An ugly girl starts off, then becomes a beauty

The Gao family's carriage didn't come, and neither did the fat boy's family, so Sang Ling waited with him in front of the Zhi Mansion gate. After a long silence, they couldn't help but start chatting.

Then I realized that this man was not a son of an official, but a wealthy family in Chang'an. His name was Qiu Han.

"You're not reading, why don't you go back earlier?"

"You, didn't you go back either?" The fat boy hesitated, as if he had done something wrong.

Sang Ling glanced at him and said, "Am I not writing?"

Maybe it was because they were both fat and half-marginalized in the community - she felt a natural sense of closeness to him.

"I, I'm reading too." The man next to him rested his chin on his chest, with a book bag hanging in front of him, supported by his round belly. He said, "But I just fell asleep."

"Okay." She pouted and was absent-minded. She continued to talk out of boredom, "What did you dream about just now?"

"What am I dreaming about?" Fat Qiu tightened the straps and put the book bag back on his back.

"You were still talking in your sleep when I called you?"

"Where did I say that?" His voice became smaller and smaller.

Sang Ling was about to continue arguing when he saw Gao's carriage coming up the dirt road. He said goodbye to him and said, "See you next month."

Qiu Han was still embarrassed, neither looking at her nor responding. If she hadn't been the one to talk to him, the conversation just now might not have even taken place.

Such people are like Yuan Sangling, who is inferior to others because of his appearance and is not used to socializing with others. She can't help but feel sympathetic.

*

Gao Heng was not idle on the day off. He was invited by a friend to go out of town and would return five days later. Sang Feng'e took Sang Ling to the horse racing meeting in Xiaonanshan.

In the dim morning light and with birds chirping, two carriages were waiting in front of Gao's mansion. The curtain of the front carriage was opened by someone, and a woman with red lips and a fair face waved at Sang Feng'e with a smile.

Before taking a step, Sang Feng'e slightly turned her head to introduce Sang Ling, "That's the wife of the Marquis of Dong. You can just call her Madam."

"Yes." She stepped forward and saluted.

Before she went out today, Ya Nu put on her makeup. Compared with the past, she was more confident. The wife of the Eastern Marquis seemed to be a natural and approachable person. She smiled and asked her "hello", but did not observe her figure for a long time.

Sang Ling responded with a smile, and vaguely saw that there was another person in the carriage. Before he could see clearly, the Marquis's wife had already started chatting with Sang Feng'e again.

After just a few words of conversation, it was clear that the two were old acquaintances. Sang Linghou followed Sang Feng'e into another carriage.

When they arrived at Xiaonanshan grassland, the sun was rising and the land of Jingzhao was filled with warmth. The stage for the nobles to sit had already been set up. From time to time, a few women in gorgeous clothes came over and greeted the wife of Donghou and Sang Feng'e.

From afar, there was a flag flying high on the grassland, and under a bamboo umbrella, a group of young men from noble families gathered. Some of them were talking with their arms folded, while others were holding spears and testing horses. Most of them were in their twenties and looked much more stable than the male students in the gatehouse.

Sang Ling glanced over and saw a familiar figure immediately. He recognized it was Nie Ce. Unlike his usual indifferent expression in the gatehouse, he finally showed some vitality today. He chatted happily with the men next to him, and laughed from time to time, showing the young man's high spirits.

She was about to look back, and Nie Ce happened to look back. She could not help but pause, wanting to greet him generously, but immediately retracted the idea - this was after all the feudal era, even if the court was not too restrictive about the etiquette between men and women, it was still not as free as her era. After all, she was a woman, and it might not be appropriate to take the initiative to greet a boy like this.

He looked away awkwardly.

Fortunately, her aunt didn't notice it and led her to her seat.

In fact, activities like this are, at their core, nothing more than a form of building relationships among the aristocratic families. A new emperor appoints new ministers to the inner court, and the political arena is bound to include local powerful people or newcomers. These aristocratic families in the capital do not want to be marginalized day after day, so they can only contact and make friends in private. However, contacts between men are always suspected of forming a united party, which makes the monarch suspicious.

Then social matters can only be left to the female family members to assist in handling.

Don't be fooled by the laughter and chatter between women. In fact, there is something deeper hidden behind it.

Sang Ling silently sipped the snow drink and glanced at Xun Jin who was beside the wife of the Eastern Marquis. In the gatehouse, she only knew that he was a top student, but she never thought that he was the son of the Eastern Marquis. Although the Eastern Marquis did not participate in the court discussion, it was heard that the wife of the Eastern Marquis had a brother from her mother's family who was doing very well around the emperor. Although he was suspected of being a flatterer, he was very popular. Therefore, this old noble family rose with the tide and was also quite flattered today.

In just a short while, many people came to greet her. But the only person sitting next to the Marquis was Sang Feng'e.

"Ask your niece to talk." Lady Donghou paused for a moment and brought up Sang Ling again.

The aunt then smiled and raised her hand, and Sang Ling walked over with her skirt and knelt beside the wife of the Marquis Dong.

"Ma'am." She nodded in greeting.

"I heard that you also go to school at Zhijia?"

The wife of Marquis Dong had a smile on her face from the moment she saw Sang Ling for the first time. It seemed that this was her nature. However, when she interacted with others, she was a little perfunctory. Now she called Sang Ling over and even held her hand before speaking.

The love and satisfaction contained in this smile were obvious - even Sang Ling herself could not understand it. Although she was not as ugly as when she first came, she was just an average-looking girl at best. After losing the extra fat, the fat that had accumulated inside for a long time was the most difficult to lose, so she was still a little fat girl.

Why would Madam Donghou look at her like that? Besides, they didn't say much to each other, and she didn't act particularly special.

"Yes, I go to school there." He had no choice but to answer with his eyes and nose.

After saying that, Lady Donghou looked at Sang Feng'e again, "I just like such blessed girls. Look at the ladies in the capital now, each one is too weak to wear clothes. If you say that the family can't afford to support them, who can't have food to eat in this world? Or the big families in the capital. If I had a daughter, I would raise her like Ah Ling, how happy she would be."

Yes, I really like her current figure.

It was because she still had a layer of white lead powder on her face today, otherwise if Lady Donghou saw the red marks on her face, she would probably not like it so much.

Sang Ling lowered her brows and smiled, but had to remain silent. When people praised her, she would show pride in everything she said. Besides, she didn't think it was a compliment, as she was still a fat person.

"If you are really happy, can I bring her to you often to talk to her?" the aunt immediately replied.

"You understand me." Madam Donghou smiled and glared at Sang Feng'e, then asked, "Have you ever talked to each other?"

The second sentence was directed at Xun Jin and Sang Ling respectively.

Or do you want to take me as your daughter-in-law? Sang Ling subconsciously thought of this and immediately looked at Sang Feng'e. But she saw that her aunt just winked at her.

But she didn't understand the look, she turned around and heard Xun Jin answer, "No, just listen to the teacher's lecture." Xun Shizi's face was as dark as water, he paused, and added, "But I know her."