"Daddy said that?"
"Exactly!"
Separated from the Minghaoyuan rockery and on the side of the corridor, Li Kuike was sitting in front of the writing desk. He was carefully teaching six-year-old Xianke how to write. When a maid told him something, he immediately stopped smiling and listened to the maid explain in detail.
He leaned on the railing and looked at the winter scenery in the garden. There were flowers and reed leaves on the rockery bank, and the remaining water in the pool was covered with ice. The colorful flowers in the garden had all fallen at this time, and the dead branches were standing alone in the sky.
For a moment, he held an engraved pen in his palm, and wrapped it around his little hand, which was as light as rice paper.
"Does he want to make the decision for his children? I do like some poems and songs, but if I don't enter the official career, the road to officialdom is as deep as the sea, and there will be some haze."
"My Lord wants Young Master to find a decent official position, and it is also for your own sake, Young Master."
"Students, everyone has his or her own ambitions. There is no need to force people to take scientific examinations and become officials."
"Yes, slave will be taught."
He waved the maid and left gently, and a few gusts of cool breeze sneaked into the room. Xianke, who was writing on the side, couldn't help but shiver: "Brother, it's such a cold day, why don't you come back? I haven't seen my sister for several days. , I miss you very much.”
The childish words of his childhood were all pure and innocent. He lowered his face and started writing. Suddenly he raised his head and looked at his brother. Kui Ke looked at the garden full of such a beautiful and desolate place. He couldn't help but feel sad and said: "I know you miss Qingya. I believe she will be back in a few days."
"Okay, I understand Xianke, big brother, today's reading time has come, I will leave first, and my brother will check it later."
"Okay, Xian'er will go first."
"yes!"
Xiao Xianke was meticulous and only focused on reading and writing. He held the thin Song-style calligraphy he had written in his hand and said goodbye lightly before the case.
He turned around to walk away, but before he saw Li Qingru striding in, he bumped into her. The wet ink was all printed on her skirt embroidered with white chrysanthemums.
She lowered her head and lifted up her underskirt, and immediately got angry and pushed him: "Do you really think you don't have eyes? Your bad pen and ink are all stuck on my clothes!"
"Third sister, it was an unintentional mistake!"
He immediately pulled a handkerchief from his sleeve to wipe it with her, but she put it away with her hand: "Get your dirty hands away, you two sisters are really a disaster!"
Hearing her rude words, Kuike slapped the table and stood up: "How do you speak, you don't look like a sister at all!"
"Is my brother obsessed now? He actually speaks for them and doesn't care about your sister at all. We are brothers and sisters from the same mother!" She brushed her sleeves and took small steps to Kuike's side, then turned to look at him. But he kept standing on the red corridor with his eyes lowered.
"That's all, I won't argue with you anymore, hurry up and leave!" She turned away.
He frowned with some guilt, raised his hands and nodded before retreating: "Then I'll resign first!"
"You should behave better on weekdays. We are all sisters and brothers. How can we act like enemies?"
"If you want me to have a good relationship with them, just wait until the next life!"
He suddenly turned around and glanced at her: "If you don't suffer from your temper in the future, I will change my surname."
After he said that, he shook his head and folded his hands under the case. She walked beside him and took the ink pen out of his hand.
"Brother doesn't love me at all now. He only cares about these three mothers!"
"I don't know what kind of ridiculous things you are saying, and I don't want to hear them."
He took the pen from her hand and lowered his head to continue writing, but she took the rice paper away again, with a bit of unwillingness in her eyes, and pouted.
"Brother, do you really know why my sister came to see you today?"
Kuike stepped back a step and settled beside the pear flower bench, glanced at it and flipped through the basket of vine flowers next to it.
"Brother, do you know that father actually wants to betroth me to Mr. Zhang from the west of the city?"
"Rubi maintains his dignity and has great ambitions. You promised him that he will not be wronged. Although the Zhang family is not as good as the Li family for the time being, he will make progress and take the scientific examination. If one day he is nominated for the gold medal, you will be the number one scholar. From now on Ordinary people would never dare to think about such blessings."
She sat down on the high chair and drank the tea, but it was difficult to swallow it.
"I don't want to marry into the Zhang family. No matter how hard he strives, Mr. Zhang is just an official. I don't understand why Qingya climbed up a high branch and wanted to marry into the Wangjue family and become the wife of the country. Can't I do it instead?" "
"You are so greedy. My cousin and Ya'er have been in love since childhood. You just think it's too late now!" Kuike yelled at her, turned around and walked under the curtain.
"It's all my fault, Daddy, who usually spoils me and gives all the good people to Qingya. Now she will be a first-class imperial concubine. Even if Daddy sees her, he has to bow his head and respect her. Do I really not have that fate? "
In the few words she said, her face turned red, and she brushed the silk to cover her plain face and sobbed. Kui Ke couldn't see her crying so often, so he yelled and explained the truth clearly.
"The royal family is not as beautiful as you think. My cousin has many concubines for the prince. Do you think your sister will live a good life after she joins the imperial family?"
"It would be better to choose Xu Yi, an ordinary lady who is an official, and live a down-to-earth life. Being the concubine of a king is the most humiliating thing. Not only does she live humbly, but she also has to go to the window every night to hope that the king will be lucky. I don't want to Live this kind of life Qingya."
"Those who can live such a life are fools. If I enter the government, I will have all the means to live a good life. Qing Ya is naturally stupid and doesn't know what to do."
"Don't read too much ancient Chinese literature and learn some of the dirty tricks of evil concubines and traitorous ministers."
"I don't care about this. Anyway, I can't marry worse than Qingya. I am the legitimate daughter of the Li family. I can't bow to her all my life."
He walked into her in two or three steps and pointed at her with some harsh words. She stared at the hand with the wrench, becoming more and more dissatisfied.
He stopped his hand and turned his back to her: "Do you think Qingya is stupid? Last time you and sister Xiaogao discussed the king in private. If she hadn't been smart enough to help you two, you would have lost your head a long time ago. Now it's over Cheap and good.”
After hearing this, she wanted to speak, but she thought about it for a while and swallowed her words.
"Qingya has her own thoughts. She understands that if she tells this matter, it will be a crime of disrespect, and the whole family may be implicated, so she would rather endure it by herself than say anything more. This is great wisdom."
"I……"
"Also, do you really think she is weak in normal times? When she becomes strong, she is as strong as a man. If she hadn't understood that blood with you is thicker than water, she wouldn't have given in to anyone else."
"How can she be as good as what my brother said? I don't understand why dad chose her. I have to discuss this matter with dad carefully and choose someone from a royal family for me. I, Li Qingru, will never settle for mediocrity."
She couldn't help but shake her head as she spoke, and the peach-colored hairpin in her hair was as clear and ethereal as the crisp sound of a warbler. Kuike had no choice but to roll a book under his arm and put the inkstone on the writing desk away.
"It's really hopeless, so I'll go to your sister-in-law's room and you can do whatever you want."
He could no longer listen to Qingru's negative words, and he couldn't stand her way of doing things, so he found an excuse and walked away.
"Brother, you don't care about me now! Just tell me what I should do?"
He sighed softly, then flicked his sleeves and closed the curtains, rushed out the door, and replied: "You can do whatever you want. I advise you not to listen. What should I do? You can go find your father by yourself!"
She became more and more dissatisfied, looking at her brother's retreating figure, two rays of light shuttled between the carved embroidered railings in the garden, and a strong winter wind under the curtain actually blew ice through her body.
"No, I'm going to find daddy," she immediately left for Sa Xuan, and Liu Ziqian's shadow disappeared in the corner of the corridor.
"Daddy, daddy!" This is what she chirped after entering the house.
Li Shizheng was sitting cross-legged on the sofa in Weilan Garden, reading a book. There was a glaze vase on a small table beside him, with a bouquet of green plums inserted in the vase.
Not far away, among the thin veil, the sleeping posture of Wugu Lun Gongren could be vaguely seen. The slightly bulging abdomen became the concern of the whole family.
"Shh, Ru'er, please lower your voice!" He looked behind the thin curtain.
"Dad, I don't want to marry Mr. Zhang!" She still kept her loud voice.
"Keep your voice down, hey!" He put down his legs and quickly pulled her to the outer room.
She let go of her father's hand, sat down on the chair, and threw a few porcelain cups to the ground, breaking them into pieces.
He quickly sat next to her and held her cheeks: "What's wrong, Ru'er, why are you so angry?"
He looked at his beloved daughter with loving eyes and wished he could hold her in his hands.
"Dad, my daughter doesn't want to marry Mr. Zhang. My daughter wants to marry the Wang family."
He gestured, held her soft hands, and quickly waved to the maid to bring the soup.
"Why don't you want to? Mr. Zhang will be the top scholar in high school in the future! You will be the top scholar's wife in the future. What a decent marriage."
She curled her lips, her eyes filled with tears, turned her head and put her hands between her knees, shaking her head uncontrollably.
"No, I just don't want it. Daddy has chosen such a good family for Qingya, why can't he also choose a prince for me? Why does my cousin only like her? She is not as good as me in appearance."
Li Shi's heart softened when he saw her cute appearance, and he quickly chuckled and sat upright.
"Daddy, why are you laughing?" she asked.
"It's because of this. How can you compare with her? You are the apple of my eye, so I will choose a solid marriage for you."
"Did dad dedicate Qingya to my cousin?"
"My son is smart, that's why."
"Dad, do you hate your second sister so much?" she asked again with her eyes wide open.
After hearing this, he thought thoughtfully and stopped spinning the cup in his hand.
"I have never hated her, but for the sake of a family, something must be sacrificed, and I have to offer her."
"Isn't Qingya really her father's child?" she asked after thinking for a long time.
He waited for a long time before turning around and replying to her: "What nonsense are you talking about? Qingya is naturally my child."
"I heard Cuitao say that Qingya is not daddy's biological daughter, but the eldest lady's bastard."
"It's so ridiculous, so ridiculous!" He looked at her eyes in a very calm manner.
"I don't care if it's ridiculous or not, dad just choose someone else! Please dad!"
She spoke a few words, cried and made a fuss, and a clear spring rushed out from her eyes. When the pear blossoms were raining, Li Shi couldn't bear it, so he quickly patted the back of her hand to calm her down.
"Okay, daddy will look for you slowly."
When he saw his beloved daughter's brows relax, he felt a little relieved. The deep father's love was locked in her heart, keeping her safe.
