Chapter 871 Enter the Mansion of the Prime Minister Again
Old Madam had said that she would not go to the Mansion of the Prime Minister, but later she changed her mind and went there with Shao Cailing, Shao Wanru, and Zhao Xiran, her new daughter-in-law.
Although the two mansions were very close, they still decided to take the carriage. Two carriages were prepared. Shao Wanru and Old Madam took the one in the front, and Zhao Xiran and Shao Cailing the other. They arrived at the Mansion of the Prime Minister just after a turn.
They were the first guests that had arrived and entered the Mansion of the Prime Minister soon.
The men stayed in the living room outside while the women went to the inner room.
After hearing that Old Madam had come, Madam Wen had been waiting at the Chuihua Gate for her. The two mansions had always been in a good relations.h.i.+p. Though the two Madams had little contact with each other for Old Madam was not in charge of the domestic affairs of Marquis Xing’s Mansion, their intimacy was never diluted after so many years.
Madam Wen was a pretty middle-aged woman with decent dressing. When she saw Old Madam coming over, she hurriedly greeted her with a smile.
After they greeted each other, Old Madam noticed that there was a beautiful woman behind Madam Wen. She asked, “This girl looks familiar.”
“Old Madam, do you forget it? This is my niece Xishu, the little girl who used to play with the Misses in your mansion when they were young,” Madam Wen introduced with a smile.
“Oh, yes! G.o.d, I’m old and dizzy. Yes! It’s Xishu from your mansion. I haven’t seen her for a long time, and now she has grown up into such a beautiful girl. Madam Wen is really good at raising children. You have taught her so well!” Old Madam understood and said with a smile.
“Old Madam, you are too polite. How could she be compared with the Misses in your mansion? All of them are as beautiful as flowers. Is this Fifth Miss Shao?” Madam Wen cast her eyes on the girls behind Old Madam.
She had seen Zhao Xiran before, and Shao Cailing was also familiar to her. The only person she knew little about was Shao Wanru. Madam Wen couldn’t help praising Shao Wanru in her heart. “She was an elegant and charming girl with delicate facial features and lively watery eyes. When she looked at people, her eyes looked hazy and mysterious, so beautiful that it seemed to be unreal.”
Since Madam Wen saw Shao Yanru, she had always believed that no other woman could surpa.s.s Shao Yanru in beauty. Now when she saw Fifth Miss Shao, she knew that there was always someone better.
Speaking of this, it was quite lucky for Marquis Xing’s Mansion. Not only did it have such a beautiful First Miss Shao, but also the Fifth Miss Shao, who had just returned to her ancestral home, was another beauty. First Miss Shao had become a pity, so it was worrying whether Fifth Miss Shao would have a bad end like her eldest sister.
“Fifth Girl, come front to meet Madam Wen!” Old Madam waved to Shao Wanru and said.
Shao Wanru took a step forward and bowed respectfully to Madam Wen.
“Good girl! You are really beautiful and polite. Old Madam’s biological granddaughter is indeed well-educated,” Madam Wen nodded and said. Then she took a bracelet off her wrist and put it on Shao Wanru’s. “I didn’t prepare presents today. This good jade bracelet is given to Fifth Miss as a meeting gift!”
“Thank you, Madam Wen!” Old Madam said with a smile.
Shao Wanru expressed her grat.i.tude and stepped aside.
Gu Xishu, who stood beside her, glared at her fiercely with uncontrollable hatred in her eyes. Shao Wanru looked into Gu Xishu’s eyes indifferently and then smiled slightly. She did not understand why Gu Xishu was so excited to see her.
The conflict a few years ago had pa.s.sed for so long, and it was just a trivial matter. Even if Gu Xishu had not made any progress, she could not bear grudges since then. However, Shao Wanru was shocked by Gu Xishu’s expression. There were shocks, complaints, and hatred in her eyes.
However, Gu Xishu gradually controlled her emotions and calmed down, and then her expression returned to normal.
After the juniors greeted each other, Madam Wen led Old Madam inside in person, followed by their juniors, who were listening to their elders’ conversation.
Shao Wanru was the youngest, so she was in the back of the line. Suddenly, Gu Xishu was walking beside her.
“Fifth Miss Shao, it’s your first time to visit our mansion, isn’t it? Let me show you around and enjoy the scenery later!” Gu Xishu said with a smile as if she had never shown aggression to Shao Wanru just now.
“Thank you for your kindness, Miss Gu!” Shao Wanru replied with a smile.
“Fifth Miss, you don’t have to be so polite. You are the guest, and I am the hostess!” Gu Xishu said softly with some connotations in her words. However, Shao Wanru was not interested in her, so she just smiled politely and did not follow her words.
“Miss Gu, are you…” Shao Cailing answered her. They used to be good friends when they were young. So Shao Cailing understood Gu Xishu’s thoughts. But now there were too many people around, so Shao Cailing realized that she could not say anything in front of them. She gave a slight hint.
Gu Xishu blushed and bit her lip, with the handkerchief twisted in her hand. Her bashful look showed that there must be something.
“Miss Gu, are you engaged to Second Young Master?” Zhao Xiran, who was well-informed, said with a low voice after she noticed that Old Madam and Madam Wen were talking excitedly in the front.
“Engaged? Isn’t she going to be concubine?” Shao Wanru raised her eyebrows with a trace of suspicion in her watery eyes.
“It hasn’t been decided yet!” Gu Xishu whispered in a tiny voice, with her face turning red.
“Miss Gu, I’m sorry. I thought that you had reached an agreement!” Zhao Xiran apologized.
“Never mind, Eldest Young Madam Shao!” Gu Xishu said in a sweet voice. She glanced at Shao Wanru with a red face, looking a little complacent. That confused Shao Wanru a lot. She didn’t know what Gu Xishu was proud of. They were almost strangers to each other!
They arrived at the flower hall which was not far from the Chuihua Gate. Old Madam and Madam Wen didn’t require the girls to stay with them and allowed them to walk around with Gu Xishu’s company.
Zhao Xiran decided to stay. She said that she would accompany Old Madam and asked Shao Cailing and Shao Wanru to go with Gu Xishu.
Madam Wen immediately appreciated Zhao Xiran’s manner. She nodded to show her agreement that Old Madam had got a good granddaughter-in-law. Minister Zhao’s daughter was very well-educated.
Old Madam didn’t like Zhao Xiran at first. But she also showed a loving expression on her face. She looked at Zhao Xiran with satisfaction while she was replying to Madam Wen with politeness and modesty as if she was truly contented with Zhao Xiran.
Suddenly, Shao Cailing didn’t want to go either. The third branch was having a hard time now. Before she went out, Third Madam had warned her again and again that she must please Old Madam. Seeing that Zhao Xiran’s trick worked, she immediately walked to the other side of Old Madam and said that she was worried about Old Madam and didn’t want to go around.
There were only four women in total, and two of them didn’t want to go and were bent on pleasing Old Madam. So Shao Wanru sat down beside Shao Cailing.
Seeing that Shao Wanru had also sat down, Madam Wen suggested with a smile, “Fifth Miss Shao, you haven’t been to our mansion before, have you? Xishu happens to be free, so she can show you around to get familiar with our mansion!”
“Fifth Miss Shao, shall we go? It’s your first time coming to our mansion. If I don’t serve you well, my aunt will blame me. Fifth Miss Shao, you won’t embarra.s.s me, will you?” Gu Xishu came to pull Shao Wanru up with great kindness.
Shao Wanru stood up, stepped back and just avoided Gu Xishu’s hands. “Thank you, Miss Gu!”
She couldn’t come out with an excuse to deny Madam Wen’a reason. Among everyone present, she was the only one who had never been to the Mansion of the Prime Minister. Madam Wen’s arrangement was very reasonable.
“Aunt, I’ll take Fifth Miss Shao out for a walk!” Gu Xishu said to Madam Wen with a smile. It seemed that she didn’t notice Shao Wanru’s cold att.i.tude towards her.
Madam Wen nodded with a smile and made fun of them, “Don’t go too far. You’ll come back after walking for a while. Fifth Miss Shao, just come back if you’re tired! There are some snacks to be served later. If you’re too late, you’ll lose the chance to taste them!”
“Aunt!” Gu Xishu stamped her feet, pretending to be angry. And she said, “Don’t say like I am nothing but a gluttonous girl!”
“Aren’t you?” Madam Wen laughed, and Old Madam couldn’t help laughing too.
Gu Xishu’s face turned red after she was laughed at. “Fifth Miss Shao, let’s go! We’ll come back after walking for a while, in case that they finish all the tasty snacks!” She approached Shao Wanru and said with kindness.
“Okay, okay. Just go!” Madam Wen smiled and waved her hand, which showed that she liked this niece very much.
The smile on Old Madam’s face faded. Gu Xishu reminded her of Madam Jiang, who was raised by her. Old Madam was once determined to make Madam Jiang marry into Marquis Xing’s Mansion and train her to be the favorite daughter-in-law. But in the end, Madam Jiang ended up like that. Even now, Old Madam couldn’t understand why Madam Jiang made mistakes again and again as if she had been cursed.
Shao Wanru bowed to Old Madam and then left with Gu Xishu.
After walking out of the flower hall, Gu Xishu pointed to a path on the front right and said, “Fifth Miss Shao, shall we go that way? The scenery is very good!”
Shao Wanru looked in that direction with a pair of deep eyes. She frowned slightly, but then she relaxed and said, “As you wish, Miss Gu.”
She meant that she had never been there before. No matter where they went, Gu Xishu could make the decision.
“Okay, let’s go this way!” Gu Xishu nodded with a smile. The two girls talked about the scenery all the way, as if they had never seen each other before.
Shao Wanru was actually very familiar with that path. In her last life, she had walked it several times a day. And it was the most familiar place to Shao Wanru in the inner court of the Mansion of the Prime Minister.
If this path had not been changed, the place where the path led would be Wen Xichi’s courtyard, another familiar place to Shao Wanru.
Prime Minister Wen’s only daughter had died early, so he only had three sons. He had few concubines, so several large courtyards in the inner court were left to his three sons.
Wen Xichi was Prime Minister Wen’s favorite son, who had shown great talents when he was still young. So he owned a large courtyard at the end of the path.
As they walked forward. Shao Wanru kept silent and wanted to see what Gu Xishu wanted to do by pretending to be so obedient.
At a junction, Gu Xishu stopped with a smile and pointed to the front. “That’s my third cousin’s courtyard. Let’s not go there, for fear of b.u.mping into him. He’s an intangible person. Who knows if he’s there or not? Fifth Miss Shao, let’s go this way!”
The direction she pointed was not to Wen Xichi’s courtyard. It seemed that she really did not want to come across Wen Xichi.
If it were someone else, Shao Wanru might have believed her. But Gu Xishu? Shao Wanru curled her lips and said in a graceful and cold manner, “You lead the way, Miss Gu!”