Chapter Twenty-Four: Heading Home
Ruan Bi woke up around noon, feeling a burning pain on both sides of her thighs. Lifting her skirt, she saw several large, translucent blisters. Xiuzhi, without hesitation, cursed Gu Xiaobai again, then pricked each blister with a needle and applied a thick layer of ointment. Now, she couldn't learn to ride a horse and could only stay indoors.
After lunch, she did some needlework for a while. At four quarters past noon, Gu Jingyi sent someone to invite her over.
Ruan Bi went to the side hall, where she was practicing the zither with a worried expression, while behind her stood the same group of servants holding various pets.
Upon seeing her, Gu Jingyi stood up happily, ran over, grabbed her hand, and said, "Sister Ruan, I heard that my little Bai brother bullied you?"
"No," Ruan Bi said. "I was in a hurry and ran a little too fast."
Gu Jingyi pouted and said, "Sister Ruan still has to cover for him. When I was learning to ride a horse, he would always come over and tease me, saying that I was too slow and couldn't learn. He would whip my horse, which almost made my stomach churn. Sister, let me tell you, Brother Xiaobai is the worst."
The parrot flapped its wings and said, "Little White Brother is a big bad guy."
No sooner had she finished speaking than Gu Xiaobai's voice rang out: "Gu Jingyi, you've taught that stupid bird to talk bad about me again."
Startled, Gu Jingyi quickly waved for the maid holding the parrot to leave and called out, "Brother Xiaobai, did you hear me wrong?"
"I didn't mishear you, or I'll catch this stupid bird and roast it for dinner." Gu Xiaobai said as he walked in, dressed in a light blue robe embroidered with gold, his hair tied up with a golden crown—truly a handsome young man. Seeing Ruan Bi there, he felt awkward and unsure what to do, so he simply raised his chin, adopting a haughty expression, and said, "Um... Fifth Miss, are you made of dough? You threw up after running around a few times..."
Ruan Bi had no temper with this young master and just stared at him silently.
Gu Xiaobai continued, "...And how can you be so stupid? Don't you know that when a horse's hooves lift up, its body lifts up too? And when its hooves fall down, its body falls down too? You always do the opposite, of course it's uncomfortable to be jostled around like that."
"Young Master is right, I was too stupid."
Gu Xiaobai felt uneasy listening to this. He looked at her carefully and said, "You're not blaming me again, are you? Last time I just pushed you, and you held a grudge for so long. Are you going to hold a grudge again this time?"
Ruan Bi said calmly, "Young Master is overthinking it. I didn't mean that."
Gu Xiaobai looked at her, puzzled, but couldn't figure out what was going on. He could only wave his hand and say, "Never mind, never mind, I'll teach you again tomorrow."
Ruan Bi was too lazy to pay attention to him anymore, and pulled Gu Jingyi aside to talk.
Gu Xiaobai sat for a while, listening to them talk about cats and dogs, which was really boring. Remembering that he hadn't yet paid his respects to his parents and grandfather after returning from the Imperial Academy, he went back to the Duke of Dingguo's mansion across the street. After dinner, thinking about teaching Ruan Bi to ride a horse early the next morning, he went to bed early. Perhaps because he had something on his mind, he tossed and turned for half the night before finally falling asleep. He slept for less than an hour, then sat up abruptly, saw that it was pitch black outside the window, and had to lie back down. He tossed and turned for a while longer before finally falling asleep again. When he woke up, the sun was shining through half the window.
Gu Xiaobai exclaimed "Ouch!" and jumped off the bed. Without calling for a maid to come in and serve him, he put on his clothes himself. Stepping outside, he saw Anping sitting in the courtyard chatting with the other servants. He went up and kicked him, saying, "All you do is talk like a woman. What time is it? Why don't you wake me up?"
Anping said, "Oh dear, young master, if you're asleep, even the King of Heaven wouldn't dare wake you. Besides, there's no school at the Imperial Academy today, so why are you up so early?"
Gu Xiaobai said, "Enough with the nonsense, hurry up and fetch my horse."
Anping said, "Young Master, what's the rush? You haven't even washed your face or eaten before heading out?"
"Shut up." Gu Xiaobai glared at him and walked out on her own.
Anping and his servants quickly followed.
He retrieved his horse from the stable, mounted it, and galloped out of the Dinggong Mansion's side gate like a whirlwind. Diagonally across the street was the Huiwen Princess's residence. From afar, he saw two carriages parked in front of the east gate. Cui Jiu and a group of servants stood at the gate talking, while several female servants carrying brocade boxes and bolts of cloth boarded the second carriage. Gu Xiaobai was surprised, but he spurred his horse and unleashed his full horsemanship skills, making the horse gallop like the wind.
Anping, who was behind him, couldn't help but yell, "My young master, please slow down, please slow down!"
Gu Xiaobai wouldn't listen to him. He ran straight to Cui Jiu's side, reined in his horse, and asked, "Who's going out?"
Cui Jiu said, "It's not that anyone is going out, it's that Miss Ruan is going back."
Gu Xiaobai exclaimed in surprise, "Ah! Why are you leaving already? I haven't even taught her to ride a horse yet!" With that, he spurred his horse forward, went to the first carriage, and coughed lightly, "Fifth Miss, why are you leaving already? Aren't you going to learn to ride?"
Ruan Bi said from inside the car, "Grandmother is not well. I have been away from home for two days and I have been very worried about her. I hope that when I have the chance, I can ask the young master to teach me how to ride a horse."
Gu Xiaobai gave an "Oh," looking rather wistful. He reined in his horse and stood there, neither moving nor speaking. He listened as Ruan Bi exchanged pleasantries with Cui Jiu, thanking the Princess for her hospitality and promising to return another day to express their gratitude. After a while, Cui Jiu waved his hand, and the carriage departed.
The wheels turned, making a rumbling sound.
Ruan Bi also breathed a sigh of relief. Although the princess treated her very well, being a guest was never as comfortable as being at home.
Xiuzhi glanced at Gu Xiaobai, who was still standing there dumbfounded outside the window, and muttered to herself, "This young master Gu is really strange."
Granny Liu coughed lightly and glared at her.
Xiuzhi knew she was being reminded that the coachman was from the Princess's residence, so she stuck out her tongue and dared not say anything more.
The three, master and servant, remained silent the entire way.
Upon arriving at the Ruan residence and alighting from the carriage, the steward ushered the four maids from the Princess's household to a side hall. While informing the First Madam, he also served tea. Although they were maids, they were still from the Princess's household and had brought gifts. The First Madam dared not neglect them and personally came to the side hall to receive them.
The head old nanny took out a bright red gift list from her bosom and handed it over, saying, "This is a reward from the Eldest Princess to the Fifth Miss."
The First Madam took the gift, glanced at it, and saw a row of jewelry and fabrics, as well as some exquisite food and tea, all of which were rarely seen outside. She was both surprised and annoyed. What was it about this Fifth Girl that caught Princess Huiwen's eye? Suppressing her displeasure, she waved her hand, signaling the maids and wives to take the reward.
They then ordered the steward to bring out two silver ingots specifically for tipping.
The servants of the Princess's residence resolutely refused to accept the tea and took their leave after drinking it.
After they left, the First Madam glanced at the gift list again, quite displeased. She handed it to Ruan Bi and said, "This is a gift from the Princess. Keep it yourself. Be careful not to lose or damage it." After saying that, she looked at Ruan Bi with a burning gaze, hoping that she would be sensible and offer to keep it for herself.
Ruan Bi had already considered this in the carriage: no matter how humble she was, she wouldn't win the favor of the First Madam. It would be better to do her best to please the Old Madam to secure her own position. So she accepted the gift list without hesitation and said, "Yes, daughter will take good care of it."
The First Madam suppressed her anger and said coldly, "You've been gone for two days. Go see your grandmother. She was still thinking about you this morning."
Ruan Bi agreed and respectfully withdrew from the side hall, leading the servants to the old lady's courtyard with the rewards.
When the young maids saw her, they all rushed to lift the curtain and say, "Fifth Miss is back."
The old lady's voice rang out from inside: "Quickly, call her in."
Ruan Bi entered the side hall and gracefully bowed. The old lady pulled her up and sat her on the edge of the couch, carefully examining her for a while before saying, "Oh, it's only been two days since I last saw you, why do you look a little different?"
The old nanny Zheng, standing nearby, said with a smile, "The young lady is changing a lot as she grows up; she looks different every day."
The old lady nodded with a smile, took Ruan Bi's hand, and asked carefully where she was staying in the Princess's residence, how the Princess treated her, and what she had said to the Princess.
Hearing Ruan Bi say that she was staying at Qiuhua Garden next to the Princess's bedroom, she was taken aback. Wealthy families usually had guest quarters for their guests, which were generally some distance from the inner courtyard. She was even more surprised to hear that Gu Jingyi and the Princess were having lunch and dinner together. When Ruan Bi handed over the gift list, she was even more surprised, thinking to herself, "Luckily, I didn't marry her off to the cripple from the First Madam's family."
She opened the gift list and saw that it was full of exquisite items for a young woman's occasion. After a moment's thought, the old lady said, "Your mother told you to keep them yourself, so you should. You're all grown up now, and you should learn to manage your belongings. If there's anything you don't know how to do, just ask your mother."
Hearing this, Ruan Bi felt a pang of guilt. After talking for a while, she happily returned to her east wing with the gifts. She counted the items and had Xiuzhi register them one by one. Then she picked out five bolts of cloth and several pearl palace flowers, intending to personally deliver them to the young ladies.
According to the order of seniority, the first one to be sent is naturally the second daughter.
When she arrived at the Second Miss's courtyard, the Second Miss was feeding her thrushes in the side hall. She glanced at Chunyun sideways and handed her a silver spoon. She walked over to look at the fabric, scoffed, and said, "The color of this fabric is so gaudy; only those people from brothels and theaters could wear it." She then picked up the pearl hairpin and looked at it, saying disdainfully, "The pearls are so small; if we wear this out, people will think our Ruan family is poor."
Xiuzhi lowered her head, her mouth twisted with anger.
Ruan Bi, however, was already prepared. She said calmly, "I knew these things were meant to insult Second Sister, so I'll go back now and not bother her any longer." It was better that she didn't accept them; she would have gotten something for herself. If word got back to the old lady, she would have earned a bad reputation for being eccentric.
The second young lady had been given some pointers by the first lady these past two days, and had become quite shrewd. She knew that it was best to just get the upper hand verbally, and that going too far would be disadvantageous. So she said, "Fifth sister, why are you in such a hurry? You're so kind, it would be unreasonable for me not to accept it. I can just give it to Chunyun to make her autumn clothes." She turned and glared at Chunyun, "What are you standing there for? Come over and thank the fifth young lady."
Chunyun stepped forward helplessly and said, "Thank you, Fifth Miss." Then she took the cloth and the pearl palace flower.
The second young lady said, "It is impolite not to reciprocate, so I also have something to give to my fifth sister." After saying that, she winked at Chunliu.
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