An ugly girl starts off, then becomes a beauty

After the horse race that day, the Gao and Xun families' carriages returned to the city together.

In the eyes of the wife of the Eastern Marquis, Xun Jin and Sang Ling had a good relationship, so she made an appointment with Sang Feng'e for a small gathering in spring. When the spring came, there were more gatherings among the noble women. Sang Feng'e was naturally happy, and she led Sang Ling to watch the Xun family carriage leave in front of the mansion gate.

When the new moon comes out, it's time to prepare to go to school.

All the students in the school room came, and except for Nie Ce, the seats in front and behind were all occupied. One day, after finishing the lesson, Sang Ling's classmates Le and Dai Chengjun said goodbye and were about to write a few more words before leaving, when they suddenly heard some noises behind them and saw Qian Shao leading a few students to Qiu Han's place.

Four or five young men surrounded that corner, their posture was obvious. She lingered her gaze for a while longer and saw Cao Xin next to her staring at her.

Cao Jialang raised his eyebrows provocatively, pointed his hand at her, and pointed in the direction of the mansion gate - this was asking her to leave.

Qian Shao and his men had already dragged Qiu Han out of the school room. Several crisp slaps could be heard from outside, which was extremely harsh. Sang Ling's body trembled, and he could vaguely hear the sound of begging for mercy and crying, and the sharp laughter of the teenagers, which was so loud that it didn't even seem real.

After a while, Cao Xin also went to the backyard, pinching his palm bones.

Suddenly, Sang Ling was the only one left in the study. She stood up from her study desk, her mind still blank. She didn't know how much time had passed before the harsh voices gradually faded. The daughter in the study could only walk out with her book bag. When she reached the pavilion, she was still in a daze, but she saw that Ban Le had not left yet.

"I noticed something was wrong just now. What are they going to do?" The daughter of the Ban family's chest rose and fell slightly, and she obviously guessed something.

But she didn't answer. It was as if a ball of paste was poured into her brain, sticking her thoughts together and making her unable to think of anything.

"Sang Ling?" Ban Le called again.

Only then did she pull her thoughts back little by little. The sound of the slaps was like thunder, echoing over and over again, forcing her to shudder again.

It looks like this time is not going to be easy - if they make trouble, they don't know what the consequences will be. Besides, Qiu Han is not from a family of officials, so what if he has some money? This is not capitalism, the rich have status, and merchants can never beat the powerful.

Her hands involuntarily tightened the ribbon, and her heart was clenched. After a long while, she finally spoke, "You go first, I left something behind and need to go back to get it."

"Don't go." Ban Le held her back, "If you go back, they will target you."

A few days ago, they dared to make a scene in the school room, not to mention that now after school, the teacher and the students of the Zhi family have gone to Qingshan Temple for dinner, and there is no one else in the backyard. If something happens, there will be no one to help. She is still a girl, even if she is not thin, but she is still delicate and timid.

Sang Ling just turned around and handed over the book bag. "Please take it to Gao's carriage. Tell the people in the carriage that I want to practice calligraphy and will come out later."

After saying that, he went to the backyard without looking back.

*

Gao Heng had just returned to Chang'an that day. He was talking with Sang Feng'e in the painting hall when he heard the servant say, "The young lady is back. She said she was tired from studying all day and went back to her room to sleep. She won't have dinner."

"Why did you come back just now?" Sang Feng'e moved her gaze to the sand clock.

It's almost time to start the update.

"Auntie Cheng said: The young lady practiced calligraphy in the study." After the person finished speaking, Auntie Wei came in from the corridor, raised her eyes and gave a wink to the female head of the family.

Sang Feng'e then sent the person who was answering away.

"It looks a little strange." Wei Ni had just come from the central hall and passed by the master and servants. She noticed something strange and said hesitantly, "There are mud stains on the young lady's clothes. I don't know what happened. Cheng Ni and Ya Nu were accompanying her on both sides, so I couldn't see anything else."

After serving for a few months, she even started to help hide things - Sang Feng'e couldn't help but snort. This is still about Cheng'e and Ya'nv. Originally, the servants of the Gao family had also started to hide things from the head of the Gao family. A trace of unhappiness flashed through her heart, and she was ready to order someone to take a closer look, but Gao Heng had already turned over, "I'll go and take a look."

……

Unexpectedly, the young master of the Gao family came over and was also blocked outside the gate of Hanning Garden.

Ya Nu stammered, "Young Master, the young lady has fallen asleep."

After all, he is still young, and he gets flustered when telling lies, and it is obvious that he is guilty.

When Gao Heng was about to ask more, Cheng Lao rushed over. After all, she was an old lady who had served in the mansion for many years, how could she not know the priorities? Now that the young master had come, she knew that she could not hide it anymore, so she stammered and explained, "Young master, we don't know either. The young lady first said that she was practicing calligraphy in the study room. When she came out, her body was covered in mud and had injuries, but the young lady didn't let us say anything, so she is washing it now."

After hearing this, the gloom on Gao Heng's face deepened. It took him a while to calm down. He said, "I'll go get the medicine. You guys take care of her wound and wipe off the water carefully." Then he left in a hurry.

"Yes." Both the old and young servants breathed a sigh of relief.

Even so, the young master waited for the medicine to come back and stood outside the door. Sang Ling learned from Cheng that Gao Heng was still outside, and after changing his clothes, he invited him in.

"Who is it?" My cousin sat down on the mat with a rather unhappy tone.

The people behind the screen walked out little by little. It was the first time that I saw the word "anger" on the face of this elegant man. While thinking, I knelt down and sat opposite him.

The bean-shaped lamp on the table emitted a faint yellow light. The man's brow was gloomy, and he looked angry, tired, and even a little heartbroken.

Sang Ling did not answer him, but first thought about why he was like this? -- Was it because she was his cousin, a relative, that he was angry and distressed? But in the past, the siblings had not had much contact, and the only memories were just greeting each other during the holidays. After all, this cousin was much older than Yuan Sang Ling, and they could not talk to each other at all. Yuan Sang Ling was also a loner and did not take the initiative to contact people.

Why does he care so much about this?

I couldn't help but ask, "Cousin, why are you angry?"

"You are my sister." Gao Heng frowned, as if he was also surprised that she would ask such a question. He looked away and continued to talk to himself, "I should not have sent you to Zhi's house. I knew very well how bad that place was. I should have stopped you from going there at that time."

"Your character is just—"

He didn't say anything else, but Sang Ling knew what he was going to say. In school, it was usually these kind of children who looked honest who were most likely to be targeted by bullies, becoming the objects of their ridicule and fun, and a way to establish their prestige.

This was the case with Sang Ling and Qiu Han. The group of people didn't target Qiu Han before because they didn't find a reason. Later, when they learned that Qiu Han had complained, they had an excuse to bully him.

The daughter sat behind the desk with her head down in silence, but the wound on her forehead was bleeding again without her noticing. The scene looked quite shocking. Gao Heng caught a glimpse of it and immediately ordered the servant to hand her a medicine box, and took out white cloth and medicine powder to treat her wound.

After this contact, neither of them said anything more. Gao Heng then noticed the bruises on her knuckles.

"You fought back?"

Sang Ling did not answer either.

The room became quiet again, with only the sounds of the young master of the Gao family and the servant passing the basin and treating the wounds. The smoke from the incense burners on both sides penetrated his nose. The fat daughter opposite could not help but sneeze again. When she raised her eyes again, her sight moved from the wrist bone of the man in front of her to his handsome face.

The man's eyelashes fluttered, covering his deep eyes, and he was sighing softly.

Although he was obviously agitated just now, like a cat with its fur standing on end, he finally calmed down after the rainstorm.

She stared for a long time without realizing it, then slowly lowered her head.

Suddenly I felt that this person was like a big tree standing here. No matter how strong the wind and rain were outside, there would always be a place under the tree to protect the devastated soul.