As soon as she heard the name, Shuers whole body hair stood up, and she felt the cold wind of the ninth day blowing into her sleeves and skirt. She was about to slam the door shut, but then thought better of it and pulled it open with a "huh" sound. With a cold gaze, she sized up the beautiful woman hiding behind the fat woman - a woman with a plump figure, skin as white as snow, wearing several layers of the latest fashion in silk clothes, with a crimson red bellyband peeking out from under her clothes, and a hair bun that was over a foot high. Shuer let out a mocking laugh and said sarcastically: "Its rare for Rain Tong sister to still remember this door... Ah, I should call you Rain Tong young lady instead. Forgive me, forgive me."

  The beauty lifted her slightly lowered head, and under the long and curved eyebrows, a pair of bright eyes were filled with crystal tears. She trembled with her red lips and said: "Xu Er, why do you say that too?"

  Xiao Er circled around her, glanced at her belly with disdain and said coldly: "What else should I say? Should I call you Auntie? Youre not even married yet, Im afraid if I called you that, Id get beaten up."

  The beauty covered her face and sobbed softly: "Xu Er, they dont know the truth, do you? I didnt mean to, wont Young Madam forgive me?"

  "Get out!" Xue Er scolded her, saying: "Are you worthy of being remembered by the young mistress? Youre a heartless and shameless thing! What are you doing here? Dont seek to be hated! Scram!"

  The beauty wiped away her tears and said: "I have come to thank the young lady."

  Youre here to show off, huh? Xièr coldly smiled: "Dont be disgusting in front of people. Take advantage of the fact that Yuēhuā sister and Lín mom arent around, hurry up and leave, otherwise when they come youll say someone is jealous of you again and cant get along with you."

  "Ah, Ruer and Yutong are both from the same place, after all. Now that Yutong has made a name for herself, you should be proud too. Why must you two be at odds with each other? Its not like theres a shortage of concubines in the household. Having one more Yutong would only add to the mistresss power."

  "Say that again?" A thin, old woman with a menacing expression stood behind the fat wife, eyeing Yu Tong suspiciously. She reached out to grab the fat wife and said, "Cant Young Mistress tolerate others? Did Young Mistress hit her or scold her? Come on, lets go ask Old Mistress for judgment!"

  Yu Tong nervously looked at the old woman, fearfully covering her abdomen and taking a few steps back, saying pitifully: "Lin Mama! Dont be like this!"

  "Lin Mama, Ruo Er, Young Mistress asks why you two are quarreling so fiercely! Its becoming more and more unseemly!" Yet it was another little maid from the Peony Courtyard, Kuan Er, standing under the corridor calling out to the two.

  Lins mother thought for a moment, smiled and said: "Indeed, there is no rule." Then she threw the old woman away and said: "Be careful to support your Rain Tong girl, dont fall down and regret it later." She pulled Xiao Er into the courtyard door and closed the gate tightly.

  The child stuck to the door, heard that fat woman advising Yu Tong: "Miss, why dont you go back? If you get pregnant with a son, youll be taking advantage of others intentions. Dont cry anymore, raise the young master well, gain the masters favor, and when the time comes, you can ask for whatever you want."

  Yu Tong sighed and said: "I really didnt mean to."

  That fat woman impatiently said: "Alright, the door is also closed, neither side can enter, are you doing this on purpose? No one is listening anyway. Lets go, lets go, if something happens, Master will still ask me."

  "Wei Dashi, how can you say such a thing!" Yutong choked and cried even more sorrowfully. The crying sound gradually faded away.

  "Mother, this person is really shameless and vicious. Shes crying loudly as she leaves, and Im afraid it will give rise to even more gossip among others."

  Parrot flapped its wings and cried out in a strange tone, "Idle chatter! Idle chatter!"

  "You little thing, you know what gossip is." Peony walked out and poked Fanyi with the handle of her fan, saying: "So lets not provoke her. If she wants to cry, let her cry on her own. When others ask about it, we wont be involved. Your temper is getting more and more like a firework - this isnt good. In the future, when you see her, stay far away from her, dont let her cling to you."

  "Whats the big deal? Weve got plenty of gossip around here, and her crying is nothing out of the ordinary." Lin Mamas face was darker than a pot bottom, glaring at Peony with a look of utter disappointment.

  Peony put away the fan and leaned against her, smiling with a flattering face: "Mom, whats wrong? Who made you unhappy? What gossip did you hear today? Tell me about it?"

  Lin Mama is He Mudans nanny, with no children of her own, she devoted herself to Mudan, following her here. Originally, she wanted to help Mrs. He take care of Mudan, protect her and let her recover from her illness, and live a better life. However, Mudan was too pitiful, weak, and stubborn, and was hurt by Liu Chong in such a way that she couldnt extricate herself. No matter how hard Lin Mama tried to think of ways to help, she couldnt change Mudans circumstances.

  After Peonys serious illness, it seems that she has come to understand some things. The Liu family also has a different view of Peony, and her situation has improved somewhat. However, Peony seems to have become indifferent to everything, and even looks at Liu Cheng as if she hasnt seen him before. Today, she met Yuhe on the way, who told her that Peony had rejected Liu Cheng. Then she met Yutong, who came to show off, which made her angry and resentful, blaming Peony for not being competitive enough.

  Peony saw Lins mother with a sullen face and not speaking, so she rubbed her shoulder like a small dog and called out "Mom" in a drawn-out voice several times.

  Mrs. Lin couldnt help but sigh, and suddenly remembered that when Peony was young, she always liked to lean against her, like a little tail, tenderly calling out "Mom" on the left and right, making peoples hearts tremble with love, and she couldnt refuse anything. Now that she had grown up, Mrs. Lin still couldnt bear not to care for her, but thinking that she couldnt let Peony continue like this, she steeled herself and said in a cold voice: "Peony, if you still consider me your wet nurse, listen to what I have to say."

  "Tell me, Im listening," Peony said with a smile. This was not the first time she had experienced Lin Mamas stubbornness. When she first arrived here, she was still recovering from her illness and was in a daze, refusing to accept reality and hiding under the covers like an ostrich. It was Lin Mama who dragged her out of bed and forced her to meet Liu Furen and Qi Furen, forcing her to curry favor with Qi Furen and face Liu Chengs concubine. There were several similar incidents after that, all of which made her deeply feel Lin Mamas stubbornness.

  "Mother Lin called out to Xu Er, who was standing aside, not to let any idle people approach. With a serious face, she said: In the past, I advised you not to take things too seriously, dont torment yourself, but you didnt listen. Every day, you look for trouble and suffered from that severe illness, which scared both me and Old Masters wife half to death. Fortunately, you recovered from your illness, and I thought you had come to your senses. But instead, youre still too careless, sending away opportunities that were handed to you on a silver platter. Isnt this just letting others take advantage of you? I know youve come to realize this, but if you want to stand firm here and protect the people around you, so that those lowly people like Yu Tong wont dare to come knocking on your door, you must show some ability. Whats with this attitude? Dont lose face for the He family!"

  Peony deeply knew that Lins mother, like Old Man He and Mrs. He, were superstitious about her illness getting better after marrying Liu Cheng. This marriage contract was her lifeline, so even if life was not good, she would not agree to divorce Liu Cheng. Therefore, she never dared to tell Lins mother about her thoughts of wanting a divorce. She lowered her head and said obediently: "Mother, I know what youre saying, Im just angry that he didnt take me seriously at the time, Ill be more careful in the future."

  Lins mother sighed, hugging her and said: "My poor little Dan Niang. If it werent for your illness, Master and Madam would not have thought of a way to marry you off here, making them think were overreaching ourselves and forcing their family. If you were matched with someone of equal social status, why would you suffer such humiliation? But since youve come, you still have to make the best of it. Even if you dont care about yourself, you should consider Master and Madams feelings."

  "Got it," said Peony with a smile. "So tomorrow Ill dress up and attend the banquet, not to be underestimated by them. Mom, help me think of what hairstyle would match this outfit?" In just a few words, she diverted Lins mothers attention, and Lins mother enthusiastically discussed hairstyles and accessories with her. After a while, Rain Lotus brought back some silk threads, and they all carefully considered the dress together.

  When it was almost dinner time, Peony thought that Madame Qi should be free by then, so she asked Yuhe to hand over the unfinished work to Lin Mama and rearranged her clothes and hair. The two of them held silk and bamboo umbrellas and walked towards Madame Qis courtyard.

  Mrs. Qis main house was quite far from Peonys courtyard, and it would take at least a quarter of an hour to walk there. Although it was early summer, the sunlight was very strong, with waves of heat rising up, even umbrellas couldnt block out the hot air. Before long, beads of sweat appeared on Peony and Yuhes foreheads and noses, and their armpits felt somewhat damp, making them feel rather uncomfortable.

  Yu He pointed to the nearby wisteria trellis and smiled: "If Young Mistress is tired, why not go there to avoid the sun for a while? We can continue on our way when its cooler. After all, theres no urgent matter at your place."

  "Never mind, its good to sweat a bit," said Peony shaking her head. Whats the big deal about walking for over ten minutes in this weather? She used to wear 7-centimeter high heels and walk briskly under the scorching sun at noon on the hottest days of the year, competing with men for buses, and never lost to anyone. Now she was just too used to good days, which made her seem more delicate than ever, but if you didnt consider yourself delicate, then you wouldnt be delicate no matter how hard things got.

  Yu He smiled and said: "I remember you used to be most afraid of sunburn and sweating."

  The peony pointed to the bluestone path leading to another courtyard in front of it, and smiled: "You see, its not just us who are not afraid of the sun."

  A group of people came out from the intersection of Qing Shi Road, among whom was a plump young woman, wearing a willow-green chicken-heart-embroidered cambric shirt with a high waist and pleated skirt in goose-yellow, on which a pair of golden pheasants were embroidered, her hair styled in a half-turned bun, her eyebrows painted as if smoking, her full lips painted bright red, it was Bi Teng, the concubine who gave birth to Liu Chongs eldest son.

  ——*——*——

  Will scumbags be whitewashed? The answer is in the book.

  ——*——*——

  Will scumbags be whitewashed? The answer is in the book.