of how Chunbing was always so composed that it was almost frightening, she couldn't help tugging at Chunbing's sleeve and said, "I don't want to talk to him..."

"Probably because their family is very rich," Xige'er said. "I heard Mother Zhou say that in their village, someone beat a person to death, and they just gave money to the family, and the family didn't sue them."

Xige'er jumped down from the kang: "What does he want to do? I'll go find Zheng San and knock him off with a single pole, see if he still dares to peek into our courtyard!"

His hand holding the almond pastry stiffened involuntarily.

Chunbing sighed helplessly.

He had always gone with his father. If he wanted to bring Youyou along, his father would have to agree first. If his father didn't agree, and he couldn't fulfill his promise, wouldn't that make him a man who broke his word?

Madam Li only then realized she had interrupted the Zhao family's lunch, and quickly said, "No, no. You go ahead and eat. I should be getting back as well." Then she explained, "I was in such a hurry to come and apologize to Madam Zhao that I didn't notice it was almost noon." With that, she looked at the sky and smiled, "Madam Zhao's family starts lunch quite early!"

This matter had started because of him, so Yuanxiao felt a bit embarrassed and muttered quietly, "I was just listening, that's all!" With that, he looked toward Youyou, hoping she would take his side.

Chunbing smiled and climbed onto the kang. Seeing that Xige'er was drinking honey water, he smiled and asked, "What kind of tea does Xige'er like to drink?"

Even so, everyone couldn't help but sigh over the matter for a while.

But then came his younger brother's loud voice: "Cousin Youyou, come with us! Father said that on the Dragon Boat Festival, he'll take me and big brother to the West Garden to watch the dragon boats. If I ask Father, he'll definitely agree..."

The wet nurse, blushing, carried Xu Ge'er: "I'll accompany the Second Young Master for his afternoon nap."

Chunbing gave Yuanxiao a flick on the head: "If you don't understand, don't talk nonsense."

Youyou curved her eyes into a smile, her lips parting as if to say something, when suddenly a "thump thump thump" sound rang out in the room.

Chunbing had never longed to be an adult as much as he did at this moment.

Chunbing noticed that there was still a calligraphy practice sheet spread out on the desk, held down by a paperweight, and walked over to take a look.

Chunbing chatted with Youyou: "Are you going to watch the dragon boats on the Dragon Boat Festival?"

Aluo turned back and smiled at Chunbing, then with a slight effort, pushed open the window lattice.

Chunbing was caught off guard by the question.

"What business is it of yours who I am?" Yuanxiao said. "Don't you have any manners? How dare you peek into someone else's courtyard..."

Was it just to seek peace and quiet?

Youyou hesitated: "Should we not tell Mother?"

Chunbing couldn't help sitting up straight, looking toward Youyou with some tension.

"The children are just playing around—Madam Li needn't take it to heart." Fu Tingjun declined repeatedly.

Youyou answered with a clear "Okay!" and ran off to the main house.

Fu Tingjun then asked Third Cousin to stay and help entertain Wang Tongjing. Third Cousin hadn't visited in a while, and having heard that Zhao Ling was about to be promoted again, she also wanted to ask about the details. Thinking that her husband would be off duty at five in the afternoon, she sent a servant to pass word to him to come for dinner in the evening and help keep A Sen company. The children, meanwhile, went off to Youyou's room in the west wing.

"All because of our Thirteenth Young Master," Madam Li said, her face full of apology. "Your eldest young lady was frightened." She gestured to the items behind her. "A small token of respect, I hope Lady Zhao will accept it."

Chunbing's eyes lit up at the sight.

"Very well!" Chunbing agreed with a smile. "Such fine tea must be rare—just wrap up a little for me."

Youyou asked with great concern, "Could he crawl over here?"

Was this any way to apologize?

Chunbing frowned slightly at the words and sharply interrupted the wet nurse, saying, "Bullying others through influence is no mark of a good person! Just like that Thirteenth Young Master Li. Don't imitate him. Otherwise, you'll become people like him too."

Youyou pouted in displeasure.

Youyou immediately ran over and hugged the calligraphy practice book to her chest, instructing the maid Aluo, "Put this away properly—we have guests in the house, and the desk is in a mess."

Youyou grabbed some pastries for Xu Ge'er, and only then did the wet nurse carry Xu Ge'er to the side room.

Yuanxiao also got down from the kang, but shouted at Li Shisan, "What do you think you're doing?"

Youyou moved the box of almond crisps over to Chunbing's side.

Youyou quickly called out to Aluo, "Go see what that noise is."

Li Shisan grew anxious. "Hey, you there! What business is it of yours? What right do you have to tell people to close the windows?" He then said to Youyou, "Hey! I came here to apologize to you. Being so rude—is that any way to treat a guest?"

Xu Ge'er was still young and had a wet nurse wherever he went. The wet nurse smiled and said, "The young cousin is blessed—how would he have heard of such things? That family was originally a family of officials..."

Aluo also found this Young Master Li utterly absurd, and without waiting for Li Shisan to finish speaking, she closed the window directly.

She discovered the noise was coming from the window lattice on the west side.

Aluo went at once.

Meanwhile, Yuanxiao and Xige'er had already climbed onto the kang and called Chunbing over for tea: "...It's Tieguanyin that Ninth Uncle brought back from Guizhou."

Fu Tingjun recounted the whole affair, and Third Cousin, A Sen, and Wang Tongjing all felt indignant: "How could they behave like that? No wonder their child is so ill-mannered!"

"No tea tastes good," said Xige'er. "I only like sugar water. But Master An says this tea is fine, so I'll have Shejiang brew some for you." He added, "Cousin, do you think it's good? If you like it, I'll have someone wrap some up for you to take home. You can also bring some for Third Uncle to taste."

Chunbing broke into a delighted smile.

Madam Li declined repeatedly, but when Yuwei brought out the return gifts prepared for the Li family, Fu Tingjun made no further attempt to keep her and escorted Madam Li out the main gate.

Yuanxiao couldn't help feeling a bit awkward.

Since he had come to apologize, the Thirteenth Young Master of the Li family who had deceived Youyou was nowhere to be seen. Was it because Madam Li couldn't control her son? Or was it that she doted on him too much and feared the others would give him cold looks, and so was unwilling to force him to accompany her to the Zhao residence? Whether it was the former or the latter, she felt Madam Li lacked sincerity. Seeing also that the Li family's gifts were quite lavish, she disapproved of Madam Li's way of using silk and brocade to make amends for wrongdoing. Inwardly she was glad that her previous acquaintance with the Li family had been merely nodding-level, and she felt that the Li family's way of doing things was entirely different from her own. She resolved to maintain a certain distance in the future, and her expression turned somewhat cool.

Li Shisan's voice was shut out.

Whether because her son hadn't come to apologize and she felt somewhat guilty, or because she sensed Fu Tingjun's cool demeanor, Madam Li seemed uneasy. She murmured, "No matter how you look at it, it was our Thirteenth's fault. You must accept these gifts, or my heart will never find peace."

"It won't happen," Chunbing said with certainty. "You and Yuanxiao go to Xu Ge'er's side room. I'll go request an audience with the neighbor's master right away..."

Then come with us...

Accompanying Madam Li were two maids and seven or eight elderly serving women—the maids carrying boxes of pastries, and the women bearing bolts of fine silks and satins of every kind.

Xige'er nodded repeatedly.

Li Shisan saw Yuanxiao and was taken aback for a moment, then said, "What relation are you to this family?"

Youyou, however, felt Chunbing made a good point and said, "Monkey see, monkey do. If you hear enough of it, you'll surely end up like Li Shisan too."

Chunbing called out behind her, "Be careful!"

But none of the Youyou group paid Chunbing any attention, too busy talking among themselves.

They saw Li Shisan with the young page who had come earlier, perched atop the neighboring wall, poking at their window lattice with a bamboo pole.

"If you knew anything about manners, you wouldn't have spent a fortune bribing the neighbor's servant to climb over the wall!" Chunbing retorted mercilessly. "If you truly want to apologize to my cousin, you should come through the front door with dignity, not sneak around like this, climbing onto the roof to poke at someone else's window!"

"Then—then I'll go tell Aunt!" he said, suddenly feeling a bit dejected.

Li Shisan paid Yuanxiao no attention at all, and directly addressed Youyou: "Hey, I didn't mean it! When I saw how well you shot with your slingshot, I wanted to get to know you... I didn't expect you to be a girl... And you, you could have just settled this privately with me, why did you have to bring the adults from your family into it... I was stuck between a rock and a hard place... To apologize to you, I spent a fortune bribing their servant..."

By the time A Sen rushed over, Li Shisan was long gone. The master of that household, however, had already found out which servant had let Li Shisan in... And that was no longer Fu Tingjun's concern.