"Great, you've come at just the right time." Qingying's smile suddenly turned joyful.
The two maids looked at her, puzzled. "What do you mean, 'just right'?"
“I was just looking for a way to find fault with Madam Pan, and look, this flaw has come to me right here.”
Qingying clapped her hands, stood up and walked into the house. "Yuyue, come and help me wash up and change. We're going to mooch a meal later."
"Okay." Yu Yue followed her into the house, leaving Tong Xia standing there, completely bewildered and not understanding what was going on.
When guests arrived, Madam Pan hosted a family banquet in the main hall and invited them all to attend.
Qingying had anticipated this, so she had made preparations in advance. The maidservant had just come to inform her that she would only be staying for a short while before she left. She was to wait in the main hall until everyone had arrived, but when she got there, there were already people who had arrived before her.
"Uncle, sister-in-law." She stepped forward and curtsied, ignoring Liu Chenglin, who was closest to her.
"Third Miss, please sit down." Madam Luo was still very polite to her, with a smile on her face.
Liu Hui was usually not very talkative, so he just nodded at her with a gentle expression.
Liu Chenglin frowned almost imperceptibly, his expression indifferent, and he pretended to ignore her.
Qingying didn't bother to pay him any attention and simply sat down at the end of the table.
Before long, the others arrived one after another, and the room was filled with people chatting and laughing, exchanging pleasantries as if they had a great relationship.
“It’s been a long time since I’ve seen you, sister. I often thought of you when I was in Ruzhou,” said Pan Hongyu, Pan’s younger sister, with a smile.
Qingying saw the barely concealed fawning and ingratiation in her eyes and secretly mocked her.
Madam Pan seemed genuinely moved, "Yes, it's been three years since you left. Every time I go back to my parents' home, I think about you."
Pan Hongyu was indeed accompanied by a sixteen-year-old girl, who was Pan Hongyu's husband's younger sister-in-law, named Feng Ruilan. The girl looked very quiet and well-behaved at the moment.
Pan Hongyu's purpose in bringing Feng Ruilan here was quite obvious: to find her a good marriage in the capital. Although she didn't say it outright, everyone knew it.
Qingying knew that the Liu family members harbored some resentment towards their poor relative, Pan, but seeing them all pretending to be very happy and enthusiastic about her arrival, she found it both hypocritical and laughable.
Until the end of dinner, she remained silent, watching the drama unfold. Finally, Madam Pan spoke up, "Shushu, if there are any banquets or events these days, take your aunt with you and let her make more friends in the capital."
Liu Shushu nodded in agreement without hesitation, "Great! There's one tomorrow, it's just a few friends getting together to go to the horse farm." She then looked at Qingying and asked with a smile, "Third sister, would you like to come along too?"
Qingying met her slightly provocative gaze, raised an eyebrow, and asked in return, "Does sister want me to go?"
"That's natural."
"Then I'll go."
Liu Shushu was taken aback for a moment.
She knew perfectly well that Qingying couldn't ride a horse, yet she still invited her, expecting her to refuse. She just wanted to say it to annoy her, but she didn't expect her to actually accept.
Returning from the main hall, Yu Yue also found it strange, "Why did the young lady agree to go to the horse farm when she knew she was deliberately making things difficult for her?"
"If the enemy attacks me and I don't respond, wouldn't I look like a deserter?"
"But I'm afraid she has ulterior motives."
"Do you think I wouldn't understand something you can figure out? It's okay, the more ruthless her moves are, the more we'll hit her back and hurt her more."
Seeing her so confident, Yu Yue felt much more at ease.
The next day.
As Qingying stepped out of the mansion, she unexpectedly saw Liu Chengfeng waiting beside the carriage.
"Is big brother going to the horse farm too?" she asked.
Liu Chengfeng nodded. "I happen to have nothing to do today. My mother asked me to keep an eye on Shushu so she won't get hurt while riding a horse."
Qingying smiled and said, "That's fine too."
She didn't say anything more and, with Yu Yue's help, got into the carriage.
Her expression gradually turned cold. Liu Chengfeng wasn't there to watch over Liu Shushu at all; he was clearly there to watch over her. After the previous incidents, they probably suspected she might do something to deliberately frame Liu Shushu.
That's ridiculous.
If Liu Shushu hadn't provoked her first, she could have gotten along with her peacefully.
But things changed after that...
She closed her eyes and waited quietly.
Before long, Liu Shushu and Feng Ruilan came out of the mansion chatting and laughing. They were both wearing newly made riding outfits, one red and one yellow, and they held hands like sisters.
"Big brother, has third sister arrived yet?" Liu Shushu asked.
When Liu Chengfeng saw her, his cold and hard features softened a bit. "Yes, she's already in the carriage. You should get on quickly too."
"Wouldn't it be a bit crowded to ride in one carriage together?" Feng Ruilan asked cautiously.
"It seems so. Why don't we have the coachman bring out my carriage too, and we can ride together?" She paused, then walked to Qingying's carriage and asked softly, "Sister, you won't mind waiting a little longer, will you?"
Qingying didn't even bother to open her eyes, and said in a nonchalant tone, "Do as you please."
"I knew my sister was the most understanding."
Qingying did not respond.
Liu Chengfeng has already made the arrangements over there.
Feng Ruilan leaned close to Liu Shushu's ear and whispered, "I really don't know what she's so proud of? You are clearly the legitimate daughter of the General's Mansion!"
Liu Shushu gently stopped her, "Aunt, please be careful what you say. My sister is doing fine."
"You're just too kind."
Qingying didn't hear clearly what they said, but she could roughly guess that it wasn't anything nice.
Although she hadn't had much interaction with Feng Ruilan before, she disliked Pan Hongyu, and consequently looked down on the Feng family. With Pan Hongyu being such a gossip, Feng Ruilan, whom she had raised, was naturally no better.
After waiting for nearly half an hour, they finally got into the carriage and headed towards the horse farm.
It took another hour to reach their destination.
This was the horse farm she had visited with Wei Huaixu. As soon as she stepped inside, she couldn't help but recall the scene of riding a horse with him through the meadow and across the sea of flowers.
He once gently tucked a flower into her hair and said, "The flower complements the beauty, but the person is more beautiful than the flower."
The past is still vivid in my mind, but everything has changed.
Qingying's carefully concealed emotions cracked when she saw Wei Huaixu...
What is he doing here?
Even though she asked in a low voice, Liu Shushu, who was walking in front, still heard her and turned around to say, "His Highness the Crown Prince said that the horse farm is not very safe after winter, and he is worried that something might happen to us... Sister, you won't mind, will you?"
Qingying secretly wanted to tear that hypocritical face in front of her to shreds. But on the surface, she had to pretend to be magnanimous, saying, "If His Highness the Crown Prince doesn't mind, why should I?"
Liu Shushu couldn't help but feel somewhat disappointed by her calm expression and indifferent attitude.
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