Concubine Zhao proved to be clever indeed – without any help or hints from Ye Li, the next day news spread through the manor that she was with child, and supposedly it was a male child. Lady Wang almost immediately forgot about troubling Ye Li and turned to dealing with Concubine Zhao instead. Her position in the Ye family was already secure, and worrying about Ye Li, who was soon to be married, would be laughable. Her targeting of Ye Li stemmed from an unspoken jealousy and resentment toward Ye Li’s birth mother. Now that it concerned the status of her precious only son in the household, Lady Wang unhesitatingly set other matters aside.
With Lady Wang not causing trouble and Ye Ying’s spirits dampened by her failure at the Hundred Flowers Gathering, Ye Li finally found some peace. Her initial showing at the Hundred Flowers Gathering had gradually brought her into the social circles of the capital’s young ladies. Besides continuing to prepare her dowry, she could spend her leisure time with Qin Zheng, Hua Tianxiang, and Murong Ting. Three days after the Hundred Flowers Gathering, the young lady surnamed Qin who had originally ranked first in poetry before being surpassed by Ye Li – Qin Yuling, the younger sister of the Capital’s Magistrate Lord Qin Mu – also sent an invitation to Ye Li. Though they hadn’t interacted much, Ye Li had a good impression of this iron-faced judge’s sister, and after exchanging several letters, they developed some friendship. In her good mood, Ye Li didn’t even mind Concubine Zhao’s occasional visits to pay respects at her Qingyi Pavilion. She naturally understood Concubine Zhao’s intentions – as long as she behaved and kept her promises, Ye Li wouldn’t break her word and would ensure her safe arrival in Yunzhou to deliver her child.
On this day, Ye Li went out shopping in response to Qin Zheng’s invitation. Ye Li had been planning to buy some books for herself during her recent free time, having read through most of the books her mother had left behind over the years. But Ye Li was clear about her capabilities – even if she had perfect memory and could memorize every book in this world, she could never become a talented lady like Qin Zheng who excelled in zither, chess, calligraphy, painting, poetry, and prose. To put it plainly, she didn’t have that talent, even if her mother had once been the capital’s premier talented lady. More importantly, with her memories from her previous life, her thinking and perspective were already set, and even after so many years, she still couldn’t understand the ancient people’s artistic conception and thought. So while she could perhaps write a few doggerel verses, she couldn’t write truly excellent poetry. Thinking of this, Ye Li felt her grandfather had been truly wise in forcing her to memorize so many ancient texts – at least when she couldn’t decline, she could pull a couple of poems from her memory to make do.
“Sister Qin, Tianxiang, Murong.” When Ye Li arrived at the appointed teahouse, Qin Zheng and the other two were already there, drinking tea and chatting.
Qin Zheng turned to look at her with a smile, “Li’er.”
Murong Ting pulled her to sit down, saying, “You’ve finally come. How is it, has that Fourth Sister of yours been giving you trouble?”
Ye Li raised an eyebrow, “Sorry I’m late, but why would you think she’d trouble me?” These past few days, not only Lady Wang but even Ye Ying had disappeared somewhere. How could they trouble her when she couldn’t even see them?
“It’s better to be careful. I hear that Noble Lady Ye in the palace has been in a bad mood these days,” Hua Tianxiang held her teacup, her smile reserved and elegant.
Ye Li blinked, understanding in her heart. She silently thanked Hua Tianxiang, who raised her fine eyebrows and lifted her teacup slightly toward her.
Murong Ting looked between her friends and couldn’t help but laugh, “Ah, we finally have a new friend, but unfortunately Li’er will be married soon.”
“We’ll still be friends after I’m married,” Ye Li said. “Don’t tell me you won’t acknowledge me as a friend after I’m married?”
Murong Ting sprawled on the table most unladylike, saying dejectedly, “Of course not, but once you become Princess Ding, how will you be as free as you are now?”
Hua Tianxiang suppressed a smile and said, “It’ll be the same when you get married.”
“I won’t!” Murong Ting exclaimed, her bright almond eyes wide and round, “I’ll never marry that idiot!”
Oh? Ye Li looked up in surprise at the huffing Murong Ting, then turned her gaze to Qin Zheng. Qin Zheng leaned close to whisper in Ye Li’s ear. Only then did Ye Li learn that Murong Ting had been betrothed to Cold Haoyu, the third young master of the Northern General’s Manor, since birth. But compared to his eldest brother Cold Qingyu’s excellence in both civil and military arts, Cold Haoyu was a profligate young master who excelled only in eating, drinking, and pleasure-seeking. How could Murong Ting, born to the military as the only daughter of General Yangwei, look up to Cold Haoyu? The two had clashed since childhood, fighting whenever they met. What’s more, Murong Ting had inherited true martial arts from General Yangwei, and Cold Haoyu couldn’t even beat her. He was always beaten badly, which made Murong Ting look down on him even more.
“Hmph! My father is just so stubborn, talking about how a man’s word must be kept and refusing to break off the engagement even if it kills him. That idiot – if he dares marry me, I’ll beat him so badly his father won’t recognize him!” Murong Ting tilted her little chin up and snorted angrily.
Hua Tianxiang lazily propped her chin on her hand, smiling pleasantly, “I think Young Master Cold Three treats you quite well. Where else in the capital would you find a man so obedient? When you say forward he never goes back, when you say left he never goes right.”
Murong Ting just snorted and didn’t answer.
Ye Li watched her reaction with amusement. Girls inevitably admired excellent and powerful men. The third young master Cold, who couldn’t even beat a woman, naturally didn’t appeal to Murong Ting. However, it seemed Murong Ting didn’t hate this fiancé as much as she thought she did. Moreover… for a man who had been beaten since childhood, always lost, yet still occasionally came around asking for more beatings, was he really that weak? If so, perhaps Cold Haoyu was an M? Ye Li’s mind wandered freely. But she didn’t try to advise Murong Ting – randomly interfering in friends’ choices wasn’t something she liked to do, especially since she didn’t know Cold Haoyu.
Murong Ting’s anger dissipated as quickly as it had come. Soon she had thrown that annoying fiancé to the back of her mind and clapped her hands, standing up, “Let’s go shopping. We didn’t come here just to drink tea.”
Three young ladies and one pseudo-young lady happily traversed the capital’s famous shops, selecting various jewelry and clothes they liked, and soon everyone had quite a harvest. Ye Li looked at the large and small packages carried by the servants following them, and amusedly followed the three around, having to admit that regardless of the era, women’s shopping desire was always strong. Ye Li wasn’t idle either – while shopping with the three, she also took the opportunity to check on the progress of several shops under her that were being renovated. Although she didn’t go inside, the results visible from the outside were satisfactory, and she believed they could reopen a month before her wedding. Perhaps she could even ask her eldest cousin to write a plaque for Cangzhen Pavilion then, Ye Li planned silently.
After sending the servants carrying their purchases back, the tired young ladies decided to find a place for lunch. Murong Ting, most familiar with the capital’s cuisine, recommended the capital’s most famous Chuxiang Pavilion.
Chuxiang Pavilion was indeed the capital’s most famous restaurant – just stepping into the main hall and seeing the luxurious décor rivaling noble houses showed that the owner must have powerful backing. Although they hadn’t arrived late, Chuxiang Pavilion’s business was better than expected, and the neatly dressed waiter respectfully apologized that there were no private rooms available. Murong Ting, used to being out and about, didn’t care much about having a private room. She directly had the waiter lead the four of them upstairs to find a decently located empty table. Ye Li glanced around the hall, noting other noble young ladies dining in twos and threes, so the four of them sitting in the open didn’t stand out particularly.
After ordering, Murong Ting smiled contentedly, “Chuxiang Pavilion’s squirrel-shaped sweet and sour fish is considered unmatched in the capital. I’ve come twice but never gotten to eat it. I didn’t expect we’d have it when I brought you all today – today must be our lucky day.”
Ye Li asked curiously, “Does Murong often come out shopping?”
Murong Ting smiled, “My father doesn’t like to restrict me, and I can’t sit still so I often come out to walk around. Besides, my father loves good food, and I… I have no talent for this, so I just look around to see what good food I can buy back for him to eat.” Speaking of this, Murong Ting seemed a bit embarrassed, but anyone could see that the father-daughter relationship in General Yangwei’s household was different from the Minister’s household. At least it was completely different from the relationship between Minister Ye and Ye Li.
Hua Tianxiang smiled, “That’s why I usually drag Murong along when I go shopping. There’s no place in the capital she doesn’t know about.”
As the four were chatting happily, the door of a private room on the other side suddenly burst open with a bang, and a figure in red rushed out. All four turned to look, and Murong Ting exclaimed in surprise, “Oh? Isn’t that- Watch out!” Before she finished speaking, Murong Ting had already stood up and leaped out quickly.