Chapter 148: Chapter 61: Yuehuan Borrows a Book_3
From these signs, one could infer that this was a person of great intelligence who also possessed the ability to endure hardship and strive forward. Such people were better not crossed if possible. Because of this thought, Yueyao’s attitude toward Yuehuan had become somewhat more favorable than before.
Setting aside the suspicions of whether the Third Young Lady was reborn, Yuehuan believed that this Third Young Lady was still worth getting close to. Theoretically, she had two sisters, but the Eldest Miss always carried the air of an elder sister, and she was somewhat pedantic, always ready to lecture her, which was very annoying; the Second Young Lady, seeing herself as the Legitimate Daughter, never regarded her, a daughter born of a concubine, with any significance. Only this cousin from another room, although appearing aloof and unapproachable, seemed to be a genuinely nice person.
After speaking for a while, Yuehuan finally revealed her purpose here—she had come to borrow books.
Yueyao was somewhat surprised, “You’re saying you want to borrow books?” Yueyao had guessed that Yuehuan had come here for a reason, but never expected that it was to borrow books.
Yuehuan nodded, “Yes, I want to learn more. Auntie mentioned that you have a lot of books here, so I thought of borrowing a couple, if that’s possible?” Yuehuan had recognized quite a few characters over the past month and now urgently needed to understand the societal conditions. Arriving here, she felt a sense of disruption because they had glass, soap, clocks, and even thermometers. She suspected that Emperor Yingzong was a transmigrator, but was unclear to what extent this transmigrator had advanced society. She had asked Maternal Aunt Su, but as a Maid, she wasn’t much aware of external affairs. The best way to understand these things naturally came from books, which also had the advantage of not exposing her.
Yueyao smiled and said, “Why not? Books are meant to be used. However, younger sister, there is one thing I must clarify upfront: books borrowed must be returned in the same condition they were lent out. If there is any damage, even just a small corner, I won’t lend you books again.” The books in Lanxi Courtyard were meticulously preserved across thousands of volumes.
Hearing Yueyao’s easy agreement, Yuehuan was overjoyed, “Rest assured, I will take good care of them.” She thought it would be quite troublesome to borrow books, but it turned out to be so easy. Had she known, she would have come to borrow books sooner and wouldn’t have had to guess blindly for so long.
Yueyao then led Yuehuan to the study.
The layout and arrangement of Yuehuan’s courtyard were very nice, but it had one drawback—there was no private study. Later on, Yuehuan found it inconvenient and converted a side room into a study, though the lighting there wasn’t very good.
Yuehuan followed Yueyao into the study, felt a bit envious seeing the bright and spacious room. But when she saw the shelves full of books, her envy was quickly replaced by excitement, and her eyes lit up.
Yueyao had already classified these books. If one wanted to find something, it was very quick with the catalog, “Find whatever book you want yourself.”
Yuehuan searched for a long time and finally found the book she wanted. The only regret was that there was no geological map. With a geological map, she could have known the boundaries and place names of this dynasty, and from that, she might have guessed whether it was similar to the known historical periods. Nevertheless, being able to borrow this book was still quite good, “Thank you, Third Sister.” This gratitude came from the bottom of her heart.
Yueyao chuckled lightly, “These books all belong to the Lian family. There’s no need to thank me for using one’s own family property.” Though most of these books had been purchased by her father, the ownership still belonged to the Lian family, not to her. Even if Tingzheng were to separate from the family later on, it was impossible to take all the books with him.