In a blink of an eye, Li Youlan disappeared. Xia Shang also started to feel a little worried.
This is the palace after all, so if anything goes wrong, and since my body is too weak to survive, it will be easy to get caught.
Just as I was thinking about it, a small cry suddenly came from my ears, and the cry was also mixed with a small shout.
"Wuwu...Xia Hui...Xia Hui..."
The voice was clearly Li Youlan's. Xia Shang secretly screamed trouble, then beat his legs and stood up again with great difficulty.
Although Xiyuan is not the largest garden in the palace, it is still a royal garden. Its scale is naturally larger than any garden seen in the Xia and Shang Dynasties before. The lush vegetation and flowers inside are indescribable, but they are hidden along the roads.
It is very difficult to find under the flowers, plants and trees. It is like a huge maze. If you are not careful, you will lose your direction.
Xia Shang was also looking for the sound, and after taking several detours, he found Li Youlan squatting on the ground crying beside a small pond.
Seeing Xia Shang coming, Li Youlan's face became less frightened, but her crying became louder.
"Hey... aren't you very anxious? Are you crying here?"
"I...I...I, I, I...lost..."
This girl raised her eyes in aggrieved manner, with a few tears still hanging on her eyelashes. Her pitiful appearance was so destructive that it instantly melted Xia Shang's heart.
"Okay, okay, get up quickly and I'll take you to find it."
Probably because she was really anxious, Li Youlan didn't want to lose her temper with Xia Shang, nor did she want to waste time crying. She stood up and wiped her tears, then put her book bag on her back and said, "Which way... are you going?"
Xia Shang wanted to laugh a little, but shook his head helplessly, grabbed the book bag and carried it on his body, then looked around and saw a small attic corner behind the trees in front of him, and then pointed: "That should be that
direction."
Li Youlan didn't hesitate and walked forward with small steps.
As a result, Xia Shang still overestimated his ability. When he took the panicked Nizi to find the so-called Cuiping Pavilion, he found that the bluestone ground under Cuiping Pavilion was already full of students, and they were all shaking their heads and following the people on the high platform.
The gentleman is reciting poems in a decent manner!
As soon as Li Youlan and Xia Shang appeared, more than twenty pairs of eyes looked at her with curiosity and started talking about them.
Looking at the battle, there was still an empty seat, and Li Youlan knew that she was still late.
"Oops!"
Li Youlan let out a low cry, tears welling up in her eyes again. She quickly lowered her head and gave Xia Shang a hard kick: "It's all you!"
What this girl did... was not gentle, and the pain made Xia Shang almost fall down.
"What does this do to me?"
"If you hadn't taken me on a detour, how could I be late?"
While they were discussing, an old voice came from the front: "Who is coming?"
Li Youlan trembled with fright: "Li...Li Lili...Li Youlan."
"You're here to enroll too?"
"yes."
"Stand where you are and show me the list."
This old man speaks powerfully and has a sense of self-importance without anger. He must have some background. Just looking at the dozen or so royal disciples here who are respectful at this moment, we can conclude that this man is not an ordinary person.
Xia Shang was curious and looked up, only to see an old man not far away flipping through a pad of paper on the table. He couldn't see his face, but he thought his slightly rickety appearance looked familiar.
At this moment, the other party raised his head again and squinted at the paper.
Xia Shang quickly lowered his head again, thinking that it would be better not to look around until he didn't know who the other party was.
Just listen to the words from the front: "Li Youlan, the daughter of Jingzhou Navy Li Yi, was recommended by Jia Shangjie, the Minister of Household Affairs, but there is this person. In that case, come here."
The old man spoke in a rather disdainful tone when talking about Li Yi and Jia Shangjie, and he didn't know who they were.
But the words "Come here" caused a commotion among the students in the hall, and as far as the eye could see, someone could see their faces turning pale.
What on earth?
Xia Shangzheng was confused, and Li Youlan beside him panicked: "What should I do?"
"Didn't I let you pass? That's the past."
"Where is the past? It's time to eat Mr.'s ruler."
"It's just a ruler, just touch it and you'll pass."
"This gentleman's ruler is very cruel. I just heard someone say it yesterday. He said that the skin will not be broken and the flesh will not be exposed. It will hurt you to the core. You won't be able to get better in three to five days."
"You're late on the first day of school. Why don't you come over quickly to collect your punishment? What are you talking about over there?"
Li Youlan had no choice but to step forward. A small hand behind her just grabbed Xia Shang and forced Xia Shang to come over.
When Li Youlan came to her husband, she was obedient.
The gentleman closed his eyes, looked arrogant, and said in a cold voice: "Bring your hand."
"Sir, Youlan has never been to Xiyuan before, so she doesn't know the way..."
"I just taught you that a heroic man will accept his mistakes regardless of the reason. Are you late today?"
"Yes, it is."
"It's wrong over there, do you need a reason?"
"..."
"Here you go."
Li Youlan was so frightened that she didn't dare to look at her husband's cement slab-like face. She reluctantly stretched out her little hand and narrowed her eyes with tears.
She knew that there was no way she could escape this trap.
Just when the gentleman was about to drop the ruler, his other hand stopped him.
"Hit me."
Xia Shang stretched out his hand.
Everyone was stunned.
Li Youlan was also quite surprised and stared at Xia Shang: "You..."
"I'm your book boy. If you get beaten, I'll take it. That's fine!"
The gentleman cast his gaze on Xia Shang, and when he saw it, his eyes changed.
Looking at that look, Xia Shang smiled: "Old sir, it's not too much for me to give my young lady a slap, right? If you want to hit her, hit me first. There's no need for any reason."
There was a burst of laughter below.
"Idiot, pretending to be competent in front of your husband is just looking for death."
"I bet the master and the servant both have to take a beating."
"More than that, at least two times."
"I guess after these two blows to my hand, I won't be able to hold a pen for three days."
"What a pity for such a beautiful girl."
During the discussion, I heard the gentleman on the stage laughing loudly: "Hahaha... Children can be taught, and they don't need any reason. They are so popular with me. Li Youlan, because you are such a smart book boy, I will forgive you today."
For once, go to your seat quickly and sit down, I won’t recognize anyone with my ruler next time.”
"ah?!"
There was another commotion off the field, and I thought to myself, what is going on?
I have never seen Mr. so easy to talk to before. How could he be let go so easily?
Could it be that this young lady from the Li family is good-looking?
I've never seen my husband show mercy to her...
What on earth is going on?
Li Youlan was also confused. She felt that this gentleman was not as hard to talk to as rumored, right?
"Why are you still standing there? Why don't you go back and sit down."
Xia Shang's voice appeared next to her, and Li Youlan came back to her senses. She didn't care about that at the moment, left quickly, returned to the empty seat under the stage, sat down properly, and stopped talking. (To be continued)