Yu Chuwei stared at Jiang Yuyao's shaky figure, her nails digging deep into her palms. The Yongchang Marquis's mansion was declining. If she could marry the Fourth Prince...
"Miss Jiang." Su Sheng walked over, waving a gold-sprinkled folding fan. The silver-threaded bamboo patterns on the fan shimmered like water in the sunlight. He suddenly leaned forward and whispered, "I sent two invitations the other day, but why didn't Song Yi come with me?"
Jiang Yuyao's throat felt fishy and sweet, nearly gnashing her teeth. This playboy had been courting her for six months, and now he was publicly mentioning Jiang Songyi. She stared at the familiar mutton-fat jade pendant at Su Sheng's waist—last year during the Qiqiao Festival, this playboy had clearly said he would only give this jade to his beloved.
"My sister has caught a cold." She forced a smile on her lips, but the silk handkerchief was already making a tearing sound.
On the bluestone official road, the carriage of the Yongding Marquis Mansion ran over the accumulated water after the rain.
Jiang Yuyao clutched the half-worn brocade curtain, staring at the red-wheeled, canopied carriage sailing away ahead. Her knuckles scratched the window lattice, leaving white marks. "My sisters...maybe they're in a hurry to attend the banquet."
Jiang Jinzhao stroked the Pisces jade pendant at his waist, remembering the cold face his aunt Jiang Shu had given him before he left. This aunt, who had been a companion to the eldest princess, hated concubines the most, and had never been kind to Yuyao either.
"I'm quite curious," Su Sheng suddenly lifted the carriage curtain with his folding fan, "is the Linchuan County Lord riding in a carriage inlaid with a gold roof?" The red rope wrapped around his wrist swayed with his movements. It was the red rope that was torn off during the argument with Jiang Songyi at Taibai Mountain last month.
A dark light flashed across Jiang Yuyao's eyes: "Master Su misses me so much..."
"Nonsense!" Su Sheng slammed his jade fan bone against the shaft of the cart like a cat whose tail was stepped on. "I'm just afraid that she'll be late and my invitation will be invalidated!" He glanced at the pouch on his waist, where there was a crumpled and smoothed invitation card - it was originally written specifically for Jiang Songyi.
Jiang Baichuan wheeled his wheelchair to a stop beneath the locust tree, gazing at the glazed tile roof of the Princess's Mansion in the distance. The spring sun shone a rainbow of light on the tiles, reminding him of the filigree and jewel-inlaid phoenix coronet Jiang Songyi wore on her coming-of-age day. Jiang Yuyao had been coveting such an ornate headpiece for the better part of six months.
A subtle fragrance wafted through the peony garden. Jiang Songyi leaned over the white jade railing to take a closer look. The double-petaled purple peony reflected the sunlight, the morning dew still lingering on its petals, making it look like a garden adorned with tiny diamonds. Her fingertips trembled slightly. This single peony could probably provide three years' worth of food for the people of Cangzhou.
"Be careful, cousin." Jiang Qingmo pulled back her hand that was about to touch the pistil. "The eldest princess hates people touching her treasures."
Jiang Songyi withdrew his hand awkwardly, but a thunderclap exploded in his heart: [This is not a peony garden, it's clearly a mountain of gold and silver! No wonder Master said that the rich live in luxury, while the poor freeze to death on the streets!]
Jiang Shu, chatting with the noblewoman, heard her ear twitch slightly, and nearly spilled her teacup onto the golden nanmu table. What kind of wonderful book is this "Dream of the Red Chamber" that this girl keeps mumbling about? I'll definitely have her write it out for me someday.
"Who was it I thought?" Embroidered shoes inlaid with oriental pearls stepped into the moon-shaped door, and Chen Ruyi came slowly, waving a kesi peony round fan. "Madam Jiang... Oh no, Madam Jiang is here to appreciate the flowers too?" She deliberately emphasized the word "Madam", and the jeweled armor scraped against the fan bones, making a harsh sound.
Jiang Shu threw the teacup onto the bluestone table, and the Junshan silver needle in the cup made ripples: "Widow Chen is quite free. After observing the three years of mourning, she still has the mind to put on makeup." She wore a moon-white cloud-patterned skirt on purpose today, with only a white jade hairpin in her hair, which made her look more elegant than the peonies in the garden.
Chen Ruyi's face suddenly changed. Last year, when news of her husband's death in battle reached her, she had applauded Jiang Shu's divorce. She had never imagined retribution would come so quickly. The Buddhist beads wrapped around her wrist suddenly broke, and the round sandalwood beads rolled into the peony bushes.
"you!"
"Aunt." Jiang Songyi suddenly stepped forward and bowed. "The eldest princess sent someone to ask which peony should be picked to make incense this year?" She slipped out a half-broken golden invitation from her sleeve. It was the one that Su Sheng had stuffed into the doorman yesterday.
Chen Ruyi stared at the tiny, gold-washed characters on the invitation, "Princess of Linchuan County," and suddenly sneered, "I was wondering how Madam Jiang dared to attend the banquet. It turns out she was relying on her niece's favor." Her fingertips brushed the intricately woven gold phoenix hairpin on Jiang Songyi's temples. "What a shame! No matter how expensive the hairpin is, it can't hide the money-grubbing odor of a merchant's daughter."
Jiang Qingmo was about to explode when he heard the tinkling of rings and pendants from behind the rockery. The eldest princess, holding onto a maid's hand, emerged, her hair adorned with nine phoenixes holding pearls, her steps blinding the sun. "I'm curious, was there a penny of the thirty boatloads of dowry that Madam Chen brought with her that wasn't earned by the Chen Silk Shop?"
The whole garden fell silent. Chen Ruyi's father had made his fortune in silk and satin, and he hated the mention of his merchant background. The round fan in her hand broke, and the jade pendant shattered in two as it hit the blue bricks.
"Your Highness is joking." Jiang Shu suddenly took Jiang Songyi's hand, "Although our Songyi grew up in the countryside, she is not bad at music, chess, calligraphy and painting." She lightly stroked her niece's palm with her fingertips, which was the secret code she taught her when she was young.
Jiang Songyi understood and turned to walk towards the waterside pavilion. A banana-leaf guqin sat on the rosewood table. She effortlessly plucked the strings, and the melody "Ode to the Peony" poured out. The melodious notes startled sparrows from under the eaves, while the gentler notes attracted butterflies to the zither's head.
"Excellent!" The princess laughed and clapped her hands. "This 'Green Dragon Lying in the Ink Pond' of my palace has finally found a true lover." She removed the golden filigree peony hairpin from her temples and pinned it in Jiang Songyi's hair herself. "This is a reward for you."
Jiang Yuyao stood outside the moon-shaped door, her handkerchief already twisted into a knot. She stared at the imperially bestowed gold hairpin in Jiang Songyi's hair, and suddenly remembered the conversation she'd overheard last night—it turned out her aunt had long planned to hand over the Princess's connections to this bitch!
A rainstorm suddenly came, dropping all the fallen petals onto the ground.
The iron horses on the eaves of the Bronze Sparrow Tower clanged in the autumn wind. Jiang Shu, holding the hand of a maid, stepped into the flower hall. The pomegranate-red floor was all over the place, and the golden horse skirt swept across the blue bricks, awakening the dormant Jin Boshan stove on the table.
"I haven't seen you for many years. Sister Chen has become more and more like an old lady." She stroked the jade pendant and sat down on the rose chair. Her eyes swept across the nine-tree phoenix hairpin on Chen Ruyi's temples - that was a regulation that only those with super-class imperial decrees could enjoy.
Chen Ruyi slowly fiddled with the beeswax Buddhist beads in her hand. The agarwood chair back inlaid with gold made her figure look particularly thin: "Madam Jiang is here today, could it be that you want to borrow "Rules for Women" again?" She deliberately emphasized the three words "Madam Jiang" and saw with satisfaction that Jiang Shu's knuckles turned white.
Thirty years ago, the dispute over the reading companion at the Princess Linchuan residence seemed like yesterday. Back then, Chen Ruyi won first place with her double-sided embroidered screen featuring "The Goddess of the Luo River," but Jiang Shu, at a snow-viewing banquet, exposed the embroiderer's ghostwriting. Now, despite both families being prominent, the conflict has only intensified with the passage of time.
"Old Madam, you're joking." Jiang Shu held up the blue-glazed teacup, its silver needles sticking upside down. "I heard that the Duke of Dingguo's new wife, Ru, knelt in front of your courtyard for three hours yesterday, holding the account books." She tapped the rim of the teacup with her ruby armor. "If you ask me, why bother making things difficult for the younger generation?"
Standing behind Chen Ruyi, Cui suddenly clenched her handkerchief. She was the same age as her mother-in-law, yet now she had to bow her head and hold the hand warmer. Last year, when she tried to reclaim the dowry land, Chen Ruyi publicly rebuked her for "unfaithful conduct." The anger still lingered in her throat.
"Madam Jiang, you're such a kindhearted woman, why didn't you burn the Zhang family's broken engagement letter?" Chen Ruyi suddenly chuckled. "I heard that on the day your third daughter's engagement was broken off, the stone lions in front of the Duke of Huguo's mansion were even savaged."
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