The Imperial Capital Rhapsody 9: The Aunt's Visit

  The aunt came to visit.

  Qing Yi Xuan

  Ye Li sat leisurely in the room, looking at the silver note that had just been delivered from the Li Wang Fu. A cold smile flashed across her clear face. It turned out that Li Wang and Ye Ying had hooked up more than a year ago, and over the past year or so, Li Wang had taken away several antique items worth over 17,000 taels from Shen De Xuan, but he had never given them a single tael of silver.

  "Miss, this Lǐ Wáng is really shameless!" Qīng Shuāng said indignantly from behind Yè Lí. Originally, Lǐ Wáng was a famous handsome man in the capital city, and Qīng Shuāng had some expectations for this future brother-in-law. But unexpectedly, that blind fool actually rejected Miss's proposal, ruining her reputation. That was not enough, he even dared to take advantage of Miss's family, truly shameless!

  Ye Li turned around and handed the silver ticket to Qingfeng, saying with a smile: "Can you say this? Be careful not to be heard by others, I won't be able to save you." Qingfeng looked embarrassed, stuck out her tongue and shrugged: "I know Miss won't ignore me. Besides... who would hear us in this courtyard?" The Clear Wharf Pavilion was the smallest and most remote courtyard in the Ye Mansion, with only a few servants. Except for a few rough maids, there was only herself by Miss's side. Compared to Ye Ying's numerous attendants, their own miss was even more frugal than the daughter of a concubine.

  "Miss, why did you let that Mrs. Wang off so easily today?" Recalling the pale face and shaky appearance of Mrs. Wang, Qingfeng felt both relieved and resentful at the same time.

  Ye Li smiled shallowly: "The Wang family is the birth mother of the imperial concubine, and Fourth Sister will be the future Princess of Lei. Do you think Grandmother and Father would treat her poorly for my sake?"

  After some thought, Qingfeng hung her head in a huff and muttered: "The old lady and the master are too biased." Isn't that right? Even if Wangshi spat out tens of thousands of taels of silver, their own young mistress wouldn't see a single penny. Yelü patted her on the back and laughed: "Don't worry, with Wangshi's tens of thousands of taels, at least I can take away all of Mother's dowry, compared to Mother's dowry, those tens of thousands of taels are nothing."

  Qingfeng nodded, and in her heart, she had an even worse impression of the Ye family. The Ye family was originally weak, if it weren't for the dowry from Madame Ye all these years, where would they be today? But looking at how their own young miss has been living, it's truly ruthless.

  Worried that her words would sadden the young lady, Qingfeng hastily changed the subject and said: "By the way, miss, this morning Ye Furen mentioned that there are too few people by your side. Should we add a few more to avoid it being awkward when you arrive at the Dingguo Wangfu?"

  Ye Li furrowed her brow, knowing that she had fewer people by her side. She wasn't unaware of this, but in the past, Ye Li liked to keep things simple and didn't want too many people around her, so she hadn't made a big deal out of it. However, if she were to get married, it would indeed be a problem. She could ignore Wang Shi because she was confident that Wang Shi couldn't do anything to her, and she wouldn't be living in the Ye estate forever. But if she were to marry into the Dingguo King's estate, she wouldn't be able to act so carelessly anymore. Rubbing her brow gently, she thought for a moment before saying, "Later, you go tell the steward that I want to select a few maids for my courtyard." Qingfeng nodded in response, "And what about the wet nurses who attend to me..."

  "Don't worry about this, Aunt said a few days ago that she would send Lin and Wei over to be by Mother's side in two days." When Mother passed away, Ye Li had just recovered from her illness. During that time, Wang Shi took advantage of the situation to stir up trouble and beat up Mother's wet nurse, Su, and drove her out of the mansion. By the time Ye Li was a bit better and found out about this, only Lin and Wei, who were originally by Mother's side, were left. Ye Li naturally knew what Wang Shi was thinking and understood that she couldn't protect these people at the time, so she used the excuse of Mother's passing to worry about her grandmother's heart and sent Lin and Wei back to the Gu family. Over the years, this mansion has been mostly filled with Wang Shi's people, and Ye Li didn't bother to deal with them, thinking that the fewer people around her, the better.

  Qingfeng's eyes lit up, and she smiled: "As expected, Auntie has thought of everything." She arrived a bit late, although she had never met Lin Mama and Wei Mama before, but occasionally heard Miss mention them. They were all close confidantes of the madam, naturally they would be on Miss's side.

  Having settled the matter with Ya Tou and Gu Gu, Qing Feng happily began to make arrangements for Ye Li, "There are still two months until the big wedding, the dowry sent by the madam and old madam is probably not even half as generous as Fourth Miss's. I'll have someone pick out some good ones from the shop and send them over, and also buy some more from various places. Ah...and there's also Miss's wedding dress and the fabric for the dowry..."

  Ye Li sat on one side, smiling as she watched Qingfeng's nervous calculations, her mind already flying to a very distant place. In her past life, she had never even dreamed that she would one day sit in the boudoir like a noble lady waiting to be married. Although she had long known about Ding Wang's various shortcomings, Ye Li didn't pay much attention to them. Marriage in this era was not something that women could control, and Ye Li had never held any expectations for love. As long as she could spend her life peacefully and quietly, respecting each other like guests, it wasn't a bad kind of happiness. However... the Dingguo royal palace... thinking about the superior position of the Dingguo royal palace in Great Chu, she couldn't help but furrow her delicate eyebrows.

  "Third Miss, Madam Zhao requests an audience." The little maid outside the door reported respectfully.

  As for Zhao Yiniang's sudden visit, Ye Li was somewhat surprised and nodded: "Please let her in."

  After a moment, Zhao Yiniang swayed in with her willow waist and curtsied slightly to Ye Li, "The servant greets Third Miss."

  Ye Li put the bangle back in the box, smiled warmly and said: "Zhao Niangniang doesn't have to be polite. What brings you here at this time?" She carelessly glanced at the charming woman in front of her, Zhao Niangniang had been in the mansion for less than a year, but she was deeply favored by Ye Shangshu. Otherwise, she wouldn't dare speak like that in front of the old lady today. Ye Li saw that she was wearing a peach-red dress with a plain white silk ribbon tied around her waist, and a simple bun on the side of her head, with a flowing tassel and jade hairpin gently swaying on her face, every move was full of charm. No wonder she had been able to gain Ye Shangshu's exclusive favor soon after arriving. Not to mention Wang Shi, who had given birth to two daughters and one son and was gradually getting old, even Ye Ying, known as the first beauty, was less charming compared to her. Unfortunately, she came too late, Wang Shi's position in the mansion was already solidified, and more unfortunately, her background was too low.

  Madam Zhao was an extremely intelligent woman, so she never dared to underestimate the third young lady who was unassuming in the mansion. Not to mention the Xu family behind the third young lady, where whoever it was had to be cautious, but this third young lady herself, within a few days, not only retrieved all of the dowry left by her mother-in-law, but also made Wang Shi cough up blood today. Thinking of Wang Shi's appearance of hating to the point of spitting blood yet not daring to make a move, Madam Zhao felt a thrill in her heart.

  "Slave seeks Third Miss's guidance on a way out." Zhao yiniang knelt down to the ground and begged in a low voice.