Pei Yunshu brought the pastries to her mother’s quarters. Madam Jiang saw the still-warm chestnut cakes.
“You’ve finally become a bit more sensible,” Madam Jiang chided gently. Pei Yunshu usually paid little attention to such matters, but in her mother’s eyes, she had always been obedient and well-behaved.
“Mother, I’ve always been sensible. It’s just that I spend more time with Cousin, and since she already sent gifts, why would I think of sending them a second time?”
“Silly child, how can that be the same? She is she, and you are you. How can you lump them together?” In the past, Madam Jiang hadn’t paid much attention to such things, but now that both girls were of marriageable age, she had to consider her own daughter’s reputation.
“Look, your cousin has already gained a reputation for virtue and talent in the capital. And you?”
Lately, Madam Jiang had vaguely sensed something amiss. Still, she had raised Jiang Liuyan for ten years. Even if there was a slight difference compared to her own daughter, she believed she had treated her niece only a little less favorably.
When Jiang Liuyan stepped out of the mansion, she was no less dignified than the legitimate daughters of other noble households, never lacking in grace or propriety.
Madam Jiang’s heart softened a little. That child had lost her parents; it was understandable if she had her own little schemes. Once a good marriage arrangement was found for her, perhaps she could finally set her mind at ease.
“Cousin has a reputation for virtue, but your daughter has a reputation for beauty,” Pei Yunshu said shamelessly, with an air of brazen confidence. Madam Jiang tapped her forehead. “What young lady says such things about herself? Aren’t you afraid of being embarrassed if others hear?”
“Why would others need to hear? Shouldn’t they just see it with their own eyes?” Pei Yunshu sat beside Madam Jiang, leaning affectionately against her.
“Mother, in half a month, Father should be returning, right?”
“Yes, your father and your second brother are finally coming back. In a couple of days, your eldest brother should return as well.”
At this, Madam Jiang looked at Pei Yunshu. “Niannian, do you know what Mother wants to say to you?”
“I know.” Pei Yunshu pouted. “I know you don’t like your eldest brother scolding you and restricting you, but he does it for your own good. If something really happened to you, he would be more anxious than anyone.”
In the past, Pei Yunshu hadn’t liked her eldest brother, Pei Zimu, the heir to the Guogong Mansion. Since childhood, he had been strict with himself, serious and rigid to the point of being almost pedantic. Whenever he saw her, he would only criticize her for lacking propriety.
But in her previous life, when her father went to the battlefield and was framed by Xie Changyan, her eldest brother held up the crumbling Guogong Mansion. For her sake, he dared to oppose Xie Changyan.
Conspiring with the enemy and betraying the country—and at that time, she was probably still burdened with the accusation of poisoning the emperor. Even Xie Yanchuan couldn’t fully trust the Guogong Mansion.
“As long as Eldest Brother doesn’t always lecture me, I won’t ignore him either.”
Madam Jiang looked at Pei Yunshu, who wore a slightly petulant yet earnest expression. “Our Niannian has grown up. She knows how to care for her brother now, doesn’t she?”
“I don’t care about him at all. What’s there to care about with Eldest Brother?”
Pei Yunshu lingered by Madam Jiang’s side for a while before being shooed away. After she left, Madam Jiang slowly faded her smile, furrowing her brows with a hint of worry.
The matron beside Madam Jiang fanned her gently. “What troubles you, Madam? The young lady has become sensible now. You should be happy.”
“She’s at the age to marry, so of course I’m happy she’s become sensible. But as her mother, don’t I know my own daughter?”
Madam Jiang rose with a stern expression. “Niannian has been clever since childhood, but because she was pampered at home, that simple nature meant her intelligence couldn’t be put to use. I always thought that when the time came, I’d find her a husband from a clean family background, an honest man. If she could remain like this her whole life, it would be fine.”
To Madam Jiang, this was the best outcome for Pei Yunshu—her daughter living a relaxed and smooth life forever.
Yet now, she had somehow become entangled with the Crown Prince.
“But there must be a reason she suddenly became sensible, even began to grow wiser, right? Some time ago, for quite a while, Niannian was absent-minded, and afterward, she became sensible. To me, as her mother, it seems someone must have wronged her, grievously so.”
Madam Jiang came from a scholarly family and had always been calm and gentle. With The Duke away, she was the one in charge of the vast Guogong Mansion.
“Madam, our young lady is the eldest daughter of Guogong Mansion. Who would dare wrong our eldest young lady?” The maidservant beside her had followed Madam Jiang from her maiden home and thus spoke without much restraint.
“Who else could it be?” Madam Jiang looked at the gloomy sky. In the morning, the sun had been shining brightly, but now dark clouds gathered. With summer here, the rain always came swiftly and fiercely.
“Fortunately, The Duke will be back soon.”
With The Duke here, even His Majesty wouldn’t force their Niannian to marry into the Eastern Palace for the Crown Prince’s sake.
Madam Jiang sighed softly. His Majesty had only this one Crown Prince, which shouldn’t be a problem, but he wasn’t His Majesty’s own son, and His Majesty was still in his prime.
At a time like this, if the Crown Prince gathered people to contend with others, who could he be contending with?
Such murky waters—she absolutely dared not let Niannian get dragged into them.
“Before, I didn’t want to think too deeply about it, but these days, Niannian’s sudden change has forced me to reconsider.”
Madam Jiang closed her eyes. Before The Duke returned, she couldn’t let the Crown Prince and Niannian remain entangled any longer.
“I know Mother is very clever. My father said that if Mother were a man, even he wouldn’t be able to match her.”
Pei Yunshu stood by the window. Outside the room was a long corridor, so the wind couldn’t reach her; she could only listen to the sound. The afternoon rain came and went quickly, leaving behind only a touch of coolness.
“Madam is clever, and so is the young lady. When the young lady was little, the Teachers invited to the mansion all said she was exceptionally bright.”
Yue Yun, thinking the young lady was just chatting idly with her, answered honestly. Pei Yunshu turned to look at this maid who followed her.
Yue Yun was someone she had chosen herself because the girl was fair-skinned and pretty. Yue Yun had family—they lived in the capital, an ordinary but fairly well-off household.
Back then, when a family member fell seriously ill, this young girl sold herself, and Pei Yunshu happened to take a liking to her. Seeing that Yue Yun had gained the favor of a noble, her family stopped worrying and quietly saved money to redeem their daughter.
So, like Pei Yunshu, Yue Yun was also guileless.
Now, it suddenly occurred to Pei Yunshu that in her past life, Yue Yun hadn’t been redeemed by her family, hadn’t followed her to the Eastern Palace, but had been deceived by that black-hearted person at home.
She must have lived a hard life.
“Yue Yun, do you know what it means to play the pig to eat the tiger?”
“Some people are genuinely clever, while others are clever in crooked ways. Such people are the ones to be most wary of.”
“Miss, who are you talking about?” Yue Yun looked at Pei Yunshu with a bewildered expression.
“Never mind, you were never very clever to begin with. When I get married, I’ll make sure to find you a good family to marry into.”
Yue Yun blinked, feeling a bit uneasy. Could it be that Miss has discovered something?
“Why did Miss suddenly say that Madam is clever?”
“Well, because your Miss isn’t clever herself.”
Pei Yunshu was not foolish. In her childhood, the Guogong Mansion had hired Tutors for her, all of whom were accomplished in both literary and martial arts. Moreover, her maternal grandfather, a great scholar, had personally taught her and her siblings.
It was just that in her previous life, everything had been too smooth sailing, which had clouded her vision. And Xie Changyan had been too ruthless—by the time she realized what was happening, he had already struck her down.
During those years controlled by poison, Pei Yunshu’s memories were hazy, but whenever she recalled them, the pain still seeped from deep within her bones.
“Yuehua, that pot of white magnolias is blooming beautifully now. Today, I offended the Crown Prince. Have the maids pick some petals to make a sachet, and send it along with the pot of flowers to the Eastern Palace.”
“Remember to tell the Crown Prince that the flowers were personally requested by the young lady of the Guogong Mansion.”