Early in the morning.
In the secluded Orchid Courtyard.
As the young girl was half-awake, she heard the maid Yunxiu’s rather impolite voice outside the door—
“The young lady seems to enjoy sleeping in; she’s been at the Marquis’s residence for a while now and hasn’t even thought to pay her respects to the Madam. Clearly, she comes from a humble background and doesn’t understand any etiquette.”
The maid’s voice outside the door was not at all muffled by the wall.
“Sister Yunxiu, the young lady is still a mistress, isn’t it not good for you to speak like that?” This honest voice belonged to another maid, Yinxing.
Yunxiu snorted coldly, seemingly very disdainful, “Yinxing, our young lady is quite something. Both her parents died at the hands of rebels, yet she managed to survive. She even came to the capital alone. These days are turbulent; who knows what she’s been through? A proper lady from a respectable family would have hanged herself long ago!”
Yinxing said weakly, “But it sounds like the young lady is very pitiful.”
“You should pity yourself,” Yunxiu said sarcastically to Yinxing, “Instead of going to Longchuan, she insisted on coming to our Marquis’s residence. Isn’t it all for the sake of our Marquis’s prestigious status? It’s only because the Madam is kind-hearted. Just watch, the Young Master won’t give her any preferential treatment!”
The speaker was not at all afraid of being heard by the “mistress” inside the bedroom; her voice was loud and unreserved.
From this contemptuous and dissatisfied tone, it was clear that Yunxiu had a strong opinion of her.
Zishu Sui got up, tidied herself, and headed towards Madam Cui’s courtyard. Madam Cui is the Marchioness of Wuning.
Right now, Xiao Bian still doesn’t trust her; she needs the trust of Madam Cui, this powerful figure.
Madam Cui is much easier to talk to than Xiao Bian!
When Zishu Sui arrived at Madam Cui’s courtyard, Madam Cui was just coming out of the Buddhist hall, looking worried.
Suddenly, she heard the clear voice of a young girl, “Aunt is so devout; her wishes will surely come true.”
Hearing this, Madam Cui smiled and looked towards the girl.
Zishu Sui was wearing a snow-white dress, which made her look even more delicate and pure.
Madam Cui took Zishu Sui’s hand and walked into the hall, saying, “I only hope that your cousin can marry and have children soon; then I will have no regrets in this life.”
Everyone in Yanjing knows that the Heir of the Marquis of Wuning is twenty-six years old but still unmarried.
It’s quite absurd; the Marquis of Wuning’s residence is such a noble family, and the Marquis’s sister is the current Empress. As the Empress’s nephew, the Heir of the Marquis of Wuning is the commander of the Jingji Garrison at a young age. With these conditions… he’s still not married!
Extremely absurd.
Zishu Sui pretended to be innocent and curious, knowingly asking, “Aunt, why hasn’t cousin married?”
Hearing this, Madam Cui sighed heavily, “Respectable young ladies from families of equal status are all afraid of him. I’ve arranged three matches for him, but those girls are all terrified when they hear his reputation. There was one who wasn’t afraid, but your cousin didn’t want her.”
As Madam Cui worried, Zishu Sui also sighed in cooperation.
But in reality, Zishu Sui wasn’t worried at all; not only was she not worried, but she was also very glad that he hadn’t married!
She came to the Marquis of Wuning’s residence under the guise of Qi Sui to seduce Xiao Bian.
As for why he was twenty-six and still unwilling to marry, it was because he had someone in his heart.
Madam Cui probably couldn’t even imagine that her cold and ruthless son would fall in love with his uncle’s imperial concubine.
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Although he couldn’t obtain her, he remained chaste for that bad woman to this day.
It was simply laughable.
When she returned to the Orchid Courtyard, Yunxiu was nowhere to be seen again.
But this was good, saving her from running around in front of Zishu Sui and being annoying to look at.
The Marquis of Wuning’s residence currently housed two branches: the main branch of the Marquis of Wuning and the branch of the Marquis of Wuning’s younger brother.
The Marquis of Wuning’s branch had a simple population, with no concubines, only his wife Madam Cui and his only son Xiao Bian.
The second branch was slightly more complicated, but the second branch’s master was a mediocre person who relied on the Marquis of Wuning’s residence to have some face.
Zishu Sui was arranged to live in the Orchid Courtyard, which was remote but quiet.
In the afternoon.
Yinxing knocked on the door, “Young Lady, the housekeeper has sent the newly made clothes.”
Zishu Sui opened the door and saw that the courtyard outside had been cleaned, “Did you do this all by yourself?”
Yinxing smiled shyly and placed a pile of brightly colored clothes on the table in the bedroom, “Young Lady can try them on when you have time. If they don’t fit, there’s still time to alter them.”
The brightly colored clothes on the table were dazzling.
Zishu Sui frowned and whispered, “Doesn’t the residence make white dresses?”
Yinxing was taken aback, “The mistresses in the Marquis’s residence don’t like this color. Does the Young Lady like white? If so, I’ll order some white ones next time.”
“Yes, I only love white.” Zishu Sui nodded.
But she secretly denied Yinxing’s words in her heart.
It wasn’t that the mistresses in the residence didn’t like white; Xiao Bian liked women in white dresses. Otherwise, Zishu Sui wouldn’t have prepared several white dresses.
In her memory, that woman only loved white.
Wearing a white dress, she charmed the nobles in the capital and was even made an imperial concubine by the emperor.
“This servant will remember.” Yinxing finished speaking and curved her lips, preparing to leave.
“Wait,” Zishu Sui suddenly asked, “Why doesn’t Yunxiu work? Can you tolerate it?”
As soon as she said this, Yinxing’s face turned pale, “Young Lady, although you are the Young Lady, please try not to have conflicts with Sister Yunxiu.”
Avoid conflicts?
Zishu Sui found it funny; were the servants and masters in this residence reversed?
Just as she was wondering, she heard Yinxing whisper, “Sister Yunxiu’s mother is the capable Mama Liu by the First Madam’s side. Sister Yunxiu was suddenly transferred to the Young Lady’s side, so it’s normal for her to be a little angry.”
Zishu Sui smiled gently and said nothing.
About half an hour passed.
Zishu Sui was still wearing a white dress when she walked out of the bedroom.
When she left the courtyard, she happened to hear Yunxiu spitting out grape skins and saying, “Look, she can’t stay idle; I wonder where she’s going to ingratiate herself this time.”
Zishu Sui walked forward on her own; she really couldn’t stay idle.
She didn’t really come to the residence to seek refuge; she was here to face the difficulties and continue to seduce her “cousin.”
So what if she was suspected?
Precisely because of the suspicion, his gaze would be even more focused on her.
The study of the Marquis of Wuning and his son was built in a unique style and was not in the front yard.
A two-story study was located in the center of the lake pavilion, surrounded by the lake on all sides, with only a winding and lengthy bridge corridor leading to it.
If there were thieves, there would be nowhere to hide; they would probably have to jump into the water.
Currently, there were no other thieves in the residence, only Zishu Sui, this thief.
As soon as she stepped onto the bridge, before she even took a step, her intuition predicted the danger emanating from the surroundings.
Although it seemed like she was the only one here, she felt like she was exposed to everyone’s eyes.
It was as if taking another step forward would result in being pierced by thousands of arrows, leaving no place for burial.
That’s right; how could such an important place like the study be unguarded? But they were all in the dark, and given the geographical location of this study, there was no reason to enter by mistake.
Although this was not friendly to thieves, but—
Perhaps in the study, Xiao Bian saw her “sneaking around” on the bridge corridor.
Zishu Sui neither immediately looked up to observe the surroundings nor moved forward or backward.
She stood in place, and in the next moment, she turned sideways to face the lake, raised her left hand and reached into her bosom, mysteriously taking out a bulging handkerchief from her bosom.
Then, she stretched out her hand, making sure that the guards in all directions could see, and as “everyone” concentrated, she unfolded the handkerchief in her hand, revealing leftover pastries inside.
Afterwards, Zishu Sui crushed the pastries and sprinkled some into the lake.
The lake surface moved, and the various colored koi in the lake swam over to compete, all smacking their lips.
“Are you hungry? There’s enough for everyone, don’t 抢 don’t 抢.” (抢 means to snatch)
The girl’s voice was clear; she looked down at the fish in the lake, and under the gaze of “everyone,” she quietly moved two steps towards the study in the guise of feeding the fish.
While moving, she said to the koi that didn’t get the pastries, “You have some too, come, come.”
It was as if she was only moving towards the study to feed the fish over there.
The window on the second floor of the lake pavilion’s study was open.
The guard A Yuan looked at the white-dressed girl not far away and felt troubled.
Seeing the girl approaching the study several steps in a row, he finally hesitated and turned to look at the man at the desk, asking—
“Young Master, the Young Lady is coming over; should this subordinate go and chase her away?”
Hearing this, Xiao Bian, who was at the desk, finally raised his head and glanced down from the window, but only glanced before retracting his gaze.
As he lowered his head again, his voice sounded indifferent, “Shoot an arrow to teach her a lesson.”