In the evening, Li Nian was holding Jinhe and playing among the pavilions.
The little girl was holding onto the bench in the pavilion, stroking it as she walked forward.
Xiaoying sat on the bench opposite, clapping her hands with a gentle and doting smile: "Jinhe, come here and give me a hug."
"Sister." Jinhe called sweetly and groped her way to the place closest to Xiaoying.
Xiaoying smiled and shook the cake in her hand: "Do you want to eat? Come over here!"
Jin He grinned sweetly, then suddenly let go and pounced on Li Nian's legs, who was sitting on the stone bench in the middle of the pavilion. Then she giggled at Xiao Ying.
Xiaoying was stunned and suddenly realized that she was being fooled by the little guy in front of her who was less than one year old.
I saw that Li Nian had already held Jinhe on her lap and was sitting there.
Xiaoying also landed on the stone bench nearby and pretended to be angry: "Humph! Jinhe is teasing me again. I won't play with you anymore!"
Jinhe continued to smile happily with her big, clear and innocent eyes open, grabbing the pastries on the plate on the stone table with both hands.
At this time, Xiaobai came hurriedly: "Madam, Madam Xiao is here and said she wants to see you."
Li Nian frowned and asked doubtfully, "Does she know my identity?"
Xiaobai shook his head: "They probably don't know. There are a lot of rumors out there right now. Some say you are the eldest lady, while others say you are just a substitute the master found outside."
Li Nian raised an eyebrow and looked at Xiaobai: "Then you must keep up the good work and try to unify the rumors as soon as possible."
Xiaobai smiled and said respectfully, "Madam, don't worry. Within three days, I will make sure everyone in the capital is convinced that you are a substitute."
Li Nian nodded with satisfaction: "Come on, I believe you can do it."
She stood up, handed Jinhe to Xiaoying, and told her not to go to the middle courtyard, so as to avoid being seen by Madam Xiao and causing unnecessary trouble.
When it comes to trouble, it’s best to avoid it for a while.
Li Nian walked towards the Glazed Pavilion in the central courtyard.
Come to the living room on the first floor of Liuli Pavilion.
Madam Xiao frowned and looked at her for a long while, then her face was full of disdain, "You are indeed a country girl who grew up in a remote village. Didn't your parents teach you to be polite when you see your elders?"
Li Nian looked at her in surprise, then raised her voice in a Beijing accent with a hint of northwest China, "You are Ayu's mother. When I marry Ayu in the future, you will also be my mother. We are all family, so it would be awkward to perform formalities!"
She grinned, her smile a little fake, "You came to see me, what's the matter?"
Mrs. Xiao had dressed up deliberately today. She wore a long orchid brocade dress with gilded dark embroidery. Her hair was decorated with a pair of gold and ruby-studded peony hairpins, which came with a complete set of earrings and a necklace.
Originally, Mrs. Xiao wanted to dress so elaborately and grandly to intimidate Li Nian and arouse the shame and inferiority in her heart.
Now she saw that Li Nian was dressed simply, spoke rudely and disrespectfully, and did not look like someone with any sense of shame at all.
Mrs. Xiao suddenly felt that it was really unnecessary for her to do all this.
She stood straight, with the air of a superior and dignified mistress, and asked with a frown, "What's your name? How old are you? Who else is in your family?"
Li Nian replied calmly: "My name is Li Nian, I'm 22 years old, and I have a younger sister."
No honorifics, no self-deprecation, only straightforward answers.
And she's an old girl!
Madam Xiao nearly spat out a mouthful of blood when she heard this, and her voice instantly turned cold and stern: "You really don't know the slightest bit of etiquette and rules. You look so different from A Yu's original wife."
Li Nian's eyes curved, and her tone was exaggerated: "Madam is right. I have also heard Ayu mention his short-lived first wife! It's a pity that the girl was unlucky. She was poisoned to death just over a month after marrying Ayu."
She shook her head and sighed with emotion: "Oh, poor thing!"
She looked at Madam Xiao and said confidently, "Don't worry. I've been in excellent health since I was a child, and I have no grudges against the nobles in the capital. When I marry A-Yu in the future, we will surely live a loving and long life together."
The more Mrs. Xiao listened to her, the angrier she became, and the dissatisfaction in her eyes was about to overflow.
She shouted in a stern voice, "How could a country girl like you, with no status, possibly even dream of becoming the Crown Prince's wife? Talent or looks, which one do you possess? Do you know why A-Yu arranged for you to live in this house?"
Li Nian tilted his head and asked in confusion, "Why?"
"Because you're just his concubine in this house!" Madam Xiao looked at her with disdain and added, "Even if you're just a concubine, you can't be ignorant of etiquette."
Her tone was arrogant and overbearing, leaving no room for rebuttal. "Tomorrow I will arrange for a nanny to teach you the rules. You will be allowed to go out only when you have learned them to her satisfaction, so that you don't bring shame to the Xiao Marquisate with your rude and disrespectful behavior."
Li Nian refused bluntly: "I appreciate your kindness, madam, but unfortunately wild boars can't appreciate fine bran! Forget about the etiquette, I can't learn it."
"You have no say in this matter! If you still want to stay in the capital, then study hard, or else get lost and go back to the northwest!"
Li Nian frowned in annoyance, but she didn't want to break up with him yet. After all, she might have to stay in the capital in the future, so she had to leave some way out.
Take a deep breath. Since I have to play a vulgar and vain woman, I will play it to the end!
She thought for a moment and nodded: "Okay, I'll learn! But you have to agree to two conditions!"
Madam Xiao's eyes sharpened: "You still dare to put forward conditions to me?"
Li Nian nodded: "I dare."
She said seriously, "First, you have to pay for the maid! After all, you forced me to learn this."
Madam Xiao was almost laughing with anger. She was the mistress of the Marquis's mansion, so how could she stoop so low as to ask a country bumpkin for money? She was indeed a country bumpkin, stingy and short-sighted.
"Secondly, Ayu said he wanted to marry me as his principal wife. I will be the Crown Prince's wife in the future. You can no longer say that I am a concubine."
"Wishful thinking!" Madam Xiao shouted and slapped him in the face.
"Pa!" A crisp slapping sound rang out in the house.
Li Nian was stunned.
No, you were just talking, why did you suddenly start fighting?
Her eyes suddenly turned cold, and the kindness she had just pretended disappeared.
His voice was icy cold: "Is the etiquette that Madam asked me to learn to be like you? Forget it, I'm not interested."
"Xiaobai, show the guest out!"
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