Although Yuan Qi disliked Old Madam Bai and Xiangli Mingzhu, he still went to Old Madam Bai's courtyard.
Compared to her illness a few days ago, Grandma Bai has basically recovered her health, with a rosy complexion and a strong voice.
Yuan Qi bowed to Old Madam Bai according to custom: "Greetings, Grandmother. May I ask what brings you here?"
Although she was proper in her bowing, her tone was far from obedient; she spoke bluntly and with a hint of impatience.
When Bai Xiuqing saw Yuan Qi's unruly behavior, she became angry. What was she doing being so arrogant, a concubine's daughter? Even if she had some skills, she was still a disgraceful bastard born of a concubine.
Even if you were a dragon, you'd still have to coil up before me.
Bai Xiuqing wanted to teach Yuan Qi a lesson, so she drank the ginseng soup by herself.
Yuan Qi just got back and wanted to lie on his own bed like a corpse. Who wants to see someone else's sour face?
"If Grandmother has nothing else, I'll head back now." She turned and left.
Bai Xiuqing was furious and slammed the bowl down on the kang table: "Did I tell you to leave? Stop right there. The older you get, the less disciplined you become."
She thought that she could intimidate Yuan Qi by getting angry, since none of the younger generation in the family were afraid of her.
Yuan Qi hummed in response: "Grandmother, I see you're getting on in years, so I'll show you some respect. If you have something to say, just say it. I just got back and want to rest for a bit."
She had such an infuriating attitude, I couldn't accept it, so I decided not to come again.
The old lady didn't like her either.
Bai Xiuqing was truly enraged, but the Bai family's affairs could not be delayed any longer, so he suppressed his anger and gave an irritable order: "I heard that you can see things and have some skills. Something has happened to the Bai family. Go and take a look. Don't rest, go now."
Yuan Qi wasn't interested in what happened to the Bai family. She was unhappy when others were rude, and she didn't want to fawn over them.
"Understood." Yuan Qi bowed and turned to leave.
Bai Xiuqing assumed she had gone directly to the Bai family, so she complained to the old nanny beside her: "Those who grow up outside have no manners, you really can't say a word to them."
Granny Fang chimed in, "It's not surprising that people with some ability all have tempers."
Bai Xiuqing snorted: "How old is she? So rebellious. Her skills are only good for fooling us. She really thinks she's something special. If she can't settle things with the Bai family this time, we'll see how I deal with her. Send someone to tell the Bai family that she's coming right away and that they shouldn't worry."
Granny Fang went out and found Chen Hang, a servant who usually ran errands outside. She gave him these instructions: "Go quickly. Come back and report after you have seen the Seventh Miss enter the Bai family."
...
"Miss is back?"
When Yuan Qi returned to Peony Residence, Green Bamboo and Red Fir immediately came to greet her, and even Shen Xun flew in and landed on the table next to her.
Green Bamboo served a cup of hot tea, while Red Fir busied himself preparing hot water for Yuan Qi to bathe.
"Has Madam summoned you for questioning these past few days?" Yuan Qi took the tea, took a sip, and placed it beside him.
Shen Xun drank without a care in the world. Green Bamboo saw this but didn't dare to say anything. She felt that this magpie was no ordinary magpie. The young lady often talked to this magpie, and this magpie was more favored than the two of them.
Green Bamboo replied, "Ever since Miss placed a silencing spell on us, we haven't been able to say a word about Miss, and Madam hasn't been looking for us. In the days since Miss left, Madam has been busy with the Fourth Miss's coming-of-age ceremony. After the ceremony, Madam was busy arranging the Fourth Miss's marriage to His Highness the Crown Prince."
After giving instructions on preparing hot water, Hongshan ran over to Yuanqi and told her about another matter: "Miss, on the day of Fourth Miss's coming-of-age ceremony, Miss Xiangli Baoyu also came and happened to meet His Highness the Crown Prince. His Highness the Crown Prince was very enthusiastic towards Miss Xiangli Baoyu, which made Fourth Miss very angry. If Fourth Miss hadn't been unable to offend Miss Xiangli Baoyu, the two of them would have started arguing."
Green Bamboo nodded in agreement: "Yes, that's true. I heard that the Fourth Miss is urging the Madam to arrange the marriage with His Highness the Crown Prince, because she's afraid that His Highness the Crown Prince will change his mind and marry Xiangli Baoyu as his Crown Princess."
Yuan Qi suddenly remembered that Xiangli Baoyu was Xiangli Youming's younger sister, born of the same mother, and they were the same age.
"Isn't it inappropriate for the Crown Prince to marry Xiangli Baoyu? Xiao Yi is only nineteen years old, while Xiangli Baoyu is not even ten. If the Crown Prince wants to marry Xiangli Baoyu, he'll have to wait many years, won't he?"
Hongshan shrugged: "Yeah, at least five or six years. I heard that His Highness the Crown Prince wanted to get engaged to Xiangli Baoyu before, but the Xiangli family head claimed that Xiangli Baoyu was too young and weak and didn't want to get engaged for the time being. Otherwise, the position of Crown Princess wouldn't have been available to our Fourth Miss. So when the Fourth Miss heard that the Crown Prince had met Xiangli Baoyu, she was terrified."
"Hmm, I've heard about that." Yuan Qi chuckled gloatingly. "She's finally got what she deserves. Just wait and see her make a fool of herself. Who knows who will become the Crown Princess."
She turned her head and saw that Shen Xun had finished her cup of tea.
Green Bamboo silently took away the teacups, and soon returned with two more. She planned to replace the water used to fumigate the gods with tea every day from now on.
Yuan Qi took a bath and changed into clean and refreshing clothes. Jiang Jiulu also arrived, bringing fresh fruit, the first batch of grapes that had just been picked, and freshly baked pastries.
Before Yuan Qi could even start eating, Shen Xun snatched a piece of pastry, flapped its wings, and went back to its nest to eat it.
Jiang Jiulu knew that Yuan Qi favored this magpie, so she didn't say anything. She just pouted and reluctantly watched Shen Xun fly away.
Yuan Qi took out several paper packets from his cloth bag and pushed them to Jiang Jiulu: "These are for you, dried apricots and dried peaches."
She then took out two jars of wine from her cloth bag and placed them on the table: "These are for my second and third brothers. They are said to be ten-year-aged Daughter's Red wine."
As the two were chatting, it got dark outside. Granny Fang came in from outside and saw Yuan Qi and the Fifth Miss chatting and laughing while eating. She was furious.
After bowing respectfully, she asked Yuan Qi, "Didn't Seventh Miss promise the old lady to go and visit the Bai family? Why haven't you set off yet?"
Yuan Qi pinched a piece of dried apricot and stuffed it into her mouth, her cheeks puffing out like a little hamster. She mumbled incoherently, "When did I agree? I only said I knew, but I didn't agree to go."
The more Granny Fang looked at her, the more displeased she became. How could a young lady from a respectable family talk while eating? No wonder the old lady didn't like the seventh young lady. Wasn't the seventh young lady deliberately trying to provoke the old lady with her behavior?
"Seventh Miss..." Granny Fang had no way to deal with the child, so she could only urge her patiently, "Seventh Miss, hurry up and go! The Bai family is in complete chaos! For some reason, Madam Bai's second wife has grown two-inch-long fingernails and keeps scratching herself. She's scratched herself raw all over. She's tied to the bed now, and she's already broken three ropes. If you don't go soon, someone will die! How can you bear that responsibility!"
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