The delicate-looking girl shook her head and said a bit bashfully, "No. I left home late today, so I was half an hour late getting to the prefectural school. I rushed straight to the classroom the moment I got out of the carriage."
This delicate-looking girl was the daughter of the Vice Prefect. Her name was Zhang Lingxin.
She was the youngest legitimate daughter in her family and had been doted upon since birth. She was good friends with Sheng Saya, the Magistrate's daughter, so when Sheng Saya enrolled in the prefectural school, she followed suit.
The young lady had a shy temperament and wasn't a social butterfly. Since she was speaking to a man she didn't know, she became even more reserved.
She stepped aside to stand next to another young lady dressed in lotus-purple robes.
Together with another girl named Zhu Caiwei, they flanked the lady in lotus-purple, forming a protective cluster around her.
As expected, the girl in purple had to be Mr. Sheng's daughter.
