The Imperial Capital Rhapsody 19: The King of Jing's Mansion Receives Guests

  The 19th: The King of Ting's palace received guests.

  The Wang family promptly sent over the clothes and accessories they had prepared for Ye Li. Seeing the maids and servant girls who came to deliver the items with a proud expression, Ye Li didn't get angry. She simply glanced at the things on the table, smiled slightly, and looked at them before instructing the servant girl beside her: "Qingxia, put these things away."

  Seeing Ye Li's nonchalant expression, the maid holding a box of jewelry looked displeased. She raised her chin and glanced at Ye Li, saying, "Third Miss, this is specially prepared for you by our mistress." Ye Li's calm and serene eyes blinked once as she smiled warmly and said, "I know, is there anything else?" The maid was taken aback - she was the favored maid of Madame Wang, and everyone in the manor treated her with respect. But this Third Miss spoke to her in a polite tone that somehow felt piercing to the ears. Remembering Madame Wang's instructions, she gathered her courage again and said, "The mistress has ordered that on the day of the Hundred Flowers Banquet, Third Miss must wear the new clothes and jewelry made by the mistress, lest people think that the young miss of the Minister's manor doesn't even have a new set of clothes."

  "Really?" Ye Li leaned back in her chair, her right hand lazily propping up her chin as she gazed at the proud-looking maid in front of her. "You're called Cui Zhu?"

  "Returning to Third Miss, I am indeed Cui Zhu." For some reason, the maid called Cui Zhu suddenly felt a chill run down her spine. She looked at the girl in front of her with an air of lazy elegance and said somewhat uneasily.

  "Are you sure...Madam told you I must wear this outfit?" Ye Li asked faintly.

  Cui Zhu hesitated for a moment, then firmly replied: "Yes. This is what the mistress specially prepared for Third Miss, does Third Miss want to go against the mistress's kind intentions?" Ye Li looked at the maid in front of her with a clear and beautiful face but an arrogant expression, and suddenly smiled. She stretched out her slender fingers to pick up a piece of fabric from the clothes in the brocade box on the table, and said softly: "Is this kind of thing... better than wearing old clothes?"

  The clothes in the brocade box were indeed new and made of expensive cloud-patterned silk. However, the rich colors and rigid style would make people think that she was not attending a gathering of noble ladies but rather eager to get married. Did Wang think that just because she never attended gatherings, she knew nothing? The bright red color and intricate floral patterns would only displease the hostess, Princess Chao Yang, and be looked down upon by the noble ladies of the capital.

  "Third Miss! You... how dare you..." Cui Zhu glared with wide eyes, seemingly not expecting the normally quiet and reserved Third Miss to say something so bold. The people who followed her also revealed shocked and dissatisfied expressions.

  "Since it was specially prepared by the lady, you should take these back to Fourth Sister. Tell her that if she can use them, then she should, so as not to waste the lady's kind intentions. As for me...I suppose the lady doesn't know my preferences either, so there's no need for her to worry about it." Yelü casually put the clothes back in the brocade box and said calmly. Cuizhu's face flashed with a hint of annoyance, and she forced out a smile, saying: "The lady has already prepared these for Fourth Miss, this is for Third Miss."

  "Miss." Qingfeng, standing behind Yeli, said with a crisp smile: "Miss, since the madam has prepared it, it's not good to disappoint her. If you don't like it, why not give it to me?"

  Ye Li turned her head and glanced at Qingfeng, nodding with a smile: "Have I wronged you girls in the past? Never mind, just pick the ones you like."

  Qingfeng didn't stand on ceremony either, and went forward to pick out a pair of golden gemstone earrings from inside, "Your humble servant thanks Miss for the gift."

  The other maids didn't have the audacity of Qing Xiang, and they looked at the gemstone earrings in her hand with a mixture of envy and hesitation. Cui Zhu was also surprised that Third Miss had dared to give away the things prepared by Madame right in front of her, and her face turned ugly as well. At the same time, she felt jealous of Qing Xiang for having such a generous mistress. After all, even though she was the most favored maid by Madame's side, Madame had never given her such expensive jewelry before. Qing Xiang looked at the expressions of the maids and smiled: "Qing Xia sister, Miss is giving you something, why don't you come pick one? If you don't choose, Yun'er and the others won't dare to either."

  Qing Xia quickly glanced at Ye Li, seeing that she didn't seem to be angry, and her eyes even had a hint of indulgence. Only then did he step forward and pick up a golden hairpin to thank Ye Li for the gift. The few young maids saw Qing Xia take something and followed suit, each choosing one or two things they liked, their faces filled with joyful expressions. It's worth noting that these young maids, unlike the senior maids who often had opportunities to receive gifts from their masters, would consider it a dignified thing to have even one of these exquisite and valuable ornaments as part of their dowry when they got married in the future.

  "Third Miss, you gave the things that Madam prepared for you to Yatou, are you asking Madam to prepare another set for you? Each miss only gets one set, isn't Third Miss making it difficult for Madam by doing this?" Cui Zhu said with a displeased expression.

  Yelü stood up and said: "The things that the lady gave me are mine. Since each of my sisters only has one, I naturally won't be an exception either. Still... do you still want to insist that I or Fourth Sister wear such a magnificent garment?" She looked at her with interest, intentionally emphasizing the two words "magnificent garment".

  "I...I dare not."

  "It's better if you don't dare, go back and thank the lady for me."

  "Miss, Madame has arrived." The temporary maid, Jingwen, reported from outside the door.

  Ye Li hadn't had time to speak, and Wang Shi had already brought people in. The smile that was originally on her face stiffened for a moment when she saw the things on the table and in the hands of several maids, "Li'er... don't you like the things mother prepared for you?"

  "Thank you, madam, for your concern. However, my aunt sent over a set two days ago for Lian'er. Lian'er didn't want to waste your kind intentions, so she gave it to Qingfeng and the others. I'm sure they'll all be grateful to you." Ye Lian said casually, her eyes falling on the several maids and servant girls who followed Wang Shi into the room, clearly not people of the Ye household.

  Qingfeng led a few quick-witted maids to thank the lady, and Wangshi forced a smile at Yeli: "It's still Lier's kindness, these are the housekeepers of the Dingguo King's Mansion, Lier, meet them."

  Before Ye Li could react, the lead maid stepped forward with a serious expression and bowed to Ye Li: "This old servant greets Third Miss. This old servant is the chief maid by the king's side, surnamed Sun. By order of the king, I bring some gifts for Third Miss, please accept them."

  Two old women and two young maidservants stepped forward with embroidered boxes in their hands to pay respects to Ye Li, saying "We've seen the third young lady."

  Qingfeng and Qingxia hurriedly stepped forward to help up the old lady, Ye Li smiled and nodded, as if she hadn't seen the old lady's subtle sizing-up gaze, and said with a shallow smile: "Thank you, Old Lady Sun, please thank the king on my behalf."

  The sharp-eyed old lady swept a glance over the things on the table, and also took in Wang's expression, a hint of satisfaction flashing in her eyes, and a smile added to her stern face. She bowed again to Ye Li and said: "This old slave will take leave first."

  Ye Li nodded at Qingfeng and said: "Qingfeng, help me send off Sun's nanny."

  Qingfeng responded with a sound, and Yun'er and several maidservants came forward to take over the things. Qingfeng personally led Sun Dajie and others out.