CHAPTER 46: CHAPTER 46: THAT INCENSE IS SUSPICIOUS

Seeing that Gu Hui had misunderstood, Tang Xiaobai hurriedly explained, "I didn’t write this, it’s—" racking his brains for a moment, "it’s from a poor child whose identity is inconvenient to reveal. He has no money or way to study, so he relies on self-study. I gave him a few questions, and he wrote down some homework and wanted me to have a look, but I can’t understand it at all. Cousin Hui, take a look—"

"Is there such an intelligent and eager child?" Gu Hui was startled, "This handwriting, this composition, is almost as good as mine!"

Tang Xiaobai felt both bitter and proud hearing this.

The Gu family’s children were initiated into learning at three, but Qin Xiao only started school at twelve.

Although Gu Hui’s words might have some modesty, it was still a very high praise.

Their little ancestor at home was truly remarkable!

"Cousin Hui, would you mark it for him?" Tang Xiaobai urged.

Gu Hui blushed again, embarrassed, and said, "I am not very knowledgeable, how could I dare to comment rashly? How about I take it to Mr. Zhang for some feedback?"

"No way!" Tang Xiaobai quickly refused with a serious expression, "You can’t show it to the teacher or the uncles, only you can do it!" There’s no way she’d give it to someone else if she didn’t understand it herself!

Gu Hui looked at her, puzzled.

"Don’t ask!" Tang Xiaobai tugged on his sleeve and pouted, "Cousin Hui is so capable, please help me, okay?"

Gu Hui had been taught since childhood to take care of his younger siblings, especially his little cousin from the Duke Yan Mansion. How could he resist such a sweet and soft plea, so he finally nodded with a red face.

Seeing that acting spoiled worked, Tang Xiaobai quickly added, "Then don’t tell anyone, okay? It’s our secret!"

Gu Hui, picking up a pen, nodded with a smile.

Tang Xiaobai then lay beside him, ready to watch how he would comment on Little Qin’s homework—

The young boy was handsome in a blue robe, with refined features, and the girl watched intently, adorably youthful.

From afar, they seemed like a pair of golden children, perfectly matched in beauty.

Tang Jiaojiao watched them for a while in a daze before stepping forward to break this picture of childhood friends, innocent and carefree: "What are you doing?"

No sooner had she spoken than the two little ones straightened their backs in unison and then turned their faces simultaneously.

"Cousin!"

"Sister!"

That simultaneous response sounded oddly guilty.

"What are you doing?" Tang Jiaojiao asked again.

This time her tone was different, and her suspicious gaze swept over the table.

Gu Hui hastily stood up and saluted, unintentionally blocking Tang Jiaojiao’s view.

Tang Xiaobai, meanwhile, hid behind, secretly covering Qin Xiao’s paper with something.

However, they underestimated Tang Jiaojiao.

Miss Tang’s sharp gaze swept over, and she stepped forward swiftly, pulling Gu Hui aside, her eyes landing precisely on Tang Xiaobai’s hand.

"Cousin Hui is teaching me homework!" Tang Xiaobai felt her expression was flawless.

"Ha!" Tang Jiaojiao sneered, "Teaching for so long, and it’s a blank paper?"

Tang Xiaobai looked down, and her scalp tightened.

What she had grabbed randomly was a blank piece of paper, it would have been better to not cover it at all!

Soon enough, even the cover of the blank paper was snatched away by Miss Tang.

Tang Jiaojiao snorted coldly, pulled a stack of suspicious papers filled with writing from under her sister’s hand, and looked coldly at Gu Hui with an accusing gaze.

Her sister was still young; what bad things could she do? It must have been someone else’s influence!

Ha! She didn’t expect Gu Hui, who usually seemed so obedient, to be engaging in such—

Hmm?

"What is this?" Tang Jiaojiao frowned and asked.

"It’s someone else’s homework from the clan school!" Tang Xiaobai, not trusting Gu Hui’s ability to lie, answered immediately, "I’m interested in their homework, so I asked Cousin Hui to borrow it and teach me!"

Tang Jiaojiao frowned and examined it again, unconvinced: "You’re interested in this? How many words can you understand?"

This made Tang Xiaobai indignant: "Just because you can’t understand it doesn’t mean you should belittle me! I’m already in school! The teacher even says I’m making rapid progress!"

Tang Jiaojiao sneered and threw the paper back on the table, pointing at it, "Fine! Then read it to me!"

Read it? Fine—

"Confucius said, ’To be able to ask those who cannot...’ " After reading a couple of lines, she got stuck.

"Why stop reading?" Miss Tang sneered coldly.

The Second Miss Tang remained calm: "It’s precisely because there’s still more I don’t understand that I asked Cousin Hui to teach me."

Tang Jiaojiao sneered again, lowering her head to search the desk thoroughly.

She found nothing.

"If you’re just teaching homework, why be so secretive?" Although she couldn’t find evidence, Tang Jiaojiao remained suspicious.

"We weren’t being secretive! You were the one who sneaked up on us, scaring us to death!" The Second Miss Tang countered, "Sister, why are you interrupting my homework?"

Tang Jiaojiao glanced at Gu Hui again. The young boy was gentle and refined, not like a mischievous child.

Could it be that she was truly overthinking?

Seeing nothing more, Tang Jiaojiao casually changed the subject to the original purpose of her visit: "Mother sent me. The day after tomorrow is the fifteenth. Mother plans to go to Wulou Temple in Jinchang Village, and she wants me to ask if you’d like to go."

...

Of course, Tang Xiaobai wanted to go.

She was still in the process of figuring out the map and wanted to go everywhere.

Initially, Tang Jiaojiao had planned to pick her up after school, but the doting Little Cousin Gu willingly took on the responsibility of escort duty.

Since they’d arrive only at noon, Gu and Tang Jiaojiao didn’t expect her to pay homage at the temple.

Escorted by Cousin Gu, Tang Xiaobai arrived at Wulou Temple, enjoyed a tasty vegetarian meal as a gesture of respect for Buddha, then followed her sister out to have some fun.

Wulou Temple was the second temple she had seen since coming into this book.

The last time, Xianfu Temple was magnificent, but because the Crown Prince was visiting, it was under strict lockdown, and she couldn’t tell how popular it was.

This time at Wulou Temple, it was definitely lively.

Inside the temple was bustling, and outside was even more bustling.

Outside Wulou Temple, the capital’s most numerous open-air theaters were gathered.

These so-called theaters are outdoor platforms of different sizes, the simplest just a cordoned-off area on the ground where performers from all over the worldly society showcase a hundred acts.

A hundred acts is a collective term, with acrobatics being the most common, such as sword-swallowing, fire-breathing, carrying weights, climbing poles, and tightrope walking. But these were nothing new to Tang Xiaobai; there were also wrestling performances, called "jiao di" here, which she found uninteresting.

But her sister was easily entertained, watching with shining eyes one moment and stamping her feet nervously the next.

After watching wrestling for a while, Tang Xiaobai was drawn to another performance nearby.

There was no stage here, just a bamboo fence taller than a person. The performer was a middle-aged man.

Standing by the fence, he grabbed a handful of watermelon seeds and tossed them against the fence.

Instantly, vines grew and climbed, and in the blink of an eye, melons and fruits hung down, earning a round of applause.

Tang Xiaobai was stunned.

Did she transmigrate to a fantasy world?

Suddenly, Ah Xiao tugged at her side: "There’s something wrong with the incense over there!"

His gaze pointed to a clay basin from which wisps of green smoke curled beside the middle-aged man.