Chapter 11 (2/2)
The old lady asked the two mammies to come out and meet the girls. After a group of people saluted each other, Mammy took the girls away and taught the rules in a yard behind rongning hall.
The two sisters, one surnamed Hua and the other Deng, are very strict people. Mother Hua teaches sitting and lying rules, and mother Deng teaches calligraphy, painting, needlework and other talents. Mother Hua and the girls say: ”The girls have just heard that old lady Chu asked us to teach her rules. They all say that without rules, there is no place. The saints also say that there is no laziness of strict teachers. We are strict with the girls for your good. Please forgive me.”
”No.” Chu Jinyao said softly, mingling with her sisters.
Mother Hua was very satisfied with the obedience of the Chu girls. She reprimanded them a few more words, and then asked the girls to demonstrate an Li.
Please salute is the most basic and common etiquette in the high gate courtyard. The girls of the Chu family have been big since childhood and have long been as natural as drinking and eating. However, mother Hua is a mother released from the palace. She is very strict. She walks all the way and constantly beats the girls' waist, hands and other parts with a ruler.
”Keep your waist straight and don't lean forward.”
”Squat down a little more, steady, don't shake.”
”Hands!” mother Hua beat the back of seven girls' hands with a ruler. She hung a pair of eyes and said impolitely, ”seven girls, I have reminded you several times. Why do you always put your hands in the wrong place?”
Miss seven is the legitimate daughter of the second room. She calls Chu Jinjiao. With Yan's shrewd nature of protecting her weaknesses, she is also arrogant and lawless. Among her sisters, Chu Jinxian can drink and scold her, and the rest will not provoke the devil. Miss seven has always been competitive and wants to be the best among her sisters. Now she is beaten and scolded by mother Hua in front of everyone. Miss seven narrowly didn't stand up Answer back. She thought of being the reading companion of the royal residence in the future. Only then did she try to suppress her temper and replied angrily, ”I know.”
Mother Hua glanced at the seven girls without expression and walked away. Next to the seventh girl is Chu Jinyao. When Chu Jinyao saw that mammy came, she was secretly sweating. Unexpectedly, Mammy Hua stopped beside Chu Jinyao, looked up and down, but squeezed out some thin smiles: ”the fifth girl did well. Did she study with mammy released from the palace when she was a child?”
Chu Jinyao was surprised that mother Hua praised her? Chu Jinyao didn't have time to think whether mother Hua was wrong. She quickly replied, ”mother praised me, and I didn't
The other sisters showed an unconvinced and unbelievable expression. Mother Hua raised her eyebrows and asked, ”haven't you learned from the people in the palace?”
The servant girl of old lady Chu was sent to look at several girls. Seeing this scene, she stepped forward and said, ”mammy doesn't know. Five girls were held wrong when she was a child. She has been kept outside for these years and only came back in the last two months.”
”Really?” mother Hua doubted. ”You only came back in the last two months? Then why did you do the palace ceremony?”
Is she following the etiquette of the palace? Chu Jinyao was also surprised. She practiced as much as Qin Yi instructed her. How did she know why it was Gong Li. Chu Jinyao pretended to think for a while. Finally, she frowned and shook her head: ”I don't know.”
Mother Hua couldn't think of a reason. She could only say, ”maybe you're wrong. The etiquette in the palace looks the same as that outside, but the details are much more regular than that outside. The etiquette in the world has been led by the court. The mammy who teaches rules can't come out to teach girls rules without studying the court etiquette.”
Chu Jinyao showed the posture of being taught and listened obediently. After mother Hua left, she secretly relaxed the tone in her heart.
While mother Hua turned around, the seven girls turned their heads and glared at Chu Jinyao. Chu Jinyao squatted steadily and looked at the seven girls shaky in the corner of her eyes. She kept being beaten by the ruler. She was very happy in her heart.
After a class, others were more or less beaten several times by the ruler. Only Chu Jinyao was unharmed and even praised by Mammy. The seven girls stood next to Chu Jinyao. The two people were in sharp contrast. The seven girls were hurt more than a few boards. As soon as the class was over, seven girls' servant girl hurriedly came to help her young lady. With the help of the servant girl, seven girls staggered to stand straight and gouged out Chu Jinyao with resentment.
It didn't hurt to be stared at, but the board on the palm of the seven girls' hand was real. Chu Jinyao gloated and thought, can you blame the people next to you for your bad rules? Yesterday, Miss Qi deliberately splashed water on her skirt. Chu Jinyao was holding her breath. Today, she saw that Miss Qi was corporal punished by Mammy. It's really natural and retributive.
Chu Jinyao went to rongning hall to eat comfortably, and the pain in her legs seemed to be nothing. She has been used to doing farm work since childhood. Although her legs are thin, the meat is solid. Although the amount of exercise at this level is a little sore, Chu Jinyao really doesn't care.
After dinner, many girls surrounded old lady Chu and spoiled her. She said that her legs hurt and her back hurt. Seeing this, old lady Chu had to cancel the rules course in the afternoon.
You can't be fat in one bite. Take your time.
Chu Jinyao thinks it doesn't matter. Now everyone is sitting here with the old lady. It's hard for her to leave, and it's hard to find a chance to talk to Qin Yi. Chu Jinyao was thinking about how to take the time to ask Qin Yi why mammy said she had studied Gong Li. It was so cold that Qin Yi's voice sounded low.
”Chu Jinyao.”
Chu Jinyao was startled. She looked around warily. Then she whispered, ”there are so many people here. Why do you speak suddenly?”
”It's too late to explain. You follow the Lin family. I have something to do.”
Chu Jinyao had no complaints. Qin Yi is facing great difficulties in life and death recently. Qin Yi said that if something happened, it must be a big event. Chu Jinyao chose to trust Qin Yi without reservation. She said to Chu Jinxian that she was going out to change clothes. Chu Jinxian nodded, ”OK, remember to take the servant girls. They are talking outside. When you go out, call the servant girls.”
”Oh, good.” Chu Jinyao replied. When she went out, she slipped away quietly.
What she wants to do, she can't take a servant girl.
When no one was around, Chu Jinyao gasped slightly and asked Qin Yi, ”why did you suddenly let me out?”