The so-called “salon” originally referred to a luxurious drawing room decorated with works of art. The so-called “salon gathering” was naturally a party held in the luxurious drawing room of an upper-class person’s home.
Mrs. Clement was the most famous social butterfly in Capital Vitril. Her beauty that seemed to glow, her alluring figure, her siren-like sweet voice, her expressive eyes, and her high emotional intelligence that always charmed people into delight earned her the nickname “Morning Star” from poets and celebrities. This also propelled her into elite circles, making her a topic of conversation in Vitril.
Mrs. Clement had many suitors and even more followers. In contrast, there were also many people who despised her. After all—
Mrs. Clement’s mother had been a madam in the sex trade. Mrs. Clement had just turned sixteen when her mother sold her at a high price to a customer.
Mrs. Clement’s first customer was a minor noble skilled in business. Through this minor noble, Mrs. Clement gradually mastered the secrets of commerce. At eighteen, she left this minor noble and continued to maintain relations with various nobles and wealthy people one after another.
At twenty, a great noble whose name could not be mentioned became her “patron.” In modern terms, her “sugar daddy.” After that, Mrs. Clement rose meteorically. The galleries, art exhibition halls, antique auction houses, and taverns she operated all achieved great success.
By now, Mrs. Clement was Osnabrock’s foremost businesswoman. Even minor nobles had to smile obsequiously in her presence.
But the past was hard to erase, especially when the “stain” of the past clung to a woman’s body.
As many men fawned over Mrs. Clement, just as many women spat on her.
Mrs. Clement’s “patron” behind the scenes would never openly support her due to his status. Minor and medium nobles fawned and flattered her to her face, took their share of the profits she doled out behind the scenes, but still looked down on her and waited for her to make a fool of herself.
Though Mrs. Clement was rich and beautiful, and her reputation as a merchant far exceeded her peers, even commoner women dared to spit at her.
“Isn’t this so-and-so lady just a prostitute!?”
Kim Hora yelled in Cinderella’s mind: ‘She’s lost her mind…! I thought this was some big shot, but she’s just a prostitute! Ugh! So disgusting! If I’d known that lady was a prostitute, I wouldn’t have come!’
There were plenty of gossipers around, and Kim Hora, who scarfed down melons like a gossip fiend, immediately handed the body back to Cinderella upon hearing Mrs. Clement’s background.
What she wanted was to be looked upon highly by a true noblewoman! Not to fawn over a filthy prostitute!
Cinderella was caught off guard as she was thrust back into control of her body. She felt dizzy for a moment, then sensed that she had fallen into someone else’s embrace.
“Is it because there are too many people, so you’re feeling unwell?”
There were too many people puffing on cigars in the salon, so Ye Tang was not surprised that Cinderella, who was visiting such a place for the first time, felt faint after collapsing into her arms.
In fact, many women in attendance were sitting or reclining on sofas to rest. It was just that these women’s reasons for feeling unwell differed greatly from Cinderella’s.
All these young women wore corsets that cinched their waists extremely tight. Some women’s figures were even distorted to the point of having waists as thin as a bowl rim, like those in the shop posters.
Claudia and Gloria, who did not wear corsets, only realized after arriving at the salon that every girl their age… no, not just girls their age, but every woman except their family—including Mrs. Clement—used corsets to squeeze their bodies into an inverted triangle shape.
They felt like an ugly duckling that had squeezed into a flock of swans, out of place wherever they went. Avoided by girls their age, unable to sit and forced to stand, Claudia and Gloria kept their heads down. They occasionally heard people snickering and cursing at them as “country bumpkins,” “hicks,” “poor slobs,” and “ill-bred.”
Her older sister Claudia was fine, but Gloria, who had not yet had her fifteenth birthday, nearly burst into tears.
“Chin up, chest out.”
Ye Tang came over and brought the two sisters two glasses of juice.
Hans was just a small merchant with modest wealth. Given his and Hedelin House’s social status, Ye Tang could not possibly have been invited to Mrs. Clement’s salon gathering.
So Ye Tang had bought tickets from a minor noble with money—nominally, she was accompanying the minor noble Emily Theodore.
Ye Tang had not stayed by her daughters’ sides the whole time because Emily Theodore had just introduced her to the gathering’s hostess, Mrs. Clement.
Emily Theodore was not particularly close to Mrs. Clement, so Ye Tang had only exchanged brief greetings with Mrs. Clement before returning.
Seeing Claudia and Gloria with their heads drooped, Ye Tang immediately understood what had happened. She knew the importance of fitting in, but even if time rewound a hundred times, she would never let the girls in her family wear something like a corset.
“Do you know when a woman is at her ugliest?”
After straightening the bow ties on the cups her two daughters held, and the ribbons on their double ponytails, Ye Tang answered her own question: “When she loses confidence in herself and hunches over.”
“Dia, Lia, do you think a person’s value lies in what they wear on their body, or in what they have within?”
After asking, Ye Tang patted the two sisters’ shoulders and smiled: “That’s your homework for today. I’ll ask for your answers when we leave the salon.”
With that, Ye Tang went to find Cinderella—with Claudia and Gloria standing obediently unlike her, Kim Hora was a ferret that bolted at the scent of gossip. It took Ye Tang a good while to locate Cinderella.
“Madam, I’m fine…”
Cinderella said shyly in a soft voice, but Ye Tang still helped her to a sofa on the side and sat her down.
“Whether you’re fine is for me to judge.”
As she spoke, Ye Tang took out a handkerchief and wiped the sweat from Cinderella’s forehead.
A young girl nearby looked over enviously.
Ye Tang sensed the gaze and met the girl’s eyes with a glance. The girl smiled shyly at her, then quickly responded to the men chatting her up with a voice as pleasant as a lark’s.
Ye Tang remembered the girl. She had seen her by Mrs. Clement’s side earlier.
According to Emily Theodore, the real reason Mrs. Clement held the salon gathering today was to debut her niece.
Typically, a lady’s social activities were confined to women’s circles. Having too many male guests at a niece’s debut would undoubtedly lead to Mrs. Clement being teased as a madam finding a “patron” for a new girl. Yet Mrs. Clement could not host only female guests—ninety-nine percent of her network was male.
Unwilling for her niece to face malicious teasing, Mrs. Clement welcomed even women like Emily, who brought uninvited extras, as proper guests.
Mrs. Clement’s niece was gentle and refined, polite and proper. The girl just seemed unwell; she kept sweating, so much that the white powder on her face had partially dissolved.
The trays of nearby servants held only alcoholic drinks. Unable to find anything for Cinderella to drink, Ye Tang said to her: “Rela, sit here for a bit. I’ll get you some water.”
The name “Rela” made Kim Hora’s scalp tingle. For an instant, she thought Ye Tang was calling her. But she quickly remembered that Ye Tang also called Claudia and Gloria “Dia” and “Lia.”
Cinderella looked at Ye Tang gratefully, a sight that irritated Kim Hora to her core.
This wicked stepmother was not her real mom; she was just putting on a show. Only a fool like Cinderella would believe her from the bottom of her heart!
Just as Kim Hora opened her mouth to lash out at Cinderella a few times, she heard a scream from behind: “Ah!!!!!”
Ye Tang frowned and immediately turned around.
Behind the rising Cinderella, Mrs. Clement’s niece had collapsed to the ground.
The people around were all panicked, but no one took action.
Mrs. Clement let out a wail, losing all composure as she shoved through the crowd toward her niece.
“Charlotte—!!”
Mrs. Clement moved too fast. She dropped to her knees, scooped up the unconscious Charlotte, and shook her body.
“Charlotte! Charlotte! Wake up! Charlotte!!”
The shaken Charlotte not only did not wake but turned ghastly pale, her face turning bluish, even her lips faintly darkening.
“Doctor! Where’s the doctor?! Someone call a doctor!!”
Mrs. Clement was already crying. Her voice was filled with the despair of a mother watching her child die.
The wall of people in front was too thick, and Ye Tang lacked the status to shove nobles aside. She finally squeezed through, scooped up Charlotte, and startled Mrs. Clement so much she nearly lost her voice.
“If we wait for the doctor, this child will be beyond saving. Give me a quiet room, one with curtains.”
With that, Ye Tang headed toward the stairs.
The first floor was crowded with eyes, and aside from the drawing room, the rooms were mostly kitchens, dining rooms, storage, and servants’ quarters. Mrs. Clement would arrange a room on the second floor.
“Are you—are you a doctor!?”
Mrs. Clement, tears blurring her vision, chased after Ye Tang’s footsteps. She twisted her ankle in her high heels but felt no pain, limping along to keep up.
“I’m not.”
Ye Tang’s words plunged Mrs. Clement into despair. She nearly screamed madly: You’re not a doctor, then what are you doing!?
“But I know how to save this child.”
Mrs. Clement had seen too many men and women; she had honed a sharp eye for people—if she could not accurately judge them, she would not have reached her current status and might have long been eliminated as a nuisance by the nobles.
So upon seeing Ye Tang’s eyes, Mrs. Clement immediately knew this woman with slightly stern features was not deceiving her or acting for attention.
She truly knew how to save Charlotte’s life.
Quite a few people followed behind Mrs. Clement to watch the gossip, turning the salon into a chaotic mess of noises.
Ye Tang carried Charlotte into the room Mrs. Clement designated and kicked the door shut with her foot, shutting out the irrelevant voices and people.
“Sorry, I have to tear off this child’s clothes.”
Outside, Mrs. Clement’s servants asked if she needed them to come in and help. Inside, Ye Tang’s hands had already produced the sound of ripping fabric.