As the matriarch of the house, Old Princess Dowager Xu could not neglect another esteemed guest from the Eastern Palace. She stepped out of the small building and went to welcome the tardy Yan Zhuyu.
Unexpectedly, Yan Zhuyu had brought someone with her.
Lin Xiuer, the prefect’s daughter who had been rumored to be absent.
Had former rivals turned into close friends?
The female guests cast their gazes one after another.
Lin Xiuer was born with enchanting beauty, a rare beauty, and as Prefect Lin’s only child, she exuded an overbearing aura just by standing there, making the Yan Zhuyu beside her lose her luster.
Yet she carried two congratulatory gifts in her hands, one of which she held on Yan Zhuyu’s behalf.
“This junior wishes Your Highness the matriarch sun and moon ever bright, pine and crane in eternal spring.”
Old Princess Dowager Xu had someone take the two gifts from Lin Xiuer’s hands and smiled as she exchanged a few polite words.
To receive a personal welcome from Old Princess Dowager Xu placed her among the most envied female guests, alongside the Huai Jin County Princess.
Lin Xiuer owed this favor to Yan Zhuyu.
But even without the Old Princess Dowager’s personal welcome, Lin Xiuer never lacked attention.
As she walked side by side with Yan Zhuyu toward the garden stage, a noble lady took the initiative to yield the best seat.
Everyone rose one after another to pay their respects.
“Peace to you, my lady.”
Yan Zhuyu smiled faintly and gestured for everyone to dispense with the formalities, yet she saw one person remain as still as a mountain, still propping her cheek and staring at the stage.
Yan Zhuyu’s perfectly timed smile froze at the corners of her mouth. She sat in the best seat yielded by the noble lady, fanning herself lightly with a kesi silk fan as she politely chatted with those trying to engage her.
She was the picture of grace and elegance.
Lin Xiuer went straight to Jiang Yinyue’s side and sat down. She picked up a lidded bowl offered by a servant girl from the residence and absentmindedly skimmed the tea foam, but somehow, the bowl shattered at Jiang Yinyue’s feet.
Tea splashed everywhere, wetting Jiang Yinyue’s skirt hem and embroidered shoes.
“Sorry, my hand slipped.”
Jiang Yinyue looked at the smirking Lin Xiuer. Having grown up in a high-class household, she had seen this kind of provocation too many times.
Jiang Yinyue glanced at Yan Zhuyu, who sat steadily in her prime seat.
The Jiang Yinyue of the past would have settled scores on the spot, but after enduring so much criticism and malice, she had grown somewhat numb. Moreover, this was Old Princess Dowager Xu’s home ground; causing a scene would be a breach of etiquette.
She beckoned to a servant girl and moved her feet aside, waiting for the girl to clean up.
Lin Xiuer toyed with a handful of hazelnuts, her tone indifferent. “I wondered what kind of delicate beauty Wei Qin would marry, but it turns out to be the castoff rejected by His Highness the Crown Prince.”
The storyteller on the platform was passionately reciting, drowning out the whispers below, but Jiang Yinyue heard every word clearly.
“The arrogant prefect’s daughter, suppressed by her former rival, stepping up for someone else—truly an insult to the term ‘arrogant’.”
Lin Xiuer paused, then tossed the hazelnuts away forcefully. “Stop being all sarcastic.”
“Even dogs aren’t as eager to curry favor with the powerful as you.”
“You!”
Jiang Yinyue kept her eyes on the platform, ignoring the stunned Lin Xiuer.
The daughter of a minister using such crude language was beyond Lin Xiuer’s expectations. She felt a moment of daze, then laughed instead of getting angry. “No wonder you became someone’s stepping stone—too crude to grace the grand hall.”
“Does throwing a tantrum fix it?” Jiang Yinyue pointed at the puddle on the ground.
Lin Xiuer realized this woman spoke with such conviction, unlike any refined lady from a noble family she had met before.
At that moment, as the storyteller clapped the gavel, applause rose again from below the platform.
Mr. Gong thanked the audience and stepped down, making way for the opera troupe to set the scene.
During the wait, someone came forward to ask Lin Xiuer what gift she had given Old Princess Dowager Xu.
Lin Xiuer was always generous. “I gave Her Highness the matriarch several bolts of Zhang Satin.”
“Zhang Satin! That’s a rarity, produced in… produced in…”
Lin Xiuer rolled her eyes, as if annoyed by the other’s lack of knowledge. “Zhangzhou.”
“It’s Suzhou,” Jiang Yinyue corrected.
Lin Xiuer enunciated each word firmly. “Zhangzhou pioneered it.”
Suzhou was famous for silk, but Zhang Satin—yes, it did sound like it originated in Zhangzhou.
Everyone perked up their ears to listen in on the drama.
Jiang Yinyue was like a blade edge honed ruthlessly by a whetstone, no longer subject to Lin Xiuer’s bossiness. Calm as a pool of still water, flowing gently, no matter how sharp the knife, it could neither sever nor slice through her heart river.
“Zhangzhou is known for Zhang silk and Zhang velvet. Suzhou wove it using Zhang velvet techniques and Yunjin patterns to create the satin-ground velvet-flower Zhang Satin.” She explained unhurriedly.
A knowledgeable noble lady chimed in softly. “Zhang Satin was indeed first created in Suzhou.”
The crowd showed varied expressions, most smirking inwardly.
It was rare to see Lin Xiuer put in her place.
Jiang Yinyue glanced indifferently and rose to go somewhere less crowded. Even the overbearing version of her from before had never publicly humiliated someone by correcting them outright; this was merely tooth for a tooth, aimed at this Lin Xiuer.
As she left her seat, her peripheral vision swept over Yan Zhuyu, a hint of chill gathering at the corners of her eyes.
But just as she approached the moon gate, a stranger appeared gracefully.
“The matriarch requests an audience with the lady.”
Jiang Yinyue stopped before the unfamiliar young servant, without suspicion. Her grandmother and the Old Princess Dowager were like sisters; perhaps the matriarch wished to look after an old friend’s descendant.
“Please lead the way.”
Crossing a long series of stepping stones, Jiang Yinyue arrived at another garden, petite and exquisite, a scenic vista at every step.
In a waterside pavilion dotted with camellias, gauze curtains in sunset hues draped on all sides, like the azure sky in Jiangnan’s misty rain.
She saw Old Princess Dowager Xu standing by a second-floor window watering flowers, so Jiang Yinyue hurried up the spiral stairs.
The second-floor parlor was small and square, divided by a tri-fold screen.
“This junior pays respects to Your Highness the matriarch.”
“No need to stand on ceremony, come sit.” The elderly lady sat by the flower-scented window and beckoned Jiang Yinyue. “We haven’t formally met yet, child. Was the journey tiring?”
Jiang Yinyue was pulled by the hand to sit, and she smiled brightly. “The mountains and rivers stretched far, indeed exhausting, but it tempered the mind.”
“What affects the mind isn’t just the scenery along the way, but the people beside you.” Old Princess Dowager Xu patted the back of Jiang Yinyue’s hand and asked, “How are things between you and the Bangyan Scholar?”
Elders often chatted with juniors about everyday family matters, including romance. With her grandmother’s connection, Jiang Yinyue took it as concern for this junior.
But matters between husband and wife were private. Besides, things with Wei Qin were still in an ambiguous fog; her feelings toward Wei Qin… she couldn’t quite name them, but there was certainly dependence.
“Pretty good.”
“Sounds a bit like mutual respect between husband and wife.”
Old Princess Dowager Xu smiled, as if seeing through her or perhaps probing.
There was no reason for an elder of her generation to probe her and Wei Qin’s relationship. Jiang Yinyue pondered, then suddenly caught a familiar yet somewhat strange scent amid a sudden gust of wind.
The imperial clan’s exclusive incense.
Dragon saliva incense.
Though faint, its scent was too distinctive; those accustomed to it recognized it at once.
Jiang Yinyue turned her eyes calmly, her gaze sweeping over the only visual obstruction in the parlor—the tri-fold screen. She sensed something. Though puzzled why that person would borrow the matriarch’s mouth to probe, she did not expose it and naturally changed her tune. “Not mutual respect—it’s as inseparable as glue and lacquer.”
“Oh?”
“Our bond is deep, as inseparable as glue and lacquer.”
Old Princess Dowager Xu was baffled by Jiang Yinyue’s sudden shift and laughed, shaking her head. She personally brewed some Green Willow Spring tea and handed it to Jiang Yinyue. “Do you two plan to have children?”
“Yes.” Jiang Yinyue glanced at the screen carved with flowers, birds, pines, and stones, speaking freely. “Mother-in-law wants grandchildren and wants us to start soon, so she can help raise them while she’s still energetic.”
Unlike high families with wet nurses, maids, and nannies attending the young masters in shifts, poor families couldn’t afford that. Jiang Yinyue’s words fit the Wei Family’s circumstances without raising suspicion.
For an unmarried woman to speak such bold words, whether it charmed the listener or not, it at least eased her own heart.
Regardless of whether old grudges were resolved, she could not lose face before her former rival.
She was doing well—couldn’t be better. And that was the truth.
The fresh aroma of Green Willow Spring spread across her tongue tip. Jiang Yinyue gazed out the window, no longer minding the screen’s direction. The begonia pendant slanted in her high bun swayed with the wind, visible through the screen’s gap, shaking in a pair of amber eyes.
On the corner table by the grand master’s chair, the unused Green Willow Spring tea had gone cold. A jade hand resting on the edge was slightly stiff.
The man in snow-white robes had desolate emptiness in his eyes, save for the vivid color of that swaying begonia pendant.
Wei Xichen still did not know why he had asked Old Princess Dowager Xu to perform this duet. Clearly, his heart rejected everything about Jiang Yinyue, yet sharing the same residence stirred subtle feelings—ease, joy, anticipation weaving silver hooks that effortlessly stripped away his emotions, leaving only the desire to see her.
Wei Xichen closed his eyes, his long black lashes fluttering with his heartbeat.
He wanted to see her.
It broke through restraint and calm.
It broke through the shackles of status.
He could no longer deceive himself.
Fine rain had begun falling outside the window unnoticed, soon turning heavy, pattering slantwise onto the potted plants before the waterside pavilion window, battering the sturdy, ancient plum branches and brocade pines.
A water droplet from the branches splashed Jiang Yinyue’s eye, stinging it. She rubbed her eyelid and suddenly saw a petite figure approaching downstairs.
Huai Jin County Princess, Cui Shihan.
The spirited young woman dressed in men’s attire, raised her clear face, and greeted Old Princess Dowager Xu in a husky voice. “The official ladies are gathering for cards—won’t Your Highness the matriarch join?”
The card-loving elder rose, pulling Jiang Yinyue down the spiral stairs. “Let’s go play cards.”
Jiang Yinyue knew Old Princess Dowager Xu was giving the person behind the screen a way out and that she must do the same for this noble guest, allowing a dignified exit from the waterside pavilion.
But did a gentleman deceive in the dark? Had this noble guest done so?
Entering the dripping courtyard, Jiang Yinyue paused. “This junior wishes to speak with the Huai Jin County Princess.”
“As you please.”
Old Princess Dowager Xu smiled politely and left with the attendants waiting outside the pavilion. She felt somewhat guilty toward her old friend’s granddaughter, but the noble guest’s request could not be refused; she was in a difficult position.