Chapter 162
Chapter 162
The atmosphere in the room had grown somewhat tense.
In the end, Madam Cui stepped forward to smooth things over. “Tea is brewing at the Crimson Snow Pavilion up ahead. Ladies, why don’t we go and have some?”
“The tea set is Longquan Kiln ware with Plum-Green Glaze, newly acquired just two days ago. The tea is simmering over low heat on a small red-clay stove as we speak. We should not delay, or we will miss the moment when it tastes best.”
Madam Cui was the wife of the eldest grandson of the First Branch of the Shen Residence. Although Shen Suyi was presiding over the gathering, Madam Cui had made all the arrangements. Given the standing of the Shen Residence, whatever minor friction there might have been between the young ladies subsided once Madam Cui intervened, and they all headed to the Crimson Snow Pavilion together.
Shen Suyi and Madam Cui walked at the rear. Shen Suyi could not help asking, “Eldest Sister-in-law, is she truly someone Grandmother holds in high regard?”
Madam Cui lowered her voice. “My mother-in-law said the Old Madam thinks very highly of that young lady from the Gu Family. I do not know whether the Old Madam has truly taken a liking to her, but early this morning, my mother-in-law specifically told me to take good care of Third Young Lady Gu. Who could have expected her to run off with so little decorum?”
“It was an embarrassing situation, after all. It would not have been appropriate for me to chase after her.”
A faint, cool smile touched Shen Suyi’s face as she said softly, “She certainly made quite a joke of herself.”
Madam Cui smiled faintly as well. “Indeed. We would never have invited such an ordinary girl to the Shen Residence in the past. When I saw her listening to all of you earlier, she kept hunching her shoulders and drawing in her neck. She clearly did not understand a thing, yet insisted on pretending that she did. The sight was truly amusing. Everything about her is so provincial.”
“No wonder Second Young Lady Li looked down on her earlier. I cannot think much of her either.”
Shen Suyi clicked her tongue twice. “She certainly did look ridiculous. But never mind. Someone like her is not even worth discussing. If Grandmother did not value her, I would never have bothered associating with her.”
Madam Cui did not pursue the subject. Instead, she said, “I should report this to my mother-in-law. Third Young Lady Gu is still an honored guest she invited, so we cannot simply leave her humiliated like this. I will ask my mother-in-law how we should placate her.”
Shen Suyi nodded. “Then go ahead, Eldest Sister-in-law. I will look after things at the Crimson Snow Pavilion.”
Meanwhile, Gu Wanyun ran blindly ahead with tears brimming in her eyes, not knowing where she was going. Her mind was in turmoil, and all she wanted was to get as far away as possible from the place where she had just been humiliated.
By the time she came back to her senses, she had no idea where she was. Just as she was about to turn back, she heard the faint sound of conversation coming from around the corner ahead.
She recognized one of the voices. It belonged to Madam Cui, the wife of the eldest grandson of the First Branch of the Shen Residence, who had affectionately linked arms with her and chatted with her at Xiaoxiang Residence.
Madam Cui was saying, “I never expected her to make such a spectacle of herself. She insisted on showing off despite having no ability, then ran away on her own afterward. What respectable young lady would behave like that?”
“Now that this has happened, what are we supposed to tell the Old Madam?”
As soon as Madam Cui finished speaking, a cold voice replied, “What could someone from such an insignificant household ever amount to?”
“The only reason we showed her favor before was that the Old Madam thought your Fifth Uncle had some interest in Third Young Lady Gu. That was why the Old Madam valued her. But it turned out to be nothing more than a misunderstanding. How could Fifth Younger Brother possibly take a liking to her?”
“I knew Fifth Younger Brother could never have such poor taste. He has not had so much as half a woman by his side all these years, so why would he suddenly become interested in that girl from the Gu Family, especially one so unfit for polite society?”
“No wonder the Old Madam summoned me this morning and gave me a scolding. She must have realized after the last time that it was all a misunderstanding, yet I took it upon myself to invite the Gu Family here. I made a mess of things, so I cannot say I did not deserve her reprimand.”
Gu Wanyun recognized this voice as well. It belonged to First Madam Shen.
Madam Cui asked curiously, “Why did the Old Madam misunderstand in the first place?”
Madam Bai replied, “I am not sure either. Apparently, Third Young Lady Gu bears some resemblance to someone, but the Old Madam refuses to say who.”
Madam Cui said, “Now that you mention it, I thought she looked a little like Miss Ji earlier.”
Madam Bai replied indifferently, “Who cares whom she resembles? For now, let us go and send that trouble from the Gu Family away. She truly is a nuisance. Come with me.”
Gu Wanyun listened, her face deathly pale. She swayed on her feet, scarcely able to believe what she had heard.
The voices gradually faded into the distance. Gu Wanyun stood behind the large tree, her eyes wide with shock and panic as tears spilled down her cheeks once more.
No wonder. No wonder she had suddenly been invited to the Shen Residence.
How laughable. She had tried to show off in hopes of winning the Shen Residence’s favor, only to make such a spectacle of herself and become the target of everyone’s ridicule.
She turned around in a daze, stumbling several times and nearly falling.
When Ji Hanyi saw Gu Wanyun, her face was streaked with tears and her eyes were red.
Seeing Gu Wanyun in such a state, Ji Hanyi had no desire to kick her while she was down. She merely stepped in front of her and quietly reminded her, “We’re still in the Shen Residence, and the servants nearby are all watching us. You ran out of the Xiaoxiang Residence in tears, so you’ll inevitably attract more attention and speculation. No matter what happened just now, we need to remain composed and walk away as if nothing happened.”
“I’ll have a matron take us to your mother. Once we’ve paid our respects to First Madam Shen, we’ll leave.”
But Gu Wanyun could no longer hear a word Ji Hanyi was saying. Even the humiliation she had suffered at the Xiaoxiang Residence no longer mattered.
All she could think about was what she had just heard.
She raised her tearful, unfocused eyes to Ji Hanyi and stared at the face that had been praised by everyone since childhood.
When they were young, she too had envied Ji Hanyi. If she had been born as beautiful as Ji Hanyi, if she could have carried herself with the same ease at the Shen Residence Poetry Gathering, would those women still have looked down on her? Would they still have said she was too crude to appear in polite society?
For some reason, a surge of anger toward Ji Hanyi suddenly rose within her.
If Ji Hanyi had stopped her earlier and kept Li Shuyu from dragging her into the center of the gathering, perhaps she would not have humiliated herself so badly.
Yet if she lashed out over that, she would only seem jealous and unreasonable.
She knew she was being unreasonable, but she still could not stop herself from venting at Ji Hanyi. “What good is it to say all this now? Why didn’t you come over to me earlier? If you’d been beside me and prompted me, I could have answered with a verse. I wouldn’t have embarrassed myself!”
Ji Hanyi regarded Gu Wanyun’s tearful eyes with a complicated expression. “Everyone was watching you. How was I supposed to tell you anything?”
“I warned you long ago that you couldn’t handle an occasion like this.”
Gu Wanyun clenched her hands tightly, her entire body trembling as helpless, impotent resentment welled up inside her.
Ji Hanyi continued, “Stop crying for now and dry your tears. If you won’t listen to me, then look around you.”
Gu Wanyun finally paused and glanced to the side through her tears. A matron from the Shen Residence was standing nearby, watching her with a contemptuous expression.
Her face instantly went pale. Only then did she understand what Ji Hanyi meant. The more people saw her like this, the more she would disgrace herself in the Shen Residence and the more they would look down on her.
She had embarrassed herself enough already. She could not let them despise her any further.
Gu Wanyun gritted her teeth and forced back her tears. After wiping her face dry with her handkerchief, she followed Ji Hanyi behind the matron toward First Madam Shen, though her body was still trembling.
This time, however, Madam Bai’s attention was focused mainly on Ji Hanyi.
She watched as Ji Hanyi and Gu Wanyun entered the room decorously, their figures silhouetted against the light, then stopped before her to pay their respects. Ji Hanyi was easy to overlook when she remained quiet, but once someone noticed her, it was difficult to look away.
Madam Bai raised her head and carefully scrutinized Ji Hanyi from head to toe.
Recalling what her daughter-in-law had told her earlier, she studied Ji Hanyi again. The young woman had rosy lips, white teeth, and an obedient air. Her figure was shapely rather than frail, with well-balanced curves, while her face was fair, smooth, and dewy, as though nourished by water. Nothing about her suggested that she had ever been a married woman.
Madam Bai might once have given Ji Hanyi some consideration, but now she was no longer worth a second thought.
The Shen Residence was an honorable and upright household, and Fifth Younger Brother was a man of noble distinction whom the Old Madam cherished like the apple of her eye. How could they possibly let Fifth Younger Brother marry a divorced woman?