Chapter 394: Testing the Waters 9
Qi Qingyao did not know what was wrong with Lu Yan. After she returned to her room, she asked someone to prepare a pen, ink, paper, and an inkstone for her. Then, she closed the door and shut herself in the room for two whole days. During that period, she even gave orders to Steward Zhang that if something happened outside, such as… Si Jin coming back or a grand master arriving, he should notify her, and she would come out and deal with it. Steward Zhang said yes to her orders repeatedly.
Fortunately, it was quiet for those two days. No one knocked on the mansion’s door, giving Qi Qingyao a chance to breathe.
Qi Qingyao decided to take advantage of these two days to design and modify a lot of similar patterns based on the jade tablet, which was just like designing a series of patterns! She did not design the jade ring, though, because she had two trump cards in her hand. If it was for entrapment, she would only need one to achieve her goal and test the waters. So why would she need to pull out the second card and waste it?
While she was in the process of designing the blueprints, her three little children were very understanding and did not come into her room to disturb her. When Qi Qingyao came out occasionally, she would find the three little children sitting in the study, obediently listening to a teacher’s lecture. The teacher was unfamiliar to her. When Qi Qingyao asked who it was, Xiaobao quickly told her that he was a teacher Uncle Lu had hired.
When the teacher saw the beautiful and capable little lady, he could not help but be stunned. After regaining his senses, he swiftly greeted her. Qi Qingyao bowed slightly to the teacher, signaling for him to continue teaching and not to mind her. Shortly after, she told the three children to pay proper attention to his lesson.
After she left, the teacher asked the three children in surprise, “Was that your mother?”
The three children nodded delightedly.
The teacher scratched his head and thought about the woman. He had worked as a teacher for the Han family for some time in his younger years. Naturally, he had heard some rumors. He also knew that this place was the former Lu Residence. Outsiders all said that Qi Qingyao was arrogant and domineering, saying that she had even kicked the lady of the Jiang family out of Qingzhou City. They said she was a badass and was taking to Qingzhou City like a duck to water despite being a country bumpkin. He had thought she would look sharp and unkind. Who could have foreseen that he would be incredibly shocked by the looks of her three children first?
The three children all looked like fairies, fair-skinned and adorable.
When he saw the children’s mother, she looked like she had not slept for a few days. Her gaze was a little tired, and there was a hint of innocence and cuteness within it. When she raised her hand to rub her eyes, she looked like a confused little child, and she had even nodded so sweetly at him. Then, she had yawned and bobbed her head as she left. There was no sharpness to her at all, which left the teacher very dazed.
How had such a little lady win bested that powerful lady of the Jiang family? And how had she won this mansion from Young Master Lu’s hands? It was really puzzling.
Before Qi Qingyao returned to her room, she made a trip to Lu Yan’s courtyard. She had initially wanted to sincerely thank him, but who could have expected that as soon as she knocked on the door, opened it, and thanked Lu Yan for the teacher he had hired…
He looked at her blankly for a moment, then turned around and awkwardly ran back into the warm room. He shouted from inside the room, “I got it! Don’t thank me blindly. I just hired a teacher!”
Qi Qingyao was dumbfounded by his attitude. She scratched her head and went back to her room, helpless. She thought to herself, ‘He was so annoyed by a mere thank you!’ It looked like Little Yan really did not treat her as an outsider!
After another two days, Qi Qingyao finally finished preparing all the blueprints. Only then did she ask Steward Zhang to call Lu Yan over.
Once Lu Yan came over, Qi Qingyao asked, “How’s the preparation of the Nephrite going?”