Chapter Eighty Disliked by both men and dogs
Time always flies by like a shooting star, and the clock is already approaching the sixth quarter of the hour of Si (9-11 AM).
The Prince of Jin gently smoothed a strand of hair from Ruan Bi's temple and said reluctantly, "Did you remember what I just said?"
"Remember that."
"A lot of things might happen in the future..."
“.
"Then, go ahead." The Prince of Jin suppressed his reluctance, regained his usual resolve, and decisively let go of her hand.
Ruan Bi turned and walked to the door, then turned back to look at him with a bright smile. "I'll wait for you to take me to Xingping City."
The Prince of Jin smiled and nodded emphatically.
Ruan Bi then opened the door and went out. Yun Ying, who was sitting under the eaves, quickly stood up to greet her and pulled her towards the small door. Ruan Bi looked at the empty courtyard, only sunlight filtering through, and heard only the soft sound of footsteps around her. Curious, she whispered, "What did Youde do just now? Is he no longer causing trouble?"
Yunying chuckled and said, "That scoundrel Youde... the girl will be done with him as soon as she sees him."
The two passed through a small door and entered the reception room. There sat the second young lady, her face full of anger, her left bun disheveled, her hair wet and loose. Chunliu was wiping her hair with a handkerchief. Xiuzhi stood beside her with a basin of water, her posture respectful, but her eyes were full of schadenfreude. The receptionist from the Tiangong Embroidery Workshop stood nearby, bowing slightly, and said apologetically, "I'm so sorry, Miss Ruan, I forgot to tell you, we keep many pigeons in our backyard…"
Ruan Bi became increasingly curious and asked, "What is this? Two."
The second young lady glared at her angrily, no.
The greeter smiled apologetically and said, "Miss Ruan, just now Miss Ruan heard that you and Miss Yunying went to the backyard, so she wanted to come find you too. But our embroidery workshop keeps many pigeons in the backyard. So as soon as she arrived, a clumsy pigeon flew over and dropped a pile of droppings on her head… I'm so sorry."
A young lady from a prominent family must always maintain a neat and tidy appearance. Having pigeon droppings in her hair, even if they weren't hers, was certainly embarrassing and extremely unlucky. No wonder the second young lady was so angry. Ruan Bi thought to herself, "Youde really is a wicked person." Although she tried her best to suppress it, a smile finally appeared on her face, and she teased, "Sister-in-law, don't blame yourself. It wasn't yours to begin with. Perhaps that pigeon also heard of my second daughter's reputation and rushed to take a look."
Everyone present couldn't help but laugh, even Chunliu couldn't hold it in, her cheek muscles twitching slightly.
If she were clever, she would have used the opportunity to make a self-deprecating remark and gracefully exit the situation. However, the second young lady was proud and arrogant, and felt it was too humiliating. She also felt everyone was laughing at her, and her face grew increasingly ashen. But since she wasn't in the manor, she couldn't lash out. Seeing Chunliu secretly laughing, she glared at her fiercely, snatched the handkerchief from her hand, and said, "Go and call the third and fourth young ladies. It's almost noon; we need to go back to the manor."
Chunliu hurriedly ran out of the reception room and into the workshop next door.
The fourth young lady and a group of embroiderers were exchanging tips and enjoying themselves when Chunliu came to call them. She was somewhat reluctant, but seeing the time, she couldn't stay any longer. She had no choice but to go with the third young lady. The hostess repeatedly apologized to the second young lady before respectfully seeing everyone out.
Ruan Bi didn't want to ride in the same carriage as the second young lady, so she boarded the second carriage early. However, as soon as she got in, the second young lady followed her in. As soon as the carriage started moving, she stared at her and impatiently asked, "Where did you go?"
"I accompanied Yunying to visit her fellow villagers."
"Her fellow villagers aren't your fellow villagers, what's so interesting about them? Besides, do you have to go to the backyard to visit fellow villagers? That's their family's custom."
Ruan Bi ignored her and turned to look out the window.
The second daughter said smugly that she couldn't answer, "I was being sneaky. I deliberately led us to the workshop, then went to the backyard to see our fellow villagers. Most likely, they saw something unspeakable. Otherwise, it would be like last time at Tianqing Temple, where they were all smiles after seeing someone."
Upon hearing this, Chunliu secretly glanced at Ruan Bi and saw that her cheeks were slightly flushed and her eyes were filled with spring, making her look even more beautiful than usual.
Seeing that Ruan Bi still ignored her, the second young lady's anger flared. She said, "Don't think I'm being rude; you must have seen the bearded man just now."
Ruan Bi couldn't help but admire her intuition, but casually asked the bearded man, "..."
"It's that bearded guy who kept staring at you from the entrance of Tianqing Temple."
"I have absolutely no recollection of it, but I've certainly taken it to heart."
"You dare say you're not?"
“I told you I wasn’t.”
Seeing that her expression remained unchanged, and that she didn't reveal a word, the second young lady, realizing her plan had failed, said indignantly, "Just keep being stubborn. Sooner or later I'll find out who he is. What shamelessness! She just hooked up with Young Master Gu, and now she's hooked up with some unknown guy with a full beard, looking like a gorilla. He's obviously no good."
Hearing her say that about Prince Jin, Ruan Bi was annoyed. She snorted coldly and said, "Go ahead and investigate, but don't be paranoid, don't act rashly, or you'll incur the wrath of heaven and earth, and be hated by everyone. You might even get a bird dropping in broad daylight!"
The second young lady was both angry and ashamed; her face turned pale, but her eyes reddened.
"To be honest, I really don't understand you. You're a legitimate second daughter of the Ruan family, and in terms of background, you're one of the most prominent women in the capital. Everyone praises you as a true lady of a prestigious family. But what about you? You insist on clinging to me, on throwing mud at me, and on stooping to such low levels. You forgot about the head injury you suffered at Tianqing Temple, and now even pigeons can't stand you and have shoved their droppings at you. Are you still not repentant? Besides, you hate me? That's the most absurd thing in the world." What grudge do I hold against you? Is it the murder of my father, or the loss of my husband? If anyone should hate someone, it should be me who hates you. At the beginning of the year, during the plum blossom viewing at the Marquis of Yanping's residence, not only did you not protect me, but you also joined in the commotion with others, almost costing me my life… I nearly died.” After a pause, Ruan Bi took a breath and said, “That day at the chrysanthemum gathering at the Duke of Dingguo's residence, Xie Mingzhu and Han Lu were very aggressive. If I hadn't helped you, you would have been exposed. Not only were you not grateful to me, but you also clamored for revenge, all because Gu Xiaobai helped me pick up a flower hairpin…”
Hearing this, the second daughter found it extremely grating and shouted, "What's it to him? I don't like him anyway!" Though she said this, her heart felt as if it had been pierced by a sword, chilling her to the bone. The lingering smell of bird droppings in her hair made her realize that she was truly despised by both humans and dogs, and her eyes welled up with tears.
Ruan Bi heard her choked voice and saw the tears welling up in her eyes, making her look rather pitiful. But being an adult at heart, she didn't want to argue with a young girl anymore and turned away.
The second girl bit her lip hard to stop the tears from falling, her mind filled with a myriad of thoughts.
Consider this: her grandfather was once the Minister of Revenue, a second-rank official; her father was the Vice Minister of Rites, a third-rank official; her mother was the eldest daughter of the prestigious Wang family of Zhuozhou; and her maternal grandfather was once the Privy Councilor, a second-rank official. Whether it was her own family or her maternal family, the previous three generations were all high-ranking officials. Indeed, as Ruan Bi said, she had a prestigious background in the capital. Her life for the previous fourteen years was also highly praised. After her marriage, she was always the one to represent young ladies in social gatherings, and people praised her for her beauty and virtue. That's why the Marquis of Yanping's family took a liking to her and wanted to marry her to Xie Mingyue.
However, things changed after Ruan Bi recovered from her illness. First, the Marquis of Yanping's family broke off the engagement, and then Ruan Bi became a disciple of Master Ziying. From then on, everyone only saw Ruan Bi's brilliance. No matter how she disguised herself, no matter what, if she wanted, she could steal the limelight in an instant. She could no longer hear praise from others, no longer see appreciation from others... Before, she still felt hopeful, at least Gu Xiaobai liked her. But at the Chrysanthemum Gathering at the Duke of Dingguo's Mansion, when Ruan Bi opened her mouth, when Gu Xiaobai only looked at her, she finally despaired completely...
Tears streamed down her face, and the second daughter turned her head to look out the window, trying not to let anyone see.
The atmosphere in the carriage was somber. Xiuzhi and Chunliu stared at their toes, barely daring to breathe.
Fortunately, the Tiangong Embroidery Workshop was very close to the Ruan residence, and they arrived in no time. Everyone got off the carriage and went back to their respective courtyards. Ruan Bi and the Fourth Miss naturally went together.
"What happened just now? Your eyes were bloodshot."
Ruan Bi casually remarked that she felt wronged because bird droppings fell on her head, and that's why she cried.
"How could two be so fragile?"
Ruan Bi smiled and said no more.
Upon arriving at Liaoyuan Garden, they saw several gardeners peeking through the moon gate and heard faint sounds of arguing coming from inside. Ruan Bi and the Fourth Miss exchanged a puzzled glance and quickened their pace. A group of maids gathered at the entrance made way for them.
The moment I stepped through the courtyard gate, the shouts and curses became clear: "What are you doing hiding in there? Come out if you dare! You hit someone and think you can just hide? There's no such thing as a free lunch. Think about you, if it weren't for my father taking pity on you and giving you a hand, you'd be a beggar long ago. And yet you repay kindness with enmity, instigating that lowly bastard of yours to beat me…"
A thin woman, not yet thirty, stood on the platform in front of the east wing, hands on her hips, spitting from her mouth. She was surrounded by maids and nannies who had come to watch the spectacle. Hanxing and Juzi stood at the entrance of the east wing, seemingly frightened and bewildered.
Ruan Bi recognized her face and thought about it carefully. Wasn't that Sister-in-law Luo, who was in charge of the supplies for each courtyard? She was also the second steward, Luo Shan, who was also Liu Mama's daughter-in-law. She immediately realized that she must have come to scold Liu Mama.
Hearing the footsteps, the maids and nannies who had been watching the commotion turned around. Seeing Ruan Bi and the Fourth Miss enter, they tugged at each other's sleeves and exchanged glances, quickly moving aside. An older nanny standing next to Sister-in-law Luo also tugged lightly at her sleeve, but Sister-in-law Luo, in the middle of her tirade, flicked her sleeve away, saying, "Do it, don't get in my way."
Hanxing and Juzi, upon seeing Ruanbi, rushed over as if seeing a long-lost relative, calling out "Fifth Sister!"
Sister-in-law Luo, now the mistress of the courtyard, quickly turned around and saw Ruan Bi, dressed in a red pomegranate skirt, walking gracefully with a somber expression. Fourth Miss followed a step behind, her face equally expressionless.
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