Chapter 25
Ignorant and Unlearned
In the end, Yu Shanxin stumbled and fell on his back while exclaiming loudly. Sprawled on the ground, he pleaded for mercy pitifully.
“Little Sis, I was wrong. Can’t you be magnanimous and spare me this once? I only suggested playing the guessing game because I wanted things to be lively to celebrate you moving out. How was I supposed to know that you’re bad at guessing!”
There were many different drinking games, but one of the easier ones to play was word-guessing.
It was also because he was being considerate for Yu Youyao, who was not good at studying, that he suggested playing this guessing game.
Who would have known that Yu Youyao wasn’t good at this game either.
What else could they do then?
There was nothing else to play!
Yu Youyao was embarrassed and stomped her foot. “Second Brother, have you seen anyone who’s bad at studying but good at guessing words? You only know how to bully me. I’m going to tell Grandmother.”
“No!” Yu Shanxin wailed. He scrambled to get up from the ground. Then, he went up close to Yu Youyao and apologized humbly in a low voice.
As Yu Shuangbai ate the osmanthus candy, she held her stomach and laughed. “Second Brother, to think that you’d have such a day too. Serves you right for teasing me all the time!”
The concubine’s daughters covered their mouths with their handkerchiefs and smiled too.
Yu Shanyan also laughed and shook his head helplessly.
His brother was just like a monkey, running and jumping about all day. He never behaved seriously and seldom read many books on his own. He was actually about the same as Yao Yao, so he didn’t know why his brother had such audacity to tease her.
He turned to look at Zhou Linghuai, who was beside him, and saw that he was reading a book in his hand. It was one of the Daoist scriptures, Guiguzi. The pages of the book were flipped from time to time, and there seemed to be an invisible bubble around him. It was as if he was isolated from the world; as if the commotion around him had nothing to do with him at all.
Zhou Linghuai sat in his wheelchair, looking a head shorter than everyone no matter the angle.
Yu Shanyan’s father had said that although Zhou Linghuai’s legs were weak, he was incredibly perceptive and talented, and his eyes were deep and mysterious. He was not an ordinary person. His father had also told him to get closer to Zhou Linghuai. Although a little unconvinced, he still did as he was told.
Previously, when he consulted Zhou Linghuai on some academic questions, he indeed had some unique insight that managed to hit the nail on the head.
However, Zhou Linghuai’s personality was too aloof, and he had a sense of isolation from others. It was easy to initiate interaction with him, but it was a little difficult to actually befriend him.
Yu Shanyan was just about to turn around when he saw Zhou Linghuai look up with a faint smile in his eyes. His cold and quiet aura seemed to be tinged with the color of the outside world. All of a sudden, it was like the ice of winter had melted and revealed the breeze of spring.
Yu Shanyan was stunned for a moment. He followed his gaze and saw Yu Youyao waving her small fists, threatening Yu Shanxin with her teeth bared. He couldn’t help but shake his head and laugh.
Even though they were cousins, those from this house were still a little different after all.
Yu Qingning smiled as her eyes wandered around the room, scanning every corner of it. In the end, they landed on the precious valuables on Yu Youyao’s treasure shelves. She couldn’t take her eyes off them. “Let’s play pitch-pot. Big Sister is the best at it. I’m afraid no one in this residence can compete with her.”
With that, she clutched her handkerchief and laughed, but didn’t say just what was so funny.
Yu Jianjia’s stuck her tongue out a little, and said a little snidely, “Big Sister is the protagonist today, so we’ll play what Big Sister is best at.”
After “handling” her second brother, Yu Youyao sat on a stool and Chun Xiao handed her a cup of tea. Yu Youyao reached out to take it and lowered her head to take a sip. When she heard this, she threw the teacup onto the small table. The bottom of the cup hit the table and its lid clanged a little, neither too loud nor too soft.
“In terms of studying and behaving gracefully, I’m not as good as Third Sis and Fourth Sis. The only thing I’m most confident in is pitch-pot. However, Eldest Brother, Second Brother, and Cousin are well-rounded in all aspects of the Six Arts. How would I dare to embarrass myself in front of them? Fourth Sis said that I’m the best at it, but she was just exaggerating.”
Among the Six Arts of a Gentleman, one of the Arts was indeed “shooting”. However, archery was completely different from playing with wooden arrows in their rooms.
Yu Qingning was clearly mocking her for being ignorant and unlearned, only knowing how to play and have fun. Yu Jianjia seemed innocent of that, but Yu Youyao did not buy it at all.
Yu Jianjia lowered her head and coughed lightly. Her face was pale, looking pitiable and heart-wrenching.
Yu Qingning wanted to say something, but the maidservant beside her quickly handed her a cup of tea. “Young Mistress, you must be thirsty. Here, have some tea.”
The house fell silent for a moment.
At this moment, Yu Shanyan tried to smooth things over. “Okay, let’s play pitch-pot then. It’s a joyous occasion for Little Sis to be moving out to live independently. And it’s rare for all of us to gather together, so we should be harmonious and happy. There’s no need to talk about academics and the arts.”
Yu Qingning looked away unhappily. It was a fact that Yu Youyao was stupid and only cared about playing. Everyone in the residence knew this. She didn’t say anything wrong.
Hmph, everyone in the second house was only focused on receiving benefits from Old Madam, so they only wanted to curry favor with Yu Youyao.
Yu Shanxin chimed in, “It’s a pretty good idea to play pitch-pot. It’s a popular game in the capital. How about this? Let’s form teams of two with one boy and one girl in each team. You sisters can play against each other, and the losers will be punished with alcohol. But, it’ll be the guys in the groups who will take the punishment.”
Everyone nodded in agreement.
Yu Youyao glanced at her cousin’s leg and quickly said, “Alcohol punishment isn’t interesting. Why don’t we stick notes instead? The losers will have notes stuck onto their faces.”
Although the plum wine wasn’t very strong, it was still wine. It was better for Cousin not to consume any alcohol.
Zhou Linghuai looked down at his legs and nodded.
The others had no objections either. Among them, Yu Shanxin was the only one who was most playful and lively. Big Brother was usually serious. If a note were to be stuck on his face, it would definitely be very interesting.
“I’ll be in the same group as Cousin.” Yu Youyao turned to look at Zhou Linghuai.
Zhou Linghuai nodded. “Okay!”
At his reply, the little girl beamed brightly.
So with that, Zhou Linghuai and Yu Youyao formed a team.
Yu Shanyan and Yu Shuangbai formed a team.
Yu Shanxin and Yu Qingning formed a team.
Yu Shansi and Yu Jianjia formed a team.
Then the other children of the concubines, Yu Shanli and Yu Lianyu, formed a team as well.
Yu Fangfei, the daughter of the second house’s concubine, was six or seven years old. She was a little timid and did not know how to play this game, so she sat on a stool and ate some fruits. Hence, in total, they were divided into five groups.
The maidservants brought over a few flower pots and some little wooden arrows with exquisite workmanship.
Yu Youyao took the lead and threw an arrow straight into the pot. The room was filled with cheers. She turned around proudly and winked at Zhou Linghuai.
Zhou Linghuai’s lips curled up, and his deep eyes revealed amusement.
After playing a few rounds, other than Zhou Linghuai, all the other brothers had notes pasted on their faces. Yu Shanxin had the most notes—there were more than ten on his face. Yu Shanli also had seven or eight pasted onto his face.
Yu Shanyan had the least, with one on his forehead and one on each side of his face. There were only three notes stuck onto his face. However, he usually looked serious and proper all the time, so now with these notes on his face, he looked quite comical.
Everyone burst out laughing.