The two had just walked out of the pavilion when little Qingyu grabbed her maid Rongrong with one hand and Lu Zhao Lin’s arm with the other, saying, "Try the rongdou, they’re very tasty." Lu Zhao Lin struggled slightly but couldn’t get away, his ears turning a bit red. He was already ten years old, yet this little girl so comfortably hooked his arm. Even though he couldn’t understand what Qingyu was saying, he could comprehend her meaning from her tone and actions, so he softly said, "Thank you, sister." With that, he stuffed the rongdou that Qingyu had just placed in his palm straight into his mouth, then looked at Qingyu. His eyes slightly brightened, and he praised enthusiastically with a strong Youzhou accent: "Delicious." Qingyu similarly didn’t understand what he said, but she could grasp his meaning just from his expression, instantly saying with pride: "See, I told you it’s tasty! It’s something my mom bought for me! Oh, let me tell you, the workshop market in Qiantang is too sparse, we have all these things in Mao County, but here they don’t. Where’s your home? Do you have rongdou to eat?" Lu Zhao Lin comprehended only a few words like "home" and "rongdou," so he replied, "I belong to the Fan Yang Lu clan, my home is in Youzhou Fan Yang, and I’ve traveled to Jiangnan to study under Master Cao and Master Wang. We don’t have rongdou at our place; this is the first time I’ve seen it." "Oh, poor you all, do you have chocolate there?" The world of children is truly wondrous. Even if most of the language doesn’t get through, it doesn’t hinder their communication, for perhaps the tone and actions are mutually understood. Rongdou and chocolate are Qingyu’s two favorite things. With curiosity, Lu Zhao Lin asked, "What’s chocolate? What’s it used for?" This time, Qingyu completely didn’t understand his words, but it didn’t matter. She had her own rhythm, she grabbed her two little friends, and then chased the adult servants following them further away, saying, "Let’s play hide-and-seek. You two hide first, and I’ll come to find you, alright?" Little Rongrong naturally nodded vigorously, and Lu Zhao Lin looked puzzled at the little maid who squatted among the plum blossoms, while Qingyu had already turned around, closed her eyes, and started counting "one, two, three." Even if Lu Zhao Lin hadn’t understood Qingyu’s meaning earlier, he did now. He had started learning at four, practicing writing poetry at five, and had been studying diligently every day. He had never played this kind of game with his siblings before, so he was a bit stunned. Follow current novels on 𝙣𝙤𝙫𝙚𝙡✶𝙛𝙞𝙧𝙚✶𝙣𝙚𝙩 When Qingyu counted to ten and turned around to find people, she found Lu Zhao Lin still foolishly standing in place, and Qingyu immediately clapped and laughed heartily, then grabbed his sleeve and shouted, "Caught you, I’ve caught you! Hahaha!" Qingyu’s simple and direct joy infected Lu Zhao Lin, making him laugh along too. He was technically ten by nominal age, not yet nine by the actual year, usually bound tightly by etiquette and the Four Books and Five Classics. Once given the chance to relax, how could he not enjoy playing? Soon, the three little ones, each speaking their own language, started playing together, filling the Plum Garden with the sound of children’s happy laughter. Meanwhile, Lin Wanwan, warming herself in the pavilion, was intently watching Cao Xian paint in ink, considering if she could sell the painting for a good price back in the modern day. Cao Xian, despite being a renowned scholar in philology, had quite a high level of painting skills, as ancient people valued proficiency in the four arts: lyre-playing, chess, calligraphy, and painting. However, after painting an abstract Plum Garden, he invited Xiao Chong to inscribe the poem "Snow Plum" on it. Lin Wanwan immediately felt deflated and inwardly lamented that it was ruined. "Snow Plum" is a seven-word quatrain created by Southern Song poet Lu Meipo, separated by hundreds of years from the present. But now, it was inscribed by Xiao Chong during the fourth year of the Zhenguan era onto Cao Xian’s painting. How could she take it to the modern day, where people would instantly call it fake and devoid of common sense? Setting aside the mercenary thoughts, Lin Wanwan focused on appreciating the artwork, deriving some insights about how the two seemed to have the meaning of an intergenerational friendship, the painting and calligraphy enhancing each other. Then Cao Xian and Xiao Chong put down their brushes and began discussing the content of the "Zhaoming Wenxuan." Even as a pretty good student, Lin Wanwan couldn’t join in this topic, as she had fully pursued exam-focused education back then, naturally incapable of doing in-depth research on the anthology. In Tang and Song dynasties, scholars were selected through poetry and fu (prose-poem) exams; thus the anthology became a must-read model for aspiring scholars, and it’s surprising not to master it. Any knowledge linked to the civil service examination and tests inevitably provokes extensive research. It was only in the Song dynasty, when Wang Anshi came to power, that the poetry and fu exams were abolished, replaced by the New Classics. After this, the anthology’s standing gradually fell from being equal to classical texts to outside school textbooks. Though Lin Wanwan mostly listened and learned, occasionally she was able to present fresh ideas drawing from her vantage point on the shoulders of historical giants, attracting the attention of both the older and younger scholars. She was having a great time chatting with the two eminent figures Xiao Chong and Cao Xian, while little Qingyu was happily playing with the future renowned Lu Zhao Lin, oblivious to the uproar caused by her recent antics at the temple annex house. Whether it was Lu Ying’er losing her valuable personal Yingluo or He Miao’s horse being startled by Lin Wanwan’s horse causing it to fall and break her leg, these were not trivial matters. If these incidents happened among three families of equal standing, they wouldn’t mean much. But currently, the He Family is a local gentry in Qiantang with a strong, deeply rooted influence and numerous familial connections; while the Lu Family is inherently noble, Lu Ying’er’s father being the County Magistrate of Qiantang. Even though the Xiao Family, being Jiangnan’s top Gate Valve, plays an indispensable role in Southern Dynasty and Sui Tang history. When Wu Zetian targeted the Five Families and Seven Hopes, she didn’t strike the Jiangnan Xiao Family who held official positions in court, earning the saying "Half of Li Tang’s realm belongs to Xiao," and Ouyang Xiu even praised the Xiao Family as "the greatest noble clan, unmatched in history." However, Lin Wanwan’s maternal family was not the direct lineage of the Xiao Family, just a branch stemming from the Xiao Family Imperial Uncle’s House, not living in the Xiao Family’s original base in Jinling Wujin, having a solitary presence in Qiantang. They even need to rely on the He and Lu families. If today’s incident was caused by a member from the direct lineage like Xiao Yixun, the result would be different, mostly just saying a few words of criticism about youth playing polo and being somewhat reckless. But the fact was that Lin Wanwan and the Xiao Family sisters had offended the other side. Therefore, when the Xiao Family’s eldest grandson’s wife, Madam Xiao, received the news, she felt like she’d been struck by thunder out of clear sky, unable to help but utter complaints to normally gentle Xiao Xianghua. Xiao Xianghua was also very aggrieved. Although she had learned many rules, she was still a teenage girl, not yet accustomed to currying favor with others. When people come to bully her, how can she endure it? Wanwan’s cousin is a cherished guest of the Xiao Family. If someone bullies our guest, isn’t it natural to retaliate? Besides, it was He Miao who bumped into her first. If it weren’t for her excellent horsemanship avoiding it in time, it would be her lying with a broken leg now!