Becoming a literary master starting from the story of Minglan

Chapter 386 Concealment
"Auntie, you've finally arrived!"

On the way to Zeyutang, Minglan acted coquettishly towards Aunt Wei for a while.

Perhaps because she was sisters with her mother, Minglan enjoyed the long-lost maternal love in front of Aunt Wei.

"You have no idea!"

Minglan helped Aunt Wei up and said with a charming smile, "Ever since you wrote that you were coming, I've been waiting for you to come to the manor every day!"

"If you don't believe me, go ask Xiao Tao!"

As if afraid that Aunt Wei wouldn't believe her, Minglan quickly pulled Xiaotao aside and asked her to be her witness.

"OK!"

Xiao Tao, who had been following behind the two, naturally stepped forward and nodded vigorously.

She added, "Not only that, lately, the young lady has also been frequently asking Young Master Quan to visit Young Master Biao!"

"I've been there so many times, and every time I have to ask about your condition, Auntie!"

Xiao Tao honestly told Aunt Wei everything about Minglan's behavior.

"whee!"

Upon hearing Xiao Tao mention this, Minglan suddenly burst into laughter.

"Huh? What's wrong?"

Aunt Wei, who was just feeling touched, was suddenly interrupted. She was a little confused and looked at Minglan with curiosity.

"Hehe, Auntie, you have no idea."

Meeting Aunt Wei's curious gaze, Minglan quietly approached her and whispered, "Xiao Qi told me that he's been going to his cousin's place several times recently and has actually gotten to know all the families there!"

"Hehe, that's putting him in a difficult position."

Upon hearing this, Aunt Wei smiled and shook her head.

"Auntie, that's not all!"

Minglan laughed and said, "He also said that he rescued a girl from a family over there, a classic hero saves the beauty!"

Minglan didn't take Sheng Changquan's story seriously; she just thought he was making it up.

"What's so funny about that, you silly girl?"

Hearing this, Aunt Wei finally understood.

However, Jiang Xingzong had spoken to Aunt Wei about Cheng Shaoshang's matter, so at this time, Aunt Wei vindicated Sheng Changquan.

"Also, what Quan-ge said is true."

"Xingzong told me that he actually saved someone, the girl from the Cheng family next to our courtyard."

"Huh? It's true?"

For a moment, Minglan and Xiaotao, who had thought Sheng Changquan was joking, were both stunned.

……

Meanwhile, while Minglan was entertaining her aunt, Sheng Changquan was also busy, as someone was indeed looking for him.

The people who sought him out were actually his classmates from the same year who had taken the provincial examination; they had invited him to participate in a literary gathering.

To be honest, Sheng Changquan originally planned to welcome Aunt Wei to the Sheng residence today.

However, unfortunately!

The successful candidates in this year's provincial examination held a literary gathering today, the purpose of which was to allow the candidates from this year's cohort to get to know each other and make connections.

Because Sheng Changquan had been studying abroad, he didn't know many people here. However, since he was the top scholar in the provincial examination, he had to attend this literary gathering to avoid being misunderstood as arrogant and affecting his public image.

Moreover, his future career in officialdom would emphasize seeking common ground while reserving differences, so he would naturally want to make more "friends".

And now is the perfect time.

It wasn't just Sheng Changquan who thought this way; the other participants in the literary gathering shared the same idea.

therefore.

When Sheng Changquan entered the venue, he was immediately greeted by a chorus of welcome from everyone.

"Brother Sheng, you've finally arrived! I am Wen Chengshu, greetings to Brother Changquan!" someone introduced first.

"Greetings, Brother Wen!" Sheng Changquan quickly returned the greeting.

"This must be Scholar Sheng? I've heard so much about you! Scholar Sheng is truly a literary genius descended to earth!" someone exclaimed. "You flatter me! You flatter me!" Sheng Changquan dared not accept such praise: "You are the one who is truly elegant and refined, overflowing with talent!"

"..."

"..."

For a time, Sheng Changquan found himself in a "happy social circle".

However, at that moment, someone in the crowd not far away whispered something.

"Oh?"

"Is this Sheng Changquan? He's definitely not as good as he sounds!"

These words immediately drew the attention of those around them!
—They were curious to know which big shot dared to look down on a provincial examination champion?
Could he be some kind of literary senior?
Everyone turned around and was speechless!

This guy is no senior at all; he's clearly a failed candidate in the imperial examinations. I wonder whose post he came here from.

Huh?
Someone remembered that the person speaking seemed to be Li Yancheng's underling.

So……

Suddenly!

A rumor came to mind for everyone.

—It is said that Lord Shen Li intends to marry Li Yancheng's cousin to Sheng Changquan, and this scene means…

For a moment, everyone was caught in a mystery of "guess what I'm doing."

……

Zeyu Hall, side room.

Because Sheng Changquan was not at home, Minglan did not enter his study, Zhiyuan Hall.

After Ziyuan and the others served tea, Minglan waved her hand, signaling them to leave.

"Xiao Tao, you go out too."

Not only Ziyuan, but Minglan also had Xiaotao stand guard outside.

After everyone left, Minglan invited Aunt Wei to sit down on a chair.

"Auntie, how's your investigation going with that matter?"

After Aunt Wei was seated, Minglan didn't exchange many pleasantries and went straight to the point.

"Sister Xiaodie... have you found it?"

Because Aunt Wei had mentioned this matter in a previous letter, Minglan couldn't help but ask, "What was the conclusion about that matter?"

Seeing Minglan's anxious appearance, Aunt Wei dared not say anything more.

After all, in her view, Minglan's behavior showed a lack of shrewdness, which was completely different from Sheng Changquan's reaction yesterday.

“Ming’er, I did find Xiaodie, but…”

Aunt Wei paused for a moment, then continued, "But there's nothing wrong with this matter."

"This is something I... I misunderstood."

"This……"

Upon hearing this, Minglan suddenly froze, somewhat at a loss for words: "Aunt, what...what did you say?"

"Ugh!"

Aunt Wei sighed and continued, "Ming'er, I've already confirmed with Xiao Die, and it's true... it was indeed an accident!"

At this point, Aunt Wei seemed to have run out of things to say, but recalling what Sheng Changquan had told her yesterday, she finally gritted her teeth and continued, "I mean, there was no conspiracy in that incident back then."

"But……"

"Ming'er, let me finish speaking first!"

Aunt Wei reached out to comfort Minglan and explained, "I originally thought there was something fishy about this matter. Perhaps someone is trying to harm someone."

"But when I found Xiaodie, she said that she had been thinking about these things all these years, but no matter how much she thought about it, she could never connect the difficult childbirth with people."

She said that this might really just be an accident.

Hearing Aunt Wei's assertion, Minglan felt extremely distressed.

(End of this chapter)