The noble girl is beautiful.

Just after the rain, the cicadas in the trees were calling hoarsely, mixed with the chirping of birds in the garden, making people annoyed.
Shen Yourong understood the meaning behind Ji Zhuo’s words. This time, the Autumn Examination was bound to cause trouble. In this way, Shen Qingfeng and the Shen family would have escaped a disaster.
Thinking of this, she was very calm, “As a student, there are many inadequacies in my actions. If the master finds fault, feel free to handle it for me.”
Ji Zhuo laughed, “So I’ll have to clean up the mess for you.”
She politely smiled, “Then I’ll trouble Master.”
She seemed fearless, and he stared at her for a while, then suddenly smiled and handed her a cup of tea, saying softly, “You were calling me ‘Prince’ just now, and now you’re calling me ‘Master’? Xianxian, you’re so tactful, indeed a good student of mine.”
She couldn’t help but be surprised and frightened to hear her nickname from his mouth again, “You—”
Changming came back with a vase and saw the two of them in the pavilion, especially Shen Yourong, glaring at Ji Zhuo with hatred in her eyes.
Ji Zhuo asked him to put the vase on the stone table and asked Shen Yourong for lotus flowers.
She didn’t move, still glared angrily at him. He looked at her. Shen “swooshed” and threw the lotus flowers on the stone table, getting up to leave.
“Sit down.”
Her body stiffened, reluctantly sitting back down.
He picked out the lotus flowers and slowly placed them in the vase.
“You’re too young, soft-hearted, naive, and impulsive, with many flaws and clumsiness. What good can you get from opposing me?” His words were sharp, but he still maintained the appearance of a gentleman, which infuriated her.
“This time, I’ll let it go,” he turned the vase around, looking left and right, and said in a gentle tone, “If there’s another time, I’ll have to teach you a lesson no matter what.”
She didn’t speak, her eyes were no longer as angry as before, only deep fear remained.
“All right,” he said, “I don’t know much about flower arranging, but I’ve heard that young ladies are very proficient in these feminine things. Take a look and see how I did?”
She forced a smile, “Master is master, even if you’re not good at it, you can still do it well.”
He smiled, took the folding fan beside him, and said, “This vase and these lotus flowers go well together, I’ll give them to Miss Shen.”
With that, he left the pavilion with Changming.
The Autumn Examination came as scheduled, not delayed because of Shen Qingfeng’s illness. And after the Autumn Examination, his illness slowly recovered.
His absence from the Autumn Examination due to illness caused the atmosphere in the entire mansion to become stagnant. Shen Yourong went to see him, and could hear Lady Yang cursing incessantly inside the room. She suddenly felt bored and went back the same way she came.
At this time, relatives came to the mansion, a lady from the Shen family, bringing her son and two daughters to stay at the Duke’s mansion. According to seniority, Shen Yourong should call her aunt.
The aunt was a widow, her son was about the same age as Shen Shuo, also here to take the examination. Her two daughters were about the same age as her.
Originally, they were all supposed to leave after the exams, but they heard that Shen Qingfeng missed the exams due to illness and insisted on coming to visit.
Lady Yang and this aunt were at odds with each other. Expecting that she came to watch the fun, but unfortunately couldn’t drive her away. She also heard that now Prince Duan and the Fourth Prince were staying at the mansion, and insisted that her two daughters, Guo Chunzhu and Guo Xuezhu, attend school here, dressing up extravagantly every day, not knowing what they were up to.
The day Shen Yourong came to school, she saw Guo Chunzhu dressed in pink chatting with the Fourth Prince behind a screen. Shen Qingyan was standing on the side with a cold face, looking quite disdainful.
The Fourth Prince, for some reason, even spoke to Guo Chunzhu, which made Shen Qingyan even more unhappy.
Shen Qinghan had been depressed for some time because of Shen Qingfeng’s illness, and rarely joked with Shen Yourong and Shen Qingyan.
As for Guo Xuezhu, as soon as Ji Zhuo came, she locked onto him tightly. During the break, she went up to him to ask about some questions from the textbooks.
Ji Zhuo had always been gentle and patient, but the more she approached, the more Changming coughed uncomfortably, feeling something was wrong.
Shen Yourong wrote big characters and thought he deserved it.
“Miss Shen,” Ji Zhuo suddenly called her, “You’ve been practicing calligraphy for a long time, you must have some insights. Why don’t you exchange ideas with Miss Guo?”
Guo Xuezhu reluctantly stood up and said, “Please enlighten me, Sister Yourong.”
“I dare not.” She talked to Guo Xuezhu about some calligraphy matters. Guo Xuezhu didn’t really want to learn calligraphy sincerely. After a few sentences, she sat back down.
Shen Yourong looked up at Ji Zhuo, who was also looking at her, and the two of them glanced at each other, then looked away.
After school, Shen Qingyan packed up and left first. Ji Chengyao followed her, seeming to want to talk to her. Shen Qinghan hurried to the main hall, and the Guo sisters crowded around Shen Yourong, wanting to visit her courtyard.
She was not very pleased, she exchanged a few jokes and then separated from the two sisters.
Passing through the Moon Gate, she suddenly saw Shen Qingyan and Ji Chengyao standing by the vine inside. She stopped in her tracks, standing outside the Moon Gate, fanning herself while watching them.
“How could I really like her?” He laughed, “I just think that such a person, beautiful yet foolish, is like the Siamese cats in my mother’s palace, very interesting.”
Shen Yourong frowned at his attitude towards such trivial matters. Shen Qingyan also sounded angry, “No matter what, she’s still a girl, not a cat or a dog by your side. Even if you don’t like her, you shouldn’t deliberately tease her!”
He said, “I’m neither good to her nor bad, so what do you want me to do?”
Shen Yourong was about to continue listening when her shoulder was suddenly tapped. She turned around and saw Ji Zhuo holding a fan and looking at her.
She pursed her lips, he glanced at her, and she, displeased, lowered her eyes and left with her maidservant.
The osmanthus was blooming, its fragrance lively and overbearing. Under the osmanthus trees, Shen Yourong sat on a stool, surrounded by a few maidservants.
As she talked, she threaded the flowers with a needle. The younger ones were picking the flowers under the trees, while the taller ones were climbing up to pick the ripe ones.
Shen Qingyan came over from the other side and smiled, “So you’re all here. The results are out, and our cousin from Aunt’s family passed. Madam wants us to go congratulate them.”
“Passed?” Shen Yourong asked, “What place?”
“Not very high,” Shen Qingyan whispered, “I heard it’s second from the bottom.”
The maidservants chuckled, “Our young master was the top scorer back then!”
“Stop it!” Du Juan scolded, “Look at your frivolous behavior.”
Shen Yourong put down the string of flowers, picked up a handkerchief, and said, “Let’s go.”
“Aren’t you changing your clothes?” Shen Qingyan asked.
She looked at herself. Today, she was wearing a tea-brown floral skirt with a apricot-colored silk blouse. Her hair was tied up in a simple bun, with a sprig of osmanthus swaying on her head, and delicate tassels made of tiny pearls swaying at her temples.
Because she had just threaded osmanthus flowers, she was now permeated with the scent of osmanthus, and the osmanthus hairpin on her temple seemed to have become real, emitting a fragrance.
“Well, let’s go,” Shen Qingyan said, “But it’s too plain.”
They all went to the main courtyard together. In the main hall, Lady Yang and Aunt were sitting together, Shen Qinghan was sitting on the right, and the Guo sisters were sitting on the left. Shen Yourong and Shen Qingyan greeted Lady Yang and congratulated Aunt before taking their seats.
Lady Yang’s expression was indifferent, but Aunt was elated, every wrinkle on her face filled with satisfaction.
“Oh, this is really unexpected. I thought Qingfeng would be the same age as his brother and they would take the exams together. It would be good to have them both try, and maybe they would both be listed on the gold list in front of the palace.” Aunt said, “How did he get sick so coincidentally?”
Lady Yang didn’t bother to answer her, saying, “he is young. The Duke said, waiting a few more years would be safer. Who knows, maybe he could be like his brother and become a top scorer.”
Aunt laughed sarcastically, even the usual courtesy on her face couldn’t be maintained.
Just then, Aunt’s son, Guo Yu, walked in. He was also a young master, dressed in a green Confucian robe, looking more steady than his mother and sister.
He greeted Lady Yang and paid his respects to Shen Yourong and her sister.
Aunt watched from the side and smiled, “Originally, I was going to arrange a marriage for Yu, but now that he’s passed the exam, we can look for a match among the noble girls! Speaking of which, have any of the young ladies in your family been betrothed?”
Shen Qinghan frowned, Shen Qingyan rolled her eyes, Shen Yourong remained silent, just lowering her head to drink tea.
Lady Yang was also not pleased, saying, “No matter how good someone is, they’ll be dragged down by their family. Our daughters are getting married for marriage, not charity.”
Aunt was so angry her face turned purple. Guo Yu quickly persuaded his mother, saying, “You don’t have to be so rigid in your words. At least I have an official position now. Who knows what the future holds?”
“You—” Lady Yang hadn’t finished speaking when someone outside suddenly reported that something big had happened.
She was not happy, “What’s the big deal, so flustered!”
The steward gasped for breath and said, “Some scholars have gone to the capital to beat the drums and appeal for justice, accusing this year’s autumn exam of cheating!”
Aunt stood up in shock, and everyone in the room’s expression changed.
Shen Yourong looked at the steward who had come to report, thinking, here it comes.