34 當世大儒翻譯後：34 Eminent Scholars of the Present Age

eed for her to worry about it." Ye Li casually put the clothes back into the box and said calmly. A flash of anger passed across Cui Zhu’s face as she forced out a smile: "Madam has already prepared e...The Imperial Capital Rhapsody 34: The Great Literati of the Present Era

34. The Great Literati of the Present Era

The幾位 young masters from the Xu family, under the full guidance of their eldest brother, Xu Qingchen, had a cordial meeting with Secretary Ye and Old Lady Ye. As for Wang Shi who sat quietly on the side, wanting to speak but failing to interject at times, she was deliberately ignored. Later, the fifth young master of the Xu family expressed that he didn't have an interest in conversing with another man's concubine. Indeed, in the eyes of the Xu clan members, Wang Shi had never been recognized as a main wife. Without mentioning her conflicts with the late Mrs. Xu, the Xu family itself did not acknowledge the elevation of a concubine to that of a main wife, which was likely related to how, apart from extremely rare exceptions, no one in their generation had taken any concubines. If Wang Shi were truly a noble lady who was virtuous and modest, they might have shown her some respect; unfortunately, she clearly did not possess such virtues.

Subsequently, Xu Qingchen very politely expressed his father's longing for his niece whom he hadn't seen in many years, requesting to bring Ye Li to stay at the Xu family’s secondary residence for a while. Old Lady Ye naturally rejected it without hesitation and said that Ye Li was about to be married and needed to remain at home. Xu Qingchen then explained that due to Auntie's early passing, their grandfather feared that his niece would not manage household affairs well after her marriage, causing her in-laws to look down on her. Therefore, he specially instructed Second Lady to invite several of the most capable housewives from the capital city for tutoring, and sent over a few nannies to re-teach etiquette to his niece. After all… there had been rumors that Miss Ye's third daughter lacked talent, virtue, and looks. This clearly indicated that she needed strict guidance in both etiquette and conduct.

Seeing Old Lady Ye look weary and unable to voice her grievances, Ye Li reaffirmed that dealing with a seasoned elder like Old Lady Ye could never involve direct confrontation or harsh words; who wouldn't believe that this was a courteous young person respectfully listening to an elder's opinion Yet, considering the unflattering expression on Old Lady Ye’s face, could she still offer any suggestions Even her final wish for Ye Shan and Ye Lin to accompany Ye Li to the Xu family’s secondary residence was politely declined by Xu Qingyan with a smile, citing that it would affect the two ladies' reputation due to the principle of no inappropriate contact between men and women. All they could do was watch as Ye Li was escorted out of Ye Family’s gate by several young masters from the Xu family.

Once outside the Ye household, everyone clearly felt much more at ease. Even Xu Qingze, who had been cold-faced throughout, revealed a faint smile. The unfamiliarity between siblings after years apart seemed to vanish instantly. As for Xu Qingyan, who was too young to remember Ye Li, he naturally got along well with her and soon acted like long-time close siblings. Since the current head of the Xu family, Xu Hongyu (Ye Li's uncle), did not wish to be overly prominent, he did not move into his brother’s Censorate Residence but instead directly stayed in a secondary residence in the capital city that wasn’t too large. Hence, Ye Li and her entourage headed straight for the Xu family’s secondary residence.

"Uncle..."

Seeing the man before her who was still graceful and scholarly despite being middle-aged, Ye Li called out hoarsely.

Xu Hongyu also looked at this little niece whom he had loved since childhood. Seeing her face, which resembled his deceased younger sister and was even more resilient than her, he couldn’t help but sigh softly. He waved to Ye Li and said, "Lily, you’ve been through a lot these years. Uncle knows what’s going on in the capital city. With Uncle around, who dares to give you trouble" Ye Li felt her eyes becoming moist as well. She forced a smile and said, "Who would dare if Second Uncle is here Lily just misses Big Uncle and Grandpa." Xu Hongyu shot an unhappy glance at his younger brother sitting beside him and said, "If he were any use, how could the ladies of the Ye family have been so smug" Xu Hongyan knew his elder brother’s temper well. He merely smiled bitterly and said, "Big Brother is right; it’s the little brother who hasn’t taken good care of Lily."

"Big Uncle!" Ye Li shook Big Uncle's arm, pouting. She had no qualms about being spoiled in front of her big uncle because she had always been like that since childhood. Who could blame her back then when she was truly a child Moreover, she was the only one in the Xu family who wasn’t afraid of Big Uncle.

Xu Hongyu affectionately ruffled Ye Li’s head and said with a smile, "Alright, uncle was just joking. You’ve been away for so long yet still only look to your second uncle."

"That's not true! Lily has always missed Big Uncle and Grandpa."

"Then why did you refuse when Grandpa asked you to go to Yunzhou"

"..."

After chatting with the two uncles for a while, Xu Hongyu had Xu Qingyan take Ye Li to her already prepared room and introduced her to the two waiting aunties. Ye Li knew that her uncles probably had something to discuss, so she obediently followed Xu Qingyan.

Ye Li’s room was already arranged; it was in a secluded courtyard at the back of the villa. Regardless whether it was the Imperial Censorate residence, their former home in the capital city, or this villa, the Xu family always maintained a simple yet elegant style that suited Ye Li's taste. As soon as she stepped into the gate, someone immediately greeted her, "Miss!"

Two nuns in simple and decent attire came forward. Upon seeing Ye Li, they were momentarily stunned before their eyes brimmed with tears.

"Lin Nanny... Wet Nurse..." Ye Li called out. Lin Nanny had been her mother's close attendant from a young age and was now nearly fifty years old. Ye Li’s wet nurse was also a bonded servant of the Xu family, and she too was forty years old this year. Ye Li still remembered when she insisted on sending both Lin Nanny and Wei Nanny back to the Xu Family Manor; they had knelt before her, begging earnestly and refusing to leave even at the cost of their lives. Although after that there had never been anyone around whom she could fully trust until she met Qingshuang, Ye Li did not regret it. She was very clear that with her mind still recovering from amnesia and in such poor health, she simply couldn’t protect those two people who were genuinely kind to her.

"Miss... Miss..." The two nannies hurried up to Ye Li. Lin Nanny said through tears: "Miss has finally grown up… She looks so much like the eldest miss…"

Wei Nanny felt even stronger affection for Ye Li because she had personally raised her, “Wah wah... This servant is sorry to the eldest miss. For all these years, Miss was alone in that Ye Manor. Fortunately... fortunately, nothing happened to Miss…”

Ye Li sighed inwardly as she struggled a bit with this scene and could only clumsily console the two nannies. Xu Qingyan watched Ye Li’s somewhat stiff demeanor from the side and secretly laughed while feeling even more certain that their family had treated his cousin unfairly, "Ahem. Lin Nanny, Wei Nanny, you will be accompanying Miss Ye Li from now on. It's not just for a moment. Why don't we go inside to talk" When Xu Qingyan reminded them, the two nannies hurriedly wiped away their tears and nodded repeatedly: "Young Master is right. We were careless. Come, Miss, please look at your room. If you're not satisfied, we can change it."

As he watched Ye Li being dragged off by the two nannies, Xu Qingyan, who had been forgotten, stood there blankly for a moment before rolling his eyes and turning to leave.

While Ye Li was enduring the enthusiasm of the two nannies in her room, the atmosphere in the study of another courtyard felt somewhat desolate.

Xu Hongyu sat behind his desk looking at his younger brother. His lips curved into a smile but caused Xu Qingfeng and Xu Qingbo to shiver involuntarily as they huddled in fear: "So, Prince Li believes that Li Ye is unworthy of him, hence he turned to seduce the Fourth Miss of the Ye Family And the emperor thinks that Li Ye's reputation as an idle rich girl and her disgrace from being abandoned by Prince Li can be used to humiliate Prince Ding"

The corners of everyone's mouths twitched uncontrollably. "To seduce… Great Uncle (Daddyo), aren't you a great scholar of this era Can’t your words be more elegant"

Xu Hongyan nodded, saying, "Indeed."

As if the atmosphere in the study wasn’t already tense enough, Xu Qingchen, who was seated below, with an even more charming smile than his father’s, took out a letter from his sleeve and said, "Earlier today, Prince Li openly stated at Chuxiang Pavilion that no matter how much publicity Le’er tries to create, he will never marry her."

Shake… Xu Qingyan, who had just slipped in unnoticed, subtly leaned closer behind his fourth brother.

Xu Hongyu took the letter and read it for a while without saying anything. When Xu Hongyan started to worry about opening his mouth, he heard Xu Hongyu laugh loudly, "Excellent... not unlike my niece from our Xu family…" He then handed the letter directly to Xu Hongyan, who only managed to twitch his lips as he refrained from laughing. He had always stayed in the capital and naturally knew that this niece of theirs was far less refined than she appeared on the outside. However, it wasn’t common for her to be so strong-willed; perhaps Prince Li really made her angry.

"Prince Ding was also present at the time" Xu Hongyan folded the letter without waiting for an answer from the expectant Xu Qingyan and put it into his sleeve. He wanted to go back and figure out how to add more trouble to Prince Li’s life; after all, he only sought out Le’er because of boredom.

"Le’er seems to have also conversed with Prince Ding. It appears that they’ve reached some sort of understanding," Xu Qingchen said calmly.

Xu Hongyu pondered for a moment and waved his hand, saying, "Your grandfather holds Prince Ding in high regard. Since Le’er doesn’t seem to mind the marriage arrangements much, Qingchen, you take charge of what follows."e progress” Shen Yang and Doctor Lin exchanged glances before sighing; they quarreled every day because both of them had progressed but could not reach an agreement on their methods, neither one able...