Not long after, four bowls of plum juice chilled in the ice cooler were served.
The bright red liquid was held in fine white screen-glazed porcelain bowls with a smooth and lustrous glaze. The ice cubes clinked against the bowls, and a faint white mist rose in the early summer heat.
Xiao Jingbai took a couple of sips of the plum juice but still didn't eat properly.
He kept complaining, saying it was too hot one moment, not sweet enough the next, and then that there weren't enough ice cubes.
Madam Kang no longer had the time to deal with Li Wanming. She was extremely patient with her son. She told the maids to fan him and sent Nanny Chen to fetch sugar and ice cubes.
In short, she gave him whatever he wanted.
The meal was a complete mess.
When Li Wanming put down her bowl, she couldn't help but rub her stomach.
— If she had to eat like this three times a day, she'd develop a stomachache in no time.
It was quite strange. Madam Kang seemed to be a person who paid great attention to etiquette. When facing Li Wanming, even when she was extremely angry, she still maintained her elegant and virtuous demeanor and never lost her composure.
However, in front of Xiao Jingbai, she became a doting mother. All her previous scheming and tactics disappeared, and she was completely under the control of her unruly son.
Alas, a doting mother often spoils her child...
Li Wanming sighed over the rim of her bowl. If Madam Kang had spent even half the energy she used to fight with her on her son, Xiao Jingbai wouldn't have turned out like this.
After Madam Kang coaxed him gently for a while, Xiao Jingbai finally managed to eat half a small bowl of rice.
After the meal, she told the maids to come and wash Xiao Jingbai's hands. Then she said to Xiao Yingchu, "The new tutor will come this afternoon. You go with Jingbai and watch him. Make sure he doesn't cause any more trouble."
Xiao Yingchu's face turned pale. She clearly didn't want to, but she still bit her lip and agreed.
Seeing his sister like this, Xiao Jingbai sneered, kicked the stool away, and swaggered off.
After what had happened in the morning, Madam Kang naturally didn't have the patience to keep Li Wanming for tea. Li Wanming was also sensible enough to bid farewell and walked towards Shiyongzhai.
As she passed the flower arch, she heard voices arguing behind the rockery.
"You can't go out. Mother said the tutor is coming this afternoon..."
"Get out of my way! If you keep blocking me, don't blame me for being rude!"
"Come with me to the study..."
"I'm not going! Those old pedants keep rambling on and on. It's so annoying! Get out of my way quickly, or I'll hit you!"
There were sounds of scuffling behind the rockery. Li Wanming peeked through a crack in the rock and saw Xiao Yingchu grabbing Xiao Jingbai's wrist, trying to drag him back to the west courtyard.
But how could a frail girl pull a young boy of eleven or twelve years old?
After this struggle, she not only failed to move Xiao Jingbai but also got herself out of breath.
Finally, Xiao Jingbai got angry and shouted, "Who do you think you are? How dare you try to control me? Mother said that I'll be the heir and become a prince in the future! If you keep bothering me, I'll marry you off to a lame leper in the gambling house. He'll beat you every day!"
"Oh? I didn't know that it was Second Aunt who decided who would become the prince of the Ningwang Mansion..."
Li Wanming slowly walked out from behind the trees. The dappled sunlight filtered through the willow leaves, casting tiny shadows on her face. There was a smile on her lips, but there was a cold glint in her eyes.
Xiao Yingchu was so scared that her face turned deathly pale. She quickly said, "Sister-in-law, he's just a child talking nonsense. Please don't take it to heart."
"Of course I won't take it to heart."
Li Wanming said calmly, "But words may be spoken thoughtlessly, but they may be heard seriously. If you let him talk nonsense in broad daylight like this, who knows if someone with ulterior motives will overhear? If it gets reported to the prince or even to the palace, Second Uncle might be accused of coveting the prince's throne."
Xiao Yingchu knew she was right. She quickly pleaded, "It's all my fault. I was in a hurry to drag him to the study to wait for the tutor, and that's why I made him angry and he said these nonsense words!"
Li Wanming raised one eyebrow slightly: "I remember it was Second Aunt's order for him to go to the study to wait for the new tutor. So, Cousin Yingchu, what's your fault?"
"I..." Xiao Yingchu stared blankly at Li Wanming, not understanding the meaning behind her words for a moment.
Li Wanming walked to the side and gently stroked the thin and tough willow branches hanging down from the rockery with her slender fingertips.
"I've always said that children can't be spoiled. Just like jade needs to be carved, they need to be disciplined from time to time so that they know what etiquette and rules are."
As she spoke, she tightened her grip on the willow branch, and it instantly straightened.
Xiao Jingbai's eyes widened in horror: "You... you dare!" He instinctively covered his buttocks.
Li Wanming tightened the willow branch little by little, looking at him with a half-smile: "I'm your sister-in-law now and the mistress of the Ningwang Mansion. What can't I do? And I heard that..."
She looked at the green and tough branch in her hand, and the smile on her lips became sweeter: "When you beat someone with a willow branch, the wound is thin and narrow. Although it doesn't bleed, it hurts much more than being beaten with a rattan or a thorn!"
Xiao Jingbai was so scared that he let out a scream and ran towards the study in the west courtyard. He shouted while running, "You bad woman, just wait for me!"
Xiao Yingchu stood there stunned for a while before remembering to bow to Li Wanming: "Th... thank you, sister-in-law."
Li Wanming loosened the willow branch in her hand: "You don't need to thank me. It's my responsibility as the mistress of the mansion to discipline this unruly cousin. After all, family harmony leads to all things prospering. It won't look good if there's a spoiled and arrogant playboy in the family."
These words made Xiao Yingchu's face turn red and then pale.
Li Wanming dusted off the catkins on her cuffs and casually asked, "It seemed from what Second Aunt said during lunch today that Jingbai has already had quite a few tutors?"
"Yes..." Xiao Yingchu lowered her head and twisted her handkerchief with her fingers. "Jingbai is naughty and doesn't like reading. The tutors he's had always get teased by him... and they all leave in anger."
"You don't like reading..."
That's great!
Li Wanming raised her eyebrows slightly, and a sly look flashed in her eyes.
She had come up with a great idea.
Xiao Jingbai was Madam Kang's darling. If she wanted to defeat Madam Kang, perhaps this playboy was the best breakthrough point.
As long as she could subdue Xiao Jingbai, Madam Kang would be in her hands.
"Where did they hire today's tutor from?" Li Wanming asked thoughtfully.
Xiao Yingchu lowered her head and replied, "I heard from my mother that he used to be a tutor in the Xu family's private school. He passed the imperial examination in the nineteenth year of the previous emperor's reign."
Hearing this, Li Wanming couldn't help but curl the corners of her lips.
Although a Jinshi was a highly accomplished scholar, he might not be able to subdue this little devil.