Wang Qinglin was unhappy, and her words were a bit stiff.
"This is a calligraphy copybook I prepared for my second sister. Since she's just starting, she can practice by copying it."
Wang Qingyao took a look. Oh, cursive script.
"Isn't this calligraphy a bit too messy? I can't even understand it."
Wang Qinglin sneered. She hadn't been to school a day, yet she spoke as if she could understand other styles of calligraphy.
"This is called cursive script, and it's most suitable for beginners to practice. When I first started learning calligraphy, the tutor had us copy cursive script. Even now, I still practice it every day! What do you mean, second sister? Are you unwilling to learn?"
Wang Qingyao wanted to roll her eyes. This was clearly treating her like an idiot! And she had even thought about studying diligently.
She had already scanned the room. Wang Qinglin's study clearly had other calligraphy copybooks.
Indeed, the more beautiful a woman is, the more she deceives.
After giving her instructions, Wang Qinglin left listlessly. She didn't mention grinding ink, holding a brush, or laying out paper. Even the usually good-tempered Zhizi was a little annoyed.
"Miss, I don't know how to serve ink. Shall I go get some cinnabar paste?"
Zhizi didn't know either.
"No need, I can do it."
Although Wang Qingyao's brushwork was terrible, she had taken a year of calligraphy classes when she was young. Later, her grandfather realized she had no talent in this area and switched her to sketching.
So, she still had some impression of the basics of brush calligraphy if she tried hard to recall.
Copying cursive script was out of the question.
She found a copybook of delicate small script from the shelf. First, she scribbled a piece of cursive script, then she diligently began to copy the delicate small script.
At first, she was worried that Wang Qinglin would suddenly come to check. She not only had Zhizi guard the door but also rehearsed her excuses several times in her mind.
However, after she had copied two pages, Wang Qinglin didn't even show up.
Only then did she confirm that Wang Qinglin didn't care about her at all.
So, she relaxed and happily embarked on her path of self-taught success.
Time passed unconsciously.
Wang Qingyao put down her brush and stretched.
"Zhizi, what time is it?" she asked, touching her rumbling stomach.
Zhizi pushed open the door and walked in. "Miss, it's already Weishi."
Weishi was 1 PM. It was already this late, no wonder she felt hungry.
"Why didn't anyone call us for lunch?"
Zhizi glanced at her, her voice muffled. "I just saw a maid carrying a food box into the main house..."
Oh, so they were deliberately making her go hungry.
Wang Qingyao was not angry. She used her clairvoyant eyes to look at the main house connected to the study.
Wang Qinglin was reclining on a chaise lounge. Four maids were attending to her: one massaging her legs, one kneading her shoulders, one peeling an orange, and one wiping her mouth. She was incredibly comfortable.
The five of them were still whispering something. It was easy to guess, they must have been speaking ill of her.
Wang Qingyao beckoned Zhizi over, tucked the delicate small script she had practiced into her clothes, and then began her performance.
With a "crash," she bumped into an antique shelf. Several precious vases and ornaments on the shelf fell with a clatter, shattering on the floor.
"Oh, Zhizi, I feel dizzy. Quickly, help me!" Zhizi's mind hadn't caught up yet, but her body instinctively reached out to support Wang Qingyao.
Wang Qinglin was startled by the noise and called a young maid to check. When the maid saw the mess on the floor, she screamed in fright.
Wang Qinglin hurried over. Upon seeing the scene inside, her mouth gaped open.
"My vases, my glass lamps, my Tang Dynasty tri-colored pottery..."
Wang Qinglin also screamed, her voice laced with tears, her face contorted in pain.
"Wang Qingyao, what have you done? You pay for my things!" Wang Qinglin lost control.
All along, she had been educated by Madam Bai to be dignified and composed, never to panic no matter what happened. But the antique shelf was filled with her beloved items, the result of years of painstaking effort, her treasures!
Wang Qingyao weakly slumped into Zhizi's arms, her face full of guilt.
"I'm sorry, elder sister. I didn't do it on purpose. I'm hungry, my legs are weak. I was going to call you, but I almost fell after taking two steps. Fortunately, I grabbed the shelf..."
"So what if you fell? Can you afford to pay for my broken treasures?" Wang Qinglin was heartbroken. Her usual composure vanished, and she roared at Wang Qingyao.
Wang Qingyao was stunned, then began to cry, "Sniffle, sniffle..." "Elder sister, what are you saying? The old madam asked you to teach me calligraphy, and you just threw me here and left. That's fine. I've been practicing calligraphy in your place for a long time, and you haven't even offered me a sip of water. That's fine too. But you can't possibly not let me have lunch, can you? You deliberately had someone bring lunch and hid away to feast while I starved. Is that something a person would do? If you hadn't deliberately starved me, would I have accidentally broken your things?"
Although she was crying, there were no tears on her face, and her voice was like a firecracker, fast and clear.
Wang Qinglin was stunned. Why could she speak so clearly while crying?
Also, wasn't the art of internal strife about seeing through things without saying them, and fighting in secret?
Under Wang Qinglin's dazed gaze, Wang Qingyao let out a long cry, "I'm going to find the old madam to settle this!" and ran off with Zhizi's support.
Wang Qinglin reacted then and shouted, "Stop her, stop her!"
But Wang Qingyao and Zhizi moved faster than rabbits. The few unhealthy maids couldn't even touch their clothes.
Didn't she say her legs were weak from hunger and she couldn't walk?
Wang Qinglin no longer cared about her treasures. The old madam had been very displeased with her mother recently. If Wang Qingyao complained now, she would undoubtedly be the one to get scolded.
"Quick, quick, to the main courtyard!"
She could only go to Madam Bai for help first.
"...I saw my second sister practicing calligraphy with great concentration and didn't want to disturb her, so I didn't call her for lunch. Who knew she would bite back and even go to grandmother to complain first..."
Madam Bai, the first wife, looked at her daughter's anxious expression and sighed helplessly.
Wang Qinglin spoke nicely, but as her mother, Madam Bai knew whether she was deliberate or reluctant.
"You," Madam Bai shook her head. "This morning, the Empress Dowager sent someone to warn us, and in the blink of an eye, you deliberately withheld her meal. If this gets out, wouldn't it be seen as deliberately opposing the Empress Dowager?"
Wang Qinglin's small face instantly turned pale. This connection was something she had never considered.
"Mother, I didn't. I just... I just thought she was too arrogant and wanted to teach her a lesson," she said, tears about to fall. "I would never dare to oppose the Empress Dowager!"
No matter how proud or talented Wang Qinglin was, she was still just a seventeen-year-old girl.
Even though her father was a third-rank official in the imperial court, the royal family was still a sacred and inviolable existence to her.
Therefore, she panicked immediately.