A major event had recently shaken the capital!
It turned out that the heir apparent of the Marquis of Yong'an was an impostor!
The news spread like wildfire through the capital, overshadowing the gossip about "the heartless man struck by lightning" and becoming the new topic of conversation among the common folk.
On Chang'an Street, people were buzzing with discussions.
"Have you heard? The Marquis of Yong'an has petitioned the emperor to depose the heir apparent and wants his eldest daughter to inherit the marquisate!"
"That's a marquisate! Just hand it over to a woman? If it were me, I'd find a few concubines overnight and have more sons. The marquis isn't as smart as I am."
A lanky man suddenly piped up, "Humph, what do you people know? The daughter of the cousin of the grandson of my third maternal great - aunt works as a maid in the marquis's mansion. The Marquis of Yong'an is giving the marquisate to his daughter because he's filial! It's said that the old marquis appeared in a dream, and only then did the marquis's mansion discover that the babies had been switched. With great difficulty, they found the eldest lady. You won't believe why!"
Everyone's curiosity was piqued, and they urged the lanky man not to keep them in suspense.
The lanky man looked around. Seeing everyone's eyes on him, he said proudly, "The eldest lady of the marquis's mansion looks just like the old marquis. It's as if they were carved from the same mold. The marquis could, of course, have another son, but no matter how many sons he has, he won't be able to have one like the eldest lady. The marquis believes this is a sign from the old marquis, so he's decided to establish his daughter as the heir and hand over the marquisate to her."
The common folk were shocked. It seemed that the Marquis of Yong'an was a most filial son!
A carriage rumbled slowly along Chang'an Street and stopped in front of the princess's mansion. Soon after, Su Qian and Su Ming got out of the carriage, carrying porcelain.
Su Ming couldn't hide his joy. "The little princess is so kind. She spent a fortune on our porcelain. With this money, you can study in peace this year."
Su Qian's mother had left him quite a bit of money, but Su Qian had given it all to Sujia Village, saying it was to repay the village. But Su Ming knew that Su Qian was afraid that the villagers of Sujia Village would be angry with him, so he was trying his best to compensate them, using silver to buy their silence about his background.
Su Ming was grateful to Su Qian. These days, he'd been wracking his brains to find a way to make money. Unexpectedly, the little princess had given them a whole gold ingot and told them to make more porcelain.
It was a whole gold ingot, worth dozens of taels!
Su Qian was even more excited than Su Ming because he knew that the porcelain was for the immortals. The immortals actually liked the porcelain he made!
If Shen Heqing hadn't repeatedly told Su Qian to study hard, Su Qian would have even considered giving up his studies to focus on making porcelain.
Meanwhile, there was someone in the princess's mansion who was also thinking about Su Qian.
[Has Su Qian come?]
[Has my porcelain arrived?]
[If it's not as good - looking as Lin Yu's vases and plates, I won't let him off.]
Shen Baozhu ignored the Dragon King's grand declarations and picked up a piece of pastry from the table, taking small bites.
She was only allowed two pieces of pastry a day, and this was the first one. She had to eat it slowly because once it was gone, there wouldn't be any more.
Ever since Su Qian had brought Lin Yu's porcelain a few days ago, the Dragon King had taken an immediate fancy to it. But it belonged to Lin Yu, so the Dragon King had had to pay a fortune to get Su Qian to make two more for him.
He counted the days and hours, waiting for Su Qian to finish the porcelain and bring it over.
Lin Yu had once asked curiously, [Don't you have any porcelain?]
The Dragon King replied quite calmly, [I do. All the porcelain in my room was made by the spirits of the vessels. Each piece is of the highest quality, but I just like Su Qian's porcelain. I want it.]
The Dragon King and the Qingyun True Man were clay figurines, while Lin Yu was porcelain. The Dragon King was envious and wanted some too, even though he had three clay figurines and countless high - quality porcelain pieces.
In short, no matter how good one's own things were, they were never as appealing as what others had.
Finally, as the Dragon King had been eagerly anticipating, Su Qian finally came with the porcelain.
The porcelain that Su Qian had painstakingly made satisfied the Dragon King, but when he wanted two more, Shen Baozhu stopped him.
Shen Baozhu was a bit angry. "Brother Su Qian still has to study. He can't keep making porcelain!"
[Alright, I'll wait until Su Qian is free before I buy more.]
After delivering the porcelain, Su Qian looked behind Shen Baozhu. He hesitated, then said, "Baozhu, Brother Heqing told me before he left to take his sister to the poetry club. Are you free now?"
Shen Heqing had left three days ago, and today was the fourth day.
Shen Baozhu was a bit confused, but she quickly gobbled up the rest of the pastry. Her cheeks were puffed out like a little squirrel's as she nodded at Su Qian.
[What's the little cutie going to do at the poetry club? Is this sister referring to Chen Miaochun?]
Just as Shen Baozhu swallowed the pastry and saw the Dragon King's words, she was completely stunned. Did it mean Sister Miaochun?
Then she looked at the empty plate and was extremely sad. "The pastry is all gone."
Su Qian was puzzled. "What?"
Shen Baozhu closed her eyes and said mournfully, "I've finished today's pastry. I have to wait another day before I can have more."
"Then I'll buy you candied haws, Baozhu?" Su Qian tried to cheer Shen Baozhu up, and he succeeded.
Meeting Shen Baozhu's eager eyes, Su Qian breathed a sigh of relief. "Shall we go to the poetry club now? The candied - haws stand is not far from the poetry club. We can go there on the way."
"Brother Heqing didn't just tell me. He also asked a few of our classmates to teach you. You can rest assured, Baozhu. We may not be the best, but we know the basics, whether it's poetry, songs, or policy discussions. We know a thing or two."
"Oh, and there's someone who's good at archery and horse - riding, but you're still too young to learn that for now."
[I'm sure this sister is referring to Chen Miaochun. Hahaha!]
[The fool is so reliable when it comes to studies. Chen Miaochun has only been resting for three days, and he's already found a teacher for her.]
Although it wasn't referring to herself, Shen Baozhu decided to go for the sake of the candied haws. "Brother Su Qian, you misunderstood. Big Brother asked you to take Sister Miaochun to the poetry club."
"But you promised to buy me candied haws. You can't go back on your word."
Su Qian was taken aback but quickly regained his composure. He had jumped to conclusions, thinking that Shen Heqing only had Baozhu as a sister. But no matter who the sister was, he and his classmates in the poetry club would do their best to teach her!
When the maid told Chen Miaochun the news, she was lying leisurely on the bed, eating pastries and reading a romance novel.
Without Wang Linchun sowing discord and without Shen Heqing forcing her to study, Chen Miaochun felt that the whole world was a better place. She thought she had been so stupid before, always fighting with Ruxia for things and wasting so much time.
She stuffed a piece of pastry into her mouth and turned the page of the novel, wondering whether she should save one piece for Baozhu.
After thinking for a while, Chen Miaochun decided to secretly save one.
Then she glanced out of the window. The sun was shining brightly. It was a wonderful day. If Shen Heqing were still here, she and Baozhu would surely be practicing calligraphy, only to be corrected by Shen Heqing and told to practice some more.
Chen Miaochun shivered. It was too scary. It felt like there was no hope in life.
Suddenly, the maid came in from outside. "Miss Miaochun, the friend of the eldest young master has invited you to the poetry club. The little princess wants to go too. She's waiting for you in the front hall."