ARTTEDSBGT Chapter 68
Li Suwan endured the curious gazes of the crowd, almost restlessly listening to Wu Jiangshu’s lecture. Once the lecture concluded and Teacher Wu left, the discussions around her intensified. In the past, she had offended many people while following Xiao Man and Zhao Shan’er. Now, when those noble young ladies mocked and criticized her, they didn’t shy away.
Li Suwan kept her head low, letting the unpleasant words drill into her ears, especially from Wang Lingyue. She intentionally smiled and asked, “Li Suwan, it’s been so long since you visited Mingyuan. I thought you were too ashamed to show your face. Didn’t you say you wanted to recognize Grand Princess Yong Ning as your stepmother? Why haven’t we heard any news about it?”
Several people chuckled, and Li Suwan’s face alternated between pale and red. She was seething with anger, and it felt like her whole body was trembling. She had anticipated the harsh comments from these people, but she still couldn’t bear it.
The last time Wang Lingyue mocked her as a flower thief, Zhao Shan’er stood up for her. However, they later fell out, and even the study desk was taken away. Now, only Xiao Man remained by her side.
Unlike Zhao Shan’er, Xiao Man, though casting a glance in her direction, showed no intention of speaking up. Even when Li Suwan pleaded with her through her eyes, Xiao Man just stood up and walked towards the door.
Anxious, Li Suwan quickly followed. When they were alone, she hurriedly called, “County Princess, please wait.”
Only then did Xiao Man stop, looking at her composedly, and asked, “What is it?”
With teary eyes, Li Suwan, appearing pitiable, whispered, “I, I want to ask County Princess to help me.”
“Help you?” Xiao Man raised her eyebrow slightly. “How can I help you?”
Li Suwan lightly bit her lip, feeling wronged as she said, “It’s Li Zhizhi. She snatched the opportunity for Grand Princess Yong Ning to adorn my hair for me. Now people humiliate and mock me like this, I really have no choice…”
She spoke while crying, looking pitiful with teary eyes. If any man saw her like this, they would likely feel pity. However, she was facing Xiao Man, who remained unmoved. After crying for a while and seeing no response from the other party, Li Suwan wiped her tears and gritted her teeth, saying, “Now that she has become the adopted daughter of Grand Princess Yong Ning, she has coaxed my family members to favor her and not care about me at all…”
Xiao Man listened and a faint smile appeared on her lips. “Then you’re really useless.”
Li Suwan was taken aback. Xiao Man whispered softly, but the words she said were very harsh, “You, being the biological child, let an outsider ride on your head. In the end, you have to come to me for help. How did your brain grow?”
Li Suwan’s face turned pale from being teased. Her lips trembled as she said, “Doesn’t County Princess also hate Li Zhizhi? If it weren’t for her meddling, would you have severed ties with Zhao Shan’er?”
Xiao Man’s expression darkened, but she couldn’t deny that Li Suwan hit the mark. She really hated Li Zhizhi, not only because she had sown discord between her and Zhao Shan’er in the past but also because from the first moment she saw her, Xiao Man couldn’t help but detest Li Zhizhi.
She was annoyed by Li Zhizhi’s humble status, but she had a beautiful and outstanding appearance. Xiao Man was tired of her holding that innocent look and acting coquettish all day long. Later, she climbed up the high branch of Grand Princess Yong Ning, which was even more annoying.
Li Suwan was still talking, “Last time at Shanse Hall, Mr. Zhou praised Li Zhizhi’s painting in public. Later, I saw County Princess wanting to splash ink on it. I’m sure she must dislike it—”
Xiao Man suddenly turned her head and stared at he with sharp eyes. Li Suwan was startled, and her words stopped. She hurriedly explained, “County Princess, rest assured, I haven’t told anyone. Zhao Shan’er came over later…”
Her expression was somewhat uneasy. Xiao Man pursed her lips slightly. Indeed, at that time, she wanted to teach Li Zhizhi a lesson and ruin her painting. However, when she heard someone approaching, Xiao Man didn’t want to be seen, so she casually put the painting into her book bag. But she didn’t expect Zhao Shan’er and Li Suwan to witness it…
Xiao Man slightly stabilized her emotions, glanced at Li Suwan, sneered, and said, “Why are you afraid of her? You are the legitimate daughter of the Li family, your status is much higher than hers. She’s just an adopted countryside girl, living off the Li family. What does she have to compete with you?”
Seeing that Li Suwan still had a worried look, without any comfort, Xiao Man suddenly remembered the rumors she had heard before. She narrowed her eyes, suspicious, and asked, “Could it be true as the rumors say, that Li Zhizhi is not adopted? Is she actually your mother’s biological daughter?”
Li Suwan didn’t expect her to bring this up suddenly and was immediately frightened. She quickly denied, “Of course not!”
Facing Xiao Man’s skeptical gaze, she stammered, “Li Zhizhi now acknowledges the Grand Princess as her foster mother, right? She stays at the Grand Princess’s mansion every day…”
Xiao Man sneered, “Just a foster mother, not a real mother. It sounds good, but deep down, she’s still a lowly person.”
“But I heard that the emperor wants to summon her.”
Upon hearing this, Xiao Man’s expression changed: “Really? Where did you hear that from?”
Li Suwan hastily said, “It was from my mother. She heard it from the Crown Prince himself yesterday.”
Although Xiao Man is the county princess and the emperor’s niece, she rarely has the opportunity to meet the emperor throughout the year. Her father, King Sheng, died many years ago, and the emperor doesn’t seem to value brotherly ties much. Twenty years ago, he initiated a palace coup, killed Empress Dowager Li and her faction, forced Emperor Mao to abdicate in favor of Emperor Shun. After a short reign, Emperor Shun was forced to abdicate in favor of the current emperor. This was followed by the chaos of the Six Princes, where three brothers were killed in one day, and the white jade palace steps were stained with blood.
King Sheng died in that turmoil. Fortunately, the emperor didn’t harm his family. Xiao Man and the queen preserved their lives, but her title of county princess was bestowed by King Sheng during his lifetime.
As for Li Zhizhi, a wild girl from the countryside, humble and lowly, what virtue or ability does she possess to be personally summoned by the emperor? Is it just because she acknowledged the Grand Princess as her foster mother?
Jealousy surged again in Xiao Man’s heart. After a moment, she looked at Li Suwan. The latter appeared anxious and uneasy. Xiao Man looked down upon her shrinking, petty attitude which was not suitable for the royal court. However, she didn’t say anything at this moment, just curled her lips and said, “If you want my help, it’s not impossible. But from now on, whatever I ask you to do, you must obey.”
Upon hearing this, Li Suwan’s face brightened, nodding repeatedly. “Okay, I will definitely obey everything the county princess says.”
In the evening after school, Xiao Man returned to her mansion. The steward greeted her respectfully, saying, “County Princess, the paintings you ordered to be framed a few days ago have all been framed. They have been sent to the palace to be presented to Consort Rong.”
Xiao Man nodded, took the tea handed to her by the maid, and asked, “Those paintings I mentioned, what did Consort Rong say?”
The steward replied, “There were four paintings in total: ‘Fox Servant Pouncing on Butterflies,’ ‘Sunrise Over Rivers and Mountains,’ ‘Spring Scenery,’ and ‘Cold Sparrow Peeking at Plum Blossoms.’ Consort Rong was very satisfied and even ordered a reward for you.”
As he spoke, he took out a delicate embroidered purse from his sleeve. Xiao Man opened it and found several pieces of broken gold inside. She casually handed the purse to the maid and suddenly remembered something. Her expression changed slightly as she asked, “What about the ‘Cold Sparrow Peeking at Plum Blossoms’ painting?”
The steward looked puzzled, not understanding the issue, and explained carefully, “Didn’t you send four paintings to the shop for framing? One of them was the ‘Cold Sparrow Peeking at Red Plum’ painting, quite interesting. However, there were some stray ink stains on the blank spaces, and the framers had to put in extra effort to fix it.”
He continued, cautiously asking, “County Princess, is there something wrong?”
Xiao Man’s face looked a little ugly. She suddenly recalled that she had put Li Zhizhi’s painting in her book bag that day and brought it back to the mansion. The maid, thinking it was Xiao Man’s work, stored it with the others. Xiao Man also forgot to mention it when she selected paintings for Consort Rong a few days ago, unintentionally including it. Now that the painting had been sent to the palace, Xiao Man had no way to retrieve it. She asked the steward, “Consort Rong didn’t say anything, right?”
The steward thought for a moment and replied, “No, she even mentioned that the painting was strangely interesting and seemed to like it a lot.”
“That’s good,” Xiao Man sighed in relief, saying, “Next time, if there’s anything sent to the palace, show it to me first. Caution is the priority.”
“Yes.”
This is just a small matter, whether it was Xiao Man inadvertently bringing back that painting, or forgetting to instruct the maids to handle it, or the steward accidentally sending it to the imperial palace, ending up in the hands of Consort Rong. It was just a small accident.
Xiao Man quickly forgot about it, unaware that this painting would become an opportunity for Li Zhizhi in the future.
…
Jianchang Marquis Residence.
Madam Hou, accompanied by her eldest daughter-in-law, had just returned from outside. As soon as they entered the residence, she casually asked a servant, “Where is Chuan? Hasn’t he returned yet?”
The servant replied, “Young Master came back in the afternoon, but he went out again, saying he wanted to play polo with someone.”
Madam Hou was instantly irritated and scolded, “Always wandering around all day, not studying or practicing martial arts. At such a young age, he behaves like a loafer.”
She vowed, “I must discipline him for this habit!”
Mrs. Liu quickly comforted her and advised, “Little brother is still young. He will become more sensible as he grows older.”
Madam Hou continued grumbling, “Young? He’s already thinking about getting married! Nonsense! Today, I’ll use a chicken feather duster to give him a good beating all night and see if he grows up!”
Immediately, Mrs. Liu signaled to the servants and instructed, “Hurry, send two people to bring the young master back.”
The servant went to fulfill the orders. Mrs. Hou, assisted by Mrs. Liu, sat in the flower hall, drinking sour plum soup to cool down. Just then, another person came to report, “The Grand Princess’s residence has sent someone to deliver an invitation, saying it’s for Young Master.”
Upon hearing this, Mrs. Hou was first surprised, then quickly said, “Quickly bring it over.”
The servant presented the invitation, and Mrs. Hou opened it and read it quickly. In a short moment, her expression changed to joy. Mrs. Liu couldn’t help but be curious and asked, “Mother, what makes you so happy?”
Mrs. Hou handed her the invitation, smiling, “It’s from that Miss Li, inviting Chuan to go hunting.”
She chuckled and added, “Do you think that boy will be as excited as a dog with a bone when he sees this invitation?”
As she spoke, Mrs. Hou rolled up her sleeves, confidently saying, “Now that I have some leverage in hand, watch me peel off a layer of his skin today and let him realize how treacherous people can be.”
Mrs. Liu, seeing her eager expression, suddenly felt some sympathy for her young brother-in-law.