When Xue Zhilan walked in, she looked quite proud and satisfied.
How could she not be proud? A few months ago, she knew that she was being used by Xu Ranyun, but she had to agree to it. Now it was his turn to taste it so soon. He was a gentleman who would not be late for revenge even after ten years, but she was a woman, and she got her revenge so quickly. How could she not be happy?
Yin had a smile on her face. She greeted Xu Ranyun and then sat down. She looked at her carefully for a few times and pretended to be surprised and said, "Sister, you don't look very good. Have you been worried about something these days? If you are sick, you should find a doctor to treat you as soon as possible. You are still young and you must not leave any root of illness."
Xu Ranyun didn't want to play along with her at the moment, so she sneered and said, "Sister, there's no need to say such things. Just tell me what you're doing here."
Xue Zhilan smiled and said, "Sister, what's wrong? You're so upset, why can't I come to see you? When you came to see me that day, at least I was offered a cup of tea."
"Sister, are you still short of a cup of tea?" Xu Ranyun curled his lips, but still looked at Cuiping beside him and said, "Grandma Lan is dissatisfied with our hospitality. Why don't you let the little girl serve tea?"
Cuiping bowed and smiled, "Don't worry, grandma. Xia Yuxuan will never forget the rules. The girls went to pour tea a long time ago, but I didn't expect grandma Lan to be so anxious. Maybe she was thirsty." After that, she looked at Xue Zhilan and smiled, "If you don't mind, there is boiled water in this room. Can you take a sip to quench your thirst?"
Xue Zhilan was confident of winning today, and she didn't take the provocation of a maid seriously. She looked out the window and said, "It was great that there was a heavy snow a few days ago, but it hasn't snowed in the past few days. It's a pity that the plum blossoms in the garden are blooming so vigorously. I think the red plum blossoms always look better with the white snow. What do you think, sister?"
Why did they bring up the topic of red plum blossoms and white snow? Xu Ranyun frowned slightly and said calmly, "Really? Red plum blossoms and white snow, we see them every year when it snows. We've seen them so many times that they're just like that. I heard that the greenhouse in Meiyue Tower is very good, and there are many precious flowers planted by Aunt Jing. I've always wanted to go and see it. But you know, Aunt Jing and I rarely talk, so it's hard for me to say it. You and Aunt Jing have always been good friends, why don't you find a time to tell her and let's go and see it together?"
Before she finished speaking, Xue Zhilan's face changed slightly. She came here to add insult to injury, but she didn't expect to be stabbed by Xu Ranyun.
Aunt Jing used to be hers. But what about now? She has completely sided with Su Nuannuan. She either goes to Chunfeng Garden or Meiyue Tower all day long. She doesn’t come to her room for several days, let alone talk about intimate things. Last time, she heard Su Nuannuan joke with her that Chunfeng Garden is big. She wanted her to move there so that it would be more convenient for daily communication. Later, for some reason, she dropped the topic. Not long after, news came from Chunfeng Garden. It was said that the master had lost his temper. The little girl couldn’t hear clearly, but she heard the master shout something like "Chunfeng Garden is his, and no one is allowed to touch it. Even Aunt Jing is not allowed to touch Aunt." This sounded like an explanation, but it made Xue Zhilan even more confused: With Aunt Jing's status, she couldn't have her own courtyard. Even if she moved to Chunfeng Garden, she would live in a wing room and listen to the orders of the eldest grandmother. How could it be considered as touching it? The master's hat was a bit too big.
She thought there must be something going on. Although Aunt Jing was very beautiful, Master rarely stayed in her room overnight, which showed that he didn't care much. Since that was the case, Aunt Jing's life would probably be difficult. But after so many days, there was no movement. Xue Zhilan was really confused. She would be nervous about things that she couldn't control, especially since Aunt Jing was getting closer to Chunfengyuan. She hated and was shocked. She hated Aunt Jing for being ungrateful and forgetting the time when she protected her. She was shocked because Su Nuannuan only made friends with Aunt Jing. Was she going to use her to deal with her?
Therefore, Xu Ranyun's words really hurt her, so she stopped teasing him slowly and went straight to him: "Sister wants to see the flowers, what's the difficulty? I'll tell her another day. But I didn't expect that sister still had this idea. I thought you must be very worried now. After all, you are sister, you are calm and steady, and you can sit still at any time. If this happened to me, I don't know how worried I would be. Everyone says that we are the masters, and we look glorious, but in fact, you and I know best in our hearts that masters like us are nothing. If the servants don't listen to us, we are nothing. That's fine. There are always disobedient people. As long as they don't have unscrupulous ideas, it's fine. The most feared thing is that they sell out their masters for glory and sell us out to please others. This is really heartbreaking and frightening."
"I haven't done anything wrong, so why should I be afraid?" Xu Ranyun sneered. Now that she had said this, she naturally understood Xue Zhilan's intention. She was not polite at the moment and just said lightly: "Sister, what you said is ridiculous. Why did you suddenly come to me and say such strange things? But who around you has betrayed the master for fame? Tell me, which servant is so bold? I will help my sister vent her anger."
Seeing Xu Ranyun still holding on, Xue Zhilan sneered in her heart. She took a sip of the teacup and said slowly, "I was just a metaphor. Sister, don't worry. Besides, even if there is, you may not be able to deal with it. Aunt Jing lives in my yard. She used to talk to me about everything, but now she doesn't even raise her eyelids when she sees me. I sighed in my heart, but what can I do? With her status, even if you are the head of the family, there is nothing you can do."
Xu Ranyun laughed and shook her head, "Sister, you are right. Aunt Jing, I really can't do anything about it. I feel sorry for you. How much did she listen to you in the past? When did she not look affectionate with you two? It's a pity that people's hearts are like water. Alas! Isn't it like this in a mansion? Only the person who drinks the water knows whether it is hot or cold. Sister, just relax."
Although the gloating in her tone was barely concealed, Xu Ranyun was in a state of doubt, thinking to herself, did Xue Zhilan come here today just to pass on a message to me so that I could laugh at her? She couldn't be that stupid, could she?
Sure enough, just as I thought of this, I heard Xue Zhilan smile calmly and said, "Sister is right. In fact, think about it, people go to high places and water flows to low places, this is the truth of the world. Now she has the support of the eldest lady, and she is about to become the head concubine of the whole capital, how can she take me seriously? I have no power and influence, I can't even take care of myself, what can I give her?"
"What do you mean, sister?" Xu Ranyun finally couldn't hold it in any longer. Her expression changed in an instant. She said in a deep voice, "Auntie in charge of the house? With the trivial matters she manages, is she qualified to be in charge? Don't worry too much."
Xue Zhilan sneered, "Sister, you should not be too careless. What's wrong with those little things? Don't forget that she didn't even have this little power before. Sister, haven't you noticed it yet? After returning from Pushan Temple, some people in this mansion have been unsettled. If you want to take power, what better time than now? So sister has to be on guard."
"It's not her turn as a concubine to be in charge of the household. The rules in the mansion have been a little lax recently, but not to this extent. The master and his wife don't care about things, but if things get out of hand, they won't care either? What's more, there are Madam Min and the Second Mistress. Can they tolerate a concubine being on an equal footing with them?"
When Xu Ranyun said this, her tone was a little sharp. Rather than trying to persuade Xue Zhilan, it was more like comforting herself. But Xue Zhilan nodded seriously and said with a smile: "It is true that a concubine can never be the head of the family. If this word gets out, what will happen to our Anping Marquis Mansion? But, sister, haven't you heard of the saying that there is substance but no name? If Concubine Jing only acts as the head of the family, but not in name, who can do anything to her?"
"Without the title of head of the family, how can she be the head of the family?" Xu Ranyun sneered, but her heart sank more and more. How can she be the head of the family without a title? It's too easy. When such words are spoken, even she feels that her counter-question is so incompetent.
As expected, Xue Zhilan laughed and said softly, "How can she not be the head of the family if she has no name? The eldest grandmother is standing behind her. As long as she is told that the eldest grandmother is the head of the family and asks her to assist, who can say anything? What can my sister say?"
"I will never allow such a ridiculous thing."
Xu Ranyun shouted in shame and anger, but saw Xue Zhilan sighed, shook her head and said, "Why not allow it? Maybe Master will help with advice. Hasn't sister seen it yet? The eldest grandmother finally couldn't hold it back. Now think about it, her behavior in Pushan Temple that day, if it is said that she didn't have a chivalrous heart, it was indeed unfair to her. But who dares to say that she didn't take a risk? After returning from Meiyue Tower, she has always been calm and indifferent to the world, but others don't know what kind of person she is, how can we not know? It has not been easy to endure these few months. But she played hard to get with Master before, and said too much. If she shows her face of seizing power now, wouldn't it be exposed all at once? After that, the Pushan Temple incident happened. If she was really going to die, I guess she might not stay, but there is no way there. We thought it was not worth it for her to take this risk, but now, not only the old lady and the master praise her to the sky, but even the mistress is no longer as distant from her as before, not to mention the servants, who all treat her as their adopted parents. If she doesn’t take advantage of this opportunity to seize power, when will she? In the final analysis, Aunt Jing is just a cover. Who made the eldest grandmother unable to completely take off the mask of indifference to fame and fortune? But Aunt Jing is just an aunt after all, and she is of humble origin and has no foundation. In the future, won’t she be able to be manipulated by her? Otherwise, why do you think she deliberately tried to win over the other party before? Sister, you have been smart all your life, don’t you see through all this?"
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