Chapter 219 A Serious Master, Piercing the Heart
Du Yufang said with dissatisfaction, "I am a concubine of the Prince's mansion, how can I bow to an ordinary official's daughter?"
Just as Tao Wanyin was about to say something, Ji Qingwu gently patted her hand.
She disliked the custom of having to bow so often and didn't take it to heart.
"Miss Ji, please have a seat."
The eunuch sent by Prince Yong to guide her also followed her through the door.
"This servant will go and fetch someone to serve you tea."
Du Yufang saw Chang Lu, the eunuch beside the prince, following behind Ji Qingwu, with his obsequious and fawning manner.
She tapped the small tea table beside her and said, "Eunuch Chang, I've been sitting here for so long without any water, and now my throat hurts. Please make me a pot of rose tea."
After Ji Qingwu sat down to Tao Wanyin's right, he looked up at Du Yufang opposite him, with two maids fanning her standing beside her.
In the princess's main room, there was not a single servant.
After she entered the room, a young eunuch was responsible for preparing tea and water for her.
Ji Qingwu suddenly gained a clear understanding of what it meant to favor a concubine over one's wife.
Tao Wanyin's expression remained calm, as if she had already become accustomed to it.
The young eunuch Chang Lu said, "Your Highness, the rose tea you drink is only available in your room. Even if I wanted to make it for you, I would need the ingredients."
Du Yufang didn't really want to drink tea; she just couldn't stand being ignored.
She said smugly, "What Eunuch Chang said is true. This tea was specially brought back by the Prince from Yao'an. It's the only tea in the mansion that we have."
Before long, the tea was served, and its delicate aroma filled the air.
Chang Lu was serving him, and Ji Qingwu said, "No need to trouble you here, sir. I'll just sit for a bit and then leave."
The young eunuch said, "His Highness has ordered me to accompany the Fifth Miss."
In the past few days, Chang Lu had dealt with Ji Qingwu quite a bit, and he knew how capable this fifth young lady of the Ji family was. Even Prince Yong was very respectful of her.
Even if the prince hadn't given him instructions, he wouldn't dare to be negligent.
Du Yufang smelled the familiar aroma of tea and exclaimed in surprise, "You gave her Longjing Cuiya tea?"
She stood up, supported her lower back, took a few steps forward, and glanced at the green tea in the white porcelain cup on Ji Qingwu's table.
"This is indeed the tea that the prince loves to drink the most. Only a few ounces can be obtained each year by the very best of the best."
As if she had caught Chang Lu red-handed, she said, "Well, Eunuch Chang, you didn't inform the Prince before you secretly gave her the Prince's favorite tea. What were you thinking?"
Suddenly accused of theft, Chang Lu hurriedly explained, "Your Highness, you have wronged me! It was the Prince who ordered me to..."
Ji Qingwu suddenly waved his hand and called the little eunuch over, whispering a few words in his ear.
Tao Wanyin frowned and said, "Consort Du, it's just a pot of tea, why are you making such a fuss?"
Chang Lu quietly slipped out.
Du Yufang glanced at Ji Qingwu and said, "Sister said it's just a pot of tea, but I think it's not that simple. In my opinion, the Prince's mansion is about to have a new member. Miss Ji is making such a big fuss as soon as she arrives at the mansion. Is she trying to give the Princess a hard time?"
These words were getting more and more outrageous, and Tao Wanyin's voice was filled with anger.
"Consort Du, you must be careful what you say."
Within the Prince's residence, it was common for Du Yufang to contradict the Princess Consort; she never paid any attention to Tao Wanyin's anger.
Now that the Tao family has fallen, she is even less afraid of this empty shell that has no backing.
Du Yufang asked innocently, "Is it the rule here at the Princess's place that you can't speak if you're in the wrong?"
Ji Qingwu picked up the teacup, her jade-colored fingers gently swirling it.
She looked down at the unfurling tea leaves as she brewed the tea, and spoke softly and gently.
"I was ignorant. So this is how the Prince Yong's mansion treats its guests. Even drinking tea is subject to criticism."
Seeing that she had gotten a good deal and was drinking tea that even she had never tasted, and that the Prince's mansion had not been hospitable, Du Yufang wanted to say something in response.
Ji Qingwu brought the tea close to his nose and took a light sniff.
"This tea smells mediocre, far inferior to the imperial tea. It's better not to drink it."
She frowned slightly: "Drinking it will bring bad luck."
As she spoke, she flicked her wrist, spilling all the tea at Du Yufang's feet, with a considerable amount splashing onto her embroidered shoes.
Du Yufang never expected that she would dare to throw tea at her; these embroidered shoes were specially made by an embroiderer.
The maidservant beside her hurriedly squatted down to wipe the brocade on her shoes, but she kicked her away.
Du Yufang narrowed her eyes and said, "Is this how the Ji family's daughter learns manners? She comes as a guest, yet she spills tea on the host."
Ji Qingwu held the turquoise gauze sleeve beneath her wrist with one hand, and gently placed the teacup back on the table with the other.
Looking up at Du Yufang, she said, "The concubine has her opinions on the rules here with the Princess one minute, and her dissatisfaction with the rules of the Ji family the next. It's really..."
"What's really the case?"
Ji Qingwu said with a smile, "Have you ever thought that the Empress Dowager is a woman of the Ji family, and the wife of the heir of the Marquis of Zhongyong's mansion is also from the Ji family? I will also learn from the Empress Dowager when I go to the palace tomorrow, so that she can give me her opinion on what is lacking in our Ji family's rules."
Du Yufang touched her bulging belly and said, "You don't need to scare me. The Empress Dowager and I are family. The eldest son of the Prince's Mansion, Yunxuan, and the child in my belly are all blood relatives of the Prince and the Empress Dowager."
Having offspring was her greatest source of confidence in the royal palace.
Ji Qingwu could imagine how this concubine dared to claim to be family with the Empress Dowager, and how she usually acted arrogantly towards Princess Yong.
She said slowly and deliberately, "The concubine keeps talking about rules, but she knows the least about them. To put it nicely, the concubine can call you Your Highness, but to put it bluntly, she is no different from a concubine, just a servant with a little status and position."
Ji Qingwu's eyes were clear and bright, and she said in a gentle voice, "The concubine mocked me for being a newcomer who didn't know the rules, so let it go."
That's fine.
The earlier mention of a servant girl had angered Du Yufang so much that her fingertips, painted with bright red nail polish, were trembling.
Everyone in Prince Yong's mansion treated her with utmost respect. Du Yufang lived a more comfortable life than the principal wife, and was always surrounded by flattery wherever she went.
As a concubine, she was practically the mistress of the palace. The newly arrived concubines respected her even more than the princess.
The only unpleasant thing was that she was a concubine, a mistress of Prince Yong, and could never accompany the prince to palace banquets.
This is the first time in all these years that someone has pressed her right in the heart.
The maid beside her was quietly advising Du Yufang not to get angry. She had just calmed down a little when she heard a soft female voice again.
Ji Qingwu said sadly, "But the concubine should never have taken advantage of my sister Tao's kind heart and easy-going personality."
“Once Sister Tao becomes the Princess Consort of Yong, she is the rightful mistress of the Yong Prince’s mansion. She is the superior, and you are the inferior.”
After being called "Sister Tao" a few times in a soft, gentle voice by Ji Qingwu, Tao Wanyin felt dizzy.
"Sister Tao, don't you think so?"
Tao Wanyin nodded when she met Ji Qingwu's clear eyes.
"Exactly."
She couldn't help but sit up straighter, feeling that she had to take on the responsibility of being the older sister.
Tao Wanyin's voice carried a hint of coldness.
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