Chapter 11: You Still Know to Come See Me, Then You Can Stay Tonight…

Meng Huan remembered that Wen Zhaoyin seemed to have promised he could go out, so he took advantage of the break to leave. That woman saw his miserable state, could she still be so heartless as to let these people force him to study?

“Stop, where is the young man going?” Liu Shu held a book of male virtues in his hands and blocked his way. He turned his head and saw a fierce-looking man standing behind him.

Having been forced to study for so long, now he felt his bones ache just looking at these people. He originally wanted to shout, but fearing they would say he lacked manners, he had to say calmly, “I’m just going for a walk. You can’t make me study this stuff day and night, can you?”

Liu Shu took a couple of steps, “Of course the young man can rest, but Madam Wen instructed that you are not allowed to leave Qingzhu Garden before you learn male virtues.”

The words “not allowed to leave Qingzhu Garden” echoed in Meng Huan’s mind. He was furious, feeling that woman was the biggest liar, coaxing and deceiving him in bed, then not recognizing him once she put on her skirt!

“You! You! I won’t go out, can I just sleep?!”

For the moment he didn’t dare to confront these people, so he angrily stomped back to his room. Liu Shu still reminded him at the door, “Young man, you can only nap for half an hour. Remember to wake up on time in the afternoon to study. I’ll be waiting for you in the west wing.”

“Wen Xi! Please ask Teacher Liu to rest!”

Liu Shu took out a small notebook and recorded all his mistakes one by one, then walked back to the west wing with light steps to rest, planning to deal with them all in the afternoon.

And so, Meng Huan spent five days of extremely regular study life. During these days, the heartless Wen Zhaoyin didn’t come even once.

He realized that this woman had no heart.

She only came to see him occasionally, only stayed when she needed to, and never stayed overnight after finishing. She hadn’t even given him the so-called status that Wen Xi had mentioned before.

Wen Zhaoyin was taking advantage of him for free!

With this clear realization, Meng Huan couldn’t tell if he was angry or furious, or if there was a little bit of heartache he hadn’t noticed.

He didn’t know, but he just felt very unhappy, as if he had been played. Now he didn’t want to leave the Wen mansion so quickly.

He wasn’t the kind of person who would tuck his tail and run after being taken advantage of.

On the evening of the sixth day.

Liu Shu and those men packed up and left. They didn’t stay in Qingzhu Garden at night, but lived in Mei Garden, which was specially for receiving guests.

Not long after these men left, Wen Zhaoyin came, bringing people carrying a copper pot.

“I saw that you like to eat meat, so I found some novel dishes.”

She raised her hand to gesture, and the copper pot was placed on the table with a charcoal brazier underneath. Meng Huan immediately knew what it was.

“It’s said to be a method passed down from the grasslands, called hot pot lamb. Unlike other dishes that need to be cooked before serving, this dish is cooked and eaten on the spot.”

Meng Huan didn’t say anything. He sat down at the table, looking at the mushrooms, green onions, and ginger slices floating in the boiling soup, somewhat missing the beef tallow hotpot base of modern times.

Unfortunately, he wasn’t as capable as those who had traveled through time. He didn’t know how to do anything. Let alone innovating ancient technology, even just surviving properly was difficult.

Picking up the chopsticks on the table, he put half of the lamb into his plate and lowered his eyes, saying, “You still know to come see me.”

Wen Zhaoyin raised an eyebrow. It seemed that the teaching over the past few days had been quite effective. Meng Huan’s words were not as sharp as before.

“Madam Liu said not to disturb you easily. I happened to have some business in the past few days, so I didn’t come over. Are you angry?”

She stirred the sesame paste in the dish, then had someone pour some fermented bean curd sauce and crushed peanuts, along with coriander and chopped green onions, and finally pushed it in front of him.

Meng Huan looked up at her, blinking his eyes constantly, and finally turned his face to look at the copper pot again, secretly brewing his emotions, “I dare not be angry. If I get angry, you’ll definitely leave, and then Teacher Liu will come to punish me again.”

Plop, plop, two drops of tears fell on the table. He didn’t turn his head in his grievance, scooped out a slice of lamb and put it in his mouth without dipping it in the sauce.

Woo, he didn’t want to eat sesame paste, he wanted oil dip!

This was the first time Wen Zhaoyin had seen him like this. Her heartbeat became irregular for a moment. She immediately reached out to take the chopsticks from his hand, put them on the table, then gently pulled his hand to face her.

On the other side, she took the handkerchief handed over by Wen Xi and wiped the tears from his face, “Don’t cry, I won’t leave. What did Madam Liu punish you for?”

This was a good opportunity for revenge, and Meng Huan naturally wouldn’t miss it. “He had people press me down to kowtow, press me to kneel, and beat me when I couldn’t recite male virtues. He used those bamboo sticks that don’t leave marks, it was so painful.”

Wen Zhaoyin frowned and patted the back of his hand, “He actually treated you like this? Pei Lan, let Madam Liu leave tomorrow. There’s no need to come teach Huan Huan anymore.”

“Just let him leave?” Meng Huan’s expression stiffened.

“He’s not from the Wen family, it’s not appropriate to deal with him. Let’s let it go this time.”

Meng Huan heard it clearly. Wen Zhaoyin knew about Liu Shu beating him, so she didn’t plan to punish Liu Shu, and even said it openly in front of him, it was to warn him.

Last time when Wang Fu was intercepted by Zu Jun, she dealt with people behind the scenes. But this time, with no one stopping her, she didn’t deal with Liu Shu. Doesn’t this show her true thoughts?

He removed his hand and ate the lamb by himself, then instructed Pei Lan, “Ask the kitchen to send some vermicelli, bok choy, and also sesame oil, Sichuan pepper oil and aged vinegar.”

With Wen Zhaoyin’s permission, Pei Lan went out to arrange what he wanted. Soon it was delivered. The Sichuan pepper oil was freshly made and still hot.

“Has Huan Huan eaten hot pot lamb before?” As far as she knew, ordinary families couldn’t afford lamb, and even if they could, they mainly stewed it. Because eating it as hot pot required special pots, very few families would eat it this way.

Meng Huan paused with his chopsticks, pretending to be angry without saying anything. He was afraid of saying something wrong and exposing himself, quickly thinking about how to brush it off if she asked again.

Fortunately, this wasn’t Wen Zhaoyin’s purpose, and she didn’t pursue it further. She asked again, “Is there anything you want? As long as I can do it, I’ll get it for you.”

As soon as she said this, Meng Huan became angry. He put down his chopsticks on the table with moderate force and simply stood up from his seat.

“You’re just deceiving me. You promised before that I could leave the courtyard, but then you still had people stop me. Can you really give me what I want?”

“It was just words to coax me. How pitiful that I believed you at the time.”

His words made Wen Zhaoyin feel a bit guilty, because she indeed hadn’t let him go out after promising. She quickly got up and pressed him back into the chair, “I’m not deceiving you. Tomorrow I’ll personally take you out of the courtyard.”

“Really?”

“Absolutely true.”

Meng Huan stared at her for a while before asking again, “Then can you stay tonight?”