The main hall of Old Madame’s Shoukang Courtyard was quite spacious, and after some rearrangement, it could accommodate even more people.
Eldest Aunt and Mother had also returned, bringing with them several ladies whom Ye Su did not recognize.
They offered their congratulations to Old Madame with smiles that were respectful, warm, yet properly reserved, before being seated to the side.
After Eldest Aunt’s introductions, Ye Su learned that these ladies were mostly wives of ordinary noble families or officials’ wives.
Old Madame smiled gently, without much warmth.
As the birth mother of the Empress Dowager, she naturally had no need to pay much attention to these women, and besides, at her advanced age of seventy, all who came were her juniors.
Ye Su sat beside Old Madame, rising to greet the ladies as they continuously streamed in, her sincere and obedient smile never leaving her face. After smiling for so long, she could feel her cheeks beginning to ache.
These ladies were also quite tactful—aside from a flicker of surprise in their eyes upon first seeing Ye Su, who was clearly of an age where she should have long been married, yet still wore her hair in the style of an unmarried maiden, their expressions quickly returned to normal.
Still, there was always someone who didn’t understand and asked.
A woman dressed in a bright red silk jacket embroidered with double-peony patterns in gold thread, appearing no older than thirty, whispered to the companion beside her: “Who is that young woman sitting beside the Old Madam? Is she the wife of one of the young masters of the Ye family? Why is her hair still styled like that of an unmarried girl?”
She had just returned to the capital following her husband’s completion of his post outside the city, and had only recently managed to enter the capital’s inner-court circles. Today she had come with the wife of the Ningyuan Earl, with whom she was on good terms.
Her voice was not loud, and since they were seated quite far from Old Madame above, she wasn’t worried about being overheard.
The wife of the Ningyuan Earl, who had been asked, was just about to answer when two more ladies were led in one after another. Now there was no time to respond, and she hurriedly raised a warm smile, because the newcomers held far more distinguished status than they did.
Their enthusiastic smiles were completely ignored. The two ladies passed through the crowd in the hall one after another and came before Old Madame to offer their greetings: “We wish Old Madame Zheng a happy birthday, and pray for your blessings, longevity, and good health.”
This time, Ye Su saw that the smile on her grandmother’s face suddenly became genuine.
“Su’er, come and meet Commandery Princess Shou’an and Madame Yong’an Duke.” Old Madame took Ye Su’s hand.
Ye Su bent her knees in a formal bow: “Ye Su greets Commandery Princess Shou’an and Madame Yong’an Duke.”
Commandery Princess Shou’an and Madame Yong’an Duke were both past forty, but they took excellent care of themselves and appeared to be only around thirty.
As Ye Su offered her greeting, they made a token gesture of raising her up, their faces wearing gentle smiles: “Third Miss Ye is too polite.”
“Third Miss? But…” The woman in the back was shocked, and even a warning glare couldn’t suppress her heart bursting with gossip.
No matter how lazy she might be in private on ordinary days, Ye Su always maintained her composure when facing outsiders. She straightened up following their token gesture of assistance.
Old Madame Zheng was secretly satisfied and, in front of everyone, praised Ye Su a few more times. What the ladies thought privately was unknown, but their faces all showed proper respect.
More and more people were brought in, until Shoukang Hall could no longer accommodate them all. Some whose status was insufficient could only pay their respects to Old Madame and then leave, while those who remained were all of distinguished rank.
They chatted and laughed with Old Madame Zheng while frequently casting glances toward the courtyard entrance.
They were all waiting.
Today was Old Madame Zheng’s seventieth birthday, a full decade milestone. Before noon, an imperial edict and gifts would surely arrive from the palace. They wondered what the Empress Dowager and His Majesty would bestow.
“Old Madame, Old Madame! News has come from the palace!” Before the person even appeared, an urgent voice rang out, filled with excitement.
The ladies in the courtyard maintained calm expressions, each sitting steadily in place, but in truth, they all instantly perked up their ears, their eyes involuntarily turning toward the outside.
“Don’t rush. Speak slowly. What has the palace bestowed?” The calmest person present was none other than Old Madame Zheng herself.
“No, Old Madame, it’s news from the palace—His Majesty will personally come to the residence to offer you birthday congratulations!” The steward delivering the message was extremely agitated.
Although His Majesty had once lived in the residence for a few years as a child, and the steward had seen him many times back then, at that time he had only been the Sixth Prince—how could that compare to the later Emperor?
Since the Sixth Prince had ascended the throne, he rarely left the palace, and on the rare occasions he did, it was under the guise of inspections, surrounded by countless guards, eunuchs, and palace maids.
When he wanted to see members of the Ye family, he would summon them outside or call them into the palace directly. The steward had never seen His Majesty since he had grown up.
“His Majesty will personally grace the Ye residence?” Old Madame was also quite surprised, followed by delight.
All the ladies in the room exchanged shocked glances before their smiles grew even warmer, and they began offering flattery one after another.
Someone boldly said: “His Majesty and the Empress Dowager are showing their filial piety to you, Old Madam.”
For the Emperor to personally come and congratulate his grandmother on her birthday—to call it filial piety, though slightly overstepping, was not entirely inappropriate. Everyone agreed.
“Very well, very well. Then let us hurry to the front gate to prepare for His Majesty’s arrival. Have the two Marquises and the others been informed?” Old Madame moved to rise, and Ye Su steadily supported her as she stood up.
With the Emperor personally arriving, naturally everyone had to go to welcome him.
The steward replied: “I have already sent someone to inform the Master and the Madams.”
“Then let’s go together.” Leaning on his cane and supporting Ye Su, the other ladies quietly followed behind as they walked toward the main gate.
Ye Su glanced at the massive crowd trailing behind her and inwardly sneered at Jiang Zhaoyi.
Ever since he became Emperor, every appearance he made was accompanied by such a grand spectacle—it was a complete waste of people’s resources. He ought to stay put in the palace and not wander about.
By the time they reached the entrance, everyone had gathered. There were an enormous number of people at the Ye estate today, with the Ye family members standing at the very front.
Ye Su yielded her position supporting Old Madame to her eldest uncle and father, then retreated back into the cluster of sisters.
“Eldest sister, second sister.” The other sisters had already been seen earlier today, so upon seeing her two married cousins, Ye Su was the first to greet them.
Ye Fei and Ye Man had just returned to the Marquis’s residence with their respective husbands. They had originally planned to go to the inner courtyard to pay respects to their grandmother for her birthday, but halfway there, they heard that His Majesty would be arriving, so they came straight out to wait.
“Third sister.” Ye Fei and Ye Man also greeted her amiably, but since it wasn’t appropriate to catch up at the moment, they didn’t say much more.
No one spoke, so Ye Su stood quietly. Turning her head, she noticed that her two younger cousins Ye Wei and Ye Fu, as well as her half-sister Ye Mo, all had flushed, excited expressions, their eyes fixed nervously on the road beyond the main gate.
In a flash, she understood what was going through their minds.
Ye Mo was fifteen this year, and Ye Wei and Ye Fu, born of different concubines and close in age at around thirteen, were all at that age of youthful romantic longing.
The current Emperor was only eighteen this year. Even if Ye Su didn’t want to admit it, Jiang Zhaoyi’s appearance could indeed be called peerlessly handsome, and he wielded supreme power.
Most importantly, such a powerful and handsome man happened to be their cousin!
Unfortunately, during the few years Jiang Zhaoyi lived at the Marquis’s residence when he was young, they were still small children, and as daughters of concubines, they could barely even leave their courtyards.
They hadn’t had the chance to be “childhood sweethearts” with Jiang Zhaoyi like the three eldest—Ye Fei, Ye Man, and Ye Su—which was their greatest regret.
If Ye Su knew what they were thinking, she would definitely tell them that if they truly knew the young Jiang Zhaoyi, their idealized image of him would shatter completely.