"That's right, if you weren't so arrogant and contemptuous, why would we not bring you along to play?
Do you still remember that two years ago, the second daughter of the Minister of Works had two wine pimples on her face, but you said she had leprosy and spread the news everywhere, causing panic among the people. You ruined a nice flower-viewing banquet.
It’s not just today that you’ve resorted to violence when you’re unhappy. Two years ago, you pushed the third daughter of the Xielülang family into the lake because of a slight quarrel with you. If she wasn’t good at swimming, I’m afraid you would have killed her!”
"Yes, you can't compare with Miss Yang, the daughter of the Imperial Academy's chief academic officer, in terms of poetry and literature, but you use her appearance to criticize her, saying that she has talent but not looks good. Miss Yang's appearance is just a little more like a beautiful girl from a small family, but she is not as bad as you say. Miss Yang's eyes are swollen from crying because of your bullying. How can you not look down on others?"
Except for some ladies who did not come for special reasons, basically no one present today liked Cheng Xueyun. With Xia Wanning taking the lead in criticizing, they began to recount Cheng Xueyun's past deeds one by one even more unscrupulously.
At the beginning, she liked to take advantage of her status as the legitimate daughter of a marquis to bully others.
Originally, everyone had let it go once or twice for the sake of the Marquis Xuanping's Mansion, and at most they would not play with her. But she was still the same bad character, and became more and more aggressive. Moreover, she only bullied noble ladies whose family status was lower than her. She did not dare to offend the daughters of several dukes' families, even if they were born out of wedlock. And she generally would not take the initiative to provoke the several marquisates that were on par with the Marquis Xuanping's Mansion.
The main focus is to pick the softest ones.
The noble ladies couldn't stand her, so they naturally began to isolate and exclude her and provoke her with words.
Everyone knows where a needle pricks the most pain, so every time Cheng Xueyun has an attack, the fact that she was born as a concubine will be brought up as an excuse.
When ladies gather together on ordinary days, they would show off their verbal skills, which would be just a small quarrel and harmless.
But today was different. Everyone was pointing at Cheng Xueyun, and no one gave her any face.
Cheng Xueyun soon couldn't stand it anymore, her eyes turned red and she started crying, but she could only rage helplessly:
"You, you just know how to bully me, and you are not good people."
She stamped her feet in anger, but didn't dare to say anything outrageous. She hesitated for a long time and finally uttered this sentence.
She had powder on her face, and when she cried, the tears mixed with the white powder and turned milky white, and the cinnabar at the corners of her eyes was also smudged.
The key point is that she rubbed her eyes with her sleeves, which made the cinnabar spread even more. Her sleeves also became dirty. At this moment, Cheng Xueyun looked extremely embarrassed.
When the ladies saw her like this, they couldn't help laughing.
"Alright, sisters, stop talking. Look how angry Miss Cheng is. Her makeup has been ruined by crying. How can she look like a legitimate daughter of a marquis? Someone, go get some clean hot water and help Miss Cheng wash her face. We are guests today and we cannot neglect her."
This was the first time that Xia Wan Ning took the lead in bullying others. She had disdained to do such things before, mainly because no one had provoked her. However, Cheng Xueyun insisted on stepping on her minefield. She might not know that she valued her friends the most.
She didn't have any close friends in Kyoto. Jiang Sui was the only one who made her feel attractive as soon as she saw him, and she felt like they had met too late when they got to know each other.
Moreover, the two of them have similar interests, have been kidnapped together, and have experienced life and death together. How could her friend be bullied under her nose?
Even if she was the daughter of a marquis, so what? Xia Wan Ning was really not afraid of her.
Cheng Xueyun felt that she had suffered a great humiliation. How could she have the face to continue staying here?
So, she waved away the maid from Ning'an Marquis's Mansion who came to help her:
"You don't have to be so hypocritical. You all look down on me and bully me. It doesn't matter. I look down on you too. Who wants to be friends with you?" After she said that, she ran away crying, holding up her skirt.
Two personal maids followed closely behind.
As soon as she left, Xia Wanning announced that the Spring Banquet would continue, and asked someone to fetch the box of South China Sea gold pearls from her room, giving two pearls to each of the noble ladies present.
Although South China Sea gold beads are not suitable for young women to wear, they are rare and hard to come by, so they can be given to elders in the family.
Not only that, Xia Wanning also gave Gao Wenxi, the daughter of the Earl's Mansion who was splashed with tea, a box of White Jade Snow Skin Cream. This thing is also rare and highly sought after by noble ladies. It is a star item in the noble ladies' circle, but it is sold at a very high price, costing more than a thousand taels per box.
She comforted Gao Wenxi in a gentle voice, saying that she had been wronged. Gao Wenxi was also easy to coax, and since she had gotten the upper hand, she naturally would not pursue the matter too much.
See, she said she would make Cheng Xueyun go home crying today, and she will definitely do it.
I didn't expect that being a bad woman can be quite satisfying. So this is what it feels like to bully others by taking advantage of your power?
Xia Wanning complained in her heart.
…
Cheng Xueyun returned to the Marquis Xuanping's Mansion crying. She cursed all the way and criticized all the noble ladies who had just participated in the argument with her, including Xia Wanning.
She was only a bully at home, and she wouldn't dare to do that in front of Xia Wanning.
The first thing she did when she returned home was to file a complaint. She was the legitimate daughter of Marquis Xuanping and had suffered such a great injustice outside. She had to tell her father and have him severely punish her entire family.
When she arrived, Marquis Xuanping, his wife, and Cheng Moyang were all there, but the faces of the three of them did not look very good.
Cheng Xueyun came in with a tearful face, shouting:
"Father, mother, brother, you must make the decision for me!"
As she spoke, she wanted to pounce on the Marquis’ wife, but was sternly rebuked by the Marquis of Xuanping:
"Rebellious girl, kneel down, look at what you look like."
Cheng Xueyun was most afraid of her father at home. Marquis Xuanping was rarely mean to her, but if he was, it must be because he had done something seriously wrong.
It was a conditioned reflex that she fell to her knees the moment she heard her father's voice. Then she looked at Lady Xuanping Hou and Cheng Moyang with innocent and pleading eyes, hoping that they could help her.
But this time, both of them chose to remain silent.
"Father, my daughter has suffered a great injustice in Ning'an Marquis's Mansion today. You must stand up for her. They all ganged up to bully me!"
Upon hearing this, Xuanping Hou snorted coldly:
"If you hadn't been the first to overstep your authority and do so many things that were against the rules, who would have had nothing better to do than to target you?"
As early as when Cheng Xueyun came back, Xia Wanning arranged for people to rush to Xuanping Hou Mansion in advance to tell them what happened today, in order to establish a preemptive impression.
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