Chapter 9 Qingqing
Liu Qing got up weakly and changed her clothes with the help of her maid. She looked at herself in the mirror. Her complexion was crystal clear, her skin was as white as snow, and her small round face had baby fat and a small dimple.

She is a little beauty, but she has light dark circles under her eyes.
"Fu Fu." Liu Qing called her maid, wanting to ask her if she was beautiful.
But when the words came to my lips, I felt a little unconfident.

She once met the courtesan of Xiaoxiang Pavilion with her senior brother, who then praised the courtesan as "the affectionate peony with spring tears, the weak rose lying on the branch in the morning".

But I don’t seem to have much to do with that poem!
Liu Qing looked at herself in the mirror and blinked like the courtesan.

"Miss, did you call me just now?" Fu Fu walked in with a basin and asked with some doubt, and then saw her own young lady acting like a demon.
"Miss, are your eyelids twitching? My mother once said that if your left eye twitches, you will get good luck, and if your right eye twitches, you will get disaster. Your eyes are twitching at the same time."

Fu Fu's eyes lit up and she said in surprise: "Miss, you might get hit on the head by a gold ingot today!"

"I'm going to hit you on the head right now!" Liu Qing rolled her eyes, then looked at Fu Fu and asked, "Am I pretty?"

"Beautiful!"

Fu Fu nodded with a smile and said, "Young lady, you are the most beautiful woman I have ever seen. You are even more beautiful than my mother!"

"Hehehe" Liu Qing was delighted after hearing this and happily went to the back hall to see her mother.

As she walked through the corridor, she saw Ou Zanghua standing in a pavilion not far away, talking to a pretty girl in a gentle manner.

The girl smiled shyly, handed something to her senior brother, and left quickly.

Liu Qing frowned slightly. She knew that girl. She was the only actress in the Hu family troupe and her original name was Hu Erya.

Later, for some unknown reason, the eldest brother changed her name to Hu Erya.

From then on, whenever Hu Erya returned to Liu's house, he would come to see his senior brother.

Ou Zanghua turned his head to look at Liu Qing, then walked over and asked with a smile: "Junior sister, are you not resting?"

"I ate too much last night and didn't sleep well." Liu Qing was stunned and quickly found an excuse.

"Yes, let's prepare more vegetables and fruits next time when we grill." Ou Zanghua nodded and walked to the back hall with Liu Qing.

Liu Zhengfeng and Ouyang also got up early. Old Liu practiced sword in the yard, while Ouyang sat in the hall, holding a hand warmer in her hands and watching with a smile on her face.

"Master, Master Wife."

"Cang Hua is here!" Liu Zhengfeng looked at the two people who walked in, then stopped and finished his training.

The master and disciple returned to the back hall, and Ou Zanghua told him that he was planning to go to the capital in December to take part in the imperial examination.

Liu Zhengfeng had heard Mi Weiyi mention this before, and now that Ou Zanghua had formally told him about this, he asked with some concern: "Isn't it too hasty? You are still young now, so it won't matter if you study for another four years, right?"

"It's okay. I have confidence." Ou Zanghua shook his head. After all, the title of Jie Yuan may not be enough to suppress the Songshan Sect.

Seeing this, Old Liu stopped trying to persuade him. He had only attended a private school for a few years and gave up studying literature after passing the examination for a tongsheng, so he didn't understand how the juren gentlemen operated.

However, as a swordsman who had traveled the world, Lao Liu still knew a lot of outlaw jargon and taboos. Seeing that Ou Zanghua was interested, he began to talk incessantly.

The master and the disciple were so engrossed in their conversation that they didn't pay attention to anything else.

Master's wife Ouyang looked at her daughter with a smile in her eyes, and then looked at the fresh, handsome, and well-dressed eldest disciple. Which girl would not like such a man!
However, given the current status of this eldest disciple, there are too many women he can choose from, and his own daughter does not seem to have any advantages.
Ou Zanghua waited until Liu Zhengfeng said he had had enough fun before saying goodbye and leaving. When his figure disappeared around the corner, Ouyang coughed lightly and said, "The person has gone far away, has the soul gone with him?"

"Ah? What soul?" Liu Qing was stunned and turned to look at his mother.

Ouyang stared at her daughter with a smile on her face. Liu Qing felt embarrassed by her mother's gaze. She opened her mouth but could not utter a word.

"If you like it, just say so!"

Seeing her daughter's shy look, Ouyang encouraged her: "Don't you always say that you are a child of the Jianghu? Children of the Jianghu won't be so fussy!"

"What? Who does Qingqing like?" Liu Zhengfeng came back to his senses and asked his daughter.

"Mom is right!" Liu Qing's eyes were determined, and he stood up immediately and said, "We are the children of the rivers and lakes, so we should be free and easy! Mom, I'm going."

"Go!" Ouyang nodded and said with a smile.

"Hmm!" Liu Qing took a deep breath, walked outside for a while, then quickly stepped back and asked pitifully, "Mom, if I'm rejected, can you sleep with me tonight?"

"Go quickly!" Ouyang glared at her useless daughter and scolded her in a bad mood.

Liu Qing regained his courage and quickly chased after him.

"Where is Qingqing going?" Liu Zhengfeng looked at his wife and asked in confusion.

Ouyang took a sip of tea elegantly and said calmly: "Well, go and pursue your own happiness."

As she said this, she couldn't help laughing. Since ancient times, Hunan women have been affectionate. If they like someone, they should just say it directly. Why should they learn from the girls from the south of the Yangtze River who are so shy?

Ou Zanghua returned to Wuyuan and prepared to read for a while. Wang Shen had previously sent him a book of model essays for the imperial examination in the 13th year of Hongzhi, which included essays by Tang Yin and Xu Jing.

It is also strange to say that Tang Yin was from Wuxian, Suzhou Prefecture, South Zhili, Xu Jing was from Jiangyin, South Zhili, and Hua Chang, the household official who impeached the chief examiner Cheng Minzheng for selling questions, was from Wuxi, Changzhou Prefecture, South Zhili.
All we can say is that the bulk of a certain province has a historical background.

At this time, Liu Qing ran in in the drizzle. When she saw the senior brother reading under the eaves, she paused and shouted in the drizzle, "Senior Brother!"

"Ok?"

Ou Zanghua saw it and quickly came out with an oil-paper umbrella to shield Liu Qing from the rain, saying, "Don't get wet in the rain, come inside quickly."

"I won't," Liu Qing held Ou Zanghua's hand, and looked at him with her big watery eyes: "I have something to say to my senior brother, let's say it here. I will be discouraged if I go into the house."

"Then tell me quickly." Ou Zanghua looked a little strange. Why did he make it sound like he was an inflatable doll?

"Big Brother, I like you!" Liu Qing took a deep breath and said with a tremor in her voice, "I want to be Big Brother's wife!"

Ou Zanghua was stunned. In his two lifetimes, he had been confessed to by lovely girls before, but this was the first time someone said she wanted to be his wife right away.

Liu Qing stared at Ou Zanghua, tears slowly welling up in her eyes, like a porcelain doll about to shatter.

This is the little girl I watched grow up, how could I bear to make her sad?
So before the girl's tears flowed, Ou Zanghua tapped her head gently and said softly: "Maybe my life is too peaceful, so I don't know when I started to like Qingqing's blatant preference."

(End of this chapter)