Eccentricity 0.72

  Before everyone could react, Ruan Shi continued to speak on her own accord, "Elder sister, this is where you are wrong. Although Luoyao is a concubine's daughter, Father has always treated her like the eldest daughter. She has never lacked anything in terms of food, clothing, and shelter. As sisters of the same household, how can you be so biased and favor one over another? Besides, aren't you also a concubine's daughter? Why do you now look down on Luoyao who shares the same background as you?"

  When she said this, Ruan's face was full of a look of injustice for her younger sister, but her eyes flashed with a deep calculation.

  Who doesn't know that the king is a illegitimate child, since childhood he has been treated unfairly because of his status and suffered from his stepmother's bullying. So all along he has always hated those who look down on illegitimate children, because of his own experiences, even now the rules in the palace are not strict, especially when it comes to treating illegitimate children, they are all treated equally. Therefore, her husband and younger sister can enjoy the treatment that only legitimate children should have.

  Now that this new daughter-in-law has made such a move in front of everyone, looking down on the concubine's daughter, it will certainly displease the Emperor.

  At first, the eldest daughter of a prominent Shangshu household married Baoli Chuanxun, the illegitimate second son of the Jingwang household, because her father did not distinguish between legitimate and illegitimate children. The current heir's health was also poor, and it was uncertain when he would pass away. Although there were two more sons born to the queen in the royal household, they were still too young to inherit the vast estate of the Jingwang household.

  This way, the title of Crown Prince will likely fall to her husband's head, and it was only after realizing this that she willingly married him, waiting for the day when her sickly brother-in-law passes away, so she can formally become the Crown Princess.

  As soon as she thought of this, a smile appeared on her face. Her father's arrangement for her to marry Baili Dustuan was indeed correct. As long as he became the young master, she would be the young master's wife, and later she would be the princess. This vast Jing Wang Fu would also become hers.

  Baili Qianfu heard Ruan Shi's words and knew it was inappropriate, so she hastily said "Then I'll exchange one with my elder sister. Please don't say that, Second Aunt, how could Eldest Sister look down on Elder Sister?"

  She was still basking in the joy of receiving gifts, and didn't expect things to turn out like this. Listening to Er Sao's tone, it was clearly aimed at Da Sao, and now it's unlikely that they will easily make up.

  When she just saw this older sister today, for some reason, she inexplicably wanted to get close to her. She always gave her a very comfortable feeling. Unlike the older sister, although on the surface she smiled at her, she always felt that the other's smile didn't quite reach her eyes, giving her an extremely strange feeling. So in her heart, she would subconsciously not want to have too much contact with this cousin.

  But she would still make a concession, Ba Li Xue Fu handed the wooden box in her hand to Ba Li Lu Yao and said softly, "Sister, this is for you, let's exchange."

  She did this because she thought her elder sister-in-law was a nice person and she liked her. So, she didn't want to let the second sister-in-law make a big deal out of it, after all, she knew something about her elder brother's temper, and going on like this would be very disadvantageous for her elder sister-in-law.

  The two elderly masters and mistresses saw this, both of them were somewhat displeased in their hearts. It was just a courtesy call, but these two younger wives were so petty, even calculating this.

  Although Baili Ruyao's face still maintained a perfect smile, she was extremely annoyed in her heart. She had always hated it when others mentioned her illegitimate status, and this cousin of hers kept calling her "illegitimate daughter" in front of everyone. If she hadn't been concerned about maintaining the good image she had worked hard to establish in front of others, she would have already told him to shut up.

  Those words of the concubine were extremely piercing to her ears.

  But then she thought of the other's intention, and she also knew that she couldn't stop him from continuing to speak. After all, if they could use this matter to make the king dislike the new daughter-in-law, it would be very beneficial for them, and it would be much easier to deal with her in the future.

  Baili Luyao's mind flashed with many thoughts, and finally a faintly sad expression appeared on her face. She gently pushed the wooden box back to Baili Xiangfu in front of her and said, "Second sister, this is a gift from eldest sister specifically for you, how can I exchange it with you? You'd better keep it yourself, as it was originally meant only for your use."

  Having said that, he gently lowered his head and looked disheartened.

  This look made Xia Ting almost want to applaud for her. Tsk, tsk, look at this performance, with such strength, it's a pity not to be an actor. This expression is really too much, the poor look of wanting to speak but pretending to be strong, anyone who sees it will think that the other person must have suffered some great grievance to be like this.

  Her acting skills are truly beyond her own expectations.

  Baili Qianfu also became somewhat anxious, hastily explaining "Elder sister shouldn't say that, Eldest Sister-in-law definitely didn't mean anything else, Elder sister mustn't misunderstand."

  Although she didn't know why her elder sister-in-law had given her two extra boxes of rouge and snowflake cream, she was certain that her elder sister-in-law hadn't meant to look down on her elder sister. She had thought about exchanging gifts, and the matter would have been settled, but unexpectedly her elder sister refused.

  "Whatever misunderstanding, take a look at this box. It only contains one box of rouge and one box of snow cream, not even your bottle of perfume. Compared to the gift you gave her, it's far from being just a little bit worse. This is clearly the eldest sister being biased, looking down on Ruyao's status as a concubine-born daughter, that's why she gave her such a gift."

  After a burst of scolding at Bai Lixi, Ruan Shi turned around to face the king and said, "Your Majesty, I really can't stand it anymore. Are you going to take charge for your elder daughter?"

  As she spoke, she gently dabbed at the corners of her eyes with a handkerchief, as if Baili Luyao had suffered some great injustice.

  Baili Rongjin furrowed his brow deeply, just as he was about to open his mouth to explain a few words for Xia Ting's sake. His Ting'er wasn't someone who could be easily criticized by others.

  He didn't want to, but was gently tugged on the sleeve by the latter, who subtly shook his head to indicate that he needn't worry. Perhaps it was because Xia Cheng's demeanor was too calm, without a hint of panic, that Bai Li Rongjin also couldn't help but relax. Yes, she should trust her Cheng'er after all. With her intelligence, she must have already thought of a way to resolve the current situation; now he just needed to believe in her and stand by her side to accompany her, which was enough. Even if they ended up offending the Emperor in the end, wasn't he still there for her?

  The King of Jing wore a dark blue cloud-patterned robe today, and his whole person looked majestic without being angry. He looked at Xia Ting with a stern expression and said, "Ji'er's wife, what do you say?"

  If someone had dared to do something so disdainful to his concubine in the past, he would have turned against them long ago. He had always hated those who looked down on children born out of wedlock because of their status, but this woman, Rong'er, was different from ordinary people. She didn't show any signs of embarrassment or anxiety, nor did she put on an air of disdain. From start to finish, she remained extremely calm, as if the events that had just transpired had nothing to do with her at all.

  So he would occasionally ask her out and listen to what she had to say.

  The quiet queen sat on the side, but was somewhat anxious. If this daughter-in-law had just entered the house for the first time and made her father-in-law dissatisfied, then what good days could she have in the mansion afterwards? The king was extremely serious about treating his illegitimate children, so she couldn't even open her mouth to help.

  Thinking of this, Jing Wangfei couldn't help but feel a little dissatisfied with Ruan Shi and Baili Luyao. It was just a small matter, but they had to make a big deal out of it. These two people obviously didn't want to see her daughter-in-law in a good light.

  "Your Majesty, I really don't know where to start with this 'partiality' you speak of. I treat both young ladies the same."

  "Wei's family heard this, and immediately dissatisfied, said "Elder sister, how can you say that? Everyone in the hall saw it, the gift you gave to Lu Yao was obviously not as good as the one you gave to Xuan Fu. How can you still say such nonsense with your eyes open? How can this be considered equal treatment?"

  Xia Ting Cong didn't even bother to reason with her, nor did he spare a glance in her direction. He simply stared fixedly at the King of Jing, until the latter spoke up and said, "Oh? Then tell me, what is this 'one view, same principle' method of yours?"

  He couldn't help but feel curious, everyone present saw that the gift she gave to Lu Yao was indeed thinner than the one she gave to Xuan Fu. But she said she treated both of them equally.

  Ruan's family was almost furious, but Xia Ting actually dared to put on airs in front of her, only answering Gong Ye's words and ignoring her. Isn't this telling her that she is just a junior, while Ruan is the elder sister-in-law, qualified not to answer her?

  Xia Ting smiled faintly and turned around to take two wooden boxes, pointing at the one sent to Baili Luyu and said "Father, inside this box are a box of lotus fragrance rouge and a box of snowflake cream, each one. At first glance, it seems that what's inside can't compare to the gift I gave to Second Young Miss. But actually, they're all the same."

  The King looked at the two wooden boxes and asked in confusion, "How are they the same?" The things inside look different no matter how you look at them.

  "Your Majesty is unaware that the gift box given to Eldest Miss contains only two items, but each item costs 800 taels of silver, the same as Second Brother and Sister's share. Although Second Miss's gift box appears to have more items, their total value is actually the same when combined. I heard that Second Miss likes lighter, more elegant fragrances, but the gift boxes given to Second Brother and Eldest Miss didn't contain any particularly elegant floral scents, so I bought another kind instead. Both sets of gifts cost the same amount of silver, and I truly don't understand where this 'favoritism' comes from."

  These gifts she picked are the best goods in Meiren Hall, newly launched gift boxes, which are perfect for giving as gifts. Although she has a good heart and wants to be kind to those who acknowledge Yunjin, she won't rush at this time, especially when it comes to giving face-to-face gifts, which can easily lead to rumors if not handled carefully, and she wouldn't do such a foolish thing.

  Digression

  Everyone, my brother occupied the computer at night, and I just got online very late. This is a new article I just wrote, please bear with it for now. There will be another update tonight, but I'm not sure what time yet. I'll try to make it as early as possible.