Shang Mingjie looked at Lin Yuhbin's silly smile and said, "After my cousin goes home, I'll go study."

  Lin Yuhong's face turned slightly red, and she said with a straight face: "Who's holding you back? Hurry up and leave, let us sisters play by ourselves."

  "It's been a long time since I've seen you, and it's easy to meet up. How can I leave my guest behind and go have fun by myself? Why don't I accompany you instead?"

  "Didn't you specifically go to Zhuangzi's place to see Lin sister last week? We're the ones who haven't seen each other for a long time, but as soon as you have some free time, you run off to Xijiao. Where's the 'long time no see'?"

  Lin Yuhong's face turned red from their teasing, but he couldn't get angry. He was biting his lip, thinking of a way out, when Xiaojie asked, "Mingjie, when is the next exam at the Lu family school?"

  "Mr. Lu didn't set a specific time, as long as you're willing, you can go to his place at any time to ask for it. Mr. Lu will give you some questions on the spot and then test your knowledge of those questions. If you pass, you can hand over the tuition fees and start attending classes." Shang Mingjie said: "My grandmother sent someone to collect many questions from Mr. Lu for me to do, and asked others to take a look. Those people said that my homework wasn't good enough, and I'm afraid it won't meet Mr. Lu's standards."

  In the eyes of Shang's family, Shang Ming Jie is naturally perfect in every way, but to outsiders, that may not be the case.

  Especially in a family like the Lu's, Old Lady Shang should have guaranteed complete success before letting Shang Mingjie go take the exam. If he went to study but got rejected, wouldn't that be losing face?

  In this era, all imperial examinations require fame first, otherwise, even if you go to take the exam, you may not be recruited.

  Yes, this is an era of non-twisted pit candidates.

  So reputation is very important, and some families even start managing their reputation when their children are young, and it's clear that Shang Mingjie is one of them.

  "So you're confident now?"

  Shang Mingjie thought for a moment and said: "Although I haven't met Mr. Lu, I've heard a lot about his deeds. He sets questions without restriction, and the difficulty is not uniform. I have no confidence."

  "I was thinking that if the girls' school of the Lu family is good, I'll send Lin's sister to study there. At that time, your sisters at home will probably also go, although they can take care of each other as cousins, but it's better to have a brother by their side. You don't have..."

  "No, no, no, Aunt Lin. I think I have some confidence," Shang Mingjie said immediately: "I'll go study now!"

  Having said that, he turned around and ran away.

  The people in the garden couldn't help but burst out laughing, and Danzhu even playfully pushed Lin Yubin, "I've never seen brother work so hard to read a book before."

  Lin Yuhong's face turned red, and Lin Qingyuan smiled and said, "That is his loving sister."

  Towards Lin Auntie, the three Shang sisters all somewhat didn't dare to joke around, so they just raised an eyebrow and exchanged a few clever remarks, not daring to speak again to tease Lin Yubin.

  Lin Yuhbin secretly let out a sigh of relief and leaned against his sister-in-law.

  "Lin auntie, will grandma agree to let us go to the Lu's house to study?" asked Danlan in a low voice.

  "So you want to go?"

  The three girls hesitated for a moment, then nodded firmly one after another. They rarely had the opportunity to go out, unlike Lin Yuhong, who would occasionally take Lin Auntie out for a walk.

  They have grown up like this, and the number of times they go out can be counted on one hand.

  Lin Qingwan just smiled and said: "Since you want to go, I think Old Lady will consider it."

  After all, there is still Zhao's family, and Shang Danzhu is her own daughter. Even if she doesn't consider Shang Danlan and Shang Danhua, she will think of Shang Danzhu.

  As expected, when Lin Qingyan returned to the main house, Old Lady Shang hinted that she would ask Lu about the family's academic background. When the children go to school later, they can take care of each other and asked Lin Qingyan if she was willing to let Lin Yuhong come to their home to live and attend school together.

  Lin Qingwan smiled and said, "Old lady, you've forgotten that our family's other courtyard is not far from Qingfeng Mountain. From there to the Lu family's school is much closer than your house. I was thinking of letting Danlan and her sisters live with me."

  The old lady frowned, "I've been wanting to ask, are you two planning on living in the other courtyard from now on?"

  Lin Qingwan nodded, "It's still quiet in the countryside, although it's not very convenient to buy things, but copying scriptures and reading books can calm down."

  The old lady sighed, "After all, is it far or is it more convenient to return to the city."

  Lin Qingwan just smiled and didn't respond.

  The old lady couldn't help but say to the considerate nanny, "This Yu Bin's aunt has changed too much. I remember when she followed San Er back, she was so gentle and soft-spoken, where is that now? She's become very stubborn, with a gentle appearance, but doesn't care what you say, she just does things her own way."

  The aunt comforted her: "It's normal for one's personality to change a bit when they've gone through a huge upheaval. Besides, the two of them are now dependent on each other, so it's only natural that they'd become more strong-willed."

  "That's also not right, I'm Yubin's grandmother, would I harm her? " Old Lady Shang said displeased: "Although she didn't say it clearly, I know she is on guard against our family, otherwise why did I invite her three times and four times but she wouldn't let Yubin come? She can't take time off, isn't there a servant to let Yubin stay for a few days?"

  "Old lady, Lin auntie values Miss Biao, this is a good thing." The nanny comforted: "If she didn't care about it, that would be a big bad thing. After all, she is now the mistress of the main house of the Lin family, isn't it better for Miss Biao to have her attention?"

  "She is Yuhuan's aunt, she doesn't care about Yuhuan, who else would she care about?"

  "The old lady shouldn't forget that she's still a daughter-in-law of the Xie family. Although she has returned to her maiden home, she is also listed on the Xie family's genealogy."

  The old lady paused for a moment before asking, "Does she still have dealings with the Xie family?"

  "What did the old lady say? The two families are relatives by marriage, how can they not interact?" The nanny smiled and said: "When I went to deliver New Year's gifts during the Spring Festival, I met the steward of the Xie family, who also came to give gifts to Lin's aunt. It is said that during the Qingming Festival, Lin's aunt will return to Yangzhou to sweep the tomb, but this year she can't make it back for the Lin family's grand sacrifice, so she had to give up. However, the gifts she sent to Yangzhou were not light."

  The old lady sank into thought, and after a while she sighed: "Forget it, since she doesn't want to let Yubin get too close to our family, then we'll just go along with her. As long as she treats Yubin well, that's all that matters."

  "It seems that Old Lady is overthinking," said the nanny in a low voice: "Lin Auntie doesn't stand on ceremony with either Old Lady or the few young masters and misses at home."

  "Then why doesn't she want Yuhin to come and stay with us?" Old Lady Sang asked angrily, "It's not like we're holding Yuhin back from leaving, just a short stay for a few days..."

  The old lady hesitated and said: "Old lady, I think Lin aunt is guarding against... isn't you..."

  The old lady couldn't help but sit up straight, "Do you also think she's on guard against someone? If it wasn't me, then who was it? It certainly couldn't be Ming Jie."

  The old lady looked in the direction of the main house without saying a word.

  The old lady's face looked a bit unsightly, and she frowned, asking, "Guard against her? When did the two of them have a falling out?"

  She whispered: "I'm afraid this contradiction has been there for a long time, but it hasn't been brought to the surface yet. Old lady, have you forgotten about the Jiangnan Observation Envoy?"

  "That's official business, what does it have to do with them?" Old Lady Shang said up to here and paused, Lin Jiang was on the side of Sun Huai, while Zhao naturally supported her own brother Zhao Jie, so did this start from that time?

  The old lady didn't know that they had actually fought each other in private.

  The old lady couldn't help but straighten her back, "When did this happen, how come I don't know?"

  "The old slave just found out that the Lin family has a plot of land over 300 mu at the foot of Qingfeng Mountain, and when spring began, they had already fenced off more than half of it. You don't know, but the land separated by the fence is half owned by Zhao Shu's uncle. The nanny said in a low voice: 'Last year, Uncle Zhao borrowed over 3,000 taels of silver from the second lady and bought all the land there, specifically buying the land adjacent to the Lin family. Originally, they thought the land was small and the soil quality was poor, so the Lin family didn't care about it for a while. Who knew that the Lin family directly fenced off the land? It's said that now they've dug holes to plant fruit trees and are going to build some pavilions and halls inside. Clearly, they won't abandon the land. On the other hand, when Uncle Zhao found out, he was so angry that he gave the land to a manager and returned to Jiangdu himself. The land that was bought at a high price is mostly rented to villagers in Qingfeng Mountain, and half of it is simply left barren.'"

  The old lady's face looked unpleasant.

  Auntie sighed, "If Uncle Zhao really wanted to buy land, how could he have bought it and left it barren? It's just that his plans didn't work out, and he didn't bother with it anymore. That's why I advise you, Elder, to let things go, if the children want to make a fuss, let them, anyway, I see Lin Auntie and Miss still treating you as usual, they won't distance themselves from you because of her."

  The old lady got even angrier, slapping the armrest and saying: "Shallow people, what good thing is worth their scheming? It's just over 300 mu of barren land, how much can it be worth? They're all flesh and blood relatives, how can they bring themselves to do this?"

  In Old Lady Shan's eyes, her granddaughter was also her own flesh and blood, no different from her several granddaughters. How could Zhao's family go and scheme against Lin Yubin's property?

  But Zhao obviously didn't think so, she and Lin Yuhong were not related by blood, Zhao Sheng was her real relative.

  "Never mind, never mind, I'm old and can't control it anymore, let them make a fuss." But he didn't say anything bad about Lin Qingyan again.

  The old lady smiled and rubbed her shoulders, serving her to sleep before going out. She bumped into Xiaofang who came to report things, and she smiled: "Madam has come at an inopportune time, the old lady just fell asleep."

  "That's indeed unfortunate, but it's just some trivial matters," said Xiaofang with a smile: "When the old lady wakes up, you can report to her again, and it will be the same."

  The old lady smiled and went with Xiaofang to the ear room to talk.

  "Xiao Fang couldn't help but ask, 'Auntie, has Old Lady decided to send the young ladies to the Lu family to study?'"

  "It's not decided yet, need to ask around and see how things go, but I think the second lady is quite moved by this matter, it's probably 80 or 90% likely to happen."

  "My younger sister-in-law..."

  The aunt smiled and lowered her voice: "If Third Miss goes, Second Miss will definitely go too."

  Xiao Fang let out a sigh of relief and after handing over two unimportant matters, he happily bid farewell and left.