Chu Lian acted as if she had just realised what was going on. "Oh, does Eighth Sister mean that golden hairpin I just bought from Jinshi Pavilion? What's wrong with it?"
When Miss Yuan saw that Chu Lian was still pretending to have forgotten about their deal, she wanted to charge right up to Wenlan and take the golden hairpin out of her hands.
"I was the one who chose that hairpin!"
Chu Lian nodded. "That's right, Eighth Sister did choose that golden hairpin."
To Miss Yuan, Chu Lian admitting this fact was the equivalent of a box of tinder resparking the flame of hope in her eyes. But her next words left Miss Yuan utterly dumbfounded.
"However, I was the one who paid for it. Does Eighth Sister think that anything you take a liking to is automatically yours? Aren't you too naive?"
This statement completely blindsided her. Although Miss Yuan now knew there wasn't much of a chance that she would get that golden hairpin from Chu Lian, she continued to argue anyway. "But you gave that jade bangle to Fifth Sister!"
"So I did. But I never thought of giving the golden hairpin to you. Did you ever hear me say anything like that?" Chu Lian threw down her final words and turned to walk towards her carriage.
Now that her back was facing those three sisters of House Ying, she couldn't resist showing a mischievous smile. Wenqing and Wenlan felt just as refreshed from that scene. Their hearts were filled with the deepest admiration for their master. What great face-slapping skills their master had! What a delight!
This outcome was out of Miss Fu's expectations. She stood rooted to the spot, too stunned from the sudden twist of events to move. It took her a long time to recover.
Miss Yuan's eyes were filled with tears. How could Chu Lian do this to her! How could she be so shameless! That golden hairpin should be hers!
The House Ying sisters' trap was too obvious. From the very beginning, Chu Lian had never intended to let their schemes succeed. Buying all the jewellry they had picked out? Part of the plan. Giving Miss Su the jade bangle? Also part of her plan, to make the other two think she had indeed bought those accessories for them. However, Chu Lian had intentionally never once said that she was going to give them to them!
Buying the accessories was one thing. Whether she was going to give them to them was a whole other matter.
For a moment, Miss Su watched Chu Lian's back as she departed. Then, she turned her gaze back onto Miss Yuan and Miss Fu, and with a sneer, she said to them, "It's getting late. We should be going home, too."
"Going home? I don't want to go home! I want that golden hairpin!" In her rage, Miss Yuan began to throw a childish tantrum.
"Since you want it so much, go back to Jinshi Pavilion with a hundred and fifty taels and you'll have one." Miss Su was done being polite. While she had a kind personality, she wasn't someone to be bullied. Miss Yuan wasn't from the same family branch anyway, so she didn't have any reason to give in to her whining.
Miss Yuan felt very aggrieved. Tears fell one by one from her eyes, shining like pearls. She had been spoiled rotten by Second Madam, so though she was already fourteen this year, her attitude was still careless and thoughtless. The moment things didn't go her way, she would throw a tantrum.
Even her handmaid was embarrassed for her.
Miss Yuan looked around for someone she could childishly badger until they gave in, like back at home, but Miss Su and Miss Fu simply looked at her with disdain.
However, by looking at her surroundings, she actually found someone she could use her charms on. Not too far off, a middle-aged man was walking in their direction with a manservant behind him. Who else could it be but the second master of House Ying, Chu Qizheng!
The moment Miss Yuan caught sight of Chu Qizheng, she dashed over and hugged him. "Daddy!"
Upon leaving the Pan Estate, Chu Qizheng had bumped into House Ying's two young masters on the street. He had heard from them that the three young ladies were at Jinshi Pavilion, and thus, had rushed over.
When he looked down and saw that his daughter's nose was red and her face was covered in the tear tracks, Chu Qizheng frowned. Who had dared to bully his daughter? He tenderly patted her hair and said, "What happened to our little Yuan? Why are you so sad?"
"Daddy! Sixth Sister stole my golden hairpin! I was clearly the one who picked it out!" Miss Yuan's voice softened as she complained to her father.
Chu Qizheng's brows furrowed together even more. Chu Lian?
Miss Su was about to explain when Miss Fu pulled her away. Miss Fu lowered her voice and whispered into Miss Su's ear, "Fifth Sister, it's best if you don't bother with the second branch's family matters. Beware of biting off more than you can chew."
Miss Su hesitated for a moment, but ultimately chose to keep silent. This second uncle of hers was known for being headstrong. Even if she tried to cut in, he probably wouldn't listen to her.
Miss Yuan had finally found someone she could depend on. She looked up at Chu Qizheng with her teary eyes and pointed in the direction that Chu Lian had left in.
At this moment, Chu Lian had just walked up to her carriage. Wenlan had retrieved a small stool from inside the carriage and was preparing to help Chu Lian up.
Chu Qizheng didn't have any male heirs, and he only had a single daughter left with him in the Ying Estate. He had spoiled his second daughter like a pearl in the palm of his hand since she was young. Of course he was going to help rectify this injustice she had suffered. Thus, he strode towards Chu Lian together with Chu Yuan, even though he had only heard just a few words from his daughter.
Right before she could get into her carriage, Chu Lian noticed her father walking towards her from the corners of her eyes.
Thus, she stopped moving and stood by the carriage, brows slightly drawn together as Chu Qizheng came closer.
When he was close enough, Chu Lian made a slight bow and gave a proper greeting to Chu Qizheng.
"Does Father have any urgent business with me?"
Chu Qizheng's features were pretty good for his age, and he might even be considered a suave middle-aged uncle. What a pity that he was currently frowning with a serious, unhappy expression. It utterly spoiled his natural good looks.
He didn't bother beating around the bush with Chu Lian and simply stated, "Return that golden hairpin to your sister. Your sister said that it's hers. As her older sister, you should give in to your younger sister."
If she wasn't sure that she was a legitimate daughter of House Ying, Chu Lian might have suspected that she wasn't of his blood. He was the father of both of them, but Chu Qizheng's heart was clearly too biased towards one daughter!
Luckily she wasn't the original 'Chu Lian' and Chu Qizheng was simply some middle-aged stranger she had met a few times. If she really took him as her father, wouldn't she choke to death based on his words alone?
Now that she had someone to back her up, Miss Yuan looked at Chu Lian in delight, flaunting her power.
Chu Lian was too lazy to argue with this braindead pair of father and daughter. She rolled her eyes with an exaggerated motion, without any care for her image. She then snorted and said, "Daddy, why did you come to interrogate me without first making sure of the truth? Those not in the know might even think that I'm not really your daughter!"
Chu Qizheng glared at her in disbelief that she would say such words. His rage shot through the roof and he was about to vent his temper and give her a sound scolding. However, Chu Lian didn't give him the chance.
"Next time, I hope Daddy can investigate the truth properly before coming to interrogate your daughter. Don't just place all the blame on me without any proof. My husband isn't around and I'm alone, so I can't withstand your accusations. It was me who bought that golden hairpin you mentioned. One hundred and fifty taels: no more, no less. If you don't believe me, you can ask the manager over at Jinshi Pavilion. If Eighth Sister likes it, Daddy can buy one for Eighth Sister there. I'm sure that Daddy won't be bothered about spending such a trivial sum of money since you're such a great and mighty man."
Chu Lian didn't continue any further. She boarded her carriage by herself. With a crack of the driver's whip, Chu Lian's carriage departed with the escort of her family servants, disappearing from Chu Qizheng's sight.
Chu Qizheng only knew Chu Lian as the daughter who sometimes craved for his approval. He hadn't expected her to completely abandon all consideration for his pride- she had disgraced him without a second thought! His face was as black as a pot. However, he couldn't find anything wrong with what Chu Lian had said, either.
Finally, he could only hold back his anger and question Miss Yuan. "Is what your Sixth Sister said true?"
Miss Yuan knew that her plot had failed again, so she harrumphed and said, "Sixth Sister bought that golden hairpin, but I was clearly the one who chose it first!" As she spoke, she started to cry. She looked up at Chu Qizheng with a pitiful expression. "Daddy, I really like that golden hairpin. Maybe... Daddy can buy a hairpin for little Yuan?"
Buying a hairpin?
Chu Qizheng's face froze. Second Madam was strictly in charge of the finances at home, and he didn't have much squared away in his private funds. He usually went out to play, drink, and have fun. How could he possibly have a hundred taels to buy a hairpin?! What a dangerous thought that Miss Yuan had!
"Nonsense! Stop thinking about buying this and that! All you know how to do is spend money on accessories! Girls your age should be doing more productive things, like focusing on your studies." Chu Qizheng tossed his sleeves and left. Due to Chu Lian's words, his chest was full of rage.
When Miss Yuan saw that her plan hadn't come to fruition, she wiped her tears with a handkerchief and looked down with reddened eyes. Her heart was full of hate for Chu Lian.
Miss Fu and Miss Su were watching from afar. Miss Fu's lips curled up and she mocked, "Ever since Sixth Sister got married, she's been getting more and more difficult to deal with. "
However, Miss Su didn't share her thoughts. If only she could be as straightforward and decisive as Sixth Sister was!
On the way back to the Jing'an Estate, Chu Lian leaned against the wall and rested her eyes for a while. Wenqing and Wenlan sat to one side and carefully watched her expression. Finally, Wenqing couldn't hold back any longer and began to try to console her. "Third Young Madam, please don't think too much about what just happened. You're now a member of House Jing'an. You have Third Young Master, Madam, and the matriarch!"
Hearing this, Chu Lian opened her eyes to look at Wenqing. She suddenly smiled and reached out to pinch Wenqing's nose. "You silly girl, what are you thinking about? I'm not angry."
Her mother-in-law and grandmother-in-law both treated her very well. Chu Lian was already satisfied. As for that crazy, absentee husband of hers, forget it. She had never thought of expecting anything from him.
When Wenqing saw that Chu Lian's smile seemed to be genuine and she really wasn't bothered by what happened just now, she heaved a sigh of relief together with Wenlan. Following that, she purposely tried to cheer her master up with a couple jokes.
Chu Lian rolled her eyes. "Alright, enough. Your jokes aren't funny at all!"
Wenqing covered her smile with a hand. "If Third Young Madam has any funnier jokes, then why don't you share them with us servants?"
Chu Lian coughed once for effect. "Then listen carefully."
Wenqing and Wenlan nodded seriously. Chu Lian coughed again into her fist before sending a sneaky glance at Wenqing and Wenlan with wide, watery eyes. "If a fatty jumps from a nine-storey pagoda, what will he turn into?"
Wenqing and Wenlan thought long and hard, and gave all sorts of guesses. They even tried guessing 'a god', but Chu Lian still shook her head.
Wenqing was burning with curiosity since she couldn't guess the answer. With a coquettish lilt, she pleaded, "Third Young Madam, please tell us the answer~! What will he turn into?"
Dead serious, Chu Lian stated the answer without a single break in her expression. "What else could it be? He'd turn into a dead fatty, of course! What kind of human can survive a fall from a nine-storey tall pagoda?"
Upon hearing the final answer, Wenqing and Wenlan looked like they just ate a mouthful of flies. Their mouths opened and closed, but in the end, they couldn't manage to say anything. From then on, the two maidservants never asked Third Young Madam for a joke ever again. Her jokes were way too lame! They weren't funny at all. Sob sob sob.
When she saw Wenqing and Wenlan's expressions, Chu Lian couldn't restrain herself any longer and fell back laughing inside the carriage.
Although her maiden family didn't love her and her husband wasn't interested in her, at least her handmaids were all really cute. With these sisters by her side, she didn't feel the slightest bit lonely at all.