Chapter 448 - Half-truth (1/2)

The next day, Lady Li delivered a message to Count Zhongqin’s (Author’s note: New t.i.tle awarded to Fang Zizhen) Estate about their visit.

When Lady Fang received Lady Li’s message, she looked strangely at the maidservant who brought the message over, “The a.s.sistant minister of the Ministry of Appointments sent a message over? When did our general ever have any relations.h.i.+p with a.s.sistant Minister Li?”

The maidservants thought about it and all shook their heads. Zhenzhu said, “Madam, don’t you always say that the general doesn’t like to interact with those civil officials? Those scholars all speak in a genteel manner and have a stomach full of schemes. It’s tiring to listen to them speak!”

Lady Fang knew that her husband didn’t have a close relations.h.i.+p with any of the officials in court because he used to be a commander under General Zhao in the previous dynasty. Normally, their household only interacted with some of her close friends and matrons who liked flora. She had never met this Lady Li before, okay?

“One wouldn’t come for no reason. For what reason would this Lady Li come over today?” Lady Fang muttered to herself.

Hupo spoke without thinking, “I reckon she’s a weasel paying respects to a chicken—she has ill-intentions!”

“What are you saying? Even if she wants to be a weasel, I, your mistress, am not willing to be a ‘chicken’!” Lady Fang glared at her and pretended to be angry.

Hupo hastily smacked her mouth and begged for mercy, “Look at this servant’s mouth. I can’t control it! This servant has said the wrong thing, so please punish me, Madam!”

“I’ll let it go this time! In the future, remember to be cautious with your words, lest you cause trouble outside. I might not be able to help you even if I want to!!” Lady Fang was usually quite tolerant of her maidservants, who had mostly grown up around her. However, she would still discipline them when needed.

Linglong hurriedly came out to help her, “This servant thinks that Lady Li’s visit might have something to do with Young Miss.”

“Cao’er? Since coming to the capital, Cao’er has either been working at the Imperial Plantation or playing with Lin’er at home. She seldom came in contact with the families of other officials in the capital. How would she know Lady Li?” Xiaocao was afraid that her G.o.dmother would be worried, so when she got back from the flower banquet, she didn’t tell her about her unpleasant matters and only reported the good things that happened. She told her that she had invited Royal Princess Minglan and the capital’s ‘Two Beauties’ for an outing at the Imperial Plantation. She didn’t mention anything about the incident with Li Meirou.

Linglong pondered for a moment, and then said, “Although Young Miss had no contact with Lady Li, she did have a friction with the young miss of the Li Family at the flower compet.i.tion banquet last time…”

“What? Did the daughter of the Li Family bully our Cao’er?” Lady Fang sat up straight and looked at the message with a frown. She was deliberating on whether she should let Lady Li wait outside for a while! Lady Fang felt that she had a rather good understanding of her G.o.ddaughter’s personality. That kid Xiaocao would never deliberately cause trouble, but if someone provoked her, she wasn’t someone who would take it sitting down.

Sure enough, Linglong pursed her lips into a smile and said, “Madam, would that Young Miss Li be able to bully our young miss? Of course, she got roasted by Young Miss!”

Lady Fang threw the visiting message aside and asked with interest, “Oh? Quickly tell me what happened.”

Linglong told her about how Li Meirou tried to use the young miss’s family background to insult and ostracize the young miss, but she ended up being retorted and rendered speechless by the young miss. In the end, she was the one who was ostracized by the other n.o.ble young misses. Their family’s young miss, on the other hand, left a good impression on Royal Princess Minglan and the ‘Two Beauties’.

“Excellent!” Lady Fang hit the table, and the smile on her face deepened, “Humph! In what way is a.s.sistant Minister Li’s family background better? He’s just a poor scholar who can’t do anything by himself. Had it not been for his in-laws providing financial a.s.sistance, he wouldn’t even have enough travel expenses to come take the exam in the capital! At the beginning of our dynasty, there was a lot that needed to be done and the imperial court was in urgent need of talents. This was the reason why someone like a.s.sistant Minister Li, who had just done well in the primary rounds of the imperial examination, was able to stay in the capital! In the previous dynasties, people like a.s.sistant Minister Li would have been sent to a post outside the capital. It would be extremely difficult to get a position as an official in the capital without working for a decade or two! Li Meirou’s maternal grandparents’ family is merely a local squire, so that la.s.s also grew up in the rural area. How many years has it been since she came to the capital? She’s already putting up airs and looking down on others?! Who does she think she is?!”

“No wonder the young miss said that the more one feels inferior, the more one will attack others in order to seek a balance in their hearts. This Young Miss Li is probably one of these people!” Linglong quite agreed with her young miss’s theory.

Lady Fang looked at her trusted personal maidservant with amus.e.m.e.nt. Linglong was a thorough and prudent worker, so she had sent her to help her daughter with several errands. She hadn’t expected that this girl had gradually become a strong supporter of her daughter.

There was no shortage of maidservants in her daughter’s courtyard, but there wasn’t a supervising matron. At the beginning of spring next year, Linglong would be eighteen, which was a marriageable age. Lady Fang was pondering about which young steward in the estate had a bright future and would be a good person to betroth Linglong to. Later, one could work in the outer court, while the other could serve her daughter. After gaining a few years of experience the couple could accompany her daughter when she got married. One could manage the affairs of the outer court, while the other could manage the inner court…