Concubine's true colors

Chapter 284

The next day was close to noon, and it was already the beginning of November, and the weather had completely turned cold. Even last night, there was the first light snow outside this year after winter.

In Xiao Jinxuan's room, a charcoal basin had already been placed, so although it was cold and windy outside, the room was warm and very comfortable.

It is rare for Xiao Jinxuan, who has been very leisurely all morning, to sit at the desk with a brush in her forehand, practicing calligraphy with a concentrated expression.

When she was reborn and returned to Yangzhou, she had plenty of time, and practiced calligraphy for an hour almost every day. On the contrary, after coming to the capital, she became a lot rusty due to lack of time.

When writing brush characters, she pays special attention to wrist strength. She has not written big characters for a long time, and it is only half a stick of incense. Xiao Jinxuan couldn't hold it anymore, and her wrists became sore.

Knowing that calligraphy must be done step by step, there is no quick fix to follow, so Xiao Jinxuan is not in a hurry when she arrives, she puts down the brush immediately, and prepares to have a sip of tea to rest before continuing to practice with the brush.

Before marrying Ji Lingfeng in her previous life, she only learned to write her own name. For Xiao Jinxuan, it was an unforgettable pain.

Because of her desire for books and the study of calligraphy, she has attached great importance to it since she was reborn.

Therefore, even though her current handwriting is definitely considered among the top among the daughters of the aristocratic family, she still does not want to slack off, and always wants to do better.

Only in this way, she felt that she could make up for the sad experience of being illiterate in her previous life, and being ridiculed by others because of her ignorance.

And just picked up the teacup, before taking a sip, suddenly Zhu Xin knocked on the door and came in, then said with a smile:

"Miss, Mr. Meng, the number one scholar in Jinke, has come and said that he is meeting you by appointment. Miss, you don't know that Mr. Meng came wearing the robe of the number one scholar. He is really handsome. Would you like to go to the living room to meet him now. "

Hearing these words, Xiao Jinxuan thought for a while, then ordered with a light smile: "Directly lead Mr. Meng to the back hall, I will meet him there."

After ordering everything, Xiao Jinxuan tidied up her appearance a little, and then went straight to the back hall.

When she arrived at the place, she saw Meng Mian sitting inside, and the man's bright red champion robe was indeed very pretty.

She greeted her with a smile, and after Xiao Jinxuan greeted each other, she sat down as guest and host, and then she looked Meng Mian up and down a few times, then covered her mouth and said with a smile:

"Mr. Meng, it seems more appropriate for Jinxuan to call you Meng Zhuangyuan now. It seems that I guessed correctly. With your talent and learning, as long as you are willing to take the scientific examination, you will be guaranteed a title in this year's imperial examination. Now Mr. Meng is dressed in the number one scholar's court uniform, which really suits you very well, and seeing it, Jin Xuan is also very happy for you."

Upon hearing Xiao Jinxuan's words, Meng Mian dumbly looked at himself twice, then waved his hands modestly, and said gently:

"Miss Jinxuan, don't be joking. It must be Meng Mian who wants to wear this number one scholar's robe to come to visit. It is really my court's rule that the number one student in Jinke must wear a python-patterned red robe for three days. If there is no such rule, I took off this robe a long time ago, and I will never be so ostentatious."

The way of a gentleman emphasizes introversion and humility, so Meng Mian would not do it unless he had to.

When Xiao Jinxuan heard the words, she saw that although Meng Mian was in high school, she still didn't show any arrogance or frivolity because of this.

She was still as polite and gentle as before, and immediately she became more and more optimistic about the other party in her heart.

"Mr. Meng, in the final analysis, you really did me a big favor this time. Knowing that you are not keen on the court, Jinxuan still wants to advise you again. Since you have a strategy for governing the country, don't waste your time. After all, what are you doing? Mr. Private School, teaching poor children how to read for free is an act of kindness, but how many children can you take care of alone? As for an illiterate child like me, Da Zhouxiang, I am afraid that as long as he is in a rural mountain village, he will inevitably Not a few."

Seeing Meng Mian listening carefully to what she said, Xiao Jinxuan took a sip of tea, moistened her throat slightly, and continued:
"If you want to change the fate of these children, the fundamental solution is to make the country rich and the people strong. Looking at all the countries in the Great Zhou Dynasty, we are indeed among the top three. The invasion of Beirong, and the severe drought in Gansu until now, these are things that are well known to the whole country. I don't need to say more, and Mr. Meng must be very clear. Therefore, to you, a learned person, you should Stand up and serve the court, become a generation of loyal and virtuous ministers, and leave your name in history, isn't this what you scholars should do the most."

Hearing these words, Meng Mian was silent. After a long time, he looked determined, nodded firmly and said:

"There is an old saying that listening to your words is better than studying for ten years. Ms. Jinxuan is really a good teacher and friend. Meng Mian knows how to do it now. In fact, when I agreed to take the imperial examination, I could no longer stay out of it and stay away from the imperial court. But now that I think about it, if I can really make some contributions to the people of the Great Zhou with my own body, then I will end up dead because of this, and I, Meng Mian, have no complaints or regrets."

Having said that, the atmosphere can't help but make people feel a little depressing. After all, it has always been easier to be an official than to stay an official, and it is even rarer to be able to retire.

More officials, before the day when they retired and returned to their hometowns, were implicated by the situation in the court and died unexpectedly, or were dismissed from office, and they would not end well.

For example, Gu's family who left the capital a few days ago, Gu Yizhou's civil and military officials all knew that he was an upright character, an upright and honest official, and even Emperor Ming trusted his Minister of the Household Department very much.

But even so, so what? In the end, he became the scapegoat for Empress Xue's mother and son, and those who were implicated were even hard to save their lives.

Meng Mian's father was once an official in the court, so Meng Mian was really tired of being an official because of what he had heard and seen since he was a child.

But Xiao Jinxuan's words made him learn to look at this problem from another angle.

Seeing that the atmosphere was becoming more and more heavy, Xiao Jinxuan suddenly picked Xiumei, then changed the subject and said suddenly:
"It doesn't matter if we don't mention these boring topics, as well as the dispute between the government and the opposition today. In fact, Jinxuan invited Mr. Meng here to celebrate your high school champion, and another reason is that he has a private matter and wants to find out about Mr. Meng. Heart. Presumably you should still remember that when you first came to my Lisanqiao Courtyard, you almost bumped into my cousin, I don’t know if you still have an impression of my sister Jinwen.”

She never expected that Xiao Jinxuan would suddenly mention the matter of that day, Meng Mian stood up in a hurry after being taken aback for a moment.

Immediately afterwards, he suddenly took out a brocade handkerchief from his cuff, and held it in his hand with great love.

"Miss Si, I was being rude that day. Of course, I have not forgotten Miss Jinwen, and this Jinpa was kindly lent to me by Miss Jinwen after I was injured that day. Return the brocade handkerchief, and hope that Miss Fourth can thank Miss Jinwen for her kindness on my behalf."

Seeing that Meng Mian's face was getting redder and redder at the end of her words, Xiao Jinxuan did not take the handkerchief handed over by the other party, but said with great interest:

"Mr. Meng, don't get me wrong. I brought this up, but I didn't mean to settle accounts with you. My son and I are old friends from the same hometown, so Jinxuan will not be around when talking. I don't know what Mr. Meng thinks of my cousin. Look at you. If you care so much about my sister's handkerchief, the young master really cares about my cousin."

Xiao Jinxuan is not an ordinary girl in a boudoir. It is estimated that in this world, except for the fact that she often gets blushed in front of Zhou Xianyu, it is extremely difficult for anyone to make her mess up.

Therefore, although her words were very abrupt, Xiao Jinxuan did not want to be sloppy in doing things, so Meng Mian was blushing when asked, but she didn't feel any embarrassment at all.

Instead, he looked serious, waiting for the other party's answer.

Being extremely embarrassed by what the other party said, although Meng Mian was the number one talented person in Yangzhou, he found that he was so poor at words and didn't know how to reply for a while.

His hands were trembling because of being too nervous, and it was difficult to hold the teacup. After forcing himself to calm down for a long time, Meng Mian coughed lightly, organized his words and replied:
"Miss Jinwen is dignified and elegant, and Meng Mian naturally admires it, but our identities are very different from each other. Even if I can go to high school now, how can I be worthy of being the first daughter of the handsome mansion. Therefore, Miss Fourth, stop joking. , I don't want to cause any trouble to Miss Jinwen because of myself, I just hope that Miss Fourth can hand over the brocade handkerchief for me, then Meng Mian will be satisfied."

Xiao Jinxuan has been a human being in two lifetimes, and was a wife and mother in her previous life, so it is impossible to hide Meng Mian's true intentions from her eyes.

Immediately knowing that these two people were really pretending to be each other, she couldn't help smiling, and the next moment she stood up directly.

After a few steps to the screen in the inner hall, I saw Xiao Jinxuan, with a smile on her face, but said with a trace of apology:

"Tell my cousin to hide behind here. I hope you don't annoy my sister. After all, after hearing Mr. Meng's words with your own ears, my sister must feel at ease. As for Mr. Meng, you want to return the brocade handkerchief." Why bother to lend my hand, you should give it to the cousin yourself."

Seeing that Xiao Jinwen, who had been thinking about him day and night since the farewell to the Forsythia Courtyard, came out from behind the screen in the inner hall without warning, Meng Mian was dumbfounded.

Especially thinking that Xiao Jinwen should have heard every word he said just now, and Meng Mian's first reaction when he came back to his senses was to turn around and walk out of the hall.

After all, he would be so ashamed that he didn't know how to face Xiao Jinwen at all.

But because of a letter from Xiao Jinxuan yesterday, Xiao Jinwen came here on purpose today, hiding behind the screen.

Now that I heard Meng Mian say with my own ears that I also have her in my heart, Xiao Jinwen is almost weeping with joy.

After all, she used to think that she was just an unrequited love, but now that the man she likes actually has her in mind, she even has the feeling that this will kill her, and she has no regrets.

But seeing Meng Mian turned around and left, Xiao Jinwen didn't care about being reserved anymore, and hurriedly called out:

"Mr. Meng, please stop. Don't feel embarrassed. Although Jinwen heard what you said just now, she was happy and didn't blame you. You understand what I mean."

One foot has already stepped over the threshold, but the elegant voice behind him made Meng Mianzai unable to move, because he still couldn't understand Xiao Jinwen's words.

Immediately, he turned around with surprise and surprise on his face, and looked at Xiao Jinwen's blushing face. After being stunned for a while, he suddenly laughed out of excitement, and the brocade handkerchief in his hand couldn't help but tighten slightly. It's a little tight.

(End of this chapter)