The next morning, as soon as Su Yunzhao opened her eyes, she noticed Xiao Jinyao across from her quickly closing his.
Suppressing a smile, Yunzhao got up to wash and dress herself. She hadn’t brought any maidservants into the mansion because the original owner had no trusted aides in the Su family. She couldn’t trust anyone from there, so it was better to establish herself firmly here and gradually cultivate her own people.
Only then did Xiao Jinyao open his eyes. Waking up in the morning, he had unintentionally caught sight of Yunzhao’s sleeping face—it was quite lovely—and couldn’t help but take another look, almost getting caught in the act.
During breakfast, the atmosphere between them remained subtly tense.
It wasn’t until they were on their way to serve tea that they finally began to converse.
“Will the heir apparent also be serving tea later?” Yunzhao asked.
“If Consort Tian knows what’s proper, my mother’s memorial tablet should already be placed in the appropriate position,” Xiao Jinyao replied naturally.
Over the years, Consort Tian had repeatedly schemed behind the scenes, yet each time she met with failure. Now, she had grown much more cautious.
Especially on such an important day, she wouldn’t dare to make any mistakes in etiquette that could be held against her.
Consort Tian’s current plan was simple: wait for Xiao Jinyao to die. What rightfully belonged to her son, no one could take away.
Just as Xiao Jinyao had said, when Prince An saw them, his expression was indifferent. On the seat beside him was the memorial tablet of the late Princess An, while Consort Tian, all smiles, sat to the side.
The tea-serving ceremony was equally straightforward. Prince An drank Yunzhao’s tea expressionlessly and offered a few brief words of advice.
Xiao Jinyao excused himself, citing official duties.
He wasn’t worried that Yunzhao would be bullied. Instead, he was more curious to see how she intended to stay in An Wangfu and interact with these people.
Taking advantage of Prince An’s presence, Consort Tian spoke gently and gracefully, “Yun Zhao, I noticed that yesterday when you entered the mansion and today during the tea ceremony, you didn’t have anyone accompanying you. Moving around the palace without attendants is rather inconvenient, so I took the liberty of selecting a few clever maids for you. Please take a look.”
With that, she gave a meaningful glance to a matron beside her, who called out to the outside, “All of you, come in.”
Yunzhao watched their move calmly, in no hurry. Since she was here now, there would be plenty of time to deal with them later.
Soon, over a dozen maidservants of similar age, dressed uniformly, entered from outside.
Seeing this arrangement, Yunzhao understood—this was a complete set of attendants, from top to bottom, inside and out, all given to her at once.
Previously, with no women in Xiao Jinyao’s courtyard, it had been nearly impossible for Consort Tian to plant her people there. Now that Yunzhao had arrived, alone and without any entourage, it gave her the perfect opportunity.
With these maidservants in place, perhaps through some means, even Xiao Jinyao’s guards could be swayed.
Consort Tian’s unsolicited kindness certainly hid no good intentions. The same person who had allowed Mama Du to humiliate her at the gate yesterday would hardly genuinely care about providing her with capable attendants.
Prince An nodded in satisfaction. Over the years of Consort Tian managing the household, such matters had never gone wrong.
“You may handle such arrangements as you see fit. If there’s anything you don’t understand, feel free to ask the side consort.”
He likely believed that with Consort Tian taking the initiative to show goodwill, even if there had been minor friction during yesterday’s wedding, it wouldn’t hinder the atmosphere in An Wangfu going forward.
Once Prince An left, Xiao Luofan naturally found it inappropriate to stay.
Now there were only Consort Tian, Su Yunzhao, and Su Yunxiu present as the masters of the house. This act of theirs was not yet over.
"Yun Zhao, take a look at them. Are you satisfied?"
Consort Tian still maintained a dignified smile, putting on the careful stepmother act.
"Were these people bought temporarily, or were they prepared in advance?" Su Yunzhao asked neither humbly nor arrogantly.
Consort Tian replied naturally, "When arranging the wedding, we considered such a situation, so we bought them in advance and have already trained them…"
"If that's the case, Consort, you truly thought ahead. I just wonder if their deeds of sale will be handed over to me as well." Su Yunzhao remained rational throughout.
Consort Tian was taken aback, her expression turning somewhat troubled as she said, "Most of the servants' deeds in the mansion are managed uniformly…"
Before Consort Tian could finish, Su Yunzhao directly asked, "So, does that mean the servants who came with my sister-in-law as part of her dowry also have to hand over their deeds to you, Consort?"
Both Consort Tian and Su Yunxiu were stunned, clearly not having considered this point.
"Of course not. Those people came from the Su family as part of the dowry…"
"Then these people are entering my courtyard, but they are not my people. What do I want them for? To serve as someone else's spies?" Su Yunzhao expressed herself even more directly.
Seeing Consort Tian's look of disbelief, Su Yunzhao added, "I tend to speak bluntly. If you mind, Consort, I'll be more tactful next time."
At this moment, Su Yunxiu chimed in to help: "It really is inconvenient for sister-in-law to have no maidservants attending to her."
Looking at her hypocritical expression, Su Yunzhao stared into her eyes and said, "Wasn't it like this back in the Su family? I'm used to it. Why pretend you don't know, sister-in-law? Your implication seems to be that Consort Tian deliberately neglected me by not allowing me to bring maidservants into the mansion…"
After successfully silencing Su Yunxiu, Su Yunzhao turned back to Consort Tian and said, "I appreciate your kindness, Consort. You should keep these people for yourself or give them to my sister-in-law. That way, when they make mistakes, I won't have to worry about offending you when I punish them."
Having achieved a double victory, Su Yunzhao stood up, took a small box from her sleeve, and handed it to Consort Tian.
"I remember this item is supposed to be shown to the elders the day after the wedding… Sister-in-law, let's work hard together to help the Prince's household flourish as soon as possible. If I give birth to the An Wangfu's heir, everyone will surely be happy, won't they?"
After saying this, Su Yunzhao left directly.
Consort Tian tried her best to remain calm and opened the box, revealing the white silk stained with Xiao Jinyao's blood from the previous night.
Upon seeing it, Su Yunxiu's face turned pale, and she twisted the handkerchief in her hands so tightly it nearly tore. That wretch! What if she really conceives the heir? What will happen to my husband's position as Shizi? And what about the child in my own belly?
Su Yunzhao returned to their courtyard in high spirits.
Consort Tian must have known about the child in Su Yunxiu's belly, which explained all the subsequent actions.
Now that she had thrown a smokescreen their way, both mother-in-law and daughter-in-law were likely going mad.
Su Yunzhao thoroughly enjoyed her time alone in the room. Just as she was leisurely inspecting her workshop and Mini-Pharmacy, a voice came from outside: "Is the Consort of the Heir Apparent inside? This old servant is here to deliver meals from the small kitchen."
Before she could answer, someone barged through the door, and an old woman appeared at the entrance holding a tray.
Su Yunzhao thought, the unbelievers had indeed come.
On the tray were a few dishes of side dishes, a bowl of rice, and the food looked decent. Only the bowl of soup beside it, steaming hot, looked quite appetizing.
The old woman saw that Su Yunzhao was indeed alone in the room, with the heir apparent absent and none of her dowry attendants present—truly pitifully shabby.
She became even more convinced that Su Yunzhao’s show of force at the main gate yesterday, giving Mama Du a warning, was merely a bluff.
The heir apparent had left directly after the morning tea ceremony, which must surely indicate his dissatisfaction with this little concubine-born daughter and that he would not back her up.
She casually placed the tray on the table and said, “I heard the Consort of the Heir Apparent didn’t eat much this morning, so the small kitchen specially prepared some food. Please eat while it’s hot, especially this soup—the Consort of the Heir Apparent must drink it.”