Chapter 33 See you there, see you there, don't bother me...
Yang Qing said, "Mother is joking. Chong'er and Zhuzhu are still young and can't withstand the long journey. Besides, sister can't just bring the two children back by herself without brother-in-law, can she?"
The second wife said, "How could I not know about these things? I was just complaining a bit."
Rongyue and Yangqing exchanged a glance, and neither of them continued the topic.
Huanxi was raised by her grandmother when she was at home.
At that time, the second wife gave birth to a second daughter, Yanyun. Yanyun was in poor health, and she was sick almost every three days.
Huanxi and Yanyun are only less than two years apart in age. The Second Madam focused all her energy on Yanyun, and since Old Madam Chi also devoted herself to Huanxi, the Second Madam inevitably neglected her eldest daughter.
Then the incident involving her former aunt, who was still alive, happened, and Huanxi became increasingly estranged from the second wife. She felt that her mother was biased, and the relationship between the mother and daughter only improved when they were seventeen or eighteen and about to be engaged.
Yang Qing was still young at the time, so it wasn't appropriate for her to comment on old matters. However, she and Rong Yue, who were close in age, couldn't argue, because the Second Madam didn't care about either of them.
In fact, she didn't think her mother would care much about Yanyun. With the Second Madam's personality, even if she wanted to care, how much could she care?
Anyway, there are plenty of maids at home, and the children are neither cold nor hungry, so why should she worry about them?
If the second wife is like this, then the second master of the Chi family is even more so. He is a very carefree person. He always smiles when he sees his daughters and then says, "Happiness is the most important thing."
In some ways, these parents are indeed a match made in heaven.
After scolding Yangqing and Huanxi, the Second Madam also mentioned Yanyun. Yanyun's husband was a wealthy idler, and the two were quite compatible.
My second sister's husband inherited the title of marquis, and the two are still very much in love. It's just that it's farther away than Xuzhou, making it even more difficult for them to come back.
What worried the second wife the most was that Yan Yun was in poor health. She only gave birth to a daughter when she first married into the family, and then she never conceived again.
After giving Yan Yun a long, scathing dressing-down, her gaze finally turned to Rong Yue.
Rongyue had long anticipated her fate at this moment, and only frowned helplessly before quickly relaxing her brows.
Yang Qing saw it and couldn't help but feel a little smug, only to be met with a light glare from Rong Yue.
The second wife said, "I don't know. You look down on the Duke, and you also look down on the newly appointed scholars. Who among the young talents in the capital has caught your eye?"
Rongyue said helplessly, "Mother, this is not something that can be determined by just one meeting."
The second wife was still dissatisfied and muttered a lot more before finally letting the two sisters leave.
After they left, Yangqing lowered her voice and said, "Since you already have someone you like, why don't you tell Mother?"
Although the two families seem to be worlds apart, if the second wife really has connections, she might actually be able to make a connection.
This time, Rongyue didn't just give her a light glare. Instead, she suppressed her anger and said seriously, "Don't talk nonsense. Even before, I only slightly admired him. But now I know that he's nothing but a fame-seeker. Don't mention him in front of me again."
After saying that, he walked away quickly, looking quite angry.
Yang Qing was completely baffled. It was too late today, so she decided to ask Chu Ying and the others tomorrow what was going on.
Rongyue never speaks ill of others. Even when dealing with the unruly Prince Ning, Li Hebi, she never cursed anyone. But this time, she actually used such a serious term as "seeking fame and fortune," which shows how angry she was.
The maidservant who escorted Yangqing back was still the one from the Second Madam's side. Just now in the room, the Second Madam had said that she wanted to sell Liu Ye'er, and she knew that it was best not to keep her.
Yang Qing used a combination of persuasion and coaxing, crying and pleading, to finally persuade Liu Ye'er to stay.
When they returned to the house they hadn't been to in so long, they saw Liu Ye'er, who was as thin as a rake. In just four months, she had become incredibly thin, and looked haggard. All her former graceful and clever appearance was gone.
Upon seeing Yang Qing, Liu Ye'er's eyes involuntarily filled with tears, "Miss..."
All the maids in Yangqing's room had a vague idea that something was amiss, but only Liu Ye'er truly knew the truth. You can imagine how shocked, scared, and worried she was.
Yang Qing patted her hand and comforted her, "Why are you crying? Are you blaming me for not taking you to Xuzhou? Next time, I'll definitely take you next time."
Liu Ye'er quickly stopped her tears and said, "This servant remembers, Miss, you can't go back on your word."
The other maids also came over, and surprisingly, a new face appeared. She was a round-faced girl who wasn't particularly beautiful, but she looked quite robust. Liu Ye'er saw Yang Qing looking at her and quickly introduced her, "She was sent from the East Palace. They say she's very skilled in martial arts. We can all feel more at ease having her accompany Miss from now on."
Yang Qing nodded expressionlessly and asked, "What's your name?"
The round-faced girl said, "My name is Xiaoman."
Liu Xuer quickly whispered, "When speaking to Miss, you can't refer to yourself as 'I,' you have to refer to yourself as 'this servant.'"
Xiaoman readily agreed: "This servant's name is Xiaoman."
Yang Qing didn't care much about how she was addressed; what she cared about was something else entirely. "He asked you to come and follow me, so let me ask you, from now on, whose orders will you listen to? His or mine?"
Xiaoman asked, "Who is 'he'? Is it His Highness?"
Yang Qing: "Mm."
Xiaoman hesitated for a moment, but still chose to be sincere and said, "I will listen to Your Highness."
Yang Qing's anger began to rise, but she suppressed it and asked, "What did he tell you?"
Xiaoman said, "Let me follow you and protect you. If you secretly go to see other men, write down their names and appearances, and tell them to you every ten days."
Well, it turns out they installed a whistleblower in her ear.
Yang Qing was very unhappy and only asked Liu Ye'er to take her downstairs first, and then handed Li Li over to Liu Ye'er.
According to the rules of the Chi family, she currently has two first-class maids and four second-class maids. Last year, another head maid reached the age to get married, and the vacancy in her room has not been filled. Now, only Liu Ye'er is a first-class maid.
But Liu Ye'er is not young anymore, and she will get married in two or three years at most.
After this incident, Yang Qing also felt that it was very important to have someone who knew martial arts by her side. However, she felt awkward using Li Shangxuan's people, not to mention that this person had to tell Li Shangxuan everything about her, which she absolutely could not tolerate. She decided to go and beg the Second Madam tomorrow to find her a capable maid.
She thought for a moment and said, "Raise Doukou to first class, and give the vacant second class portion to Lili. As for Xiaoman, she's not considered one of us."
Liu Ye'er said, "If Miss thinks it's good, then so be it."
Yang Qing didn't speak, her mind preoccupied with the imperial edict.
The imperial decree for the marriage has been issued; how could she possibly refuse? She's probably destined to be entangled with that scoundrel Li Shangxuan for the rest of her life.
The more she thought about it, the angrier and more helpless she became. Why did she have to start all over again, yet she still couldn't change anything?
The next day, Yang Qing went to ask Chu Ying about Rong Yue and Si Jia Mu, but Chu Ying knew nothing about it, which infuriated Yang Qing, who said that Chu Ying was useless.
Chu Ying was completely baffled. She had no idea what the relationship was between Rong Yue and Si Jia Mu. She didn't even know who Si Jia Mu was. It was only after Yang Qing reminded her that he was the top scholar who had passed all three levels of the imperial examinations two years ago that Chu Ying remembered who he was.
Why are you asking him? Don't you already have a crown prince?
Yang Qing became even angrier at the mere mention of Li Shangxuan.
Chu Ying said, "Are you in a hurry? Don't worry, it'll only be a matter of the next two years. Empress Ming's two nieces are too hateful. How can they force a marriage like this? It was only because the people from the Imperial Observatory came out and said that the Crown Prince was not destined to marry early that they managed to get away with it."
Only when the two nieces of the Ming family were mentioned did she remember, "I remember now, Sister Rongyue and Mingmiaohe from the Ming family were arguing fiercely. It was that Si Jiamu who acted as the judge and said that Sister Rongyue's painting was not as good as Mingmiaohe's."
She couldn't help but chuckle and said, "I know why you asked about them. Oh no, this person is going to be resented by Sister Rongyue for the rest of their life."
Yang Qing felt helpless, but then she understood. No wonder Rong Yue disliked Si Jia Mu so much; now she knew.
Rongyue has always been very proud of herself, and Sijiamu actually said in public that she was inferior to others. Let alone verbally scolding her, it would be too lenient for him to stab her behind her back.
Now that the truth has come out and there is no way to salvage the situation, Yang Qing used to think that the two of them were a good match, but now they are like enemies.
I just forgot who it was on the second page of Rongyue's booklet. I'm sure it wasn't my brother-in-law from my past life. Yun Xiao's name was much lower in the list.
She returned home listlessly, but luckily she received another invitation from Xu Pianran, inviting her to come over the next day.
As the weather cooled down, it became the peak season for social gatherings among the noble ladies of the capital. Yang Qing missed her quite a bit, which improved her mood somewhat. However, when she returned to her room and heard Xiao Man say that Li Shangxuan wanted to see her, her face immediately fell again.
"No, no, don't bother me."
What else could he possibly want to see her for? He's just having another sexual urge.
This is the capital city, not some remote post station; she's not going to compromise herself here.
That evening, Xiaoman came again with a serious expression and said, "His Highness said that if you see him, he will come looking for you."
Yang Qing found it laughable and said fearlessly, "Let him come if he dares. If he dares to come, see if my father won't beat him out."
She didn't take Xiaoman's words seriously, let alone threaten her. She was just timid, not stupid. When she went to dinner, she took the opportunity to plead again. The Second Madam knew about Xiaoman's existence and felt that Xiaoman was enough. She was worn down by Xiaoman's nagging and only agreed to save her ears. She also gave her some instructions. Now that the marriage was settled, the imperial decree was still with her. She was not allowed to cause any more trouble.
Although the second wife was not as fond of Li Shangxuan as before, the imperial decree had already been issued, so what else could she say?
Yang Qing neither agreed nor disagreed. The Chi family ate dinner early, and Chu Ying had called her over to play shuttlecock for a while. She was hungry when she came back. Fortunately, she had told Liu Ye'er to go out and buy wontons beforehand, so she could eat them when she got back.
She really liked this; she hadn't eaten it for months and had been craving it terribly.
I really don't know why the wontons sold outside taste so much better than the same ones. My family's cook is also very skilled, but he still can't make them taste the same.
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