At the Qiong Pavilion.
It was the early stage of autumn and the day was getting cool. A breeze brushed by every now and then.
The fruit wine had been finished, and Chaoyan had been practising calligraphy these two days. She had been a very excellent calligrapher in her previous life, but even if that was the case, she still needed to do some practise for the examination for Saint College, which she considered as something extremely important.
Only by proving her own abilities would she be confident enough to stand by Zhou Huaijin’s side.
When Qing served her the tea, she almost got shocked. Gu Chaoyan was dressed in a set of plain-colored blouses with her hair casually tied up and some sporadic hair hanging down. Then she saw the characters on the paper...
Those characters were very distinguished, totally different from those written by other elegant ladies. Gu Chaoyan’s style of writing was sharp, wild and gave out an intimidating air.
Qing felt a little dizzy.
This woman looked like her lady, but did not seem to be her lady at all.
Then came Sword One’s voice. “Miss.”
Only at this moment did Qing come back to herself, and she almost upset her tray. She put the tray upon the table and said, “Miss, have some tea, please.”
Gu Chaoyan replied with a small nod. Instead of putting down the brush, she continued to finish her work.
Sword One came to the window directly and craned her neck, as she said, “Miss, the Young Master from the Zhang Family is here and he can’t be driven away. Should I beat him up directly?”
Sword One did not have the intention of leading him to Miss. None of those from the Zhang Family were good people, especially the Young Master who seemed to be up to something.
Gu Chaoyan frowned slightly as the Young Master of the Zhang Family was mentioned. He was someone from Mrs. Gu’s family. What was he doing here?
She did not mind giving him a hand, if he was out there trying to set up Mrs. Gu.
She got a little furious about how Gu Zhenkang talked of the dowries. She suddenly got the urge to play some tricks upon Mrs. Gu.
She put down the pen in her hands. Then she said as she walked past the white-jade kettle on the table. “Qing, bring the tea to the yard. We shall have some tea there.”
Then she walked out.
Sword One was shocked. What was Miss thinking? Why did she want to meet that filthy man?
She stomped her feet and followed.
Zhang Mingyuan was alone, after all. He was seated in the yard with a posture that he considered as cool. The moment he saw Gu Chaoyan coming towards him, he looked very pleased, thinking that the girl was just pretending when she said that she was not seeing him.
A divorced woman would definitely accept any Young Master who came to her door, he thought.
Zhang Mingyuan did not show any passion, but said politely to Gu Chaoyan as she took the seat. “Greetings, Elder Miss.”
Then he looked up only to see that Gu Chaoyan was not staring at him, but pouring herself a cup of tea, sipping from the cup calmly.
Zhang Mingyuan felt a bit displeased. Did he put on the cool posture in vain just now?
He was about to say something when Gu Chaoyan put down the teacup and asked calmly, “What is it?”
Zhang Mingyuan gave out a light cough. He withdrew the look of embarrassment and said, “I have been taking a walk around the mansion when I accidentally came to this place. I remembered that it was Elder Miss’s yard and you are also participating in the entrance examination for Saint College, aren’t you? I am not a very talented person, but I grew up as a participant in the academy. Please do tell me if there is anything I can do to help you, Elder Miss.”
Gu Chaoyan sized up Zhang Mingyuan.