"Alright." As if remembering something, Li Du hurriedly whispered to her, feigning mystery, "Do you know? I met Shen Chen yesterday."
"Nonsense, I even saw you bullying him there. In the end, I took him away..."
And added, "I also saw you push him..."
Li Du's dashing eyebrows furrowed with some annoyance, "That's not what I meant."
The beauty chuckled, "Then hurry up and tell me, don't keep us in suspense."
Beside them, the overly curious Ah Tao couldn't help but urge, "Young Master Li, hurry up, Ah Tao also wants to know."
"Such impatience. Yesterday, when my brothers and I passed by Qingyun Academy, we discovered him there by the fence, eavesdropping on the teacher's lecture. We caught him red-handed, and later on his way back, we stopped him. Then you all came."
She smiled slightly, "Oh, so that's how it was."
It's time to go to school.
In the Daqing Dynasty, sons of wealthy families at six years old would start having private tutors at home or be sent to prestigious academies for education.
Children from ordinary families would go directly to regular academies and advance through stages like the children's exam, local exam, provincial exam, and imperial exam.
This year, Shen Chen is already eight years old. At his age, families with some financial capacity would have sent their kids to academies long ago.
He was still cleaning in the Ye Family's yard.
Everyone could somewhat understand his feelings.
According to the novel, he later met a teacher, and thanks to his superior memory, he became self-taught and successful.
Without the guidance of exceptional mentor resources, much of his talent remained untapped.
Otherwise, he could have been even more outstanding.
Shen Chen pursued a literary path, so even later on when he became Prime Minister Shen, he was a civil servant with immense power over the court.
Here's the question, many people would ask, isn't he just a civil servant, weak and powerless, easily dealt with by hiring an assassin? Why fear him?
Those who ask such questions are still too young. Eventually, Shen Chen took control of the Investigation Factory.
A place filled with experts, operating ruthlessly, causing three-year-olds to stop crying upon hearing about it; the Investigation Factory of the Daqing Dynasty is feared by all ages.
Of course, this is all in retrospect.
"Li Du."
Upon hearing her mistress's tone, Ah Tao knew she was about to ask for help or a favor from someone...
Sure enough.
"You say, if you were to help me..."
"Miss Ye, come see if building it like this is alright?" Zhao Shi's bright voice interrupted what Ye Zhi was about to say.
"Okay, I'll take a look." She hopped over, then turned back, "I'll talk to you after I'm done."
Ah Tao shouted from behind, "Miss, mind your manners, don't hop. If Madam sees, she'll comment again."
What Zhao Shi was referring to was Ye Zhi asking him to make a tatami, to study at the desk and to rest on the nearby bed—a relatively simple design.
Yet out of caution, Ye Zhi still went over to have a look.
Additionally, they made a wardrobe, a shoe cabinet, a bathroom, and even renovated the toilet in the small courtyard. However, Ye Zhi didn't involve herself with the toilet, leaving it to the craftsmen.
The courtyard had a well, and fearing the fragile Little Traitor might fall in, several sturdy wooden stakes were specially secured beside the round well.
With over a dozen people working on it, everything was completed by sunset without a single thing left incomplete.
Looking here and there, Ye Zhi didn't even notice when Li Du left.
Inside the side room, plum incense from the package was lit. Though small, it was fully-equipped, and after confirming there were no issues, she asked the accountant to settle the bill. This expense was accounted under: "House Repairs" section.
This way, she had an excuse ready for anyone's inquiry, that it was for the mansion's benefit, not her "personal whim."