It was not until the second half of the night that the pig's foot beauty cream was finally done. The next morning, as soon as she got up, her daughter excitedly handed her a small porcelain bottle the size of a baby's fist: "Mother, look! It's done. You try it quickly and give some to the maids as a reward."

  The milky white cream in the delicate porcelain bottle looked and smelled pretty good. Peony glanced at it, smiled and said: "You're only 14 or 15 years old, you're like a flower bud, your skin is tender, what's the hurry?"

  Because it was cold, Didi stayed in the house and heard Peony say a word "flower", so he thought of Yuhe and shouted loudly on the side: "Dead lotus flower, dead lotus flower."

  The peony was annoyed by it and grabbed a pine nut from the silver plate, throwing it at it: "Early in the Qing Dynasty, shut up!"

  She caught it nimbly and swallowed it in one gulp, then shouted excitedly: "Peony, peony, peony is so lovely!"

  "It's really noisy." Kuan'er quickly changed its water and food: "If you don't speak, who will think you're mute?"

  Xu'er poured water to serve Peony: "As you instructed, the people who stayed up all night to guard the ointment were all rewarded, and those in each room also received their share according to the number of people. There are still 16 bottles left, all here."

  The peony glanced sideways and saw that on the table, sixteen infant-sized white porcelain bottles were lined up, each mouth covered with five-color silk gauze, looking more like medicine than skincare. She casually picked up a silver hairpin and applied some to the back of her hand, rubbing it in, and indeed it was quite moisturizing and smelled good. Then she instructed: "Give one bottle each to Lin Mama and Feng Dainiang. Send two bottles each to Bai Furen, Li Man'niang, and Dou Furen. If you want some, you can have one bottle each, Ah Tao can also have one bottle. I heard the lady say that it's not bad for treating dry, cracked hands and feet in winter."

  "But you've given us all of them, and now you only have four bottles left."

  "Peony pouts: 'If you don't want it, then give yours to me.'"

  The girl smiled and quickly said: "I'll go find a box for you, get some paper and ink ready to write the notice."

  "Peony smiled and scolded: 'You're a wicked thing with a mouth that doesn't match your heart!'"

  She's just getting started, and with a flick of her wrist, she countered: "You scoundrel!"

  "You naughty bird!" Xue Er was so angry that she rolled her eyes and made a throat-slitting gesture.

  Shake Shake suddenly became angry and flapped its wings, but was pulled back by the chain. It stood on the frame, ruffled its feathers, and scolded: "Bad thing! Bad thing!"

  Xiao'er made a few weird gestures at it with a pleased expression, then went to get something with a satisfied heart.

  Peony had packed everything, written the note and not yet sealed the box when Guiyan, a maid from Mrs. Xing's side, came in smiling and greeted her: "There is a guest, madam asks you to go out."

  Peony hastily got up and washed her hands: "It's so early in the morning, I haven't even had breakfast yet, who's in such a hurry?"

  Gu Yan smiled and said, "I don't know. I just saw that they were dressed nicely, the person was beautiful and kind. Even the sisters who followed her were wearing silk, satin, and brocade, with gold and silver ornaments, each one looking very pretty. They brought many gifts and said they came to apologize to you."

  Peony immediately guessed who it was, and she still thought that Jiang Changzhong had been sent to the military, and the Zhu Guogong Mansion had just been calculated by Jiang Changyang, such a thing had just happened, how could he have time and mood to come? Who would have thought that he would find his way here, and so quickly.

  Guiyan saw Peony frowning and not speaking, so she hastily smiled and said: "Mother doesn't know who it is?"

  The peony faced the copper mirror and admired its hairdo and dress, answering irrelevantly: "How many people did she bring?"

  Gu Yan counted on his fingers and said, "Not many, I reckon it's just over twenty. Four maidservants, two old ladies, eight guards, and eight sedan chair bearers. The gatehouse is packed full."

  Xuer tidied up Mudan's hairpins and used a comb to smooth out her loose hair, saying irritably: "Is this not enough? Are you here to fight tigers or something? Who is this person anyway? Making such a big fuss over apologizing."

  "It's not about hitting tigers, but raising leopards."

  Xu'er immediately closed her mouth and looked at Peony with concern. She wasn't as close to Peony as Yuhe was, and Peony didn't tell her many things. However, during this time, Yuhe's focus was on Fangyuan, while Xu'er had been following Peony, so she couldn't help but notice some things. What did it mean that the wife of Duke Zhu came to find Peony with such a big fuss? Would it be detrimental to Peony?

  "Alright, let's go." Peony said, turning around. She caught Hua'er's worried gaze and quickly patted her shoulder, shaking her head slightly. Judging from Jiang Er Gong's behavior last time, Madam Du wouldn't do anything to her, at most she would just test her, as long as she responded properly, everything would be fine.

  Several servants arrived at the front, and indeed saw two women wearing sky-blue silk underskirts standing at the gate of the central hall, with their eyes fixed on each other's noses, standing straight as a pen, not a single thread out of place. Even when Peony passed in front of them, they didn't even lift an eyebrow. Peony glanced at the two women and smiled all over her face as she stepped into the central hall.

  As soon as I entered the hall, I saw a middle-aged woman with a lingering beauty sitting upright and dignified on the upper seat. She was smiling warmly at me. Behind her stood four beautiful girls wearing red dresses with braided hair, looking like flowers and jade, each with their eyes cast down, solemn and stern, like the dragon girls in front of Guanyin Bodhisattva.

  Madam Cen sat beside her, smiling and saying: "Dan Niang, why don't you quickly come over and pay your respects to the mistress?"

  The peony took a few quick steps forward and bowed down: "My lady is well." Before the words had even fallen, he was enveloped by a pair of warm and gentle hands, and his nostrils were immediately filled with a faint scent of cold plum blossoms.

  Mrs. Du smiled and said, "Don't be polite, I was originally here to apologize on behalf of my useless dog, how did it end up with you apologizing to me?" Her voice sounded both gentle and lively, extremely pleasant to hear.

  The peony raised her eyes to look at Mrs. Du, smiled slightly: "You are a guest, older, and of noble status. It is only right to pay respects to you." The Mrs. Du in front of her had skin as white as jade, a beautiful face like a flower, and shiny black hair combed into a high bun, adorned with a nine-tree flower pin. The pin was exquisitely crafted, made of pure gold, with intricate workmanship, and leaves that seemed to flutter. On top of it were pairs of small birds inlaid with precious stones or carved out of jade, which appeared to be flying as Mrs. Du moved. With her silver-red woven golden brocade cloak and yellow eight-petal flower patterned skirt, she looked noble and beautiful, yet approachable.

  Mrs. Du was also sizing up Peony, who was wearing a crimson satin jacket with white rabbit fur trim and a matching eight-panel gauze skirt. There were no fancy embellishments, only a wide, pale blue sash at her waist, from which hung a pair of crystal-clear, pale jade peonies that served as a hairpin. The long, pale blue silk tassels trailed down to her ankles. Although her coiffure was simple, her hair was thick and lustrous, with a subtle sheen of blue in its blackness. Her only hair ornament was a pair of double-strand gold pins, each topped with two rubies shaped like peonies. The rubies were exquisite, and as she moved, they seemed to flash like fire. Yet it was precisely this simple attire that brought out Peony's radiant beauty.

  Mrs. Du was momentarily distracted, and through the peony, she seemed to see another face. In those days, that person was also bright and beautiful like a dawn cloud, and with simple clothes and decorations, she could wear out a unique feeling, wherever she stood, people could only see her... Now, she must be waiting to see my joke, her son has become talented, lightly and easily making the Zhu Guo Gong Fu in a mess, losing face, but her own son has become an incompetent fool... What's most hateful is Jiang Chong's attitude. Mrs. Du's heart felt a pang of pain, and a sharp glint flashed in her eyes, involuntarily tightening her grip on the peony.

  "Madam?" Peony smiled lightly.

  Mrs. Du suddenly came back to herself, withdrew her hand, and smiled warmly: "Oh dear, seeing all these lovely young ladies makes me realize I've grown old." She smiled and glanced at Peony, "More than a decade has passed in the blink of an eye."

  "That's because the days of a good wife are spent quickly, so it feels fast." Peony politely asked her to sit down, turned around and stood behind Mrs. Cen, looking at her intimately with a smile: "My mother often told us siblings that decades of time pass by in the blink of an eye. It's really fast."

  Her words and deeds were calm and composed, not nervous at all. Mrs. Du couldn't tell whether she was disappointed or satisfied with Peony's attitude and behavior. She hoped that Peony would indeed be in love with Jiang Changyang as Jiang Changzhong had guessed, and then enthrall him so much that he wouldn't marry anyone else, thus cutting off his relationship with the high-ranking officials and adding to their own power; at the same time, she regretted why Peony was not born like this, and thought that Jiang Changyang should have gotten an ugly, unpleasant, low-status, poor, and ignorant wife instead.

  She secretly smiled wryly, knowing it was impossible. Even if Wang had left Jiang Changyang in the mansion back then and let her take charge of everything, the wife she would have arranged for him to marry wouldn't be someone like this. At the very least, it would be a embroidered pillow. Compared to an embroidered pillow, the daughter of someone with a lower social status would be better. For now, what needs to be figured out is what kind of relationship these two people have, and then it will be easier to handle.

  Madam Du thought of this and smiled: "Dan Niang, my useless son doesn't understand things, he did something hateful. He should have come to your door himself to apologize, but unfortunately, his father has already sent him to the military camp as a warning. So, I can only make amends on his behalf. My teaching is at fault, I hope you will forgive him because of his youth and ignorance." After finishing speaking, she beckoned with her hand, and a purple sandalwood box was placed in front of Madam Cen: "This is an old ginseng, to calm your nerves."

  "I can't accept such an expensive gift!" Peony's eyes widened in alarm, her face showing a worried expression: "Is it because of the incident where I was scared by the wind that Er Gong was sent to the military camp? I told everyone at the time that it was a misunderstanding, my fault, and had nothing to do with Er Gong. How can this still be like this?"

  Mrs. Du's face was now filled with sorrow, and she let out a soft sigh, as if she wanted to say something but stopped herself, exuding the image of a loving mother worried sick for her child, making one's heart melt at the sight.

  "Madam must be very distressed, right?" She fell silent for a moment, then spoke in a cautious and measured tone, "Why don't I let my brother ride after the Duke to explain that it really has nothing to do with the Second Master? What do you think?"