Chapter 5
Chapter 5
The next day, Fu Qingxiu hosted a small poetry gathering.
The venue was the rear garden of Yu Manor.
I only found out that morning.
She sent a maid to invite me.
“Miss says that if Sister-in-law has time, she should come sit for a while too.”
I was changing clothes. Hearing that, I asked, “Does Yu Huaiqian know?”
The maid lowered her head.
“Young Master wrote the invitations for Miss.”
Chunwu’s expression changed at once.
I fastened my cuffs.
“I see.”
Quite a few people came to the poetry gathering.
More than half the famous talented young ladies in the capital were there.
Fu Qingxiu sat by the water, her face still a little pale.
The moment she saw me, she immediately rose.
“Sister-in-law is here.”
Everyone looked over.
She smiled and came to my side.
“I was afraid Sister-in-law might not care for these things.”
I said, “I really don’t.”
She stiffened.
Someone laughed under her breath.
Fu Qingxiu recovered quickly.
“Sister-in-law is so straightforward.”
“No wonder Huaiqian said you were adorable.”
I looked at her.
“Those weren’t his exact words, were they?”
Her expression shifted.
Yu Huaiqian walked over from the side.
“Ah Tang.”
I asked, “What did you say about me?”
He stopped short.
Fu Qingxiu lightly tugged at her sleeve.
“Huaiqian only said that Sister-in-law doesn’t understand poetry or literature, and he was afraid you might feel constrained if you came.”
I smiled.
“So that was the sentence.”
Yu Huaiqian’s face looked ugly.
“That wasn’t what I meant.”
I looked at him.
“Then what did you mean?”
He fell silent.
Everyone nearby was watching.
Fu Qingxiu said softly, “Sister-in-law, don’t blame him.”
“With everyone talking about poetry today, it really would be dull for you.”
I nodded.
“I’m not dull.”
She seemed not to have expected that.
I said, “You compose your poems.”
“I’ll just listen for the fun of it.”
Someone laughed again.
A flicker of displeasure flashed through Fu Qingxiu’s eyes.
She returned to her seat.
The poetry gathering began.
Everyone composed verses on the theme.
I couldn’t tell good from bad.
But I could understand their laughter.
One young lady looked at me.
“Would Lady Yu like to write a line as well?”
I shook my head.
“I don’t know how.”
She smiled. “Then what does my lady know how to do?”
Fu Qingxiu immediately spoke.
“Sister-in-law knows how to pick rice.”
The whole gathering fell quiet.
Then someone hid a smile behind her sleeve.
Yu Huaiqian’s expression changed.
I looked at Fu Qingxiu.
As if realizing she had misspoken, she hurried to explain.
“I didn’t mean to look down on Sister-in-law.”
“Huaiqian said that before.”
I asked, “What did he say?”
Fu Qingxiu said in a low voice, “He said Sister-in-law knows how to pick rice.”
“A household has to eat, after all.”
Those words had originally been Yu Huaiqian trying to help me out of an awkward moment.
Now, coming from her mouth, they were like a knife.
Yu Huaiqian frowned.
“Qingxiu.”
Fu Qingxiu’s eyes reddened.
“Did I say the wrong thing again?”
I didn’t look at her.
I looked at Yu Huaiqian.
“How does she know about that sentence?”
Yu Huaiqian’s face went pale.
I asked again, “You told her?”
He could not answer.
I gave a small laugh.
“Very good.”
I stood up.
Then walked over to the table where the pastries were laid out.
There were freshly steamed rice cakes on it.
I picked one up and broke it open.
The center was terribly sticky.
The rice hadn’t been soaked long enough.
And the heat had been too fierce.
I looked at the steward.
“Who made these?”
The steward hurriedly dropped to his knees.
“Miss Fu said to use the new rice from Sister-in-law’s shop.”
Fu Qingxiu’s expression changed slightly.
I looked at her.
“You used my rice to host your poetry gathering.”
“Then used the fact that I know how to pick rice to make people laugh.”
She immediately stood.
“Sister-in-law, I only wanted everyone to taste the rice from your shop.”
I placed the sticky cake back on the plate.
“You’ve ruined this rice.”
The gathering went completely silent.
Yu Huaiqian said in a low voice, “Ah Tang, don’t do this in public.”
I looked at him.
“She can laugh at me in public.”
“But I can’t say in public that she ruined something?”
Fu Qingxiu’s tears fell.
“Huaiqian, I really only wanted Sister-in-law to be included too.”
I gave a cold laugh.
“You wanted me included?”
“Then why didn’t you let me sit with everyone else?”
Her face froze.
I looked around.
They were sitting by the water composing poems.
The seat left for me was beside the pastry table.
As if it had been prepared especially for me to come identify the rice.
Yu Huaiqian saw it too.
In an instant, his face went white.
I walked up to him.
“Yu Huaiqian, you said knowing how to pick rice was quite good.”
“Now she’s using that sentence to humiliate me.”
“What do you have to say?”
Fu Qingxiu said urgently, “I didn’t humiliate you.”
I turned my head.
“Shut up.”
She froze in fright.
I looked at Yu Huaiqian.
He opened his mouth.
After a long while, he finally said, “She only misspoke.”
I nodded.
“Fine.”
“Then I’ll misspeak too.”
I looked at Fu Qingxiu.
“No matter how beautifully you write, don’t take someone else’s husband as your soulmate.”
Fu Qingxiu’s face turned deathly pale.
Someone at the gathering drew in a sharp breath.
Yu Huaiqian said in a deep voice, “Jiang Tang.”
I said, “What?”
“Did I hit a nerve?”
He looked at me, and for the first time, there was anger in his eyes.
“You’ve gone too far.”
All at once, I lost any desire to keep talking.
I turned and walked out.
Behind me came Fu Qingxiu’s sobs.
Yu Huaiqian did not chase after me.