Chapter 16 Greetings 2
Yu Qingci naturally withdrew her hand from her tightly clenched grip and explained, "Thank you for your concern, sister. Today is Qingbai's first day at the clan school. Father asked me to go to the front yard to see him off, which made me late in paying my respects to Grandmother. Please forgive me, Grandmother. I promise I will not do it again."
Madam Zhang was initially angry that Yu Qingci had arrived later than her other granddaughters to pay her respects on the first day. However, upon hearing that it was her son's instruction to send her grandson to the clan school, Madam Zhang's dissatisfaction lessened somewhat, but she still did not have a pleasant expression.
Yu Qingci stepped forward to greet her. Seeing that her behavior was proper and there was nothing wrong with it, Madam Zhang did not deliberately make things difficult for her. She simply gave a light "hmm" and told her to get up.
However, recalling what happened at the ancestral hall yesterday, and hearing that it was this girl who instigated the Earl, and that this girl had even caused Qingying to lose face in front of the whole family, he felt that this granddaughter was just as troublesome as her own mother, and his face darkened again.
Yu Qingyan secretly observed her grandmother's expression and was relieved to see that her grandmother was not warm towards Yu Qingci, and even seemed somewhat displeased. As long as her grandmother did not like this girl, then Yu Qingyan's status in the family would not be good.
Yu Qingyan felt relieved, and her smile became even more gentle and natural. She stepped forward and said to Yu Qingci, "I haven't had a chance to apologize to my third sister. That day, I intended to take you to the Wisteria Courtyard myself, but I suddenly remembered that I forgot to bring the shoes I made for Grandmother. In my haste, I left early, causing my third sister to walk a long way. I feel really bad about it. I hope my third sister won't blame me?"
Yu Qingci smiled gently: "How could that be? I would have forgotten about such a small matter if Second Sister hadn't mentioned it."
Yu Qingyan seemed relieved: "I knew my sister was reasonable, but it was ultimately my fault, so I prepared a gift for her to express my apology."
As she spoke, she took a pair of gold and kingfisher feather bracelets inlaid with rubies from the maid following behind her and put them into Yu Qingci's hands.
“These are a pair of gemstone bracelets that my grandmother gave me last Chinese New Year. They are very precious. I think these bracelets match my third sister’s temperament better, so I specially took them out to give to her. I hope my third sister will not find them unworthy.”
Yu Qingci looked at the bracelet in her hand. It was golden and looked thick and sturdy. The rubies set on it were of very good quality. It was indeed a good thing.
But does it match her temperament?
These bracelets were a gift from Madam Zhang to her eldest granddaughter, Yu Qingyan. Although they were valuable, Yu Qingyan disliked them for being too vulgar and had never worn them. Now, she simply took them out and gave them to Yu Qingci in front of her grandmother, which showed her sincerity and made her feel no regret.
Seeing that Yu Qingci did not reach out to take it, Yu Qingyan simply stuffed the bracelet into her hand and said, "If Third Sister doesn't accept it, it means that she is still thinking about what happened that day and is unwilling to forgive me."
Yu Qingci weighed the bracelets in her hands; they were indeed quite heavy. Since the gift was from someone so sincere, she didn't refuse and generously picked them up, saying, "Since it's a gift from Grandmother to Second Sister, it must be a very fine item. Thank you, Second Sister."
Who would complain about having too much money? Why not take such valuable jewelry?
Seeing her eldest granddaughter's deep sisterly affection, Madam Zhang was very pleased and said, "Qingyan is a kind-hearted girl. You should keep the good things your grandmother gave you. Why did you specially take them out to give to the third girl? You are about to get married, and your grandmother wished she could take out more of her best things from the bottom of her trunk for you."
Yu Qingyan immediately put on a sad expression: "Granddaughter is also reluctant to part with grandmother. She was thinking that after granddaughter leaves, she hopes that third sister can take good care of grandmother in her place."
Hearing this, Madam Zhang felt even more sorry for her: "You are the most filial girl, no wonder I love you more."
He then said to Xichun, his personal maid behind him, "Go and fetch the pair of mutton fat jade bracelets from my cabinet."
Soon, Xichun came out holding a pair of mutton fat jade bracelets with a bright white and warm color.
Madam Zhang personally put the bead on Yu Qingyan's wrist. The small, white jade bead, about the size of a corn kernel, looked stunning on the girl's smooth, delicate wrist, making it impossible to look away.
Madam Zhang lowered her head to admire the bracelet with satisfaction, her gaze towards her granddaughter filled with affection. Yu Qingci, standing to the side, suddenly felt that the pair of gold bracelets inlaid with rubies on her wrists were worthless.
After comforting her eldest granddaughter, Madam Zhang turned her gaze back to Yu Qingci and said, "You should learn more from your elder sister. The most important thing for a young lady is to be gentle and virtuous. She should not be competitive or ambitious in everything she does."
Yu Qingci lowered her eyes and replied meekly, "Yes, Grandmother."
Madam Zhang snorted coldly: "For example, yesterday in the ancestral hall, you, a mere maid, should be burning incense with gratitude for being listed in my family's genealogy. You should never have been so talkative and disturbed your father's peace of mind, harming your mother, Madam Qiao. Hurry up and go kowtow to your mother to apologize!"
Zhang's words were clearly meant to support Qiao.
Upon hearing this, Yu Qingci obediently walked towards Madam Qiao and performed a junior's greeting, saying, "Greetings to Madam. It was all Qingci's fault for being ignorant. If I have offended Madam in any way, please forgive me."
Seeing her feigning indifference in front of her, Madam Qiao wanted nothing more than to slap her, but her face remained as gentle and virtuous as ever: "You're overthinking it, girl. Get up now."
Seeing that she did not kneel down and kowtow, Madam Zhang became even angrier. She slammed her hand on the table and said, "How dare you! Didn't you hear me tell you to kneel down and kowtow to your mother?"
Yu Qingci looked bewildered and said, "Granddaughter has always heard that noble families pay the most attention to rules and etiquette. Does that mean that the children of the first wife need to kneel and bow to their father's concubines? If Grandmother says yes, granddaughter will certainly comply."
Zhang was speechless.
If she dared to say yes, that would be a joke.
A concubine, though considered a wife by the world, is ultimately not the principal wife. The children born to a concubine must address the principal wife as their mother and perform a full kneeling ceremony, while the children of the principal wife are not required to follow these rules towards the concubine.
Now that the family name is fixed in the genealogy, it's no use for the Zhang family to refuse to acknowledge it.
Zhang felt a tightness in her chest and turned to Qiao, saying, "Since the Third Girl has been raised outside, it's normal that she lacks some of the manners and etiquette of the prominent families in the capital. Qiao, you need to pay more attention to the Third Girl's upbringing in the future. If necessary, invite the governesses we hired for the other girls back to the manor to give the Third Girl a proper lesson."
I don't expect her to be as dignified and well-mannered as Qingyan, but at least she shouldn't bring shame to the Nanping Marquis's family when she goes out in the future.
Zhang's original intention was to criticize celadon, so his words were quite harsh.
Hearing her say this, Qiao and the others were delighted and quickly stood up, saying, "Yes, Madam, now that Third Sister has been included in the family genealogy, she is a proper young lady of our Earl's Mansion, and your daughter-in-law will naturally not slack off in her upbringing."
The governess we hired before was someone who had served the concubines in the palace, someone many noble families vied to hire. She was hired by another noble family as soon as she left our household, and now it seems she won't be able to return."
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