Chapter 102 [Extra] Jiang Mian of the Jiang Family Gives Mian'er and Xi'er Another...

Chapter 4 [Extra Chapter] Jiang Mian of the Jiang Family Gives Mian'er and Xi'er Another...

Since being accepted as a disciple by Mr. Song, Jiang Mian has stopped slacking off and sleeping in Mr. Li's class. She even raises her hand to answer questions sometimes, which makes Mr. Li feel much more relaxed. He occasionally praises Jiang Mian.

To outsiders, it seemed that Jiang Mian had seen the error of her ways and finally put her mind to the right path. But little did they know that she spent her afternoons at Mr. Song's place. Children are naturally energetic, and although there were some mechanisms she couldn't yet master, she had a great time dismantling the mechanisms that Mr. Song gave her every day.

Cong Shan was a few years older than her and came from a family of craftsmen. He had already begun to learn more advanced knowledge from Mr. Song, which made Jiang Mian very envious. If she were taller, she could reach the desk and watch him draw design blueprints.

Cong Shan was drawing blueprints. Holding a ruler, he began to measure dimensions on the paper. This was at Mr. Song's instruction, to let him design an arched bridge independently.

Cong Shan's hands were very steady. His youthful eyebrows and eyes were very serious. He pursed his thin lips and watched his subordinate's movements intently.

Jiang Mian moved a chair over, sat down, propped her chin up, and swung her legs back and forth as she watched him draw.

Cong Shan's hands were very fair and slender. He lowered his head slightly, revealing his neck and face. His hands were just as fair and tender. Jiang Mian couldn't help but look at her own chubby little hands and thought that she wished she were as thin as her senior brother Cong Shan. That way, her father wouldn't have to hesitate before holding her.

Perhaps sensing her gaze, Cong Shan stopped and looked at Jiang Mian after finishing the last stroke of the bridge.

Jiang Mian tilted her head and asked him, "Brother Congshan, is your mother the Minister of Works?"

Cong Shan didn't know why Jiang Mian suddenly asked this, and nodded.

Jiang Mian leaned closer and continued to ask, "Is he a very high-ranking official?"

"In terms of rank, he is a second-rank official." After saying this, Congshan seemed somewhat puzzled.

"Brother Congshan, when you grow up, will you also become an official in the Ministry of Works?"

Jiang Mian thought that Cong Shan was so smart and had a talent for building mechanisms, so he could follow in his mother's footsteps and become an official in the Ministry of Works, where he could repair water conservancy projects and benefit the people.

“I am a man and cannot participate in the imperial examination to become an official.” A trace of dejection flashed in Cong Shan’s eyes. He touched the blueprint with his hand and said in a melancholy tone, “Moreover, whether I can continue to study under Mr. Song depends on my future wife’s wishes.”

In the Confucian tradition, women are revered. After marriage, men are expected to obey their wives' arrangements. Most women hope their husbands will stay at home to support them and raise their daughters. Moreover, the skill of embroidery is more likely to win a woman's affection and favor than the skill of building mechanisms.

He is seven years old this year, and he will be able to get engaged in a few years. If his fiancée's family does not like him studying like this, he will have to give up.

“But my junior sister can participate in the imperial examination. If she passes with high honors, she can ask His Majesty for a position in the Ministry of Works. That would be a good way out.” Seeing Jiang Mian inherit Mr. Song’s mantle, Cong Shan would feel very gratified.

Unexpectedly, Jiang Mian suddenly frowned, stopped swaying her legs, placed her hands steadily on her lap, and pouted, saying, "But I'm not happy."

Cong Shan asked her, "Why?"

"Why should Brother Congshan listen to his wife? If she tells you to go east, does that mean you can't go west?" Jiang Mian really didn't understand. At home, her mother never asked her father to listen to her, but the two of them still got along very well.

"This is a man's duty. You'll understand when you grow up." Congshan wanted to pat her head, but his hands were dirty, so he had to hold back and withdraw his hand.

He added, "Also, you have to call me senior brother."

"Does Brother Congshan dislike me? I knew it. At home, Father only likes my younger brother, and Mother thinks I'm useless and good-for-nothing. No one loves me. Now I can't even call him brother anymore." As Jiang Mian spoke, she pretended to wipe away non-existent tears from the corners of her eyes, and her shoulders rose and fell.

She deliberately made her voice a little hoarse, and said aggrievedly, "Does that mean only your wife can shout like that?"

"No." Seeing that she looked like she was about to cry, Cong Shan panicked a little, but he didn't know how to comfort Jiang Mian, so he could only say helplessly, "You can call me whatever you want in the future, I'll do whatever you want."

Jiang Mian is younger, so he should give way to her.

Upon hearing this, Jiang Mian immediately stopped rubbing her eyes, revealing a radiant smile more beautiful than any flower, and sweetly said, "Brother Congshan is the best!"

When Mr. Song returned from shopping, he saw that both of them were there, so he said to Jiang Mian, "Mian'er, the young lady of the Marquis of Yingwu's family is outside and says she wants to come and see you."

Jiang Mian jumped off the stool and skipped outside, shouting, "I'm going right now!"

Mr. Song couldn't help but chuckle, "I wonder what she'll be like when she grows up."

Cong Shan was immediately left out in the cold by Jiang Mian, and he smiled helplessly.

As soon as Jiang Mian came out, she saw a little girl in red. She ran up to her and said, "Hongying, what brings you to the Imperial Academy to find me?"

Hongying looked her up and down before speaking, "You don't look like you've lost much weight, so I'm relieved. I came to see how you're doing at the Imperial Academy. My father also wanted to send me in, but luckily my mother and grandmother stopped him."

The little girl in red said with arrogance, "I'm going to the battlefield someday, I don't want to learn these pedantic sayings."

Her grandmother was the Marquis of Yingwu, and her mother was the daughter of the Marquis of Yingwu. Her ancestors were loyal and valiant for generations, and the people in her family were always straightforward. They disliked the roundabout ways of scholars. Only her father, who came from a scholarly family, was determined to have her take the imperial examinations. However, she would get a headache as soon as she saw a book, but she would be full of energy as soon as she picked up a gun. She was born to be a typical descendant of a military family.

Hongying grasped Jiang Mian's hand. "By the way, you haven't come to visit me in ages. I secretly kept the chicks I caught last time in the woodshed, and they're about to lay eggs!"

Jiang Mian became excited when the chicks they had caught were mentioned. "Really? The chicks are about to lay eggs! I have to go see them!"

Marquis Yingwu was on good terms with the Jiang family, and the two girls got along well. They became friends and spent their days doing mischievous things together, which gave their families a headache.

"Hongying, wait for me. I'll ask Mr. Song for leave tomorrow morning and go see the chicks with you." Jiang Mian wanted to go now, but Mr. Song couldn't leave, and he certainly wouldn't agree to such a reason.

There is still some possibility with Mr. Li, on the other hand.

"Okay, then I'll wait for you at home, and we'll share the eggs when they're laid."

Hongying and Jiang Mian made a deal.

Hongying's mother was still waiting for her at the gate of the Imperial College. She had come here on her way while her mother was running errands.

"Then I'll be going now."

Jiang Mian waved goodbye and watched her leave.

When Jiang Mian returned, Cong Shan's drawings were already finished. Mr. Song picked them up and looked at them for a while, and then he was full of praise for them. If Cong Shan were a girl, she would definitely serve the court in the Ministry of Works like her mother. It was a pity that she was born a boy, and she would be confined to the inner quarters of the house in the future.

Jiang Mian tugged at Mr. Song's sleeve, her eyes darting around, and asked, "Sir, when can I draw blueprints like Brother Congshan?"

Mr. Song patted her head and said patiently, "Wait until you can hold the pen more steadily."

Jiang Mian felt a pang of disappointment. She looked up at Cong Shan and saw him smiling gently. "Junior Sister, you're back."

Jiang Mian seemed to have immediately forgotten her sad memories. She ran over and hugged Cong Shan's waist, pleading, "Brother Cong Shan, I want to see the drawings you made!"

Since she can't draw it herself, she should look at other people's drawings first. She'll definitely be able to draw something better in the future!

From Shan's subconscious perspective, Mr. Song meant that the drawings were his assignment and he could do whatever he wanted with them.

Cong Shan then said to Jiang Mian, "I'll give you these blueprints."

In fact, he believed that his arched bridge design was still too immature, barely meeting the basic standards of a bridge. Given time, he could design something better.

But for someone his age, he is already exceptionally talented. Jiang Mian, who is two years younger than him, can't even understand the blueprints.

Seeing that she liked the drawings he had made, Cong Shan couldn't help but smile. He considered this a gift for his junior sister, Jiang Mian, who would surely surpass him in the future.

Jiang Mian happily carried the blueprints given to her by Cong Shan home. Xue Lingyu, seeing how much she treasured them, assumed they were a reward from her teacher. He didn't ask, but Jiang Mian couldn't help but show them to him that evening.

"Father, this was given to me by Brother Congshan. I want to be like him in the future and be able to draw such amazing things!" Jiang Mian carefully placed the drawing on the table and slowly opened it.

Xue Lingyu could tell it was a bridge design drawing, and he nodded in agreement, "Mian'er will definitely be able to do it in the future."

"Then can Mian'er tell Father who this Congshan brother is?" Xue Lingyu asked with concern.

Jiang Mian was a notorious troublemaker at the Imperial Academy. The well-behaved young men from noble families dared not approach her. Apart from Xi Le, she had few people to talk to. Now, she realized she had found a playmate.

"It's the brother Congshan that I told Father about last time! His mother is the Minister of Works, and he is also very capable. He was taken as a disciple by Mr. Song when he was the same age as me."

"He's praising me in a different way," Xue Lingyu thought with a smile, her gaze softening. "So he's Mian'er's senior brother. Does he treat Mian'er very well? No wonder Mian'er asked her father last time why he didn't have a brother."

Minister of Works Jiang Yuan comes from a noble family and has a good reputation in the court. She is a good official who truly cares about the people's livelihood. Her eldest son should also be very good. More importantly, he can get along with Mian'er.

“That’s right!” Jiang Mian nodded vigorously. Suddenly, she bit her lip and tugged at Xue Lingyu’s sleeve as if pleading, saying in a childish voice, “Daddy, Hongying came to see me today and said that the chick we caught together last time is about to lay an egg. I promised her I would go to her house tomorrow morning. Could you… could you…”

Jiang Mian fell silent after saying this.

She had absolutely no confidence, after all, although her father loved her, he wouldn't completely indulge her.

She had already made up her mind. If her father didn't agree, she would just make up some excuse to ask Mr. Li for leave. Anyway, the Imperial Academy couldn't stop her.

That might worry her mother and father, so Jiang Mian considered it the worst possible option.

"Does Mian'er want to ask for leave?" Xue Lingyu guessed what she wanted to say.

Jiang Mian smiled shyly, her big eyes wide open, "Daddy, please?"

This child is naturally lively and playful. During her time at the Imperial Academy, she has been even more restricted by rules and regulations, and has no freedom. If she doesn't even have time to play with her friends, Xue Lingyu can't help but feel sorry for her.

He sighed and stroked Jiang Mian's hair. "Only once, and never again."

"I love Daddy the most!" Jiang Mian hugged Xue Lingyu, sat on his lap, and kissed him on the cheek.

With Father settled, there's no need to worry about Mother, since Mother listens to Father in everything.

After Xue Lingyu told Jiang He about this, even though Jiang He was unwilling, she still asked Mr. Li for leave on Jiang Mian's behalf.

Jiang He couldn't help but nag Xue Lingyu, her eyes filled with a hint of resentment, "Just keep spoiling her like this."

But in the end, Jiang Mian is still most like her. When she was young, she would never report to her father and would skip school to play, which was more free and easy.

Putting Jiang Mian's matter aside for now, Xue Lingyu's habit of sulking and refusing to let him touch things when things don't go his way needs to be corrected.

Xue Lingyu wasn't serious, but Jiang He was determined to get her revenge on him. No matter how he tried to push her away, he couldn't. Before his waist went limp, he said intermittently, "You...you remember to have someone make a contraceptive soup."

"Drinking too much contraceptive soup is bad for your health. It wouldn't be bad to give Mian'er and Xi'er another little sister." Jiang He lowered the bed curtains and became entangled with him.

Mian'er and Xi'er are both clever and bright children. If we have another child, it will surely be just as adorable as these two.

Xue Lingyu was no match for Jiang He's strength. Besides, whether it was a girl or a boy, it all depended on Jiang He's efforts; it wasn't something he could decide.

He exhaled, giving up struggling. "Remember to be gentle..."

Because they were going to the Marquis of Yingwu's residence, Jiang He and Xue Lingyu felt very at ease.

Perhaps to adults, a chick is nothing special, but for a child, it can make her get up early and rush to see it with great excitement.

This is a unique kind of fun for children.

Jiang Mian's noise woke up Jiang Xi. Still in her pajamas and bleary-eyed, Jiang Xi ran to her door and asked in a muffled voice, "Sister, why don't you go to Sister Hongying's house after school in the evening?"

"I need to sleep tonight." Jiang Mian finished packing her things and flicked Jiang Xi's forehead before leaving. "If you sleep for six hours every day like I do, you won't be so sleepy."

Upon receiving news of Jiang Mian's impending arrival, Hongying waited for her at the mansion gate early in the morning. Seeing the Jiang family's carriage slowly approaching, she lifted her robes and descended the steps to greet Jiang Mian.

The two little girls held hands and entered the mansion together.

Hongying shook off the servants who were following her and secretly led Jiang Mian around to the woodshed in the backyard. "Mian'er, come with me quickly."

She kept the chicks in the woodshed.

Although it was a woodshed, she cleaned it very well and even built a warm nest for the chicks. This was a little secret between her and Jiang Mian.

They even gave the chick a name: Guiji (桂鸡).

"The pheasant did indeed lay eggs today." Hongying picked up the pheasant and saw four eggs.

“That’s perfect, you and I can each have two.” Hongying gave two eggs to Jiang Mian.

The quail was caught by chance on the mountain when they went on a trip to the countryside. It was originally just a small one, but now, after careful feeding, it has grown quite fat and is quite heavy to hold.

"The Guiji has grown much prettier; its feathers are so shiny." Jiang Mian stroked the Guiji and exclaimed, "Hongying, you've raised the Guiji so well."

"That's right, don't you know who I am?" Hongying said proudly.

The two little girls and the chicken stayed there all morning. The chicken laid two more eggs, so Jiang Mian took three eggs in the end. Not daring to let Marquis Yingwu see them, she hid the eggs in her sleeve and got into the carriage with her arms crossed.

Marquis Yingwu's hair was all white. He was an old rascal, but very open-minded elder. Seeing his granddaughter looking at the Jiang family's carriage with reluctance, he snorted and said, "Giving up martial arts to raise chickens instead?"

Hongying's eyes widened in surprise. She hadn't expected her grandmother to see through her. She stammered, "Grandmother, how did you know?"

Marquis Yingwu didn't tell her. He turned back with light steps, leaving behind a leisurely remark, "I want to eat steamed egg custard today."

Hongying was on the verge of tears, never expecting that her grandmother would covet her eggs!

Jiang Mian treasured these three eggs. She gave one to her mother and one to her father, and since her younger brother didn't like eggs, she kept the last one for herself.

She was worried that Jiang Xi might accidentally break the eggs if she left them at home, so she brought them with her when she went to the Imperial College in the afternoon.

Because she was afraid of dropping or damaging the eggs in her arms, she was very careful about her movements and became much more demure.

She usually pesters Congshan and jumps around from time to time, but today she sits quietly in her chair, focusing solely on the books Mr. Song gave her.

Cong Shan noticed her unusual expression and asked with concern, "Junior Sister, are you feeling unwell?"

"No, I'm fine." Jiang Mian closed the book, looked around, and said mysteriously in a low voice, "Brother Congshan, I'll show you a treasure."

As she spoke, she took out the eggs.

Cong Shan thought it was something else, but it turned out to be an egg, so he couldn't help but chuckle softly.

"You like to eat eggs, huh?" Cong Shan said with a smile. "I heard from the other gentlemen that you took the day off this morning. Could it be related to these eggs?"

He and Jiang Mian were not in the same class, but her reputation had spread throughout the Imperial Academy, and it was easy to find out where she was studying.

This morning, he happened to pass by and intended to share some of the pastries his father had made with her, but his husband said she had taken leave.

“I went to see Guiji this morning. She laid six eggs. I got three, and I gave them to Dad and Mom. My little brother doesn’t like eggs, so this is the only one left.” Jiang Mian held the egg in her hands and handed it to Congshan, her eyes sparkling.

"Brother Congshan, why don't you have this?"