However, even if Chu Lian hadn’t accepted the money today, the eunuch probably would’ve looked down on her anyway. Either action would’ve led to the same result, so why not let him know that she wasn’t someone he could bully? Even if he wanted to play his sneaky tricks on her next time, he would think twice before trying it again.
Chu Lian’s words made Xiyan come to a sudden realisation.
So it wasn’t such a simple event after all. There were all these unseen twists in the middle of it.
Chu Lian was a little down now. Anyone else would be pretty happy after getting a noble title, but she wasn’t the slightest bit elated. Conversely, she was deep in worry.
Who would want this honoured lady title? Royal Princess Duanjia had done her a disservice with this move.
What Chu Lian didn’t know was that this surprise gift hadn’t come about with just the efforts of Princess Wei and Royal Princess Duanjia. Prince Jin had also helped out in getting her this title!
When she returned to Songtao Court and saw the parlour full of gifts from the bestowal of her honoured lady title, she waved her hands and had Senior Servants Gui and Zhong take care of it.
Although she hadn’t been given an accompanying medal or token of immunity along with the noble title, the Emperor had personally picked out a name for her. That honour meant that she could stand on par with any feudal princess now.
An honoured lady was given a set of appropriate dresses for court gatherings and their matching headdresses. Other than that, she had also been given a small estate in the capital, about 6 hectares of good farmland and a hundred pieces of gold. These were all part of the standard awards for an honoured lady. Other than the special name ‘Jinyi’, the Emperor hadn’t added on anything more.
Chu Lian pointed at the headdresses and said a little helplessly, “Place those together with the phoenix tail hairpin that Royal Princess gave to me.”
Now that she had a noble title, she could wear the simplest phoenix tail hairpin and no one would say anything bad about her.
Senior Servant Gui held up a stack of court dresses. “Third Young Madam, why don’t you try these on? If they don’t fit, we have to adjust them as early as possible.”
Chu Lian had suffered a series of shocks and surprises this morning, so she wasn’t in the mood to play dress up. Furthermore, these court dresses were made out of cloud-pattern brocade and were extremely thick. If she tried them on, she would probably start sweating.
“I’ll try them tomorrow!”
Senior Servant Gui could only put away the clothes.
Chu Lian returned to her own little study and took out the purse that the eunuch had given her. She had only taken a short glance inside just now, and estimated that there was about 800 taels inside. After carefully counting, she realised that there were actually over 1200 taels’ worth of banknotes inside.
Imperial Concubine Wei really didn’t lack money at all!
Exchanging that golden qilin had earned her quite the tidy sum.
She handed the banknotes to Xiyan to keep safely together with the rest of her savings.
Then, Chu Lian drank a bowl of sweet soup, had a quick bath, and settled down for a nap.
Matriarch He gave Senior Servant Liu some instructions as she slowly savoured a bowl of birds’ nest soup. “Send someone over to Dalang’s wife and have her make two more outfits suitable for a fifth-ranked noble wife for Sanlang’s wife. And also, have her make two more phoenix tail hairpins.”
Senior Servant Liu voiced her acknowledgement of the orders, but didn’t immediately send someone off to execute them. She stood by Matriarch He’s side as if she had something to say but did not dare to speak up.
Matriarch He cast a sideways glance at her. “Why? Do you think this old woman isn’t being fair to Dalang’s wife?”
“This old servant doesn’t dare to question Madam!”
Matriarch He set down the jade bowl in her hands and said, “Xiangyun, I’ve given her enough time. Dalang can’t go without a male heir. If Dalang’s wife can’t even hold herself together over this small matter, then how will she face the day that Dalang takes a concubine? Dalang will be the one to shoulder the responsibility of taking care of this family in the future.”
Upon hearing Matriarch He’s words, Senior Servant Liu suppressed the concerns that she had wanted to bring up. She simply agreed with the matriarch and turned to do her bidding.
—
When Madam Zou received the news, she couldn’t hold back her rage and immediately threw a teacup to the ground, scaring the trembling maidservant who had passed on the message.
However, as angry as she was, she couldn’t disobey Matriarch He’s orders.
She tried her best to suppress the fire in her heart. At night, when Dalang tried to initiate intimacy with her, she didn’t have the mood to acquiesce. Although both husband and wife slept on the same bed, they had different thoughts in mind this night.
