Chapter 440 - Misunderstanding (2/2)

“Younger Sister Yu, is the set of clothing you’re wearing from Exquisite Garments? I didn’t expect that you, as a newcomer to the capital, would be able to catch the eye of Modiste Jiang and get a set of customly designed clothing from her. Is there a story behind all of this?” The person who spoke up was He Wanning. She was around fourteen to fifteen years of age and was wearing a set of clothing in fiery-red. The color made her face look even more lively and her personality was similar to the color of her clothing, bold and unrestrained. There wasn’t anything she was afraid to mention.

Today, Yu Xiaocao had also set a mission for herself to promote the new Qi-style attire. She naturally wouldn’t let this perfect opportunity go by, “The set of clothing I’m wearing was made by Older Sister Jiang and she had drawn inspiration from a different culture. This style really shows a woman’s gentle and delicate side. I’m certain that, before long, this style of clothing will also be displayed in all of the Exquisite Garment Stores.”

“You’re familiar with Modiste Jiang, ah?” One of the girls sitting in the room asked in a tone full of jealousy.

Yu Xiaocao replied in a humble manner, “I’ve only seen her a few times, that’s all…”

“You already call her as an ‘older sister’, so it must not have only been a few times. Miss Yu, you’re not telling the entire story! Quickly tell us, just how did you become familiar with Modiste Jiang?” He Wanning circled around Xiaocao and inspected her clothing carefully from head to toe. This wasn’t considered to be a rude gesture in the noble maiden circles. If any of them had gotten a customly designed set of clothing from Exquisite Garments, then everyone would have to look at them closely.

Yu Xiaocao hesitated for a moment before she simply outlined the reason why Jiang Siniang had asked to see her. He Wanning frowned slightly, “Are you saying that Modiste Jiang saw that you were wearing a different style of clothing once and ran after you to ask about it?”

Li Meirou also had an expression of disbelief on her face as she said, “Younger Sister Yu, hasn’t the wife of the Left Assistant Minister always said that you had a weak constitution and rarely went out? It’s a bit coincidental that Jiang Siniang would randomly see you outside once wearing clothing that interested her, right?”

Yu Xiaocao revealed a perplexed expression and asked, “The wife of the Left Assistant Minister? I have never met her, so how could she know what my body is like? I am quite healthy and I can easily ride a horse every day for an hour without any problems.”

Li Meirou had a shocked expression on her face and used the handkerchief in her hand to cover her mouth, “Eh? You’re not the young miss of the Left Assistant Minister of the Ministry of Appointments?”

“I’m not.” Yu Xiaocao blinked her large eyes. Her clear and limpid eyes reflected all of the awkward expressions on the young women’s faces in the room.

Li Meirou stated in a somewhat angry and flabbergasted manner, “Didn’t you say you were surnamed Yu ah? Out of all of the officials in the capital, other than the new Left Assistant Minister of the Ministry of Appointments, there isn’t another family surnamed Yu, right? Just who are you? Why are you trying to pretend to be a young miss and fool everyone?”

Apparently everyone had mistaken her for someone else! Yu Xiaocao finally understood why everyone had been treating her so well from the start. As long as it wasn’t some sinister plot, then she was fine! The tight knot she had in her chest was now relaxed.

In front of the bewildered other young ladies, Yu Xiaocao was very calm. She faintly smiled and said, “Miss Li, I believe we’ve had a misunderstanding! I am truly surnamed Yu, it’s the Yu from ‘may you have abundance year after year’.”

One of Royal Princess Minglan’s maids next to her quietly whispered a few words into her ear. She looked at Linglong, who was next to Xiaocao, and nodded her head. She had a reserved smile on her face as she said, “So you are the young miss from Zhaoyang General’s estate. I was rude earlier and had mistaken you for someone else.”

The young miss from Zhaoyang General’s estate? Wasn’t that the girl who was now a newly appointed agricultural official at the Ministry of Revenue? It was true. That agricultural official was also surnamed Yu and had the first name of Xiaocao. In fact, many of the noble maidens had privately made fun of her name, stating that it was such a crude and inelegant name. It made it obvious that she came from a peasant farming family.

Many of the young maidens in the warm room stopped smiling now and they had a look of slight disdain in their eyes. Li Meirou was even more flustered and unhappy. This Yu Xiaocao was too vile! She had misled her and had her embarrass herself in front of all of these noble maidens.

“What is wrong with you? How come you didn’t state your identity clearly? Were you afraid of your own status and decided to pretend to be someone else?” Li Meirou babbled incoherently as she was afraid the other girls would start to misunderstand and think that she was friends with a crude and lowly girl from a peasant farmer’s family.

Yu Xiaocao lost her smile and gave her a cursory glance. She stated in a neutral tone of voice, “Miss Li, am I right in assuming that you always reference the fact that you’re the daughter of the Right Assistant Minister of the Ministry of Appointments when you’re greeting someone? What’s wrong with my birth? If we go back a few generations, no one should be laughing at anyone else!”

After they heard this, they had to admit that her reasoning was sound. Even the person sitting on that regal and golden throne was the descendant of a poor peasant in his grandfather’s generation. In fact, even Duke Zhenguo and many other generals had all come from peasant stock. They weren’t any more noble than regular farmers either.

[1] ‘Yu’ - The characters used for the Yu in this last name (于) is different than the one used for Xiaocao's last name (余). They are homonyms though, hence the confusion.