Chapter 86 Unexpected
Early the next morning, the First Madam brought Ruan Bi to the Duke of Dingguo's mansion.
When Madam Gu met them in the main hall, she was very kind and the tea and snacks she served were exquisite.
After exchanging a few pleasantries, the First Madam stated her purpose: "I am truly sorry about yesterday. I originally intended to fetch a doctor for Young Master Gu, but he only said he was fine and that we didn't need to trouble him, and then went straight back to his residence. My daughter and I were worried all night, and we didn't know if his injury was serious or not."
It must be admitted that the First Madam is quite eloquent. Although Gu Xiaobai was angry and refused to call a doctor, she said that he did not want to trouble the Ruan family, thus taking good care of the face of both families.
Upon hearing the words, "My daughter and I were worried sick all night," Madam Gu's gaze swept over Ruan Bi. Seeing her dressed in plain clothes, her brows furrowed, a faint worry between her brows, a stark contrast to her previous flamboyance, Madam Gu believed her and her impression of Ruan Bi improved slightly. "My little Bai has been exceptionally mischievous since childhood, getting injured countless times from rolling and tumbling. This little injury is nothing. I checked him last night; it's not serious, he'll recover in a couple of days. I told him not to ride a horse these next few days, but he went out riding early this morning. I wonder where he's off gallivanting off to now. I'm truly sorry to have made you worry all night."
Hearing that Gu Xiaobai wasn't there, Ruan Bi breathed a sigh of relief. She was just puzzled by Madam Gu's amiable attitude. Had Gu Xiaobai not said anything? Or was Madam Gu simply the kind of person with exceptional refinement, always outwardly amiable?
Hearing that there was no blame in her tone, the First Madam breathed a sigh of relief and said, "Then I am relieved. I came in a hurry today and only prepared some liniment, Wan Ying Bai Bao Dan, and Bai Ri Sheng Ji Wan from Zheng Xin Tang to express my heartfelt wishes. I hope Madam Gu will accept them." As she spoke, she gestured to Bao Zhen behind her to hand over the gift box.
“These are all rare and precious medicines for treating injuries. Madam Ruan is very kind.” Madam Gu said, gesturing for the maid behind her to step forward and take the medicine. “When Xiaobai returns, I will have him personally come to thank you.”
Upon hearing this, Ruan Bi's head immediately throbbed. This back-and-forth, was it ever going to end? Yesterday, she had resolved to say something harsh, intending to cut the Gordian knot quickly, but now, with all this dragging on, it felt like being slowly tortured to death.
They chatted for a while longer, mostly about trivial family matters, but because both host and guest were eager to please each other, the atmosphere was harmonious and filled with laughter. After sitting for half an hour, with tea refilled three times, the First Madam and Ruan Bi politely took their leave. Madam Gu did not try to stop them, but instructed the servants to prepare some delicate pastries for Ruan Bi to take home.
After exiting the alley in front of the Duke of Dingguo's mansion, the carriage twisted and turned, passing through a bustling street where carriages flowed like water and swords seemed to gleam like dragons, before suddenly stopping. The First Madam, who had been resting with her eyes closed, opened them and frowned, asking, "What's wrong?"
The coachman outside replied, "Madam, I don't know either, there's just a traffic jam ahead."
The First Madam lifted the curtain and glanced outside. Sure enough, she saw carriages, oxcarts, mule carts, and other vehicles parked ahead, with pedestrians and porters all looking forward. She then told her servant to go ahead and investigate. The servant squeezed through the crowd and soon saw a group of people gathered. From within the crowd came shouts: "Gu Xiaobai, you little brat, get out of my way! Your Master Du is in a good mood today and won't bother with you."
Immediately following was a teenage boy's voice going through puberty: "Pah, what kind of Uncle Du is that? He's clearly a bastard. How dare you call my young master by his name? You think you're worthy to tell our young master to make way? Take a piss and look at yourself in the mirror. I, Anping, am telling you this upfront: you'd better get out of our way right now, or I'll break one of your legs, just like last time."
The voice from before rang out again: "A lowly servant like you dares to spout such nonsense? Get out of my way! I'm talking to your master, what right do you have to interrupt?"
The servant of the Ruan family squeezed through the crowd and saw two groups of people standing about ten feet apart, all dressed in fine clothes and riding spirited horses, with large groups of servants. He roughly estimated that there were twenty or thirty people on each side, crowding the road. It seemed that they had met on a narrow road and had a long-standing grudge, so neither side was willing to give way.
The servant had met Gu Xiaobai just yesterday, so he recognized him at a glance. Standing at the head of the group opposite him, riding a tall horse, he looked extremely arrogant, his nostrils almost pointing to the sky, and said disdainfully, "Anping, you're such a chatterbox. Can't you see that Master Du's bones are itching? Why don't you go up and give him a massage?"
At this command, Anping dismounted, brandishing his whip, and charged forward with a group of servants. The other side was not to be outdone, dismounting and rushing forward as well. Whips flew, shouts rose and fell, one cried "Ouch!" another "**!" Chaos ensued, hairpins were torn, shoes were trampled off, faces were bruised, noses were swollen. The onlookers, fearing they would be caught in the crossfire, scattered to avoid the chaos, but every now and then a boot would fly overhead, a stone would whiz past their ear. As for the porters carrying their wares, even more were caught in the crossfire, their candied hawthorn skewers and tangerines scattered all over the ground.
The servant of the Ruan family hurriedly slipped through the crowd back to the carriage and whispered, "Two groups of young masters met on the road and started fighting. It's unlikely to stop anytime soon." After thinking for a moment, he added, "One group is led by Young Master Gu, and the other is led by Young Master Du."
No sooner had he finished speaking than there was a loud thud on the roof of the carriage.
The First Madam was astonished and asked, "What is that?"
The servant climbed up the carriage shaft to take a look, then came down carrying a boot and said, "It's a boot."
"This is utter nonsense." The First Madam shook her head, but felt quite pleased. She glanced sideways at Ruan Bi, thinking, "So what if the Duke of Dingguo's mansion takes a liking to you? Gu Xiaobai is nothing but a spoiled brat." After thinking for a moment, she said, "Driver, let's take the long way back."
The driver said with difficulty, "I'm afraid the lady is not going to make it; the cars behind us are blocking our way."
The First Madam peeked out and, sure enough, many more carriages and horses were approaching from behind. Now, they couldn't move forward or backward; the road was completely blocked. With no other option, she could only sit there, listening to the commotion gradually approaching, followed by the thumping sound of running horses.
The First Madam and Ruan Bi couldn't contain their curiosity and peeked through the curtains. First, they saw a number of porters and laborers running between the carts, followed by several disheveled young men dressed as servants, their faces bruised and swollen, some even barefoot. Then came a few young gentlemen in fine clothes, their attire neat but their expressions disheveled. Finally, a group of ragged servants came chasing after them, some wielding whips, others stones, and still others brandishing carrying poles, their manner menacing.
Ruan Bi recognized one of them as An Ping. His clothes were half-undone, he was barefoot, and he was holding his boot high in his hand, a far cry from his usual nagging and cowardly self. Ruan Bi couldn't help but shake her head and sigh inwardly, "Like master, like servant."
Reaching the Ruan family's carriage, Anping stopped, laughing loudly, "You spineless cowards, spouting all that heroism! Just get out of the way already! You only learn your lesson when we show our might!" With that, he threw his boots on the ground and slipped them inside. Turning to leave, he caught a glimpse of the Ruan family's carriage out of the corner of his eye, paused, and then looked out the window, his eyes meeting Ruan Bi's. "Oh dear!" he cried, quickly turning back. He hadn't gone far when all the surrounding carriages started moving. It turned out that Young Master Du and his gang had been driven away, and the road was suddenly clear.
The carriage moved forward, and Gu Xiaobai and the other young masters rode over on horseback, excitedly shouting, "Well done, Anping! I'll reward you when we get back!"
Anping hurried forward and pointed to the carriage of the Ruan family.
Gu Xiaobai looked over in confusion. Ruan Bi hadn't had time to lower the carriage curtain yet. Their eyes met, and Gu Xiaobai felt extremely embarrassed. He then put on an arrogant expression and turned his head away disdainfully.
In the instant he turned his head, the carriage of the Ruan family brushed past him. Ruan Bi took in the disdain and arrogance in his expression and breathed a slight sigh of relief. How could someone as proud and arrogant as him tolerate her rejection? Perhaps he felt he had lost face, so he hadn't told Madam Gu yet.
As expected, Gu Xiaobai did not personally come to thank her for the next two days as Madam Gu had said. Ruan Bi was completely relieved, but occasionally the image of the boy's youthful eyes when he handed her the flower hairpin would flash through her mind, leaving her with a faint sense of loss.
At noon on September 25th, she was dozing off when she heard Manyun outside ask, "Hasn't the young lady gotten up yet? The old lady is looking for her."
Ruan Bi quickly got up, fixing her hair as she said, "Sister Manyun, I'm up."
Manyun came in, smiling as she looked at Ruan Bi and said, "Congratulations, Miss. Congratulations!"
Ruan Bi froze, her hand still smoothing her hair. She asked, "Sister Manyun, what brings you this joy?"
"Girl, you're so clever, do I need to tell you? Right now, the old lady is meeting with the Lady of Dongping Marquis and wants you to go over and thank her."
She was a complete stranger to Lady Dongping, and this sudden thank you seemed... but why was it like this? Had Gu Xiaobai not mentioned it? Ruan Bi's hands froze, and her expression stiffened as well. Manyun looked at her in surprise and said, "What's wrong, Miss? Are you overjoyed?"
"Sister Manyun, please stop making fun of me." Ruan Bi snapped out of her daze, straightened her hair, and said, "Let's go."
Even before entering the old lady's room, a festive atmosphere could be smelled through the thick curtains. Upon entering, the joy was even more palpable; the usually dignified and serious old lady was all smiles, her brows beaming with happiness. The Lady of Dongping Marquis also smiled contentedly. Seeing Ruan Bi enter, she said, "Oh, Fifth Miss is here! It's only been a month since I last saw her, and she looks even more refined. No wonder everyone loves her." Turning to the old lady, she said, "Sister Liu, you are truly blessed."
"What a blessing! This girl has always caused me so much worry since she was little. Now I can finally breathe a sigh of relief." After a pause, the old lady said, "Fifth girl, quickly kowtow to Madam Pan."
Lady Dongping said, "No, no, that won't do."
The old lady said, "Of course, of course. It's a blessing for this girl to be able to kowtow to you."
Ruan Bi knelt down and bowed her head respectfully. Before she could finish kowtowing, the Lady of Dongping Marquis pulled her up, took a gold bracelet from her wrist and put it on her hand, saying, "It's just a small token, to add some joy to the Fifth Miss."
Ruan Bi turned to look at the old lady, who nodded, indicating that she should accept the gift, and then thanked her politely.
Lady Dongping then pulled her aside and asked her many questions. She answered one by one, and another by another. She herself was not sure what she had answered, but seeing that the old lady and Lady Dongping both looked happy, she figured she hadn't answered incorrectly.
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