"Princess, let me report to you, the concubine of late Prince Ding is here." In the study, Ye Li was going through the accounts she brought from Ye Manor and a maid who came inside reported to her.
Ye Li lifted her head and stopped for a second when she saw the maid standing by the door while Qing Shuang already opened her mouth and said: "Jing Wen, why are you here?" The maid that came with the report was exactly the one whose former name was Han Qing and who was sent to needlework workshop by Ye Li when she was still in Ye Manor. The clothes for maids in Prince Ding's Manor were all moon-light white with a plain belt, which looked especially attractive on her.
Jing Wen looked at Ye Li with a frightened expression and spoke in a low voice: "A mama that's in charge has said that princess won't wear anything that I am going to make with my poor needlework skills. There are four maids who are responsible for embroidery with excellent skills in the needlework workshop already so I was sent out and started to serve princess in the yard." Though Jing Wen was happy to be able to have left the needlework workshop she was still ashamed that her needlework skill was considered worthless.
Ye Li thought to herself that this maid didn't become cleverer after one or two months in the needlework workshop. Did she really think that there was nothing tough ahead of her just because she had good looks?
"All right. You can go out and invite the concubine in." Ye Li waved her hand and said.
"Yes, princess." Jing Wen bent her knees and withdrew from the room with respect.
Qing Shuang complained unhappily: "How come Lin mama and Wei mama put her near you, miss?
In my opinions she definitely has ulterior motives." Qing Luan and Qing Yu came to serve Ye Li later than Jing Wen did so they knew nothing about her except her far too bewitching appearance. Hearing that from Qing Shuang, they both looked over.
Qing Shuang stamped her feet a little annoyed and said: "It's my fault. I forgot to tell Lin mama."
Qing Xia smiled slightly and said: "Well, Qing Shuang, Lin mama is very experienced since she has been by Old Lady's side from the start. Do you think that she couldn't tell what kind of person Jing Wen is? Besides, Jing Wen is only a secondary maid who serves in the yard. She's below even Yun-er and Cui-er and she wouldn't cause any trouble since she's a stranger in this manor."
Ye Li put down the accounts and smiled: "Qing Shuang, there's still a lot of stuff you could learn from Qing Xia. Remember to think before you act."
Qing Shuang stuck out her tongue and said: "Yes, princess."
Once she was in the reception pavilion for female guests, Ye Li stopped for a second. The one who was sitting on the host seat was a middle-aged woman in her fifties in gorgeous cloud brocade and wore a pair of gold ornament with jade and gems, who looked like a 100% n.o.ble lady. If Ye Li didn't know in advance that the lady was only a concubine of late Prince Ding she would have considered her the legitimate princess. At the moment, the concubine was leaning against the chair for a rest with her eyes closed. Behind her, there were two maids. One of them was ma.s.saging her shoulders and another one was fanning for her with a palace fan. Ye Li couldn't help but want to laugh. It was not June yet and the weather in the capital was far from hot. Wasn't the concubine afraid that she could catch a cold by that?
"Princess." Seeing that Ye Li was inside, everyone in the room stood up in a hurry and bent down their knees to show their respect.
"Leave us. Sorry to keep you waiting." Ye Li waved the servants away, walked to the other side and sat down with a frown. Only by then did Concubine Yang slowly open her eyes and look at Ye Li with contempt. Ye Li had a smile on her face, not minding that the concubine looked her up and down and turned her eyes to a girl in white that was sitting by the concubine's side. The girl seemed frightened. She drew back her eyes and averted her gaze when her eyes met Ye Li's.
"What brings you here today?" Ye Li drew back her gaze and turned to Concubine Yang.
Concubine Yang narrowed her eyes unhappily and her face with apparent signs of time grew dark. She snorted and said: "Princess, you do have some manners. You don't seem to know that you have to visit your seniors after your wedding so I have to come here and see you."
Ye Li understood what she was here for: trouble. She was a little disturbed and frowned. Then she looked at her and smiled: "Well, it seems like it's my lack of manners. But I asked His Highness yesterday and he only told me to visit my sister-in-law after my visit to my parental home. His Highness didn't mention anyone else that I need to visit in person."
Concubine Yang's face turned stiff. After quite a while she returned to herself, looking at Ye Li she said: "His Highness hasn't been in a good mood in recent years. There are bound to be oversights and omissions. As his princess you are already wrong for not reminding him what is the right thing to do, how could you be so impolite as well?"
Remind him? The fact that Mo Xiu Yao didn't bring you up showed that he didn't care about you. I wouldn't be an idiot and remind him of that.
Before her wedding, Ye Li had already memorized most members of Prince Ding's Manor, for example, this Concubine Yang in front of her. Come to think about it, this Concubine Yang was actually kind of special. Apart from being the only concubine of Mo Liu Fang, the late Prince Ding, she was also Mo Xiu Yao and Mo Xiu Wen's birth aunt, the younger sister of the late Princess Ding by birth. But such a status didn't bring her much respect in the manor. In fact, from when Mo Liu Fang was still alive, including Mo Xiu Wen to today, n.o.body took her seriously and Mo Xiu Yao just ignored her. By this year, Concubine Yang was not fifty yet. She was the same age as Prince Royal Zhao Yang. Though both of them were widows, Prince Royal Zhao Yang looked at least ten years younger just by appearance.
But Ye Li wasn't sympathetic to Concubine Yang just because of that. In Ye Li's opinion, it was Concubine Yang who brought all of this on herself. Concubine Yang came to Prince Ding's Manor by marriage when the late Princess Ding had Mo Xiu Wen. After the late Princess Ding gave birth to Mo Xiu Yao, her health took a down turn and she lost her usual intimacy with the late Prince Ding then died soon after she gave birth to Mo Xiu Yao seven years later. Besides, compared with how Mo Xiu Yao ignored Concubine Yang, Mo Xiu Wen, who was famous for being a gentleman showed extreme contempt for her. Thus, Ye Li had enough reason to conclude that, back then, Concubine Yang used some irregular schemes and get herself married into Prince Ding's Manor which led directly to the break up of Mo Liu Fang and the late Princess's relationship. Putting all of that aside, even if Mo Xiu Yao was going to get concubines in the future, Ye Li wouldn't accept if Ye Shan or Ye Lin was among them. Sharing a husband with someone else was already hard to put up with and sharing a husband with her birth sisters was absolutely challenging her bottom line.
"To be honest… I didn't know that I have to visit a concubine in person." With her clear eyes lowered down, Ye Li said indifferently.
"You! How dare you!" Concubine Yang was so angry that her face turned red, her fingers pointing at Ye Li, speechless. Her status as a concubine was the shame of her life. She was married into the manor as a concubine but she wasn't that disappointed since she wasn't the legitimate daughter of her family. After her sister pa.s.sed away she thought she had the chance to become the legitimate princess since His Highness only got one concubine However, the late Prince Ding didn't spare her a look until his death. After Mo Liu Fang was gone, she knew that she had lost the only chance that she got and she would be a concubine to death and wouldn't be buried in the same tomb as Mo Liu Fang.
"You know the rules of this manor well enough as to who on earth was taking too many liberties." Ye Li lifted her head and stared at her with indifference. To the outside world, Prince Ding's Manor considered Prince Ding as its supreme leader. When it came to internal affairs, it was up to Princess Ding. Even the princess of late Prince Ding couldn't embarra.s.s Princess Ding, let alone a concubine. Therefore, n.o.body called Princess Wen "Princess" after Mo Xiu Wen pa.s.sed away but First Lady, showing that she was the sister-in-low of Prince and Princess Ding instead of princess of Prince Ding's Manor.
Having driven away the arrogance in Concubine Yang, Ye Li's face turned softer. She smiled and said: "Do you have anything to say coming here so early?"
Concubine Yang who was dumbfounded by Ye Li's sudden change of att.i.tude was about to flare up when she came to herself and heard a soft and uneasy voice from the girl in white who was sitting by her side.
Concubine Yang, looking at the girl in white, suppressed her anger unexpectedly. She turned her head and said to Ye Li: "This is Qian Ru, my niece from my parental family."
The girl in white stood up, bending her knees gracefully towards Ye Li and said softly: "Qian Ru wish you good health, cousin-in-law."