Allure of a Country Maiden
Chapter 751 - 749

Chapter 751: 749

Ming Jingya couldn’t stand it anymore, she took her daughter back: "Xiaoxiao, you’re such a good girl, we missed the best time to watch the sunrise today. How about we get up early tomorrow and go watch it again?"

Xiaoxiao doesn’t talk much, but she can understand most of what adults say. She pointed at the sun in the sky: "Sunrise, watch...light?"

Ming Jingya nodded: "Yeah, you watch it rise."

"Xiaoxiao wants to see, daddy will get up early tomorrow and take you, okay?" Di Shaowei quickly added.

Xiaoxiao raised her head again, squinted at the sun, and then shook her head: "No."

Watching the sunrise is just for this thing? What’s so good about it? She doesn’t want to watch, Xiaoxiao thought.

The poor child, she has been misled by her father.

...

Xiao’er woke up again in Shangguan Xuanyi’s arms just as the carriage came to a stop.

Xiao’er sat up, rubbing her eyes: "We’re there?"

"Just arrived." Shangguan Xuanyi picked up her cloak that had slipped off because of her movement and put it back on her: "Let’s get off the carriage. The mountain road is somewhat steep, I’ll carry you up."

Xiao’er shook her head at his words: "No need. Wait for me for a while."

Xiao’er quickly went into the space, washed up and made some pastries for breakfast, then came out of the space.

Xiao’er prepared breakfast for Zhao Yong. After she and Shangguan Xuanyi finished their breakfast, they started to climb the mountain to watch the sunrise.

It was still dark. Shangguan Xuanyi tightly held Xiao’er’s hand, and the two of them climbed up the mountain road together.

To the two of them with martial arts, climbing this mountain road was like walking on flat ground. Hand in hand, they chattered all the way up and soon reached the mountain top.

There were already a few scholars and young ladies on the top of the mountain, who had apparently come to watch the sunrise.

They looked somewhat surprised to see Xiao’er and Shangguan Xuanyi appear, not expecting others to come here and watch the sunrise like them.

The provincial examination was about to start. They’d been keeping to their rooms and studying for months, so they came here to watch the sunrise and relax. They are all old friends.

Shangguan Xuanyi saw that there were already people here and frowned slightly: Why are there candles lit everywhere? How can one properly watch the sunrise?

Shangguan Xuanyi preferred not to be disturbed by others. He didn’t want to watch the sunrise anymore, he leaned down to Xiao’er and said, "Shall we find another place?"

Xiao’er didn’t have any preference. There was nowhere in this world that didn’t have people. She looked up at the sky and saw a streak of red across the eastern horizon. It was apparent that the sun would rise very soon.

"Let’s leave after watching the sunrise! We climbed all the way up."

Hearing that, Shangguan Xuanyi held Xiao’er’s hand and walked to another spot.

The scholars at the scene were all attracted by Xiao’er’s beautiful voice and turned to look: Heaven! Could there possibly be a woman of such unparalleled beauty in this world?

Hang County was known for its beautiful women, this was widely acknowledged. But...after taking a glance at the woman beside them, their number one beauty and talented woman of Hang County, He Lanzhi, seemed dull in comparison.

Upon seeing Xiao’er, jealousy flashed across He Lanzhi’s eyes right away, and then seeing the astonished expressions on those around her, and how they subconsciously examined her, clearly comparing her to Xiao’er, she felt even more resentful.

He Gaopeng saw the two of them, both steeped in an aura of elegance and nobility, he knew they could not be ordinary people, they either came from rich or noble families. Though he had not seen these two individuals in any of Hang County’s well-off households, he supposed they were people from other counties who were here to watch the tide. He stepped forward and bowed: "This gentleman and madam, I am He Gaopeng, we are students from Bailu Academy. We have brought our sisters out for some recreation on this joyous occasion of Mid-Autumn Festival. Meeting here must be destined, why don’t we watch it together?"

A married woman? The rest of them noticed that Xiao’er was wearing married women’s hairstyle and they felt a little disappointed.

Shangguan Xuanyi shrugged his eyebrows to indicate his agreement, and then led Xiao’er past him to another spot to settle down.

Seeing Shangguan Xuanyi’s cold attitude, that person reckoned he had embarrassed himself. In Hang County, no one had ever disrespected him like this before, and he felt a slight annoyance.

Luckily, Shangguan Xuanyi had given him a nod, which was already a huge favor.

Seeing He Gaopeng snubbed, Zhang Jiang felt indignant on his behalf, so he said: "Brother He, get back here! There are some people who think too highly of themselves, why should you treat them courteously? Do these people think they’re so important? Daring to act all high and mighty in front of us!"

Hearing this, He Gaopeng took that as a way out and stepped back.

Shangguan Xuanyi casually glanced at the person who had spoken. His eyes were chilly, and this made people shiver involuntarily. The person who spoke suddenly had an inexplicable feeling of being targeted by the Grim Reaper and dared not to make another sound.

Shangguan Xuanyi withdrew his gaze and ignored them.

Only then did He Lanzhi get a good look at Shangguan Xuanyi’s appearance and the aura radiating from him. She too was astonished. This man was absolutely no ordinary person!

He Gaopeng returned to his companions and sat down, watching Xiao’er and Shangguan Xuanyi in deep thought.

Because there were others around, Xiao’er and Shangguan Xuanyi only planned to quietly watch the sunrise and then leave. They didn’t say much.

The scholars were initially discussing the upcoming provincial examination. They watched as the distant dawn slowly reddened the entire sky, and began to feel inspired to write poetry.

Xiao’er also thought that the poems these people made were quite good.

"The man who saluted us earlier has good academic accomplishments, and he writes good poetry too!" Xiao’er genuinely praised.

"He can’t hold a candle to you!" Shangguan Xuanyi said dismissively. When it comes to knowledge, her two brothers were superior! Of course, his wife was the best! If she were a man, she would definitely be famous all over the world.

But, thank goodness, she isn’t a man!

Xiao’er shook her head. That, she wouldn’t dare to admit. She couldn’t write poetry! What she could do was plagiarize poetry!

He Gaopeng had been paying attention to the two of them all this time. Xiao’er spoke softly, but he managed to hear it. When he heard Xiao’er praising him, he couldn’t help but smile.

However, upon hearing Shangguan Xuanyi say he was not equal to even a thousandth part of Xiao’er, He Gaopeng became unhappy!

He was the number one scholar in Bailu Academy! His name was well-known throughout Hang County!

His mentor even said that he would surely come out on top in the upcoming provincial examination. In the central examination and imperial examination next spring, it was probable that he would get third place!

Now he was told he wasn’t even a thousandth as good as a woman! How could he accept that!

He Lanzhi had also been watching Shangguan Xuanyi. Seeing him belittling her brother and exalting the woman by his side, she was quite unhappy!

Ha! Big talk! She wasn’t afraid the wind on the mountain top would blow her away!

Snorting coldly in her heart, her voice carried a hint of derision: "I really didn’t expect the lady to have such extensive knowledge. Even the top scholar is not even one in a thousand as good as you, may I have the honor of witnessing your talent?"

The scholars present also felt that what Shangguan Xuanyi said was disrespectful!

However good a woman’s knowledge might be, could it compete with the learning of their true scholars?