"But your body has always been weak. Back when you were copying Buddhist scriptures, if you copied for a long time, your back and your wrist would hurt."
"Since when have I been so weak? I'm just thinking of letting my body recover before getting pregnant again…" Ruoyin kept pausing while talking. She shook her head. "I should have given this more thought, that's all. All I can do now is to copy the Lessons for Women well and hope that Lord Fourth's fury would subside."
"Fujin, these words of yours…" Nanny Liu was deeply moved and was halfway through her speech before Ruoyin interrupted, "That's alright, you don't have to say more. I'll go back to copying."
Lord Fourth had reached the entrance of the room earlier, but his footsteps came to a halt when he overheard the emotional and sincere conversation between Ruoyin and Nanny Liu.
Now that the conversation inside the room had ceased, he carried on into the room.
Su Peicheng pretended to be slow in his reaction and finally announced, "Lord Fourth is here!"
He felt that the Fujin had been really stupid. Why didn't she speak and show penitence properly in front of Lord Fourth?
What was the use of showing penitence in Lord Fourth's absence?
Fortunately, luck was on her side; Lord Fourth was there. If not, she would have said those words in vain.
Lord Fourth entered the room and saw Ruoyin copying the Lessons for Women. She copied and paused, copied and paused, occasionally massaging her wrist—her wrist was clearly fatigued.
She heard Su Peicheng's announcement and raised her face with an expression of delightful surprise.
Lord Fourth entered with his hands crossed behind his back. He was wearing a long, deep blue Chinese-style gown, and his presence exuded a cold, indifferent aura.
Immediately, she dropped her brush and stepped forward to curtsy. "May luck and health be upon Lord Fourth."
Seriously, this man had not visited her residence for more than a fortnight. He was finally here now but still did not give her, at the very least, a friendlier expression.
Upon his entrance, one could feel the temperature of the entire room drop.
Lord Fourth stepped forward, and just as he was prepared to help her up, he recalled how she refused to give him a child and he paused.
In the end, he only uttered an "mm" and seated himself down on a fauteuil in the room by himself.
Then, he gazed at the woman in front of him wearing a red Manchu attire with a tall and well-rounded figure, snow-white skin, serene obsidian eyes, small rosy lips, and an elegant countenance with a certain inexplicable quality that stirred his heart.
She pursed her lips and smiled, which only enhanced the charm of her pair of pretty eyes. She was a rather beautiful lady, indeed.
Realizing that he was feeling a peculiar emotion stirring within his heart, Lord Fourth frowned with frustration and disdain at himself.
He shifted his gaze to an empty spot by the side. He started to play absent-mindedly with his jadeite thumb ring and his entire presence became silent and stern as ice.
Ruoyin was immediately astonished. She did not just say anything out of place before this; why did he suddenly knit his eyebrows?
Could it be that he came here with the sole purpose of displaying his bad mood to her?
With this in mind, she sat down rather quietly on a rose chair.
At the same time, she was searching for a conversation topic in her mind, but the more she pondered, the more she realized there was nothing to talk about with Lord Fourth.
Lord Fourth was a Beile and a distinguished scholar of the Qing Dynasty; she would not be able to converse about major national issues.
Meanwhile, she was a hotel evaluator in her previous life; she could not possibly talk about the excellence of a particular five-star hotel or the comfort of a particular bed, could she?
It also would be rather awkward to make small talk like "Has Lord Fourth had dinner?" or "What has brought my Lord here today?" or even "Goodness, the weather is so hot!"
It was better to just keep quiet. The more one talked, the more mistakes one would make; silence is golden after all. So, she just let the time waste away with Lord Fourth.
In any case, Lord Fourth had come here, so there ought to be something he wanted. She should just sit down and wait until he would open his mouth.
Therefore, she did just that: she sat down by the side without uttering a single word.
A while had passed; both of them were still silent. The atmosphere was a little cold.
The subordinates saw this situation and all exited the room discreetly to give Lord Fourth and Ruoyin some privacy in their awkwardness.
After a long while, Lord Fourth finally spoke. "The weather has been hot. I'm considering going up to the manor and staying for a while."
"Since my Lord has decided so, I will instruct someone to help with the preparations." Ruoyin was somewhat surprised but she could sympathize, given that the weather had been rather sweltering.
At the same time, she could feel some disappointment growing in her heart. It was a pity; she would no longer be able to enjoy the privileges of going on an excursion out of the capital to avoid the summer heat.
It was because she had yet to finish copying the Lessons for Women, and she was in the middle of confinement…
It looked like she was bound to be spending her first summer here stuck in her residence.
Lord Fourth took a glimpse at her and took notice of her expression. He asked indifferently, "How's your progress with Lessons for Women?"
In Ruoyin's mind, Lord Fourth was really touching on some raw nerves and she felt self-conscious, as if a teacher was checking on her homework.
She forced herself to gather some composure and smiled. "In reply to my lord, I have copied it… once."
As she spoke these words, her voice gradually grew softer. She looked at Lord Fourth cautiously and felt she no longer had a face to show as she awaited admonishment from Lord Fourth.
Lord Fourth had not been visiting lately. There was no one exercising control over her and she was becoming more at ease; every day was a day of brazenness.
Daytime was spent eating and drinking, playing on the swing, and reading the books that she had bought from outside.
She had been reading books about women striving to be favored by their spouses, such as The Cold-blooded General Dotes on His Wife, The Tyrannical Emperor Fell in Love with Me, and His Majesty Dotes on Me!
Well, she did learn quite a few skills on winning favors!
When night fell, she then copied a tiny bit, as though she was squeezing a tube of toothpaste. It was so unsatisfying to pass the time this way!
At this moment, upon facing Lord Fourth's coolness, she realized it was all too late.
If the Heavens would grant her a chance to do it all over again, she swore that… she would absolutely still pass the day in indulgence as before and not treat herself so poorly!
Lord Fourth noticed she had been ill at ease and recalled Nanny Liu's words about her back and wrist hurting.
"Show it to me," he said with a serious face.
Ruoyin was slightly startled, but she obeyed and handed over her copy of Lessons for Women to Lord Fourth.
Then, she stood embarrassed on one side with apprehension on her face, like a student waiting to be berated by a teacher.
Exactly! Lord Fourth was scarier than a teacher. A teacher could not confine a student, right?
But Lord Fourth could, and he could even determine the life and death of most people!
Moreover, when he got serious, he'd look like an old officer despite clearly having a face as attractive as Prince Charming's.
Lord Fourth flipped one page after another with his eyes glued on the paper, looking serious and conscientious.
After quite a while, he spoke without enthusiasm. "Why have you copied it only once?"
"Because… Because I wanted to maintain a good standard of handwriting, so I copied slowly." Ruoyin could definitely not say that she had been spoiling herself. Yeah, no, she definitely couldn't say that!
Lord Fourth paused for a short while and subsequently nodded slightly. "Mm, not bad. The form of your handwriting is neat and your strokes are straight and tidy. You have definitely improved from last time."
Hearing Lord Fourth's praise, Ruoyin finally breathed a deep sigh of relief.
It just so happened that she and the real Fujin had been learning and practicing writing regular script.
However, the real Fujin would practice writing as she was upset and sulking. Thus, she would often be distracted and her handwriting would not turn out too well.
In contrast, when she practiced her writing, she would practice it so conscientiously to the point that eating and playing would recede into the back of her mind.
Therefore, her handwriting turned out slightly better than the real Fujin's.
In any case, Lord Fourth was satisfied and she could relax a little.
But… it seemed like Lord Fourth mentioned only that her handwriting was good; was he not going to bring up the problem of her copying too little?