Madam Jiang had always been a Buddhist. After hearing Jiang Ruan finish speaking, she said, “The eldest girl is right. The Jiang residence is not without compassion. To have someone’s eyes gouged out right under your nose ultimately reflects poorly on you as the managing lady of the house. Since it’s just a servant, placing her in the eldest girl’s courtyard is no problem. She’s her person anyway, so let her handle it as she sees fit.”

Jiang Ruan smiled: “Thank you, grandmother.”

Xia Yan was stunned for a moment, then quickly smiled: “Since mother says so, I shouldn’t meddle further. But Ruan Niang, when you bring her to your courtyard, what will you have her do – still handling night soil?”

Jiang Ruan laughed: “Mother worries too much. Since Nanny Zhou is now part of Ruan Residence, she’ll continue according to her original status as a serving nanny.”

Xia Yan’s eyes flickered: “Ruan Niang, as an unmarried young lady, having a blind nanny serving by your side won’t look good to outsiders.”

“What’s wrong with that?” Jiang Ruan said. “Not everything in this world is judged by appearances.”

“Enough.” Madam Jiang seemed impatient: “The eldest girl is still young and doesn’t need to worry about face or dignity. As long as the servants are comfortable to use, that’s fine. It’s too early to worry about such things now.” She looked at Jiang Ruan’s appearance and frowned: “In a few days, Shen Shilang’s wife is celebrating her birthday and has invited several young ladies from the Jiang residence to attend. As her mother, you shouldn’t just focus on courtyard affairs all day. You should arrange for some new clothes for the eldest girl. Look at what she’s wearing now – if others see this, they might say our Jiang residence mistreats the legitimate daughter.”

Jiang Ruan hadn’t changed clothes since returning to the residence, still wearing the same old dark green diamond-patterned jacket. Although her beauty made even old clothes look presentable, when compared to Jiang Susu, the difference was immediately apparent. Jiang Susu mostly preferred white clothing with extremely simple decorations, appearing plain and elegant at first glance. But upon closer inspection, the fabrics were all expensive silks, the embroidery was all done with superior needlework, and though her jewelry was minimal, the simple pieces were quite valuable. At a glance, she looked like a refined young lady carefully raised by a wealthy family, with an otherworldly temperament.

“Ruan girl’s clothing is actually inferior to Li girl’s. As her legitimate mother, you should pay more attention,” Madam Jiang scolded.

Xia Yan said shamefully: “It’s all my fault. These past few days with Ruan Niang returning, I’ve been busy with various Jiang residence matters and actually forgot about this. I’ll immediately have tailors from Ruyi Building come to take Ruan Niang’s measurements and make several new outfits. How can our Jiang residence’s legitimate daughter not be dressed splendidly?”

With these few sentences, she both indicated that she had labored considerably for the Jiang residence these past days and promised to immediately arrange for tailors. Being so understanding and able to correct her mistakes, Madam Jiang’s expression softened considerably. After a few more admonishing words, she claimed fatigue, and Jiang Ruan and the others withdrew from the room.

Jiang Susu stopped Jiang Ruan at the door: “Won’t big sister come sit in Su Su’s courtyard?”

Jiang Ruan said: “Another day perhaps. I still have some things to organize.”

“Does big sister not like me?” Jiang Susu seemed somewhat at a loss: “Did Su Su do something wrong?”

“How could that be?” Jiang Ruan’s expression showed some surprise, her tone becoming even more gentle: “I’m your legitimate elder sister, you’re my younger sister. How could I not like you? Don’t overthink it.”

Jiang Susu’s expression stiffened slightly before she looked up and said: “I’m relieved that big sister says so. When we go to Miss Shen’s residence in a few days, I’ll take good care of big sister too.”

After Jiang Susu left, Lu Zhu looked at her retreating figure and said: “Miss, doesn’t Second Miss seem strange somehow?”

“Strange how?” Jiang Ruan asked.

Lu Zhu thought for a moment: “I don’t know, I just feel her and Madam’s temperaments are too good. After what miss did earlier, anyone else would have gotten angry, but Second Miss and Madam kept smiling the whole time, very amiable. How can there be such people in the world? Even clay figures have some earthiness to them.”

Jiang Ruan smiled slightly. Xia Yan was learned and reasonable, Jiang Susu was elegant and refined – their reputations were their burdens. Destined to maintain their noble facades, they wouldn’t do anything beneath their status and would always appear gracious and proper before others. She had repeatedly emphasized her status as the legitimate eldest daughter earlier – Jiang Susu must have found it quite stifling to endure. But this was only the beginning.

Xia Yan also moved quickly. In the afternoon, tailors from Ruyi Building arrived at Ruan Residence. The tailor from Ruyi Building was a young woman named Liu Ruyi. Ruyi Building was considered one of the top clothing shops in the capital, specializing in making clothes for the capital’s young ladies. The Jiang family’s affairs had caused quite a stir in the capital recently, so Liu Ruyi was very curious about this Jiang family miss. When she arrived at Ruan Residence, she saw two large characters written in flowing script on the courtyard gate plaque: Ruan Residence. They truly had magnificent presence, with handwriting that was both elegant and free-spirited, like an unsheathed sword containing hidden sharpness. Liu Ruyi usually did business with wealthy families and had considerable knowledge of the four treasures of the study. Seeing this calligraphy, she couldn’t help but silently praise it. She had always heard the capital praise Eighth Prince’s elegant and suave calligraphy, but she felt this plaque’s writing was equally impressive.

Seeing Liu Ruyi staring at the courtyard gate plaque, Lian Qiao, who was leading the way, smiled: “This was written by our miss.”

Liu Ruyi smiled: “Beautiful writing.” They say you can judge a person by their handwriting, and Liu Ruyi developed some favorable impression of this Jiang family miss she had never met.

After entering the room, Lian Qiao said: “Miss, Aunt Liu from Ruyi Building has arrived.”

Jiang Ruan put down the book in her hands and looked up. Liu Ruyi was momentarily stunned. Despite having made clothes for noble families over the years and seeing countless beauties, she couldn’t help but be startled upon seeing Jiang Ruan.

Jiang Ruan had apparently just grown tired from reading and was leaning back into the soft couch, her entire body seeming to sink softly into it. When she looked up, she carried an unconscious languid air, yet her upturned alluring eyes still contained a trace of coldness not yet withdrawn, like a cold and gorgeous rose with an aloof sensuality.

She smiled slightly at Liu Ruyi, and the cold feeling instantly dissipated, becoming as warm and bright as spring water: “Aunt Liu.”

Liu Ruyi also collected her amazement and smiled: “I’ve come to make clothes for Miss Jiang. Here are several bolts of silk. Please choose one first, Miss Jiang.”

Several bolts of silk were displayed on the table, all finest silver-threaded satin in colors including sky-blue after rain, autumn fragrance, peach, bright pink, and tender yellow – all colors young women favored. The silk bolts Xia Yan had specially selected were all in bright, vibrant colors with no fault to be found. But wearing such clothes would surely make her a foil to Jiang Susu, because the more vivid the colors, the more they would highlight Jiang Susu’s white flowing robes like a fairy, ethereal and transcendent.

Jiang Ruan pointed to the bright red silk bolt in the center: “This one.”