"Hey, Hong Yi, why didn't you open the door even after I called for so long? I had to kick it!"

A woman appeared at the door. She wore a goose-yellow coat with variegated fur, had a fair complexion, and eyes as black as lacquer. She was about fifteen or sixteen years old.

This woman was dressed very luxuriously and spoke very rudely. But Hong Yi knew that she was Xiaoning, the personal maid of the second young lady in "Yunting Studio" on the east side of the marquis' residence.

Yunting Studio was the residence of Lady Fang, the second wife of Marquis Wenwu. Lady Fang was the equal wife of Marquis Wenwu. Her family was in business and she herself donated for an official position. Rich and of status, although her position in the marquis' residence was not as high as that of Lady Zhao, the first wife, she still had some say.

Therefore, the maids and servants of Yunting Studio were superior.

Although Hong Yi was a young master in the marquis' residence, he was the son of a deceased concubine of low status. No one really cared about him. Moreover, everyone in the entire marquis' residence knew that Lady Zhao, the first wife, had no favorable impression of Hong Yi.

Hong Yi also received the least monthly allowance.

In the entire marquis' residence, there were three wives and four concubines. Together with the stewards, maids, servants, and guards, there were a total of seven to eight hundred people. Everyone had their own duties, just like a small hierarchical court.

"What do you want?" After opening the door, Hong Yi returned to sit on his chair, picked up a book, and didn't even look at this maid.

Xiaoning looked at the burning charcoal in the room. Because of the poor quality, there was a smell and the smoke stung the eyes. She couldn't help but curl her lips in disdain.

"Yesterday, the young lady played the zither and composed poems with Princess Yongchun of Rongwang Mansion. Princess Yongchun recited a line of poetry but couldn't come up with the next line. The young lady sent me to ask you. Hey, are you listening?"

Seeing Hong Yi sit back at the table and pick up the book to read, Xiaoning said angrily.

"What?" Hong Yi frowned, blood rushed to his face, and his fists tightened slightly. He looked at this Xiaoning with his eyes.

Xiaoning also saw Hong Yi's face flush with blood and his fists slightly clenched. Instead of收敛, she raised her eyes high, showing an expression of "Even though you are a young master, but I treat you like this, what can you do to me? Come and hit me!"

"What poem?" After a moment of annoyance, Hong Yi took a deep breath, calmed down, relaxed his fists, and his tone became calm.

"Sure enough, you are useless." Xiaoning saw Hong Yi endure and muttered in her heart, "When Princess Yongchun played the zither, she said, 'Today, my heart is already chaotic before playing.' Then she thought hard for the next line. The young lady ordered me to ask you and hoped you could come up with the next line."

"Today, my heart is already chaotic before playing?" Hong Yi thought for a moment: "When playing the zither, the heart is chaotic, that means one can't stabilize their own mind. I'll come up with the next line: This heart is originally not controlled by oneself."

"Today, my heart is already chaotic before playing. This heart is originally not controlled by oneself." Hong Yi took out a piece of white paper and wrote a line of cursive script in thick ink.

"What's this?"

Xiaoning saw the cursive script characters twisting and flying like dragons and snakes. As a maid who had only read a little and knew a few characters, how could she recognize them?

"You, a servant, don't know how to read. Why ask so many questions?" Hong Yi said coldly: "Just deliver it."

"You..."

When Xiaoning saw the look in Hong Yi's eyes when he said she was illiterate, the joints of her fingers made two gurgling sounds, showing decent skills. At the same time, she looked over sharply.

Apparently, this Xiaoning had practiced some martial arts.

"This Hong Yi is clearly a weak scholar without the strength to truss a chicken. But why isn't he afraid? I have practiced martial arts with the young lady to a certain extent. I have a certain prestige in front of ordinary people. Although this Hong Yi is a young master, he is not favored by the first lady in the marquis' residence.... Bullying him will at most receive some scolding... Besides, the grasping technique I recently learned, when used on someone, will only cause them pain for a few days without injuring their tendons and bones...."

This novel is published on a different platform. Support the original author by finding the official source.

Xiaoning showed a fierce look in her eyes, took two steps forward, pretended to take Hong Yi's paper, but in her heart, she planned to use a skillful technique to dislocate Hong Yi's hand when taking it, causing him pain for a few days.

"If you lay a hand on me, aren't you afraid of being exiled three thousand miles!"

Just as Xiaoning took a step, Hong Yi suddenly spoke sternly.

"According to the laws of Great Qian, anyone who beats a scholar with academic honors will be exiled three thousand miles. Don't make a mistake!"

Hong Yi's sudden sternness scared Xiaoning into a shudder.

"Who's going to lay a hand on you? I'm taking the paper. You are the young master. How dare we servants be angry with you." Xiaoning took a step back, extended her arm, took the paper, and turned to walk out.

"Humph, only good at composing poems and writing lyrics, weak and useless. A scholar is good for nothing."

After leaving the room, Xiaoning cursed in her heart. She was indeed scared by Hong Yi just now, but how could she admit it in her heart?

"Whew..."

After seeing Xiaoning leave, Hong Yi let out a long sigh. "Sure enough, encountering a petty person is like encountering a ghost. One must not show weakness. Once you are weak, they will push their advantage. When you are strong, they won't dare to approach you. This book 'Thatched Hut Notes' uses ghosts as a metaphor for people, and it's a great truth."

Hong Yi sat down again, flipped out a story he had read before, and marked it heavily with a writing brush.

This story was about Li Yan himself reading late at night and encountering a ghost. The ghost showed its form and asked Li Yan if he was afraid! Li Yan immediately spoke sternly, "Not afraid!" The ghost asked again, and Li Yan's voice became louder. The ghost finally said, "As long as you say you are afraid, I will leave immediately and not pester you anymore." Li Yan shouted loudly, "I'm not afraid, and that's that." In the end, the ghost had no choice but to disappear disappointedly.

Later, someone said to Li Yan, "You have no Taoist magic and can't deal with ghosts. Why didn't you compromise and say you were afraid? What if the ghost really pounced on you? What would you do then?"

Li Yan said, "Precisely because I don't have Taoist magic and can't deal with ghosts, I can't be afraid. Once I'm afraid, my breath will weaken, and he will really pounce on me."

"The crafty and treacherous petty person is just like a ghost."

Hong Yi reread this story and thought of the servant girl Xiaoning he just encountered. He felt that petty people were really like ghosts. If he hadn't scared her just now, maybe the other party would have really dared to make a move.

"However, scaring is not the ultimate solution. I still have to practice martial arts. A scholar should be good at archery and horsemanship. Only then can he be considered a genuine scholar. But I really don't have the conditions. I have to think of a way."

Hong Yi had long had the intention to practice martial arts, but he really didn't have the conditions.

To practice horsemanship and archery, a good horse is worth a thousand gold, and a good bow is also worth a hundred gold. Even if these are not needed, to practice unarmed combat, one needs to hire a teacher. These are all things Hong Yi cannot do.

There are also highly skilled guards in the marquis' residence, but who is willing to contact Hong Yi and risk offending the first lady?

"I heard that during the founding of the Great Qian Dynasty, two major books were compiled, one was 'Martial Classics' and the other was 'Taoist Classics'. They talk about practicing martial arts and cultivating immortality, totaling millions of words. It's a pity they later became prohibited. If only I could borrow and copy them, that would be great."

复制重新生成