Kapitel 21: Bookstore
The next few days, there was nothing unusual in Wei Household. However, Wei Liuying soon heard from Xiao Yu that Wei Xiao Hua left the residence.
"First Sister is leaving?" Wei Liuying's hand, which was holding a brush, stopped midair.
Xiao Yu nodded. "Yes. They're saying that First Miss is going out to Baili Family Residence."
Baili…
Wei Liuying naturally knew that Wei Xiao Hua's mother was from the Baili Family. Baili Family was a renowned noble family in Han Shi Kingdom with many of their family members become officials. Previously, Wei Xiao Hua didn't really have a good relationship with them, but things might change from now.
"I see."
"Miss, will this impact you?" Xiao Qing asked worriedly.
Wei Liuying shook her head. "In the short term, no. Her biggest opponent is not me, but I can't say for sure in the future."
Xiao Qing and Xiao Yu looked at each other. Worry and concern were visible on their faces. "Should we…"
"No need. I'll be going to the bookstore with Xiao Qing, please inform my mother that I'll be going today. Xiao Yu, you deliver the bamboo scroll to Second Brother," Wei Liuying gave the instruction.
"Yes, Miss."
There were only a few places that Wei Liuying could visit. On weekends, she occasionally visited the bookstore and her mother allowed her to do that. After all, Feng Chun would be happy if Wei Liuying could even add more material for Wei Hong Zheng's study.
The servants quickly prepared the carriage and Wei Liuying could go from the residence without any hindrance. Bookstores were not that popular because not everyone was literate in the Han Shi Kingdom. Most of the literate people were nobles and only very few commoners could read and write.
The journey didn't take long and soon, Wei Liuying arrived in the bookstore.
"Welcome, Third Miss Wei," the shopkeeper was already used with her coming here.
Wei Liuying nodded. "I want to talk with Manager Xin."
"Manager Xin is upstairs."
"Alright. Xiao Qing, you'll wait down here."
"Yes, Miss."
Whenever Wei Liuying visited the bookstore, she would be meeting with the manager. The bookstore itself has three floors. First floor was for ordinary and cheap books that even most commoners could buy if they have spare money. Second floor was for scholars because there were various books. The third floor was a reserve study room that no other people were allowed to enter.
Wei Liuying calmly entered the third floor.
"Who is..oh, it's you Third Miss Wei." A plump middle aged man smiled when he saw Wei Liuying. He was still in his middle age, but his hair had turned partially bald. He usually had a goofy grin on his face, but everyone knew that he had short temper if it was talking about books.
As he was quite a talented scholar, many people respected him despite his position as the manager and owner of this bookstore.
"Manager Xin," Wei Liuying greeted politely.
Manager Xin laughed. "What do you want to read today, Little Lass? Also, do you have any more manuscripts for me to copy?"
"I have."
Wei Liuying took out a set of bamboo scrolls and handed it to Manager Xin. It contained the summary of the books that she had read along with her own analysis. Since she had learned how to summarize the books, she would combine several books analysis to make her own. The progress was slow as she could only create one book after several months or even a year, but many people liked her books.
Because of that, Manager Xin was also very happy when he saw the new manuscript.
"Hehehe, with this there are a total of four volume of books from Ying Liu. There are several scholars who are itching to meet you, but I have to decline each of them," Manager Xin said with a sigh.
If those people were to know that the one who wrote the books was a woman, who knew what kind of wave would come in the Han Shi Kingdom? After all, it was common knowledge that women were naturally not able to study this kind of topic. Not to mention, Wei Liuying would only turn 14 in a few days.
Ying Liu was Wei Liuying's pen name that she picked after some consideration. It was impossible for her to use her real name, so she merely twisted her own name to create a pen name that's suitable for her.
"It's good that you can decline," Wei Liuying said calmly.
Manager Xin passed a look at Wei Liuying. "Also, your share of money is still here with me. When will you take it?"
"I'll take it after I get married later."
"Married?" Manager Xin was surprised. "When will you get married and to whom? You should invite me to watch!"
Wei Liuying resisted the urge to roll her eyes. "The earliest will be two years from now. It's impossible for me to get married when I'm still underage."
"Well, if you're in the north, you can get married when you're 15…."
"I'm in the capital city, Manager Xin."
Manager Xin pursed his lips. "Anyway, who's the lucky man? It's not Young Master Shi, right?"
"No."
"Wow, you rejected me right away?"
Wei Liuying passed a glance to the other door. There were only two rooms on the third floor and the inner room was a reserved study room. The one inside was usually Young Master Shi, Shi Yan. He was a merchant who was currently trying to enter the ranks of officials through his study.
Needless to say, he had been failing the examination over and over.
Shi Yan crossed his hand as he looked at Wei Liuying. He had a pretty countenance and tall figure. Yes, pretty. He had a feminine face that could easily make one wonder whether he was truly a male or female. Right now, he was wearing a natural purple robe that made him look like a scholar if only his image was not destroyed by his face.
"Yes."
"Why don't you even try to consider me? I can surely make sure you live well." Shi Yan complained as he strode into the room and sat down beside Manager Xin grumpily.
"One, even if I'm a concubine daughter, my father will not allow me to marry a merchant."
In the social hierarchy, merchants had the lowest status while scholars were the highest. It wouldn't be strange that noble families tend to distance themselves from merchants because they didn't wish to be associated with them. Only those who were desperate enough would be willing to make connections through marriage.
And Wei Hong was clearly not among them.
"Two, you're too old."
"I'm only 21 years old!" Shi Yan complained.
Wei Liuying passed him a scornful look. "Three, I'm sure that many people will question who's the bride and who's the groom if I marry you."
"Nonsense!"
Kapitel 22: Stupid Friends
"Hey, hey, don't make a racket here." Manager Xin quickly stopped the two of them before they could start fighting. Both of them have decent martial arts and Wei Liuying specifically specialize on defense, making her capable to prolong the fight and exhaust her opponent's stamina.
Shi Yan humped. His sore spot has always been his face. It was not his decision to be born with this feminine face, alright!
"Still angry?" Wei Liuying asked with a faint smile.
"No," Shi Yan replied and sighed. "You finally smile again. Is there something bad that occurred in Wei Household to make you look so solemn like an old man."
"That's my natural face."
"So natural to the point that you wore that face constantly?"
Wei Liuying resisted the urge to roll her eyes. "That's why it's called natural, Idiot Young Master Shi."
"… Let's get out and have a bout."
"Not on the street. It'll be a huge disgrace if you lose to a much younger woman in terms of martial arts and knowledge."
Shi Yan's face turned ugly. He turned around to look at Manager Xin. "Quick! Help me to fend off this evil woman!"
Manager Xin shook his head. "That's not possible."
"Manager Xin, charge Young Master Shi ten times the price of the volume 4."
"Got it."
"No!" Shi Yan wailed. He might be a successful merchant with several chain stores, but it didn't mean that he wanted to waste so much money just to buy the book. "You're so ruthless, Liuying!"
"20 times."
Shi Yan: "…" fine, you win.
Wei Liuying smiled when she saw Shi Yan's defeated look. She met him three years ago in this small store because he was trying to study. At that time, she had just made the first book and wanted to try her luck with Manager Xin. Shi Yan was close with Manager Xin, so he also peered into the content.
The two of them got into an argument and Shi Yan lost terribly because of his lack of knowledge. He accused her of cheating, but when he heard her real age, he was speechless.
Since then, he would come to this store occasionally on weekends and the two of them continued their bout in debate. Once, their debate escalated into a fight and it was at that time Shi Yan realized that Wei Liuying could also fight. He respected her more and often asked for her help in study too.
This small store was the only place Wei Liuying could relax. The two of them would never meet outside this store as they acted as if they didn't know each other. But in this place, they acted without care about each other's background.
"What's the book this time about?" Shi Yan changed the conversation as he glared at Wei Liuying. Her smug expression didn't look fit on her face.
Wei Liuying corrected her expression and returned back to her normal neutral face. "It's Han Shi Kingdom's North area History."
"History?" Shi Yan peered at the manuscript, but Manager Xin moved away.
"I need to copy this first lest you destroy it with your rough hand."
Shi Yan: "…"
"Young Master Shi, you also come from the north, so I want to know your view too," Wei Liuying said unhurriedly while Manager Xin was already busy preparing some bamboo scroll. He needed to copy the manuscript by hand.
"Why don't you visit the north if you wish to know more about the history? There are more people who lived there, and I'm sure that you can compile better books," Shi Yan complained.
Wei Liuying's eyes flickered. If only it was possible, she also wanted to do that. However, it was impossible for her to leave her own residence with her status. All she could do to gain knowledge was simply by reading books that her mother provided her to help her brother's study.
"If I have the chance, I'll visit the north."
"When that happens, I'll bring you to meet my sister," Shi Yan said with a grin. "She has been very curious when I told her about you."
Wei Liuying looked at Shi Yan. "Did you return back to your hometown?"
"I did. A few times, in fact. If you can ride a horse, it's just a few days' journey. Besides, I only visit the capital city a few times in a year to check on my stores," Shi Yan replied calmly. "This time, I will come to meet my old friend too, though."
"Old friend?"
"Yeah. He's my customer, friend, and also teacher," Shi Yan said calmly. "I can't tell you who. It's a secret."
Wei Liuying nodded. She understood that each of them have a secret. The only reason why they could maintain this relationship was simply because they didn't try to peer deeper into each other's life. All they talked in this place was mostly about books and some unrelated manner.
It was then Wei Liuying recalled something. "May I ask you something?"
"Go ahead."
"Is there anyone with the surname Yang who served Prince Ji Sheng?"
"Yang?" Shi Yan was surprised. "Are you talking about Yang Xian?"
"Yang Xian?"
"He's not that known here, but in the north, he's famous. Yang Xian is Prince Ji Sheng's right hand and also the strategist in many battles. He was once an orphan that Prince Ji Sheng took under his wing, but he slowly rises to become a noble through military achievement."
Normally, one could only become a noble by academy examination. But since it was the time of war, there were some exceptions made. One of them was the promotion through military achievement.
Wei Liuying was thoroughly surprised. She didn't know that there was actually another talented person by Prince Ji Sheng's side.
It seemed she had to be more careful when she walked out next time.
Geschenke
-- Geschenk
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