Cui Jiulang knew that Yu Mingyue was not easily fooled, and the matter of commoners becoming bandits would not be hidden from her for long.
Yu Mingyue remained silent for a long time after listening. Yes, everything now made sense.
In the storybooks, there was indeed an uprising in Jiangnan. These river bandits were not bad people; they robbed the rich to help the poor and were highly respected by the common folk. The authorities had tried to suppress them several times, but with the people’s protection, they always managed to escape.
Later, the authorities threatened the commoners. The bandits were trapped on their boats for months, which led to them being exploited by foreign raiders, inviting trouble. Although they fought back fiercely once they realized, they still suffered heavy casualties.
The Cui family was also accused of colluding with the enemy. If Xie Jiayan had not found evidence and cleared the Cui family’s name, the Cui family would have been annihilated.
Although they were spared the death penalty, the Cui family suffered immense losses from that uprising and lost public support, forcing them to leave Qinghe.
The Cui family, once a glorious and prominent presence in the annals of history, vanished completely.
Given the circumstances, the Cui family still wanted to kill Chai Xinye, suggesting that the uprising was inextricably linked to him.
Chai Xinye was like a venomous snake. Expelling him from the Cui family would arouse suspicion from the Sage, yet keeping him would push the Cui family towards a path of no return. What was to be done!
Yu Mingyue tossed and turned, unable to sleep.
The next day, she had dark circles under her eyes and appeared listless. The Cui sisters assumed she was tired from staying up late to study after being punished by the tutor.
"Sixth Miss, Tutor Yao is always strict. It's common for us to be punished by him, so we just have to get used to it!" Cui Xinru whispered the last sentence into Yu Mingyue's ear, afraid the tutor would overhear.
The other young ladies nodded quietly, looking sympathetic.
"Alright, alright, let's not talk about this anymore. It's in the past," Cui Xin'ai said with the demeanor of an elder sister.
Yu Mingyue’s eyes widened, her heart in a panic.
If they hadn't mentioned it, she would have forgotten that the tutor had punished her by making her copy books.
This was terrible!
She hadn't copied them at all.
And now, it was too late to copy them.
Yu Mingyue's expression grew even more distressed.
But facing her sisters' comfort, it was really difficult to admit that she had completely forgotten about being scolded by the tutor.
What should she do? Help!
As they were speaking, Tutor Yao entered. Seeing Yu Mingyue's dark circles, his face was stern, but in his heart, he thought, she is teachable. It's good that she knows to work hard.
Her talent is good, but she also has many crooked ideas. She needs proper guidance to prevent her from going astray.
"Sixth Miss, where are your assignments from yesterday?"
Could she be this unlucky?
"Replying to the tutor, this student, this student..." Yu Mingyue missed the tutors at the Duke's mansion.
Although their scholarship wasn't top-notch, and they didn't favor students like her, they wouldn't be so strict due to her status.
But the tutors at the Cui family were different. They held extraordinary positions in the household. Not to mention the young ladies, even the young masters showed them great respect and would obediently follow their punishments.
If the elders found out about the punishment, it would result in an even heavier penalty.
"You didn't write it?" Tutor Yao had taught at the Cui family for many years and had never seen such a disobedient young lady.
"Replying to the tutor, this student wrote it!"
"Take it out."
"This student placed it carefully on the desk after finishing, but I don't know where a cat came from..."
"Did the cat run off, and the assignments disappeared too!" Tutor Yao snorted coldly.
Yu Mingyue nodded: "...Yes."
"Absurd! Lying instead of accepting punishment, the crime is compounded. Today, you are fined one hundred copies." Tutor Yao said angrily.
He had taught young masters before and had heard at least fifty or even a hundred versions of such lies. He never expected a young lady to be so mischievous.
"One hundred copies?" Yu Mingyue's eyes widened. That would take an eternity to copy.
She was doomed.
"Tutor!" a voice called from not far away.
Tutor Yao turned his head and saw the person approaching. The anger in his eyes vanished, and his old face broke into a smile.
Yu Mingyue heard the familiar voice and felt a moment of disorientation, wondering if she had misheard. But upon seeing his face clearly, she ran from her seat without hesitation and rushed towards the newcomer: "Brother Jiayan!"