“It’s you!” Zhou Shaojin smiled. “I apologize—I’m not very good at remembering people…”
The young lady laughed and explained for her: “I know, Eldest Miss Wu wronged you… You couldn’t pay attention to other things at the time…” She asked, “Who did you come with? I came with my grandmother. My grandfather was once a student of the Gu family. And you?”
Zhou Shaojin briefly explained her situation.
Someone called out: “Second Miss Zhou!”
Zhou Shaojin turned around and saw Wu Baozhang walking toward her.
Miss Sun quickly lowered her head, clearly trying to avoid Wu Baozhang.
Wu Baozhang’s attention was entirely focused on Zhou Shaojin and didn’t notice Miss Sun.
“Second Miss Zhou.” She smiled and curtsied to Zhou Shaojin, saying: “What happened last time was truly my fault. I was catching shadows and speaking carelessly. Please don’t take it to heart. You’re the first person I met after coming to Jinling City. I hope we can still be good friends like before. Can you forgive me?”
Her tone was very sincere.
Zhou Shaojin noticed that everyone around them was listening intently.
She couldn’t help but sneer inwardly.
So when deception didn’t work, she changed tactics and pretended to feel guilty?
Regardless of whether Wu Baozhang’s words were true or false, if she rejected Wu Baozhang’s apology in this situation, it would inevitably make her seem unforgiving and petty.
If they were competing in magnanimity, then let’s see who was more magnanimous!
Zhou Shaojin simply smiled and said: “Eldest Miss Wu, you’re making too much of this! I never blamed you, so how can we talk about forgiveness? What’s past is past. Please don’t dwell on it, Eldest Miss Wu. Every day I do nothing but attend classes, copy sutras, and do needlework. When Eldest Miss Wu has time, feel free to visit my home. I would very much welcome Eldest Miss Wu as a guest.”
“That’s wonderful!” Wu Baozhang breathed a long sigh of relief, looking as if a weight had finally been lifted from her heart. She smiled and said: “I was worried you were still blaming me. Now it seems I was overthinking.” As she spoke, she stepped forward, wanting to link arms with Zhou Shaojin.
Zhou Shaojin acted as if she hadn’t noticed, turned around and linked arms with Miss Sun instead, smiling: “Miss Sun, this is the daughter of Magistrate Wu, the parent official of Jinling Prefecture. You met when the Second Branch’s Old Ancestress celebrated her birthday last time. Do you remember?”
Fine whispers arose from the surroundings.
Miss Sun reluctantly greeted Wu Baozhang.
Wu Baozhang was very enthusiastic, asking about their situations since they last met.
Miss Sun stammered a few responses, then cast a pleading look toward Zhou Shaojin.
Just as Zhou Shaojin was about to rescue Miss Sun, the crowd at Sixteenth Miss Gu’s door suddenly parted like water swept by a flood. The Gu family’s Grand Madam emerged accompanied by Sixteenth Miss Gu’s in-laws.
Miss Sun whispered in Zhou Shaojin’s ear: “My grandmother forbids me from associating with the Wu family.”
Zhou Shaojin was surprised.
Miss Sun had already changed the subject, pointing toward Sixteenth Miss Gu’s boudoir: “Second Miss, look.”
Zhou Shaojin looked over.
In the sweltering heat, the woman accompanied by the Gu family’s Grand Madam wore the attire of a third-rank lady. Her hairpins and ornaments glittered brilliantly in the sunlight.
For weddings and funerals, inviting the most prestigious person in the family to hold up appearances was quite normal!
Zhou Shaojin couldn’t see anything unusual.
Miss Sun was already sighing: “The young ladies of the Gu family all marry very well. When Fourteenth Miss married last time, although the person who came to insert the hairpin didn’t have an official rank, she wore a string of eighteen mutton-fat jade beads. My grandmother said those were heirloom antiques worth a fortune…”
Zhou Shaojin laughed and whispered: “Don’t worry, you’ll have that too.”
Miss Sun blushed with embarrassment.
Wu Baozhang on the side teased Miss Sun: “So Miss Sun is thinking about getting married?”
Upon hearing this, Miss Sun’s face turned red then pale. After a long moment she said: “Eldest Miss Wu is quite strange. For a young lady to say such things to me… I truly don’t know how to respond!”
Wu Baozhang’s face flushed bright red.
She had grown up in the countryside where young ladies often joked like this with each other…
“I, I was just joking with you!” Wu Baozhang’s forehead broke out in sweat.
The same words—when Zhou Shaojin said them, it was acceptable, but when she said them, it wasn’t.
That time at the Cheng family, it hadn’t been like this.
Being clever, she naturally understood the reason.
Her stepmother had punished her with confinement, giving her a thick Buddhist sutra to copy. Under the pretext of having her reflect and purify her heart, like in a temple, she was given only two vegetarian meals daily with no food after noon. She had fainted from hunger several times. If her brother hadn’t secretly brought her food, whether she could have lived to see her father was questionable. And the reason her father let her out to socialize with her stepmother was merely to marry her to someone who could help his official career… She was different from these young ladies present. When they made mistakes, someone would be tolerant, but when she made mistakes, she had only a dead end!
“Miss Sun.” Wu Baozhang couldn’t help but grasp Miss Sun’s arm. “I, I truly didn’t mean it…” Her eyes involuntarily revealed a pleading look.
Miss Sun wasn’t the type of unkind girl. Seeing Wu Baozhang’s posture so humble, she became somewhat flustered and quickly said: “Don’t—I don’t blame you…”
Wu Baozhang breathed a sigh of relief.
But Zhou Shaojin felt vaguely uneasy.
The Wu Baozhang who reappeared after being confined by Madam Wu had lost that inherent pride and arrogance compared to her previous life, becoming even more servile instead!
When a person has no self-respect left, they’re capable of doing anything.
Someone nearby let out a snickering laugh.
Wu Baozhang’s expression changed drastically as she looked in the direction of the sound.
Zhou Shaojin also looked over curiously.
It was a young lady about the same age as Wu Baohua, wearing a madder-red gauze vest and a fine white cloth embroidered skirt. Her features were delicate, but she wore a red-gold necklace set with precious stones on her chest that gleamed brilliantly, very eye-catching.
Seeing them look over, the young lady not only didn’t avoid their gaze but smiled at them quite openly.
Zhou Shaojin couldn’t help but be astonished.
A commotion arose in the courtyard—the Gu family’s Grand Madam and Sixteenth Miss Gu’s in-laws left the courtyard. Seventh Young Madam Gu called everyone to the reception hall to play cards and listen to a female storyteller.
Zhou Shaojin saw Mian Grand Madam standing on the steps looking for her.
She asked Miss Sun: “Are you coming with me to the reception hall, or waiting here for your grandmother?”
“I’d better wait here for my grandmother.” Miss Sun said gently.
Zhou Shaojin nodded toward Wu Baozhang, then quickly walked toward Mian Grand Madam and joined up with Madam Yuan and her sister.
The group headed to the reception hall.
Zhou Shaojin couldn’t help but look back toward where that young lady had been standing.
The young lady had already disappeared.
The Gu family had many marriage connections. In her previous life, Zhou Shaojin had rarely gone out to socialize. Even in this life she didn’t know many people. She simply found that young lady particularly forthright, which is why she had looked a few more times. Since the other person had already left, she didn’t dwell on it further.
The female guests divided into two groups—one to play cards, one to listen to the female storyteller.
Madam Yuan and Mian Grand Madam originally wanted to listen to the storytelling, but were pulled away to play cards. Seeing Zhou Shaojin and Zhou Chujin left alone, Seventh Young Madam Gu called over Seventeenth Miss Gu to keep them company.
Seventeenth Miss asked them: “Where shall we go? How about listening to the storytelling too?”
Zhou Chujin didn’t mind either way. Zhou Shaojin saw Wu Baohua accompanying Madam Wu playing cards in the reception hall, while Wu Baozhang stood in the covered corridor with a girl she didn’t recognize listening to the storytelling. She thought for a moment and smiled: “Could we walk around the courtyard?”
“Sure!” Seventeenth Miss smiled. “Not far from here is our family’s waterside pavilion. The breeze there is especially refreshing.”
Zhou Shaojin informed Madam Yuan and Mian Grand Madam, then followed Seventeenth Miss to the waterside pavilion.
Though created from artificial hills and waterways, it still had lake and mountain scenery that was quite pleasing to the eye.
The Zhou sisters and Seventeenth Miss sat on the beauty’s couches in the pavilion chatting: “…Nineteenth Maiden, was she your aunt?”
Seventeenth Miss nodded and smiled: “In the generation above us, everyone is called ‘Maiden.’ In our generation, everyone is called ‘Miss.’ My given name is Seventeenth Miss.”
Zhou Shaojin was shocked.
Seventeenth Miss laughed heartily, very cheerfully, saying: “Our family has too many people. Without this ranking system, we simply couldn’t tell who was who.”
Someone outside the pavilion said: “Seventeenth Miss, is that you? The voice sounds just like you!”
Seventeenth Miss jumped up, stuck her head out and called: “Ah Zhu! My Sixteenth Sister was still asking about you before the hairpin insertion ceremony, wondering why you hadn’t come. When did you arrive? Where were you earlier? How come I didn’t see you?”
Zhou Shaojin followed Seventeenth Miss’s gaze.
She saw a jeweled necklace gleaming with pearls and gems.
It was that young lady who had laughed at Wu Baozhang.
They had run into each other again unexpectedly.
Judging by the tone, this young lady called “Ah Zhu” was quite familiar with the young ladies of the Gu family.
The bamboo curtain was lifted. Ah Zhu entered with a beaming smile, accompanied by a maidservant about forty years old: “I came with my mother early this morning, but ended up being held up by your Grand Madam talking for ages. I finally escaped, but by then Sixteenth Sister’s in-laws had already arrived. I could only peek through the window for quite a while.” As she spoke, she said proudly: “I knew Sixteenth Sister would ask about me, so after the people inserting hairpins left, I ran in and talked with her for a bit. Later I heard you were here, so I came over with Nanny Gong.” She greeted Zhou Shaojin and Zhou Chujin familiarly: “These must be the Zhou sisters, right? You’re both so beautiful! Everyone was saying the Gu family had two great beauties visiting. I searched for ages and couldn’t find you two. Good thing I’m clever and thought of Seventeenth Sister.” She introduced herself: “My given name is Zhu Zhu. I’m twelve this year, probably younger than both of you. Just call me Ah Zhu. That’s what everyone in my family calls me.”
Both Zhou Shaojin and Zhou Chujin had relatively quiet personalities. Ah Zhu’s cheerful, lively, enthusiastic and generous nature made them both quite fond of her. Zhou Shaojin and Zhou Chujin came forward and exchanged courtesies with Zhu Zhu. Zhou Chujin smiled: “I am indeed older than you, so I’ll presume on my seniority and call you Ah Zhu! Ah Zhu, my sister is also twelve this year, but she was born in winter, so she should be younger than you!”
“Really!” Ah Zhu immediately beamed with delight, saying: “I was born in April, so I’m the older sister!” She had Zhou Shaojin address her as elder sister and said: “An older sister should give her younger sister a meeting gift.”
Zhou Shaojin felt awkward.
Nanny Gong, who had entered with Ah Zhu, cleared her throat and said warmly: “This is your first meeting, and you haven’t prepared a meeting gift, Eldest Miss. Perhaps save it for next time!”
“That’s true!” Ah Zhu’s eyes curved into crescent moons as she smiled. “This is my first time being someone’s older sister. I should prepare a proper meeting gift.” As she spoke, she took Zhou Shaojin’s hand. “When you have time, come visit my home.”