"Goodness, is this really our young master? I've never seen him eat so heartily!" a maid whispered in surprise.
"I told you the princess consort had a way! She even cured the young master's picky - eating problem," another maid covered her mouth and giggled, her eyes full of admiration.
"That's right. These past few days, the young master doesn't pester to go out and play anymore, and he sleeps much more soundly. If it were before, keeping him in the room for two days would have made him noisy enough to blow the roof off!" the third maid shook her head and sighed.
"The young master seems like a completely different person..."
The maids huddled together, whispering, their eyes filled with surprise and curiosity.
Qinglan walked under the eaves. Hearing the maids' soft chatter, the corners of her mouth couldn't help but curl up slightly.
— It has to be my cousin - in - law! In just five days since she got married into the mansion, she's already won over most of the maids!
Qinglan suppressed the smile on her lips and walked into the room. She gently placed the sour bamboo shoot and duck soup on the table, then leaned over and whispered in Li Wanming's ear, "He's already back... Does the princess consort want to go and take a look?"
Li Wanming raised her eyebrows slightly, nodded gently without saying a word, then got up to serve Xiao Jingbai a bowl of soup.
"This soup is most refreshing and appetizing. It strengthens the tendons and nourishes the spleen. Drink more. Also, you need to memorize the books Mr. Pei taught today. He'll test you tomorrow. After you finish eating, go and review your books."
Xiao Jingbai's eyes twitched slightly, his lips moved, but he said nothing and just silently lowered his head to drink the soup.
After all, he was still a child. Even though he'd been educated by Pei Yanqi and Li Wanming and had made up his mind to study hard, the playful and active nature in his bones hadn't been completely tamed.
However, in these past few days, he'd finally understood one thing: it was useless to resist Pei Yanqi and Li Wanming!
These two people were both iron - faced and merciless, and fearless. They simply didn't buy into his status as the second young master of the Ningwang Mansion!
So when dealing with these two, it was best for him to be obedient. If he was proactive, obedient, and cooperative, he might suffer less.
As for the others...
Xiao Jingbai thought of Nanny Chen and couldn't help but let out a disdainful snort in his heart: Even I've been defeated. Do you think you can fight them?
How ignorant! You're in for a world of pain...
Last night, Nanny Chen had sneaked in to find him and vowed that he shouldn't worry. She said that she'd go to Guiyuan Temple early this morning to find the second madam and ask her to come back and punish Li Wanming to avenge him!
Xiao Jingbai sneered disdainfully and said, "Nanny, if you want to go, go ahead. Just make sure that when the blood is shed in the future, it doesn't involve me!"
After a day of experience, he'd completely figured it out: going against Pei Yanqi and Li Wanming would definitely end badly.
But Nanny Chen was stubborn and still deluded herself into thinking she could fight.
Well, go ahead then...
As he'd said, just make sure it doesn't involve me when the blood is shed.
...
The remaining water on the eaves was still dripping, making a crisp sound on the bluestone slabs.
Li Wanming stood at the second gate, covering her mouth with a handkerchief and chuckling, "Oh, isn't this Nanny Chen? Where have you been? Why do you look so disheveled?"
The old woman in front of her was covered in dirty mud. Her whole body was soaking wet, and even her head and hands were smeared with wet yellow mud from who - knows - where, making it hard to see her face clearly.
She seemed to have fallen. Her sleeve was torn, and there was a two - foot - long rip in her skirt. She walked with a limp.
"This old servant... This old servant wanted to buy some newly - arrived silk for the princess consort, but... who would have thought that on the way, the carriage axle broke, and this old servant accidentally fell out..."
Nanny Chen forced a smile, stuttering and sounding guilty.
"Really?" Li Wanming covered her lips and laughed, "I wonder which silk shop it is that made you go out so early in the morning and come back so late. Also, I remember there's no yellow mud in the city. Did you go out of the city on purpose to buy silk for me?"
Nanny Chen stammered for a long time but couldn't say a complete sentence. Her face flushed.
Li Wanming laughed a few times and said, "Qinglan, ask the kitchen to boil some hot water for Nanny Chen to take a good bath. She's getting old. Don't let her catch a cold. Also, invite a doctor to take a look at Nanny Chen. An old person can't take such a fall."
As she said this, she couldn't help but cover her mouth and giggle, making Nanny Chen even more embarrassed, wishing she could find a hole to crawl into.
After Qinglan took Nanny Chen away, Li Wanming also turned around and walked towards the Shiyongzhai.
On the way, Chuntao whispered in her ear, "I heard that just three miles outside the city, the axle of her carriage broke, and she landed on her backside! She limped back from outside the city in the heavy rain by herself..."
"No wonder she came back so late," Li Wanming nodded, "I was just thinking that just going out of the city shouldn't take a whole day."
"General Gao said that if they were going to teach her a lesson, they'd give her a big one! Let her learn her lesson and stop trying to cause trouble for our princess consort," Chuntao said admiringly, "General Gao is really amazing! He said the axle would break three miles outside the city, and it really did!"
"General Gao is from the Black - Armored Elite Cavalry, the elite of the mansion's soldiers. He must have good aim," Li Wanming smiled and sighed, "But it's really a pity to ask a general to do such sneaky things."
"Don't worry!" Chuntao said with a grin, "General Gao said that before the prince left, he told them to follow the princess consort's orders. So whatever the princess consort asks them to do, they'll do it without a single complaint!"
...
After five days of classes, Xiao Jingbai was completely obedient.
Pei Yanqi was extremely knowledgeable. He was good at playing the qin and excellent at archery and horsemanship. He specially took Xiao Jingbai to Liuyuan to ride horses and shoot arrows during the day off. In just one day, Xiao Jingbai's riding skills improved a lot.
Xiao Jingbai was overjoyed.
Judging from this situation, in a few months' time at the capital's polo tournament, he would surely make a splash and "defeat" those playboys who had laughed at him as a weakling, avenging his previous humiliation!
Ha, this was much more interesting than cock - fighting.
However, while he was satisfied, Li Wanming was a bit dissatisfied —
She had invited Pei Yanqi to be Xiao Jingbai's teacher so that she could win over Xiao Jingbai, not for Pei Yanqi to do it!
Now that the teacher and student got along so well and were happy together, where did that leave her?
She couldn't possibly have to ask Pei Yanqi every time she wanted Xiao Jingbai to do something for her in the mansion...
Tsk tsk.
Just thinking of Pei Yanqi's miserly face, Li Wanming felt a twinge of toothache.