Qingfeng Mountain is picturesque, originally a scenic spot outside Suzhou City. After the Lu family built their academy on it and planted many flowers and trees along the mountain path, the scenery became even more beautiful. In leisure time, people often come to climb the mountain for sightseeing.

  Because Qingfeng Mountain is not private, it does not prohibit tourists from climbing the mountain. Lin Qingwan wanted to take a look at the environment of Lu's family school with her own eyes, and after returning to the other courtyard, she found a windy and sunny day to climb the mountain.

  Qingfeng Mountain has a road that leads directly to the top, but Lin Qingyuan always felt that climbing a mountain was only meaningful if done on foot, so she got off the horse-drawn carriage at the foot of the mountain.

  The mountain road was not steep, but somewhat inclined, so she didn't have to work hard, and walking while enjoying the view was quite interesting.

  "This road is also built by Lu Jiaxiu?" Lin Qingwan nodded her foot on the road and smiled: "It's even smoother than the official road."

  Lin An, who followed to protect Lin Qingyan, bowed and said: "It was built with the money of the wealthy gentry in Suzhou. Our Lin family also contributed a part of the money at that time, but now this road is indeed maintained by the Lu family."

  "Talents are hard to come by, this is probably what they mean by wanting to keep Mr. Lu."

  "It's not, this road is repaired, and it's much more convenient to get in and out. Mr. Lu even wrote a poem to sigh about it. Madam, the front is the Lu family school." Lin An pointed to the faint red tile white wall in front: "That is the waist of the mountain, where there was originally a large flat land, Mr. Lu's thatched cottage was built there years ago. Later, the Lu family wanted to build a house here, so they surrounded the thatched cottage and expanded it, and also dug mountains and filled the ground, which made such a big house."

  But actually it's not that big, at least from the outside it looks smaller than Lin's family villa, but it's more than enough for a teaching building for dozens of students.

  Lin Qingwan walked to the front of the Lu family's school gate, the large gate was open, and there wasn't even a doorman. On both sides was a vast empty space, where several horse-drawn carriages were parked at this moment, and the coachmen were sitting in twos and threes under the shade of the trees nearby to cool off. Seeing a group of maids and young servants surrounding Lin Qingwan as she climbed up the mountain, they immediately stood up.

  Because they had never seen Lin Qingyuan before, they didn't dare to approach rashly, but instead made way and carefully watched Lin Qingyuan.

  Lin An greeted them and asked about the situation, such as where the entrance to Lushi Girls' School was.

  The carters didn't dare look at Lin Qingwan, but pointed to the road that turned past the big gate: "After turning the corner is the entrance of the girls' school, newly opened."

  Lin Qingwen looked over to the right and indeed saw a small path, perhaps because it was newly opened, the weeds on the side of the road had not been cleared yet, and it was hidden behind the wall, she almost didn't notice.

  Lin Qingwan turned around and found that the door was just behind the corner, and a piece of empty space had also been roughly cleared in front of the door, which should be a parking lot.

  This empty land should be a bit smaller, and if it goes further out, it will fall off the cliff. However, the grass and trees there are lush and don't look scary at all.

  Lin Qingwan walked over to take a look outside and happened to see their home in the fields at the foot of Qingfeng Mountain, where someone was watering the newly planted fruit trees. She slightly raised the corner of her mouth and said, "It's actually a pretty good place."

  Lin Qingwan turned her head to look at the gate of Lu's girls' school, and did not rush in. Instead, she let Bai Mei go in to deliver a note: "If there is someone else, give the note to him. If no one is there, come out and we will come another day."

  "Yes."

  Bai Mei took the notice and went inside.

  "Auntie, would you like me to move a stool over here?"

  "Stand up, I'm not that fragile." Lin Qingyan pointed to a protruding stone beside her and said: "A small pavilion should be built here, which can provide people with a place to rest and also overlook the scenery below the mountain."

  "Unfortunately, there's no good scenery down the mountain." a voice chimed in.

  Lin Qingyan immediately turned around and saw a woman wearing a bright red dress with butterflies and flowers all over it, smiling at her. The woman looked like she was only in her thirties, but when she smiled, she seemed even younger. She looked Lin Qingyan up and down before curtsying and saying: "Shi's virtuous wife pays respects to Young Mistress Qingyan."

  Lin Qingwan hastily stepped forward to support her, "Madam Shi, no need for such courtesy. I, Qingwan, have come uninvited and caused much disturbance."

  This was Shi Hui's older sister, but Lin Qingwan did not expect her to be such a stunning woman.

  "Even if the county master's daughter didn't come, Xian Niang would still have to come and ask for an audience after a few days. Today, the county master's daughter is willing to come, it's still Xian Niang's good fortune."

  Lin Qingwan was somewhat perplexed, "What does Mrs. Shi want with me?"

  "There's something I'd like to ask of you, milady," Shi Xian said with a bow: "Please go inside first, we have things to discuss inside."

  "Good." Lin Qingyan followed Shi Xian into the house, the two of them being roughly the same generation, as Lin Jiang and Lu Su were also of the same generation.

  Lin Qingwan walked in while thinking about their relationship. It turned out that the Lin and Lu families did have some connection after all.

  Lin Jiang followed Lu Yang, and both Lu Yang and Lu Su were descendants of Fan Yang's Lu family, but the two branches were a bit far apart.

  Lu Yang's branch is now stationed in the capital, while Lu Su's branch is in Suzhou. However, the two are still uncle and nephew, and they are different from the idle and scattered Lu family members who came to join them. They have a verifiable genealogy and genuinely come from the same ancestor.

  So Lin Jiang is considered Lu Su's uncle's apprentice, and the two are of the same generation. Naturally, Lin Qingyuan and Lu Su's wife are also of the same generation.

  As a peer, Lin Qingyuan was more open-minded and began to look at the interior decoration as soon as she entered.

  Shi Xian slowed down his pace as he saw Lin Qingwen, and introduced her to the place: "This is where we teach female students. Originally, it was connected to the family school's corner door, but later they entered and exited from this main gate."

  She pointed to a row of houses in front and introduced them one by one. "That's the classroom, where poetry, books, music, chess, painting, and needlework are taught."

  Lin Qingwan stopped in her tracks and asked, "How many gentlemen has Mrs. Shi invited?"

  Shi Xian smiled and said: "Besides me and my sister, there is also the second lady of the Lu family."

  "How many students have you received so far?"

  "Seven people have already."

  "How many students does Mrs. Shi plan to recruit?"

  Shi Xian also reacted, Lin Qingyuan was afraid that she didn't come to see her, but came to see the female students. The smile on her face became more sincere, and she said softly: "I plan to recruit twenty students, we three will teach, if there are too many, it's hard to take care of them."

  Lin Qingyan nodded her head. In this era, elite education was the norm, and some teachers only took three to five students at a time; any more than that would be too much to handle.

  So in this era, the relationship between teachers and students is very close, similar to that of parents and children.

  Shi Xian saw Lin Qingyuan's enthusiasm and changed his mind, not leading her to the flower hall, but instead taking her on a tour of the entire girls' school, even strolling through the small garden behind.

  It's actually just dividing the Lu family school into two, the long row on the south side is the Lu family school, and the long row on the north side is the girls' school, only the south side is a bit bigger, with an additional martial arts arena.

  Shi Xian saw that Lin Qingwan's face was full of satisfaction, and carefully asked, "Is the young lady thinking of sending someone to the girls' school to study?"

  Shi Xian suspected that Lin Qingyan had come to read books, and she was also one of those who had heard of her reputation. Although no one crowned her as the number one talented woman in Jiangnan, everyone tacitly acknowledged that Lin Qingyan's talent was unmatched among women in Jiangnan.

  Besides, she is still young, it's normal for her to want to read books at this age.

  Lin Qingwan thought for a moment and said, "I have a clever and sensitive niece. Originally, we should be at home to invite a teacher for her, but now it's hard to find a good teacher. I heard that Mrs. Shi is teaching the girls of the Lu and Shi families in the Lu family school, so I came to take a look with a thick face, maybe Mrs. Shi can also accept my niece."

  Shi Xian only then remembered that Lin Qingyuan also had a niece, Lin Jiang's daughter would naturally not be bad. She didn't mention wanting to see the child before making a decision, but instead asked her: "Does the princess mind my reputation?"

  Lin Qingwan tilted her head and asked, "Does Shi Furen have a bad reputation?"

  Shi Xian's mouth curled up, and he sneered: "You have a big temper and are inflexible, lacking the gentle beauty of a young woman. Some people even say that you're harming the social norms and violating human relationships."

  "The person who says this must be short-sighted and narrow-minded, with no great abilities. They should be made to swallow the Book of Rites and the Biographies of Exemplary Women whole."

  Shi Xian's eyes lit up, and he nodded heavily: "Next time I'll let them try."

  The two of them looked at each other and burst out laughing, unable to hold back their loud and hearty ha-ha.

  Shi Xian Dao said: "The county master is really beyond my expectations, I thought the county master would look down on me and was afraid that if I went to the county master's door, the county master would drive me out?"

  Lin Qingwan sat cross-legged on the mat and smiled, asking, "Why would Lady Shi think that?"

  Not mentioning her, it's just Wen Jie here, I'm afraid she would also become friends with Shi Xian.

  Shi Xian paused for a moment before saying: "After all, I am just a humble husband and the county master's status is far superior to mine."

  Lin Qingwan's smile faltered, and she lowered her head to gaze at the teacup in her hand. She thought of Wan Jie's sorrow and softly said, "This is different, it's just a matter of deep or shallow feelings, love and hate are not the same."

  Shi Xian looked at Lin Qingwan in surprise, hesitated for a moment, and then advised: "Young lady, time can dilute everything. Maybe in the future you will meet someone better, why bind yourself so early?"

  Lin Qingwan slightly shook her head, what's the point of saying these now? The two people who loved each other are already dead, perhaps they've already gone to reincarnate hand in hand. Now Shi Furen's words of consolation won't reach Wan'er's ears.

  And who can guarantee that Wan Jie will be happy in her heart after starting all over again?

  She had no memory of her sister, but she knew all the stories about her and Xie Erlang. They grew up together since childhood, and from a very long time ago, they considered each other as their lifelong loved ones. Even someone who was used to seeing people parting ways didn't dare say that her sister would have better feelings in the future.

  Lin Qingwan was unwilling to continue this topic, "Mrs. Shi said she wanted to come to my door, I don't know what she wants."

  Shi Xian saw that she was unwilling to talk more, but her expression was firm, obviously not changing her original intention. With a tinge of regret and admiration in his heart, he followed her words and said: "There is something I would like to request from the princess."

  Shi Xian said: "I want to buy a piece of land with the county master and build a house."

  "Isn't Mrs. Shi living here?"

  Shi Xian smiled and said, "I have no problem living here, but my two children are with me, and it's a bit inconvenient for them to live in the school. So I thought of building a separate house at the foot of the mountain, but the villagers who were willing to sell their land had all sold it to the Zhao family last year. Now that I want to buy it, the villagers won't sell no matter what."