Chapter 58 This Time I Caught
Su Qing nodded. The girl came up and took Su Qing's hand and whispered, "Thank goodness you're here. I was going crazy. You can't mess with any of these people."
Su Qing glanced at the children in the room. In addition to Master Lang and his two brothers, there were three boys and two girls.
Lang Ge looked at Su Qing coming in with his eyes wide open. He didn't know why his mother didn't let him listen to stories. He was angry for a few days at first, but later, when he saw it was useless, he stopped mentioning it.
Seeing Su Qing happily coming to hold her hand, she turned around and said to a little boy about his age, "I didn't lie to you. She is Su Qing. The stories I told were all told by her. If you don't believe me, you can listen to them."
Several children stopped what they were doing and looked at her eagerly. Su Qing smiled and said, "Do you want to hear a story?"
The children nodded.
"Well, before listening to the story, let your servants wash you properly, okay?"
Brother Lang was the first to say yes, and the rest followed suit. The people serving in the room breathed a sigh of relief, and the girl just now asked what needed to be prepared?
Su Qing looked at the toys and snacks scattered all over the room and asked, "Can we find a relatively quiet and clean room?"
"Let's go to the back seat at the gate. The two young masters like to paint there on weekdays."
Su Qing nodded, and the maid led Su Qing out while instructing others. Going around the screen wall of the hanging flower gate of Canglang Courtyard and walking to the right, it was the second room. There were a few small round stools carved from tree roots at the door.
Pushing open the door, there is a room of moderate size with a suite. In the middle is a large rosewood desk with a pile of famous calligraphy works and several inkstones on it. Pen holders of different materials are placed on the right side of the desk. On the side of the desk near the door is a huge Ru kiln vase filled with various scrolls. On the other side is a row of bookshelves that go all the way to the roof and are filled with all kinds of books.
After a while, the servants brought in several braziers, and the room gradually became warmer. The young masters and young ladies came in again.
Looking at the curious little faces, Su Qing thought to herself, what should I tell you? It has been a long time since I told Brother Lang a story, and it is really hard to think of those that are both educational and entertaining, especially since I was asked to do it at the last minute.
"Su Qing, can you tell us the story of Monkey King?" Brother Lang said first.
Su Qing had thought of it just now, but Jiang Shi didn't allow her to tell Lang Ge. Who knows if there are any young masters and young ladies with more noble status among them who will make the same mistake again.
"Can I tell you a story about Yugong moving the mountains?" Su Qing thought of the story she wanted to tell at the autumn banquet, but later gave up because she was afraid that the young ladies would find it boring. Now she can tell it to these children. The key is to have a profound meaning, and then incorporate Jingwei filling the sea into it.
After waiting for all the young masters to sit in a row, Su Qing sat on the embroidery stool and slowly began to speak.
"They move so slowly, they only go once a year. When will it be leveled?" asked Brother Lang.
"Yes, Master Lang's idea is the same as that of one of Yugong's neighbors! On the river bend of Beishan, there is a wise old man who ridiculed Yugong and stopped him from doing this, saying: 'You are too stupid! With your age and remaining strength, you can't even damage a blade of grass on the mountain, so what can you do to the soil and rocks on these two mountains?'"
"Have the birds come to help too? But they can only throw one stone at a time. Will they fall halfway through the flight?" a little girl asked softly.
Su Qing patiently answered the children's questions while talking. At the end, Brother Lang said with a smile, "Oh, I was wondering, how could an old man move the mountain? So this is how it is."
"Even though it was the gods who helped, if he didn't move the gods, would they come to help?"
"No." said Yue Ge'er.
"Yes, so it was Yugong's perseverance that moved the gods. I believe that even without the help of the gods, Yugong would definitely continue according to his ideas, don't you think?"
The children all nodded, "This story tells us that no matter what we do, we must persevere and not give up halfway."
"I can't draw like my brother." After half a year of guidance, Brother Yue can now speak normally.
"I'm not like that. I just don't know how to draw it anymore. I will definitely finish it next time." Brother Lang said embarrassedly.
Several children started to look for things that they had not persisted in before, and kept telling the maids and wet nurses who followed them, telling this one to go back and do this, that other to go back and do that, saying that they should learn from Yugong and persevere.
Bao Ping walked in and breathed a sigh of relief at the lively room full of children. She walked over to Su Qing and whispered, "There's only one more stick of incense left before it disperses. Just think of a way to coax them for a while."
Su Qing nodded, thought for a moment and smiled, "Actually, I can sing a song about Yugong moving mountains."
I was also very good at singing in my previous life, but since I came here, I only dare to hum quietly when there is no one around.
"Really?" Lang Ge jumped down from his chair. "Quick, sing one for me."
Another younger gentleman awkwardly twisted his body and slowly slid down the chair and walked in front of Su Qing. "Sing, Yugong."
Su Qing looked at the people in the room a little embarrassedly. Everyone looked interested. "Then I will sing, but please don't laugh at me if I don't sing well. And don't tell others, okay?"
The children all nodded, very happy.
"It sounds like a strange story, but it is a joke when I tell it. Even if the shoulder pole bends my back, or the soles of my feet wear out my clogs, I stand facing Wangwu and Taihang with my courage. It is not a strange story when I tell it, but it is not a joke when I talk about it."
At this point, she raised her hands again, swaying left and right with the rhythm, "Look up and see the sky beyond the sky, walk a little and see the plain beneath your feet, face the children and grandchildren, and fulfill the wishes in your heart. It is hard to have no road, and it is even harder to create one, so people who come after you will sigh for you!"
The children saw her waving her hands and raised them up and waved together. The nurse and the maids around them also clapped their hands.
The room was bustling with activity, but no one knew that the two men outside had been standing there for a while. "I didn't expect that the Marquis' Mansion would have such a capable girl." said the boy of seventeen or eighteen, and it was impossible to tell whether his tone was praise or something else.
"I was just amusing the child. I'm sorry to have embarrassed you, Master. Please come in." Meng Shao stretched out his hand and Zhou Yu strode towards the main room.
That's right, this man is the second young master of the Prince Shen's Mansion, Meng Qi's husband. Meng Shao looked at Zhou Yu who walked in front of him without any courtesy, and thought about the scene when the maid accidentally spilled wine on this man during the banquet and he raised his hand to slap him.
How willful is this? He came to his future in-laws' house on New Year's Day, but he didn't even give them face. Looking at this person's appearance, Meng Qi definitely couldn't control him. Meng Shao was even more worried about his sister marrying into the Zhou family.
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Wang leaned on the heated kang, Hua Rui gently rubbing her waist. Today was the big day for the Spring Festival banquet at the Huainan Marquis's Mansion, and Wang had to attend even if she didn't care about household affairs or felt unwell, especially since the Princess of Shen County was also here.
After listening to her third son talk about Zhou Yu’s performance, Wang closed her eyes.
"Mom, Master Zhou doesn't take our family seriously now. What will we do in the future?"
"She's still young, she'll be fine when she's older. Qi'er is the same, right? She'll have to go through the formalities in a year. Are you going to break off the engagement now? Even if our eldest wife agrees, do you think the Marquis and your grandmother will agree?"
Meng Wei lowered his head, thinking about the current situation at home. At today's banquet, only the Prince Shen's Mansion came from above the Marquisate, and that was because they were in-laws. If this relationship was lost, the Huainan Marquisate would be even more embarrassed in Beijing.
"Mom, I want to join the army too. After three to five years, I might be able to be like my uncle. By then..."
"Nonsense, military merit is not that easy to earn, don't say such things in the future. If you care about your sister, study hard and pass the exam to become a scholar next year."
Wang also asked Mother Guo to take some nourishing herbs to Third Grandma, as Meng Wei's wife had just found out that she was pregnant.