Qin Yunuan put Qin Baochuan behind her body to protect him. Now her eyes showed an incomparable determination and untouchable arrogance.
Dou Qing’e widened her eyes. Qin Yunzhuang broke the silence first and shouted at Qin Yunuan, “Who are you? You are just a daughter of a concubine. How dare you speak to my mother irreverently.”
Qin Yunuan glanced slowly with indifferent eyes at Qin Yunzhuang who dressed very showy today and slightly surprised Dou Qing’e. She said lightly, “We shall leave because Baochuan should go to the family academy. I would not know how to replay to my father if Baochuan were to be reported by the teacher due to his lateness.” She looked at nurse Liao and indicated her to take Baochuan out.
Nurse Liao was about to take Baochuan out, but Dou Qing’e suddenly said in a higher voice, “You could take him out if you said to your father that you did not want to attend the selection campaign of imperial concubines for princes. Only Yunzhuang could attend it.”
It was ridiculous for these two women to strive to attend the selection campaign. But Qin Yunuan always looked down on this kind of activity full of the conspiracy of bigwigs.
“Mother,” Qin Yunuan said, “I would have stayed away from such kind of activity if I had said to my father who must allow me to quit. But mother, do you think that my father will allow me to quit?”
Qin Yunuan was right. Qing’e knew her husband well. Nobody could change his mind easily, or she could not play tricks to threaten Qin Yunuan to quit. However, she must try even if there was only a small chance because the selection campaign was involved in the future of her daughter.
“But I have an idea if you really want to send sister into the imperial palace,” Qin Yunuan said lightly.
Qin Yunzhuang responded quickly, “Why should I believe you?”
Qin Yunuan smiled, “It is OK that you do not believe me. Nurse Liao, let’s go back with Baochuan. If my father were to ask that why Baochuan was late to go to the family academy, you would say to him that Baochuan was late because he recited for coaxing Dou Qing’e to sleep. Piety was more significant than others so father would not blame it on you.” And then Qin Yunuan was about to leave with Baochuan.
“Wait,” Dou Qing’s suddenly changed her mind, “Baochuan can leave, you stay here.” She said in an arrogant voice, but Qin Yunuan could notice that Dou Qing’e now had compromised.
With her back to Dou Qing’e, Qin Yunuan smiled. She indicated nurse Liao to take Baochuan to the family academy and then turned back slowly, “Mother, are you willing to know my idea?”
“Humph, just as a reference.”
Qin Yunuan said with a smile, “Although the concubine selection for princes determines the whole life of a maiden selected, before the selection, the Empress will hold a poetry feast where all daughters of the noble family will be invited and all princes will be present. Those princes will select their desirable maidens beforehand. Those maidens highlighting in the feast will give a good impression to those princes. So it is less important to gain the permission of father to attend the selection campaign. After all, no parents will stop the promotion of their daughters. Mother, am I right?”
“Why are you willing to help me? Are you really such a kind girl?” Qin Yunzhuang was touched at the beginning but then felt alert about Qin Yunuan. In her eyes, Qin Yunuan was a malicious girl who always played dirty tricks.
Qin Yunuan laughed again, “I am just a daughter of a concubine. I have no chance to be selected by any prince. Even if I were to be selected and have a chance to serve a prince, I would fail in the competition against those noble maidens and live a solitary or miserable life because I had no any rich family background or mighty power. What I want is to live an ordinary life with Baochuan. I would have no chance to take care of Baochuan and myself in the palace, so that’s why I am not willing to attend the selection.”
Qin Yunuan’s words were reasonable but Dou Qing’e and Qin Yunzhuang still doubted her words.
The poetry feast would start within seven days, so it was essential to prepare early.
Having seen that Dou Qing’e and Qin Yunzhang looked at each other silently, Qin Yunuan knew what they worried. She leaned back, “Mother, you can consider my suggestion carefully. I have some trivial things to handle, and I am off.”
Dou Qing’e did not stop her and expelled all the maidservants, including Xiu Gu after Qin Yunuan left. She pulled back Qin Yunuan and asked, “Yunzhuang, what do you think of her idea?”
“It is an opportunity,” Qin Yunuan frowned. She felt so sweet when she thought about the chance that she could meet with the Third Prince, Sima Ray. Such kind of handsome and prominent man was the dream lover of all young girls. If the trend that Sima Ray would be selected as the successor of the country were real, she would be the imperial concubine of the successor and naturally become the empress who mastered significant power.
“But,” Qin Yunzhuang hesitated and said, “Qin Yunuan is a shrewd girl and I am afraid that she may play dirty tricks.”
“You must know that the older was the wiser,” Dou Qing’e sipped the tea and put down the jade-green teacup onto the rosewood tea table, “Now your father has alienated his wife and her two daughters. If we do not make a good plan for us, we would be bullied and oppressed by others – the daughter of the concubine, or some other sluts. You must attend the poetry feast, and as for Qin Yunuan, I have my plan.”
Though it was just a poetry feast, all the maidens who had the chance to attend the feast had paid much attention to it. They prepared for the feast early. Now many jewelry and clothes shops in the Royal City had received various orders. Each order contained nearly one hundred tael of silver.
But Qin Yunuan was not busy with that. She designed the new patterns and checked the homework of Baochuan as usual. She earned much from many maidens who purchased many clothes from her shop, and then she purchased some new clothes and stationeries for Baochuan, and sent high-quality brocades to Maner, Tong, nurse Liao and Ting Xue. Besides, she also gave a pair of new cloth shoes to Huang Dashi.
The night before the poetry feast, Qin Yunuan read the book by the light of the oil lamp. She could hear some trivial sounds from the wall, but she just ignored them and thought that was the sound of a cat’s running.
The door was opened and that was Maner who held the clothes that Qin Yunuan would wear in the poetry feast tomorrow.
They were cyan fine-gauze skirt, short lappet with flower pattern and soft light-green belt, which was well tidied up. A Golden Begonia-shaped hair accessory with lovely silvery pendants was put on the clothes.
Maner unfolded the clothes for Qin Yunuan and introduced, “The clothes come from Yuman Embroidery Shop. The master did not receive our money when he heard the clothes belonged to Third Miss. So finally, Maner and I ran away after leaving the money,” Maner tittered. Yuman Embroidery Shop was the property under the name of Prince Ning’s Mansion. Qin Yunuan and Maner both knew that. Maner added, “The hair accessory is the product of Jewelry Shop in East Street. I heard that it is the newest pattern this year. I think it very pretty and Tong also believes that you will like it.”
Qin Yunuan always felt satisfied with the assignment Maner and Tong completed. She picked up the delicate Golden Begonia-shaped hair accessory and checked it for just one glimpse, muttering, “the newest pattern of Jewelry Shop in East Street? I heard that the shop had already stopped the purchase of the pattern of Golden Begonia-shaped jewelry.” Qin Yunuan had known more about various shops in the Royal City since she collaborated with Shen Xun for business.
Maner felt stunned and lowered her voice, “So is there any trick in the Jewelry Shop in East Street?”
Qin Yunuan smiled, “The trick does not come from Jewelry Shop. Humph! It comes from the two people in Cui Xuan Courtyard and Caizhi Courtyard. I know they are not such simple people.”
The next day, Qin Yunuan got up very early. She waited at the flower hall at about 7. When the sunshine crept up to the third window pane at the west end of the gallery, Qin Yunzhuang finally showed up with a luxurious dress.
She wore a rose flower-pattern skirt hidden in a cherry jacket-shirt. Her face was covered with light rouge, which more increased her incomparable beauty: lanceted eyebrows, clear eyes, delicate makeup, blazing red lips and lily teeth. Qin Yunzhuang was the girl who always highlighted herself. Now she held her head high, and regarded herself as a luxurious blooming peony which had suffered crazy wind and rain.
Qin Yunuan stepped forward with a smile, “Sister, you come.”
Qin Yunzhuang answered “hi” lightly. She noticed the Golden Begonia-shaped hair accessory on the head of Qin Yunuan and gave out a smile. She pretended to care about Qin Yunuan and touched her hand, “Now we both attend the feast in the imperial palace. Such a coincidence.”
Qin Yunuan nodded, “Yes, but now everything has been changed.” And then she went straight to the outside and got on the horse carriage first.
Qin Yunzhuang gritted her teeth but in her heart, she felt outrageous. She comforted herself that she would give thousands of hundreds of sarcasms and disgraces she had suffered back one day.
The horse carriage still stopped at the Rosefinch Gate. This time the nanny who worked on duty at the gate was politer. Now the Third Miss Qin Yunuan had got a wide-spread reputation in the Royal City, especially in Qingshui County. All the people there said that though they did not know what Qin Yunuan looked like, they believed she was a beauty as pretty as a fair lady, kind and virtuous.
The poetry feast was held in a garden with rockeries and ponds. At present, the Empress had not shown up, and several maidens got together to gossip. Today Fang Ziying would not come. Fang Ziying planned to marry Shangguan Rang but he died. She seldom went out to avoid the gossiping, let alone the imperial selection for princes.
Although many people had not thought that Qin Yunzhuang would show up, they pretended to be not so surprised. Especially Li Weijun who sought favor from Qin Yunzhuang now.
Qin Yunuan did not want to join the group so she sat in a cool place to have a rest. She enjoyed a cup of plum syrup given by the maids in the imperial palace.
Suddenly, a layer of shadow seemed to be added onto the sparse shadow of the trees. A soft and gentle sound came above, “Third Miss, long time no see.”
