Chapter 34 Sang Ji notices her aloofness
As Sui Sui was combing Liu Jiao's hair, she learned that her daughter had been humiliated. She combed her hair angrily and said bitterly:
"If the master finds out, he will absolutely not let you suffer any injustice!"
master?
Who is it?
Are you referring to her father?
Heh, hehe.
Liu Jiao gave a fake laugh twice.
Seeing that she clearly didn't believe her, Sui Sui said:
"Alas, you have no idea of our master's great achievements."
When he was young, he would cut off the foot of anyone who stepped on his dog's tail.
Liu Jiao took it as a joke.
——
Invitations to the banquet were also sent to Sang Ji.
But Sang Ji only said that he was busy and would not attend the banquet with Liu Jiao.
Therefore, Liu Jiao went to Princess Xinyuehu's summer banquet alone.
When Liu Jiao learned of this news, she was somewhat disappointed, but more than that, she felt that Sang Ji was really too busy.
She absolutely mustn't disturb him.
Liu Jiao's heart and mind were entirely focused on Sang Ji.
So much so that when Sang Ji was still bothered by Liu Jiao's "distancing" attitude the day before, he had his informant, Guan Huai, ask her if "it would be alright for one person to attend the banquet"—
Liu Jiao generously replied, "I'm fine, you don't need to worry about me."
Sang Ji: "..."
These words not only failed to reassure Sang Ji, but also aroused his confusion. His eyes darkened, his expression remaining impassive.
There are still a few days before the banquet.
Liu Jiao's life at the Sang residence became much better.
Seeing that they couldn't gain any advantage from Liu Jiao and that they couldn't humiliate her with words, Song and Sang Hong quieted down for a moment.
Sui Sui helped Liu Jiao with her makeup and hair for the banquet, making her look far more elegant than when Liu Jiao was in Caocun, wearing hemp clothes and wooden hairpins.
She was dozing off when Sui Sui shook her awake.
Liu Jiao suddenly opened her eyes, looked up at the mirror, and Sui Sui also looked at her masterpiece in the mirror:
In the mirror with its intertwined floral pattern, the young girl has her hair styled in a high bun, adorned with a spring branch hairpin and a jade peach blossom cloud necklace. At this moment, her beautiful eyes are half-closed, filled with autumn water, and she is as beautiful as a fairy maiden born in the moon palace.
If Liu Jiao in the past was a naive flower fairy in the mountains who didn't care about the facts, Liu Jiao who is now going to the banquet is a butterfly among flowers who has been pulled into the secular world. She is full of noble and dazzling beauty, and every move she makes is gorgeous and charming.
Upon arriving at the water pavilion where the banquet was being held, Liu Jiao was led inside by a palace maid and onto a covered bridge with no walls on any side.
The palace maid kept her head down and obediently led her to the banquet area in the hall.
But as Liu Jiao walked steadily towards the corner of the covered bridge, she was suddenly stopped. She looked up and saw several noble ladies from aristocratic families, each with a different style of dress, as different as the cuckoos, white-eyes, larks, and plump birds in the forest, and all exuding the scent of incense.
The palace maid who was guiding the group was glared at by the leader of the group. She could only look at Liu Jiao with concern, but dared not interrupt. She clenched her chest and back, bowed, and left.
Several noble ladies came to meet this wild girl who had abducted Sang Ji.
"You're Liu Jiao?"
The woman in blue, who had initially looked down on Liu Jiao, suddenly showed a hint of amazement when she saw her.
However, it was fleeting.
These noble ladies usually got along well with the princess, and they had two main reasons for surrounding Liu Jiao.
Some were just muddle-headed and indignant, wanting to stand up for the princess—believing that Liu Jiao had stolen Princess Xinyuehu's husband and taken Sang Ji away.
After all, in their circle of noble ladies, the story of Crescent Moon Fox and Sang Ji was a well-known tale, and because people thought the two had a secret affair, no one dared to lay a hand on Sang Ji.
But more than anything, it was an attempt to please the Crescent Fox.
The woman in blue lost her stunning appearance and reverted to her arrogant demeanor, giving Liu Jiao a once-over.
Seeing her bewildered expression and the lack of any sign of distress, even under such scrutiny, his dark eyes showed no embarrassment, but rather a serious gaze upon her.
The woman in blue crossed her arms and said sneer, "Is this your first time attending a banquet like this?"
Liu Jiao nodded and said frankly, "Yes, I really enjoyed this banquet. It was because of you all that I was able to attend. You are all so beautiful."
Liu Jiao stared blankly.
So this is what noble ladies in the capital look like? Beautiful, beautiful.
Hehe, just like her embroidery.
She was completely absorbed in watching it.
"Who asked you if you liked it or not?"
"Don't praise me!" The woman in blue stomped her foot angrily, because Liu Jiao's gaze made it seem like she really wanted to devour her.
Then, the woman in blue sneered and stroked her fingernails. "You must be quite shocked, seeing such a grand palace for the first time?"
"Heh, now you understand the difference between you and Sang Ji, right?"
Upon hearing this, Liu Jiao finally remembered to take a closer look at the water palace.
The water palace was built beside water plants and flowering trees. Because it was the height of summer, the wooden windows were removed, and the covered bridge meandered around it.
Upon closer inspection, the water palace is built with a cross-shaped, double-eaved hip roof, with the eaves curving upwards at both ends, and crouching animal statues scattered along the ridge, making it exquisitely crafted.
Anyone would agree that it is truly a masterpiece of royal craftsmanship.
But after glancing at it a few times, Liu Jiao looked away with a lack of interest.
The gleam in his eyes when he looked at the Water Palace was not as bright as when he looked at these noble ladies.
"Oh, it's not even as big as my ancestral hall." Liu Jiao was genuinely uninterested.
Why the shock? Is it that big?
Her father had taken her back to his old family villa when she was young.
The gentry of Jiangnan often traveled in groups, and with many people, they also enclosed land to build their own manors, resulting in a large number of properties.
Furthermore, due to the local culture's emphasis on sacrificial rites, the home is extremely cluttered and filled with various shrines and Buddha statues.
The mansion was large and prosperous, situated on a very large area.
It was a small, uninhabited ancestral hall that housed many ancestral tablets, and it was about the same size as this small water palace.
The woman in blue was taken aback.
Then he burst out laughing.
Is this country girl a fool?!
It's not even as big as her family's ancestral hall. Don't be ridiculous, people who don't know better would think she's the daughter of a prominent family in Jiangnan.
She burst into laughter, exchanging glances with her girlfriends behind her, all of whom saw the mockery in each other's eyes.
Then, they all turned around and left without lingering, their laughter lingering for a long time.
Liu Jiao scratched her head, puzzled.
They just assumed that the noble ladies had strange tempers.
She felt no emotion whatsoever. Seeing them leave, she was just about to find the dismissed palace maid and have her lead her back to the palace—
A timid, thin, fourteen-year-old girl was surrounded by the group of noble ladies who had just reprimanded Liu Jiao.
The noblewoman in blue who had just stopped Liu Jiao was arrogantly ordering her, "My shoes are dirty, wipe them for me."
Liu Jiao's gaze was drawn over.
This petite girl has a hairpin in her hair and her hair is styled in a bun, indicating that she is also a young lady from a scholar-official family who has been invited to the banquet.
She doesn't look like one of their personal maids.
This petite girl has no obligation to shine their shoes.
The petite girl hesitated for only a moment before actually kneeling down, intending to endure this bullying.
I don't know what considerations led to this.
But Liu Jiao understood that if she accepted their excessive demands this time, the noble ladies would not only not restrain themselves, but would demand even more.
Liu Jiao inexplicably felt that this girl was very similar to herself back then.
Forced to endure.
This little girl is too young; she lacks ability and her own opinions, so she can't resist.
Liu Jiao is a righteous person.
She walked up.
The noble ladies looked on with disdain.
Just when the ladies thought Liu Jiao was about to foolishly step forward, and were already planning how to criticize her for overestimating her abilities—
Taking advantage of the noblewoman's momentary lapse in attention, Liu Jiao swiftly grabbed the thin girl's wrist.
With a swift movement, he rushed forward, carrying the person away from the scene and heading straight into the hall.
It happened so suddenly.
The noble ladies were all astonished. Only after everyone had disappeared did they realize what had happened and try to chase after them.
But in the end, they couldn't compare to Liu Jiao, who caught chickens.
In addition, Liu Jiao doesn't care about her image at all—after all, she's already lost her face, and her reputation in Beijing is already bad, so why should she care about her image?
From a distance behind, I heard angry shouts.
In the end, Liu Jiao successfully rescued the thin girl.
The noble ladies couldn't catch up either.
Liu Jiao didn't exchange a single word of banter with the ladies throughout the entire event.
After all, arguing is useless.
She simply ran away.
After the banquet, the noble ladies naturally returned to their respective homes.
If there's a problem, it's directed at Liu Jiao, not at the skinny girl she dragged away.
Liu Jiao is not afraid of these people coming after her.
Could it be that these unmarried noble ladies, who usually find it difficult to even leave their homes, would inexplicably come to the Sang family to settle scores?
"Thank you!" The petite girl's bright, large eyes were filled with gratitude.
She spoke softly:
"My name is Jiang Jiang. May I ask your name, young lady?"
"Just call me Sister Jiaojiao," Liu Jiao chuckled.
Then, with a serious expression, he asked:
Why are they bullying you?
Jiang Jiang lowered her eyes, and just when Liu Jiao thought she didn't want to talk about sad things—
When Jiang Jiang looked up again, her eyes were already brimming with tears: "Because my father's official position was low, and he was her father's subordinate, so..."
The "she" that Jiang Jiang mentioned was the woman in blue.
Liu Jiao couldn't bear to see the little girl cry, so she quickly comforted Jiang Jiang.
After a long while, the two finally parted ways.
The two little girls looked at each other, their eyes sparkling.
"Let's go, the banquet is about to begin."
After crossing the covered bridge, the two had to return to their respective seats.
Liu Jiao also made her first friend in Beijing.
Yes, I'm happy!
When they gathered inside the hall, Liu Jiao encountered Lord Wangyou.
Overjoyed, she patted Forget-Worry on the shoulder.
Forget-Worry Lord detested these places of fame and fortune; there was no one there who was truly sincere, and he was all alone, feeling troubled.
Now, someone taps him on the shoulder, and he thinks it's some clueless jerk, so he turns around unhappily—
Upon seeing Liu Jiao, the gloom dissipated, and a smile immediately appeared on her face.
"Jiaojiao! Wow, you're so beautiful!"
"Finally, I've run into someone I know! I've been through so much insincerity all along the way, and not a single person I knew actually put on a smiling face!"
"I really envy Sang Ji for always having a cold face; no one dares to bother him."
Forget-Worry Gentleman sighed.
When Sang Ji was mentioned, he looked behind Liu Jiao but didn't see a trace of him.
"Hey, didn't Sang Ji come with you?"
Liu Jiao shook her head: "He's too busy, of course he can't come with me."
Seeing that Liu Jiao was not upset at all, but instead acted like a naive child who never thought too much, Wangyoujun felt a pang of heartache.
He sighed, "That means he doesn't care about you."
Liu Jiao didn't understand his words: "But he's really busy..."
You wouldn't understand, Forget-Me-Not's eyes are full of children:
"I'm a man, I understand. If a man cherishes you, he will definitely help you overcome any difficulties you encounter."
"Whether I'm busy or not, nothing is more important than my sweetheart."
"Just leaving you here like this, using being busy as an excuse, is most likely..."
Liu Jiao remained unaffected: "I believe he's genuinely busy."
Forget-Worry Lord: "..."
He gazed wistfully at Liu Jiao, who looked utterly foolish.
The young women, so deeply immersed in love, truly trusted their husbands implicitly.
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