Chapter 57: Various Divine Abilities

  Search;????Liu Yiniang seems to have calmed down on the surface, but Wei Yiniang has stirred up another trouble.

  Su Ying shouldn't have let her out, but somehow she ran to the front yard and was seen by Fu Xueyang's servant.

  Su Ying knew, her eyebrows furrowed: "What's going on with the people coming to the door in the courtyard? How can Wei Niang suddenly run to the front yard unimpeded? And how did Wei Niang suddenly think of going to the front yard?"

  Originally, because they were fellow villagers and also due to that crappy mission, Wei Niang was supposed to be a lovely and dreamy girl. I reckon she wasn't very old before crossing over either. Su Ying still wanted to protect her a bit, but who would have thought she'd turn out to be an indiscriminate attacker.

  What made Su Ying even angrier and more helpless was that she had ordered her to stay in her room and do some needlework, but instead she was still running around and causing trouble, and was even used as a tool by others. Just because of this, she changed from being "the kindest person" to being "not noble or benevolent", saying things like "one person does something and one person takes responsibility, don't drag down the maids around her just because of her own actions, everyone is equal, no one is more noble than anyone else".

  Su Ying was immediately amused and did not argue with Wei Niang. She ordered the servant girl who had instigated Wei Niang to be beaten twenty times in front of everyone, while making the servant woman hold down Wei Niang to watch the whole process.

  "How could you?" Wei's aunt looked at Su Ying with a reproachful gaze, as if Su Ying was a heartless beauty.

  Su Ying was too lazy to sing red face in front of Wei Yiniang again, and all the people who came to the door were dismissed without being beaten or punished, and were driven away directly. The Hou Mansion didn't lack servants at all. Only the strict nurse, Yan Niangniang, was left behind to teach Wei Yiniang about the pros and cons of her actions, exaggerating the consequences, which scared Wei Yiniang into crying.

  Yan Niangniang: "......" She stiffened her face and looked at Bao He, who had stayed behind in the name of supervision but was actually there to watch the show. Bao He pointed to his head and said in a low voice, "Wei Niangniang accidentally bumped her head."

  Yan's mother understood, and with a sympathetic glance at Wei Yiniang, she thought to herself: "Wei Yiniang used to be so favored and arrogant, but now she's been nailed down by the mistress without making a sound. It looks like she won't be able to stir up any more trouble from now on."

  Although Bo He couldn't understand, he still tactfully advised Wei Niang according to Su Qing's intention: "Niang is too kind-hearted. That girl is obviously not good at heart, if Madam doesn't take her out and scold her, the one who will suffer is Niang. Now letting you stay in the South Wing to do some needlework and cultivate your temperament is already considered lenient, if it were another family, they would have directly driven her out without anyone daring to say a word."

  "Are you saying I wronged your wife?"

  It's really a case of being muddle-headed, Mint felt delighted and nodded in agreement with Madame Wei, "Even if you don't appreciate your wife's kindness, you should at least consider the well-being of your elder daughter."

  Wei's aunt blinked nervously and asked, "Then can you help me apologize to the mistress?"

  Minty fresh from the south wing, she came back and spat out bitter water at Su Ying. Taking a detour to say that Wei Niang's brain was muddled. The corners of Su Ying's mouth twitched violently, fortunately, there was a cup blocking others from seeing, "Wei Niang might as well be confined first." Being pampered with good food and drink, who knows when she'll get bored and return home?

  "Madam, the carriage is ready."

  Su Ying invited Mrs. Li to go to the Yunruo Temple outside the city to burn incense, and the carriage stopped in front of the Li Mansion. As soon as Mrs. Li got on the carriage, she joked with Su Ying, "I thought you wouldn't be free today, have all your family matters been settled?"

  Madam Li glanced at Su Ying, and indeed thought of something different. The Hou Mansion had made such a fuss, but it didn't affect her at all. Her eyebrows and eyes didn't have the slightest hint of being disdained by her mother-in-law's disappointment. It was probably because of the brave and martial Duke Hou taking care of her that their relationship as husband and wife hadn't become estranged due to this matter. This was quite strange. If her good sister usually had such skills, she wouldn't have been living an unhappy life all along.

  Mrs. Li couldn't help but sigh: "Your days are getting better and better."

  Su Ying pushed the plate of pastries towards Mrs. Li, "Days are spent by people, good days are better than bad ones."

  "Who says it isn't? However, your family has made a big splash this time. What's going on?"

  Su Ying first sighed, then said with some indignation: "Xiao Shu and Lao Taitai's niece were framed by a scoundrel, for the sake of reputation they had to do this, it's really unfair to Chen Jia San Gu Niang."

  "Does your husband agree with this unconventional arrangement?" Mrs. Li asked, looking surprised. "That's something only merchants do, the government doesn't recognize it."

  Su Ying's smile deepened, and she slightly raised an eyebrow, her tone laced with sarcasm. "Can't let the legitimate daughter marry over to be a concubine, can we? Besides, this legitimate wife is her own sister, and the mother-in-law is her own aunt. Marrying into this family wouldn't be a hardship for her; such a good thing is hard to find even with a lantern."

  Mrs. Li let out a snort of laughter and said, "That's also true."

  The carriage slowed down gradually, and Lu Hui lifted the curtain to look outside. She turned her head back to Su Ying and said: "Madam, it seems that someone's horse-drawn vehicle is moving slowly ahead, and someone has already gone to take a look."

  Su Ying opened a gap from the car window to look outside, and in front of her, there were numerous vehicles and people gathered, making a big scene. Mrs. Li said with an "oh": "It seems like it's the carriage of Prince Zhong Rui's mansion, this is strange indeed, Princess Zhong Rui rarely goes out, why such a big fuss?"

  The person who went to inquire has returned. Lu Hui said, "It is said that she is the new concubine of King Zhong Rui, and she also wants to go to Yunruo Temple to burn incense."

  Mrs. Li heard this and curled her lip, revealing a hint of disdain in her eyes. Su Ying pinched a piece of green bean cake and asked slowly, "How is it that you know the origin of this concubine?"

  "This concubine is not from a good family, she's just a pillar of the Jin Yi Yuan theatre troupe," said Mrs. Li with a mocking face. "Prince Zhong Rui has always been unbridled in his actions, and yet he openly brings such a person into the mansion to pamper her, isn't that slapping Princess Zhong Rui in the face? This matter also caused a stir in the capital, you didn't come out so it's no wonder you're not clear about it."

  Isn't Jin Yi Yuan the Kunqu troupe that performed "The Peony Pavilion"? Looking at it this way, I'm afraid this leading actor is also a cross-dresser. Now that I think about it, it doesn't seem strange anymore.

  Su Ying didn't take it to heart, and when she arrived at the Yunruo Temple, she happened to see that concubine getting out of the carriage. Wearing a veil, her face couldn't be seen clearly, but just looking at her figure made Su Ying feel extremely slender and elegant. Every movement was full of a unique charm, and every gesture seemed as gentle as a willow in the wind. It made people think that such a beautiful bearing must belong to an extraordinary beauty, no wonder Prince Zhongrui broke the rules and took her into the mansion.

  Su Ying glanced over and withdrew her gaze, Yunruo Temple was bustling with incense, the Hou Mansion's entire family's ancestral tablets and offerings all came from this temple.

  Su Ying came here just to take the opportunity to get out and relax, she couldn't always be cooped up in the Hou Mansion. Mrs. Li was going to pay respects at the ancestral temple. Su Ying didn't follow her, instead she followed behind Lu Xi and Bo He to wander around and enjoy the scenery.

  Yunruo Temple has a peach blossom that is quite famous, but at this moment the peach blossoms have already withered. Su Ying didn't feel much regret, when she heard a cold and clear voice: "Flowers fall and fly all over the sky, who can pity the broken fragrance of red silk? The soft thread ties the spring pavilion, the fallen petals lightly touch the embroidered screen."

  Su Ying almost choked with a mouthful of air, she didn't have to be so lucky, occasionally going out would always meet this kind of suspected fellow villager. Originally wanted to stay for a moment to listen to the girl recite the whole poem. But then footsteps came again. Su Ying felt a bit regretful in her heart, made eye contact with Luhui and Bohai, turned around and left the place.

  A young scholar dressed in a green robe and hat came, the scholar's face was delicate. However, it was easy to recognize that she was a woman, she walked over and only saw Su Ying's back, didn't think much of it, just thought it was some madam from a certain family coming to Cloud Temple to burn incense.

  "Lin Daiyu's poem, you also have the nerve to plagiarize? And that 'Feng Ning Mei' is also your doing, right?" The refined scholar looked at the woman with disdain, who had been startled and fallen to the ground, looking disheveled. Her original hood had fallen off, revealing a stunning beauty. "However, you're not bad either. You've actually become Prince Zhongyi's concubine, and I hear you're quite favored."

  "We don't interfere with each other's business, what do you want to do?" Qing Wan, that concubine, was crying and sobbing, her tears falling like pear blossoms in the rain, extremely moving. Unfortunately, there was only one scholar around, a fake man and a real woman, no one could appreciate her beauty.

  Seeing her like that, the refined scholar revealed a disgusted expression. "What are you crying about? You're acting as if I've bullied you. I just wanted to come and see my fellow countryman, but it turns out you're a white lotus flower."

  Qing Wan wiped away her tears and furrowed her brow: "How did you find me?"

  Shu Sheng curled his lips: "Who told you to be so high-profile? Among so many crossers, you're the one who exposed yourself the fastest. One check and it's all on you."

  "Did you say there are other crossers?" Qing Wan was shocked, she was too careless, originally thinking that this world had only one crossing woman, she wanted to stand out and not be a ninth-rate actress, so she plagiarized famous works, but didn't expect to be targeted by others. When Chen Wanqiu blackmailed her to collaborate with her, Qing Wan panicked, but didn't expect there were other crossers. "Who is it?"

  "If love is long-lasting, how can it be in the morning and evening? This poem wasn't written by you, was it?" Chen Wanqiu didn't like Qingwen's style of doing things, and her words were neither clear nor ambiguous. Qingwen felt displeased in her heart, but endured it. "No."

  "That's all, I don't know who specifically, just know she is now in the Yongwu Marquis' residence."

  "It seems you're not much better," Qingyan retorted, "Let's not beat around the bush, what did you want to do by finding me? And with this getup, isn't it unreasonable?"

  Chen Wanqiu sneered, "You can't really think you're an ancient person, can you? With all that talk about propriety and shame, if it were true, then the pillar of Jin Yi Yuan wouldn't have the qualifications to lecture me, would he?"

  "You, what do you want?" Qing Wan said gritting her teeth. "If you're here to humiliate me, then we have nothing more to say." As she was about to leave, Chen Wanqiu sneered: "Aren't you afraid I'll expose you? Those poems of yours are all plagiarized, aren't they?"

  "You!" Qing Wan was startled for a moment, but quickly calmed down. "You expose me, what good will you get out of it? Don't forget that I am now the concubine of King Zhong Rui, and in this era, human life is as worthless as grass."

  "You're not stupid, are you?" Chen Wanqiu was somewhat surprised, it seemed she had underestimated this fellow countryman. Thinking about it, being able to climb from an actor to the bed of Prince Zhongrui and then be promoted to a concubine, how could he be a fool? "It's not easy to meet a fellow countryman, I'm here to cooperate with you."

  Qing Wan furrowed her brow, "Cooperation? You don't even have the basic sincerity for cooperation. What is your current identity?"

  Chen Wanqiu couldn't bear Qingyan's pitiful appearance, and before she could say anything, she suddenly stopped: "It's really useless, I'll come find you again."

  Qing Wan pinched her palm, and a few shades of gloom flashed in the watery bottom of her eyes. However, as soon as she heard footsteps, her expression became cautious. This old countryman seemed to have backing, or else he wouldn't be so arrogant. Being targeted by someone like him wasn't a good thing at all.

  "Concubine, how did you end up here? You scared me to death."

  Qing Wan returned to her usual calm and collected demeanor, telling the maid who had come to find her, "I just came to enjoy the view, let's go back."

  Yahuan said excitedly: "Concubine, the king has come to pick you up personally. The king is really considerate of you, even when Consort Su was around, she didn't receive such honor and favor."

  Qing Wan frowned inwardly, displeased that the maid had compared her to a dead person, but calmly asked on the surface: "Is this Su Ce Fei really that formidable?"

  Yahuan looked around and then said in a low voice, "That Su Ce Fei was originally a maid, no children were born to her after being asked by the king to be sealed as Ce Fei, even the queen is wary of her. However, she had a short life, dying young. This is actually a taboo in the palace, so don't mention it in front of the king."

  Qing Wan murmured and fell into deep thought.

  Su Ying watched a good show for free and was in a great mood. On the way back, Mrs. Li invited her to visit a cosmetics store, which she didn't refuse. It's said that noblewomen usually don't have much entertainment, they can't listen to opera or drink wine on ordinary days, and they can't go out frequently. Most of the time, they are concerned with clothes and jewelry, or reading books and embroidering flowers. When they do go out, it's just to visit these clothing stores and cosmetics shops, which is always the same.

  They went to the same store as last time, and Su Ying was certain that this store was Chen Wanqiu's idea. She couldn't help but admire Chen Wanqiu. With her dressing up as a man and going out so frequently, it seemed like no one in the Chen family had noticed anything unusual? And what about the funds and channels, Su Ying sighed inwardly, she didn't have such talent or ability. But she was also curious, how did Chen Wanqiu plan to use all the money she made?

  However, the doubts in her mind were dispelled when she saw the carriage that had just stopped, and it seemed like fate was at play again. She ran into Zong Rui Wang Ye's concubine once more, but didn't see Zong Rui Wang Ye who was supposed to pick up his concubine.

  Mrs. Li also saw it, frowned and took Su Ying to the second floor lounge, saying: "Actually, what kind of concubine is this? Any woman who can be called a 'fei' (concubine) would not be carried in by a pink sedan chair! It seems that there was no wine set up in the imperial family, although it's quite lively, but at most it can only be considered a servant-concubine."

  The concubine and the ordinary family's Tongfang Dairan are about the same, but she can't bear that she is a concubine of the royal palace, after all, she is still a princess by name, much higher in status.

  Su Ying smiled: "That's really a pity, last time the old lady celebrated her birthday and invited the Jin Yi Yuan theater troupe to perform. The play 'Feng Cui' was so moving that it brought tears to everyone's eyes. From now on, I'm afraid we won't be able to hear the original flavor again." Su Ying thought to herself about the intention behind Zhong Rui's actions. As the emperor's biological brother, he was granted the title of Prince upon the emperor's ascension to the throne, a rare honor among brothers. Could it be that he wanted to use this opportunity to alleviate the emperor's suspicion and jealousy towards him?

  Su Ying thought back to the background of her original target, and couldn't help but laugh. Now thinking about these things had no meaning, the fallen and abandoned concubine had nothing to do with her, she was now the respected lady of the Yongwu Marquis's estate.

  "Didn't you say last time that you wanted to replace the window paper in your house with glass?" said Mrs. Li, pointing at the glass on the window. "It seems like you've got those scenic glasses again, which are much more beautiful than window paper or window screens."

  "It was originally meant to be that way, but I've been busy lately and didn't have the time. Let's talk about it after this period of time is over." If Mrs. Li hadn't mentioned it, Su Ying would have forgotten all about it.

  Su Ying and Mrs. Li mentioned glass, Qingwen was extremely surprised in her heart, this shop is too modernized, especially with the emergence of membership cards, could it be that they have met old friends again? Qingwen suppressed her thoughts, thinking that she would let someone investigate who owned this shop when she returned.

  As the horse carriage was heading to Li's mansion, it passed by a street. Su Ying looked out of the window and saw a familiar face - a young scholar in green clothes, holding a book in his hand. Although he was quite far away, it wasn't hard to see that he had a refined appearance, and what was even more striking was that this young scholar had an air of calmness about him, with a pure and strong character that was extremely attractive.

  Next to the bookish youth were two young men in fine clothes and ornaments, with noble bearing and somewhat similar features, probably brothers.

  It seemed that one of them accidentally bumped into the bookworm, causing the book in his hand to fall to the ground, and coincidentally it fell right under the feet of the young man who had collided with her.

  The young man bent down to pick it up, and casually flipped through it a couple of times. A look of surprise appeared on his face as he said something to the scholar. The scholar smiled slightly, like the first thaw of ice and snow, or the blooming of a snow lotus on a snowy mountain. The young man was stunned.

  Su Xiang couldn't help but laugh to herself when she saw this. She knew the bookworm, who was none other than Chen Wanqiu, the weak and timid daughter of the Chen family. And wasn't she addicted to dressing up as a man? Moreover, she was a chameleon-like woman - sometimes gentle, sometimes cold, and sometimes haughty. Ah, woman, your name is indeed Enigma, intriguing and captivating.

  Su Ying withdrew her gaze, and she also had a good idea of the identities of those two young people. Indeed, the second dimension looked different from the third dimension.

  Moreover, even if Su Ying didn't have a clue in her heart, the system was still stirring up trouble, otherwise how could Su Ying suddenly look outside normally. The system had already started wailing earlier. Saying something about old loves and past relationships. Su Ying decisively cut off the conversation with the system.

  Su Ying thought with ill intent that if that loyal and virtuous imperial concubine appeared at this time, the play would be even more interesting.

  Nor does anyone know who is behind the chaos in the world.

  Speak of Cao Cao and Cao Cao arrives, the carriage of Zhong Rui Wang Fu appeared, and the eyes of the green-robed scholar flashed. The young man who had invited her to sit upstairs looked embarrassed, his voice still clear and cold, "It's just a small matter, Young Master doesn't need to worry about it, I have something else to attend to, so I'll take my leave." After saying that, he didn't even wait for the noble young master in fine clothes and jade belt to persuade him to stay, and hastily left with his book.

  The young nobleman fanned himself with a fan, his narrow phoenix eyes slightly narrowed, "You are a good person. It's quite interesting." He made a gesture to the people behind him.

  Zhong Rui Wangye saw this and burst out laughing, "It's just a plaything, is it worth Brother's concern?"

  That young noble pointed at the stopped carriage and joked: "Can't compare to your brother's red sleeve adding fragrance, such a talented and emotional woman is also known to me."

  Chong Rui Wangye's face stiffened. The noble young master laughed and patted his shoulder, "Alright, I'll be leaving too, won't disturb you from accompanying the beauty back to the manor." Chong Rui Wangye's face turned even darker.

  Chen Wanqiu walked hastily, but after all, let Qingyan see a back shadow in the carriage. With just this one back shadow, Qingyan recognized him and almost bit her silver teeth to pieces.

  This alliance fell apart before it was even established, what a pity.

  "The old lady means to bring the eldest girl back to raise," Su Ying said to Fu Ye Yang, originally Fu Mu was indeed willing to raise the eldest girl, but at that time Wei Niang was still useful to her and didn't want to let Su Ying succeed, so she self-righteously intervened and took the eldest girl away. Now that Wei Niang is being confined in the south wing and has been nailed down by Su Ying, Fu Mu doesn't care about anything that can be used to annoy Su Ying, using a very righteous reason, "The old lady means because of the matter on your uncle's side, she is not in good health, it's better for children to be raised by their parents..."

  Fu Yiyang was sipping his tea silently, when Su Ying's pale fingers extended before him, "You're the one who should say something!"

  Fu Yiyang put down his teacup: "Then let's move back." Nothing more was said.

  Su Ying was furious, how simple it is to say that the upper lip is loud and the lower lip is soft, but what does it mean? It seems that Big Girl can't go back to Nan Yuan, before Wei Niang ran to the front yard, Su Ying had a hard time persuading her not to get angry, now even if Wei Niang was like that, she couldn't let her raise Big Girl either.

  Su Ying saw Fu Yiyang's silent appearance and almost couldn't catch her breath. Originally, she didn't want to help others raise children, let alone help a concubine raise children, but now she had gotten herself into this mess, and in the end, the eldest daughter would still have to move into her main house. She was still going to be an unpaid nanny, how unfair! And what was she getting out of it anyway?!

  Su Ying forced a smile as she held the tea cup and said, "Since that's the case, I'll let someone else clean up downstairs." Fu Yeyang glanced at her, but she pretended not to notice and continued slowly, "It just so happens that we were going to replace the windows with glass, so we can have the big girl live in that room. It will be bright and airy, and she can enjoy the view."

  Anyway, the money didn't come from her, and besides, that room is a bit far from hers. Su Ying was unhappy in her heart, but what could she do? She still had to grit her teeth and accept it.

  Alas, this is like a mute eating rhubarb - having bitterness but unable to speak.