Seeing his face darken, she silently changed her tune, “The point is, doesn’t Cousin already know?”
Zishu Sui looked like she was saying “you know the answer already, why are you asking?” Under his icy gaze, she shut her mouth and said nothing.
Xiao Bian also didn’t know why, after only a few days, the person in front of him had become less timid and more temperamental.
Her body was incredibly weak, but her mouth was getting harder and harder.
Perhaps, this was her true nature.
When a person arrives in a new environment, they are inevitably cautious. After they adapt and find that there is no danger around, they reveal their true nature.
“It was indeed right to bring up Cousin. Cousin is so amazing, no one will dare to bully me in the future.” Zishu Sui suddenly said, her peach blossom eyes seeming to contain stars.
Xiao Bian actually felt a slight pain in the bite wound on his wrist. He frowned and said, “Don’t flatter me.”
“Oh.” Zishu Sui replied, without saying that she wasn’t flattering him.
“At the beginning of each month, ask the housekeeper to collect your monthly allowance. The Marquis’s mansion isn’t so poor that it needs you to pawn jewelry.” He said coldly, saying words that pleased Zishu Sui.
Xiao Bian stepped away. This time, Zishu Sui didn’t stop him.
And the matter of copying, which no one mentioned again, was dropped.
…
In the evening, Madam Cui had someone send two new dresses.
The person who came was Granny Liu, who was by Madam Cui’s side. She smiled warmly, “The day after tomorrow is the Rongxin Marquis’s mansion’s full moon banquet. Madam is thinking of taking Miss Cousin along. Miss Cousin can also talk to the young ladies of the same age and make friends.”
On that day, the Wuning Marquis and his wife, along with Xiao Jinse and Zishu Sui, went to the Rongxin Marquis’s mansion.
Zishu Sui wore a light blue, high-waisted ruqun (a type of traditional Chinese dress) that Madam Cui had sent, and a thick, snow-white cloak was wrapped around the outside.
Zishu Sui and Xiao Jinse rode in a carriage. When they got into the carriage, Xiao Jinse’s slightly shocked gaze wandered over Zishu Sui’s body—
“It’s not even winter yet. Aren’t you afraid of being laughed at for wearing so much?”
Hearing this, Zishu Sui covered her face and coughed a few times, her voice weak and powerless, “The cold air has been heavy these past few days, and I’m very afraid of the cold.”
Xiao Jinse was speechless. Seeing her weak and helpless appearance, she consciously distanced herself from her.
“Older Cousin, is the full moon banquet at the Rongxin Marquis’s mansion for the Rongxin Marquis’s grandson?” Zishu Sui asked, her face full of humility.
Xiao Jinse was shocked by her words and glared at her, “It’s not easy for the Rongxin Marquis to have a son. Don’t talk nonsense later.”
“Son? I heard that the Rongxin Marquis is almost fifty years old. Does he only have a son now?” Zishu Sui looked at Xiao Jinse in “surprise.”
Xiao Jinse was very disdainful of her ignorance and snorted coldly, “The Rongxin Marquis and his wife are loving and have never taken concubines. Since his wife gave birth to Lingyi, her body has been damaged, and she has had no children for these years. It was only last year that she recovered and had a young master.”
“Oh, so that’s how it is. That’s really touching.”
Zishu Sui said lightly, while lifting the car curtain.
In the capital, the north is the most noble. The north has nine wards, where the imperial relatives and nobles live.
The east is for the rich. The east has nine wards, where the new dignitaries of the court or ordinary aristocratic families live.
The south is for the people. The south has eight wards and sixteen alleys, where the people of the capital or merchants live.
The west is for the rabble. The west has nine alleys and four caves, a mixed bag, where foreigners and homeless people live, the (lowly people) in the mouths of some nobles.
The Wuning Marquis’s mansion and the Rongxin Marquis’s mansion are not far apart. Because they are both in the North Nine Wards, only two streets apart, they arrived in a short while.
Today, the magnificent Rongxin Marquis’s mansion was crowded with guests. Although the Rongxin Marquis had little power in the court and his foundation wasn’t deep, he was deeply favored by the emperor. Even the plaque of the Marquis’s mansion was inscribed by the emperor himself.
Zishu Sui followed behind Madam Cui and entered the gate of the Marquis’s mansion.
According to the rules, the Wuning Marquis had to stay in the front yard for the male guests, while Madam Cui took the two girls to the backyard.
Xiao Jinse was eager to meet her young lady friends. Under Madam Cui’s explicit instructions, Xiao Jinse had no choice but to take Zishu Sui to find her young lady friends.
Under the pavilion, several young ladies were chatting about the most popular lip rouge.
The girl in the yellow dress saw Xiao Jinse walking from afar with a heavily dressed girl. She teased loudly, “Jinse, Lingyi said that a new cousin has come to your house. We were betting just now whether you would bring your cousin.”
Xiao Jinse looked unlucky, “You think I want to,” and then looked at Shen Lingyi, who was smiling fakely, “Lingyi, can we see your younger brother today?”
Shen Lingyi was dressed elegantly and dignifiedly today. Without thinking, she declined, “The wind is strong today, and Lang’er shouldn’t be exposed to the wind.”
At Shen Lang’s full moon banquet, Shen Lang didn’t even come out, which showed how much the Shen family treasured this only male child.
The young ladies laughed and chatted about other things, and Xiao Jinse quickly integrated into it.
Zishu Sui weakly found a place to sit down, not talking to them, not even smiling, and occasionally coughing heavily while covering her face.
After a few times, some impatience flashed across Shen Lingyi’s face. Because of the previous incident in the study, Shen Lingyi was sure that Zishu Sui wanted to compete with her for Xiao Bian, so she became hostile to her,
“Miss Qi, are you seriously ill?”
Xiao Jinse said disgustedly, “Qi Sui, stay away from us, don’t pass your illness to us.”
Zishu Sui nodded apologetically and moved a little to the side, “The flowers in the Marquis’s mansion are really beautiful.”
Zishu Sui’s gaze turned to the surroundings of the pavilion.
All of this was familiar and unfamiliar.
Once upon a time, there was a peach tree here, but now, the peach tree is gone, and only flowers fill the garden.
“Are you stunned by a few flowers?”
These words were filled with contempt. The person who spoke was none other than the girl in the yellow dress.
The girl in the yellow dress didn’t understand Xiao Jinse and Shen Lingyi’s attitude at first, but now she understood, so she naturally shared their hatred and ridiculed Zishu Sui.
“Miss Qi is from Pingting. Could it be that the county government doesn’t grow flowers?” Shen Lingyi asked gently, her eyes staring straight at Zishu Sui. The tone of the two words “county government” was particularly heavy.
As if she was afraid that others wouldn’t know, the person in front of her was the daughter of a county magistrate.
Although the county magistrate is also a proper official with a rank, a parent official of one side, in the eyes of these naturally noble young ladies, he is just a small official.
What if he is a parent official? If the county magistrate’s daughter didn’t have the relationship with the Xiao family, she probably wouldn’t be able to enter their circle in her entire life.
As Shen Lingyi’s voice fell, the girl in the yellow dress began to echo, “So she’s the county magistrate’s daughter…” The ending tone was lengthened, and the ridicule was full.
Before her ending tone had reached the end, she heard Zishu Sui chuckle softly. The light laughter was pure and bright, as if there wasn’t a single flaw.
Zishu Sui’s gaze moved away from the flowers, and then she saw the corners of Shen Lingyi’s mouth, surrounded by the young ladies, quietly covered with a proud arc. Zishu Sui looked at her, as if she was looking at something else through her.
Zishu Sui’s voice was soft, “I just suddenly miss home a little.”
Shen Lingyi frowned imperceptibly. For some reason, she felt that the girl’s eyes in front of her were particularly strange.
But she couldn’t tell where it was strange.
Xiao Jinse curled her lips, “Qi Sui, your home and Lingyi’s home are worlds apart. What are you thinking about?”
“Yes, worlds apart,” Zishu Sui sighed softly, like a ray of autumn water, with a faint melancholy in her tactful voice,
“The distance between me and my home is also worlds apart. Just thinking about being occupied by a magpie and having to face the magpie’s flaunting, my heart aches unbearably. I can think of it anytime, anywhere.”
The girl seemed to be telling a sorrowful, yet unrecoverable tragedy.