In the minds of the young ladies in the pavilion, Qi Sui’s home had been occupied by rebels, so what she said was not wrong.
But Shen Lingyi frowned even tighter, and she didn’t know why she felt a little uneasy, “Miss Qi, today is my younger brother’s full moon banquet, you shouldn’t say these things.”
Saying these things was simply unlucky.
The other young ladies thought so too.
At this moment, a melodious female voice rang out outside the pavilion,
“Are you the daughter of Magistrate Qi from Pingting?”
Zishu Sui turned around at the sound, and saw a girl outside the pavilion wearing a cyan duijin ruqun (a type of traditional Chinese dress), with a generous smile on her face.
This suddenly appearing girl was very different in temperament and style from the young ladies in the pavilion.
“Yes.” Zishu Sui also returned a gentle smile.
“Ji Sixue? Why is she here?” Xiao Jinse asked Shen Lingyi in a low voice.
Shen Lingyi did not answer.
When Zishu Sui heard this name, she remembered the book *Female Virtue* that Xie Yan had given her last time. She had read it and had some impression of Ji Sixue’s name.
The Ji family was the family of Empress Dowager Ji.
Now the head of the Ji family was Chancellor Ji, the head of the civil officials. He was the Empress Dowager’s nephew and the Emperor’s cousin.
The younger generation of the Ji family, regardless of gender, all had the character (snow) in their names. The four juniors of the Ji family were particularly outstanding compared to their peers, and were also the “children of other people” in the legend.
Therefore, they were jokingly called “Four Snows” by the people of the capital.
And Ji Sixue’s ordinal position, and the homonym of her name, was precisely the fourth “snow” of the Ji family.
The old and young of the Ji family were all good at literature, but only this Miss Ji Four had been active since she was a child, liked to dance with knives and guns, and her dream was to venture into the world.
In a short while, Ji Sixue had already approached, “Magistrate Qi is a good official. Miss Qi, please accept my condolences. When the army recovers Pingting in the future, Miss Qi can return to her homeland.”
Ji Sixue had a bit of heroism between her eyebrows and eyes, and her dress could not hide her straightforwardness.
Hearing her words, Zishu Sui’s smile became a little more sincere, and she said meaningfully, “Taking Miss Ji’s good words, even if the old residence is unrecognizable, it must not continue to fall into the hands of the rebels.”
“Miss Qi looks weak, but she has some courage in her bones.” Ji Sixue showed an expression of appreciation.
Shen Lingyi’s face became darker and darker. Compared to Zishu Sui, she hated Ji Sixue even more.
For Shen Lingyi, Zishu Sui was just the daughter of a small official who was not to be feared, but Ji Sixue was different. The Ji family was a prominent family, passed down for hundreds of years, and still stood firm even with the change of dynasties. Now they also held real power, so even without a title, they were not comparable to the daughters of ordinary marquises.
From childhood to adulthood, Shen Lingyi had never been able to compare to her in anything.
Just now, Shen Lingyi said that she shouldn’t mention those unlucky things on this happy day, but these two annoying people were still chatting, how could Shen Lingyi not be angry?
“Miss Ji Four, I thought you wouldn’t come today.” Shen Lingyi remembered the family’s warning, with a fake smile on her dark face.
The implication was, why did you come?
Ji Sixue raised her eyebrows, after all, she was not the type to take offense, and immediately replied, “I just came with my eldest brother, otherwise, would I be here specifically to congratulate your father on having a son in his old age?”
“You!” Shen Lingyi’s fake smile could no longer hold up.
She wanted to reason with her, but remembering the teachings of her mother and eldest sister, Shen Lingyi gave up the idea of arguing.
She had to be a noble lady.
A noble lady from beginning to end, who could not quarrel in public.
Compared to Shen Lingyi’s petty thoughts, Zishu Sui was paying attention to the fact that when the other young ladies heard Ji Sixue mention her eldest brother, their eyes lit up a lot.
Ji Sixue saw Zishu Sui’s awkwardness and kindly suggested, “Miss Qi, why don’t you walk with me?”
Zishu Sui was about to agree, but the girl in the yellow dress who had previously ridiculed her spoke first—
“Miss Four, do you really want to walk with a girl who is living under someone else’s roof and whose reputation has been damaged?”
As the girl in the yellow dress’s voice fell, the corners of Shen Lingyi’s mouth curled up slightly.
It was all the better if someone around her was willing to take the lead and do things that Shen Lingyi was unwilling to do, so that Shen Lingyi’s own noble reputation would not be damaged.
Zishu Sui looked as if she had been hurt, with a worried expression on her face, “This girl, you have been targeting me since just now, I don’t care about you, but why do you say such vicious words? Even if you are a servant girl in the Marquis’s mansion, you can’t always discipline guests, right?”
As she spoke, Zishu Sui took out a handkerchief and coughed gently again.
The snow-white cloak trembled with her movements.
“What servant girl of the Marquis’s mansion?!” The girl in the yellow dress jumped in anger, “I am Jiang Yu, the daughter of the Crown Prince’s Shaozhanshi (a high-ranking official in the crown prince’s staff)! Don’t talk nonsense!”
Zishu Sui looked up in “shock”, “What?”
“Miss Qi, A Yu didn’t intentionally want to instruct you on anything, and besides, it’s a fact that you came to the capital alone, and it’s not A Yu framing you,” Shen Lingyi sighed, seemingly helpless, “Why do you have to humiliate people like this? There is a difference in status, and it cannot be changed by a few words.”
“Does Miss Shen also think I’m lowly?” Zishu Sui asked sadly.
Shen Lingyi was silent.
But Zishu Sui chuckled bitterly and said weakly, “But my mother is also a daughter of the Xiao family, and the Empress is also my mother’s cousin… Have I reached the point where you despise me?”
Her face was pale, and tears swirled in her eyes, as if she was about to faint in the next second.
And Jiang Yu and Shen Lingyi’s faces changed when they heard this.
Only because they also forgot that the girl in front of them could also climb up to the Empress.
Zishu Sui endured her tears and looked at Shen Lingyi, “Miss Shen is noble, and is naturally different from me. Forgive my ignorance for asking, which of the five great aristocratic families of Dayan does your mother come from?”
As soon as these words came out, everyone’s faces changed drastically.
Shen Lingyi’s face turned green and white, as if she had been poked in a sore spot.
A hearty laugh rang out from behind Zishu Sui, and Ji Sixue said casually, “Miss Qi misunderstood. The Rongxin Marquis’s wife is not from an aristocratic or official family.”
“Ah?” Zishu Sui looked at Shen Lingyi in “shock” again, “Then, this, still despises me?”
“Qi, Sui!” Shen Lingyi gritted her teeth, unable to maintain her ladylike image, and called out her name for the first time.
Those young ladies who depended on Shen Lingyi, whose status was not as good as Shen Lingyi, such as Jiang Yu, were anxious to make up for it, “The Rongxin Marquis and his wife are deeply in love and don’t care about status at all. Qi Sui, don’t be too mercenary.”
Zishu Sui was speechless. At this moment, she heard Shen Lingyi say—
“Qi Sui, I will definitely tell the Wuning Marquis’s wife about today’s matter!”
After speaking, Zishu Sui showed a frightened expression, her body swayed, and she almost fell on Ji Sixue, “I don’t know what I did wrong, why does Miss Shen have to target me so much, I… cough cough cough, cough cough cough!”
Just as Shen Lingyi was about to invite Madam Cui, Zishu Sui covered her face in the cloak in grievance, and after a while, she raised her head, looking like she was about to faint, “Ugh!”
In the next moment, in full view of everyone, she spat out a mouthful of blood—
At that time, Shen Lingyi was so angry, and she was the closest to Zishu Sui, so she was caught off guard and had her face covered with the bright red blood.
“Ah!”
Following that, a sharp scream was issued. What noble lady or noble girl image, she couldn’t care about any of that.