Chapter 208 Sending Two Palace Maids
“Miss, what does the Duke Xing’s Mansion want to do by inviting you again? Wasn’t it unpleasant last time?” After Qin Wanru told Qing Xue what to do and let her leave, Yujie couldn’t help asking instantly, looking at the gifts on the table.
This was also one of the reasons why Qing Xue went hurriedly to Qin Wanru just now.
Surprisingly, these were gifts of the Duke Xing’s Mansion, which also claimed that Madam of Duke Xing liked Qin Wanru very much, so she invited her to have a chat in their mansion.
On the table lay two gift boxes, all open. In one box, there was a set of brocade dress, made of fine cloth. From the first look, one knew it couldn’t be found on the market. Qin Wanru reached out her hands and raised a piece of the dress, and the cloth slipped silently from her hands, delicate and smooth.
Such fine cloth was sure from tributes!
The dress was tailored according to her previous height, with bluegra.s.s patterns at its corners, and these patterns were like the ones on her, Qin Yuru’s, and Qi Rongzhi’s clothes that day.
The only mistake was that she had grown really fast during this period, and the dress was short!
Madam of Duke Xing had sharp eyes and could know her height just by taking a look. If she wore it with her height of that time, the dress would be perfect, but now, she could not put it on anymore.
What a pity!
Only a little shorter!
Her watery eyes looked deep. “A small error ruins everything. This is a typical example!”
In the other gift box, there was a set of dressing jewelry with exquisite, novel peony patterns, popular at the time. From the appearance, one could judge it was just made.
Such a gift given to a common friend Qin Wanru was too expensive to be accepted.
“Put the things down and left?” Qin Wanru took up one hairpin to observe. With excellent handicraft, it had a colored peony, coiled by gold threads, with a big, glossy, mellow bead set in the center.
Even the bead was worth lots of money.
“I’ve heard they put things down and left. At that time, Qing Xue also tried to stop them, but the comers only said so and left. They also said if you have free time, you can visit the Duke Xing’s Mansion.” Qing Yue had learned the details of the thing before and spoke slowly.
“Miss, last time, Madam of Duke Xing said she would come and apologize for the incident of First Miss, didn’t she? But now, she hasn’t visited First Miss or Madam Di, but has come to you, why?”
Yujie witnessed what happened that day and couldn’t help asking.
“Maybe she wants to ask indirectly!” Qin Wanru smiled and said thoughtfully.
“Ask about what? About First Miss’ thing? Why does Madam of Duke Xing pay so much attention to First Miss?” Yujie asked first, but suddenly understood, opening her eyes wide and saying.
“Maybe she thinks there is something!” Qin Wanru narrowed her eyes, focusing on the hairpin in her hands, with a look which was turning cold.
“What is her misunderstanding?”
In her preexistence, they also misunderstood something at the beginning, but later, the misunderstanding turned to a trick, deliberately making others think like this, but their real aim was hidden behind Old Madam of the Duke Xing’s Mansion’s favor of Qin Yuru. In this life, she would disclose the thing and act before them, leading them to a misunderstanding.
Like them, she also began with a misunderstanding. But as one knowing the result, she needed to change it in advance, but now she was still unclear about the whole picture of it.
Madam of Duke Xing was testing her, and so was she.
The reason why Madam of Duke Xing didn’t visit Qin Yuru or Madam Di first was due to her misunderstanding, and the “culprit” was the several sets of garments with the similar embroidery patterns!
“Qing Yue, help me comb hair; I want to go out!” Qin Wanru put down the hairpin in her hands, walked to her dressing table, and said.
“To the Duke Xing’s Mansion?” Although Qing Yue came over, her eyes were full of surprise.
“No, to the mansion of Rui’an Great Elder Princess. Previously, I promised Shao Yuanhao to see him, and I can’t always break my promises!” Qin Wanru raised her eyebrows and said calmly.
“Okay, let me comb your hair right now. Do you prefer a new style or the old one?” Qing Yue replied, put down the previous bunched hair, and asked.
In the past, Qin Wanru was young, and her bunched hair had always been the ordinary double rings, which were only simply pressed by two hairpins.
But Qin Wanru had recently grown taller. If she still used that style, it would look a little ordinary. Qing Yue had also mastered the most popular double rings in the capital city, thinking that, as a beautiful girl, her miss should dress up well before she went out.
“The simplest style will do!” Qin Wanru didn’t care about that and spoke, and picked one from the several clothes Yujie carried over. “This one!”
Her previous clothes couldn’t be worn, and now her clothes were newly made. To tailor fast, these clothes only had the simplest styles and the most ordinary embroideries. Without good cloth, they would be very inconspicuous.
After combing, was.h.i.+ng, and changing her clothes, Qin Wanru with Yujie boarded her horse-drawn carriage, with the two gift boxes from the Duke Xing’s Mansion also in it. She might not know some rules, but Rui’an Great Elder Princess must know. Compared with the Duke Xing’s Mansion, she preferred and more believed Rui’an Great Elder Princess.
The carriage stopped in the parking lot of the Great Elder Princess’ Mansion, and Qin Wanru got off. Just now, when she came in, someone had already gone inside to report; now the old maid supervisor was already there. As she saw Qin Wanru get off, she went to bow hurriedly, and then led the way.
Qin Wanru followed her and went inside along the winding path.
When they came to Rui’an Great Elder Princess’ yard but hadn’t reached the main entrance, they saw that the main room’s door curtain was raised and a small figure rushed out.
Yujie wanted to push Qin Wanru away, but the latter waved no. By the time, a small figure had rushed to Qin Wanru and held her, looking up with his beady eyes. It was Shao Yuanhao.
“Sister, why haven’t you come to play with Hao’er until now? Hao’er has been waiting for so long!” Shao Yuanhao said discontentedly.
Qin Wanru touched his head with her hand, asking smilingly, “Has Hao’er been behaving well recently?”
“Of course, well, very well. Sister, come in, quick!” Shao Yuanhao took Qin Wanru’s hand hospitably, pulling her to the room.
The door curtain had already been raised high. As she walked in after Shao Yuanhao, she saw a pair of malicious eyes instantly and couldn’t help being stunned. “How come Chu Liuchen is here?”
Different from in Jiangzhou, Chu Liuchen almost always sat in a wheelchair when he went out in the capital city. Now, he was also sitting bonelessly there, with an exceptionally beautiful appearance, and only his beautiful eyes looked somewhat sullen. The first look at him could tell he seemed unhappy!
Withdrawing her look, she looked at the center of the room, where Rui’an Great Elder Princess sat with a smile, looking at her kindly.
Releasing Shao Yuanhao’s hand lightly, Qin Wanru walked forward to bow to Rui’an Great Elder Princess, and then bowed gingerly to Chu Liuchen, with her eyes focusing on her nose and her nose on her mouth. She didn’t know who had offended Prince Chen, who looked quite unfriendly. To avoid being hurt by him, Qin Wanru thought she had better keep a long distance from him.
“Hao’er has been missing you and said you promised to see him in the Duke Xing’s Mansion, but you didn’t come. These days, he has been troubling me every day!” Rui’an Great Elder Princess asked Qin Wanru to sit down and smiled.
“Father’s designation was issued, and our mansion was busy, so I could not spare time,” Qin Wanru said apologetically.
Rui’an Great Elder Princess looked at Qin Wanru up and down several times. Only after more than a month had Qin Wanru changed a great deal. First, she was taller. Although she still looked childish, she seemed to have the image of a young lady, and her delicate face looked more appealing and beautiful.
In the past, her beauty was ignored because she was too small, but it gradually caught the eye.
The palace was always full of beauties, but Qin Wanru was absolutely among the best in appearance. Besides that, she also had deep red lips, which made her more gorgeous and s.h.i.+nier. Fortunately, she was still young and looked childish, and so she was not exceptionally attractive.
Sitting on one side, Chu Liuchen didn’t utter a word but raised his eyebrows. “Without seeing her for many days, she has suddenly grown taller, not like a stump anymore. This is a real surprise!”
“Liuchen, if you don’t feel well, leave early and rest. As for your thing your empress dowager grandma once told me, you should also bear in mind. Anyway, it’s your health, and your grandma will feel more a.s.sured if someone attends to you!” Rui’an Great Elder Princess turned to Chu Liuchen and said softly.
Chu Liuchen lowered his head and said slowly, “Thank you, great-aunt, but I…”
With a pause, he seemed hesitant and then stopped. For an instant, the room turned quiet, and Qin Wanru heard her breath turn light, too.
“Naughty child! Why can’t you be persuaded? This is not only your grandma’s worry but also your emperor uncle’s. They always worry about your health and spoke of it before me again and again!” Rui’an Great Elder Princess thought he was declining like before and persuaded him graciously.
For the thing, Chu Liuchen had been persuaded for a long time during the several days, but he declined.
If he declined, no one dared to force him, afraid that he would get unwell because of unhappiness.
“So, send two palace maids in a while? I’ve heard the empress has long prepared. If you agree, she will select the best maids and send them here!” Rui’an Great Elder Princess asked tentatively.
Qin Wanru sensed that she seemed to hear something she shouldn’t have heard. So, she became more indifferent to the surroundings!
“I want to pick two beautiful, eye-pleasing ones.” Chu Liuchen raised his head. Although his pale face had no trace of blood, he was still an unparalleled beautiful juvenile, also with graceful and n.o.ble behavior. As his eyes glided over Qin Wanru, who was standing quietly beside him, a smile came upon the corner of his mouth, and he spoke casually.
“Good, good, good, I will tell your grandma in a while!” She was finally relieved and satisfied she had been keeping an eye on him during these days. Rui’an Great Elder Princess was quite happy and said, heaving a sigh of relief. “Anyway, I haven’t made others disappointed. Such things should be done slowly. Now with relief, the rest will be much easier to deal with!”
Qin Wanru didn’t raise her head, so she didn’t see the ripples in Chu Liuchen’s eyes which was also eerily abnormal…