Chapter 7 - Tough Madam Ma (1/2)

Proofread by Fu Tianying

As Ma Tian’en approached the door, she stopped for a while. She patted her chest to calm down, then cautiously pushed the door open.

A teacup was flung towards her, but Ma Tian’en had prepared in advance to shun in other side and caught it.

“Mom, you’d better not smash the teacup next time, hadn’t you? It will cost our money again if you smash it into pieces.”

“Ma Tian’en, how dare you play truant and come back!” Ma Tian’en heard her mother’s roar.

“Oh! you misunderstood me. You wronged me. Mother! I didn’t escape from school today. It was my teacher who took me to Shichahai to see the lotus and taught me to write poems. When I came back with my teacher, Yanzi saw it. Yanzi, tell my mother, is it true?”

“What the master said is true. Madam, the master was back with the teacher just now.”

“Really? Did you two cheat me together?” Madam Ma looked at the two in front of her with aggressive look. Ma Tian’en is likely to lie, but Yanzi should not dare to cheat her.

“Of course, it is true, it’s truer than the jewelry my dad sent you.” Ma Tian’en immediately walked forward and made a look of being serious: “I have no courage to lie to my mother even if I cheat other people. Also, you can get the answer if you ask my teacher. He will definitely not collude with me.”

“Why does A’shun say it is you who let him wear your clothes and disguise you in your room?” Madam Ma obviously did not believe her daughter.

“I don’t like that suit, so I gave it to him. It is a joke I played with him letting him disguise as me so as to see whether he is loyal to me. A’shun, I am pleased with you, you can leave now.” Ma Tian’en spoke carelessly and gave a leaving wink at A’shun.

A’shun knelt on the ground. Looking at Madam Ma, he did not dare to move even if he wanted to stand up.

“Madam, the master did go out with the teacher. They have composed lotus poems today. I heard the teacher let her write them down tomorrow. When you see the poems, you will know the master didn’t tell a lie.” Yanzi kindly came to the master’s rescue and did not see the young master had changed her face when hearing the words of the lotus poems.

“Mr. Wu is really excellent. Few words as you could write before, it is amazing that you can make poems after a few days’ learning. We have such a good fortune as all these will be handed over to you in the future. You can’t always idle away, doing nothing decent. I will be unworthy heir of our ancestors, disappointing our posterity. You need to study hard from Mr. Wu.” Madam Ma waffled on something for a while. All these words are so familiar that Ma Tian’en could recite them. But she still pretended to listen carefully.

“Mom, I know it. Take it easy, and how about coming out first in the palace examination and asking the Emperor to reward you as Imperial Madame Ma?”