Forgotten Legend Of The Bloodied Flower

Chapter 14 - Etiquette Lesson

Nan Si Qiao naturally would not show the dirty linen outside. They all headed to the main hall and dismissed the servant before she looked at her father fiercely. "Father, did you let Hua'er train in martial arts again?"

Again?

Nan Hua felt that her body must have already done that in the past to make Nan Si Qiao so angry like this.

Old Master Nan coughed. "She wants to learn, so I let her learn."

"Father! Mother always said that I have to learn etiquette too because if I only learn martial arts, it'll only make things difficult. Now, you're not even teaching Hua'er about the etiquette?" Nan Si Qiao was angry.

She knew very well how ruthless it could be in the woman's battle. Not teaching the etiquette and necessary knowledge to Nan Hua was the same as sending a sheep into a wolf den. She would be slaughtered!

"That… I'll leave it to you."

"Hmph! I'll naturally teach her again," Nan Si Qiao was annoyed. "Old Madam Long will celebrate her birthday soon. If Nan Hua didn't perform well, that annoying b*tch from Long Family will surely make things difficult for her!"

Old Master Nan furrowed his brows. "If that woman dared to harm my granddaughter, I'll skin her alive!"

"Skin her alive? You should just burn her face and let her suffer!" Nan Si Qiao added fiercely.

At the side, Nan Luo glared at his grandfather. Whenever he was talking about punishing Long Xu Nian, Old Master Nan always interjected him, saying that it was impossible. But why is it that when it was his daughter, he would allow.

That's bullying, ah!

He should have long known that his grandfather was so biased!

Nan Hua blinked her eyes. She felt strange to see so many people getting angry on her behalf. Slowly, she raised her small hand and tugged Nan Si Qiao's sleeve. "Aunt, I can deal with her myself."

Isn't she just a little kid? Nan Hua didn't think it would be that difficult to deal with that Long Xu Nian. Just the fact that she was trying to poison her with that cheap mix of medicine had already told her that Long Xu Nian was not exactly good.

Nan Si Qiao felt her heart melt when she saw the cute Nan Hua. She bent down and hugged Nan Hua. "Ah, Hua'er is really cute. If only my sons are as cute as you, I wouldn't feel so miserable."

She wanted a daughter, ah!

After she got married, she only has two children, both were sons. Because of that, she channeled her doting towards daughter to Nan Hua. She wanted to have a daughter! Her sons were too rowdy and not cute!

"Alright, Grandpa will let you study etiquette with Qiao'er." Old Master Nan coughed. His daughter naturally also learnt martial arts and in the past, he was the one being reprimanded by his wife. Now… the one who reprimanded him was his own daughter.

"Leave it to me." Nan Si Qiao let out a faint laugh. She looked at Nan Hua with loving expression. "Come, I'll show you how to walk and then we'll learn how to brew tea. Old Madam Long liked tea very much."

Nan Hua nodded.

The two of them walked towards Nan Hua's quarter and in the way, Nan Hua looked at the way Nan Si Qiao walked carefully. Her steps were neither hurried nor unhurried. She was walking steadily with the hem of her clothes didn't lift at all and only swayed gently. The sound of her rhythmical footsteps could be faintly heard.

One who looked at her would definitely say that she was a gentle and refined lady.

…Of course, those who knew her for real would know very well what a valiant lady meant.

This was a woman who could fight in the battlefield and do martial arts well. It was only because her talent was not that good that Old Master Nan didn't allow her to enter battlefield for real. She was still lacking in many areas.

"Come over here…" Nan Si Qiao wanted to say to Nan Hua to look at her when they arrived in Nan Hua's residence. But when she looked at the way Nan Hua walked, her words stuck in her throat.

Nan Hua was mimicking the way she walked perfectly.

Just now, she could see that Nan Hua's way of walking was very quiet and didn't look that good. But now… how did it change so fast?

"Yes, Aunt?"

"Follow my lead," Nan Si Qiao cleared her throat and said slowly. Her eyes were following Nan Hua as the young girl started to walk.

An incense sticks of time afterwards… Nan Si Qiao felt that there was nothing she could teach Nan Hua anymore in terms of walking. There were various types of walking that women needed to know, especially when they were in the palace.

She came to a conclusion.

Her niece is a genius!

Since she couldn't teach Nan Hua anything in terms of walking, she chose to change what they were going to learn.

"We're going to learn how to brew tea now. Follow my steps closely."

Nan Hua watched carefully from the side. It all started from preparing all the necessary items and ingredients, including teapot, teacups, strainer, and so on. First, Nan Si Qiao rinsed the teapot and teacups before she heated some water. Her move when she prepared them was not slow but it was filled with elegance as if coming out of the painting.

Nan Si Qiao proceeded to put the tea leaves into the teapot before she poured the hot water into the teapot. She stayed silence for a few seconds before removing the water to remove dust and the impurities on the surface of the tea leaves. After washing it, refill the teapot with boiled water, cover it, and stayed for a few seconds to preserve the aroma.

After some time, Nan Hua watched as Nan Si Qiao poured the tea out while holding her sleeves. Traditional Chinese clothes (hanfu) had long sleeves. Naturally, one had to hold it in order to make sure that it would not get wet when they were making the tea.

After she had done, Nan Si Qiao then offered the teacup to Nan Hua.

"When you offer tea to someone, you have to use both hands," Nan Si Qiao said with a faint smile.

Nan Hua looked at the tea, unsure whether she should receive it or not.

Nan Si Qiao laughed lightly. "Take it, sniff the aroma first then take a sip. That's the way one appreciate the tea."

"Thank you, Aunt."

Following what her aunt said, Nan Hua took the cup with both hands and carefully sniff the aroma. It had sweet smell and the color was clear. Slowly, Nan Hua took a sip of the tea.