Chapter 20: Visiting the Bride’s Family (4)
When Chu Lian saw from the corner of her eyes that one of Madam Rong’s senior servants had gone to fetch the tools for brewing tea, her expression changed imperceptibly.
She recalled that the novel had mentioned how ‘Chu Lian’ had shown off her sencha-brewing skills to this group of ladies on the day of her visit to her maiden home.
Before she could think of a game plan, Madam Rong happily spoke up. “Sixth Sister, we’ve long heard of how Sixth Sister is the best at brewing sencha in our house. I wonder if we could have the honour of tasting it today?”
Chu Lian’s black eyes darted about. “I can only do my best and hope my dear sisters won’t laugh at my poor skills then.”
There was nothing to gain for the unmarried ladies if they competed with Chu Lian; this was a small group consisting of family members, and Chu Lian had already married out of the house.1 Thus, the ladies were smart enough to give Chu Lian some respect, at least for now. Other than the unhappy Fifth Miss, Miss Su, everyone took turns asking about Chu Lian’s life in the Jing’an Estate one after the other.
However, Xiyan showed a little worry on her face as she served her mistress from behind. Sixth Miss had said that she didn’t like to drink sencha anymore. She wondered if it would affect her brewing skills today.
Chu Lian kept calm and maintained a gentle, charming expression on her face, without any trace of anxiety. Upon seeing this, Xiyan slowly calmed down as well, thinking that Sixth Miss was likely confident in her skills.
Somewhere further away, without Chu Lian’s knowledge, there was a slightly feminine-looking young man looking at her voraciously.
Madam Rong’s senior servant worked fast; within a few minutes, she had already retrieved the set of tools required for brewing, and she placed them one by one on the stone table.
The small pot used to boil water was right next to Fifth Miss, so Madam Rong asked Miss Su to pass the small copper pot to Chu Lian.
Fifth Miss had already been looking for a chance to make trouble for Chu Lian. When Chu Lian reached out to receive the pot, Fifth Miss let go of the pot without waiting for her to hold it properly. Normally, Chu Lian would have been able to catch it safely. However, she had just been trying to think of a way to avoid showing off her sencha brewing skills, so she went with the flow and pretended not to catch it. The hot surface of the pot brushed across the back of Chu Lian’s hand, leaving behind a small patch of red.
She cried out in shock and held onto her hand. The copper pot landed on the floor with a loud clang, and the hot water splashed everywhere, causing the gentle ladies to shout.
In a short moment, the pavilion was in chaos.
Fifth Miss had also seen what had happened. Although she was happy inside because she had caused trouble for Chu Lian, she was also a little afraid that she had gotten herself into trouble too, due to Chu Lian’s injury. She bit her lip, admonishing herself for being too rash.
Xiyan suffered a huge shock and quickly pulled Chu Lian’s hand over, pushing up the long sleeves. Upon seeing the red burn, about as large as a peach blossom, on the fair back of her Third Young Madam’s hand, Xiyan’s eyes reddened as well in sympathy. “Third Young Madam, does it hurt? Please let this servant put some medicine on it quickly!”
Although she had used the long sleeves to block the pot, the small burn was still quite serious. However, she could bear with the pain. Chu Lian took her hand back and smiled at Xiyan, using her eyes to reassure her maidservant.
On the other hand, it was Madam Rong who thought that Miss Su had acted out of line when she saw Chu Lian’s burn. She glared at Miss Su and pulled Chu Lian’s hand over. “Luckily it’s not too serious. Hurry back to your courtyard here and apply some medicine. This place isn’t too far from your Anxiang Court.”
When she heard Madam Rong mention Anxiang Court, Chu Lian sighed inwardly. This was what the author had written in the original story after all. No matter how hard she had tried to avoid it, it seemed like there was a strange power pulling her along the original path of the story.
Miss Su lowered her head, not daring to explain herself. Chu Lian couldn’t help but feel a little helpless.
Someone was getting in trouble because of her, but it had been necessary. She had to play long to get out of brewing sencha! Although Miss Su had indeed wanted her to make a fool of herself, Chu Lian had also used Miss Su for her own selfish reasons.
Feeling a little guilty inside, she said, “Eldest Sister-in-law, please don’t get angry at Fifth Sister. I was careless and dropped the pot, it’s not Fifth Sister’s fault.”
Miss Su glared at her discreetly, the meaning in her eyes clear: I don’t need you to take the blame for me, you goody two shoes.
Chu Lian decided not to continue explaining. Instead, she turned and followed one of Madam Rong’s senior servants to Anxiang Court.
Anxiang Court was the courtyard that ‘Chu Lian’ lived in while she was still at the Ying Estate. Although she wasn’t favoured in the Chu Family, she was still a legitimate daughter of the house after all. There were differences between daughters born of the legitimate wife versus those born from concubines. In the Ying Estate, legitimate daughters didn’t have to squeeze into a single courtyard with the rest of her sisters.
However, right after Chu Lian left, Madam Rong found that the expressions of some of the ladies from the second branch seemed a little off.
When Chu Lian was no longer in sight, Madam Rong’s expression turned serious and she coldly asked, “What’s wrong now? It’s just a simple visit from your married Sixth Sister. Why can’t we have everything go smoothly?!”
Madam Rong was the wife of the first son of the main branch. She usually stayed in the east compound and would rarely visit elsewhere in the Ying Estate, so she wasn’t up to date with the latest news in the west compound.
Upon seeing Madam Rong’s expression turn darker and darker, one of the ladies hurriedly stepped out to speak, “Eldest Sister-in-Law, Eighth Sister moved into Anxiang Court yesterday.”
What!
The Eighth Miss, Miss Yuan, was the daughter born from the second wife of Second Master. She was three years younger than Chu Lian. The one who had just spoken was the third branch’s legitimate daughter, the Ninth Miss, Miss Fu.
Madam Rong felt a headache coming on. Chu Lian had just married out of the estate, and after only three days, on her visit to her maiden home, her courtyard had already been taken up by someone else. If this happened to any other lady, they would be unhappy too!
Grandfather was intent on striking up good relations with House Jing’an through Sixth Sister. However, Sixth Sister had just come back for a visit and so many troublesome things had already happened. Would she even think of helping the Chu Family in the future?
“You, you, Little Yuan! You’re too thoughtless!”
Miss Yuan refused to admit any wrongdoing and raised her chin as she talked back at Madam Rong. “She’s already married and no longer one of us! Why can’t I move into Anxiang Court? I’m also one of Father’s legitimate daughters! My mother agreed to it too!”
Madam Rong’s face flushed red in her anger. She tossed her sleeves and chased after Chu Lian.
Seeing this situation, Fifth Miss started to feel a little pity for Chu Lian instead.
However, after remembering that Chu Lian had a handsome and caring husband, Fifth Miss thought that she didn’t deserve her pity in the slightest.
With Xiyan supporting her at the side, Chu Lian recalled the events in the novel as she walked. Upon returning to her maiden home, the ‘Chu Lian’ from the novel had also found out that her courtyard had been taken over. Aggrieved and angry, she had gone alone to the small bamboo forest in the inner court for a walk to clear her mind, leaving her maidservants behind. That was when she had met Xiao Bojian!
Chu Lian walked slowly as she made her way to Anxiang Court. She didn’t have the mood to admire the rather impressive scenery by the sides of the path. The depths of her pupils were cool; she was no longer the original brain-dead female lead. Xiao Bojian was full of wild ambition; she wouldn’t be interested in a man like that even if he were the last one in the world!
However, Chu Lian didn’t know that she already gained a follower on the path to Anxiang Court. He Sanlang had left the outer court with the excuse of going to the restroom, and he had been slowly following behind her, closely watching her every movement.
1. It’s customary for young ladies to compete with their skills to stand out from the crowd, especially in the company of the mothers of potential marriage prospects. In this case, they’re all family and there’s no point in taking the effort to compete against Chu Lian or bring her down a notch.
