Chapter 24: Adaptation (Part 2)

  When did the Tao Mansion have such a young lady, only to see that the eighth miss of the Tao Mansion's eyes were shining, with a bright and clear light, and a pair of sea-pink butterflies on her waist, fluttering up and down in the wind, adding a few more charming touches. The more she looked at this appearance, the more she felt... it was actually so similar to that person, no wonder they both had stunning looks.

  The second grandma's face looked even more unpleasant, while Rong Hua's eyes shone brighter.

  She is indeed wearing this outfit correctly.

  The second grandma slowly regained her composure and said, "So this is the eighth miss of the Tao Manor? She looks like...". She paused for a moment before changing the subject, "She's so pretty."

  Just then, a boy ran over, with the wet nurse shouting behind him, "Master, Master!" The second lady turned her head and hurriedly went to meet him, "Yu-ge, slow down, don't fall."

  Ronghua saw that the boy looked very well-behaved, with slender eyebrows and eyes that didn't resemble his mother's, he must have taken after the men of the Zhao family.

  The second grandma brought the child over, and the lady smiled as she took out a warm and smooth jade from her bosom and handed it to Yu Ge. Yu Ge indeed stretched out his small hand to receive it, then smiled and lowered his head to play with the jade. The lady asked again, "Yu Ge is almost two years old now, right?"

  The second grandma thanked the gift from the madam on behalf of You Ge, and a joyful expression appeared on her face: "In another five months, he will be two years old."

  The second grandmother entered the house a few months later than Shu Hua, and as soon as she entered, she became pregnant. Although she gave birth two months early, it doesn't seem to matter now, and Yu Ge is growing better than children of the same age. No wonder Mrs. Cai likes her and often praises the second grandmother in front of her, implying that Shu Hua is unlucky... She also understands that having a successor is crucial, especially in such a family.

  The big wife chatted with the second wife while walking.

  "I heard your sister also had a boy last year."

  "It's not just that." Second Aunt's pointed chin rose slightly, "It's strange, it's not just my sister, but also the sisters in my uncle and aunt's family who have given birth to more boys in recent years." At this point, Second Aunt seemed to be hesitant to say more, and immediately changed the subject, "Speaking of which, it's been a long time since we've watched an opera. We're also taking advantage of Eldest Aunt's connections, if not for her introducing us to the opera troupe, we wouldn't have had this good fortune."

  De Er Nai Nai Liu Shi's maiden family was a meritorious founding family, and although Liu Shi's father did not inherit the title, he was also not ordinary. He passed the imperial examination with honors and was awarded the title of Jinshi, and is now working at the Imperial Academy.

  The second grandma led everyone to Mrs. Cai's place first, where Mrs. Cai was chatting with a woman in her thirties, the two of them laughing and seemingly very close.

  When Mrs. Cai saw Madame Wang coming, she came out to greet her without mentioning anything else, and everyone in the room put down their tea bowls to exchange pleasantries.

  They are all relatives of the Yi Chenghou Mansion and have had several gatherings together before. The big madam is also familiar with them.

  Madam Zhao Zhan, the wife of Master Hou's younger brother, brought two young ladies to pay their respects to the elder madam. The two young ladies also paid their respects.

  The lady of the house asked: "Why aren't Madame San and Miss San here?"

  Mrs. Cai smiled and said, "The Third Madam's residence also has guests, so she didn't come."

  The three daughters were also famous for their beauty, and in general gatherings, Mrs. Cai would naturally not let them show their faces.

  Several young ladies finished asking for peace and Rong Hua also paid respects to each of the madams.

  Madam Cai's gaze finally fell on Ronghua, and she casually glanced at Ronghua's eyes. Her face changed color, just like the second madam earlier, and it was hard to conceal. Especially when she looked carefully at Ronghua's clothes, she seemed to be in a daze for a moment. Ronghua walked up to Madam Cai's side, and Madam Cai reached out to pull Ronghua, muttering to herself, "Miss Tao Ba... earlier... I didn't realize it was you."

  What interested Ronghua most was Mrs. Chen beside Mrs. Cai.

  Madam Chen looked Tao Huadu up and down several times, afraid of missing any minor details. Her intense gaze seemed to be able to scorch people. After finishing her examination, she smiled and said, "So this is the eighth Miss Tao?"

  Mrs. Cai introduced Chen's wife to Da Tai Tai and Rong Hua, "This is Mrs. Chen."

  Rong Hua formally met with Mrs. Chen again, and Mrs. Chen was dignified and composed as she accepted Rong Hua's courtesy.

  The lady and Mrs. Chen exchanged a few pleasantries, then asked the girl in the house wearing a Yang Fei-colored rose-pink jacket, "I wonder which young lady this is?"

  Mrs. Cai smiled and said, "I had forgotten that this is the third daughter of Lady Wang's sister's family, Miss Jia San, who came to visit her sister a few days ago with her mother. I liked her so much that I kept her in the mansion for a few more days."

  Miss San Jia had a pair of bright and beautiful eyes, her voice was especially pleasant to listen to, with a gentle and sweet tone. She came forward and curtsied to the old lady, who praised her while holding her hand, and took advantage of everyone's distraction to take another look at Shu Hua.

  Shu Hua was talking to Mrs. Chen, her face didn't have any special expression, but the smile at the corner of the big lady's mouth suddenly froze.

  After a while, two more ladies who were close to the Cai family arrived. When they saw Rong Hua, their faces showed unusual expressions. While everyone was chatting and drinking tea, these two people kept glancing at Rong Hua intentionally or unintentionally. When Zhan Er's wife walked over to talk to them, they pulled her aside and whispered something in her ear.

  "Look, Táo family's eighth young lady... doesn't she resemble someone?"

  Zhan Er's wife also turned her head to look at Rong Hua and said: "I haven't seen... it was not discovered..."

  "I also have some..."

  "They have some resemblance in their eyebrows and eyes."

  "It's just like this dress, it looks even more alike... what a coincidence."

  The lady appeared ordinary on the surface, but when several ladies were talking, she was slightly distracted and even sent Dong Rui away halfway.

  The guests have all arrived, and everyone goes to the flower hall for a banquet.

  Mrs. Ts'ai was hostess and treated her guest with great courtesy, constantly asking Mrs. Wu's opinion on every matter.

  The maidservants waited on everyone and cleaned their hands, then arranged the tables and seats according to seniority.

  Diarrhea came one after another without stopping.

  Everyone laughed and drank, chatting, someone spoke at the banquet, everyone must respond in harmony, especially on Rong Hua's side, almost never moving chopsticks to eat, just respectfully accompanying.

  The feast ends with watching plays.

  "Excuse me, Master Hou, where are Young Master and Second Master?"

  Mrs. Cai said: "The masters have their own business, we'll just enjoy ourselves and not bother with them. When Huan'er and De'er come back, they won't dare not to come and pay their respects."

  The lady couldn't help but laugh when she heard this.

  Mrs. Cai said again: "The young ones don't necessarily love watching plays, let Second Madam take them around for a stroll."

  Ronghua knew that Mrs. Cai's words were meant to drive them away.

  Mrs. Cai finished speaking, and several young ladies took their leave one after another. The second lady walked to Ronghua's side with a smile and said, "Is this the first time Eighth Miss has come to the Hou Mansion?"

  Smiling bashfully and nodding.

  The second grandmother said, "The garden on the west side is newly renovated and has a fresh landscape. I'll take you over to have a look." She led the two young ladies from the second house, Jia San's daughter, Rong Hua, and several old women and maidservants towards the garden.

  The play had just begun, and Mrs. Chai felt a bit dizzy, so she hastily called for the maid, "Have the kitchen cook some hangover soup, our dear aunt has drunk too much."

  The lady said: "Normally I rarely drink wine, but today I don't know what's wrong with me, and that wine was passed to me twice in a row."

  Madam Chen also had two cups of wine, with a drunken tone, and her words became less reserved, "That's good news, it means the first wife is going to have some happy event coming up."

  Madam Chen's words had barely escaped her lips when the long opera on stage came to an end, and suddenly there was a moment of stillness all around.

  Several ladies turned their faces to look over, but Mrs. Chen remained completely unaware, her face flushed with excitement, "The eldest lady is a lucky person, the young ladies in the house are all beautiful, and in the future..."

  Zhan's wife saw that things were going badly and hastily stepped forward to pour tea for Madame Chen, saying "I don't know if the lady is used to drinking tea from our humble house."

  Mrs. Chen didn't respond and continued saying: "The Wang family is indeed..."

  The lady heard that Mrs. Chen had no intention of stopping, and her heart turned cold. She stood up, and Mrs. Chen thought the lady was going to get close to her, just as she was about to open her mouth. However, Second Lady Zhen accidentally knocked over a teacup, spilling water all over Mrs. Chen's body.

  Mrs. Chen was startled and quickly got up, while Zhan's second wife kept apologizing beside her, "Look at me, clumsy and careless, how did I get your clothes wet?"

  Mrs. Cai also complained to Zhan's wife for a few words, and then smiled and whispered a few words to Chen's wife, whose embarrassed expression gradually opened up and showed a smile again.

  Mrs. Cai said to Zhan's wife, "Quickly go and get Mrs. Chen to change her clothes. If Mrs. Chen is not satisfied, I won't agree."

  Madam Zhan II hastily smiled and said: "I certainly dare not be careless."

  Zhan's wife led Chen's wife out first.

  The lady couldn't help but sneer inwardly, thinking that as a member of an official's family, Madame Chen was so shallow and actually dared to say such things in public. Her flowery words were also so frivolous, it seemed like she had gained some advantage from her husband's position.

  If it weren't for the relationship with Mrs. Cai, relying on the Tao family alone, it would be impossible to rush into this marriage. Although the other party is from the Shangshu Mansion, after all, they used to be a concubine, and which girl wouldn't rather marry into a small family as a legitimate wife than into a large family as a concubine?

  Who doesn't know that taking a concubine in the Ministry of Works is no different from buying a maidservant.

  Let's talk about Madame Chen, she is just basking in the glory of her sister, her natal family has no ability at all. Now that her nephew has become such a high-ranking official, she looks down on others with an air of superiority. What qualifications does she have to mock the Tao family? The more the old lady thinks about it, the angrier she becomes, especially with Madame Chen's condescending attitude everywhere...

  The lady supported her forehead, revealing a few hints of intoxication.

  Something came up and I had to go out today, just started writing now...

  Introducing my newly published book, interested parties can go buy it :)

  A very touching story.

  "Can't Find This Person" by Yun Ni. Available on Dangdang.

  Original name: He Ye Enters Spring Breeze