EBE Chapter 131 Visit
Chapter 131 Visit
Qiao Qingshu immediately sent someone to inquire about Zhou Quanshu's residence.
The next day at daybreak, Qiao Qingshu, accompanied by two maids and several servants, went to Zhou Quanshu's residence.
Zhou Quanshu was not from Shangjing; he came from Jiangzhou and was staying in an abandoned house belonging to a relative in Shangjing.
The house was very remote, the road was difficult to travel, and there were no other houses for miles around. If you wanted to buy something, you had to walk several miles to the town.
The carriage bumped along the dirt road for a long time before finally stopping. Qiao Qingshu lifted the curtain and saw a dilapidated house.
Half of the house has collapsed, but two rooms remain habitable.
Zhou Quanshu and his page have been living here for almost a year.
It was early morning, and the young pageboy, Muchen, was washing rice at the door in preparation for cooking porridge.
Seeing a magnificent carriage stop at the gate, a beautiful woman, as lovely as a fairy, was helped down by maids and servants, which made Mu Chen stare wide-eyed.
A servant boy hurried forward and said,
“My Miss Qiao wishes to meet your Young Master Zhou. May I ask to inform him?”
Mu Chen was startled and hurriedly went inside to deliver the message.
These days, Mu Chen has been helping Zhou Quanshu send messages to the Qiao family's daughter quite often. Knowing that someone from the Qiao family had come, he rushed in to call his young master, even losing one of his shoes in the process.
Zhou Quanshu had just gotten up. Because of the cold weather and the lack of charcoal fire in the room, he was wrapped in his clothes and huddled on the headboard reading.
Upon hearing Mu Chen say that a young lady had come to the Qiao family, he immediately jumped out of bed, not even having time to put on his shoes, and dragged himself out.
He rushed out, thinking it was Qiao Qingqiao who had come to see him, and his face was filled with an excited smile.
But when a strange woman stood before him, Zhou Quanshu froze on the spot.
The woman before them was far more beautiful than Qingqiao, exuding elegance and nobility, so stunning that she left them speechless.
Zhou Quanshu frowned slightly. She noticed that the woman in front of her looked somewhat similar to Qingqiao, and she also knew that she was a girl from the Qiao family.
He immediately guessed her identity.
He had long heard that the Qiao family had three daughters: the eldest daughter, Qiao Qingshu, was incomparably beautiful; the second daughter was extremely literate; and the third daughter was innocent and adorable.
The woman before me must be the eldest daughter of the Qiao family!
He stood there, the excitement on his face vanishing instantly, replaced by a solemn expression.
He bowed slightly in greeting.
"This must be the eldest daughter of the Qiao family."
Qiao Qingshu smiled and nodded.
"Yes, you are very smart."
After saying that, he laughed again.
"I've traveled a long and bumpy way here, Young Master Zhou, won't you invite me in for a cup of tea?"
Zhou Quanshu then remembered the proper way to treat guests and immediately instructed Mu Chen, who was also dumbfounded beside him, to make tea and serve snacks.
Qiao Qingshu followed Zhou Quanshu into the abandoned house.
The temperature inside the room was almost the same as outside.
Looking around, the room was dark, with little sunlight streaming in, and the windows had several holes that had been patched up with layers of paper.
Apart from a bed, a table, and a stool, the floor of the room was covered with books, and the only other thing on the wall opposite the bed was a carefully framed painting.
Qiao Qingshu slowly moved to the painting, admiring it, and couldn't help but smile.
Zhou Quanshu felt a little guilty and wanted to cover it up, but it was too late to hide it now.
Qiao Qingshu slowly turned her head to meet Zhou Quanshu's eyes.
"It's wonderful that my second sister's calligraphy is so highly regarded."
Zhou Quanshu couldn't figure out Qiao Qingshu's purpose. He stood there somewhat helplessly, not knowing what to say.
Qiao Qingshu noticed his embarrassment and wanted to tease him first, so she said,
"Young Master Zhou, how dare you covet my second sister!"
“If you like her calligraphy and paintings, just pay for them. Why do you have to write those shameless love letters to seduce my sister?”
"Don't you even look at your own status? A poor scholar living in this wretched place? Do you think you can trick my sister into coming here to do your laundry and cook for you?!"
Upon hearing this, Zhou Quanshu's face flushed red with excitement.
He hurriedly explained.
"No! That's not how it is, Miss Qiao!"
“I know that Miss Qingqiao is of noble status, and I dare not presume to marry her. I wrote to Miss Qingqiao not because I wanted her to marry me immediately.”
"I simply expressed my affection for her and asked if she would be willing to marry me if I passed the imperial examination next spring."
“I won’t let her suffer with me; I only want her to enjoy life with me.”
Zhou Quanshu frowned, his face very serious.
Qiao Qingshu tilted her head and thought for a moment, "Next year's spring imperial examination for high school?"
It can't be that fast.
Zhou Quanshu only achieved the highest rank in the imperial examination after three years. After working with him, Qiao Qingshu discovered that he was intelligent and quick-witted, and that it was inappropriate for him to take three attempts to achieve the highest rank.
Driven by curiosity in her past life, she retrieved all of Zhou Quanshu's examination papers from the three imperial examinations and examined them carefully.
It was only then that they realized his talent was as good as ever; he should have been the top scholar in the first round, but someone else had managed to steal his place.
The top scholars of the previous two years were later found to be part of the Crown Prince's faction.
Qiao Qingshu then realized that the Crown Prince had been secretly cultivating his own power base for a long time.
The reason for abandoning the highly talented Zhou Quanshu was that this guy refused to submit to the Crown Prince and support the Crown Prince's faction.
Qiao Qingshu raised an eyebrow.
"What if you don't get into high school?"
Zhou Quanshu lowered his head and gritted his teeth.
"Then take the test again, until you pass."
It was precisely because of this perseverance that Zhou Quanshu in his previous life was able to see the light at the end of the tunnel in the third year and successfully pass the imperial examination.
Qiao Qingshu continued to joke,
"So you mean my second sister has to wait until you pass the exam? If you keep failing, does she expect her to keep waiting for you forever?!"
Zhou Quanshu's brows furrowed more and more as he urgently retorted.
"How could I, Zhou, dare to hinder the future of such a beautiful woman!"
"If I fail the imperial examination this time, I will definitely go far away and never bother Qingqiao again."
A smile appeared on Qiao Qingshu's lips. It seemed that she should lend Zhou Quanshu a hand.
Otherwise, her second sister's marriage would have to wait three years.
At this moment, Mu Chen brought in tea and carefully showed it to Qiao Qingshu.
There was only a desk in the room. Qiao Qingshu sat at the desk and picked up a piece of paper with Zhou Quanshu's poem on it.
After taking a sip of tea, Qiao Qingshu slowly began to read, nodding as she did so.
He thought to himself, "No wonder Qingqiao was moved. Such talent is truly a match for Qingqiao."
Zhou Quanshu saw Qiao Qingshu enter the room and asked her some questions, but he still didn't know why she had come.
I couldn't help but ask,
"Miss Qiao, do you want me to give up Qingqiao?"
"My feelings for Qingqiao are truly sincere..."
Zhou Quanshu wanted to continue speaking and express his true feelings, but was interrupted by Qiao Qingshu.
"You should go and propose marriage tomorrow and finalize the engagement."
Zhou Quanshu's mouth remained open for a long time, while Mu Chen beside him excitedly tugged at his sleeve.
"Oh dear, young master, did you hear that? You can marry Miss Qiao now."
Zhou Quanshu looked at Qiao Qingshu with a puzzled expression. He thought that Qiao Qingshu had come to scold and ridicule him for being a toad trying to eat swan meat, and to advise him to stop bothering his second sister.
However, he never expected that Qiao Qingshu would ask him to propose marriage.
His brows furrowed deeply, his eyes filled with confusion, and after a moment of deep thought, he spoke.
"No."