41 Father has made you suffer
Wei Qingwan used all of her strength, but the bow in her hand was only drawn in a very small arc, and the arrow fell to the ground due to the trembling of her hand.
Wei Yichen comforted Wei Qingwan while helping Wei Qingwan pick up the dropped arrow: "Don't worry Wanwan, archery is difficult, and father's bow is too hard. It's normal for you to be unable to draw it. Eldest brother's first time archery was also similar to yours."
"I'll try again." Wei Qingwan drew the bow again.
This time she used more strength, and then let out a soft cry while the bow and arrow in her hand fell to the ground.
"Wanwan, what's wrong? "Wei Yichen quickly checked Wei Qingwan's hand.
Wei Mingting, who was teaching Wei Ruo, also walked up to Wei Qingwan after hearing her voice to check her situation, with a deep concern in his eyes.
"I'm fine, it's me who's useless. I couldn't pull my bow and I even cut my hand with the bow string, "Wei Qingwan blamed herself.
Wei Yichen spread out Wei Qingwan's hand and saw a deep red mark on the fingers she used to pull the bow string. Although it didn't wound her, the bruise was particularly striking on Wei Qingwan's fair and delicate skin.
Wei Mingting frowned, then said to Wei Yichen, "Yichen, go get some medicine and apply it on Wanwan."
"Alright, I'll go now." Wei Yichen hurriedly went to look for external wound medicine.
Yun Shi and Wei Yilin also rushed over.
Seeing Wei Qingwan injured, the two of them were very concerned and anxious.
"Wanwan, show your hand to Mother. How did this happen? Stop practicing bows and arrows, your hands are not made for this." Yun Shi said hastily.
"Yes sister, how about we play something else?" Wei Yilin seconded.
"I'm sorry… I'm useless…" Wei Qingwan lowered her head in shame.
"What are you talking about, what does it have to do with you being useful or not? Riding and shooting is not something that women should do." Yun Shi said.
"Don't be afraid, sister, I'll practice my riding and shooting to protect you in the future!" Wei Yilin said as he patted his chest.
Wei Qingwan's eyes were red: "Thank you, Yilin."
Immediately afterwards, she said to Wei Mingting and Yun Shi: "I'm sorry, Father and Mother. Daughter is fine, I have worried you. Daughter is unfilial*."
*unfilial: not showing the qualities that are expected of a good daughter or son.
"It's perfectly normal for parents to be concerned about their children, what's wrong about it?" Yun Shi said.
Wei Mingting nodded and agreed with his wife's words.
"Alright, don't cry. Go back to the carriage with Mother and rest for a while." Yun Shi pulled Wei Qingwan away.
Wei Yilin followed behind, like a small bodyguard.
After Wei Qingwan left, Wei Mingting turned around and walked back to Wei Ruo's side.
Suddenly thinking of something, he looked down at Wei Ruo's right hand.
He caught a glimpse of bright red marks on Wei Ruo's fingers as well.
And because Wei Ruo had drawn her bow far more often than Wei Qingwan, the number of red marks on her hands was much more and more obvious than Wei Qingwan.
"Ruo'er, let's stop practicing for now." Wei Mingting immediately called Wei Ruo to stop.
After Wei Ruo put down her bow and arrow, Wei Mingting asked: "There are already many red marks on your hands, why didn't you say anything to Father?"
Wei Ruo glanced at the red marks on her hand and calmly replied: "No wound, it's nothing serious."
In Wei Ruo's opinion, this level of red marks was not considered an injury at all.
Wei Ruo's words made Wei Mingting's eyebrows furrow and his expression solemn.
To him, this level of injury was indeed nothing, but girls were different, daughters grew up being pampered. Naturally they couldn't be compared to him, and he had always felt that Wanwan was what a normal girl should be like.
Wei Mingting was silent for a long time before saying: "Ruo'er, Father has made you suffer."
Wei Ruo looked up and glanced at Wei Mingting, then quickly shifted her gaze to the distant target.
For a moment, Wei Ruo wanted to tell Wei Mingting that she didn't feel any hardship living in the countryside, where she had family, friends, and a life of her own.
But she restrained herself from speaking, because these were words that the Wei family didn't like to hear.
In their view, bringing her back, making her an official lady, and pampering her was the best choice.
In order to change the topic, Wei Ruo took the initiative to ask Wei Mingting: "Do all bows require that much strength? There isn't a bow that is relatively lightweight and can be used with one hand, for example, crossbow?"
"Yes, if you use a crossbow, you won't need too much strength and you won't hurt your hands. Does Ruo'er want to try a crossbow?" Wei Mingting asked.
Wei Ruo shook his head, "I won't try, I'm just a little curious as to why the soldiers use more bows than crossbows these days."
"Because the speed of using a crossbow is slow. A skilled archer can shoot three arrows at the same time, while a crossbow can only shoot one arrow. When the two armies engage in battle, the intensity is very important." Wei Mingting answered.
"I see." Wei Ruo said thoughtfully.
Seeing that Wei Ruo had some interest in crossbows, in order to better explain to Wei Ruo, Wei Mingting asked his attendants to fetch a crossbow.
Wei Mingting handed the crossbow to Wei Ruo: "Come, Ruo'er, take a look. This crossbow can be loaded with one arrow at a time. After firing, it will take more time to load the second arrow."
Wei Ruo took it and fired a shot at the target, then loaded a second arrow under Wei Mingting's guidance. It was indeed slower.
For a novice like her, the time to load a crossbow was similar to the time to shoot an arrow with a bow. However, for someone like Wei Mingting who had been through many battles, the speed of taking an arrow and shooting an arrow with a bow was much faster than the speed of loading a crossbow.
Wei Ruo looked at the crossbow in her hand thoughtfully.
"What is Ruo'er thinking?" Wei Mingting was a little curious about his daughter's thoughts.
"I'm thinking, if this crossbow can load many arrows at once, it would be great." Wei Ruo casually said while playing and observing the crossbar in her hand.
"Ruo'er's idea is very interesting." Wei Mingting said, then looked up at the sky and said: "It's getting late, let's go back home."
Wei Mingting finished today's trip and returned home with his wife and children as it was getting late.
The way back was very peaceful, and the group safely returned to Wei Mansion.
After entering the door, before parting from Wei Ruo, Wei Mingting specifically told Wei Ruo: "Today is your first time riding a horse and shooting arrows, so you will inevitably feel unwell tomorrow. After returning, rest early."
"Yes."
Not long after Wei Ruo returned to Tingsong Garden, she received a herbal bath pack from Cuiping.
It was Wei Mingting who told Yun Shi, and then Yun Shi ordered Cuiping to deliver it.
Due to the war, Wei Mingting kept some medicine at home all year round. This herbal bath pack is usually used by Wei Mingting.
Wei Ruo opened the herbal bath pack, carefully identified it, and sniffed it. It was indeed a prescription with the function of soothing tendons and activating blood circulation.
Although there were some flaws in the formula, it was still useful.
Originally, Wei Ruo had planned to prepare her own herbal bath, but since Wei Mingting had someone bring it over, she didn't need to hassle and just used the pack that was sent.
So in the evening, Wei Ruo took a nice hot herbal bath to soothe and relax.
Wei Ruo had anticipated that she might wake up the next day with a sore back, but she didn't realize until the next day that it wasn't just the sore back that was the problem, but also that the pain was in a somewhat embarrassing place!
Author's Notes:
Wei Ruo: I regret it, I was too hasty. I should have prepared a herbal bath myself last night.
42 Mixed feelings
The buttocks, inner thighs, and other areas that were touched when riding the horse were painful…
In contrast, the pain in the arms, shoulders, backs, and fingers that strained during archery was not that bad, because Wei Ruo was usually collecting herbs and farming, so her arms and shoulders were well-trained.
But the inner thighs couldn't be really exercised when she was busy collecting herbs and farming.
Wei Ruo had some regrets at the moment, she really shouldn't have been careless last night! If she had known earlier, she would have prepared her own herbal bath pack! That way, today's soreness could be relieved by at least half! She wouldn't need to suffer like this!
"Miss… Why don't you stay in bed?" Xiumei looked at Wei Ruo walking while holding onto the wall, with mixed feelings of pity and amusement.
"Meimei, you are laughing at me, aren't you? You don't love me anymore, right?"
"No, no, Miss. I really didn't laugh at you! I'm feeling more distressed than to make fun of you!"
"You're silently laughing, but saying you didn't make fun of me!"
"Miss, I don't want to laugh either, but this is the first time I saw you walk in such a posture, so I couldn't help it. But believe me, I'm definitely not making fun of you! I just think the way you walk is cute, Miss."
"Humph, Meimei, you are so bad!" Wei Ruo muttered, "You can laugh if you want, I can accept that. But I can't let the rest of the family see me like this, especially that stinky brat."
Wei Ruo can already imagine how Wei Yilin would laugh at her when he saw her like this.
It was fine for her to make a fool of herself and let her people laugh at her, but not for those who truly wanted to laugh at her and make her seem like a bad person.
Wei Ruo said to Xiumei after thinking for a while: "I'm not eating in the dining hall at noon or evening today. Help me speak to my mother and tell her that I hurt myself while riding a horse yesterday, so it's inconvenient to move."
It didn't matter if Yun Shi believed it or not, getting her to walk to the dining hall was impossible anyway.
"Then where will Miss eat later? Do you want to go to the second young master's small kitchen and cook some yourself? You still haven't tasted the dried mushrooms Mama Xu* brought over yet, and the sweet potato leaves she brought back last time are still fresh." Xiumei suggested.
*in case you forget, Mama Xu is Wei Ruo's nanny^^
When Xiumei said this, Wei Ruo began to have some cravings.
She was not particularly picky about food, but the food cooked in Wei family's main kitchen was much less flavorful than the food she and Xiumei usually eat.
It was not that the chefs in the main kitchen have poor cooking skills, but that the seasoning they used was in poorer quality compared to what they use.
"Let's go next door!" Wei Ruo decided, even if she was limping, she still had to go to the next door to grab a meal!
Coincidentally, Wei Mingting mentioned to Yun Shi last night that Wei Ruo had been struggling for half a day on her first horse riding and archery, and the next day she was likely to suffer from back pain. So he asked Yun Shi, as a mother, to be more concerned about her.
Therefore, Yun Shi not only readily agreed that Wei Ruo would not go to the dining hall to eat, but also instructed the people in the main kitchen to leave a separate meal and send it to Tingsong Garden for Wei Ruo.
After Xiumei returned to Tingsong Garden, she helped Wei Ruo out. When leaving Tingsong Garden gate, Wei Ruo first asked Xiumei to look around and confirm that no one had passed before going out.
Then, after enduring the pain of bouncing back and forth, she arrived at the entrance of Yingzhu Garden.
As soon as Xiaobei opened the door, Xiumei and Wei Ruo went in. Xiaobei didn't even have time to ask a question.
"Miss, what happened to you?" Xiaobei asked.
"I'm crippled."
Wei Ruo said and looked in the direction of the octagonal pavilion in the courtyard, and as expected, Wei Jinyi started to sit inside the pavilion again after he got well.
As long as it wasn't a particularly windy day, he would sit inside the pavilion reading and writing.
Wei Jinyi was also looking at Wei Ruo at the moment.
Seeing her bouncing towards him, her posture was weird but a little cute.
When she arrived, Wei Jinyi asked: "What's wrong with you? Are you injured?"
The slightly furrowed eyebrows and solemn eyes vaguely revealed a hint of concern.
"I'm not injured, it's just that I rode a horse yesterday." Wei Ruo replied, then exhaled sorrowfully, paused, and added sullenly, "For the first time."
At those words, Wei Jinyi also seemed to understand something. Looking at Wei Ruo's exasperated look, there was a hint of a smile on his originally serious face.
Probably because he rarely smiled in front of others, Wei Jinyi covered half of his face with his hand.
"Wei Jinyi, I can still be considered your savior by any means. I am your own sister, we have been through life and death and suffered from difficulties together. How can you make fun of me at a time like this?"
Wei Ruo said with resentment, she was so angry that she called Wei Jinyi by his first name.
"I'm not making fun of you." Wei Jinyi replied.
Not making fun, but… The corners of his mouth were slightly raised.
But he really didn't mean to laugh at her, he just smiled for some reason when he saw her exasperated and resentful expression.
Perhaps it was because he hadn't been in contact with a person like her for a long time.
Wei Ruo looked at Wei Jinyi with a faint smile on his lips, and couldn't help but feel that his smile was beautiful! Sure enough, people with good looks would look even better when they smile!
This was the first time Wei Ruo saw Wei Jinyi smile.
But, why did he smile for the first time because of her miserable experience?
Wei Ruo sighed helplessly: "You can laugh if you want, as long as you lend me your little kitchen, my Meimei is going to cook me something delicious."
"En." Wei Jinyi responded.
Although he still spoke very little, she could feel that he was not as resistant as before.
Wei Jinyi also instructed Xiaobei: "Go and help her."
"Okay!" Xiaobei hurriedly followed Xiumei and entered the small kitchen together.
Xiumei fried a plate of sweet potato leaves and a plate of mushroom, then made a nutritious chicken soup with the old hen in the small kitchen, with Astralagus membranaceus and goji berries from Wei Ruo's herbal medicine warehouse.
After Wei Jinyi fell ill, this old hen was specially given to Wei Jinyi by the main kitchen to help him replenish her body.
Xiumei asked Xiaobei, who went to ask Wei Jinyi and confirmed that she can cook the chicken before she started preparing.
The chicken offal and chicken blood that Xiumei took out were not wasted. Then she ran back to Tingsong Garden to bring some spicy spices. The packaged spicy hot pot ingredients were used up, but they still had some spicy spices left, which were just in the right amount for frying chicken offal and chicken blood.
While Xiumei and Xiaobei were busy in the kitchen, Wei Ruo sat in the pavilion and watched Wei Jinyi write.
She usually doesn't have that kind of leisure time, but today she just wanted to sit down and didn't want to move.
She had seen Wei Jinyi sitting in the pavilion reading and writing multiple times before, but she had never seen Wei Jinyi's works up close.
She didn't know if it was a coincidence or if she didn't care enough. Anyway, when she came here before, at most she could only see the books Wei Jinyi was reading. She had never seen the calligraphy and paintings he wrote.
"Your handwriting is really beautiful!"
Wei Ruo didn't know calligraphy very well. Her calligraphy could only be said to be barely readable, which was also practiced to handle store affairs easier. But she knew what kind of words look beautiful and have an artistic aesthetic.
Wei Jinyi's writings looked like this, the characters were not bad at all. They were combined with vigorous and beautiful style, with graceful and strong strokes. In short, they were very beautiful.
Wei Jinyi did not reply, not because he did not want to respond, but he did not know how to answer such words.
"You have read so many books and are good at calligraphy, why don't you try to get an academic title like your eldest brother?" Wei Ruo asked curiously.
43 I can help you
Wei Jinyi was not even a Tongsheng*, let alone a scholar, a Juren*, or a Jinshi*.
*Tongsheng: The entrance examination for students during the Ming and Qing dynasties, and it was the beginning of the promotion of scholars. Candidates regardless of age are collectively referred to as Tongsheng.
*Juren: In the ancient Chinese imperial examination system, candidates that were talented and recommended to take imperial examinations were called Juren.
*Jinshi: those who passed the final level of the Imperial court examination were called Jinshi.
He never even took the exam.
Although he was an unfavoured concubine's son, if he wants to take the exam, Wei Mingting and Yun Shi would agree, right. And it would be an honor for the family if he passes the exam.
"Previously, I was not interested." Wei Jinyi replied.
"Previously?"
"Yes."
"Now you've changed your mind?"
"There's been a slight change."
"So you want to take the exam?" Wei Ruo asked.
Wei Jinyi was only sixteen now, and although he started taking the imperial examination much later than Wei Yichen and the others, it was not too late in this era of lifelong imperial examination for scholars.
Wei Jinyi didn't answer this question, but asked about Wei Ruo's matter: "I heard that Mother is arranging for you to go to the County Head Magistrate's Mansion to attend class."
"Yes, I hope she can arrange it unhurriedly."
"You don't want to go?" Wei Jinyi asked.
"Yeah, I don't want to go." Wei Ruo pursed her lips and sighed helplessly.
"Is it because you don't want to attend class or you don't want to go to the Magistrate's mansion?" Wei Jinyi asked again.
"Although I don't really want to attend class, I dislike the thought of going to class with Wei Qingwan even more." Wei Ruo replied.
Probably because of the life-threatening friendship, Wei Ruo became much less defensive towards Wei Jinyi, and said some things that could not be said to other members of the Wei family to Wei Jinyi.
Moreover, Wei Jinyi also knew about the last incident.
Wei Ruo said: "Actually, I wanted to find another female teacher* on my own, but this idea was rejected. I don't know how long I can delay the progress of using the wasteland in the south of the city."
*female teacher: respectful titles for women who are highly respected and have made outstanding contributions.
In fact, Wei Ruo had the financial ability to hire a female teacher's tuition, and she also had a way to hire a decent one. However, without exposing herself, it would be a bit troublesome for the Colonel Mansion to nod their head. Currently, Wei Ruo has not come up with a suitable solution to the problem.
Wei Jinyi gazed at the distressed Wei Ruo and said: "I can help you hire a prestigious female teacher."
"You can hire a prestigious female teacher?" Wei Ruo looked at Wei Jinyi suspiciously.
A prestigious female teacher was not easy to hire, it was not something that can be done with money.
"My biological mother was born into a scholarly family and has some connections in this area. I have some contact with people from my biological mother's side, so it shouldn't be too difficult to help you hire a female teacher." Wei Jinyi explained.
Wei Ruo was not very familiar with the situation of Wei Jinyi's biological mother, but looking at Wei Jinyi's serious expression, she knew that he sincerely wanted to help her and was confident that he could help her.
Wei Ruo dropped her guard against him.
"If I could find a prestigious female teacher, perhaps I could solve this problem and make them give me permission that I wouldn't need to go to study with Wei Qingwan." Wei Ruo had an idea in her mind.
Wei Jinyi also looked at Wei Ruo's raised corners of the mouth and cunning eyes, vaguely looking forward to her future arrangements in this matter.
After Wei Ruo and Wei Jinyi chatted for a while, Xiumei and Xiaobei came back with prepared dishes.
Three dishes and one soup, steaming hot, filled the courtyard with delicious aromas.
Wei Ruo asked Xiumei to sit down and eat together, and Wei Jinyi also called for Xiaobei to come to the table.
They were not rigid people, and no one else was around today, so there was no need to distinguish the boundaries between the master and servants so clearly.
Four people sat at the small stone table in the octagonal pavilion, and out of the four dishes this time, three were not spicy.
Wei Ruo told Wei Jinyi in advance that the dish of fried chicken offal would make people cough just like the seafood hotpot last time, so she asked him not to touch it and drink more chicken soup.
Wei Jinyi did not touch chicken offal at first, but after tasting the other three dishes, Wei Jinyi went to taste chicken offal.
Having the experience of choking last time, this time he took small bites and chewed slowly.
seems to want to figure out why this stimulating taste attracts Wei Ruo so much.
Seeing that he tried again, Wei Ruo looked at him curiously.
Seeing that he was not choked like last time, he asked, "How is it?"
"I don't think it's delicious, and it's not hard to swallow." Wei Jin also commented.
"After that, if you have the opportunity to eat it a few more times, maybe you will fall in love with this taste."
"Um."
Because it was inconvenient to move, Wei Ruo stayed in the pavilion of Yingzhuyuan all afternoon, and Xiumei brought some account books for her.
She and Wei Jinyi were on one side, he looked at his, she looked at hers, they didn't disturb each other, and they didn't talk during the period, they got along very quietly.
On the way, Wei Jin also caught a glimpse of Wei Ruo's handwriting on the paper. The handwriting is extremely immature, as if she has just practiced handwriting, and the only person in the family who can compare with her handwriting is the seven-year-old Wei Yilin.
After having another dinner together at night, Wei Ruocai, supported by Xiumei, bounced back to Songyuan.
After Wei Ruo left, Wei Jin also wrote a letter and handed it to Xiao Bei to send it out of the house.
When he came back, Xiaobei brought a reply, saying that they will definitely take care of what the young master explained.
After the ear seeds passed, the temperature picked up, but it was still a little lower than in previous years.
Some old farmers are already worried about this year's harvest. According to this situation, this year's harvest will still not be good, and may even be worse than the past two years.
After a few days of recuperation, Wei Ruo recovered completely, so he went to the wasteland in the south of the city again.
The experimental site selected by her has been freed of weeds, and the first batch of furfural residue and humus that have been hydrolyzed by sealed fermentation have been placed.
These things are acidic, which can well neutralize the alkalinity of the saline-alkali land, making the soil suitable for ordinary crops.
Wei Ruo arranged for Changgong to carry out the second humus landfill today.
Neither the two long-term workers nor Nanny Zhang understood Wei Ruo's arrangement, but they all completed the work well.
Today Wei Ruo wanted to work in the field by himself for a while, but was persuaded by Madam Zhang, who asked Wei Ruo to stay in the carriage. If there is anything to do, just tell them.
Wei Ruo had no choice but to lean in the carriage, arranging to direct the work of the two long-term workers and Madam Zhang.
At noon, Wei Ruo sat down to rest under the camphor tree next to the experimental field, with Xiumei on her left and Nanny Zhang on her right. The two long-term workers are by the small river farther away.
Xiumei took out the lunch she had prepared before leaving the house: braised pork over rice, served with a pile of boiled cabbage hearts.
For the same lunch, Wei Ruo also prepared a portion for Nanny Zhang and the two long-term workers who were traveling with her, and each portion was packed in a separate food box.
Xiumei gave one food box to Nanny Zhang, then went to the small river and gave the other two to Agui and Xiaoba.
Nanny Zhang and the two long-term workers were stunned when they got the food box.
Missy actually prepared a copy for these servants!
"Don't just stare at it, eat it quickly. It's all ordered, how can I work if I don't have enough food." Wei Ruo said to the three of them.
The three came back to their senses, quickly put down the steamed buns they brought, and opened the food box Wei Ruo gave.
There is meat! Huge chunks of meat!
The eyes of Nanny Zhang and the two long-term workers burst out with excitement.