Song Chuyi immediately guessed who Sister Kong mentioned by Xie Qingzi was—she should be Kong Chenjun, the only daughter of Jinzhong’s Commander Kong. Her father was the commander, and when the Crown Prince came to Jinzhong, the first people he met were the Prefect and Commander Kong. It was perfectly reasonable that she would know this information.
She looked toward Miss Kong in the crowd—at that moment, Miss Kong was surrounded by a group of people, not knowing what they were saying. Her face bore a smile, cheerful and bright. As if sensing someone watching her, she glanced from afar toward Song Chuyi’s direction. First startled, she then smiled and said something to Cui Hualuan beside her. Cui Hualuan’s complexion immediately changed.
Song Chuyi keenly perceived that this topic should be related to herself, and her heart sank slightly. Having been in Jinzhong for only four days, she had already discovered that Cui Hualuan was somewhat different from the approachable cousin who, according to Madam Cui, had been looking forward to her arrival in Jinzhong for a long time. It wasn’t that Cui Hualuan wasn’t warm or had ill intentions, but at least in their interactions, this cousin—a model noblewoman famous throughout the realm—hadn’t given her a feeling of being welcomed as an honored guest. For a socially adept noblewoman, this should have been a very easy thing to accomplish, yet Cui Hualuan seemed to disdain doing so. She consistently maintained a certain distance from her, as if constantly guarding against her.
Though superficial greetings and playful banter hadn’t been neglected, there was no deeper level of interaction. This, when it came to a maternal aunt’s daughter, was itself abnormal.
Over there, they seemed to be discussing a swing competition. Today the sun shone brightly—it was indeed a good time for playing. Xie Qingzi’s eyes lit up brightly, shining as she pulled Song Chuyi to go play. “Since you’re so accomplished at horseback riding, swinging surely won’t be difficult for you either. Let’s go together and dominate today!”
When Miss Kong saw them approach, she smiled. First, she glanced at Cui Hualuan, then shifted her gaze to Song Chuyi. “Is Sixth Miss Song’s illness better? Swinging is quite physically demanding. If you’re not fully recovered and catch a chill, causing a relapse, that wouldn’t be good.” While saying this, she kept paying attention to Cui Hualuan’s reaction beside her. Though her words were accompanied by smiling language, they still made people uncomfortable.
Song Chuyi looked at her with furrowed brows, the scrutiny in her eyes quickly disappearing without a trace. She nodded with a half-smile. “Fully recovered. It was just a minor cold that had already gotten better on the boat. I just don’t know how Miss Kong’s information network became so well-informed…”
The people on her boat were all her own people. There couldn’t possibly be eyes and ears planted by others. Yet this Miss Kong opened her mouth and spoke of her having been ill on the boat.
“How is it that my information is well-informed? Clearly, His Highness is too concerned about Sixth Miss Song.” Kong Chenjun’s hair ornament tassels swayed back and forth, her somewhat dark complexion turning slightly red under the sun. “Those two warrior priests who came down from Longhu Mountain stayed at my home for several days. I heard they were specially given by His Highness to Sixth Miss Song, precisely because Sixth Miss Song’s health wasn’t well, and they’re skilled in various medicinal cuisines and medical arts. Daoist priests are easy to find, but warrior priests are hard to come by. His Highness making such a grand gesture—isn’t this being very concerned about Sixth Miss Song?”
The surrounding clamor instantly turned into a somewhat awkward silence. Xie Qingzi looked at Song Chuyi, then involuntarily turned her head to glance at Cui Hualuan, looking left and right with some hesitation to speak.
Song Chuyi suddenly understood where this cousin’s emotional barrier came from—a cousin who should have been close but appeared very distant. She glanced at Kong Chenjun lightly, her face revealing an interested smile. “Miss Kong is not only well-informed but also so eloquent.”
After leaving the garden, Nanny Xu began complaining somewhat about that Miss Kong. “I don’t know what was going through her mind, saying such things. We’re too late in avoiding the Crown Prince, yet she’s good at this—speaking so blatantly, as if afraid others wouldn’t know. Now who knows how much Miss will overthink things…”
Qing Yīng also felt this Miss Kong’s mouth was detestable. “I think she did it on purpose. Of all things she could say, she had to bring up this matter. I’ve only been at the Cui family for these few days, but I roughly understand that the Cui family has plans to match Miss with the Crown Prince. She’s clearly trying to sow discord between you and Miss!”
No wonder Cui Hualuan had been neither cold nor warm, neither distant nor close toward her since she arrived in Jinzhong. So there was this layer of relationship in between. Song Chuyi couldn’t clearly describe what she felt in her heart. Her impression of Cui Hualuan was entirely built upon ordinary conversations with Madam Cui. Only upon meeting the real person did she feel it was both somewhat the same and somewhat different from what Madam Cui had said. Now it seemed this cousin probably didn’t like her as much as Madam Cui had believed.
Qing Yīng’s words had just fallen when Kong Chenjun quickly caught up from behind to stand shoulder to shoulder with her, turning her head to ask, “Is Sixth Miss heading to the front? His Highness is also coming today.”
This was going too far. Nanny Xu truly couldn’t bear it any longer and spoke up as a reminder. “Miss Kong should be more cautious with her words. His Highness only looks after our young miss more out of consideration for Princess Duanhui. How did it become, in your mouth, that he’s concerned about our young miss? Even now, our young miss is going to pay birthday respects and kowtow to Old Madam. How is it that you don’t even understand this basic propriety and directly speak of going to the front? Unless you yourself are going to the front?”
The front courtyard was for entertaining male guests. Even though Jin Province customs were open, there was no reason for women to crowd into the male guests’ area.
Nanny Xu’s words were spoken quickly, urgently, and without leaving any face. Kong Chenjun’s face instantly flushed bright red, the freckles on her nose quivering with her breathing, clearly showing she was angry.
She never expected that the servants around Song Chuyi would be so unforgiving. For a moment, no matter how sharp-tongued she usually was, she couldn’t help but stand there stunned, her eyes reddening as she looked at Song Chuyi. “I was just curious…”
“Then Miss Kong should refrain from such curiosity.” Song Chuyi calmly interrupted her, her gaze clear and frank as she looked at her. “Setting aside what exactly my relationship with the Crown Prince is, even if it were something, it’s still not Miss Kong’s place to comment. Right now, Commander Kong still needs to assist His Highness in quelling the rebellion. If Miss Kong talks too much and leaks some secret, that wouldn’t be good. Don’t you agree, Miss Kong?”
This was saying she had a big mouth, indirectly saying her upbringing was poor. Kong Chenjun’s eyes brimmed with tears, looking as if she would cry at any moment. She bit her lip looking at Song Chuyi, her eyes showing both dissatisfaction and resentment.
However, Nanny Xu was already impatient to say more to her. She had seen plenty of such young ladies in the capital. After arranging Song Chuyi’s cloak properly, the group turned past the arched gateway and headed toward Old Madam Cui’s Rongan Courtyard.