When Zhu Jiayu returned to Chunshan Residence, he saw Lüzheng standing to the side with a stern face.
She coughed lightly: "Green Kite."
Green Kite walked over with a stern face, gave a stiff bow, and asked in a straight voice what the young lady needed.
"Are you angry?" Zhu Jiayu asked her cautiously.
"I dare not, Miss. What are your orders?" Green Kite asked her, still stiff.
Zhu Jiayu pouted, "You...you're clearly angry." She tugged at Lüzheng's sleeve, "I know you're doing this for my own good. I promise you, this will never happen again, okay?"
She should have kept quiet, because the mention of Lüzheng brought tears to her eyes. She said sadly, "Miss, you don't take yourself seriously at all. I'm always worried that something might happen to you."
"Alright, alright, it's all my fault," Zhu Jiayu patted her back and coaxed her softly, "Don't worry, don't worry, I'll definitely listen to you next time and won't take such risks again."
"Don't be angry anymore, okay?"
Green Kite nodded, rubbed her eyes, and asked, "What does Miss want Green Kite to do?"
Zhu Jiayu said, "Go to Yuchaifeng or the Prince Jing's residence and find Gu Heguang. Ask her to find me a beautiful, obedient, and clever woman. Tell me any news you have. If she asks, just say I have my own uses."
"Yes," Green Kite replied, bowing her head.
Not long after she left, Qiu Lingyan's maid came to invite her: "Miss, my mistress asked me to come and see why you haven't left yet. She and the fifth and sixth young ladies are already waiting outside the mansion gate."
"Hmm?" Zhu Jiayu was taken aback. "Is there... anything wrong today?"
The maidservant smiled and said, "Miss, have you forgotten? Today is the birthday of Fifth Miss's aunt. Not long ago, someone from the Ji family sent an invitation to the masters of the mansion and specially invited you to come along."
Zhu Jiayu was in a daze and couldn't remember the matter at all, but she felt like she had some impression of it. After thinking for a moment, she said, "In that case, please wait for me for a moment."
After she finished speaking, she turned and went back into the house. She sat in front of the dressing mirror and examined her makeup for a while. In the end, she only took off the simple white magnolia hairpin from her temple and replaced it with a gold-inlaid jade hairpin. She then searched through the cabinet for a long time and finally found the birthday gift that Lüzheng had prepared for Madam Ji today—a green jade lingzhi ruyi, which was quite ordinary, neither outstanding nor shabby.
"Let's go." She said to the maid as she hurriedly came out of the house, carrying the box.
The three ladies of the Qiu family had already left. Qiu Lingyan thought that it was Zhu Jiayu's first time visiting the Ji family, so she volunteered to stay and wait for her. Unexpectedly, Qi Xiuyuan also said he would wait for her, so Qiu Boyan pulled Qiu Mingyan to stay as well.
Seeing Zhu Jiayu rushing out of the mansion, Qiu Lingyan shook her head: "She can't remember things. I'm afraid if it weren't for Mingrui by my side inviting her, she would have forgotten what day it is today."
As she was speaking, Zhu Jiayu, who had already boarded the carriage, happened to hear her words and laughed, "I really have to thank you, cousin, otherwise I would have been guilty today!"
After she finished speaking, she remembered the carriage she had just seen and asked, "Is there any other aunt who hasn't left yet and is waiting for us to come along?"
Qiu Lingyan said, "It's my cousin from the Qi family."
She spoke to Zhu Jiayu, her eyes smiling as she looked at Qiu Boyan.
Qiu Boyan blushed, pretending to be calm as she looked outside, ignoring her mischievous third sister.
When the group arrived at the Ji family's gate, they all got off the carriage. There were several male and female servants at the gate, all of whom were arranged by the Ji family to guide the male and female guests.
Qi Xiuyuan strode past the Qiu family girls, nodded to Zhu Jiayu in greeting, and then went to the male servants to have them lead him to the seating area for the male guests.
Qiu Boyan watched him approach with bright eyes, then saw him greeting his cousin beside him, without giving her a single extra glance. She immediately felt disappointed, lowered her head, and clutched the hem of her clothes.
Seeing this, Qiu Mingyan couldn't help but remind her: "Sister, cheer up. Today is your aunt's birthday banquet. Who are you trying to impress by acting like this? You saw it yourself, he didn't even glance at you, and he doesn't care about you at all."
With a smile on her face, she leaned close to Qiu Boyan's neck, pretending to straighten her collar, and whispered, "Hold your head high, be happy, don't look so bitter and resentful, otherwise people will laugh at you and no one will help you."
Qiu Boyan asked worriedly, "Little sister, do you think he likes Cousin Ayu?"
Qiu Mingyan rolled her eyes: "Ayu is beautiful and talented, far more capable than you or me. It would be strange if he didn't like her, right? Instead of thinking so much, you should think about how to deal with your cousin from the Ji family when you meet her later."
At this point, she couldn't help but sigh with regret: "Why is it that, even though they're both cousins, the Ji family's cousins are so annoying?"
Upon hearing this, Qiu Boyan nodded emphatically in deep agreement: If her cousin Ji could be like Ayu, she and her sister wouldn't have to only visit their maternal grandparents during festivals all year round.
The cousin they were referring to was named Ji Huanjin.
The Ji family is in business, and Ji Huanjin has almost entirely inherited the temperament and disposition of a merchant family. She is petty and calculating, and can't stand seeing others do better than her. She has never been a well-behaved person since she was a child.
When Qiu Boyan and her sister visited the Ji family as children, they suffered quite a few losses at her hands. As a result, for a long time afterward, the Ji family was nothing short of a den of dragons and tigers in their eyes.
Things like coveting their hairpins and bracelets were minor matters. When Ji Huanjin was young, she would deliberately break her grandfather's favorite jade ornament and blame it on them, often leaving the two sisters with unspeakable suffering.
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