Splendid peasant girl busy farming

Chapter 11977

Luo Fengtang poured a bowl of warm water and placed it in front of Yang Ruoqing, saying softly, "Qing'er, calm down. It's not worth getting sick from getting angry."

Yang Ruoqing leaned back in her chair, her elbow resting on the armrest, while her other hand pinched her brow.

With her eyes closed, she gently shook her head: "This time I'm really angry."

Luo Fengtang was speechless. After a moment of silence, he placed the teacup in her hands: "Have some water, it might make you feel better."

Yang Ruoqing opened her eyes, took the teacup he handed her, took a sip, and her throat did feel much better.

Having spoken so much in one breath, especially under the most emotionally charged circumstances, the muscles in my throat and vocal cords vibrated intensely and frequently, leaving my throat dry and sore.

After drinking a few sips of warm water, I felt much better; it felt like my skin was being moisturized.

Luo Fengtang took the teacup she handed back, put it back on the table, then pulled up a small round stool and sat down next to her, taking her hand and gently rubbing it in her palm.

He had heard from a military doctor before that when he was very angry and his emotions were running high, gently rubbing the other person's palm could help relieve the tension.

He didn't know the specific principle behind it, but he figured it would be fine to give it a try.

“I took Da’an to get his wound treated earlier, and from a man’s perspective, I also talked to him about it.”

Yang Ruoqing turned her head, her gaze fixed on Luo Fengtang. Although she didn't speak, her eagerness to ask questions was written all over her face.

“That woman named Xiaowei is no ordinary courtesan. She was originally a young lady from an official family. Her ancestral home is in the Jiangnan region. Both her father and grandfather were top scholars in the imperial examinations.” Luo Fengtang said while rubbing her.

"Later, she got involved in an incident and her family was raided. She fell into prostitution at the age of 14 and has been a virgin ever since, selling her art but not her body. Da'an should be her first man," he said.

"So she's from a scholarly family? No wonder Da'an was struck by her soul!" Yang Ruoqing's words still carried a hint of sarcasm.

“Throughout history, countless noble families and official households have fallen into decline for various reasons, and countless women have ended up in brothels,” Yang Ruoqing continued. “But this cannot be an unforgivable reason for Da’an’s betrayal of his family!”

Luo Fengtang nodded: "Qing'er, you're right. No matter what external reasons there are, they don't count! Betrayal is betrayal!"

Perhaps it was the firmness in Luo Fengtang's words that calmed Yang Ruoqing's heart to some extent, and her emotions were not as agitated as before.

She sighed and said, "Over the years, Da'an has been in the capital and must have seen many courtesans like this. Logically speaking, he shouldn't have fallen for her so easily. There must be other reasons, right?"

Luo Fengtang smiled approvingly, "As expected of my wife, she's so smart. There are indeed other reasons as well."

"What's the reason? Tell me quickly." Yang Ruoqing sat up straight.

Luo Fengtang nodded and continued, "Do you still remember when Da'an needed three officials to jointly recommend him for the imperial examination?"

"Of course I remember!" Yang Ruoqing nodded without hesitation. "According to the laws of our Great Qi Imperial Examinations, students need someone to recommend them to participate in the provincial and metropolitan examinations."

"For the provincial examination, you only need to find three influential people in the county to recommend you. But for the metropolitan examination, you need to find three local officials in Qing'an County or even Changhuai Prefecture to recommend you in order to pass the review and obtain the qualification to take the exam!"

"Qing'er has such a good memory!" Luo Fengtang praised her again. "Back then, with our connections, we only found two people for Da'an, and we haven't found the third one yet."

"Later, it was through Da'an's teacher's introduction that a Lord Ruan from Changhuai Prefecture recommended Da'an, and Da'an was able to successfully participate in that year's imperial examination." Yang Ruoqing nodded again: "Yes, yes, Lord Ruan, I remember it too, my whole family remembers it."

"Back then, they said that Lord Ruan only met Da'an once, but he agreed to recommend Da'an without hesitation. Later, Da'an passed the imperial examination with flying colors, and our family wanted to go to Changhuai Prefecture to express our gratitude. However, Lord Ruan had already been transferred away from Changhuai Prefecture and moved to another place with his family. Whenever my parents mentioned this, they would say that Lord Ruan was their benefactor, and he left before they could repay his kindness... Wait, what does that mean? Could it be that Xiaowei and that Lord Ruan..."

Luo Fengtang nodded slightly: "Miss Xiaowei is Lord Ruan's only daughter, and also his only legitimate daughter."

"Huh?" Yang Ruoqing was so shocked that she couldn't speak. Her head was buzzing and half of her body was stiff.

The daughter of my benefactor... I can't kill her now...

……

That night, Yang Ruoqing tossed and turned, unable to sleep.

His mind was filled with the things Luo Fengtang had brought back about Da'an and Ruan Xiaowei.

The incident began when Da'an took office as the governor of Changhuai Prefecture. At a banquet, the host arranged for a newly arrived courtesan from a brothel in Changhuai Prefecture to play the zither for entertainment.

Da'an himself disliked such occasions, but in officialdom, if you want to be a good official and achieve something, you can't just rely on yourself and not blend in with the crowd. Otherwise, things might not go as planned.

But Da'an only goes through the motions in similar situations.

When Da'an met Xiao Wei that day, he immediately recognized her as the legitimate daughter of his benefactor, Lord Ruan.

When Da'an went to see Lord Ruan, Ruan Xiaowei was only about 6 years old. Twelve years have passed, and her eyebrows and eyes have hardly changed, only they have been enlarged proportionally.

The host understood the governor's intentions. Halfway through the banquet, under the pretext of helping the governor sober up, he secretly sent Xiao Wei to the flower hall where Da'an was resting.

Da'an inquired carefully about Xiao Wei's background, and the two pieces of information matched up. It turned out that the Ruan family had suffered a misfortune half a year ago, their fortunes had declined, Lord Ruan and his wife had died in prison, and their property and land had been confiscated. The once pampered young lady from a scholarly family, who was accompanied by music, chess, calligraphy, painting, poetry, and songs, was now like a petal falling from a branch, landing in this filthy mud, to be trampled by countless feet...

However, Ruan Xiaowei always adhered to her bottom line, selling her art but not her body. She possessed unparalleled beauty, a natural beauty, and the temperament of a refined young lady, which made her famous in the brothels of Changhuaizhou. Countless nobles, playboys, and wealthy merchants spent lavishly just to see her.

However, Da'an knew in his heart that the reason why the brothel madam 'compromised' with Xiao Wei was not because the madam was kind and willing to support Xiao Wei's principle of selling her art but not her body.

Instead, the madam was continuing to create hype, using Xiao Wei, this pure and innocent but lucrative woman, to whet the appetites of the powerful and wealthy.

When people have become too picky and the price has been driven up enough, that's when Xiao Wei will be served up and enjoyed.

Da'an absolutely could not allow Lord Ruan's only daughter to fall into such a state, so after the banquet, he used his influence to redeem Xiao Wei from that filthy place.

He originally intended to bring Ruan Xiaowei home, but considering his wife and children, he didn't want to cause any misunderstandings, so he found a place for Ruan Xiaowei to stay temporarily outside.

Da'an originally planned to take care of her for a while as her sworn brother, and then find her a suitable husband and give her a dowry to help her get married.

In this way, we can say that Lord Ruan's spirit in heaven has been comforted.

But in this world, many things don't go the way you want them to.

Moreover, the emotional entanglements between people can come even more unexpectedly!