Meanwhile, in Madam Nian's courtyard, several tables were set up, all occupied by concubines and princesses from various households. In fact, only Xin Yi was a concubine; the others were all princesses.
The Nian and Wu families entertained everyone, and they all sat down to drink.
"Sister Nian, do you remember me?" Suddenly, a woman across from them called out. She was Ninth Prince's latest favorite, and she and Nian Shi had been betrothed to the prince's harem as concubines.
“Of course, it’s Sister Tong. I’m sure you’re very much loved by Ninth Master. It’s fate that we can meet here today.” Madam Nian said with a smile to Madam Tong. This Madam Tong was from the prominent Manchu clan of Tongjia.
During the selection process, Tongjia and Nian were assigned to the same tutor. Both of them were somewhat arrogant and naturally didn't think much of each other.
In fact, Lady Nian had already seen Lady Tongjia, but she pretended not to recognize her because she had a responsibility to entertain these princesses today and didn't want to cause trouble for herself. During the imperial concubine selection, Lady Nian and Lady Tongjia had had many conflicts, and she never expected to see her old rival in her own courtyard again.
"I never expected that you would be so highly regarded as soon as you entered the Fourth Prince's mansion. Your wife even assigned you the task of entertaining the princesses from various mansions. It's clear that you are highly valued by the Fourth Prince and his wife." Tong was also a beauty, with an oval face, a delicate nose, slightly phoenix-shaped eyes, and a diamond-shaped mouth, comparable to Nian.
"Of course, our Madam has always trusted me. My sister must also be highly regarded by Ninth Prince and Ninth Madam, which is why she was brought along to our eldest princess's wedding." Seeing that she hadn't said anything yet, Madam Nian didn't want to embarrass her and hoped to avoid any unpleasantness.
Lady Tongjia chuckled a few times and said to the women beside her, "Back then, when Sister Nian was in the imperial concubine selection, she said she definitely wanted to enter the Fourth Prince's household. I never expected that she would actually be betrothed to the Fourth Prince, and her wish came true. I remember Sister Nian also said back then that she would definitely become the Fourth Prince's concubine. Now it seems that it's almost true. Sister Nian is truly blessed; all the things she wished for have come true one by one."
When Lady Nian heard this, her face darkened. She hadn't expected that this Lady Tongjia would say in front of so many people that she had talked nonsense with several other girls during the selection process.
Sitting at another table, Madam Wu naturally noticed the commotion.
"Is Sister Tong drunk? Why are you talking nonsense?" Madam Nian was clearly displeased.
"Oh dear, Sister Nian, don't be angry. I was just joking. Anyway, everyone is here with you today, and we're all happy to see how highly regarded you are. Right?" Seeing that Nian was displeased, Tongjia quickly smoothed things over, pulling a princess aside to speak.
Seeing that she had stopped talking, Nian didn't want to talk to him any longer. He excused himself to go to the toilet, stood up, left the table full of people, and took Cuiling's hand to go into his room.
"You shameless woman, how dare you bring up those words now! How hateful!!" Madam Nian cursed angrily as soon as she entered her room.
“Please calm down, my lady. This Tongjia woman is clearly just jealous of how much our master and his wife value you, so she said this on purpose,” Cuiling said.
"Hmph, have you made any progress on the source of that rumor I asked you to investigate?" Madam Nian walked into her bedroom, sat down on the chaise longue, and asked.
“I’ve investigated, but I can’t find any source for it. The maids who said it all said they heard it from someone else. But when I asked them, some denied it, and some said they never said it,” Cui Ling said in a low voice.
"Hmph, it must be that Yehe clanswoman. She deliberately slandered me like this so that the master would hear it and become suspicious of me. How vicious!" Nian Shi said angrily. Little did she know how she herself had treated those people in the past.
“I will investigate further, but the Yehe clan is indeed the most likely candidate. When this rumor started, the concubine had not yet returned. Consort Song and Consort Geng never paid attention to the infighting in the inner quarters, leaving only Consort Wu and Consort Yehe. Consort Wu has never had any dealings with us, only Consort Yehe has a grudge against the master,” Cui Ling analyzed.
"Hmph, you're not exactly innocent either! You pretended to be so pure and shy at first, but now you've finally shown your true colors. Fine, you're going to play dirty tricks on me, let's see who comes out on top!" Nian said, her almond-shaped eyes wide open.
“My lady, let me help you back. The other princesses are still outside. It’s not good for you to linger. The Fujin entrusted this matter to you; it should have been the concubine’s responsibility. Does the Fujin intend to promote the princesses?” Cuiling asked.
Madam Nian glanced at Cuiling and pondered, "I heard that Master instructed that the one in the South Courtyard is not to interfere in anything. It seems he cherishes her and doesn't want her to be overworked? Hmph, I guess he's worried that she's pregnant again and doesn't want her to get tired, so he dumped this matter on me."
Lady Nian now felt that being responsible for entertaining the concubines and secondary consorts from various households sounded like a good thing, but it was also a double-edged sword. If she did well, people would gossip behind her back about whether she wanted a promotion; if she did poorly, she would be even less favored by her master and consort. However, everything has its advantages and disadvantages, and Lady Nian's social skills were not weak. Although she was not happy to take on this task, she still did it very well. Except for Lady Tongjia from earlier, everyone else was satisfied with her arrangements.
After Lady Nian came out, everyone was still eating, drinking, and gossiping. She glanced at Lady Tongjia and saw her chatting and laughing with one of the Tenth Prince's concubines, without anything unusual happening to her.
Meanwhile, in the main courtyard, the wives of the princes had also set up two tables, around which the wives of the princes from various households sat chatting about everyday matters and asking about the troubles in their respective households. These wives of the princes, due to their closeness or distance from their husbands, naturally had varying degrees of closeness or distance in their relationships with each other.
Lingxiu suddenly returned from the courtyard gate. She tiptoed to the Fujin's side, whispered a few words in her ear, and then withdrew. The Fujin showed no reaction and continued talking to the Third and Fifth Fujins sitting beside her.
However, at another table, two sisters, the Eighth Prince's wife and the Tenth Prince's wife, were talking together. It turned out that the Tenth Prince's wife had been harboring a lot of resentment towards Shuhui because she saw how much the Tenth Prince valued her. Now that she also knew that Shuhui was the one Lanqin had brought to the villa and pushed in front of the Tenth Prince, she felt the same way as the Eighth Prince's wife—she hated Lanqin with a vengeance.
“Sister, we sisters have both fallen for the same person’s trick. Are we just going to let it go like this?” said Mingyue, the Tenth Princess.
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