Looking up, Pei Yanqi met Li Wanming's shocked face.
"Sorry..."
She mouthed the words.
She hadn't expected to hit him so accurately.
Pei Yanqi was boiling with anger!
It was this woman again!
What did she want to do?
Did she want to murder her ex-fiancé?
Not only had she abandoned him on their wedding day, but now she had come to disrupt his victory parade?
Did he owe her in his previous life?
He really wanted to rush up and scold her severely!
However, he couldn't.
He was the top scholar, and he was on a victory parade.
He had to keep smiling and maintain his poise.
If the newly crowned top scholar were to rush into a restaurant and beat up a married woman on the day of his victory parade, he would surely become the biggest laughingstock in the Great Sheng Dynasty and truly go down in history!
Having thought this through, Top Scholar Pei let out a silent groan in his heart. He could only continue walking straight ahead, head held high, as if he didn't know Li Wanming, and slowly passed by the Muyun Tower.
Li Wanming finally let out a sigh of relief.
During this short period, her heart had been like a pendulum, swinging up and down.
Thankfully, Guo Xinyue finally stopped paying attention to her.
The half-envious and half-suspicious looks that had been glued to her were also withdrawn, replaced by a series of sarcastic remarks.
"I said so. How could Top Scholar Pei know her?"
"Maybe she's the one pining after Top Scholar Pei..."
"Haha, she caught a husband like that in the 'husband-hunting under the list'. No wonder she has such thoughts."
"To be fair, her husband is quite good-looking. He might even be better-looking than Top Scholar Pei..."
"What's the use of a good-looking man? Isn't he just a poor man?"
...
Xiao Jingnan leaned back against the chair and let out a long sigh. "It seems this Top Scholar Pei has a rather poor memory... How boring, so boring."
"Really? I find it quite interesting!"
Li Wanming kicked him hard under the table.
"It seems someone has been living too comfortably recently. Their tail is about to stick up to the sky!"
——————————
Li Wanming almost dragged Xiao Jingnan back to the Pingkang Fang.
She must teach this man a good lesson today and let him understand the family status of the benefactor!
After sending the Princess of Ning back to the Qinghui Hall, Li Wanming was just about to speak with a murderous look on her face when she heard a fierce argument coming from the next courtyard before she could say anything.
"What's wrong with it? This is how we wash clothes!"
It was the voice of Aunt Liu, the maid she had brought.
She and Xiao Jingnan walked over and saw Aunt Liu standing in the middle with her sleeves rolled up, scolding loudly with an angry face.
There were several large basins beside her feet, filled with clothes.
"Do you really think you're a young lady from a wealthy family? Can't even wash clothes?"
"You still want hot water... Who uses hot water to wash clothes? Doesn't it take firewood to heat water? Doesn't it cost silver? You really don't know the hardship of running a household!"
"If you're so delicate, don't live in the Pingkang Fang! Go live in the imperial palace or a prince's mansion!"
"Aunt Song and I have always washed clothes with cold water. I haven't seen anyone's hand break!"
Opposite Aunt Liu stood two maids of the Princess of Ning, Caiwei and Qinglan - Li Wanming had seen them in the Qinghui Hall before.
Caiwei was fiery-tempered. She put her hands on her hips and shouted back at Aunt Liu. "Why don't you understand? I've said that the lady's clothes can't be washed with cold water. They need to be soaked in warm water..."
"Oh, so you're a 'lady' now!"
Aunt Liu squinted at her. "Those who don't know might think you're some high-ranking noblewoman! Aren't you just a down-and-out family from Langya? A few shabby linen clothes, making them sound so precious!"
After saying that, she snatched the clothes from Caiwei's hand and threw them into the basin forcefully. "I've used cold water. So what?"
"You..."
Caiwei was so angry that she trembled all over.
"Enough."
Xiao Jingnan spoke up to interrupt them.
When they saw him come in, Caiwei and Qinglan immediately looked aggrieved.
Qinglan explained in a soft voice. "The lady's clothes are made of Yunying silk. Once they're washed with cold water, they'll turn gray and harden. We just wanted her to heat some water..."
There were tears in her eyes, looking as if she had suffered a great injustice.
But in fact, not only did she and Caiwei refuse to do any work, but they also brought all the family's clothes for Aunt Liu to wash!
They were both first-class maids in the Prince of Ning's Mansion. Usually, they were more dignified than ordinary young ladies. They were reluctant to come to this poor place this time. They just didn't dare to say anything because they knew it was not easy for their young master to get married.
Unexpectedly, this rough maid with a fleshy face actually dared to really ask them to wash clothes!
Their hands were specially taken care of with rose juice and were very delicate. How could they do such rough work?
A servant dared to order them around?
This maid really didn't know her own place!
When Aunt Liu saw Li Wanming, she immediately pulled her and kept talking.
"Third Miss, it's not that this old servant is being difficult. It's them who are too excessive!"
"This one says we can't use water, and that one says we can't use soap pods. They even asked us to find some soap made of musk and rub it slowly bit by bit... This old servant has washed countless clothes in the Li family and has never heard of such requirements!"
"I asked them to wash with us, but they refused. They also said that washing clothes is the work of low-class people and should be done by lowly maids like Aunt Song and me..."
"Aunt Song and I have been in the Li family for so long and have never been bullied like this."
"If it weren't for being afraid that no one would take care of you here, we would have gone back to the Li family today..."
As she spoke, Aunt Liu also started to cry.
Li Wanming saw the several basins of clothes beside Aunt Liu's feet and understood everything.
Aunt Liu and Aunt Song were the people she had brought. Caiwei and Qinglan were deliberately embarrassing her and giving her a warning.
Li Wanming didn't say anything. She just walked over silently, squatted down, and started to wash the clothes in the basin.
Aunt Liu panicked. "Third Miss, how can we let you do this..."
"Why not? Before Father was promoted, didn't the three of us sisters do all the housework at home?"
At that time, Li Rusong and his wife were both busy and didn't have time to take care of them. Elder Sister Li Wanxin cooked and planted vegetables, and she and Second Sister helped on the side.
They had done a lot of work, such as starting a fire, washing clothes, and sweeping the floor.
She looked up with a smile on her face. "Two cousins, if you don't want to wash your clothes in the future, just send them to the Luoxue Studio. My husband and I will wash them for you, okay?"
Caiwei and Qinglan were stunned and looked at Xiao Jingnan in a daze.
Li Wanming also looked over and said with a smile. "Husband, from now on, we'll do all the work, such as making the bed, folding the quilt, sweeping the floor, cooking, and cleaning the yard. We'll take good care of the two cousins, okay?"
Xiao Jingnan was silent for a moment and then nodded happily. "Okay."
He also walked over, squatted down, and started to wash the clothes in the basin.
Caiwei and Qinglan were startled and rushed over in a hurry.
"Sir... Cousin, let us do it..."
But Li Wanming's face suddenly turned cold. She shook the water off her hands, stood up, and said, "How dare we trouble the two cousin ladies to do this? Chuntao, go and get two chairs. Let the cousin ladies sit on one side and watch!"
"Since washing clothes is the work of low-class people, my husband is the son of a farmer and his family is poor. I suppose he's not a high-class person either."
"It's only right for a low-class person to wash clothes for the two noble cousins. What's wrong with that?"
"The two cousin ladies can just watch from the side. If he doesn't wash a single piece of clothing to your satisfaction, just ask him to wash them all over again!"
Caiwei and Qinglan were almost scared out of their wits!
How many heads did they have to dare to let the young master wash clothes for them?
If Nanny Yu found out about this, wouldn't she break their legs?
The two of them were so anxious that they were about to cry, but they were firmly held back by Chuntao. "What are you doing, cousin ladies? Our young lady said that you two should watch from the side..."