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Lin Yi brought the tea and pastries to the kitchen where Yin Xing packed them into two food boxes. She handed one to a young servant to deliver to Lao Fan and carried the other herself to Sister Chang’s courtyard to find Lin Yuan.

Sister Chang didn’t like having many people around, so other than her own Qiaoer and Miamiao, her courtyard was sparsely populated with Lin family servants, only two old women guarding the gate.

When Lin Yuan arrived at Sister Chang’s courtyard with the pastries, the old women had not yet locked up, so she went straight into the courtyard.

Lin Yuan felt very desolate upon entering the courtyard, perhaps because there were so few people, or maybe because the courtyard was so remote. Moreover, with only two lamps lit in the main house, it appeared even more desolate.

The old women entered their quarters upon opening the doors, and none of them, nor Qiaoer and Miamiao, came out to welcome Lin Yuan and her companions as they approached the main house.

It was truly impolite to barge in without announcement, especially considering that the woman inside taught them etiquette. Lin Yuan certainly didn’t want to risk a scolding from Sister Chang.

Just as she signaled Shui Xian to announce their presence, Lin Yuan overheard a low sigh from within the house.

Lin Yuan gestured for Shui Xian to be silent and the voices inside became clearer.

"Sister, why do you do this to yourself? Don’t you know your back is in a bad shape? Yet you still made a wager with the young mistress and sat for a full quarter of an hour!"

Lin Yuan recognized that the speaker was Qiaoer.

A bad back?

Sister Chang sighed, "Ah, forget it, she’s still just a child."

Miamiao’s voice then spoke up, "Sister Qiaoer, stop complaining about Sister. Your massage skills are good; just help Sister with it quickly, and I’ll get a hot water bottle to soothe her legs. Sitting for so long today, Sister’s legs have started to ache, too."

As she listened, Lin Yuan’s heart grew heavier, and she became increasingly distressed.

A sound of something falling was heard from inside, crisp and clear, followed by Sister Chang’s voice, "You two needn’t fuss over me, this old ailment is nothing new. Be careful picking up the shards; don’t cut your hands!"

Then came Qiaoer’s voice, tinged with both annoyance and pity, chiding Miamiao for carelessly knocking over the teacup.

Anticipating that Qiaoer and Miamiao would soon be out after cleaning up, Lin Yuan gave Shui Xian a meaningful look.

Shui Xian nodded, her voice raised just above normal as she called into the room, "Sister Qiaoer, are you there? Is Sister already resting?"

The voices inside paused at the sound of Shui Xian’s voice, and then Sister Chang was heard speaking softly.

The door curtain stirred and out came Qiaoer, smiling as she hurried to Lin Yuan and bowed, "Miss, you’ve come at an inconvenient time; Sister just went to sleep. Do you need something? Shall I notify her for you?"

Sister Chang wasn’t asleep; she was in the room lying down, applying heat to her back.

Lin Yuan’s heart tightened slightly as she shook her head, "Nothing urgent. I had some chestnut cakes this afternoon and thought they were quite good, so I brought some back for Sister to try."

So she had come to deliver pastries to Sister Chang.

Qiaoer received the food box and thanked Lin Yuan with a bow.

It was not until Sister Chang felt unwell and needed to rest, and the snacks were sent out, that Lin Yuan returned with Shui Xian and Yin Xing.

On the way back to her room, Lin Yuan reflected more and more on how they had behaved too outrageously that day, lacking manners and deliberately making things difficult for others.

As Mother Zhang had said, they were blissfully unaware of their good fortune.

Sister Chang was of an advanced age – who would want to leave the comforts of home to engage in such thankless tasks?

If not for the princess’s sake, she probably would not have bothered with them at all.

Determined, Lin Yuan decided she would no longer go against Sister Chang.

If it weren’t for Sister Chang’s genuine desire to do good by them and instruct them, she could have just gone through the motions.

It wasn’t just her; she would make sure her sisters understood this as well, especially Xiao Linshuang.

After coming to this conclusion, Lin Yuan had Shui Xian and Yin Xing go around to each yard to spread the word, telling them to relay exactly what they had heard, trusting that they would know what to do.

Perhaps because of Lin Yuan’s words, the next day when they were being taught manners, everyone was very obedient and learned quickly. After all, they were not foolish children; how could they not learn?

After practicing their sitting posture, they practiced standing, and then walking postures.

Previously, when they were practicing sitting, they thought it was the most difficult thing in the world. Yet when it came to learning the walking posture, the difficulty was even greater.

Qiaoer and Miamiao prepared books, which each person balanced on their heads.

While walking, they could not let the books wobble, much less fall off.

At first, everyone thought it a novelty, believing the books would never fall.

But when they actually started walking, they realized their initial thoughts were too simplistic.

"Ouch, it fell again!"

"Ah!"

"No good! Can we switch to a thinner book? This one is too thick!"

Xiao Linshuang cleverly suggested, but when Qiaoer really brought a thinner book, she understood the mysterious smile on her face – the thinner the book, the more it tended to fall!

After teaching everyone the sitting and standing postures as well as walking posture, Sister Chang let them practice on their own, while she, leaning on her cane, stood to the side watching. It seemed she truly suffered from back pain that made it difficult to sit.

In the morning they practiced posture; in the afternoon, Lin Yuan and the others were busy with their own affairs. That afternoon, Xiao Linshuang, unusually, did not go out, but instead ran into Sister Chang’s yard with her acupuncture Silver Needle, only returning close to dinner time.

The next morning when they were practicing posture again, Lin Yuan, with her keen eyes, noticed that Sister Chang was able to sit down and her facial expression was not as stiff. Beside her, Xiao Linshuang was all smiles, not getting angry even though her book fell several times.

After practicing the walking posture for four days straight, they finally managed to keep the books on their heads from falling. But just when they were delighted beyond measure, Sister Chang suddenly curled her lips, raising her hand to make a gesture.

Then, to their dismay, Lin Yuan and the others watched as Qiaoer and Miamiao brought over four cups filled with hot water.

Oh heavens!

All four cried out in unison, despairingly collapsing to the ground.

Having practiced the rules for so many days, Xia Zheng came for lunch that day. Lin Yuan, wanting to show off in front of him, deliberately picked up her chopsticks and chose her food with great elegance, and her walk was as graceful as a lotus, completely changed from before.

Xia Zheng, watching her affected manner, was already amused on the inside.

Finally, when Lin Yuan nearly stumbled because of her long dress, he quickly caught her and laughed, "You’re amazing, truly capable!

All right, cut it out. There are no outsiders here, don’t worry, I won’t go and tattle to Sister Chang! "

Lin Yuan pouted, wrinkled her nose, and picked up her dress before plopping down on the chair, completely abandoning the rule taught by Sister Chang to sit only one-third the way down. She had huddled herself fully into the chair.