Hearing this, the new bride, Madam Shu, felt a blush slowly creep up her cheeks. If anyone were to get close at that moment, they could still feel the sudden rise in temperature on her face.
Several of the sisters began to tease her good-naturedly: “Sixth Brother, hurry on out now; don’t be so reluctant to part with Sixth Sister-in-law.”
“Rest assured, Sixth Brother, with us here, no one is going to eat Sixth Sister-in-law.”
Lu Huiyi was the first to speak to Madam Shu. Drawing on her experience of interacting with her in her past life, she stepped forward and curtsied with a soft smile on her face: “Sixth Sister-in-law, I am Huiniang from the fourth branch, ranked twelfth in the family.”
Lu Huiyi glanced back at Lu Zhenyi. Usually sharp-tongued, she was now acting like a frightened quail instead.
“She is Fourteenth Sister Zhenniang. Among peers in the fourth branch, there are only Sixth Brother and the two of us girls.”
With Lu Huiyi taking the lead, the daughters of the second and third branches also stepped forward one after another to introduce themselves.
The First Master Lu served as an official away from home, and the first branch had only one concubine-born daughter, Thirteenth Sister Lu Wanyi, who was yet unwed and had accompanied the First Master and First Madam to his official post.
At this moment, the only person from the first branch present was Lu Jinhuai, the granddaughter of the eldest grandson of the house. Hiding at the very back, she waited until everyone else had finished introducing themselves before stepping forward: “Greetings, Sixth Aunt. My name is Huiniang. My father is the eldest grandson of the first branch, and among the younger generation in the family, I am the eldest.”
As the girls gathered around Madam Shu to chat, Lu Huiyi thought to herself that with all this chattering, she would bet anything that Madam Shu hadn’t remembered a single one of them.
“This elder sister, what pastries and teas does Sixth Sister-in-law usually enjoy?” Lu Huiyi led Chuntao forward, taking advantage of the other sisters crowding around Madam Shu to ask the bride’s personal maid who had accompanied her from her maiden home.
The maid first curtsied: “Greetings, Twelfth Young Mistress. This maid is Dan’e, a maidservant by the Madam’s side.”
Chuntao also returned the greeting and introduced herself. Dan’e continued, “Many thanks to Twelfth Young Mistress and Sister Chuntao, but our Madam is still waiting for the Sixth Master to return so they can dine together…”
Lu Huiyi replied, “There’s no need to stand on ceremony. Sixth Brother gave instructions for all of this. Since Sixth Sister-in-law has just arrived, she must not be left hungry or thirsty. Meals have already been prepared in the kitchen. Chuntao, take Sister Dan’e over there.”
Chuntao stepped forward to link arms with Dan’e, coaxing her to leave, and Dan’e half-heartedly agreed.
By the time Dan’e and Chuntao returned to the room carrying the food, the sky had completely darkened, and estimating that the Sixth Master would be back at any moment, the sisters offered Madam Shu their final congratulations and streamed out of the room.
“Where did all of this come from?” Madam Shu asked.
Dan’e replied, “It was all prepared in advance by the estate’s kitchen. Please rest assured, my lady, it wasn’t this maid acting on her own accord. The Twelfth Young Mistress said that these were all arranged beforehand by the Master, and furthermore, these dishes are precisely the ones you love most at home. The Master is certainly very thoughtful.”
Dan’e covered her mouth with a smile, teasing knowingly.
Having just arrived at the Lu family, Madam Shu inevitably felt a bit nervous. Now that it had quieted down and she had witnessed the kind concern of the Lu family members, she relaxed considerably.
“The maidservant who came in with you just now, who is she?”
Dan’e placed the bowl of congee gently beside Madam Shu and replied, “That is the maidservant by the Twelfth Young Mistress’s side, named Chuntao.”
Madam Shu unfolded the handkerchief she had been clutching and twisting into a wrinkled ball in her hand. With her gentle and graceful brows furrowing in thought, she mused, “This Huiniang is completely different from what I had heard beforehand. She is magnanimous and kind, considerate and meticulous in her actions. I find it hard to associate her with the cowardly and timid rumors.”
“Isn’t that a good thing, my lady? The two biological sisters from the fourth branch are much easier to get along with than the rumors suggested.”
“Even if she were as the rumors described, I would have nothing to fear. They each have their own biological mothers, are not born of the same mother as my husband, and are now of an age where they will soon marry out. I will simply fulfill my duties as a good sister-in-law.”
As the mistress and maid were talking, Lu Qizheng happened to return, carrying a faint scent of wine.
Madam Shu hastily put down her bowl and chopsticks to go and greet him. Lu Qizheng reached out to steady her and glanced at the dishes on the table.
“Does my wife find these dishes to your liking?”
As the twilight deepened, the Lu residence gradually grew quiet.
Inside the Chuhua Palace, the Seventh Prince, Zhao Ying, was reading by the lamplight. In three days, he would leave the palace to establish his own manor. He looked in the direction of the Changle Palace, where his biological mother, the deposed Empress Wu, resided.
Fourteen years apart, he never expected he could return to the time when his biological mother was still alive.
Remembering the agonizing pain of a thousand arrows piercing his heart before his death, he could not help but press a hand against his chest. Fortunately, everything was still in time, and many of the subsequent events had not yet happened.
In the evening, before the palace gates were locked, Zhao Ying had run into the hurried Princess Shouyang along a palace pathway. Not being particularly close to this cousin of his, he had asked after her casually, only to learn that today was precisely Wenhe’s grand wedding day.
Wenhe was the courtesy name of Lu Qizheng. His coming-of-age capping ceremony had taken place before his wedding, right around the time before Zhao Ying’s rebirth.
He sighed. In both lifetimes, he had never been able to attend Wenhe’s capping ceremony.
In addition, he had heard a very coincidental piece of news: Lu Qizheng’s extremely annoying sister, Lu Huiyi, had also fallen into the water on the day of the Mid-Autumn Festival.
Why didn’t she just drown?
To think that he, the dignified Prince Jing, had been chased and bitten by this scoundrel, and just as he finally managed to overthrow the Xingwang Manor, Lu Wenhe had risked his life to save her. Unable to dissuade Lu Wenhe, Zhao Ying had no choice but to follow him and personally break into the blazing Xingwang Manor. When they rescued Lu Huiyi from the inferno, she had already breathed her last.
She had not died from the fire.
At that moment, Zhao Ying did not know what he was thinking, perhaps he was simply lamenting the senselessness of life, which had robbed him of a rival who could spar with him blow for blow.
Nor did Zhao Ying know what he was thinking right now. Having finally waited for the flowers to bloom anew and his youth to return, how could he waste time thinking about a woman who behaved like a hyena?
Two days later, when Lu Huiyi returned to the women’s study, she was surprised to see Madam Shu there as well.
With about half a quarter of an hour left before the lecture started, Lu Huiyi unfolded her Xuan paper while asking Lu Miaoyi, “Why has Sixth Sister-in-law come?”
Separated by fourteen years, too many details escaped her memory. Did Sixth Sister-in-law come to the study in her past life? Lu Huiyi was uncertain.
Lu Miaoyi replied offhandedly, “Sixth Sister-in-law loved reading when she was at her maiden home, so Sixth Brother went and begged Grandmother. Now, Sixth Sister-in-law studies with us in the mornings and goes to learn household management from my mother in the afternoons.”
Lu Huiyi did remember the matter of managing the household. At this time, Sixth Brother had not yet attained his imperial degree and was studying at an academy outside, leaving Sixth Sister-in-law with free time to help the Third Madam manage domestic affairs. Not long after Sixth Sister-in-law married in, all affairs of the fourth branch came to be managed by Madam Shu.
Madam Gao’s figure appeared outside the window, and everyone fell silent. Lu Huiyi also sat up straight with proper posture.
Today, Madam Gao was teaching painting, and the subject was precisely the Chinese crabapple tree outside the window. She had once been a noble family’s kinswoman, well-versed in the zither, chess, calligraphy, and painting.
Lu Huiyi wasn’t particularly interested in painting, but she couldn’t be called unskillful either. In her maiden home, she had loved embroidery, and she drew all the pattern samples herself. Over time, her paintings turned out fairly expressive.
While the other young ladies were still head down, carving out details with their brushes, Lu Huiyi had already outlined her form in just a few sparse strokes. She sketched casually, feeling somewhat melancholic inside.
She hadn’t touched a needle for embroidery or picked up a brush to paint in fourteen years. Although she now possessed the body of a fourteen-year-old, her mind felt quite unaccustomed to it.
Madam Gao cast a glance at her artwork. Usually, Lu Huiyi would wait for others to finish painting, hiding inconspicuously among her sisters.
Had falling into the water suddenly changed her personality?
Accustomed to having the Lu sisters critique each other’s work, Madam Gao looked around the room. Only Lu Miaoyi, whose mind was clearly not on art, had put down her brush as early as Lu Huiyi, so she called Lu Miaoyi over.
Lu Huiyi and Lu Miaoyi stood side by side in a proper manner. Madam Gao asked Lu Miaoyi to give the first critique, but Lu Miaoyi was reluctant to offend anyone, always offering bland, inconsequential remarks whenever this task fell to her.
Madam Gao tapped her ruler lightly against the Xuan paper: “Twelfth Young Mistress, do not be so hasty. You still need to calm your mind and carefully refine these areas. However, after falling ill, your work is notably more passable than before.”
Lu Huiyi lowered her head in silence and bowed.
Both Lu Miaoyi and Lu Zhenyi, who sat on the other side of Lu Huiyi, suspected there was something wrong with their ears.
Who? Lu Huiyi? Hasty in temperament? Surely Madam Gao must be mistaken?
When Madam Gao went to look at Lu Miaoyi’s painting, Lu Huiyi, standing just behind, almost laughed out loud. Lu Miaoyi might as well have written the words “Lacking Skill” in large characters across the paper; it was no better than the early scribbles of a toddler.
Lu Huiyi spoke up, “Elder Sister Mu’s painting certainly possesses a childlike innocence.”
Madam Gao bluntly pierced through the pleasantry, tapping Lu Miaoyi’s arm lightly with her ruler: “Even your younger sister can see it’s merely at a beginner’s level.”
Soft, muffled snickers rippled through the room. Lu Miaoyi felt somewhat embarrassed and cast a stealthy glare at Lu Huiyi.
Lu Huiyi murmured apologies in a low, gentle voice right beside her, and it took quite a while for Lu Miaoyi’s expression to finally soften.
Lu Huiyi nudged Lu Miaoyi with her elbow. Puzzled, Lu Miaoyi turned her head and saw Lu Huiyi signaling with her eyes toward Lu Jinhuai.
Lu Jinhuai was the daughter of Lu Miaoyi, Lu Huiyi, and Lu Zhenyi’s eldest brother, the eldest grandson of the Lu family. Several years younger than Lu Huiyi, she had been exceptionally bright since childhood, renowned from a young age with a reputation as a talented scholar.
At around ten years of age, Lu Jinhuai already displayed considerable natural talent, looking far more accomplished than her older aunts.
On the Xuan paper before Lu Jinhuai, the painting style was delicate yet vibrant in color. Amidst lush branches, foliage, and towering mountain rocks, a small sparrow perched upside down on a branch, looking vividly lifelike.
Unable to bear disturbing Lu Jinhuai, Lu Huiyi and Lu Miaoyi waited until she put down her brush before stepping closer to exclaim in admiration.
Hearing the commotion, Lu Zhenyi also put down her brush and craned her neck to look. Knowing she could not rival Lu Jinhuai, she looked back at her own painting with a frown, wondering how on earth she should modify it.
Plop.
A drop of ink slipped from the tip of her brush, sinking into the Xuan paper and straight into Lu Zhenyi’s heart.
She wanted to fling her brush and flee in dismay. After years of hard work, was she still inferior to a mere child like Lu Jinhuai?
Madam Gao took the trembling brush from her hand and, with a few swift strokes, turned the ink blot into a wild hare.
In an instant, Lu Zhenyi could no longer hear anything. She sat rooted in her seat, a tempest of thoughts churning in her mind. When she finally snapped back to reality, she noticed that the surrounding sisters had already dispersed, and right in the middle of the room, Lu Huiyi and Sixth Sister-in-law were engaged in a game of Go.
Madam Shu considered herself quite skilled at chess. Back in her maiden home, she had reigned undefeated among her peers throughout the entire capital. Yet, facing Lu Huiyi at this moment, a thin layer of sweat was beading on her forehead.
Madam Gao was right: Twelfth Young Mistress had a hasty temperament, and every move she made was a fatal strike. Madam Shu had to struggle desperately to cope with the airtight murderous intent.
Normally, fierce attacks in chess were bound to be accompanied by a multitude of vulnerabilities. Madam Shu excelled at dissolving offensives like a spring breeze, turning the tables in just a few turns when the opponent least expected it.
Yet at this moment, Madam Shu halted her move. She raised her head and gazed at Lu Huiyi.
A pampered young lady raised in her boudoir, where on earth did, she get such fierce murderous aura? Madam Shu wondered to herself.
Seeing her stop, Lu Huiyi even looked up at Madam Shu and smiled warmly at her.
Madam Shu, who excelled at mounting fierce counterattacks, silently pronounced her own defeat in her heart. She let out a long sigh and conceded: “Huiniang’s chess skills are exquisite. I admit defeat.”
Just as Lu Zhenyi walked closer, she caught those exact words. Her gaze shifted from the chessboard to Lu Huiyi’s face.
Lu Huiyi had beaten Sixth Sister-in-law? Surely Sixth Sister-in-law must have gone easy on her.