Pan Qing?!
Zhou Shaojin said in surprise, “I don’t know anything about this! Has she come?”
Cheng Jia pouted and pointed inside.
Zhou Shaojin fell silent.
Pan Qing probably wasn’t here to attend class—she was here to find out whether she had actually overheard what she and Pan Zhuo had said, wasn’t she?
She took a deep breath and entered Jing’an Studio with Cheng Jia, smiling.
A desk had been added next to Zhou Shaojin’s. Pan Qing was wearing a rose-colored gold-brocade vest over a white Hangzhou silk spring shirt with a plain standing collar. Her jet-black hair was simply styled in a bun, and she sat quietly at the newly added desk reading.
Hearing the commotion, she looked up and greeted Zhou Shaojin and Cheng Jia with a smile. By her ears, two pearl earrings the size of lotus seeds swayed back and forth—elegant with a touch of liveliness.
Truly a beauty!
What a pity she was a beauty wearing a mask, inconsistent inside and out!
Zhou Shaojin sighed inwardly and stepped forward to exchange courtesies with Pan Qing.
Cheng Jia, however, kept her eyes straight ahead and sat down in her own seat.
This arrangement placed Cheng Jia on Zhou Shaojin’s left and Pan Qing on her right, with her sitting in the middle.
Having lived two lives, this was the first time she’d been so conspicuous, so important.
Zhou Shaojin mocked herself inwardly as Nanny Shen arrived.
Seeing Pan Qing, she showed no surprise. She exchanged a few pleasantries with Pan Qing with a smile, then began the lesson.
Clearly someone had already informed her.
The three of them quietly listened as Nanny Shen lectured on a chapter from the “Biographies of Exemplary Women.”
During the mid-class break, Pan Qing poured Nanny Shen a cup of tea and chatted with her about events since they’d last parted.
The next lesson was calligraphy practice.
Zhou Shaojin spread out her rice paper, preparing to practice.
Cheng Jia ran over and whispered to her, “After school, come have lunch at my place, won’t you? I’ve had them roast a wild pheasant.”
Zhou Shaojin felt helpless and said, “I promised Grandmother I’d have lunch with her at noon.”
Cheng Jia persisted stubbornly, “Then come have dinner at my place?”
“I have to go to Hanbei Mountain Manor to copy scriptures. I don’t know when I’ll return.”
“Then when you come back, have a maid let me know and I’ll come find you to play.”
“If it’s too late, let’s wait for a day off instead, shall we?”
As the two were exchanging words, Pan Qing walked over with a smile and said, “What are you talking about? So intimate. It truly makes one envious.”
In her previous life, she and Cheng Jia had been even more intimate than in this life, yet Pan Qing had never envied her then!
The moment Pan Qing opened her mouth, Zhou Shaojin’s heart filled with additional wariness.
“We’re discussing where to go play on our day off,” Cheng Jia said, looking at Pan Qing rather provocatively. “Shaojin says we should go boating in the garden then.”
Pan Zhi served mostly in the north, so Pan Qing was a landlubber.
“Is that so?” Pan Qing smiled, showing great interest. “I rarely have opportunities to go boating. I should join you then.”
Cheng Jia puffed out her cheeks, wanting to refuse but seeming to suddenly remember something. Her eyes rolled around several times before she smiled sweetly and said, “Wonderful! We definitely won’t forget Sister Qing when the time comes.”
Pan Qing smiled slightly and looked down to examine the characters Zhou Shaojin had written, then showed a surprised expression and said hesitantly, “This, this is written by younger sister Shaojin?”
Before Zhou Shaojin could answer, Cheng Jia already said proudly, “Of course these are Shaojin’s characters! Otherwise why would Old Madam Guo have Shaojin help her copy scriptures! That’s why Shaojin usually has no free time—she has to practice calligraphy.”
Pan Qing said “Oh” thoughtfully and glanced at Zhou Shaojin.
Cheng Jia chattered on, praising Zhou Shaojin extensively.
Soon it was time for calligraphy practice, and Jing’an Studio quieted down.
Nanny Shen looked at each of their desks, gave a few pointers to each, then went to the adjacent side room to read and drink tea, accompanied by a young maid.
The study immediately came alive again.
Cheng Jia asked Zhou Shaojin, “My brother brought back some orchid stems from outside. Do you want any? If you do, I’ll have a servant send you a few stalks later. Plant them in a Xianyang pot and they’ll bloom by the Spring Festival.”
Pan Qing smiled and said, “I didn’t know younger sister Shaojin enjoyed calligraphy. I recently acquired several ink cakes from Wende Pavilion. I’ll have a servant send you a few later to try and see if they suit your hand.”
Zhou Shaojin was speechless.
But this feeling was actually quite nice!
After thinking it over, she said to Cheng Jia, “No need to go to such trouble. I’ll just have Chun Wan fetch them later.” Then to Pan Qing she said, “Thank you, cousin Pan. I’ve been practicing calligraphy diligently, so I won’t be polite with cousin Qing.”
She accepted things from both sides, offending neither, though there was ultimately a subtle difference—she spoke much more casually with Cheng Jia.
Then Zhou Shaojin set down her brush and stood up, smiling. “I need to use the privy.” Without inviting anyone, she walked straight out of the study.
Cheng Jia glared fiercely at Pan Qing.
Pan Qing looked left and right. Seeing Cheng Jia’s maid sitting far away under the eaves doing embroidery, her expression darkened. She sneered coldly, “Cheng Jia, don’t cause me trouble, or I won’t be polite with you. I’m merely a guest at the Cheng family for a few days, while you might spend your entire life in Jinling. Which is more important—at your age, you should be able to distinguish!” Having said this, she glanced at Cheng Jia disdainfully and swept away.