Miss Yuan was a little surprised, but the cogs in her mind quickly turned and she thought of a way to escape her troublesome situation.
The effects were instant. The colour in her face returned, and now that she had a solution, she immediately swallowed the words she had been about to say and recovered. Fifth Miss and Ninth Miss couldn’t figure out why her expression had suddenly changed so quickly, like she’d been flipping through a book and gone from the climax to the resolution.
Miss Yuan didn’t mention the golden hairpin. Strangely enough, she took a step to the side and grabbed Fifth Miss Su’s arm, acting like they were a pair of true sisters from the same branch as if the past minute hadn’t ever happened. “Fifth Sister, Ninth Sister, look across the street! Isn’t that Sixth Sister? What a coincidence! We just bumped into her the moment we got a chance to go out.” Miss Yuan pointed over to Hengsheng Medicine Hall.
It just so happened that Chu Lian had turned around and led her two maidservants out of the medicine hall. One of the maidservants bent down to whisper into her ear, and Chu Lian seemed to be listening intently and nodding.
Since she was out in the open, Miss Su and Miss Fu could recognise her clearly. Wasn’t that Chu Lian, who must be enjoying a life of luxury after marrying into House Jing’an?
They watched as Chu Lian led her two maidservants across Zhuque Avenue. Weren’t they heading this way and coming into Jinshi Pavilion?
None of the staff had bothered to wait on them in Hengsheng Medicine Hall, and Chu Lian hadn’t seen any precious medicinal ingredients on display on the counters, so she gave up. Furthermore, she wasn’t too sure on what Countess Jing’an’s condition was. Medicine wasn’t always good for the body, so it was better not to give her mother-in-law something to be ingested.
After listening to Wenqing’s recommendation, Chu Lian decided to head into Jinshi Pavilion for a look.
When she reached the center of Zhuque Avenue, she looked up at Jinshi Pavilion and spotted some familiar figures.
If not for the fact that the people inside had already seen her, she would have definitely turned right around and ran the other way. Associating with the ladies of her maiden family, especially with that half-sister of hers around, was never a good thing.
Chu Lian couldn’t resist looking up to the sky and wondering if her luck was that bad today. She had met with a bunch of unlucky events already, and now here was one more.
Chu Lian pressed her lips and asked Wenqing, “Is it possible to run away now?”
Wenqing saw that the three luxuriously dressed ladies were walking their way, clearly about to welcome their Third Young Madam, so she could only heartlessly shatter Chu Lian’s dream. “We can’t, Third Young Madam. They’re on their way to welcome you.”
“Wenqing, don’t you know martial arts? Can’t you fly into the air, walk on the walls, and take me away? I really don’t want to meet those people.”
Wenqing had a difficult expression as she replied, “Third Young Madam, have you been reading too many stories? Even the Dragon and Tiger Guards can’t fly and walk on walls, let alone this servant and Wenlan.”
Chu Lian could only hang her head and sigh in distress. She was resigned to her fate.
In a pitiful voice, Chu Lian said, “Then you’ll have to protect me later, or else I’ll get bullied by those people.”
Wenqing was speechless. She had already gone out with Chu Lian a few times before. Even if Third Young Madam was a physically weak, young lady, had she ever really been bullied by anyone they met? It was always Third Young Madam who angered her opponents until they could choke to death on their rage. She pressed her lips together, no longer willing to reply. She became even quieter than Wenlan.
Chu Lian could only harrumph, acting disappointed. “You girls are becoming more and more boring.”
In the time it took for their conversation to end, they had already reached the main entrance of Jinshi Pavilion and the other three misses had already come out to welcome them.
Fifth Miss was in the front with a slight smile. It made her round face look a little more innocent.
“What a coincidence, Sixth Sister! Who could have thought that we’d meet here on Zhuque Avenue?”
Miss Yuan stood behind Miss Su, eyeing Chu Lian up and down. Chu Lian was only wearing a plain, light blue dress with a simple jade hairpin in her hair. She didn’t even have a single bangle on her wrist. This poor appearance looked even shabbier than when she had been living in the Ying Estate!
