Chapter 417: The City Lord Invites You
Bai Ruozhu seemed quite calm, and coupled with the fact that Madame Du had learned that Bai Zepei was the favorite student of Mr. Xie, she was increasingly believing Bai Ruozhu’s story.
Meng Liangshen, the prefect of Anxi Residence, was the city lord of Beiyu City and had significant influence in this part of the northwest. The Du Family did have some tenuous marital ties to him, but they were distant. Previously, the Du Family had found Meng Liangshen to recommend a teacher for Du Zhongshu, as they hoped to curry favor with Meng Liangshen and bring members of their family into his company.
But unfortunately, from the moment they leveraged these connections to find Mrs. Meng until Meng Liangshen eventually assigned Mr. Xie to instruct Du Zhongshu, people from the Du family hadn’t even entered the City Lord’s Residence, let alone met Meng Liangshen.
But Bai Ruozhu and her brother were invited to the City Lord’s residence upon their arrival in Beiyu City, which both made Madame Du jealous and nervous. At least she couldn’t harm Bai siblings at this time, otherwise she might offend the Meng Family.
Thinking of this, Madame Du gritted her teeth and said, "Doctors should have a compassionate heart. If you could save my daughter but refuse to do so, it indicates that you don’t possess the integrity a doctor should have."
Bai Ruozhu couldn’t help but start laughing, saying, "I never intended to be a doctor, nor am I a fully qualified one. The compassion and skills you mentioned have nothing to do with me."
Du Zhongyong’s eyes shifted, his eyebrows furrowed tightly, and he hurriedly told his mother, "Mom, let’s leave it for today and think of other ways."
Madame Du could only relent, and Du Zhongyong politely bowed to the two siblings before leading his mother away.
After the two of them left, Bai Zepei and Bai Ruozhu returned to their inn room. Bai Zepei sighed helplessly saying, "You have quite the guts to bully people by whipping up such a story. When we don’t go to the City Lord’s Residence later, won’t the Du Family be able to find out?"
Bai Ruozhu laughed triumphantly at her elder brother, saying, "Do I seem like someone who would do something without assurance?"
Bai Zepei looked surprised, staring at his sister. After a moment, he had an epiphany. "Is it because of the unique skill you offered last time?"
"Indeed, elder brother, you’re indeed intelligent, guessing correctly at once. I wanted to test you, but you’ve left me no opportunity. That’s not fun." Bai Ruozhu muttered.
Last night, when Jiang Yichun escorted her to the inn, he informed her that Lord Meng would invite them over. He didn’t want to reveal Bai Ruozhu’s identity to outsiders, but instead included both siblings in the invitation, stating the Lord Meng wanted to meet the favourite student of Mr. Xie and was also impressed with the young talents.
Bai Zepei laughed despite feeling like crying as it took him a while to figure it out. However, he soon looked unsatisfied and asked, "Why didn’t you mention this earlier? We need to be prepared for this meeting; we can’t just show up empty-handed, right?"
Bai Ruozhu’s face blushed slightly. After returning to her room the previous night, she was too busy looking at herself in the mirror, pleased as punch, and had completely forgotten about this matter. If it weren’t for Madame Du, she would have completely forgotten about it.
"You are merely a student from a low-income family. If you were to carry large and small packages to present as gifts, people would say that we are bribing Lord Meng. Besides, what can we afford to give, which Lord Meng might not even appreciate? It’s better to offer a bit of rural food. I brought some dried fish when I left our house; we can take it to him." Bai Ruozhu suggested.
"Are you referring to the dried fish that you served at elder brother’s wedding banquet?" Bai Zepei had a remarkable memory.
Bai Ruozhu smiled at her elder brother, "Exactly, now you should head back to your room and get ready. I have to put Dengdeng to sleep. If someone from the Meng Residence arrives later, it will be inconvenient to quiet him down."
Bai Zepei nodded and returned to his room. He changed into a somewhat finer robe and sat in his room reading, without showing any signs of restlessness.
After Bai Ruozhu fed Dengdeng and put him to sleep, she changed her clothes. Even though her best clothes might not impress people from the Meng Family, she couldn’t look too shabby as it would show a lack of respect.
Before long, the innkeeper’s boy came to announce that someone was asking for her downstairs, claiming to be the steward from the City Lord’s Residence.
Bai Ruozhu carried Dengdeng out of the room, and asked her brother to help carry the dried fish. They both went downstairs to meet the steward from Meng Residence.
The steward indeed carried an air of authority, even his attire was superior to Bai Zepei’s best clothes. However, he was not educated and thus, couldn’t wear a formal robe.
"Master Bai, Miss Bai, the city lord has sent for you," the steward said respectfully, after bowing to the siblings.
The innkeeper listened, and his gaze changed when he looked at Bai Zepei and Bai Ruozhu. He was wondering whether he had neglected them during these past few days? They were indeed distinguished guests.
Bai Zepei bowed back in response, then the two siblings followed the steward out of the inn, and into a horse carriage, heading for the City Lord’s Residence.
It didn’t take long for the horse carriage to pass through the gates of the City Lord’s Residence. After the carriage stopped, Bai siblings were ushered down, and were guided by the steward to Lord Meng’s study.
Bai Ruozhu handed a purse to the steward, smiling as she spoke, "Thanks for your hard work, steward. Here’s a little something to show our gratitude, please have some tea."
It was quite common for stewards in large households to receive tips, so he accepted it without hesitation. He felt the purse and realized that it contained roughly half a silver coin, causing him to look at Bai Ruozhu again. He wondered, while the Bai family was just an ordinary farming family, Miss Bai was quite generous and exuded an extraordinary demeanor, resembling the female members of a governmental family.
The silver was placed in the purse by Bai Ruozhu on the way. Initially, she thought the invitation would be delivered by a servant or an attendant, and had put a silver coin in the purse. However, seeing that it was an important steward, she had to add more.
Only, she hadn’t expected Lord Meng to give such consideration to inviting them to the residence.
After they stepped into the study, they saw Meng Liangshen enjoying tea with someone wearing a mask, probably Jiang Yichun.
Meng Liangshen, who seemed close to fifty, had not gained weight with age but rather, he looked robust. It could be guessed that he was a martial artist. Seeing the Bai siblings, his gaze, sharp as an eagle’s, made them unable to maintain eye contact.
The two siblings simultaneously bowed to Meng Liangshen who laughed and said, "No need for such formality, there are no outsiders here."
Indeed, the door to the study had already been closed, indicating that Meng Liangshen didn’t want anyone else to overhear their conversation.
"Bai Zepei, Mr. Xie speaks highly of you. I was always curious to meet you in person, and now that I see you, you truly seem more composed than the average youth." Meng Liangshen looked at Bai Zepei with approval in his eyes.
A scholar at the young age of eighteen, who had also ranked first in the county child student exam, who could remain calm and composed in front of the city lord, neither humble nor arrogant, undoubtedly lived up to Mr. Xie’s praises.
"I owe it all to Mr. Xie’s teachings." Bai Zepei replied respectfully.
Meng Liangshen couldn’t help but laugh. Most people would modestly reject a compliment, but Bai Zepei simply accepted it, attributing it to his teacher’s efforts. He did not try to be someone he wasn’t, which was very in line with Meng Liangshen’s taste.
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