Xue Niang heard that, slightly disappointed, thought for a moment, and then became happy again. Immediately said: "Do you know why Cheng Mei Niang always looks down on Qu Yu Zhu? In fact, Qu Yu Zhu is not so annoying usually, she has been to our house several times, very pleasant, today I don't know what's wrong with her, always can't get along with you."

  No one is stupid, even if they are as innocent and cheerful as Xue Niang, they can also see the open and secret struggles among the women today. Qi Yuzhu knows why she targeted herself, but it's not good to tell Xue Niang directly, so she smiled and said: "It's not that I'm being too sensitive, what she said is all true, my family has always been in business, and I built this garden originally to make money."

  Xue Niang pouted: "No, I know the reason!"

  The peony was startled, could it be that Snow Girl also knew about Li Wei's little thoughts towards herself? Who told her? If she really knew, Snow Girl couldn't hide the words and if they were spread out, it would be terrible.

  "Who would have thought that Xue Niang would say: "There's some issue between Qi Yu Zhu and Cheng Mei Niang. Qi Yu Zhu, it must be because of her brother-in-law, the whole family feels ashamed, her brother-in-law had to marry that crippled princess, her aunt was so angry she couldn't get out of bed, so she took it out on you, not wanting to give you a good face to look at is also possible. And as for Cheng Mei Niang, even if it wasn't for today's situation, she wouldn't give Qi Yu Zhu a good face to look at either, who let Qi Yu Zhu be Liu Chong's sister-in-law and also the future sister-in-law of that crippled princess!"

  "Could it be that Cheng Meiniang and Qinghua County Master have a grudge against each other?" It turns out that bullying someone has finally gotten her to the point where she can't even get out of bed! She's already in this state before they've even entered the Liu household, so what will happen when they officially move in? Won't she be so angry that she'll spit blood and die?!

  Xue Niang said: "Do you still remember Liu Yun, the cousin of Xing Kang Junzhu who was thrown off her horse by Qing Hua Junzhu? This Cheng Mei Niang is also Liu Yun's cousin. Her family members are so angry that they would like to tear Qing Hua Junzhu apart and eat her, so naturally they won't have a good face when they see people related to her. Similarly, they will definitely give us a good face."

  Peony suddenly realized, so to speak, that this was probably what Cheng Yuanyuan had said, and even if others were unwilling to go to her garden, Cheng Yuanyuan would definitely go. Then she asked: "How is the young lady now?"

  The Snow Girl frowned and sighed: "It's really bad."

  The peony fell silent, its limbs severed and dragged away in a mad dash for so long. With this medical condition, what kind of recovery can be expected? It's unlikely to be good. People like Tsinghua completely disregard the lives and safety of others, truly deserving of death. At that time, if she hadn't had Jiang Changyang's help, she would have been worse off than Liu Yun.

  Xue Niang suddenly pulled Mudan with a glowing eye: "I heard that you were almost trampled to death by that vicious woman's horse, and it was that Mr. Jiang who saved you, wasn't it?"

  "Indeed, if he hadn't lent a helping hand, I'm afraid we wouldn't have met."

  Xue Niang bit her lip and remained silent for a long time, holding the ebony chopsticks wrapped in silver.

  Before long, the banquet broke up. The women who had been drinking were invited by Li Maniang and Cui Furen to go inside to rest and chat. Qian Furen came over and said to Mudan: "He Chun is feeling a bit unwell, probably from heatstroke. Since there's nothing else for you to help with here at your aunt's place, why don't we head home first?"

  Peony thought that Mrs. Cui and Li Yuan probably didn't want to stay here for long, so she took the initiative to leave early, which would be beneficial to everyone, and bid farewell to Xue Niang, saying that she was leaving.

  Xue Niang reluctantly let her go, pulling her to bid farewell to Cheng Mei Niang and others, also reminding them not to forget their promise to attend the peony garden opening. Cui Fu Ren was enthusiastically praising Wu Shi Jiu Niang's mother about Shi Jiu Niang's elegance and sweetness, when she saw Mu Dan following Xue Niang in, chatting and laughing with Shi Jiu Niang and others, standing there looking radiant, making her eyes narrow, unable to help but frown, wishing Mu Dan would disappear soon.

  After saying goodbye to everyone, Peony followed Mrs. Cen to bid farewell to Li Man Niang. Li Man Niang was busy and didn't have time to catch her breath. When she heard that the He family was leaving first, she knew what was going on and couldn't bear to pull Peony aside and say in a low voice: "Good kid, this time I have my own house, it's much more convenient for me to entertain guests, you must remember to come with your mother often, and when autumn comes, I'll take you hunting!"

  Peony smiled and responded, also giving a courtesy to Mrs. Cui. Mrs. Cui said two polite sentences with a fake smile, without mentioning anything about the He family visiting their home, and Peony didn't take it seriously either. She knew that perhaps for a long time, she wouldn't set foot in the Li's house again.

  As they were walking out, Li Wei was standing by the wall talking to someone. He Yu wanted to go and greet him, but Peony pulled him back and whispered: "Can't you see that your uncle is talking to someone? Don't disturb him, your seventh brother is not feeling well, let's hurry home." Others might not have noticed, but she saw very clearly that Li Wei had indeed seen them, but for some reason, he deliberately turned his head away, pretending not to have seen them. What was the reason for this, but it seemed to be related to today's events. Since he didn't want to greet them, she wouldn't force him either.

  The voice of Peony was very light, but Li Wei heard it clearly. He weakly watched as Peony's slender figure gradually disappeared around the corner, and he could no longer see her. He had once gone to probe Ning Wang, but Ning Wang extinguished all his hopes with a single sentence. Ning Wang directly mentioned Qinghe Wu Shi's 19th daughter: "Your father has discussed this with me, and when Ah Qin was alive, she also told me that the 19th daughter is a good girl, and she is the most suitable for you. Her vision has always been accurate. You are not young anymore, do not allow yourself to be as reckless as before. After getting married, settle down early and focus on helping me achieve great things, and also spare your parents from worrying."

  When he was most distressed, he had thought of abandoning everything and eloping with Peony, but after calming down and thinking carefully, Peony would absolutely not agree to it. Besides, as a concubine, she would be looked down upon by his parents and the people of the country, which would only make Li Yuan's intentional difficulties and words no different!

  He was in a daze, when suddenly Cui Shan walked out biting his finger, looking at him with great sympathy: "Sir, the madam is asking you to go in, saying that several ladies want to see you." Li You's face turned gloomy and he didn't speak. Then Cang Shan came over and whispered: "Sir, the old master is calling for you, there are a few guests who want to see you, please go immediately."

  Li Hen stood silently for a moment, then followed Cangshan with heavy footsteps to see Li Yuan.

  It's the night when Cowherd and Weaving Maiden meet, every household with a daughter has to thread needles under the moonlight to pray for cleverness, and set up melons, fruits, and wine in the courtyard. The He family has many women, it's lively and extraordinary, Dalang leads a group of boys and girls searching for spiders all over the yard, once found, they put them into small boxes prepared beforehand, each woman holding one box, waiting for the next morning to check the spider webs in their respective boxes, if dense, then cleverness is abundant, if sparse, then cleverness is scarce.

  Peony had always kept a respectful distance from spiders, but now she had no choice. She reluctantly accepted the small wooden box handed to her by He Ru, and tossed it onto the table with disdain. She rubbed her hands against her back repeatedly, trying to wipe away the feeling of disgust. Rui Niang was bold and mischievous, and seeing Peony's reaction, she grabbed a small spider and threw it into Peony's hand, causing Peony to let out a blood-curdling scream. She jumped up and down, waving her hands wildly in an attempt to shake off the spider.

  No one in the family went to help her, they just stood there with their hands clasped together watching her make a fool of herself. The children were laughing so hard they were doubled over, and they all cursed her for being a coward. Peony felt like her arm was numb where the spider had crawled on it, and half of her body and neck were also numb and tingly, her hair standing on end, and she almost cried from the sourness in her eyes and nostrils.

  Still, Dalang couldn't bear it, and he went forward to press down Mudan's shoulder, saying: "I'll take it away for you, don't shout anymore!" He took a closer look, and that poor little spider had long been shaken off by her, so he said: "It was already shaken off by you, where did it go? What are you shouting about, what are you jumping about?"

  "Must be hiding in my clothes," he said, his neck and hands stiff. "Rain Lotus, come help me find it." Before he finished speaking, he felt a numbness on the back of his neck, something crawling past, and he couldn't help but shout: "It's on my neck! It's on my neck! Quick, take it off!"

  Everyone burst into laughter, and Dalang even laughed out tears. Peony turned her head to take a look, but it was Quanni holding a thin grass leaf behind her back, staring at her with big eyes, looking innocent. Just now, she had clearly used the grass leaf to tickle her own neck, Peony felt both ashamed and annoyed, shouting loudly: "You little rascal!" Quanni saw that things were not going well, so she quickly ran away.

  The peony sleeves fluttered, the evil spirits chased after them, and the aunt and niece rolled around the courtyard, laughing and playing. The other children thought it was fun and joined in the fray. For a time, the He family's courtyard was filled with joyful voices and laughter, He Zhizhong and Cen Fu Ren leaned on the rattan couch, laughing so hard their mouths couldn't close.

  The whole family didn't disperse until the moon was high in the sky. Because Peony's back house had a low and narrow corridor, with small windows, the air circulation wasn't very good, and it was really stuffy at night. They couldn't help but ask Rain荷 and others to move the rattan bed to the courtyard, put up the green gauze canopy, and set up the landscape screen fan by the bedside, preparing to spend a cool night in the courtyard.

  Everything was settled, and the peony climbed onto the bed to lie down. Through the thin sky-blue gauze above, she gazed up at the twinkling stars in the sky, rarely giving rise to some poetic and picturesque feelings. What's described as "Silver candle autumn light cold painting screen, light silk small fan pat flow firefly. Heavenly street night color cool like water, lying watch Cowherd Weaving Maiden star." should be this kind of scene, but unfortunately, she could only see the stars twinkling in the sky, without knowing who was the Cowherd Star and who was the Weaving Maiden Star.

  It's unknown whose family was still having a night banquet, the sound of silk and bamboo music floated with the wind, it sounded nice. Peony looked at the starlight in the sky, smelled the plum fragrance emitted from the silver sachet beside her, listened to the distant singing, and gradually fell asleep. The next morning when she woke up, it was a brand new day, a brand new beginning.

  Busy days always pass quickly, and before you know it, mid-July has arrived. Peony thinks that the seeds should be sown now, so she sends Yuhe to tell Xueniang that she plans to go to Fangyuan to sow seeds the next day, and asks if Xueniang is free to accompany her. Xueniang naturally agrees without hesitation.

  On the second day, early in the morning, Mudan had finished breakfast and was accompanied by Feng Danni, Yuhe and several strong and powerful family servants, waiting for Xue Niang outside the Qixia Gate. Before long, riding a white horse, wearing a bright red fur-lined Mongolian robe, with two buns on her head, dressed up beautifully and elegantly, Xue Niang came galloping over, followed by two matrons, one maid and four family servants, even a felt cart was following behind.

  Peony found it strange that Snow Girl was just going out with her for a spin, why did she ride a horse and bring a carriage?

  Xue Niang also curiously said: "Didn't you say you were going to stay in the village for a while? Why did you only bring a few baskets?"

  "Peony Way: 'My things have been sent over long ago, it's convenient to stay downstairs, and besides, I didn't plan on staying there today either. I should send you back home.'"

  The Snow Girl pouted unhappily: "What do you mean?"

  Peony saw her unhappy and felt somewhat puzzled: "What's wrong?"

  Xue Niang's face turned slightly red, and she said in a low voice: "You said you were going to stay for a short while, but isn't it just an excuse to ask me to go with you? I had a hard time convincing my mother, look at this, I've packed everything, and now you want me to return home on the same day? Are you teasing me?"

  The peony was a bit overwhelmed at first, the village was crowded with people, and she had not expected to entertain guests for so long in such a situation. Especially a girl like Xue Niang, it's okay to take care of her meals twice a day, but after a long time, it's really troublesome, everything needs to be rearranged, from food to accommodation to daily necessities.

  Xue Niang saw Peony's silence and felt a bit rash herself, but she had been looking forward to this day for a long time. Since she had already taken the first step, it was only logical that she wouldn't return empty-handed. No matter what, she wanted to fulfill her wish. She pulled on Peony's arm, pouting: "Sister He, I know I'm being rash, but I've come this far and you can't send me back. Don't worry about me either, I can endure hardship as long as there's food and a place to stay - I brought all my toiletries with me! Please, I don't get along well with those spoiled girls in the city who speak in riddles; I'd rather be with you!"

  The peony had no choice but to say, "Whether you can bear the hardship or not, it's all the same. It's still under construction, a mess, don't regret it later."

  The Snow Girl's face lit up with a happy expression: "If you can eat bitterness, I can too!"

  The peony had no choice but to call a servant to ride a horse back home, asking Mrs. Xue to help re-prepare the food and utensils, which would be sent to the villa later.

  A group of people left the city in a majestic manner, heading towards the villa. Xue Niang saw that Mudan's horse riding posture was much more skilled than before and couldn't help but smile: "He sister, why don't we have a competition to see who can arrive first at the place where we watched the polo match last time?"

  The peony saw that there were not many people passing by upstairs, so he smiled and said, "Good, I also want to try if I am still as useless as before."

  Xue Niang blinked her eyes: "If you lose, you have to invite me to play in your village for a few more days."

  She herself was already quite exhausted from this period of hard work, and she knew she couldn't compare to Xue Niang. The little girl just wanted to play around her own courtyard for a bit longer, one day would be troublesome, two days would also be troublesome. Peony sighed and rubbed her temples, drawing out her voice as she said: "Alright."

  Xue Niang said calmly: "He sister, I'll let you have six voices."

  Peony readily agreed, and Xue Niang ordered her maid Xiaoling to count down. After Peony galloped away on horseback, Xue Niang waited until the count of six before chasing after him on horseback. Fang Dama and others couldn't help but shout and follow in pursuit.

  Thanks to this period of exercise, Peony is no longer the weak woman who would fall with just a gust of wind. Running all the way there was not a difficult task for her. She galloped freely, hearing the sound of the wind whizzing past her ears, and felt as if she were about to fly, feeling an unprecedented sense of relaxation and joy.

  Xue Niang watched as Peony suddenly ran far away, and she couldn't help but put her fingers in her mouth, let out a loud whistle, then with a determined smile, urged the horse on with a whip.

  When it comes to riding, Peony is far from Snow's match. As soon as Snow shows her true skills, the difference in their abilities becomes apparent, and she quickly leaves Peony behind. This outcome was expected by Peony, but she thought that even if she lost, she couldn't lose by much, so she continued to ride after Snow. However, the gap between them is too great, and by the time Peony catches up with Snow, it's already been two cups of tea later.

  In front of her, a group of people surrounded her. The bright red Mongolian-style robe on Xue Niang's body was particularly eye-catching in the crowd. She had already dismounted, holding a whip and lowering her head to listen to the scolding from two elderly women in front of her. A horse carriage was parked at the side, with over ten men wearing green robes with round collars and carrying knives scattered around. When they saw Peony rushing over on horseback, a short and stout man immediately stepped forward to shout and ask her to stop and dismount to make way.

  The horse carriage looked ordinary from the outside, but Mudan thought to himself that since they were near Ning Wang's villa, it was likely another encounter with a noble. Xue Niang had probably collided with someone's carriage again. As he was following her out, he couldn't help but take responsibility, so he dismounted and bowed, saying: "Sir, she is my younger sister, young and playful, careless and impulsive, I don't know what improper thing she has done this time?"

  That short and stout man glanced at Peony, saw that she was dressed neatly and elegantly, born beautiful, smiled modestly, spoke properly, guessed that she was the daughter of a good family out for a stroll, and scolded: "This sister is so unreasonable! Since you see there's a carriage coming up ahead, shouldn't you slow down the horse and proceed slowly? How can you rush forward like this without any consideration, what if you bump into a noble person?"

  It turned out to be roughly what she had guessed, but hearing this, only Snow Daughter's behavior made the noble person in the carriage unhappy, and did not cause any substantial harm. Peony secretly thought it was fortunate, and repeatedly apologized, saying all the good words: "My younger sister just came from outside last year, doesn't know the rules of the capital, is young, can't help but lose her sense, please help me ask for a favor, let her accompany you to apologize, if there's any loss, compensate for it, spare her this time?"

  Don't hit a smiling face, let alone the other party is a delicate and lovely little girl. The short and fat man stared for a moment, then said: "You come with me."

  Peony hastily tied the horse to a nearby willow tree and quickly followed the short, stout man to find Snow Daughter. But when they saw those two old women scolding Snow Daughter in harsh tones, one sentence after another, each sentence was merciless, and each sentence was more vicious than the last.

  Xue Niang's head was almost buried in her chest, but she didn't dare to retort a single word. She could only bite her lip tightly and grasp the reins firmly, her knuckles turning white. Hearing the sound, she turned around to see Peony, her eyes reddening, and tears as big as beans rolled out one after another. She bit her lip hard, not allowing herself to cry out loud.

  That short and stout man said to the two women, "This is her sister, who has come to apologize on her behalf. She just arrived from a distant place and doesn't know the rules."

  Those two maidservants coldly swept Mu Dan with a glance, one of them wearing gray shorts proudly said: "It's precisely because she doesn't understand the rules that we need to teach her! Otherwise, who knows when she'll lose her little life!" They were unyielding.

  The peony saw that the two people's clothes were simple and their colors were plain, but the materials were exquisite. Looking at the two faces again, they had a common feature: the wrinkles on their foreheads were particularly deep. Knowing that ordinary people would not look down on them, she quickly took off the silver cufflinks with sesame seeds from her hands, grasped the hand of the woman in gray clothes without hesitation, and slid the cufflinks into her hand under the cover of her sleeves. She said sincerely: "Auntie's teachings are right. I will go back and teach her well, and never let her make this mistake again. Thank you for your trouble, auntie, to intercede for us in front of the noble person. My sister and I will go to pay our respects and apologize to the noble person, and we will not forget your kindness."

  The old woman quietly felt the object that Peony had passed to her with her hand in her sleeve, and her eyes softened a bit. However, when she heard that she was going to pay respects and apologize to the noble person in the carriage, she revealed an unwilling expression. Peony was puzzled, what was going on? As far as she knew, there were people who had been beaten for colliding with a noble's carriage, but this situation was different - they weren't being beaten, nor were they being let off. What kind of noble person was this? She couldn't help but look at the kind-hearted short and stout man for help.

  That short and stout man looked up at the sky, called that woman to one side and said a few words in a low voice. Peony listened with her ear sideways, only hearing a few words: "childbirth", "palace", "not good".

  When the old woman turned back, her face looked much better. She said: "You wait, I'll go and inform the noble person. If the noble person is willing to spare you, then it's settled." After finishing speaking, she indeed went over and stood in front of that carriage, softly smiling and apologizing.

  Xue Niang grasped Peony's hand with a wronged expression, and said in a low, choked voice: "He sister, I really didn't intentionally cause trouble, it was clearly..."

  The peony saw another ayi staring over with a sharp gaze, and quickly grasped Xue Niang's hand, signaling her not to speak. The two looked towards the carriage together, hoping that the ayi and the noble would come to an agreement soon and let them go.

  But little did they know that the situation on the other side was not good. Peony couldn't hear any voices, but she saw the face of the old lady getting uglier and uglier, as if she had been scolded by someone in the car.