Chapter 22: Visiting the Bride’s Family (6)
When she heard the maidservants’ reply, Xiyan clearly looked stunned. Without waiting for her to react, a tall maidservant wearing lake green clothing walked out of the residence. “What are you making so much noise for? You’re disturbing my sleep! All you wenches know how to do is shirk your duties all day! Wait until Eighth Miss comes back! Let’s see if we’ll punish you by breaking your legs!”
Xiyan was very familiar with that voice. It was Xiaoqin, who served Eighth Miss. Back when they were living in the Ying Estate, the two of them had always been at loggerheads.
Xiaoqin often spoke badly of Sixth Miss behind her back.
It was obvious that Xiaoqin hadn’t known that Chu Lian and the others were outside; it wasn’t until she walked out that she spotted Chu Lian and Xiyan.
“Sixth… Sixth Miss.” Xiaoqin gulped and greeted Chu Lian with a guilty conscience. As if she had just recovered her senses, she bobbed in greeting to Chu Lian as well.
Xiyan’s expression was now extremely ugly. The senior servant who had accompanied Chu Lian here had also realised what had happened.
Right after Sixth Miss had left the House to get married, her courtyard in her maiden home had been taken by someone else. They hadn’t even waited until after her customary visit to take it over. Anyone would be furious at this.
“You… You’ve gone too far!” Xiyan couldn’t resist protesting this unfair treatment for her mistress.
The senior servant’s expression didn’t look too good either. She inwardly scolded Eighth Miss for not knowing better. Even if Eighth Miss had taken a liking to this courtyard, she should have waited for a period of time before moving in. Yet, she had moved in this quickly anyway. This was practically a slap on the face to the dignity of the House of Duke Ying!
Furthermore, it was her mistress who was in charge of the Ying Household at the moment. In the end, the blame was likely going to land on her mistress.
Xiaoqin looked down. After getting scolded by Xiyan, she had calmed down. Anyway, Sixth Miss had already married out of the House, so this courtyard was going to be Eighth Miss’ sooner or later. Daughters who married out of the House were like spilled water1; they would live far away from the estate. It was better to bear the ire of Sixth Miss rather than offend Eighth Miss.
After arranging her thoughts, Xiaoqin stopped being afraid of the consequences. “This is Eighth Miss’ residence. Sister Xiyan, please mind your words.”
Xiyan almost fainted from the force of her anger when she heard Xiaoqin’s words. However, upon thinking of Chu Lian and realising that she was probably the one who was the most hurt and angry at the moment, she hurriedly turned to reassure Chu Lian. “Sixth Miss, please don’t get angry.”
However, Chu Lian shook her head unexpectedly. The corners of her mouth even carried the traces of a warm smile as she spoke. “I’m not angry. What’s there to be angry about? I’m already married and I can’t live here anymore. It would be such a waste if this place were kept empty. Why not give it to my sister, so she doesn’t have to squeeze in with the other daughters of the House? However, this residence is close to a pond. Now that the weather’s getting warmer, Eighth Sister should be careful of the mosquitoes.”
Xiyan thought back to the days when she used to live in this residence with Sixth Miss. They were surrounded by a bamboo forest and located next to a pond. During summer nights, the mosquitoes would come out in full uproar. Before you even realised it, you would have a few extra red bites on your body that both hurt and itched. Summer was the toughest season for them back then.
Other misses only saw the beautiful scenery of this Anxiang Court and had never experienced the pain of living here.
Now that she knew how that arrogant, unruly Eighth Miss was going to suffer like they once had, Xiyan cheered up immediately!
“Momo, would it be possible to take me over to Eldest Sister-in-Law’s place for some medicine?” Chu Lian asked, smiling as she addressed Madam Rong’s servant.
The senior servant couldn’t react in time for a moment. After she finally regained her senses, she warmly replied, “Sixth Miss, of course it’s possible! Eldest Madam has a bottle of high-quality snow cream that can treat burns! This old servant will guide you there.”
Chu Lian had just turned around when she heard a delicate voice angrily shout, “Chu Lian, don’t think that I’ll move out of Anxiang Court just because you said that! I’m telling you, Anxiang Court is mine now! Don’t even think about staying here another night from now on!”
Chu Lian had just relaxed after solving the problem before her. She was really tired now. Was Miss Yuan just fated to be at odds with her? They had already resolved the issue, but she was still coming after her and trying to add on to her troubles.
1. Married daughters are like spilled water – A Chinese saying meaning your daughters are no longer yours or your family’s after they marry. They’re like water that has been thrown out.