Soon, several robust servants entered from outside. Madam Fang asked, “Quick! While that nanny and maid haven’t returned yet, take the person to the carriage!”
“Yes!”
Several servants responded and stepped forward.
Madam Fang’s heart was beating extremely fast, feeling quite nervous. Thinking of her elder brother, she hurriedly asked again, “Has Uncle gone over?”
“Madam, rest assured, Uncle has already gone over!”
Lady Wang was frail and thin. Several servants used a hemp sack to wrap Lady Wang up, hoisting her onto their shoulders, pretending to be carrying heavy objects as they came out of the tent. Who would have known that just as these servants carrying Lady Wang emerged, they saw a row of sword-bearing Imperial Guards standing outside the large tent, frightening them so much they dared not move…
The eunuch Wei Zhong, beside Bai Qingyan, was holding a whisk, standing in the middle with a smiling expression.
Those servants, not understanding the situation, dared not step forward any further, looking at each other uncertainly…
When Madam Fang finished handling things inside and was about to come out, she saw those servants still blocking the doorway without moving. Her brows furrowed tightly as she walked out while lowering her voice to scold, “What are you all still standing outside for? Why don’t you hurry up and take the person away!”
As soon as her words fell, Madam Fang saw the Imperial Guards and Wei Zhong outside. Her heart immediately jumped to her throat, and she tightly gripped her dress hem.
Now, Madam Fang was caught in a dilemma. If Wei Zhong discovered that the Fourth Madam was in that hemp sack, even with a hundred mouths, she wouldn’t be able to explain it clearly.
She forced herself to show a smile, stepped forward a few paces, and bowed to Wei Zhong, “Eunuch Wei… the Fourth Madam is still inside changing clothes. Did His Majesty send you here out of concern?”
Without waiting for Wei Zhong to answer, Madam Fang smiled again and said, “Everything is fine here. Nanny Guan went to fetch clothes. The Fourth Madam just spilled tea water, and these nannies are taking the soiled blanket to be changed! It’s nothing serious. Eunuch Wei, please report back to His Majesty that there’s no need to worry. I will certainly take good care of the Fourth Madam. Please tell His Majesty to rest assured.”
Wei Zhong smiled and flicked at some nonexistent dust on his body, his tone leisurely, “Go… send a maid inside to take a look, and also open up that hemp sack these servants are carrying on their shoulders, let this old slave have a look.”
Madam Fang gripped her clothes tightly, her face changing dramatically. She hurriedly spoke to stop him, “Eunuch Wei, the Fourth Madam’s clothes are all dirty, and she’s waiting inside. Whatever you have to say, you can instruct this commoner woman to convey. Moreover, this commoner woman is the wife of the Bai clan patriarch. Could it be that I can’t take good care of the Fourth Madam?”
Wei Zhong smiled and nodded once toward Madam Fang, saying, “Madam Patriarch, what you’re saying… is quite right. For you to take care of the Fourth Madam, His Majesty is truly not at ease!”
Madam Fang was stunned. She never expected that Wei Zhong, merely a eunuch, would dare to speak to her this way. She felt indignant inside, gritting her teeth, not knowing what to do.
·
The Second Miss of the Qin family was dressed extremely plainly today, sitting quietly under the pavilion like she didn’t exist at all. Her elder sister wanted to mingle with other noble young ladies, but the other noble ladies only nodded and greeted the Qin family’s eldest daughter out of consideration for Bai Jinxiu’s face when chatting and laughing, without any intention of including the Qin family’s eldest daughter.
Yet that Qin family’s eldest daughter was also tactless, insisting on standing there. When she heard the noble ladies’ laughter, she would also use her round fan to cover her mouth and laugh along.
A sharp-tongued noble lady glanced at the Qin family’s eldest daughter, who was laughing along, and said with a half-smile, “What is the Qin family’s eldest daughter laughing about? We were talking about what happened at Sister Lu’s birthday banquet that day. The Qin family’s eldest daughter didn’t even go, doesn’t know the circumstances, so why are you laughing along with us?”
Lu Baohua’s brows tightened, and she gently tapped the speaking noble lady with her round fan, signaling her not to be so harsh.
The Qin family’s eldest daughter felt her face had been injured, showing an embarrassed expression. Perhaps seeing that Lu Baohua intended to protect her, she looked at Lu Baohua with teary eyes and said, “If Sister Lu were to host a banquet, if you could invite me to join the festivities, I wouldn’t be so ignorant of everything.”
Lu Baohua was stunned by the Qin family’s eldest daughter’s pitiful and aggrieved words.
A’Rong, the little legitimate granddaughter of Imperial Physician Huang’s family, was close friends with Bai Jinzhi. She always had a straightforward personality and rolled her eyes at the aggrieved-looking Qin family’s eldest daughter, “Are you blaming Sister Lu for not sending you an invitation? Where do you get such shameless audacity? You say you usually have no dealings with Sister Lu, and people invite their close friends for birthdays. How big is your face… why should Sister Lu think of you on her birthday?”
The Qin family’s eldest daughter straightened her back upon hearing this, “My elder brother is now highly valued by His Majesty, and my sister-in-law is the Auxiliary Duchess!”
“Oh my, this Qin family’s eldest daughter seems to have forgotten that when the Auxiliary Duchess first married your brother, before she could even make it to the return visit, she nearly died at the hands of you sisters! Your birth mother… used the most despicable methods of flattery to harm the legitimate eldest son, and even reached into her daughter-in-law’s dowry! They say dragons beget dragons, phoenixes beget phoenixes, and whatever kind breeds will dig holes…”
Before that noble lady could finish her words, she saw Bai Jinzhi in riding attire walking toward their pavilion.
“Princess Gaoyi!”
“Princess Gaoyi!”
The noble ladies hurriedly rose to bow to Bai Jinzhi. Some addressed Bai Jinzhi as Princess Gaoyi, others as Princess Gaoyi, all congratulating Bai Jinzhi on her birthday.
The Qin family’s eldest daughter also rose, continuously wiping tears with her handkerchief.
Bai Jinzhi pretended not to see, waving her hand, “All of you get up. I’m not here to disturb you. A’Rong…”
When A’Rong of the Huang family heard Bai Jinzhi call her, her face showed a brilliant smile like a sunflower. She responded and lifted her skirt, picked up the round fan from the table, and walked toward Bai Jinzhi.
“You all continue playing!” Bai Jinzhi took A’Rong’s hand and pulled her away, asking A’Rong in a low voice, “What happened? I could see you glaring from far away!”
“You didn’t see that Qin family’s eldest daughter’s behavior, it made me furious!” A’Rong told Bai Jinzhi about what happened in the pavilion just now. Just as she finished speaking, she saw the Qin family’s second daughter walking toward Bai Qingyan’s pavilion. She hurriedly tugged at Bai Jinzhi’s sleeve, “Look! Look! One is here complaining that Sister Lu didn’t invite her to the birthday banquet, even using the fact that she’s Sister Jinxiu’s sister-in-law to make a point! That one is probably going to try to get close to His Majesty through Sister Jinxiu, too! Just watch if you don’t believe me!”
A’Rong just couldn’t stand the Qin family sisters’ behavior.
Bai Jinzhi’s steps paused. Under the blazing sun, she squinted and saw the Qin family’s second daughter cross through the kite flying field and kneel outside her eldest sister’s pavilion, kowtowing in greeting.
“Clang—”
A gong sounded, and the time for the kite competition had arrived.
Young eunuchs took the kite strings from the hands of various families’ daughters and the invited widows who came to compete. The daughters of various families and the competing widows all hurriedly stood beneath Bai Qingyan’s pavilion.
The common people who had been blocked outside by the Imperial Guards heard the gong sound and all stopped their work to look up at the sky.