Chapter 450 - Mission Completed? (1/2)
In actuality, what she was hinting at was quite different: my daughter is able to get along swimmingly with Royal Princess Minglan, Miss He and Miss Yuan, yet she’s unable to get along with your daughter. It was obvious; the problem did not lie with her daughter!
Lady Li glanced at her daughter and noticed that she had her head lowered obediently and wasn’t making a sound. She remembered that she was here to complete a mission. Despite the fact that the other woman had already served tea and was saying pleasantries, she continued on, “Miss Yu is magnanimous and we were unable to treat her properly. Is Miss Yu available to be seen so that we can clear the air on this misunderstanding?”
In reality, Lady Li didn't believe a single word Lady Fang was saying. If she really didn't take any offense to the situation, why was she refusing to allow her daughter to be seen? Was this the way the Fang Residence received guests? If they didn't have a grudge against them, then why did they ask Royal Prince Yang to support them and cause so much trouble for them in the capital such that they had no face to see anyone else? However, she was here to ‘apologize’ to them today. Therefore, she could only suppress these questions within her heart.
“Eh? Did I not tell you that my Cao’er has gone out to the Imperial Plantations early this morning to overlook the affairs there? Aiya! My memory now has gone to ashes after chasing after that little disobedient boy all day everywhere. Lady Li, please don’t take offense! Just think, if my daughter was at home and a young miss came over, how could I not have her come greet the other maiden? That is not how my General’s Estate treats guests.” Lady Fang pretended to look frustrated but her eyes flashed with a mischievous light.
Lady Li’s expression changed suddenly and she slightly frowned, but, before long, she regained her serenity. She sighed, “It’s not easy for her to take care of court affairs! It's getting colder with every passing day. It must be very difficult for her to run to the Imperial Plantation everyday!”
Lady Fang also sighed along with her and stated in a tone full of approval, “That’s right ah! As a mother, how could I bear for my dear daughter to endure any grievance? After all, she did receive the imperial decree, and the emperor places great importance on this winter wheat. A few days ago, he even showed up himself with only Chief Steward Su along to inspect the fields! We won’t even get into her other responsibilities, but she has been fretting over her greenhouses full of vegetables. Ever since she got back from Tanggu Town, she had to personally go and check whether the people from the Ministry of Works had finished building the greenhouse pavillions. The vegetables have just sprouted, so she goes over every day to check on them to make sure that we will have green vegetables in time for the New Year's!”
“Then Miss Yu must be working very hard!” Lady Li suddenly saw an opportunity when the topic of the conversation moved to the vegetables. She obsequiously began to flatter, “Speaking of the greenhouse grown vegetables, everyone in the capital knows how incredible Miss Yu is. In the years past, other than radishes and cabbages, it was already considered pretty good if we could have a few wilted green vegetables to eat at this season. Not at all like today, as long as you have money, you're more than able to eat some fresh green vegetables.”
Li Meirou sneered inwardly when she saw her mother giving flowery compliments to that disgusting, low-born girl. What was so great about her growing vegetables in the greenhouses? Was that low-born lass really that pure and great? They claimed that she was growing them for the sake of allowing people to have access to fresh vegetables, but how come they didn't talk about the immense amount of money that lass made from selling it? No matter how many vegetables she grew or how much money she made, that low-born chit was still a farmer! Muddy peasants were all the same. The low-born were always the low-born!
Lady Li was currently wracking her brains in praising Yu Xiaocao more and more beautifully. The words coming out of her mouth were so fake and obvious that even the personal maidservants attending to Lady Fang rolled their eyes in their hearts. No one paid attention to a young lady for no reason——there must be an ulterior motive! This wife of the Assistant Minister had already dawdled at the residence, chattering away, for almost half the morning, yet she still hadn't got to the crux of the issue. Did she really want to stay over and also eat lunch here too?
”My daughter is still young and isn’t worthy of Lady Li’s compliments!” Lady Fang couldn’t stand it anymore and didn’t want to interact with her anymore. She interrupted the other woman and said, “Lady Li, if you only came here to apologize, then I can receive this apology in my daughter's stead. She absolutely didn't take this misunderstanding to heart. However...is there anything else you need today, Lady Li?”
Lady Fang had already made it this obvious, so Lady Li didn’t try to beat around the bush anymore. She slightly frowned and got to the point, “To tell you the truth, this time when we came to visit, other than giving an apology to Miss Yu, we also had another matter we wanted to discuss.”
“What sort of matter do you want to discuss right now? Just directly say it. As her mother, I can definitely speak in her stead at certain times!” Lady Fang had already a good inkling on what this other lady was hinting at but pretended to be clueless on purpose.
Lady Li was inwardly thinking that Yu Xiaocao was a commoner and had only become a puny little sixth-level official recently. In the capital, there were the scores of sixth-level officials just walking around the streets. If Lady Fang didn’t manage her matters, then how could that lass be able to work in the capital without any problems? However, these were thoughts that she could only think of and not say.
“You also know that my family’s patriarch will be celebrating his seventieth birthday in a few days. Everyone says that to reach the age of seventy is a very rare thing. My husband is very filial and wanted to make sure that his birthday celebration goes very well, so he started preparing very early. However, recently we have come across a small problem…” Lady Li raised her head to look at Lady Fang and stopped for a moment.
“The fact that Patriarch Li has reached an old age is a cause worthy of celebrating!” Lady Fang said a few words of congratulations as she inwardly roasted the other lady, ‘Your family's patriarch is celebrating his birthday, but we haven't even received an invitation here. Can't you tell that our two families don't have much to do with each other? Do you really think that coming here to ask for favor is truly suitable at this point?’
Lady Li noticed that the other woman wasn’t taking a hint and felt even more vexed inside. However, she had already reached this point. She could only go ahead and shamelessly continue, “You also know that scholars are distressingly direct and can often inadvertently offend someone with their speech. I'm not sure when my lord husband has offended Royal Prince Yang but his fruit and vegetable stores refuse to give my family any service. How can we have a birthday banquet without any fresh vegetables? However, other than Royal Prince Yang's own vegetable and fruit stores, there are no other stores in the capital that are selling any fresh vegetables! I heard that when Miss Yu was in Tanggu Town, she had helped Royal Prince Yang handle many things. Thus, she does have some ability to ask him for a favor. You see...can’t Miss Yu help say a few words in our favor and let Royal Prince Yang allow us to…”