After hearing Zhou Shaojin’s words, Cheng Chi closed his eyes to think for a moment, then said, “Don’t worry about this matter anymore—I already know about it!”
Huh?!
Zhou Shaojin’s eyes widened.
Such an important matter, and Uncle Chi was resolving it so simply?
She was extremely curious.
She tugged at Cheng Chi’s sleeve, saying softly, “Uncle Chi, what do you plan to do?”
Her cautious gaze as she stared at him with clear eyes struck him as particularly interesting, and a mischievous impulse arose in his heart as he smiled, “I haven’t decided yet. If it were you, what would you do?”
Uncle Chi actually hasn’t decided yet!
Then why did he tell her “don’t worry about it, I already know”?
Zhou Shaojin’s almond eyes rounded.
Then she felt somewhat uneasy.
Who knew that Wu Baozhang was actually having an affair with Cheng Lu, and had inadvertently learned that someone in the Cheng family wanted to strip Cheng Lu of his scholarly achievements, and had told Cheng Lu about it… To strip someone of their scholarly achievements was tantamount to cutting off their future prospects. For someone like Cheng Lu, it would be more painful than killing him.
It would be strange if he didn’t desperately resist!
If the matter was exposed, regardless of whether they could determine who in the Cheng family wanted to strip him of his achievements, as long as it was proven to be the Cheng family’s doing, they couldn’t escape the charge of bullying the weak. Cheng Lu might even use this matter to enhance his own reputation, becoming someone the Cheng family would be wary of harming.
At that time, not only would they fail to suppress Cheng Lu, they might even implicate the uncle who had taken on this task for her!
Had she known it would turn out this way, she wouldn’t have told Uncle Chi.
Zhou Shaojin hung her head somewhat despondently.
Uncle Chi must be feeling very troubled now, right?
But because he’d previously promised her, he could only carefully maneuver around it?
If only she could give Uncle Chi some ideas!
Wasn’t it said? Three mediocre minds equal one brilliant strategist.
Zhou Shaojin racked her brain trying to think.
Watching her little face scrunch up into a ball, Cheng Chi felt inexplicably cheerful for some reason. Like when he was young and his father forced him to practice calligraphy, but he’d sneak out to run wild on the rooftops, then return without his father discovering he’d gone out—that kind of joy only he knew about.
He remained silent, watching her bite her lip, gradually stop fanning, and thoughtfully begin twirling the large red tassel hanging from the round fan.
A breeze drifted intermittently through the hall.
That bright red tassel wound around her pale white fingertips, creating an inexplicably vivid beauty.
The air seemed to crackle and heat up as if catching fire.
This little girl—he’d just been thinking how well she attended to people, and in the blink of an eye she’d shown her true colors.
What maid would dare to let her mind wander in the clouds while fanning, completely neglecting her actual duties?
Cheng Chi calmly took the fan from her hand and gently began fanning Zhou Shaojin himself.
Zhou Shaojin truly wasn’t accustomed to serving others, and when the fan was taken from her, she simply assumed the maids had taken over as usual, pouting as she pondered her own thoughts.
Nanny Shang, bringing in watermelon, nearly stumbled at the sight.
Who exactly was serving whom here?
Having served this Fourth Master for so many years, this was the first time she’d seen him fan someone else…
Nanny Shang steadied herself, held her breath and concentrated, then dared to walk over with light steps, placed the watermelon on a nearby small table, and retreated with equally light steps.
Zhou Shaojin finally came back to her senses and said quietly to Cheng Chi, “Uncle Chi, why don’t we just leave Cheng Lu alone? After all, evil gets its comeuppance—he’s done so many bad things, he’ll surely face retribution!”
Cheng Chi nearly choked on her words. He thought to himself, good thing I wasn’t drinking tea, or that mouthful would have sprayed clear to the middle of the hall.
He couldn’t help but glance at her coldly, saying, “This is the solution you came up with? You might as well not have thought at all!”
Zhou Shaojin also knew her solution was inappropriate.
Her face flushed completely red as she said, “I think he definitely won’t let this go. If he makes a fuss and the Second Branch Old Ancestor sees through some clues and traces it back to Uncle Chi, what would we do! Better to just forget it?”
Cheng Chi’s expression froze, and after a moment of silence he said, “You’re afraid the Second Branch Old Ancestor will catch me in a vulnerable position?”
His voice was somewhat hoarse.
Zhou Shaojin’s face was full of apology as she nodded repeatedly, saying, “The Second Branch Old Ancestor holds the proper status—if he wants to harm you, you’ll definitely suffer.”
In her view, the First Branch and Second Branch had been fighting for so many years. Since the First Branch still had some wariness of the Second Branch, the Second Branch Old Ancestor surely wasn’t someone to be trifled with. But she couldn’t say this to Cheng Chi—if she said it that way, wouldn’t she be saying Cheng Chi was incompetent!
That would break Uncle Chi’s heart!
Cheng Chi stared at her unblinkingly, his expression somewhat strange.
Zhou Shaojin immediately felt as uncomfortable as sitting on pins and needles.
Uncle Chi was such a clever person—could he have heard her underlying meaning?
She quickly said, “Uncle Chi, I think we don’t need to confront Cheng Lu head-on right now. Cheng Lu isn’t a good person. If he really passes the provincial examination, I’ll discuss it with Father and see if we can reveal what his father did. Then Cheng Lu’s prospects will be equally obstructed.” She added, “The government has case records of Lan Ting and Lan Xin’s testimony, and we can find a way to copy them—that should be enough to control Cheng Lu.”
But what about Madam Zhuang’s reputation?
Cheng Chi very much wanted to ask Zhou Shaojin this question.
But he didn’t dare ask.
He feared Zhou Shaojin would tell him in confusion, “Oh my, why didn’t I think of that?” He feared even more that Zhou Shaojin would innocently tell him, “Uncle Chi is still more important”…
Cheng Chi took a deep breath, and only when his voice returned to normal did he chuckle lightly, “Silly girl, how is that any kind of solution? Eat some watermelon!”
Only then did Zhou Shaojin notice two bowls of watermelon on the nearby tea table.
At this time of year, watermelons had just come to market.
They weren’t easy to buy.
She smiled, “Should we send some to Old Madam as well?”
Cheng Chi smiled, “Just eat your own. What time is it now? I’ll have someone send some to Mother first thing tomorrow morning.”
This watermelon was so sweet.
Zhou Shaojin said cheekily, “Then Uncle Chi, send me a few too? They’re so delicious.”
Cheng Chi laughed helplessly, “Figure out how to resolve the Cheng Lu matter and I’ll send you some. Otherwise, no food for you.”
Zhou Shaojin’s little face scrunched up into a ball again.
This matter was truly too difficult for her.
If she had children like herself in the future, they’d surely worry people to death!
Cheng Chi’s heart jumped, and he felt somewhat uncomfortable. He coughed lightly twice and picked up his bowl to begin eating.
The watermelon had been chilled with ice and felt cool in the mouth—very refreshing.
Cheng Chi then instructed Nanny Shang to bring another bowl for Zhou Shaojin, saying, “Get one without ice. Second Young Miss has a weak constitution—too cold would harm her stomach.”
Zhou Shaojin’s face reddened as she said, “This one bowl is enough for me.”
But Cheng Chi paid no attention and continued telling Nanny Shang, “Have the maid who came with Second Young Miss take the remaining watermelon back and reward those serving in Second Young Miss’s quarters.”
The little girl hadn’t returned yet, so those serving in her quarters definitely hadn’t rested.
Taking watermelon back would also let those people know that as long as they served the little girl well, she wouldn’t treat them poorly.
Nanny Shang quickly glanced at Zhou Shaojin, smiled and agreed, saying, “I’ll have Chun Wan take it back right away.”
By the looks of it, who knew how long Fourth Master would talk with Second Young Miss. It would be good to let those serving in Second Young Miss’s quarters perk up a bit.
Zhou Shaojin quickly said, “Chun Wan came with me—just reward her one bowl. You also have people serving here…”
“It’s fine,” Cheng Chi said. “They have some too.”
Only then did Zhou Shaojin say no more. She ate the watermelon and had Qingfeng bring water to wash her hands.
Cheng Chi felt that after resting for a while and eating watermelon, his mood had become much more refreshed.
He dismissed those serving in the room and said softly, “Shaojin, don’t tell anyone about Wu Baozhang and Cheng Lu’s affair. At this point, it’s too late to have Wu Baozhang and Cheng Nuo break off their engagement. The only option is to continue with the mistake and have Cheng Nuo marry Wu Baozhang. If Wu Baozhang honestly lives her life with Cheng Nuo, that’s fine. Speaking of talent, Cheng Nuo truly isn’t as good as Cheng Lu. Wu Baozhang is in the prime of her youth—it’s understandable that she’d fall for Cheng Lu. If she still harbors other intentions, we can deal with her then. It depends on what she does.
“As for Cheng Lu.
“Don’t take him too seriously. Even if the Second Branch Old Ancestor knew I was scheming against him, would he really turn against me because of him?
“After all, I’m a two-examination jinshi graduate. It’s easy for the Cheng family to produce a xiucai. Producing a juren is also decent, but producing a two-examination jinshi requires luck.
“Otherwise I wouldn’t have been determined to take the examinations back then.
“Don’t worry about me.”
Zhou Shaojin thought about it and realized this was indeed the truth.
She couldn’t help but let out a long breath, revealing a relieved smile.
Cheng Chi couldn’t help but smile along with her.
Shaojin was like a hothouse flower. To make her able to withstand wind and rain would require taking it slowly.
Some things needn’t all be told to her.
The hardest ties to sever are emotional ones.
Judging from Wu Baozhang and Cheng Lu’s conversation, Wu Baozhang had probably long harbored deep feelings for Cheng Lu.
With just the right opportunity, those emotional roots would surely sprout and grow wildly.
Even without the right opportunity, creating one could similarly make those emotional roots shoot forth.
At that point, it wouldn’t be up to them.
If he hadn’t promised the little girl early on to strip Cheng Lu of his scholarly achievements, he would have preferred to direct a scene of “catching them in the act”!
Cheng Chi sneered inwardly but showed nothing on his face, asking Zhou Shaojin gently, “Can you sleep peacefully now?”
Zhou Shaojin blushed with embarrassment and said hesitantly, “But I feel like Wu Baozhang and Cheng Lu… have lingering feelings for each other… Won’t she do something inappropriate?”
After all, when she got engaged to Cheng Xu, Cheng Lu had still pretended to ask her to forgive him.
If she hadn’t seen his shoes under the flower tree, she might have entrusted him to deliver a letter to Sister, and then her whole life would have been ruined!
Zhou Shaojin felt that Cheng Lu was a leopard who couldn’t change his spots—he would definitely seek out Wu Baozhang again!
Cheng Chi couldn’t help but be secretly surprised by Zhou Shaojin’s perceptiveness.
He smiled, “What does that have to do with us? Haven’t we already given them a way out? They had a secret meeting behind Qingyan Tower and we kept their secret—must we also guarantee their marital harmony? Nuo is her husband. If a husband can’t keep his wife’s heart, why should we worry about it for him?”
Zhou Shaojin lowered her head in embarrassment, even her jade-white ears turning red.
Cheng Chi could barely suppress himself from reaching out to touch her head.