Hidden Shadow – CH 023

Chapter Twenty-Three: An Jiu’s Hobby

The servant boy, seeing the frenzied sheep, scurried away into the courtyard in terror.

An Jiu, seeing the fluffy clumps of sheep, perked up. Taking advantage of Mei Jiu’s distraction, she regained control of her body and asked the old man, “What do you need to do?”

The old man shouted, “Stop the sheep! Don’t let them into the courtyard!”

“Alright.” An Jiu pulled a bamboo pole from the fence and stood at the gate, whipping it wildly.

The people in the courtyard were about to rush out to help, but as soon as they reached the gate, they saw the sheep at the front of the pack being whipped to the ground by An Jiu, and the rest of the flock, startled, immediately scattered to both sides.

The old man, panting heavily, finally recovered. Seeing the sheep at the gate getting up and limping as they fled with the flock, his old heart pounded with pain. He glared at An Jiu. “You little brat, using so much force!”

An Jiu didn’t reply but stuck the bamboo pole back into the fence.

People gradually emerged from the courtyard, bowing to the old man.

“Sir,” the servant boy peeked out from inside the door, then quickly withdrew, emerging only after tidying himself. “Master Qingming.”

“Is Headmaster Zhao’s leg injury healed?” Lu Qingming asked.

The servant boy respectfully replied, “It’s healed, thanks to your medicine, Teacher.”

“His eyesight is barely better than a blind man’s, yet he insists on going for a walk alone. Humph, next time he falls and dies, don’t come looking for me. I painstakingly gathered those medicines,” Lu Qingming muttered, feeling the pinch.

The servant boy smiled apologetically, changing the subject. “Yes, yes, I’ll definitely persuade the Headmaster later. By the way, Teacher, this is the Fourteenth Young Lady. The Headmaster asked me to bring her here.”

Mei Jiu had overheard Lu Qingming scolding An Jiu and felt uneasy, but unable to move, she could only urge, “Quickly apologize to the teacher.”

“Apologize for what? Stay put!” An Jiu was exasperated by Mei Jiu’s temper.

Mei Jiu was gentle and cautious, always afraid of offending anyone. She would endure whatever came her way and never think of resisting, only showing her protective side when her loved ones were in danger. However, perhaps due to her nature, Mei Jiu’s protection was merely using herself to shield herself from danger.

“Never mind!” she thought. “Anyway, I only acted to protect this body.” She withdrew her consciousness from the body, leaving Mei Jiu to face Lu Qingming.

Mei Jiu found she could move again. After a short adjustment, she immediately squatted down and said, “I injured your sheep in my haste, Teacher. Please forgive me.”

An Jiu was very dissatisfied. “He asked for help himself.”

Lu Qingming strolled over, hands behind his back. “Fourteenth Young Lady? Don’t squat; get up.”

“Yes,” Mei Jiu replied.

Lu Qingming pondered. She was now completely different from the woman who had been whipping the sheep with a bamboo pole just moments before. He stroked his beard and asked kindly, “Do you like herding sheep?”

Everyone was stunned, thinking, “This Fourteenth Young Lady was so ruthless with sheep; how could she possibly like herding them?” Was it to punish her?

An Jiu was slightly surprised and then said, “I like it, I like it.”

Mei Jiu’s mind was in turmoil. A girl raised in a sheltered environment, how could she have imagined herding sheep? But hearing An Jiu’s words, she felt a genuine liking for it, so she answered, “I like it.”

These children from wealthy families didn’t mock her answer; instead, they were curious about what Lu Qingming would say next.

“Then you’ll help me herd sheep from now on,” Lu Qingming chuckled.

“Yes,” Mei Jiu replied, but in her heart, she asked An Jiu, “You really like herding sheep? Can you herd sheep?”

“Nobody’s born knowing how to do things!” An Jiu was in a good mood and thankfully didn’t utter any harsh words. “I used to have a wish: if I lived to thirty-five, I would buy a farm, raise two hundred sheep and two sheepdogs, and plant an acre of grapes.”

When she died, she only saw a small patch of sky, but in the sky, there was a white cloud that looked like a sheep. Her life had been without mistakes, and at the end, she saw what was hidden in her heart. At that moment, she felt the ending was perfect.

“Alright, you can herd the sheep from now on.” Mei Jiu willingly offered her the use of her body.

An Jiu disliked Mei Jiu’s overly kind nature, but at this moment, she felt that her kindness was actually quite good.

The girl in purple stepped forward to help Lu Qingming, scolding, “Teacher, why are you in this state again?”

“The sheep suddenly went berserk, almost exhausting this old man,” Lu Qingming said, suddenly stopping and turning to ask Mei Jiu, “What poem did you write?”

This question seemed abrupt, and Mei Jiu paused for a few moments before remembering that she had written a poem in the classroom that morning, so she recited it.

Lu Qingming turned back to look at Mei Jiu a few more times, grinning. “I think a young child should have some energy. The way you swung the stick just now was quite a sight.”

“The old man is ugly, but his taste is passable,” An Jiu praised.

Lu Qingming waved his hand and said, “It’s noon. Go and rest and have your meal first. Come back for the meditation in an hour.”

“Yes,” everyone answered in unison.

Mei Jiu didn’t know the way, so she had to follow behind them.

The girl in purple saw her and smiled sarcastically. Linking arms with another girl in a layered red dress, she said loudly, “I heard someone put on a pitiful act in front of Cousin Mo, throwing herself at him, then turned around and falsely accused him of indecent assault, preventing him from entering the clan school.”

She turned to Mei Jiu and coldly asked, “Mei Ruxue, don’t you think that person is despicable?”

Mei Jiu was speechless, lowering her head and ignoring her.

“Seventh Sister,” the girl in the layered red dress gently tugged at the girl in purple and whispered, “Don’t cause trouble.”

Seventh Young Lady Mei snorted coldly, but indeed stopped speaking, pouting and turning her head to the side.

“Sister.” A clear female voice came from behind.

Hearing Mei Ruyan’s voice, Mei Jiu turned around happily. At the same time, everyone with Mei Jiu paused, looking curiously towards the source of the voice.

They stood atop the stone steps and saw four girls below. One of them, a girl with phoenix eyes, was unfamiliar. She spoke a few words to someone beside her and then quickly caught up.

Seeing many people looking at her, Mei Ruyan smiled and curtsied, sweetly saying, “Fifteenth greets all the brothers, sisters, and younger brothers and sisters.” One would not hit a smiling face, and Mei Ruyan’s smile was bright and cheerful, with shallow dimples at the corners of her mouth. She was beautiful without a hint of envy, and her curtsy was returned by everyone, even Seventh Young Lady Mei nodded to her.

Mei Ruyan said, “I’m new here and don’t know any etiquette or recognize anyone. Please forgive me.”

As she spoke, a slightly older boy said, “In our family, men and women aren’t separated by age. I’m the second oldest, named Tingjun.” He then pointed to a girl in a layered ruqun. “This is the third oldest, named Tingzhu.” The boy who had been picking oranges from the tree interrupted Mei Tingjun, “I’m the fourth oldest, named Tingdong. That’s the fifth, named Tingchun; that’s the sixth, Tingjian; that’s the seventh, Tingyuan…”

Mei Tingdong introduced everyone in a rapid-fire manner.

Mei Tingyuan, in purple, said, “I ask you, how did your sister make my grandmother faint, how did she frame Cousin Mo, and how did she trick Elder Zhi into accepting her as a disciple?”

Mei Ruyan had already found out. The second oldest, Mei Tingjun, the third oldest, Mei Tingzhu, and the seventh oldest, Mei Tingyuan, were all the eldest children of the family head. Mei Tingyuan was the second daughter and had been favored by the second matriarch since childhood. The two matriarchs were extremely protective of their own, spoiling Mei Tingyuan and giving her a terrible temper.

Mo Sigui, on the other hand, was the son of the head of the family’s sister and Mei Tingyuan’s cousin. It was said that the cousins ​​had a very close relationship, and also that everyone in the clan was eyeing the position of Elder Zhi’s apprentice… Thinking about it this way, Mei Jiu had truly messed up everything Mei Tingyuan valued most; it would be strange if she didn’t gnash her teeth in hatred.