Tao Hua disliked being passive. When she first arrived at the Xiang residence, unfamiliar with her surroundings, she could accept being tricked as part of learning the rules. But now that she had a good grasp of the people in this courtyard, there was no reason to endure these hidden knives and arrows.
Her gaze fell on the quiet and picturesque Duan Yunxin. Tao Hua smiled, “We should all learn from Lady Duan, to calm our hearts and live our lives properly. Constant quarreling is indeed meaningless.”
If you can use actions, try not to use words.
Duan Yunxin was startled, looking up at her, “Lady Jiang’s words make me feel ashamed.”
“That’s well said,” Mei Zhaoxue sighed. “If you were all as gentle and quiet as Lady Duan, I don’t know how much worry I’d be spared.”
Lady Qin snorted lightly, lowering her head to fiddle with her handkerchief. Tao Hua smiled, picking up her tea to take a light sip.
The morning meeting soon dispersed. As Duan Yunxin stood up and had just walked out of Linghan Courtyard, she heard Jiang Tao Hua’s voice behind her, “Lady Duan, please wait.”
Turning back to look, Duan Yunxin smiled slightly, “Does Lady Jiang have something to say?”
“I want to apologize to you,” Tao Hua said, looking at her sincerely. “Last time when you mentioned that the Noble Consort likes bitter tea, I doubted you in my heart and didn’t believe you. As a result, I failed to appreciate your good intentions. The Noble Consort indeed likes bitter tea.”
“It’s good that you have a cautious heart,” Duan Yunxin’s eyes softened as she smiled gently. “But there are also people in this courtyard with true feelings who won’t harm others.”
“Yes, I understand that now,” Tao Hua nodded. “I won’t wrongly accuse good people in the future.”
Duan Yunxin’s eyes flickered slightly. She looked around and pulled Tao Hua aside, saying, “If you trust me, let me give you another piece of advice: be careful of Lady Qin.”
“Hmm?” Tao Hua’s eyes were full of confusion. “Although Lady Qin likes to argue with me, she hasn’t done anything truly terrible. Why does everyone tell me to be careful of her?”
“Didn’t you meet Madam Xu who teaches the rules when you entered the residence?” Duan Yunxin covered her mouth. “Anyone who entered the residence after Lady Qin and learned the rules from her knows to be careful of Lady Qin.”
Tao Hua paused, thinking carefully. There did seem to be such a madam who, after teaching her the rules, said “Be careful of Lady Qin.” However, Lady Qin was just sharp-tongued, seeming a bit domineering in this courtyard, but not enough to make people avoid her completely.
“Has she done anything that makes people need to be so careful of her?” Tao Hua asked.
Duan Yunxin pursed her lips, hesitating for a moment before saying, “Only a few people know about this, and you shouldn’t spread it around after hearing it… There was a bedwarmer who died in our Xiang residence before. She had just gained favor, and the lord was thinking of promoting her to a personal attendant, but she mysteriously died in Haitang Pavilion. Lady Qin said she died suddenly from a relapse of an old illness, but… this could only fool outsiders.”
Tao Hua clicked her tongue, staring at her with wide eyes. “Didn’t the lord investigate?”
“At that time, Haitang Pavilion was in high favor, and the person who died wasn’t of a very important status. Plus, the Qin family had taken care of all the aftermath, so the lord didn’t investigate much,” Duan Yunxin sighed softly. “If it happened now, when Lady Qin is no longer in favor, perhaps a human life wouldn’t be as worthless as grass.”
The implication was that if someone were willing to bring up old accounts, it could certainly cause Lady Qin to stumble.
Tao Hua put on a face of fear, pretending not to understand the implications. She shrank her shoulders and said, “Then I was indeed rash. I originally thought Lady Qin was only formidable in speech, I didn’t expect her to be truly ruthless. Thank you for your advice, I’ll certainly be more careful in the future.”
Duan Yunxin pursed her lips, looking at her for a moment. “I thought Lady Jiang was kind-hearted and might be able to right the wrongs for that unjustly dead bedwarmer. I didn’t expect Lady Jiang to be so afraid.”
“I’m ashamed,” Tao Hua smiled and lowered her head. “I’ve always been a coward, rarely having moments of overflowing sympathy. Lady Duan comes from a good family background, you have much more backing in this courtyard than I do. Since you sympathize with that innocent bedwarmer, why don’t you personally right the wrongs for her?”
Duan Yunxin paused, then smiled. “Lady Jiang is joking. I neither have the lord’s deep favor nor a higher family background than Lady Qin. Where would I get the backing to do such a thing?”
“If you are powerless, so am I. Since that’s the case, let’s each sweep the snow from our doorsteps and not worry about the frost on others’ tiles,” Tao Hua said rather helplessly. “It’s getting late, I should go back to my embroidery. Let’s part here.”
With that, she gave a polite bow and returned to Zhengchun Pavilion with Qing Tai.
Duan Yunxin stood there stunned, looking at her with surprise and scrutiny in her eyes.
She was clear about the depths of the people in this courtyard, but this Lady Jiang alone seemed unfathomable. Sometimes she seemed profound and inscrutable, sometimes simple and naive. Although she had won a small victory earlier, she hadn’t injured her tendons and bones.
Truly difficult to deal with.
In the evening, Shen Zai Ye finally visited Zhengchun Pavilion.
“My lord!” Tao Hua happily flew into his arms, putting a piece of pastry into his mouth. “Quick, taste it. Is it good?”
Shen Zai Ye raised an eyebrow, picking her up and placing her on the soft couch. He chewed what was in his mouth, frowning deeply. “What is this? Burnt steamed bun?”
Tao Hua’s eyebrows drooped as she pouted. “Does it taste burnt? I spent a long time on this. It’s a roasted bun with beef sauce inside. I wanted to try and make a novel, tasty snack.”
“You made it yourself but didn’t taste it?” Shen Zai Ye swallowed with a frown, asking disapprovingly.
“Yes, I was afraid I might have used the wrong seasonings and get a stomachache if I ate it,” Tao Hua said matter-of-factly.
Shen Zai Ye: “…”
She was afraid of getting a stomachache but still gave it to him to taste.
“Hey, hey, hey, my lord, let’s talk this over!” Seeing Shen Zai Ye narrowing his eyes and raising his hand, Tao Hua quickly jumped up to grab his fist, then hung on his arm with a grin. “I was just joking. The pastry is fine, but it seems the cooking time wasn’t quite right. I’ll need more practice.”
“Is making pastries all you do all day in the courtyard?” Shen Zai Ye raised an eyebrow.
Tao Hua pouted. “What else can I do? I can’t leave the residence freely. I’m almost moldy from being cooped up.”
“If you want to go out, why not ask the madam for a pass?” Shen Zai Ye glanced at her. “But it seems you’ve gotten into trouble again recently. The madam has already mentioned to me the rumors in the residence, all quite unfavorable to you.”
Shrugging her shoulders, Tao Hua said, “The madam misunderstands me, so getting a pass to leave the residence isn’t very convenient. And the residence is such a mess… Why don’t you secretly give me a special privilege, my lord, to let me slip out for some fresh air?”
“Where do you want to go for fresh air?” Shen Zai Ye scanned her room, his eyebrows twitching slightly. “Why does it seem like a lot of things are missing from your room? Were you robbed?”
“No, nothing like that,” Tao Hua climbed onto his lap, blocking his view with her face, then smiled sweetly. “Some things were just unnecessary to display, so I put them away. That’s not important. Back to the point, if it’s convenient for you, my lord, give me a token. I want to go sightseeing around the capital and clear my mind.”
Looking at her for a moment, Shen Zai Ye said, “I can give you a token, but…”
Tao Hua’s mouth twitched, instantly understanding this lord’s implication – she could have what she wanted, but it would be an exchange.
“What instructions do you have, my lord?” She had to ask with a fawning expression, knowing she was at his mercy.
“I’ve been too busy with affairs lately to pay attention to the back courtyard,” Shen Zai Ye said. “In a couple of days, there might be a new person coming. You need to help me take care of them.”
What? A new person? Tao Hua stared wide-eyed. “Who’s so unlucky to be entering our back courtyard?”
Shen Zai Ye’s eyes cooled as he reached out to grip her chin. “You think it’s unlucky to be in the back courtyard of my Xiang residence?”
Isn’t it unlucky enough? A group of women who are all wolves and tigers, and the only man isn’t a kind person either. Living in the back courtyard of the Xiang residence is practically the same as falling into a fire pit!
However, although this was what she thought in her heart, Jiang Tao Hua obediently said, “I meant that once someone has seen a man as handsome and dashing as you, my lord, and then can’t be with you often because you’re so busy, it’s truly quite unlucky. It would be better not to know that such a perfect man as you exists in this world from the start.”
Goosebumps rose all over his body as Shen Zai Ye disgustedly tossed her aside. “Alright, take this.”
Tao Hua rolled on the soft couch, reaching out to catch the jade pendant Shen Zai Ye threw. She examined it carefully, seeing his name and the Xiang residence’s insignia on it. It should be usable as a waist token.
“Thank you, my lord!” Delighted, Tao Hua quickly found a string to tie around her neck, her eyes rolling about, clearly thinking of some idea.
Shen Zai Ye ignored her. The back courtyard was only so big; she couldn’t cause too much trouble. He had said what he needed to say, and it was time to go back to work.
“Remember to lock your door at night,” he couldn’t help but turn back to look at her as he was leaving. “If any strange people come again, you don’t need to pay attention to them.”
“Yes,” Tao Hua responded with a smile, watching him leave. She patted her chest contentedly and said to Qing Tai outside, “Prepare for going out tomorrow.”
Qing Tai nodded, but asked in confusion, “Since the lord came, why didn’t he stay overnight?”
“He’s busy with affairs,” Tao Hua said.
Frowning slightly, Qing Tai couldn’t help but mutter, “If he’s so busy, why did he come over?”
“Coming over was also for business,” Tao Hua said ambiguously. “Nothing else.”
Qing Tai was stunned, not understanding, but her mistress had already gracefully closed the door, preparing to retire.
Because of the strange people in the residence, the doors and windows of the main room in Zhengchun Pavilion were tightly closed, with Qing Tai standing guard at the door to ensure Tao Hua’s safety.
However, at the first watch of the night, Tao Hua was still awakened by someone.
“It’s not easy to wake you up,” holding a chicken feather in his hand, Xu Yangui smiled at her. “Why do you sleep so soundly?”
“…” Looking in the direction of the door in shock, Tao Hua frowned. “What did you do to my maid?”
“How could a woman stand outside late at night? I told her to go back to her room to sleep,” Xu Yangui smiled, showing a row of white teeth. “Aren’t I considerate of women?”
(End of Chapter)