Compared with the chickens flying and dogs jumping at Joy and Longevity Court, Westglow Garden was a haven of tranquil days.
Jian Zhang spent the night in Min's quarters. At three in the morning, maids began coming and going with washing supplies.
Jian Ruonan was sleeping soundly in the Green Gauze Alcove when the candlelight woke her. As she opened her eyes groggily, Wen Xue, the maid on night duty, whispered, "Fifth Miss, it's still early. Go back to sleep. The master is washing up outside before leaving for court."
Jian Ruonan suddenly wanted a courtyard of her own. Sleeping in her mother's quarters meant being woken every morning by her father washing up.
She grumbled, rolled over, pulled the quilt over her head, and went back to sleep.
Wen Xue stayed beside her, not daring to rest for fear that the Fifth Miss might suffocate under the quilt. Once Jian Zhang left, she gently pulled it off her head.
Jian Ruonan's little face was flushed red, and she slept on, oblivious to the world.
Even toward nine in the morning, Jian Ruonan showed no sign of waking.
Jian Xilu rose every day at dawn, practiced the zither for an hour, then copied scriptures for a while. When she arrived at Westglow Garden after nine, she found her younger sister still asleep.
The old madam had suffered a fright yesterday, so a young maid had come early to announce that they need not pay their respects today. After helping Jian Zhang prepare for court, Min had dozed a little longer, but she had still risen around seven.
Only Jian Ruonan remained asleep, her bottom sticking up even as the sun shone down on it.
"She still hasn't gotten up?" Jian Xilu was a little worried too. With a routine like this, what would her sister do once she married?
Min smiled. "Why don't you try waking her?"
Her younger daughter seemed very fond of her elder sister Xilu. The maids had tried several times without success, but perhaps Nannan would get up as soon as Xilu went in.
Jian Xilu entered the Green Gauze Alcove and saw a bundled lump on the carved hardwood bed. She genuinely could not tell which end was the head and which was the feet.
Her sister's sleeping posture truly was... unique.
Wasn't she stifling in there?
Jian Xilu pulled the quilt down for her. At the touch of sunlight, Jian Ruonan scrunched up her brows. "Let me sleep another half an incense stick..."
"If you don't get up soon, Father will be home from the office."
Only upon hearing her sister's voice did Jian Ruonan begin to wake. She stretched. "Good morning, Xilu."
With her hair resembling a chicken's nest, Jian Ruonan became even more determined to have a little courtyard of her own. Then she could get up whenever she pleased. A private kitchen would make it even more perfect-she would not have to worry about missing meals by sleeping late.
She clambered unsteadily out of bed, draped on an outer jacket, and went to wash up.
With a toothbrush in her mouth and her eyes hazy, she brushed with her eyes closed, her head swaying this way and that. She looked so adorable that the maids attending her covered their mouths and giggled.
After rinsing her mouth, Jian Ruonan opened her eyes and suddenly saw a boy of about six standing before her.
The boy wore a pink sunflower-patterned robe. His childish face still carried baby fat, and his fair skin resembled a piece of fine jade.
His thick lashes curled slightly upward, and his eyes were clear and bright.
Despite his childish face, he acted like a miniature adult, clasping his hands behind his back and wrinkling his nose as he looked Jian Ruonan up and down.
[Oh my, oh my, what an adorable little munchkin! Come let your big sister hug you and pinch those cheeks!]
[Be good and let your big sister take a good sniff of you! Aaaah, you're so cute!!]
Jian Ruonan had no intention of marrying or having children, but she had absolutely no resistance to adorable little ones.
Especially this little boy before her, so fair and clean-cut, with rosy lips and pearly teeth. In modern times, he would attract plenty of strange aunties just by walking down the street.
Jian Ruonan had barely reached out, not even touching him, when the boy's eyes went round. He screamed and bolted.
"Where did that child come from? He's awfully cute." Jian Ruonan took the towel a maid offered and wiped her face.
Wen Xue smiled. "That's the Fourth Young Master."
The Fourth Young Master? Wouldn't that make him her own younger brother?
Her little brother was truly adorable, but with the way he startled and shrieked, was he perhaps a little Brat?
Jian Huateng ran straight into Min's arms and pointed at Jian Ruonan. "Mother, there's a pretty lady monster in the Green Gauze Alcove! She wants to sniff me, and I-beep-"
Huh? Why couldn't he speak?
Was the monster really that powerful?
"Mother, just now, I-beep-"
Jian Huateng wanted to say that he had just heard the lady monster's thoughts, but the words reached his lips and refused to come out.
Min rubbed his head. "What monster? That's your fifth sister. She just returned to the residence from Jiangnan."
Seeing Teng's frightened expression, Min guessed he had heard Nannan's thoughts too. "Don't be afraid. We can all-beep-"
Min frowned. Why did she lose the ability to speak whenever she mentioned the thoughts?
Refusing to believe it, she tried again. "Beep-"
She tried several times, but could not get the words out.
Only then did Min belatedly understand: their ability to hear Nannan's thoughts could not be spoken of.
After several failed attempts, Jian Huateng could only give up.
But judging from his mother's expression, she seemed able to hear those thoughts too.
Once Jian Ruonan finished washing and dressing, Min introduced Teng to her. "This is your fourth brother, Teng. Oh, today isn't your day off. Why are you home?"
The Imperial College gave its students a day off every five days, so Teng only came home once every five days.
Jian Huateng gave Jian Ruonan a proper bow. "Greetings, Fifth Sister."
Only after bowing did he turn to Min and answer respectfully, "Mother, our day off was supposed to be tomorrow, but our teacher fell ill today, so we were sent home early."
Jian Huateng stood obediently, looking well-mannered and respectful. His every movement carried something of a scholar's upright dignity, bearing no resemblance whatsoever to a "Brat."
Seeing him behave so well, Min smiled with relief. "Teng has become much more proper since entering the Imperial College."
Jian Ruonan wore a doting auntie smile. Her own little brother-didn't that mean she could squish him all she liked?
Before squishing him, she prudently asked the system to spill some gossip so she could see what her little brother was really like.
[Umm... the teacher wasn't sick at all. He clearly skipped school! The entire morning was contemporary essay composition. This kid takes four or five bathroom escapes every time they have that class, and today he simply dropped to the floor and pretended to be ill to get out of it! Lying to his teacher and mother without so much as blinking at such a young age-damn impressive!]
[He looks so sweet, yet he's such a little terror? What a shame!]
[Sure enough, six or seven is the age when even cats and dogs can't stand them.]
Jian Huateng: "..."
Min's brows drew together, and the smile slowly faded from her face. "Which teacher is ill, and what illness does he have? I'll send someone to the Imperial College with medicinal herbs right away."
Jian Huateng's hair stood on end. He immediately tried to explain, "Mother, don't listen to-beep-"
"Fifth Sister, she-beep-"
Though young, Jian Huateng was exceptionally clever. After several attempts, he understood too: anything involving the thoughts could not be said aloud.
Help! How was this newly arrived sister a walking intelligence station for tattling on him?!
"Mother, I always listen to my teachers at the Imperial College! It's just that old man Li... oh, no, Master Li gives such dreadfully dull lessons, and I already knew everything, so I came home early! If you don't believe me, I'll recite it for you right now!"
[He doesn't know a single word of the essay Master Li just taught. What a clever little Brat, trying to fool Mother with something he learned before.]
[Let me see what grand exploits this little fellow has pulled off at the Imperial College... He's quite capable! Up above, he leads his classmates in raiding nests for bird eggs; down below, he swims in the river catching fish. Yet his studies are top-notch. His teachers must have terrible headaches.]
[This Brat—if he doesn't get a good hard lesson, he'll be flying into the heavens!]
Jian Huateng: "..."
Was she really his own sister?
Were these thoughts a real sister ought to have?!
Min rubbed her brow and instructed a maid, "Bring me the disciplinary ruler."
Teng had begun his education at three, could compose poetry at four, and could write essays at five. He looked sweet and lovable too, but his personality was another story.
His precocious intelligence had left Teng with little sense of how high the heavens or how deep the earth were. He had even stolen the old madam's jade pieces to exchange for money, then bought a fleet-footed horse.
When asked why he had taken the old madam's jade, he said it was because the things in his mother's room belonged to his own family. If he was going to take something, he should take it from an outsider.
Jian Zhang had high hopes for Teng. As long as his studies went well, he could not bear to hit or scold him. But now that Teng had skipped school, without a beating to tighten his hide, he might do it again.
Seeing his mother holding the ruler, Teng stiffened. His big, dark eyes went round as a cat's.
He first looked at Jian Xilu, who shook her head helplessly.
If Father learned that Teng had skipped school when he returned later, Teng might be punished even more severely.
Better to let Mother discipline him. At worst, she would strike his palms a couple of times and make him kneel.
Seeing that his eldest sister was no help, Teng's eyes darted. Steeling himself, he turned and plunged into Jian Ruonan's arms.
"Fifth Sister, my own dear sister, you have to save me! Your little brother's life is in your hands!"
Holding the warm little bundle in her arms, Jian Ruonan's heart instantly softened.
"Mother, as the ancients said, there is no greater good than recognizing your faults and correcting them. Could you give Fourth Brother a chance to turn over a new leaf?" Jian Ruonan squished her brother's bun-like cheeks and sheltered him firmly in her arms.
[Oh my, these plump little cheeks are so lovely to pinch!]
Teng hurriedly offered his other cheek, letting his sister pinch to her heart's content.
Min: "..."
Was this child going to grow up into a treacherous minister?
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