Chapter 266
Chapter 266
Pear blossoms rustled down through the drifting fragrance, carpeting the flagstone path. Madam Su’s smiling voice sounded softly. “Your temperaments are somewhat alike.”
Ji Hanyi considered the Cui Chaoyun she had met that day. The young woman possessed a calmness that suggested she understood everything yet desired nothing. That made her easy to approach. Unlike other noble young ladies, she did not seem to draw near with some ulterior purpose-an intention that could usually be detected in the smallest details.
Madam Su continued, “You possess the same serenity she does.”
“Neither of you competes or grasps for advantage. You married exceptionally well, and Marquis Shen treats you with such care, but I do not envy you. You are sincere with me, and I can see the clarity of your heart. I know that friendship with you can last a lifetime, untainted by profit.”
“As the Grand Princess once told us in private, Marquis Shen’s judgment could never be poor. You are kindhearted, friendly to others, and indifferent to gain. You carry yourself with quiet elegance. When you chose to leave the Xie Family, you did so without hesitation. That decisiveness is no different from Second Young Lady Cui’s promise to mourn for three years.”
Ji Hanyi had not expected Madam Su to think so highly of her and felt a little embarrassed. She was about to offer a modest reply when Madam Su turned to her with smiling eyes. “But did you notice just now? There is another way the two of you are alike.”
Ji Hanyi asked in puzzlement, “What else?”
Madam Su pointed to her neck. “You both have a mole here.”
Ji Hanyi truly had not noticed. She touched her neck. “I did not realize you observed so closely.”
Madam Su laughed. “I have known Second Young Lady Cui for years. I noticed her mole long ago.”
Then she sighed. “She is a fine young woman and the same age as I am, but her marriage prospects have been repeatedly disrupted. Now she is already nineteen, and she will be nearly twenty by the time her mourning ends. My heart aches for her.”
Hearing this, Ji Hanyi felt another sigh rise in her heart. She could hardly inquire further into what other disruptions Cui Chaoyun had suffered and merely nodded.
They encountered Madam Cui and Madam Bai again on their way to the banquet.
Madam Cui had assumed Ji Hanyi would know few people and had planned to introduce her around, hoping to draw closer. She had not expected Ji Hanyi to be so familiar with the people of the Grand Princess’s residence.
Ji Hanyi now stood beside Madam Su with two others gathered around her in attentive conversation. Even if Madam Cui wished to join them, she could scarcely find an opening, so she abandoned the idea.
Ji Hanyi did meet many people that day. Several were former acquaintances who saw her but felt too awkward to approach.
Surrounded by familiar companions, Ji Hanyi did not notice them.
As an honored guest, she naturally sat near the front among titled ladies and senior madams. Thus, she also failed to notice Xie Jin seated farther back.
Xie Jin had been invited as well and sat with her sister-in-law and several women she knew well.
Lu Yuan was a Commander in the Northern Pacification Office. His rank was not especially high, but the power in his hands was considerable. If someone displeased him, he could send men directly to that person’s residence to make an arrest. Because of Lu Yuan, many had flattered Xie Jin over the years, and she never lacked companions.
She had been laughing with the women beside her when her expression changed abruptly. Ji Hanyi had been personally received and seated by the First Madam of the Marquis of Pingnan’s Residence.
Xie Jin thought she must have seen wrongly. How could Ji Hanyi appear at an occasion like this? This was Old Madam’s birthday banquet at the Marquis of Pingnan’s Residence. The Gu Family had no connection to the residence whatsoever. Why would Ji Hanyi have been invited?
Suspicion filled Xie Jin’s face. The longer she studied the figure’s back, the more unsettled she became.
She wanted to stand and obtain a better look, but almost all the women had already taken their seats. She could hardly walk to the front, where every guest outranked her. If she had mistaken someone else for Ji Hanyi, her intrusion would be unforgivably rude.
Xie Jin forced herself to remain seated, but she had lost all desire to speak. She remembered what her mother had told her: that Ji Hanyi had attached herself to the mighty Marquis Shen and won his favor through beauty.
But Xie Jin knew Marquis Shen had married only the previous month. The wedding had been exceedingly grand. His new wife had departed from the Grand Princess’s residence and was said to be the Grand Princess’s newly adopted daughter. Xie Jin had wanted to attend the wedding feast, but she had never received an invitation.
Several of her friends had received one, even women whose husbands held lower office than hers. Yet neither the Lu Family nor the Xie Family had been invited. Xie Jin had felt humiliated and assumed Ji Hanyi had whispered something into Marquis Shen’s ear behind her back. She had resented her ever since.
Ji Hanyi had reduced her younger brother to his present state. His official rank had been demoted, and now the Censorate was watching Xie Jin’s husband as well. Perhaps Ji Hanyi had caused all of it.
Xie Jin told herself that she would avenge this humiliation one day. Ji Hanyi was nothing but a plaything who served a man with her beauty. Now that Marquis Shen was married, would his new wife possibly allow Ji Hanyi to live comfortably?
Over the past few days, Xie Jin had sent several invitations to Marquis Shen’s principal wife. Between the lines, she had hinted at Ji Hanyi’s existence. For some reason, every invitation vanished without a trace. Not one received a reply.
She could not understand it. Did that woman truly not care?
Xie Jin remained lost in thought for a long while, twisting her handkerchief almost into a knot. Only when the woman beside her gave her a gentle push did she awaken as if from a dream.
She asked, “Did Marchioness Shen come today?”
The woman beside Xie Jin was a granddaughter-in-law of the Earl of Huai’an’s residence and had long been her friend. She shook her head. “I have never met her. A family like the Shen Residence is beyond my usual circle.”
“But the Shen Residence and the Marquis of Pingnan’s Residence have always been close. Marquis Shen and the Heir to the Pingnan Marquisate have known each other since childhood and even studied together at the Shen Family Academy. With such a bond, Marchioness Shen will certainly attend.”
Disappointed, Xie Jin asked another woman beside her. That woman also shook her head. “I have never seen Marchioness Shen either. I heard she spent some time in the palace and returned only recently. She probably has not appeared in public yet.”
Xie Jin looked once more at the figure near the front. The woman was speaking to those beside her, and the glimpse of her fair profile looked more like Ji Hanyi the longer Xie Jin stared. She felt as though she were sitting on needles.
At last, the banquet ended. Xie Jin hurried toward the front, determined to see clearly.
But several people surrounded Ji Hanyi: the eldest daughter-in-law of the Cui family, the young granddaughter-in-law of the minister who headed the Ministry of Personnel, and even Madam Cui, the eldest daughter-in-law of the Shen Residence.
These were all women Xie Jin had once wished to befriend, yet now they gathered around Ji Hanyi with effortless ease.
They appeared to be heading toward the rear courtyard belonging to the Cui young ladies, evidently to continue talking in the flower hall. They would not behave so intimately without genuine friendship.
Xie Jin could restrain herself no longer. She quickened her steps to see, yet she dared not pass the women and turn around openly. She could only follow nearby. Then a soft, delicate voice drifted back from the group ahead, freezing Xie Jin in place.
Who else could it be but Ji Hanyi?