Bai Li’s Dream – Chapter 16

Chapter 16: Idle Talk

It was already dusk when Xueliu returned to the Marquis of Dongyang’s Residence. The Madam was surrounded by her concubines and children, filled with laughter and joy.

Of course, the new Young Madam was not among them.

Seeing Xueliu enter, everyone greeted her with smiles. “Xueliu is back!” “The Madam was just talking about you.” Ninth Miss even ran over and shook Xueliu’s hand, asking, “Sister Xueliu, did you bring me anything?”

Xueliu smiled and greeted everyone one by one, then took a box from the little maid who was carrying a bundle behind her.

“Yes, I did,” she said, squatting down and handing the box to Ninth Miss.

Ninth Miss took it and opened it immediately. It was a box of silk flowers. She didn’t care whether the gift was expensive or not, as long as she received a gift, she was happy and thanked Xueliu.

“It’s not easy for you to go home, why do you still remember her?” the Marchioness of Dongyang said reproachfully.

Xueliu smiled and said, “It was Tenth Miss who remembered Ninth Miss and asked me to bring it.”

The tenth daughter of the Lu family was about the same age as the ninth daughter of the Marquis of Dongyang’s Residence, but they were not considered playmates. When the two families were first married, both girls were newborns. Later, because the Marquis of Dongyang refused to remarry, the two families rarely interacted.

In the end, it was just Xueliu’s thoughtfulness. The Marchioness of Dongyang smiled and thanked her, saying nothing more. Xueliu sat at her feet and said, “My mother made some soybean paste. I brought it for the Madam to taste. I gave it to Mama Xu.”

A concubine beside her said with a smile, “Xueliu, every time you go home, you always bring things back. Be careful that your mother won’t let you go back.”

Xueliu covered her mouth and laughed, “I gave the flower balm that Concubine Yang rewarded me last time to my mother. My mother asked me to get more from you.”

Concubine Yang snorted and said to the Marchioness of Dongyang, “Look, she still favors her mother.”

The Marchioness of Dongyang laughed and said, “If she doesn’t favor her mother, who else would she favor? I wouldn’t dare to use someone cold-hearted and ungrateful.”

Concubine Yang nodded and said to Xueliu, “Now you know how to please the Madam, right? Get more things from her.” Then she beckoned and whispered, “I know where the Madam hides her good things. I’ll point them out to you, and you can just give me a share after you get them.”

Everyone in the room laughed, and the Marchioness of Dongyang even spat with a smile, “You’re still teasing the girls at your age.”

Another concubine asked, “Is everything alright at the Duke of Ding’an’s Residence?”

This question made the atmosphere in the room suddenly quiet.

Everyone knew that Zhou Jingyun had suddenly taken a wife, and the Marchioness of Dongyang had been snubbed when she went to the Duke of Ding’an’s Residence.

This was an unpleasant topic.

The Marchioness of Dongyang glanced at the concubine. What? Relying on her youth and the fact that the Marquis had been resting in her room these past few days, she couldn’t wait to see her son’s joke?

“Alas,” Xueliu sighed heavily beside her, “Things are not going well at the Duke of Ding’an’s Residence.”

These words broke the silence, but also made the atmosphere even more stagnant.

The concubine who asked the question didn’t dare to respond. She didn’t expect this maid, who was wholeheartedly trying to please the Madam, to answer like this.

“What’s wrong?” Ninth Miss, who was innocent and outspoken, asked curiously.

Xueliu sighed again, “The Duke beat Young Master Wenjie, breaking the whip. The Duchess and the Old Madam were furious.”

It was about someone else’s son. The Marchioness of Dongyang breathed a sigh of relief and asked in surprise, “What happened? The Duke always has a good temper, why did they fight?”

This Young Master Wenjie was also the youngest legitimate son of the Duke of Ding’an, and he was always held in the palm of his hand. How could he be willing to use a whip on him?

“He went to learn to gamble with others,” Xueliu said.

Gambling was not a big deal for a noble family. Look around the capital, which family didn’t gamble? Not to mention gambling, there were even more unbearable things, and no one took it seriously.

Of course, except for her Jingyun, the Marchioness of Dongyang thought to herself with a sense of gratification.

“He’s young, just teach him well,” she said. “There’s no need to use a whip.”

Didn’t the Duke of Ding’an gamble himself? Why was he so angry?

Xueliu lowered her voice, “I overheard that he went to Shangguan Yue’s gambling boat.”

Shangguan Yue.

The Marchioness of Dongyang frowned slightly.

“How could he get mixed up with that kind of person?” she said. “No wonder the Duke is angry.”

The concubines’ expressions became a little strange, and the young masters looked at each other and winked.

Ninth Miss, who was young, looked around, not understanding, and asked anxiously, “Who is Shangguan Yue? Shangguan, is it the same Shangguan as the Imperial Consort’s Husband?” Then she widened her eyes in envy, “Isn’t that a very powerful family?”

Ninth Miss was young and rarely went out, so she didn’t know who this person was, but she knew that the late Emperor’s beloved Princess Jinyu was married to the Shangguan family, making the Shangguan family imperial relatives. When the late Emperor was alive, the Shangguan family could freely enter and leave the palace. Now that the late Emperor was gone, this princess was the new Emperor’s elder sister, and the new Emperor had no other siblings. He was extremely close to this princess, so the Shangguan family’s power was even greater.

The Shangguan family was also very arrogant, and not everyone could associate with them.

So many people wanted to associate with the Shangguan family, so why would the Duke of Ding’an beat his son for this reason?

Ninth Miss didn’t quite understand.

“Ninth Miss,” Xueliu whispered, “That Shangguan Yue is from the Shangguan family, but not really.”

So is he or isn’t he? Ninth Miss was even more puzzled.

✿✿✿

“He is the illegitimate son of the Imperial Consort’s Husband,” one of the young masters simply said.

Ninth Miss seemed to understand, “He’s like us, born to a concubine?”

These words made the illegitimate sons complain, “What are you talking about?” The concubines were even more unwilling to listen. Concubine Yang cried out and squatted down, shaking Ninth Miss’s arm, “It’s not the same as us. The Madam has had tea with us, and you can also call the Madam mother.”

How could they be compared to those lowly mistresses!

Xueliu also hurriedly explained again, “The Imperial Consort’s Husband let him enter the family, but the Princess doesn’t recognize him.”

So, he took the surname Shangguan, but without the Princess’s nod, he couldn’t be included in the family genealogy.

“And he’s not motivated, doesn’t study hard, is proficient in all kinds of debauchery, and even runs a pleasure gambling boat…” another concubine said disdainfully.

Ninth Miss asked curiously, “What is a pleasure gambling boat?”

One of the young masters said, “It’s a boat, a super big boat with three floors. The first floor is for banquets, the second floor has beautiful prostitutes, and the third floor is a casino. Every night, it’s brightly lit, with music and singing, and it stays lit all night on the Jinshui River…”

He spoke with great enthusiasm, his eyes full of yearning.

The Marchioness of Dongyang slapped the table with a bang, interrupting him.

“You seem very familiar with the pleasure gambling boat,” she said coldly. “Should I ask the Marquis to prepare a whip for you too?”

The young master’s face turned pale immediately, and he knelt down with a thud, “Mother, I was wrong.” He hurriedly defended himself, “I’ve never been there, I just heard people talk about it.”

The Marchioness of Dongyang’s gaze swept over the other young masters, who hurriedly knelt down as well, saying, “Mother, we’ve never been there.” “Mother, we would never go to such a place.”

The atmosphere in the room became tense, and Ninth Miss didn’t dare to speak anymore.

The Marchioness of Dongyang nodded, “Remember, no one in our family is allowed to indulge in debauchery. If anyone dares to do anything that disgraces the family…” she glanced over everyone in the room, a faint smile on her lips, “you and your concubine will leave the Marquis of Dongyang’s Residence together, and become someone like Shangguan Yue.”

In other words, they would be driven out of the Marquis of Dongyang’s Residence and no longer recognized as part of the family.

The concubines immediately reprimanded their sons, and together they assured the Marchioness of Dongyang that they would never do anything to disgrace the family.

Concubine Yang even shed tears as she looked at the Marchioness of Dongyang.

“What are you doing?” the Marchioness of Dongyang said angrily. “Do you think I’m being harsh?”

Concubine Yang said, “I’m just sighing that the Madam is truly a kind mother. If it were those heartless ones, they would pretend to be tolerant and indulge their illegitimate children to become useless.” She covered her face and sobbed, “It’s a blessing that we’ve cultivated for several lifetimes to meet the Madam.”

The other concubines and young masters in the room hurriedly echoed her sentiments and shed tears.

Only Ninth Miss moved her lips, wanting to say, to cultivate for several lifetimes to be someone’s concubine and illegitimate child, she always felt that this blessing…

Fortunately, her birth mother, the concubine, pinched her arm in advance, stopping the little girl from talking nonsense.

The Marchioness of Dongyang snorted at Concubine Yang, “You’re still like this in front of me at your age.”

Although she snorted, there was a smile in her eyes.

Concubine Yang said with a thick nasal voice, “No matter how old I am, you are still my mistress.”

Concubine Yang was a maid brought by the Marchioness of Dongyang as part of her dowry.

The Marchioness of Dongyang said nothing more, smiled and took a sip of tea, then waved her hand with a hint of fatigue, “It’s getting late, you all go back.”

Everyone bowed and responded, “Yes,” and filed out. Concubine Yang was at the back, and she personally made the Marchioness of Dongyang’s bed before leaving.

Xueliu was still standing in the room, her eyes following Concubine Yang as she left, and she couldn’t help but say, “It’s so good that the Madam has Concubine Yang by her side.”

The Marchioness of Dongyang could no longer remember whether she thought it was good or bad when she was young, but now that she was older, she felt that it was good, better than those bewitching and lowly women of unknown origin.

She saw the envy and a hint of sadness in Xueliu’s eyes, and she immediately understood why this girl was so emotional. If Third Miss Lu was still alive, Xueliu would probably be Zhou Jingyun’s concubine. However, Third Miss Lu’s death was too sudden. Although Third Miss Lu held Xueliu’s hand before her death and said words of entrustment, Zhou Jingyun had always refused to take another…

Now that the new Madam had entered the household, her status as the former Madam’s maid was a bit awkward.

“You came from home, did you bring anything for her?” the Marchioness of Dongyang asked softly, raising her chin towards the direction of the Young Master’s courtyard.

Xueliu immediately understood who she was referring to.

“Yes, I did,” she said with a smile. “Don’t worry, Madam, I wouldn’t be so rude.”

The Marchioness of Dongyang nodded, “I know I don’t have to worry about you.” Her expression softened a bit, “Go ahead.” She paused, “Don’t worry, I’m here.”

What to be at ease about, the Marchioness of Dongyang didn’t make it clear, but Xueliu understood in her heart. She was both happy and excited. When the Young Master came back, even if the new Madam wouldn’t give her to the Young Master as a concubine, with the Marchioness of Dongyang as her backer, no one could stop her.

“Yes, thank you, Madam,” she said excitedly, bowing respectfully and retreating.