Chapter 245: Becoming Famous (6)
Miss Su frowned. She could tell that this was a container of Zhengshan tea, one of the best quality sencha teas around. Every year, Old Duke Ying would only be able to get two containers of this fine tea. Last year, Old Duchess Ying had bestowed one of them to the second branch. She hadn’t expected that this tea had somehow landed in Miss Yuan’s hands.
How could Miss Su know of the reason behind this? Miss Yuan was so determined to disgrace Chu Lian today that she had prepared a lot more than just some fine tea. Furthermore, she hadn’t pleaded with her parents to get this tea, she had just stolen it directly from her father’s study.
Shock showed in Miss Fu’s eyes, but she only pressed her lips together without saying anything.
“Miss Yuan, you…” Miss Su was about to say something, but was interrupted by Miss Yuan before she could continue.
“What’s wrong, Fifth Sister? Look at how poorly they’re treating their guests. Why can’t I bring my own tea to drink?”
How was this poor treatment? It was clearly Miss Yuan who was picking at the most trivial matters and making a mountain out of an anthill!
The handmaid turned to Guilin Restaurant’s maidservants to request for some tea-brewing tools. However, another handmaid opened up the box of food. Without waiting for Senior Servant Zhong to come back with snacks, the second handmaid carefully brought out plate after plate of exquisite snacks and placed them on the table.
This time, even Miss Fu had joined Miss Su in staring at Miss Yuan with a strange look in her eyes.
They could tell that these snacks had come from De’an Restaurant. What’s more, the plates had lotus flower patterns, so this was clearly the best assortment of snacks in the whole capital, as established by high-class society. Of course, it wasn’t cheap. A small box of this assortment cost more than ten taels.
As young ladies of House Ying, their monthly allowances didn’t even hit ten taels!
This time, Miss Yuan had really given an arm and leg for her little ploy!
Upon receiving the weird looks from her sisters, the corners of Miss Yuan’s lips lifted into a smile instead.
“What are you doing blanking out like that? Come and eat some! I got these snacks from De’an Restaurant. We don’t get to eat these often in the estate.”
Miss Su’s expression turned even more stern and she gave a warning to Miss Yuan, “Seventh Sister, remember that we’re here to give our congratulations and not for other motives.”
Miss Yuan reached out and picked up a piece of osmanthus cake. “What are you thinking about, Fifth Sister? I haven’t done anything at all, have I?”
Chu Lian was currently attending to Lady Yang and Royal Princess Duanjia in Earth Court 1 when a servant sent by Manager Qin came to report that her sisters from House Ying had arrived.
When Royal Princess Duanjia heard the report, she immediately rolled her eyes. “What have they come here for?”
Chu Lian smiled but didn’t reply. She knew that Royal Princess Duanjia didn’t like the ladies of House Ying. Lady Yang wasn’t someone who liked pandering to social niceties, so she asked Royal Princess Duanjia to continue chatting with Lady Yang while she went over to attend to the ladies from her maiden house.
While on her way, she met Senior Servant Zhong.
Senior Servant Zhong hesitated for an instant, but she still reported the current situation in the courtyard to Chu Lian.
Chu Lian looked at the maidservants carrying boxes of snacks behind Senior Servant Zhong and smiled. “Although they could care less, we can’t be remiss with our manners. Momo, send the snacks in anyway.”
Although Senior Servant Zhong looked down upon the ladies of House Ying thanks to their behaviour, since Chu Lian had given the order, she couldn’t disobey.
She bobbed in acknowledgement and followed after Chu Lian together with the two maidservants behind her.
When Chu Lian noticed this, she was satisfied. Although He Sanlang had left these three servants to watch her, they were all useful to her in their own ways.
The moment Chu Lian entered the courtyard, one of the maidservants announced her arrival.
She entered the parlour of the little court and saw that her sisters had stood up to welcome her. However, only Miss Yuan had purposely stood further back to show off the items on the table to her.
Chu Lian took one glance at the table and curled her lips in disdain inwardly. She just knew that this Miss Yuan would be up to no good. If not for the sake of maintaining peace between the two houses tied by marriage, she really wouldn’t have sent any invitations at all to House Ying.
Without waiting for Miss Su to speak, Miss Yuan had already started talking, her words dripping with sarcasm. “Sixth Sister must be really busy today. Even your own sisters have been cast off to one side. I wonder which esteemed guests Sixth Sister was attending to just now. Why didn’t you introduce them to us so that we can make their acquaintance?”
The ladies here had heard a little about the friendship between Chu Lian and Prince Wei’s Estate. In Miss Yuan’s eyes, Chu Lian had gotten her Honoured Lady title thanks to her friendship with Royal Princess Duanjia.
How could she not be jealous?
Before Chu Lian had gotten married, she had just been someone that she could bully any time she wanted. However, right after marrying into House Jing’an, her fortunes had suddenly changed. Seeing Chu Lian getting along so well in life only made Miss Yuan grit her teeth in anger.
Chu Lian gestured for her sisters to sit before speaking with a warm smile, “I was accompanying Lady Yang and Royal Princess Duanjia earlier, so please pardon me for neglecting Fifth Sister, Seventh Sister and Ninth Sister. However, Lady Yang doesn’t like to interact with strangers, so I’m afraid I can’t help with Seventh Sister’s request.”
When Chu Lian finished speaking, Miss Yuan’s expression had already turned even darker.
She hadn’t thought that Chu Lian would reject her so directly.
However, she couldn’t just force Chu Lian to bring her to meet Lady Yang and Royal Princess Duanjia. Thus, she could only do her best to exercise her self-restraint. She cast her eyes down, only to see the snacks on the table. She harrumphed coldly in her heart and an evil smile surfaced on her lips.
