Chapter 25 Helping Each Other From now on, you cousins ​​can help each other...

Xue chatted with Madam Zhai and the others for a while before taking her daughter Mu Zhen to Yingyue Courtyard.

Seeing the two of them leave, Madam Zhai put down the teacup in her hand, rubbed her brows, and said, "Let's all go."

As she spoke, she glanced at Cui Lingyan again, then turned to Qi and instructed, "Tell the embroiderer at the mansion to make a few more dresses for Yan. Yan will marry into the Duke of Wei's mansion one day, so she needs to be seen in public before she gets married. Don't let the Duke's mansion find any fault with her."

Madam Zhai hadn't missed Mu Zhen's gaze on Cui Lingyan's dress, and the subtle hint in her eyes. She recalled the day at the palace flower viewing banquet when she'd asked Yan to borrow her stepsister Hui's clothes, and Hui had resorted to those little tricks. Back then, she'd loved Hui even more, so she'd turned a blind eye and refrained from saying anything. Now that Yan was about to marry Lu Bingzhi, she couldn't let others look down on her and damage the reputation of the Ningshou Marquisate.

Moreover, their tacit approval of Qi's sending Yan away was somewhat unfair to her. After all, sending Yan away was also intended to encourage Qi to look after Hui, their stepdaughter, and to reassure the people in the Zhenguo Mansion. In reality, it was simply a matter of giving up Yan.

Over the years, Qi and Hui Yatou have lived in harmony. In the eyes of outsiders, everyone says that Qi is kind and loves Cui Linghui as if she were her own daughter.

Yan Yatou doesn't need to know these, but now that the marriage falls on Yan Yatou, we must make some compensation to Yan Yatou and bring her back little by little.

Thinking of this, Madam Zhai ordered someone to select some jewelry from the warehouse and send it to Izumoyuan later.

After hearing her mother-in-law's arrangement, Qi forced a smile and agreed. As everyone else left the room, she watched her two sisters-in-law leave before turning back to Cui Lingyan and saying, "Your grandmother loves you. You should go to Xilan Courtyard more often and keep her company."

Cui Lingyan nodded in agreement, looking at Qi's leaving back, her brows slightly lowered, without any ripples in her heart.

Bi Tao lowered her voice and complained, "Is the First Madam taking her anger out on the young lady because of what the Second Madam said just now? What did the young lady do wrong? If the First Madam hadn't sent the young lady to the Qi family back then, how could the Second Madam bring this up now?"

Cui Lingyan retracted her gaze and said to Bitao, "Let's go back."

Bitao nodded and followed Cui Lingyan all the way to Izumoyuan.

Cui Lingyan had just returned to Chuyun Court when she heard Qiu Zhi report back, "Miss, your aunt just came to see you. She knew you had gone to Xilan Courtyard and said she would come back later."

Cui Lingyan nodded, not planning to go to Zhan's place. Originally, her behavior wouldn't have made people think she was putting on airs, but after what Old Lady Zhai had said in Xilan Courtyard, no one would criticize her for her behavior.

"I understand. You can go down and do your work." Cui Lingyan said, walking to the couch and sitting down.

Qiu Zhi looked at Bitao still staying close to Cui Lingyan and frowned slightly.

She was sent by the eldest lady to serve the third young lady, and her indenture was still in the eldest lady's hands. Originally, she didn't think much of it, and even hoped to serve the third young lady for a while so that she could find a way to return to Cuiwei Courtyard. After all, the third young lady was not loved by the eldest lady, and had no good marriage. How could she have a good future following such a master? She would be looked down upon by her former sisters.

But she never imagined that the eldest girl's marriage would now fall on the third girl who had just returned home.

This made her feel somewhat uneasy. Especially since she saw how favored Cui Lingyan was to Bi Tao and Bi Rou. One of them had grown up with Cui Lingyan, and the other came from the old lady's household. Both of them were more favored by the Third Lady than she was. In the eyes of the Third Lady, she was just an ordinary servant. Because of the relationship with the First Lady, the Third Lady even disliked her a little more.

Now, it is impossible for her to return to Cuiwei Courtyard. Even for the sake of face, Qi would not allow her.

Thinking of this, Qiu Zhi felt that her future was uncertain, and she regretted that she was a little arrogant when she first came to Chuyunyuan, and even looked down on the third girl.

She sighed inwardly, hoping that when the Third Young Lady married into the Duke of Weiguo's mansion, she could accompany her as a dowry maid. After all, the Third Young Lady was the Madam's biological daughter, and since Madam and the Third Young Lady were estranged, she would definitely have to arrange for someone to be around the Third Young Lady. If she could get this opportunity, whether she worked for the Madam and kept an eye on the Third Young Lady, or simply served the Third Young Lady obediently and worked hard to earn her trust, it would at least offer her a way out.

Thinking about this in her mind, Qiu Zhi went to the small kitchen to stew some Tremella and Snow Pear Soup, hoping to gain some favor in front of Cui Lingyan.

Yingyueyuan

When Cui Linghui saw her aunt Xue, and heard that her grandmother wanted her to stay at the Duke of Zhenguo's Mansion for a while, she smiled bitterly in her heart. She was originally a noble lady in the Marquis' Mansion, and because of her marriage to Lu Bingzhi, she was even more envied. Everyone wanted to flatter her. She never thought that this marriage would be lost. Even her grandmother was afraid that she would be wronged in the Marquis' Mansion, so she asked her aunt to come and take her to the Duke of Zhenguo's Mansion.

Rather than being happy about her grandmother's love, Cui Linghui felt more bitter in her heart and was really not used to being in a weak position.

She nodded and agreed with a smile, then took Madam Xie and Mrs. Xue out of Yingyue Courtyard and walked towards the gate of Ningshou Marquis' Mansion.

Halfway through the journey, he met his aunt Zhan and cousin Qi Ruorou who were heading towards Izumo-in.

When Zhan met Cui Linghui and heard Cui Linghui say that the old lady of the Duke of Zhenguo's Mansion wanted to take her to stay there for a while, she knew why.

After exchanging a few pleasantries, they soon parted ways.

Seeing Xue and Cui Linghui walking away, Zhan couldn't help but say, "Having a good family background is good. Even if Madam Zhai, her grandmother, isn't treating her as well as before, the grandmother from the Zhenguo Mansion still cares about her. No matter what, it's something to be envied. Unlike ordinary families like us, how can we have such support and confidence?"

Qi Ruorou felt very uncomfortable when she heard her mother say this. She knew the difference in their status. But she saw that even though Cui Linghui, the eldest daughter of the Marquis's Mansion, had lost her marriage with Master Lu, there were still people supporting her. The look she gave her just now was unconsciously a bit condescending, and she didn't even take her, the cousin, seriously, treating her like an ordinary maid. She felt really upset in her heart, and even had an uncontrollable jealousy.

How unfair was heaven! Why wasn't she born into such a noble family? If she had a noble status, why would she envy Cui Linghui? Why was she looked down upon like this? She was talented, beautiful, and everything else, but because of her background, she was left far behind, treated like dust by people like Cui Linghui. It was really hard to accept this.

She forced a smile and said, "A daughter with a mother's love is no worse than them."

Zhan smiled, a look of relief in her eyes. She took Qi Ruorou's hand and patted it gently, saying, "Mother knows you're trying to comfort me, but I'm actually unwilling to accept this. But what can we do about it? We can't ask God for an explanation. All we can do is work hard to find you a good marriage."

"Let's stay in the Marquis' Mansion with peace of mind. You should also visit your aunt more often. If you can get closer to her, she will be more willing to take care of you and plan a good marriage for you."

Qi Ruorou nodded and continued walking forward with Zhan.

When he arrived at the gate of Chuyunyuan, he felt even more depressed when he thought that Cui Lingyan would become the wife of the prince of Weiguo in the future.

In vain, she and her mother were still thinking about their cousin Cui Lingyan, wanting her to marry her brother and become a daughter-in-law of the Qi family. Who could have thought that before they had the chance to discuss this matter with their aunt, before they had the chance to express their intentions, Cui Lingyan would have such a good marriage.

Fortunately, they didn't reveal this idea, otherwise it would be difficult to meet Cui Lingyan.

But she still felt a little uncomfortable, and she also felt that Cui Lingyan had changed since returning to the Marquis' Mansion compared to when she was at the Qi family. Even though she would usually spend time with her mother and talk to her, and even though she was still gentle and kind, she gave people a different feeling. Especially since this marriage was arranged, Cui Lingyan had not even once been at her mother's side. She felt that Cui Lingyan was putting on airs, not appreciating the years of care the Qi family had given her.

Suppressing these thoughts, Qi Ruorou followed Zhan into Chuyunyuan.

The maid standing in the corridor saw the two people come in and hurriedly greeted them with a smile, bowed and said, "This servant greets my aunt and my cousin."

Zhan nodded slightly and asked with a smile, "Is Miss Yan back?"

The maid nodded and said, "The young lady has just returned from the old lady's courtyard." As she spoke, she lifted the curtain and led the two of them in.

Cui Lingyan heard the noise and came to the door with a smile, calling out, "Aunt." She added, "I was thinking of going to see my aunt and cousin later, but my aunt is so tired that she came here by herself."

Zhan smiled and said, "We're family, why bother with all this empty formalities? I know you've been busy these past few days, and I wanted to avoid causing you any trouble, so I brought your cousin here today to congratulate you, little girl Yan."

"My dear child, I am so happy for you to have such a good marriage."

Cui Lingyan smiled shyly, led the two of them to the soft couch and sat down, and asked Birou to bring tea and snacks.

Zhan and Cui Lingyan chatted for a while, then said with some emotion, "Yan girl, you just returned to the capital. Even if you get this good marriage, it will always make people feel uneasy in the future. Your mother has such a bad temper. How can she be relied upon by you?"

"It would be great if your cousin could marry into the capital and help you. You two grew up together. If your cousin could marry into a wealthy family, you two cousins ​​would be able to help each other in the future. You could also tell your cousin about some difficulties that you can't tell others, and ask her to give you some advice."