Chapter 24: Suspicion And Jealousy! (1)
An Qing knew in her heart what her sister-in-law wanted to say. Her lowered, n.o.ble face usually showed a cold and aloof expression, but was now adorned with a seldomly-seen bashful look. With pinkened cheeks she followed after Feng Yuewei and they arrived inside a room.
This sister and sister-in-law pair believed that no one would notice the two talking and secretly entered another room. But, there would inevitably be unexpected witnesses to every secret. As a matter of fact, one person among An Jin"s group of Jing City"s well-known people had noticed those two silently slipping away by themselves.
“Hey, Jin meimei, why did Qing meimei and the princess both leave together, away from everyone else? And also, why did they go into that room?”
The woman who asked this question was a young Jing City official"s daughter. Her age was around that of the twins"; she was just a few months older than them. Although she was also born with good looks, compared with An Jin she lacked her liveliness and exuberant nature. Thus, when the two were together her looks were noticeably ordinary as compared to An Jin"s.
Originally, An Jin had been laughing and gleefully chatting with the other young elites of Jing City, recalling this and spreading rumors of that. When she heard the young lady"s question, her laughter faded away and her eyes became blank. Then she looked in the direction that young girl was facing.
“They were by themselves?”
Although her melodious voice contained doubt, there was also a hint of suspicion.
Jealousy among n.o.bles and officials were common; especially among the women. Even one"s own siblings weren"t spared from one"s jealousy. Since there would be many comparisons and compet.i.tions among siblings, how could they also be devoid of envy and jealousy?
Today was the twin sisters An Jin"s and An Qing"s birthday. Feng Yuewei was the two"s sister-in-law, but at the moment she had just allowed An Qing to follow her as the two sneaked away. There wasn"t even a servant outside the room, waiting to go in and serve them. If one said that there was nothing fishy about all of this, even An Jin wouldn"t believe it.
Why didn"t her sister call her? What could Qing"er want to say to their sister-in-law alone?
She couldn"t help it as her good mood changed in a flash. She was thinking that perhaps her sister-in-law had something good to give just to Qing"er but not to her.
“Yes, truly. I didn"t even see their servants going inside with them.” Each word spoken by that young lady caused An Jin"s heart to become heavier. But, in this situation she couldn"t say or do anything that would show her resentment or dissatisfaction, lest it ruin all of the family"s prestige.
Although An Jin was comparatively more carefree and lively than An Qing, she was still the eldest miss of the household and had been raised with all the manners expected of that position.
“Perhaps Qing meimei has some matter to discuss with sister-in-law. Wu jiejie is actually overly suspicious." An Jin soon smiled and turned her eyes away from where the two had disappeared off to and teased the young lady. She spoke a few words and raised her eyebrows in a playful manner.
☀
But, her true thoughts and doubts were buried deep inside her heart.
At the same time.
The room the two women had gone into alone was usually used by the madams and the misses of the Manor in cases of emergencies.
“Sister-in-law, what is the matter?”
Entering the room, An Qing didn"t even wait for Feng Yuewei to speak but immediately looked very shy. Her whole face had turned red from her blushes and a shy smile could be seen. She didn"t look at all like the An Qing who was usually cold and indifferent when in public.
Feng Yuewei smiled and didn"t immediately reply, but just said to the other, “Qing"er is very beautiful, but you are so anxious to get married?”
Feng Yuewei knew what was on An Qing"s this mind. If not, she wouldn"t have taken advantage of today’s birthday and pester her royal brother for a long time before having him agree to come to the party today.