When Liu Yiyi was mentioned, Jiang Yueli finally remembered that she was actually the daughter of the Left Vice Minister Liu. Jiang Yueli had seen her a few times before, but they were not familiar—just acquaintances who exchanged nods.
Although they had both grown up in the capital, noble young ladies in the capital did not simply wander around whenever they wished. Jiang Yueli only saw them occasionally when attending tea gatherings or poetry meetings organized by the young ladies of noble families.
However, she had little interest in such events. Unless she absolutely could not decline, she usually would not attend. A group of little girls whose figures had barely developed yet gathering together to compete in beauty and elegance—she found it incredibly dull.
“Well, as the saying goes, a tiger father will not have a dog daughter. I’ve long heard that Ali is quite formidable. Those idle young masters of the capital have all been disciplined into submission by her. Even my own son speaks of her with admiration. My daughter Mengru has been wanting to befriend Ali for quite some time, but she’s never had the opportunity. Before coming today, she even said that if she met Ali, she must have a good chat with her.”
Madam Li had a straightforward personality and spoke without hesitation. She was somewhat different from the other noble ladies.
If someone else had said such things, Shen Nanzhi might have thought they were being sarcastic or implying something else. After all, a girl practicing martial arts was not usually something worth boasting about.
But Madam Li’s words did not sound unpleasant.
That was because Madam Li’s own family—her father and brothers—were all military officers. She herself had grown up playing with weapons, so she naturally did not look down on Jiang Yueli for knowing martial arts.
Hearing others praise her granddaughter made the Old Madam extremely happy. Smiling broadly, she patted Jiang Yueli’s hand.
“Those two girls are in the pavilion at the back garden. You should go and keep them company.”
Jiang Yueli nodded and left with her maidservant.
As the host’s daughter, she naturally needed to fulfill the duties of hospitality.
Banquets in ancient times were like this. Because of propriety between men and women, guests who arrived with family members were usually entertained separately after entering the residence.
The female guests were received by her mother and grandmother.
The male guests were received by her uncle, since her father was not at home.
As for the young masters and young ladies, the young men were naturally entertained by her elder brothers and Jiang Yuebo.
The young ladies, however, could only be entertained by Jiang Yueli herself.
After all, she was the only young lady in the household.
“Miss, quite a few people have come today. Just now I saw Su Xuewei. She seems to be in the small garden as well.”
Xianglan had followed Jiang Yueli since childhood, so she was quite familiar with many of the noble young ladies in the capital—especially those who had once quarreled with her mistress.
Among them, Su Xuewei was the most persistent one.
She could neither beat Jiang Yueli nor argue with her. Every time she was angered to tears and ran away, yet whenever they met again she could not resist causing trouble.
Every time she opened her mouth, she sounded like a delicate and innocent “white lotus.”
But unfortunately, her father was powerful.
The Censor-in-Chief—a third-rank official responsible for remonstration. Even Jiang Yueli’s father avoided him when possible, afraid the man might report him to the emperor for some trivial matter.
Ironically, this eloquent official who could debate an entire court of ministers had given birth to such a “white lotus” daughter.
The feud had begun during a flower appreciation banquet when Jiang Yueli wore the same color dress as Su Xuewei and outshone her.
As the saying goes: matching outfits are not frightening—the one who looks worse is the one embarrassed.
Clearly, Su Xuewei had been the one overshadowed.
When Jiang Yueli arrived, several young girls were chatting and feeding fish from the bridge.
The lotus pond was filled with butterfly koi.
Her father had searched for a long time before finally purchasing them just to make her happy.
Not only were they large, but their colors were beautiful as well. Their wide tails looked like flowing skirts, swaying gracefully in the water.
There were eighteen of them in total, and after years of feeding they had grown even bigger.
“Ah, these fish are so beautiful! Look at that white one over there—its tail is huge, like butterfly wings.”
“That black one is pretty too. I’ve never seen koi with tails this big before.”
Several girls discussed the fish excitedly.
Su Xuewei was also among them.
As Jiang Yueli approached, she heard Su Xuewei say:
“They’re just koi fish. What’s so special about them? If you like them, you can ask Old Madam Jiang for a few pairs later. She’s kind-hearted—she certainly wouldn’t refuse.”
“That wouldn’t be appropriate. We’re guests. How can we ask for someone else’s belongings? Besides, these koi clearly look like rare varieties that have been carefully raised for years. It wouldn’t be right to take something someone else treasures.”
After Su Xuewei spoke, another young girl responded softly.
Su Xuewei smiled sweetly.
“You’re mistaken, dear sister. We are honored guests who came from afar. They’re only fish. How could Old Madam Jiang possibly refuse?”
“This…”
Hearing that, the girl actually began to hesitate.
Jiang Yueli sneered and walked forward.
“Miss Su truly knows how to be generous with other people’s belongings. Since you’re so generous, I assume you wouldn’t mind giving away your own things either?”
As she spoke, Jiang Yueli suddenly reached out and removed the hairpin from Su Xuewei’s hair.
Then she placed it onto the head of the girl who had spoken earlier.
“This hairpin looks prettier on you. I’ll give it to you.”
The girl seemed frightened and stammered without daring to speak.
Su Xuewei was furious and pointed at Jiang Yueli.
“Jiang Yueli! What right do you have to take my hairpin and give it to someone else?”
Jiang Yueli smiled calmly and replied loudly:
“Miss Su is so generous that surely you wouldn’t mind a mere hairpin. After all, its quality is average—it isn’t worth much silver anyway.”
Su Xuewei nearly exploded with anger.
That hairpin had been a coming-of-age gift from her mother and was worth fifty taels of silver. Yet Jiang Yueli dared to say it was worthless.
But when she saw the emerald hairpin Jiang Yueli was wearing—worth several hundred taels—jealousy nearly drove her mad.
Both of them were daughters of main wives.
Both of their fathers were third-rank officials—one military, one civil.
Why did Jiang Yueli live so much better than she did?
Why were their lives so different?
What Su Xuewei overlooked was that Jiang Yueli was not only the legitimate daughter of the Zhenyuan General’s Residence.
She was also the emperor-appointed Linghui County Lady.
In terms of status, she outranked Su Xuewei.
“Jiang Yueli, whether my belongings are valuable or not, you have no right to dispose of them. Return it immediately!”
Jiang Yueli stepped forward slightly and sneered.
“Miss Su speaks correctly. My belongings—no matter how worthless—are not for you to give away either. Besides, each of my butterfly koi is worth more than that hairpin of yours. Yet you casually offered them to others. You really have quite the nerve.”
She was not exaggerating.
When her father bought those fish, each one had cost eighty taels of silver.
After being raised for so many years, their value had more than doubled.
Saying they were worth more than Su Xuewei’s hairpin was not an exaggeration at all.
Jiang Yueli’s mocking words left the other girls exchanging awkward glances.
Yet they all felt she had a point.
After all, it was Su Xuewei who had first presumptuously tried to give away someone else’s fish.
Jiang Yueli embarrassing her like this was understandable.
Su Xuewei’s face turned red with humiliation, but she had nowhere to vent her anger.
“Hmph! If you don’t want to give those fish to He Wanwan, then forget it. Why bring my hairpin into it? That hairpin was my coming-of-age gift from my mother. It means a lot to me. Otherwise, I wouldn’t mind giving it away.”
He Wanwan was the girl who had received the hairpin.
It was obvious Su Xuewei was trying to drag her in as a shield.
But Jiang Yueli would not let her succeed.
“What a coincidence. These koi were also a birthday gift from my father. Back then, he traveled hundreds of miles in a carriage and personally begged the owner before they were willing to sell them to him. If I had known we would meet a bandit like Miss Su today, I would have had someone scoop the fish out beforehand—so that Miss Su wouldn’t develop greedy thoughts upon seeing them.”