Li Shiyue, unable to hide her anger as she walked out of Songyuan, hurried along for a long distance before finally feeling tired and weak in the legs when she stopped.
Chunling followed behind, holding the food box steadily. She stopped with Li Shiyue and burst out laughing, "You're different now, Miss."
Li Shiyue raised her eyes, remained silent, and looked at Chunling.
Chunling suppressed a laugh: "Miss, you dare to argue with the young master now. You've rarely been so temperamental since the mistress passed away."
A gentle breeze swept by silently, and I could faintly hear it whispering in my ear, like the gentle murmur of my mother's voice.
Li Shiyue remained stunned for a long time, a bitter smile in her eyes. What Chunling said was indeed the truth. She had been cautious when she entered the manor, but in less than half a year, she had already dared to show disrespect to Xu Yunci.
"Miss?" Chunling looked puzzled, wondering if she had said something wrong and angered the young lady.
But Li Shiyue came to her senses and said, "Let's go back, my grandmother is waiting for me."
She left quickly. Inside the pine garden, Xu Yunci sat in his study, the teacup beside him having gone from warm to cold again. When Chang Shun replaced it with a new one, it was still not warm and had not been drunk at all.
Chang Shun stood under the corridor, scratching his head, completely baffled as to what was wrong with the young master. Suddenly, a familiar hem of clothing floated past his eyes, and Xu Yunci had already walked out of Songyuan.
Chang Shun hurriedly followed, and seeing that it was heading towards the back courtyard, he guessed that the young master was going to Shousong Hall, so he quickly followed.
The next morning, Li Shiyue woke up early. Perhaps because the weather was getting warmer, she felt sticky and uncomfortable with a bit of sweat on her body when she woke up.
Sunlight streamed in through the window, and birds seemed to be chirping in the corridor and courtyard. The chirping of the morning became the most harmonious melody, swirling around my ears.
"Are you awake, young lady? If you are, please get up. You have a banquet to attend today."
Lian Dong's voice came through the veil, followed by light, steady footsteps that grew closer.
Li Shiyue got up and let Lian Dong and Chun Ling do her hair and makeup. Looking at the pair of hairpins in Chun Ling's hand, she shook her head: "Today I want to wear the pair of Hetian blue jade hairpins, which will match the blue jade mountain hairpin that my aunt sent."
Chunling put down the hair ornament in her hand, first inserting the small blue jade hairpin into the center of her hair bun, and then taking out a pair of jade hairpins and inserting them into the sides.
Her gaze fell on the dressing table, and she picked out some small hairpins to fill in the gaps in her hair, making the overall look much more presentable.
Lian Dong took out brand-new clothes from the closet and helped Li Shiyue put them on. After everything was settled, they had breakfast with Old Madam Xu before heading to the main courtyard.
She moved at a leisurely pace, almost at a snail's pace. She didn't want to go so fast. If Xu Yunci were here, she honestly didn't want to see him after his attitude yesterday.
It's not that I hate it, I just want to avoid it. Hearing such cold words makes me feel so sad.
She hadn't expected to walk so slowly, but she still managed to spot Xu Yunci beside Yang, as well as Xu Lingzi and Xu Yunxu.
Upon seeing her enter, Xu Lingzi was the quickest to greet her, taking her hand and looking her over before pulling her to stand before Madam Yang: "Mother, I knew Jiaojiao looked good in blue too."
Today she wore a light-patterned peacock blue jacket with a front opening, and an outer layer of thin, gossamer-like gauze of the same color, which almost blended into the jacket.
She wore a pale white and blue patterned cross-collar dress underneath, with a belt at her waist that matched the style of her outer garment. As she walked, the belt moved with the hem of her dress.
Madam Yang examined her closely, a satisfied look on her face: "That's because Jiaojiao is so beautiful; she looks good in anything."
This outfit was a new spring dress that Madam Yang had ordered made. She was right next to her at the time, and Xu Lingzi picked it out for her. It was indeed very beautiful.
Moreover, this feather satin is precious, not to mention the outermost gauze garment, which is even more valuable and would cost a fortune. Li Shiyue stood beside Xu Lingzi, greeted the two brothers on the other side, and then fell silent.
Madam Yang stood up: "It's almost time, let's go."
Li Shiyue and Xu Lingzi followed beside Madam Yang, while Xu Yunci and Xu Yunxu followed behind. Throughout the entire time, Li Shiyue did not look up at anyone else, and occasionally spoke to Xu Lingzi, appearing very serious.
Xu Yunci kept stroking the patterns on the thumb ring. Xu Yunxu saw this and followed his brother's gaze to Li Shiyue, remembering what his mother had told him yesterday about his cousin's marriage to the Xu family.
He lowered his voice: "Second brother, do you know that Grandmother is going to find a husband for Yan Yan? Mother asked me about it yesterday."
Before he could finish speaking, Xu Yunci cast a chilling glance his way. Xu Yunxu had always respected his older brother since childhood, and he could roughly guess what Xu Yunci meant from just one look.
It's like saying: Don't even think about it.
Xu Yunxu swallowed hard and made a gesture of surrender: "I didn't have any bad intentions. I respect my cousin very much."
Of course he knows!
Xu Yunci couldn't help but roar in his heart. He was just feeling awkward. It turned out that Guo Xun was only looking at the Sixth Sister's fortune. He had misunderstood and treated her like that yesterday.
Thinking of how her little cousin left Songyuan yesterday, looking completely different from when she arrived, Xu Yunci felt a throbbing pain in her forehead.
Once they were in the carriage, Xu Yunci didn't get a chance to speak to Li Shiyue. When they arrived at the Ministry of Revenue's residence, given the Xu family's status, they were practically latecomers. Before the carriage even stopped, the host family members at the gate had already come to greet them.
There is a distinction between men and women, especially since today is the 70th birthday banquet of the old lady of the Minister of Revenue's family. The guests who have come to the door are extremely distinguished. As soon as Li Shiyue got off the carriage, she and Yang's mother and daughter were led to the women's banquet in the back courtyard.
At the Crown Princess's polo match, everyone had seen Princess Li Shiyue of Yichang County. Even the maids beside the women looked on with curiosity. After hearing that the Xu family of the Rongguo Duke's Mansion had arrived, they all looked towards the entrance of the flower hall.
The old lady of the Ministry of Revenue's residence, whose surname was Xiao, was about the same age as Madam Xu. She was surrounded by people in the very center. Today was her special day. She wore a deep red cross-collar jacket with dark patterns, a set of pure gold headdress, and a jade ring the size of a pigeon's egg on her hand, exuding luxury.
Upon hearing the name of the Rongguo Duke's Mansion, she actually tried to get up. Madam Yang quickened her pace and hurriedly supported Old Madam Xiao: "It's been a long time since I've seen you, Old Madam. You look even better."
Madam Xiao smiled and sat back down: "Look at your mouth, you still know how to talk. I was just thinking about you, and here you are."
After saying that, her gaze fell on the women behind Yang. She recognized Xu Lingzi, Xu Lingqing, and Xu Lingwan, but Li Shiyue was unfamiliar to her.
This must be the cousin from the Xu family who visited before the New Year; I heard she has a troubled past. Older people always seem to dote on younger generations, and her eyes held a hint of affection: "I haven't met this child yet."
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