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  Yun Ting sat in the boudoir's emerald silk pavilion, across from her was a woman, between them on the table was set up a Go board, Chu Yun Ting held a piece in her hand, deeply contemplating the chessboard.

  The woman opposite, with a face like the full moon, had a radiant and delicate complexion as white as jade, her figure was slender and elegant, and her eyebrows and eyes carried a natural serenity. A discerning person could see at a glance that she was a gentlewoman.

  She combed a hanging bun with a pair of phoenix hairpins, on which a blue and green jade hairpin was pinned, and a cloud-shaped pearl hairpin was inserted obliquely. A pair of pearl earrings strung with gold thread hung down from both sides of the bun to her ears. Whether it was the fine whiskers on the hairpin or the long pendants of the earrings, they were as still as a pool of autumn water, without the slightest tremble.

  The woman wore a short jacket with a pink base and light orange piping, under which she wore a long skirt embroidered with chrysanthemums. Around her waist was tied a pale pink satin ribbon, the ends of which hung down to her knees. On the right side, a string of pale red silk cord was tied in an eight-treasure knot, from which hung a pendant made of a single piece of pure and flawless bi yu ting hua jade.

  Chu Yun Ting's maid, Nian Er, stood by with a hint of a smile on her lips, holding a long tray in her hand, on which was placed a white porcelain basin for washing hands and a square silk handkerchief.

  She took a glance at the red sandalwood table under the window, where a bronze incense burner was lit with an incense stick that had almost burned out. The two girls had been playing chess for over an hour.

  Finally, Chu Yunting smiled and said, "It seems like you're still one move ahead."

  Li Lanjun smiled and put the chess piece into the box, turned around, and the maid beside her had already handed over the washbasin. She washed her hands while smiling and said, "It's still unknown who wins or loses."

  Chu Yun Ting glanced at the chessboard and smiled, saying "It's just Ai Qian Yu." She stood up and walked to the other side of the kang, where Nian Er was holding a basin of water, and she washed her hands too.

  Li Lankun also followed, smiling and just about to speak, but saw that Chu Yunting's maid Nian'er had moved her mouth as if she was about to say something, so she stopped and didn't say anything, sitting down instead.

  Niang'er hastily said to Er'niang, "Someone from the Crown Prince's side just came and said that after lunch, they would like you and Li to accompany the Duchess to admire the snow in the back mountain."

  "Chu Yun Ting listened and asked: 'And who else is invited?'"

  "Three girls and four girls."

  Chu Yun Ting thought for a moment and nodded with a smile, "Alright then."

  She smiled and went to see Li Lankun, Li Lankun hastily said I was thinking about it today, otherwise if it snows again... She hadn't arrived yet when there was no snow yesterday, but as soon as she got here, the snow started falling, fluttering down all night, and only stopped during the day with great difficulty.

  Chu Yun Ting smiled and said, "What's the hurry? It takes half a day to get here from Beijing. Now that you're here, why not stay for a few more days? Besides, the snow was so heavy last night, the roads aren't easy to walk on."

  "But after all, this is the Duke's Mansion..."

  "The princess of the county king is my aunt, and the princess of the county king's son is me." Chu Yun Ting smiled and said, "It's just like at home, so I'll treat this place as my own home."

  Li Lianjun listened helplessly and couldn't help but laugh at her, "You're having so much fun, now you want to drag me into this too?"

  "Who told you not to come to my house for New Year's greetings during Chinese New Year?" Chu Yun Ting joked.

  Li Lianjun wanted to say that it wasn't because of a funeral... or a wedding at our house... but she didn't say anything, just smiled and stood up saying "I'll go wash my hands."

  Chu Yunting nodded.

  Li Lankun's maid hastily supported her as she walked through the main hall to a room on the opposite side, where there was a partition.

  Chu Yunting watched her walk in and turned around to ask Nian'er softly, "Who was it that said that?"

  "Report back to Second Miss, Cai Xia is beside the Crown Prince's consort."

  "Is there anything else you want to say?"

  Nian'er's eyes rolled around, and she understood what the second young lady wanted to ask. She smiled and squatted down, speaking softly: "The path behind the mountain is not easy to walk on, the snowy road is slippery, and the princess has prepared wooden clogs for you girls."

  Chu Yunting paused for a moment and understood, smiling and nodding her head.

  Although things are different now, it's not that Chu Yunting's heart is much lighter because of the needle against Sanmei. Maybe, Sanmei also didn't want to marry into the Duke's mansion.

  Li Lanyun sat down again after washing her hands, and Chu Yunting smiled and said, "I read a book the other day, which had a poem that I didn't understand. I'd like to ask this talented woman for an explanation."

  Li Lanjun raised an eyebrow and smiled, "What's with the poem?"

  "The empty corridor leaves a lingering echo, because of the beauty's footsteps in the corridor. Pitiful is the death of Wu Xiang, who remembers the sound of her dragging skirt at that time?" Chu Yun Ting smiled and finished reciting, turning to look at her sideways.

  Li Lankun was taken aback, stood up and smiled. Today I will tear this girl's mouth apart, see if she dares to say these dirty words again, look at those vulgar books." She made a gesture of rolling up her sleeves.

  Chu Yunting was so frightened that she hastily covered her mouth, but she was pressed down and twisted onto the kang, Chu Yunting fell on the kang, laughing and shouting "spare my life" while twisting her body to dodge back and forth.

  Li Lanjun ultimately didn't scold her, instead she heavily poked her forehead with her finger and sat down laughing, saying "You ignorant little maid, you dare to read books?"

  Chu Yunting finally sat up, and Nian'er hurriedly helped her tidy up her hair and makeup. Li Lanjun said, "Don't bother, just let the maid go out like this to meet people."

  Chu Yun Ting smiled and stood up, sitting beside her, shaking her arm with both hands, "It was me who was ignorant and narrow-minded, not being magnanimous, please forgive me."

  Li Lankun coldly smiled: "Ignorant and inexperienced? Women in the boudoir, which one has more?"

  "Ah, isn't it?" Chu Yunting feigned surprise.

  Li Lankun was laughed at by her, "Pfft", she pushed her away and said "Get a bit further away from me"

  "Chu Yun Ting continued to shake her head, really having something to ask for guidance, just give some face and enlighten me..."

  Li Lianjun was really at a loss whether to laugh or cry, wasn't she?

  "I really don't know." Chu Yun Ting smiled and said, "This poem seems to be talking about a legendary story, is it a legendary story?"

  Li Lanjun shook her head, thinking for a moment before saying: In the Spring and Autumn period, there was a woman named Xi Shi. Originally a village girl who wove silk, she was taken by the defeated state of Yue because of her beauty... and given to the ruler of the victorious state. This ruler made her a pair of wooden clogs with bells on them, dug holes under the long corridor, buried hundreds of large vats, covered them with wooden boards, and had Xi Shi dance on top wearing the clogs. The sound was crisp and resonant, lingering on and on...

  Chu Yun Ting suddenly realized, "So that's how it is... I didn't understand this part before. The poem says 'responsive sandals', which means intentionally wearing wooden sandals to make a sound like the guqin (a traditional Chinese zither). But in our etiquette classes, we were taught that when wearing wooden sandals, you can't make any noise at all, even on a stone path... Now I finally understand, it turns out that these wooden sandals were indeed capable of making sounds back in the Spring and Autumn period, but later they became like this."

  Li Lianjun shook her head and said that wearing wooden clogs cannot make a sound, this is etiquette, the Han Dynasty had it, Emperor Wu of Han's mother Wang Meiren, from a poor family, when she entered the palace, was once ridiculed for wearing wooden clogs and walking with a "dang dang" sound, so Wang Meiren practiced hard to walk silently in wooden clogs.

  Chu Yun Ting suddenly realized and understood that Xi Shi was a dancing girl who had intentionally listened to the sound.

  Li Lanjun paused for a moment and smiled, saying: "Now, don't mention this to anyone else in the future. After all, you are the second son of the Hanlin family."

  Chu Yun Ting smiled and said, "Of course I am, that's why I dared to ask. If it were someone else, who would dare say such a thing?"

  Li Lankun smiled and nodded.

  The two of them chatted and laughed as they ate their meal on this side. Li Lanjun changed her clothes and went out to admire the snow. Chu Yunting changed into a pale pink silk jacket, tied with a jade-colored velvet skirt, and put on a cyan woolen cloak with a crane pattern outside, sitting at the edge of the kang waiting.

  Because she was in a good mood, her mouth corners were always curled up. If possible, she really wanted to go and call San Biao Ge Zhu Yue Shi over to see if Chu Kui Gui would make a fool of herself.

  Although Chu Ke'er grew up by her mother's side since she was a child, she wasn't taught personally by her mother but was raised by an old woman.

  At that time, Chu Ke'er and Yun Qing were only one year apart in age. However, she and Yun Qing were being strictly taught by their mother. Every day at dawn, while Chu Ke'er was still sleeping, she and Yun Qing had already been woken up by the maid, got up with sleepy eyes, washed and dressed neatly, and went to pay respects to their mother. After paying respects, they were led by the governess to the study room to read books. Only after they finished class did Chu Ke'er get up.

  And the fourth sister had to follow her mother, and if she made even a slight sound that shouldn't be made, she would be taken out by the nanny for a scolding. But Chu Keqi had never been scolded for etiquette at the dinner table, even on New Year's Eve when eating with her, she always made unpleasant noises or clattered dishes and chopsticks.

  At that time, Yun Qing always envied Ke Gui, thinking that their mother was too biased towards San Mei. San Mei didn't have to do anything, the servant would decide everything for her. However, with Si Mei, they had to divide the maids in the house into first, second, third and fourth class, and every day they had to prepare a fixed menu for meals. When interacting with familiar inner relatives and friends, whether it was sending gifts or receiving them, Ke Gui didn't have to prepare anything, the servant would take care of it. But Si Mei had to prepare everything herself, and if she made even a small mistake, she would be scolded by the servant.

  At that time, what made Yun Qing happiest was to see Sanmei being wronged. And the times when Sanmei would be wronged were when making clothes and accessories. Her mother gave her a monthly allowance that was more than half less than Hei and Si Mei's, and the seasonal clothing fabrics as well as the New Year's and festival accessories were even more pitifully few. Therefore, at that time, Sanmei always had a calculating and stingy appearance...

  Of course, Chu Yun Ting now understood that her mother had done so to raise Ke Ai into a small-minded, ill-mannered young lady from a wealthy family.

  Chu Yun Ting slowly walked out of the room and stood under the eaves, staring at the distant snow scene in a daze, she thought of that thing again...

  It is by.

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