Chapter 36 (1/2)
Saying it like that, Bao Tang would not suspect anything. Since coming to Willow courtyard, they had not eaten their fill once. Seeing the delicious food before them, Bao Tang almost began drooling. Except, she worried about how to report to the happenings of the day to the head wife. Although the head wife had given this assignment to granny Li, since she was here as well, she would obviously also have her own sense of duty. The head wife might not ask, but for her not to say anything would be her fault.
That afternoon, Yao shi coaxed Zi Rui in to taking a nap. Huang Quan was in the yard with granny Sun taking inventory of the betrothal gifts.
Feng Yu Heng had not slept much the previous night, so she felt a little sleepy. Originally, she had wanted to take a nap, but who knew that as she was about to lie down, Wang Chuan entered the room and whispered in her ear: “Second young miss, the manor’s third concubine mother came with the third young miss.”
Feng Yu Heng and Yaos hi went out to receive them, but found that An shi and Feng Xiang Rong had already been escorted in to the main room’s waiting room.
Thinking back, Yao shi and An shi’s relationship was a harmonious one. That year, An shi had entered the manor immediately after Chen shi. She really suffered quite a great deal of bullying by Chen shi, but An shi was not one who liked to compete. If she could endure, then she would endure. Thankfully, Chen shi was merely a concubine at the time. With Yao shi as the head wife keeping her in check, she could not be too outrageous.
Seeing Feng Yu Heng and Yao shi enter the room, An shi and Feng Xiang Rong quickly rose. An shi faced Yao shi and bowed, calling her “sister.” When she raised her head, her eyes became red.
Yao shi also sighed with emotion. Holding An shi’s hand, they spent a while unable to say anything.
Feng Yu Heng really did not want to see this kind of sad scene and advised Yao shi: “Quickly let concubine mother An and third sister take a seat. The days for conversation will become more plentiful.”
An shi then turned around and bowed facing Feng Yu Heng: “Greetings to the second young miss.”
She quickly stopped her: “Concubine mother, don’t be like this. There aren’t any such rules here. You are my elder. It isn’t worthwhile to greet a junior.”
An shi bitterly smiled, “I am a concubine. How could I possibly be an elder. These two words, the second young miss is praising me too much. Logically speaking, in front of the second young miss, I should be considered a servant.”
“I sincerely hope that concubine mother will not do that.” Feng Yu Heng gestured for her to stop and for them to sit.
Granny Sun had already brewed some tea and brought it over. The fragrance of the tea quickly filled the room, and Xiang Rong couldn’t help but exclaim: “What tea is this? It’s so fragrant!”
An shi compressed her lips in to a smile, “It must be one of the teas gifted by his Highness Prince Yu. Our manor most definitely does not have such a high quality tea.”
Feng Yu Heng shrugged her shoulders: “Even if there were, it would never reach Willow courtyard’s people.”
An shi lightly sighed, “Speaking of, it’s the Feng family that’s too outrageous in its handling of such things. But the second young miss has just returned to the manor. It would be best not to have too many enemies right?”
Feng Yu Heng knew that An shi did this for her sake. She nodded and gave thanks to An shi, but she also shook her head: “From the moment we knocked on the Feng family’s main gate, the number of enemies was countless. What need is there for us to provoke them.”
An shi agreed with that point, “In these few years, when you were not at the manor, that Chen shi has already changed out most of the servants. Even granny Sun was sent to the outer courtyard to do hard labor. Only after hearing news of the ninth prince’s return was she sent to receive you.”
Yao shi felt bad for granny Sun, as her heart began to feel unwell once more.
Feng Yu Heng did not speak of such emotional things, so she stood up and returned to the inner room. Earlier, she had carried some boxes of jewelry to her boudoir. Opening one of them, she chose a pair of peach blossom earrings and put them in her hand. Returning outside, she pressed the earrings in to Xiang Rong’s hands, “Second sister just returned to the manor and previously had not a single nice thing. Thankfully, Prince Yu’s contingent gave me some. I will give this to third sister as a greeting gift!”
Xiang Rong was immediately stunned upon seeing the pale-pink, peach blossom earrings. Nobody knew what sort of material was used for the earrings. It appeared to be jade, but she felt it might not be jade. She could not say, but she just felt that this was significantly more beautiful than anything she had ever seen before.
The girl was slack jawed in awe for quite some time before exclaiming: “It’s too beautiful!”
An shi also came over. Taking a look, she felt quite shocked: “Silly child, what you are you still in a daze for. Why have you not thanked your second sister! This is an extremely rare rose quartz!”
In this era, there still wasn’t much in the way of quartz mining, but quartz’s value was something recognized by royalty. Currently, the most common was white quartz, followed by yellow quartz. For rose quart and amethyst, it’s likely that even the imperial family could not find a piece, much less be given to an artisan to work on. It truly was a material only masters would dare work on.
Hearing that it was quartz, and rose quartz at that, Xiang Rong immediately understood the true value of this item. She quickly and solemnly performed a salute: “Xiang Rong thanks second sister.”
Feng Yu Heng smiled and helped the girl up then patted the back of her hand: “Between sisters, there is no need for this worship. Don’t worry, I said so before that I would give Fen Dai a handkerchief. Naturally, I will not forget yours. When I use the materials to make clothes, some will be left over. I can secretly use that to make a pair of embroidered shoes. Save them for when you marry out of the family. Does that sound good?”