Chapter 28: A Secret Rendezvous with the Elder Sister-in-Law

Cheng Zhao sent a maid to Chenghui Courtyard.

Zhou Yuanshen had returned to the mansion and settled in Chenghui Courtyard. Cheng Zhao told the maid to inform him to come over earlier in the afternoon.

However, the maid was gone for a long time.

Waiting and waiting, the sour radish duck soup was ready before the maid finally returned.

This was a young maid who was usually quite playful. Suyue couldn't help but scold her, "It took you half a day to come back. Did you go ghost hunting on the way?"

The young maid felt a bit wronged. "No, it's just that I didn't see the Duke."

Cheng Zhao called her over and asked what happened.

"...Nanfeng wouldn't let this servant in, saying the Duke was resting. This servant said she could wait a bit, but Nanfeng strongly urged this servant to return first, saying he would pass on the message.

This servant felt something was strange about this matter, so she avoided Nanfeng and waited in the corner for half a day. Young Madame, guess what this servant saw?"

Suyue was almost ready to curse her. "You were told to report back, and you're keeping us in suspense? Speak up!"

"This servant saw the Eldest Young Madame coming out of Chenghui Courtyard. Just her alone!" the young maid said.

She added, "Even someone with our Young Madame's decisive personality is always accompanied by someone when she goes out."

Suyue, "..."

Nanny Li then said to the young maid, "You did very well. No one spotted you, right?"

"Probably not. This servant waited until Nanfeng closed the courtyard gate before hurrying back," the young maid said.

Nanny Li grabbed a handful of candies for the young maid and told her to leave.

Cheng Zhao sat there, slowly combing her hair.

Nanny Li, Suyue, and Qiubai all wanted to comfort her.

The matter of serving two branches of the family hadn't spread yet; only a very few people knew about it.

And Cheng Zhao was one of the insiders.

"Young Madame, you see..."

"I can tolerate others," Cheng Zhao interrupted Nanny Li. "Is the soup ready? I'll go to Jiangyun Courtyard first. When the Duke arrives, tell him."

Nanny Li agreed.

Arriving at Jiangyun Courtyard, she saw Second Madam teaching Zhou Yuanqi how to hold a spear.

Zhou Yuanqi was holding a short spear, specially made for children to practice with. Looking at his stance, his lips pouted enough to hang a gourd; he was very unwilling to practice.

Seeing him frustrated, Cheng Zhao found it a bit funny.

"I don't want to practice," Zhou Yuanqi said.

Second Madam, "If you don't want to practice, you'll take ten lashes. This is what you lost to me."

"If you dare hit me, I'll go tell maternal grandmother."

"Complain and you'll get twenty lashes when you come back," Second Madam said.

Zhou Yuanqi's eyes widened. "You're bullying a child!"

"Now you know you're a child? You always say you're an adult," Second Madam said.

Zhou Yuanqi, "..."

Cheng Zhao couldn't help but laugh out loud.

Zhou Yuanqi turned to her, even more displeased.

Cheng Zhao stepped forward, a maid carrying a food box. She smiled at Zhou Yuanqi, "I brought sour radish duck soup."

Zhou Yuanqi gulped.

He was a bit more polite to Cheng Zhao.

"Let me see your spear," Cheng Zhao said.

Zhou Yuanqi handed it to Cheng Zhao.

"A specially made crow-neck spear? Is this suitable for children to practice with? I thought everyone started with a plain spear," Cheng Zhao said.

Zhou Yuanqi looked at her in surprise.

Second Madam was both surprised and delighted. "You know about spears?"

Thinking back to the second day of her marriage, when her maids used short crossbows, Second Madam suddenly realized that short crossbows couldn't be bought on the market.

Buying and selling short crossbows was illegal.

Cheng Zhao must have had a very legitimate channel to get these things.

"My eldest brother-in-law is a military officer," Cheng Zhao smiled. "He's stationed in the South Sea, specifically dealing with pirates."

Second Madam remembered a very famous military officer who seemed to be in the South Sea.

He was also a disciple of the Fan family.

Second Madam remembered there was such a person, but right when she wanted to say his name, she couldn't remember it; the more she wanted to say it, the more she couldn't.

Just as she was about to ask what Cheng Zhao's eldest brother-in-law's name was, Zhou Yuanqi spoke up. "If I give you the crow-neck spear to play with, do you know how?"

"If I know how, what reward will you give me?" Cheng Zhao asked with a smile.

Zhou Yuanqi, "I'll give you a copybook."

"What copybook?"

"Mr. Qu Lian's copybook," Zhou Yuanqi said.

Cheng Zhao, "Then what you've collected is definitely a fake. All twenty-four of Mr. Qu Lian's copybooks passed down in the world are in the Cheng family of Wu Commandery."

Zhou Yuanqi's eyes widened even more.

Saying he couldn't play with a spear didn't bother him much; saying the copybooks he treasured were fake made him unyielding.

He sneered, imitating an adult. "You're too arrogant! The ones in your family are the fakes. The four I have are all genuine."

"I'll teach you how to tell genuine from fake later," Cheng Zhao smiled.

Zhou Yuanqi's face turned red. "You, simply don't know what you're talking about, you wait!"

She'd teach him!

He actually needed her to teach him!

Zhou Yuanqi turned and ran out, determined to bring his copybooks over to prove his innocence, not even caring about drinking the sour radish duck soup.

Watching him run far away, Second Madam didn't even care to ask about Cheng Zhao's eldest brother-in-law and hurriedly shouted, "You come back here, today's two hours have just begun. Don't even think about slacking off."

Cheng Zhao then said, "Mother, he clearly doesn't want to learn."

"I know. But look at his skinny arms and legs; if he doesn't practice more, a gust of wind could blow him away in the future," Second Madam said.

She added, "Studying and writing are just as hard; without a good physique, it's hard to achieve greatness. Ah Shen's handwriting is good, everyone praises it, isn't it because he played with spears since he was little?"

Cheng Zhao nodded. "Mother's reasoning is also correct. When we practiced writing since we were little, we had to hang sandbags on our wrists."

"Compared to the wrist strength developed from holding a spear, the weight of a sandbag on the wrist is truly child's play, which is why I urge him to practice the spear properly," Second Madam said.

She also said Zhou Yuanqi was being squeamish. "When Ah Shen was his age, he could already hold a plain spear. He's still playing with wooden sticks."

Cheng Zhao laughed out loud.

Her daughter-in-law was truly too beautiful; when she smiled, it was like a blooming peony. Second Madam's mood brightened by thirty percent just looking at her.

"You seem to know how to play with a spear too?"

"A little bit."

"Want to spar?" Second Madam asked.

It was just a casual question, making conversation before turning to go back.

Unexpectedly, Cheng Zhao actually agreed. "We'll both use plain spears, Mother, you have to go easy on me."

Second Madam, "..."

Cheng Zhao asked Second Madam for some ribbons and tied her pant legs tightly in a proper manner. Since her father-in-law hadn't returned yet, it didn't matter how much they fooled around.

She didn't even take off her outer long skirt, unafraid of it being cumbersome.

The mother-in-law and daughter-in-law dueled with spears.

Cheng Zhao had quite some skill, which pleasantly surprised Second Madam.

As they sparred, Second Madam discovered after a few moves that she was truly just putting on a show. She had learned, but hadn't practiced hard, so posing looked very intimidating and beautiful.

Second Madam probably liked beautiful things, whether it was appearance or moves.

However, towards the end, Cheng Zhao might have struggled a bit; when she stepped forward, her foot slipped, and she almost ran into Second Madam's spear point herself.

Even if it was a plain spear, this collision would have been enough to make her hurt for half a day.

Second Madam could only quickly lift the spear point.

It didn't hurt her, but it messed up her bun.

"Oh my!"

Second Madam saw her hair cascade down like a waterfall, like a length of black silk unfurling. Snow-white skin and black hair, instantly breathtakingly beautiful.

Only then did she exclaim.

Cheng Zhao probably misunderstood, quickly waving her hand. "It's fine, I felt the bun was going to come loose just now."

Glancing out of the corner of her eye, she saw the courtyard gate open, and two people standing at the doorway.

One tall and one short.

The taller one was Zhou Yuanshen.

The shorter one was Zhou Yuanqi.

Night had not yet fallen. A lingering trace of the sunset's afterglow fell upon Cheng Zhao's face, making her eyes shimmer with a captivating light.

Zhou Yuanshen remained silent.

Eight-year-old Zhou Yuanqi, however, spoke up, "Where did this female ghost come from?"

Cheng Zhao: "..."