Nine out of ten gamblers lose; I've run into a jerk!

Chapter 12 A Night's Dream of My Youth

It was bound to happen eventually. Shen Qing had been hiding away for three days under the pretense of illness, but today she would finally have to face Shen Shi directly at the dinner table. It was time to show her true acting skills!

"Father."

After greeting the middle-aged man in the main seat, Shen Qing and Shen Che took their seats in turn.

Madam Li, the matriarch of the Shen family, is still inspecting the properties in Nanzhuang and has not returned. Shen Yunxi, the second daughter of the Shen family, has long been married, so there are now only four mistresses in the mansion.

Shen Shi has a straight nose, thin lips, and a beard. Having been immersed in officialdom for many years, he naturally exudes the imposing aura of a superior. A quick glance reveals that this handsome middle-aged man was once the Xu Gong of the North City.

Not speaking while eating or sleeping, Shen Qing ate quietly, trying to minimize her presence, since Shen Shi and his son were too familiar with the original owner.

As they were eating, a piece of mushroom suddenly appeared in their bowl. Shen Qing paused. He was a germaphobe. Should he eat this mushroom or not? What was their usual way of getting along? Would not eating it give them away?

Just as I was hesitating, another pair of chopsticks appeared in the bowl and took the mushroom away.

Shen Qing: ? ? ?

"How could you be so careless, my lord?" Qin Zhen scolded. "Third sister can't eat mushrooms, they'll get rashes. But I didn't want to refuse your kindness, so look how troubled I am."

Shen Che tapped his head: "I've been so busy with the envoy from Yu Kingdom lately that I'm completely out of my mind."

Shen Qing secretly breathed a sigh of relief! On the surface, she kindly advised, "Brother, you should also take care of yourself."

Shen Che smiled and agreed, feeling relieved and secretly mocking himself for overthinking.

Shen Shi took in their behavior without saying a word.

After the meal, Shen Qing got up to leave, when he heard Shen Shi say:

"Qingxi, stay."

Shen Qing's heart skipped a beat, feeling like he was being kept after class. What had he done wrong?

Shen Che and his wife exchanged a glance, then bowed to Shen Shi in tacit agreement and took their leave.

Shen Shi's eyes were as deep and unfathomable as a pool. He accepted the tea offered by Xin Yi, brushed the lid off the cup, and took a sip.

The anxious wait always seemed to drag on, and just as Shen Qing was about to lose her patience, Shen Shi finally put down her teacup.

"I met Scholar Su today after my shift. He said you've been quite lazy lately."

Scholar Su? Oh, that's right, the old gentleman who was so angry he roared.

So it was just a complaint to the parents? Shen Qing breathed a sigh of relief. But he hadn't done anything wrong. He was just late, daydreaming, and almost skipped class. The old man was really too angry.

Shen Qing originally wanted to use the same excuse she used to deal with Qiu Yinong, saying that she was still recovering from a serious illness and lacked energy, but when she met Shen Shi's eyes, which seemed to see through everything, she immediately changed her story, sincerely admitted her mistake, and promised never to do it again!

Shen Shi remained noncommittal, saying calmly, "Let me see today's lessons."

Shen Qing beckoned, and Fang Yu, who was waiting outside the hall, came in carrying a book box and took out a few pages of paper.

Shen Shi took it, glanced at it a few times, and said, "Your handwriting has improved somewhat."

Shen Qing was quite pleased with herself. She hadn't been idle for three days while staying at home. Apart from being immoral, the Second Young Master Shen was well-rounded in terms of intelligence, physical fitness, aesthetics, and labor. He already had a foundation in calligraphy, and with muscle memory, his copy of the original owner's notes was convincing enough to pass for the real thing.

“Bright and clear… pure and simple…” Shen Shi frowned slightly, “Your poem…”

Shen Qing's heart skipped a beat again. Was there something wrong with this poem? Today in class, the teacher asked them to write a poem about the moon, and he copied a line from a script. Could it be that a time-traveling predecessor had already used it?

His mind raced. Should he say that any resemblance was purely coincidental, or should he admit that he copied it?

"...It is written in a unique and original way."

Shen Qing's heart was about to stop. Do you have to talk like that, taking huge breaths?!

Shen Qing could barely maintain her smile. She bowed and took her leave. As soon as she stepped out the door, she clutched her chest and hurried away. This was too much of a shock!

Shen Shi's gaze was deep as he watched Shen Qing's figure disappear through the doorway. He then picked up the page and his eyes fell on the poem.

Li, Shen Qingxi's second wife and biological mother, had the given name "Su," which she did not avoid mentioning.

"Xinyi, take my name card to Anguo Temple and pay respects to Master Huiyan."

·

Dark clouds obscured the moon, lightning flashed and thunder roared. Beneath the artificial rock, two figures were locked in a struggle, the girl's sobs accompanied by the tearing of cloth.

"Snapped--"

A resounding slap landed on the girl's face.

"What are you pretending to be, you bastard! You'll just be a bed warmer in the future. I'll teach you how to serve a man first."

The man ravaged and insulted her, grinning as he unbuckled her belt. The girl gave up in despair, tears streaming down her face.

"boom--"

A dark shadow fell from the sky, knocking the man's body to the side. His head hit a protruding rock on the artificial hill next to him, and he felt dizzy.

The dark figure that had rolled to the side quickly began to struggle, grabbing a sharp rock and smashing it against the man's head repeatedly... until the man's twitching limbs stopped moving and he completely lost his life.

"Boom!"

A thunderclap boomed, and lightning illuminated the shadows. A five- or six-year-old boy's pale face and clothes were splattered with blood.

"what--"

Jiang Jieyu sat up in bed with a start, her sweaty hair sticking to her cheeks. She clutched her chest, still shaken. She had dreamt of the year she was fifteen.

As everyone knows, Jiang Qin's mother was a courtesan, but no one cares that her mother was also a lady from a noble family. However, thirty years ago, she suffered the loss of her family due to war and ended up in prostitution. After many twists and turns, she was offered to her father, Marquis Wu'an.

The father pitied the mother, but the first wife was jealous, so she kept the mother in the outer house, and soon she was born.

She had a few carefree years in her childhood, loving and carefree with her parents. Unfortunately, this didn't last long. Her mother had a difficult childbirth when she gave birth to her younger brother, and war broke out on the border. So her father brought her and her brother into the Marquis's mansion.

The nightmare began from there. The Lady Hou was disliked by her father, which had nothing to do with her mother, but he still vented his malice on her and her brother.

She still remembered that on her first day in the mansion, the Lady Hou asked her what her name was.

“My name is Jiaojiao, my younger brother has not yet been named.”

Lady Hou felt that she was not worthy of the name "Jiao" (娇), saying that her mother was a former actress who was skilled at playing the zither and se to bewitch people with seductive music. So she changed her name to Jiang Qin (姜琴), and her younger brother to Jiang Se (姜瑟).

Their father was away from home for most of the year, and their mother had passed away. She didn't even have a proper title during her lifetime. Their elder brothers and sisters looked down on them, who had suddenly appeared as illegitimate children. The servants fawned over the powerful and bullied the weak, and their monthly allowances were never given in full. Even when their younger brother was five years old, they never hired a tutor for him to begin his education.

She endured the cold words and insults until she turned fifteen, thinking that she would be fine once she got married. But she never expected that even a steward in the mansion would dare to humiliate her like this.

She knew this was at the behest of her elder sister, a truly undeserved misfortune. The young man from the Yang family, who was engaged to her elder sister, asked her to accompany him as a concubine.

Her elder sister knew that this was the gentry looking down on the sons of soldiers and deliberately trying to embarrass her, but she, like the Lady of the Marquis, vented her anger on her.

That night, she and her five-year-old brother dragged the steward's corpse, tied stones with strips of cloth from his body, and sank him into the lake.

The elder sister, though guilty, dared not openly admit it, but she knew she couldn't stay in this mansion any longer; she had to find a way out for herself and her younger brother.

Not long after, her father was transferred back to Xuandu to report on his duties. When the king went on an autumn hunt, she begged her father to take her with him.

She had no other talents, only a pretty face, and ultimately became the kind of person she used to despise the most.

But wasn't she using her beauty to please men just so that her younger brother could have a smoother life?

When Emperor Yongxi opened his eyes, he saw Jiang Qin huddled to one side, sobbing softly.

"My beloved concubine, what happened? Who wronged you?"

"I deserve to die a thousand deaths, I have disturbed Your Majesty." Jiang Qin quickly wiped away her tears.

"Are you having a nightmare?" Emperor Yongxi lifted Jiang Qin's sweaty hair.

Jiang Qin nestled into Yongxi's arms, speaking softly, "With Your Majesty's favor, what grievance could I possibly suffer?"

"You, you," Emperor Yongxi said, affectionately embracing Jiang Qin.

……