Chapter 9: Thoughts of the Heart

  Wen Chunyi hastily lowered her eyebrows, and Jinshi was self-aware. Wen Xueyi's thoughts were not on this side, but as soon as she spoke, Wen Xueyi ignited again. Wen Xueyi glared at Wen Chunyi, who had lowered her head, thinking for a moment before tolerating it. She took a deep breath and asked in a softer tone, "Xueduo, when you were outside the courtyard, did you run into anyone?"

  Wen Chunyi tried her best to conjure up a timid expression, but unfortunately, she wasn't born with that talent. She strained herself for half the day, yet couldn't squeeze out a single tear from her eyes. Suddenly, she heard Wen Xueyi's question again and lowered her head even further, muttering in a stifled voice: "Brother came back from the big kitchen and said he ran into one of the young masters from the Zhong family, but I didn't see any outsiders." Wen Chunyi confessed early on to the clever Miss. Madame Jin and Wen Xueyi's mother both let out a gentle sigh of relief at the same time. Since no one had seen Wen Chunyi, there wouldn't be any trouble.

  The mother and daughter both thought that the young master of the Zhong family had not met Wen Chunyi, but only met Wen Xiuyue who was returning. However, they did not know that the young master of the Zhong family had already been watching Wen Chunyi for a while as she slept soundly, and it was only when Wen Xiuyue came over that he didn't have the heart to cause trouble, so he went away in the distance. Wen Chunyi noticed that they had shifted their attention, and she secretly let out a sigh of relief. She had long since realized that everyone in this household hated her deeply and kept her hidden away, except for Wen Xiuyue who felt that at an appropriate time, she should take her out for a stroll. Wen Xiuyue was still young but already a very considerate person.

  Wen Chunyi decided that no matter what, in order to have the opportunity to leave the house smoothly in the future, she would hide the truth. Jin Shi and Wen Xueyi's expressions were serious, Wen Chunyi's expression was wooden, and even Wen Xiujun dared not speak, only silently counting his fingers and playing with them, his small eyes carefully scanning the faces of the people in the room. Whenever Wen Chunyi occasionally looked up at him, she couldn't help but admire this little boy's cleverness and understanding, so young yet so aware of the situation. In her heart, Wen Chunyi thought that Wen Chaoqing and Jin Shi were probably those kinds of people who "pretend to be pigs to eat tigers", otherwise, how could the siblings in the Wen family be so intelligent at such a young age?

  As Wen Chunyi spoke nonsense, she didn't notice that Jinshi and Wen Xueyi were looking at her with worried faces. Jinshi sighed softly, looking at Wen Xueyi without saying a word. Wen Xueyi kept staring at the top of Wen Chunyi's head, his eyes gloomy. Footsteps sounded outside, and Wen Chaoying opened the door, followed by Wen Xiuyuan and the servant women who brought lunch. Everyone in the room stood up to welcome the master back home, including Wen Xiujun who straightened her small body. Wen Chaoying's calm gaze swept over Jinshi and Wen Xiujun before landing on Wen Chunyi's face, softening slightly.

  Wen Chaoqing walked over and sat down in the main seat, saying to the people standing: "Sit down, we're family, no need to be so formal." His eyes fell on Wen Chunyi's body, beckoning her to come over: "Xueduo, come let Dad take a closer look. Dad's little daughter, tell Dad how many bowls of rice you had for lunch?" Wen Chunyi could eat more than her siblings, but her small body was always thin and weak, which Wen Chaoqing loved to tease her about. Wen Chunyi was pulled by Wen Xueyi into Wen Chaoqing's arms, who quickly supported her and turned his head to say to Wen Xueyi: "Eldest daughter, Dad hasn't forgotten you, we'll go to the outer study later to get that Jinzhu flower paper you wanted."

  As soon as she heard this, Wen Chun's eyes lit up with a smile, and she grasped Wen Chaoqing's hand, repeatedly saying "Thank you, Father. Father, when you have some free time, can you teach me and Xueduo how to make Su Yu Zhan paper? Grandfather said that Master had mentioned it before, and Father used to love making those papers when he was young." Wen Chaoqing's expression changed slightly, but quickly calmed down, and he looked at Wen Xueyi, shaking his head and saying: "Father doesn't remember those childish things from years ago. If you're interested, wait until it's convenient, and Father will help you find a book on making paper. Xueyi, don't talk about this kind of thing outside, too many people gossiping can easily cause trouble."

  Xue Yi's face turned red, and she stomped her foot, whispering loudly: "Mother, look at Father talking to me like this." Jin Shi smiled, looking at Xue Yi's expression, and said with a smile: "Mother and Father have the same idea, women don't need to be strong in everything."

  Wen Chunyi let out a sigh of relief, Wen Xueyi was skilled in music, chess, calligraphy and painting. She felt the immense pressure, today she knew the true thoughts of Wen Chaoqing and Jinshi. The maids came in to serve the meal, Wen Chaoqing and Jinshi sat at the main table, Wen Xiujun being young was seated at a separate table for convenience sake so Jinshi could take care of him. Wen Xueyi's three children were seated at another table below, among them Wen Xiuyu sat at the head, with Wen Xueyi and Wen Chunyi by his side. The room fell silent for a moment, two dishes of meat, two dishes of vegetables, four cold dishes and one soup, the food was slightly cool, just right for this weather.

  Wen Xueyi and Wen Xiuyu each had a small bowl of rice, while Wen Chunyi ate two full bowls as usual. After the maidservants cleared the table, Wen Chaqing reached out to touch Wen Chunyi's belly and said with a smile to the people outside, "Liu's family, take the 18th young lady out for a walk." Liu's wife hurriedly came into the room, and Wen Chunyi took a glance at Wen Xiuyu's expression before following Liu's wife out of the room. Wen Xiujun's wet nurse followed closely behind, coaxing Wen Xiujun out of the room as well. Wen Chunyi held Wen Xiujun's hand, and the siblings walked in circles around the courtyard, with Wen Chunyi intentionally leading the people following them further away from the master's room.

  Inside the house, Wen Xueyi spoke in a low voice about what she knew. Jinshi's face changed and he said in a low voice: "Yueyi is a rare good child in this family, who could be so cruel to push her into the lake? Hmm, there are railings around the two lakes, how could she fall down?" Wen Xueyi lowered her eyebrows and spoke softly: "The steward who came to deliver the message told Grandfather that the railing was old, the sisters were originally talking together, later the young masters of the Zhong family came over, the sisters wanted to make way for the flower viewing position, Yueyi accidentally got pushed down. Fortunately, the steward's mother, who knew how to swim, was on the side and immediately jumped in to rescue her."

  Hear Qing and Jin exchanged a look, Hear Yue thought that the next generation of Hear's family was outstanding. Jin whispered to Hear Xue: "The women in this house are young, but their hearts are big, they have feelings for men at a young age. The young masters of the Zhong family are relatives of your aunt's family, if there is any benefit, it will not be someone else's turn to take advantage of it. In the future, you should play with them less, when you don't need to be filial to your grandfather, come back early to accompany your sister, talk to her more and teach her some things, don't let her be alone. The thoughts of Liu's family and Zhang's family, do I not know? Those two gods, if there is an opportunity, let them take the initiative to leave."