At the General Leng’s Residence
As soon as Madam Liu received the news of Leng Jin Yu’s return to the capital early in the morning, she brought Leng Ruo Shuang to the main gate of the General’s Residence to wait.
“Mother, Father won’t be back this quickly, will he? After returning to the capital, he’ll surely go to the palace to see the Emperor first, and only then can he come back to the General’s Residence,” Leng Ruo Shuang mumbled, her entire demeanor showing extreme impatience.
Leng Jin Yu, her father, had been sent by the Emperor to guard the northern frontier since she was just old enough to remember. It had been eight years since he returned to the capital, and she had long forgotten what Leng Jin Yu looked like.
Moreover, Leng Jin Yu was so biased. Whenever he sent back small trinkets from the northern frontier, most of them were for Leng Ruo Li, and very few were left for her. Therefore, she didn’t have a good impression of Leng Jin Yu, her own father.
However, all the small trinkets he had sent back over the years were snatched up by her, Leng Ruo Shuang, and not a single one was given to Leng Ruo Li.
In any case, she, Leng Ruo Shuang, was determined to be above Leng Ruo Li.
“Shuang’er, we must wait at the gate,” Madam Liu said, her tone reproachful.
“Mother, Father won’t be back so soon. Please let me go inside and sit for a while. My feet are numb from standing,” Leng Ruo Shuang said coaxingly.
As they were speaking…
Leng Ruo Shuang saw a woman wearing a pale purple dress, exuding an ethereal aura, riding a tall horse towards the General’s Residence gate. Beside her, a middle-aged man, described as “handsome and dignified, with a majestic bearing,” was personally leading her horse. Behind them followed several generals on warhorses and a crowd of onlookers.
Huh? This middle-aged man looks a bit familiar, as if I’ve seen him somewhere before. Suddenly, Leng Ruo Shuang remembered, “Th-this… isn’t it…”
Before Leng Ruo Shuang could finish speaking, Madam Liu beside her walked forward with a smile.
“Yu Ge, eight years. You’re finally back.”
As Madam Liu said this, her eyes welled up with tears. She quickly took out a handkerchief to wipe them dry.
Although Leng Jin Yu didn’t love her and didn’t favor her, her love for Leng Jin Yu was genuine.
Unfortunately, Leng Jin Yu merely glanced at her indifferently, unwilling to even look her directly in the eye.
Madam Liu didn’t mind. She quickly called Leng Ruo Shuang to Leng Jin Yu and told her to call him Father.
Leng Ruo Shuang pouted and awkwardly said, “Ruo Shuang greets Father.”
“En!”
Leng Jin Yu responded with a faint acknowledgment.
He helped Leng Ruo Li down from the horse and said to her in a gentle tone, “Li’er, Father will go to the palace to see the Emperor first. Afterwards, he’ll send someone back to fetch you to the palace for the celebration banquet tonight. You go back to your room and prepare.”
“Mm-hmm.”
Leng Ruo Li nodded obediently.
Then, Leng Jin Yu said indifferently to Madam Liu and her daughter, “You two do the same. Go back and prepare yourselves properly for the celebration banquet held in the palace tonight.”
After speaking, he leaped onto his warhorse and galloped towards the direction of the imperial palace.
The surrounding commoners instantly became as lively as boiling water. They chattered and discussed the scene they had just witnessed at the General’s Residence gate.
As bystanders, they could immediately see the discord within the General Leng’s Residence. The way Leng Jin Yu spoke differently to Leng Ruo Li and Madam Liu’s mother-daughter pair clearly showed that Leng Jin Yu disliked Madam Liu and her daughter.
After watching Leng Jin Yu ride away, Leng Ruo Li turned and glanced at Madam Liu and her daughter without saying a word. Then, she swaggered back to Qingfeng Courtyard.
In Cui Zhu Courtyard
“Wuwuwu~ Mother, Father is too partial to that little slut! He neglected me in front of so many onlookers. If those with intentions see today’s events, who knows what they’ll think of me,” Leng Ruo Shuang complained incessantly to Madam Liu as soon as she returned to her own courtyard, pouring out her grievances.
Madam Liu also felt great distress. She had loved Leng Jin Yu so much back then. She was intensely jealous of the favor Leng Jin Yu showed to Xia Wan Er, his wife, while she loved him in vain and was even subjected to insult.
It was only then that she resorted to all sorts of despicable and shameless means to get rid of Xia Wan Er, found an opportunity to drug Leng Jin Yu, and climbed into his bed, forcing him to marry her as a concubine under pressure.
However, so many years had passed. Although she didn’t mind being his concubine, she had never been able to melt Leng Jin Yu’s icy heart, leaving her to endure a lonely chamber for over a decade.
“Alright, Shuang’er, stop crying. Review your music, chess, calligraphy, and painting again. Tonight, when we attend the banquet in the palace, there will surely be talent performances. You must perform well then, strive to win first place, and engrave your brilliance deeply in the minds of the Emperor, Empress, and all the princes. Let your father also be proud of you.”
“Okay, Mother, I understand.”
Upon hearing Madam Liu mention the palace banquet and the performances, Leng Ruo Shuang immediately stopped crying. She even worried that her crying would swell her eyes and affect her beauty.
Leng Ruo Shuang quickly ran to her dressing table and looked at her face, which she had always been proud of.
Her features were exquisitely delicate, with a pair of enchanting fox eyes, willow-leaf eyebrows, a small, upturned nose, and a cherry mouth that was tempting enough to commit a crime. With such a beautiful face, what man could resist her allure? However, this was just Leng Ruo Shuang’s narcissistic thought.
Meanwhile, on the side of Qingfeng Courtyard, as Leng Ruo Li stepped into the courtyard after returning, she saw her two little maids busily drying the wild chrysanthemums they had picked from outside the city yesterday.
Leng Ruo Li exchanged a few words with the two maids and returned to her room. She casually lay down on the bed and fell asleep.
In the afternoon, outside the door
Leng Jin Yu sent Zhong Wu back to fetch Leng Ruo Li to the palace for the banquet.
The two little maids in the courtyard did not know that Leng Jin Yu had returned to the residence. Neither of them had met Zhong Wu, nor did they know he was Leng Jin Yu’s bodyguard. Seeing Zhong Wu walk in holding a sword, they were both terrified.
“Bang bang bang!”
Xing’er ran over and urgently knocked on her young lady’s door.
“Miss, Miss, wake up quickly! There’s a thief in our courtyard,” Xing’er shouted in a sharp voice.
Zhong Wu: “…”
“Two young ladies, I am not a thief. I am General Leng’s personal bodyguard, Zhong Wu.”
“Who are you kidding? Our General hasn’t returned from the northern frontier, and I, Xing’er, am not so easily fooled.”
Because Xing’er and Ling’er had been busy drying wild chrysanthemums in Qingfeng Courtyard all morning, no one had informed them to go to the front courtyard to welcome Leng Jin Yu, so they didn’t know Leng Jin Yu had returned.
Leng Ruo Li had just woken up. After a brief wash in the system space, she changed into a simple and elegant outfit before coming out to open the door.
As soon as she opened the door, she saw Xing’er and Zhong Wu arguing.
“Xing’er, you two, stop arguing. Zhong Wu is indeed my father’s bodyguard. He was specifically sent by my father to pick me up for the banquet in the palace.”
“Oh. So the General has really returned.”
Xing’er was stunned. It seemed she had misunderstood.
After the time it takes for an incense stick to burn
Leng Ruo Li rode alone in Leng Jin Yu’s imperial carriage to the palace. Behind her was the carriage of Madam Liu and her daughter.
As soon as they stopped at the palace gate and disembarked, they were met with contempt from the daughters of two court officials. The woman wearing a pale pink, fitted, wide-sleeved dress was the legitimate daughter of the Minister of Rites. The woman wearing a light green, waist-cinching long dress was the second legitimate daughter of the Minister of Justice. Both were quite good-looking.
“Oh my, Sister Qian’er, isn’t this veiled woman the foolish and ugly girl from the General Leng’s Residence? She looks like that, how dare she come to the palace for a banquet,” Ye Mei Qian said mockingly, seeing Leng Ruo Li entering the palace alone for the banquet.
“Exactly. She’s never seen such a thick-skinned girl in her life. Being ugly isn’t the problem, but she doesn’t realize it and likes to wander around,” Shen Yue Jia added, covering her mouth with a handkerchief.
“Did you two eat shit today? Why is your mouth so foul?”
Leng Ruo Li’s apricot eyes turned cold, and she looked sharply at the two, retorting.
“You—”
Ye Mei Qian and Shen Yue Jia were so angered by Leng Ruo Li that their faces turned red, and they clenched their fists…
However, this scene was exactly what Madam Liu and her daughter saw as they alighted from the carriage. They secretly rejoiced.
“Two sisters, are you also attending the banquet in the palace tonight?”
Leng Ruo Shuang was dressed in a fitted, wide-sleeved long dress adorned with white peonies, her hair styled in a Hui Xin bun, with a golden hairpin inlaid with rubies and sapphires. Her attire was extremely luxurious, exuding nobility.
This was in stark contrast to Leng Ruo Li’s simple and elegant long dress, with her long hair falling to her waist, a portion of her dark tresses loosely tied with a delicate jade hairpin, a simple and graceful look.
Seeing Leng Ruo Shuang walk towards them, the two women quickly stepped forward to greet her, “Sister Shuang’er, you look so beautiful tonight. You’ve outshone both of us.”
Leng Ruo Shuang was already overjoyed by their flattering words. Her goal tonight was to outshine all the young ladies of the court.
However, she still feigned modesty, saying, “Both sisters look very beautiful tonight as well…”
Leng Ruo Shuang also said a string of pleasantries to them, and the three engaged in mutual flattery.