The Exiled Life of the Noble Girl

Chapter 39

On the day Mr. Jin took a day off, he entrusted Li Mingwei with the task of transcribing the "Thousand Character Classic" and the "Analects." Due to her bad mood, she procrastinated for a long time before finally finishing the task. Once the ink had dried, she tidied up and hurriedly delivered it to Mr. Jin, who intended to compile it into a booklet.

As she stepped out of the courtyard, she noticed that several households along the street had put up red couplets and door gods, signaling that the Lunar New Year was approaching.

Now she couldn't leave, let alone return to the capital. She had no way of receiving any news from the capital or knowing whether her family and friends were safe. Her grandfather was getting older, and she couldn't help but regret her stubbornness.

With these thoughts, Li Mingwei felt a hint of melancholy. However, she didn't want to go back just yet. She seriously pondered on writing a letter to her family next spring, asking Lord Tang to deliver it for her. She wondered about the likelihood of not being caught by her family.

Someone tapped her from behind, saying, "Hey, Mingwei, what are you thinking? I've been calling you for quite a while, but you didn't respond."

Li Mingwei turned around and saw Su, the eldest brother. She said, "Oh, Brother Su, you scared me."

"I've been calling you for a while, and you got startled," Su teased. "You have poor hearing and a timid heart, little sister."

Li Mingwei took two steps back, feeling a bit uneasy about the bloody smell emanating from him. She asked, "Ah, didn't you call me? By the way, your business seems to be doing well today since you closed up so early."

"Not really. The head of the Chen family asked me to run an errand. I left my son in charge of the stall," Su replied. "By the way, you love drinking mutton soup, but do you like beef soup? If you do, let me know, and I'll save some for you."

"Where did you get the beef?"

Li Mingwei remembered that it was illegal to slaughter cattle. The beef they had eaten before was said to come from the northern border, which was closer to here, but weren't the roads blocked? It seemed unlikely that cattle traders could enter.

"We can't worry about that. The Chen family has a source. They don't have many relatives, so they asked me to help them slaughter the cattle. They'll keep half for themselves and sell the other half. Do you want some?"

"Yes."

Regardless of its origin, who wouldn't want to eat something delicious?

"Alright, I'll save some for you. But it'll take a few more days. They're slaughtering the cattle for the upcoming New Year feast."

Li Mingwei agreed and made a request, "Save two bones for me to make soup. You can handle the meat. I want to make a hot pot."

They happened to have a fireplace and charcoal at home. A beef hot pot sounded delightful. In this snowy weather, it would definitely be warm and comforting.

"Okay, I'll save the tender ones for you."

People who sold meat all year round were indeed knowledgeable. He immediately understood her intentions. Li Mingwei cast a approving glance at him. With thoughts of delicious food, the road to the academy seemed much brighter.

Mr. Jin lived in the backyard of the academy. The front gate was always open during the day. Li Mingwei called out a couple of times but received no response. So she pushed the door open herself and went in. She went upstairs and found no one there either.

"Where did Mr. Jin go, leaving the front gate open like this? Isn't he afraid of things being stolen?"

She muttered a few words and placed the items on the desk. As she prepared to leave, she heard a series of, well, unpleasant notes coming from the backyard—a somewhat discordant melody. Li Mingwei was skilled in playing the qin, and her music was always smooth and melodious. However, the person playing the qin at the moment seemed to be struggling and obscure, sounding like a novice. Moreover, there seemed to be some issues with the qin itself.

The study hall was empty, and Li Mingwei unconsciously assumed that it was Mr. Jin playing the qin. In her mind, she couldn't help but mock him, so she pushed open the window that overlooked the backyard and sarcastically asked, "Mr. Jin, are you sawing wood?"

"You're already at such an age, shouldn't you find a young person to do this kind of work so you don't hurt your back?"

Li Mingwei leaned against the window, peered out, and met the gaze of three people in the backyard. She choked and looked at Liu Yizhu downstairs, who still had his hand on the qin strings, forcing an awkward smile.

Just when she had praised Wang Pozzi for playing well, a pair of narrow eyes stared at her unhappily.

Mr. Jin laughed and teased, "I'm already so old, how could I dare to saw wood? It's the young people I hired who do that."

Li Mingwei admitted that she had been too hasty just now, and at this moment, she just wanted to escape.

"What are you doing here today?"

"I've finished copying the book, I brought it for you. Take a look later, I'll leave first."

Li Mingwei slammed the window shut and heard Mr. Jin calling out to her, "Don't you want the money?"

She opened a small crack in the window again, "It's fine, no rush. Whenever you give it to me is fine."

"Oh, by the way, Mr. Jin, how are you spending the New Year alone? I've ordered beef for a hot pot. Would you like to join?"

In fact, every year, the parents of students in the town would invite Mr. Jin to spend the New Year at their homes, but he refused all of them because he didn't want people to gossip.

Only Liu Yizhu and his mother, they would come every year to accompany him, cook the New Year's Eve dinner for him, and leave after having a meal together.

Now Li Mingwei invited him to have beef, and he was a little surprised, "Where did you order the beef?"

"It's none of your business. Old Brother Su said there is, so there is. Will you come or not? If you come, I'll go and ask him to save some for me."

Mr. Jin knew she was referring to the butcher, so it must be true. However, he still shook his head, "No need, beef is not cheap. Let me save you some money."

Li Mingwei propped up her head and pouted, "Do I need you to save me this little money?"

"You talk as if you're very rich." He looked at Liu Yizhu and said, "I always spend the New Year with Yizhu and the others, so don't worry about me."

"Okay."

Knowing that he had company, Li Mingwei felt relieved. It wouldn't be right to leave him alone during the New Year. She rested her hand on the window and was about to close it and leave when Mr. Jin hurriedly called her.

"Can you play the qin?"

Li Mingwei glanced at Liu Yizhu and then at Old Lady Wang, and decisively shook her head, "No, I can't."

"You said you could last time."

"Did I?"

Mr. Jin was resolute, "Yes."

Having been exposed for her lie, Li Mingwei wasn't embarrassed. Having been in her fair share of fights on the streets, she now had an incredibly thick skin.

She said helplessly, "Then why did you ask me?"

Mr. Jin smiled and invited, "Come down and show me, I've been listening to the sound of sawing wood for days, I want to clear my ears."

Liu Yizhu's face blushed with a hint of shyness as she looked at Li Mingwei with anticipation.

Li Mingwei shook her head in refusal, finding fault and saying, "With your skills, playing that instrument will always sound like sawing wood."

Liu Yizhu's expression of disappointment did not go unnoticed by Mr. Jin. After a moment of silence, he made an effort to argue, "But they say a skilled musician can produce beautiful melodies even with a mediocre instrument, right?"

"That's just a lie. Skilled musicians use instruments worth thousands of taels," she sneered.

Even her own instrument would cost thousands of taels. In the palace, her former sister-in-law owned several priceless instruments, antique guqins that were centuries old.

Mr. Jin looked at the instrument he had bought twenty or thirty years ago, spending more than ten taels on it, and fell into silence. He remembered how much it had pained him to make that purchase. If it weren't for the need to teach music at the academy, he would never have been able to part with it.

Old Lady Wang scoffed, "You're talking as if it's all true. Thousands of taels, my foot! Such a young age and already full of hot air."

Seeing her demeanor, Li Mingwei wished she could pull out a couple of hundred taels and smash her with them.