Chapter 68: Good and Evil

  Li Zhiqing got off the horse-drawn carriage, and Shu Yao could be lazy in front of her father, brother, and mother-in-law. When going out to visit guests, Shu Yao was the daughter of Zhiyuan and Guwalgiya. She adjusted her cheongsam and lowered her sleeves to cover her fingers. Shu Yao quietly observed the Anqin Wangfu, the plaque at the gate read "Anqin Wangfu". In Shu Yao's memory, Anqin Wang had passed away at the beginning of the year, and Emperor Kangxi had not yet granted anyone to inherit the title. She remembered her mother-in-law mentioning that the late Anqin Wang's son, Malahan, was the heir, so it would be him who inherited the title without any surprise. According to the Qing dynasty's etiquette, they had to wait until after the mourning period before Emperor Kangxi would issue an edict.

  Shu Yao followed her elder sister into the living room, Shu Yao was not interested in Qing Dynasty architectural art, she didn't have any artistic cells herself, all the princes' mansions looked the same, eight girls came to Zhongyong Duke's mansion, making a big show, Li Zhiqin led the way, she had saved the life of the Empress Dowager by presenting ginseng, so she was particularly eye-catching, as soon as they entered the living room, the guests who arrived early were sizing up Li Zhiqin.

  Li Ziqing's face remained unchanged, as if she was very calm about being sized up by others. A faint smile hung on her face, without any signs of unease at being the center of attention. Shu Yao followed Li Ziqing in curtsying, "Greetings, Young Master and Mistress."

  Shu Yao's movements were flawless, and her etiquette was impeccable. Every move, every gesture, had been taught to her by Guwalgiya, who would never be careless when it came to her daughter's future prospects. Shu Yao had endured a period of strict training, redoing anything that wasn't done perfectly, as Guwalgiya was very demanding in this regard. As a result, the lazy Shu Yao was transformed into someone who could hold her own against the typical Eight Banners beauties. It was Guwalgiya herself who had taken on the task of instructing Shu Yao, and Shu Yao had learned the true essence of being a noblewoman from her. Although she couldn't say she had mastered it completely, she had at least learned 60-70% of it.

  "The girls in the duke's mansion are all lovely and charming."

  The princess consort of the Borjigit clan, Fu Jin, did not say a word, her face gloomy. Shu Yao noticed that Fu Jin's gaze lingered on her for a moment before moving away. Sitting next to Fu Jin was the eldest daughter of the old lady, the duchess of the Gong Duke Mansion. With so many people coming from her brother's wife's family at once, it would be strange if Fu Jin were happy. Shu Yao recalled that Borjigit clan was from the grasslands of the Khorchin tribe, far away from home. It was a great effort for her family to send someone over, and Fu Jin had not directly shown her displeasure, which was already very magnanimous. This situation made Shu Yao wonder why her aunt had let them come to the Anqing Wang Mansion. She couldn't understand it, so she put it aside. After all, she was just a guest at the Anqing Wang Mansion, and no matter how her aunt calculated, it wouldn't affect her.

  Shu Yao could see that her aunt held Li Ziqing in high esteem, so she helped Li Ziqing up and said: "Sister-in-law is overpraising them, they look neat, but not as good as what sister-in-law said."

  "The Empress Dowager has praised Miss Li's exceptional beauty and talent, I'm not just making it up."

  Li Ziqing smiled slightly, confident in her beauty. Shu Mulü (the elder aunt) said: "Ziqing is a girl who will win people's favor, not only does the Empress Dowager like her, but also your mother likes her very much, and she even mentioned it two days ago."

  Shu Mu Lu said to Li Zhi Qing: "Follow me for a moment to pay respects to Mother."

  "Nephew's daughter is thinking of Old Lady Fu, I wonder if her rheumatism has improved?"

  Li Ziqing showed concern, although the Crown Prince was the birth son of Old Lady Fucha, but Old Lady Fucha did not like the Crown Princess. The Mongolian noblewoman was worthless, and Old Lady Fucha instead doted on Eldest Sister-in-law, helping her to oppose the Crown Princess. Gua'erjia Shi had told Shu Yao that the Old Lady of Anqin Wang and the Old Lady of Gongzhufu were alike, both muddled, just because they didn't like their daughters-in-law, they helped the concubine's daughter-in-law, and the Anqin Wangfu would eventually be played with.

  The daughter-in-law, Borjigit, was struggling to keep up with Shumu Lu's experience, but despite having the upper hand in terms of reputation, she was constantly retreating. Last time, she had planned to question the Duke's mansion about her son's illness, making Shumu Lu lose face, but unexpectedly, she offended Guwalgiya instead. The eloquent Li Ayi was left speechless by Guwalgiya's few words, and the daughter-in-law couldn't help but glare at Shu Yao, who looked innocent and confused. Besides feeling angry herself, the daughter-in-law couldn't think of a good solution, and confronting Shu Yao would make her appear petty. The daughter-in-law had heard Li Ayi mention Guwalgiya before, who was able to make Li Ayi submit willingly, and she was wary of Guwalgiya.

  Shu Yao concluded that it's no wonder that Mongolian noblewomen who marry into the capital don't live long, they are too weak in their struggles for power. The Crown Prince's consort looks unwell, with a tired expression and a pale complexion that even layers of makeup can't conceal.

  Shu Yao sat quietly on a nearby embroidered stool, very interested in the pastries in front of her. Shu Yao remembered that if she were to lose face for her mother outside the Duke's mansion, her mother would be unhappy and the consequences would be severe. Shu Yao slowly picked up a pastry, savoring it carefully, and indeed it was delicious. The Crown Prince's wife had not been feeling well lately, nothing tasted good to her, but seeing Shu Yao eat a piece of pastry made her smile warmly. The Crown Prince's wife asked: "Is it delicious?"

  Shu Yao swallowed the pastry and found that the Crown Prince's consort was asking her another question. Shu Yao nodded and said, "It's delicious, would you like to try some, Crown Prince's consort? It's soft and melts in your mouth."

  The Crown Prince's consort couldn't understand why a piece of pastry could be savored like a delicacy by Shu Yao, yet the Duke's mansion didn't have any pastries? Looking at Shu Yao's attire, it didn't seem like the loyal and brave Duke's mansion was short on silver. The Crown Prince's consort had heard that Li Zhiqin was very skilled at making money, and the old consorts in the Wang mansion, including Shu Mulu, all had shares, receiving silver every month, which is why the old consort particularly liked Li Zhiqin.

  "Want some too?"

  "Has Sixth Sister gone mad?" Li Xiang reminded: "We are here to visit the Wang Fu as guests, what kind of guest lets the host go first?"

  Shu Yao said: "If I were a reborn daughter-in-law of the Fu family, the dim sum would be very delicious."

  Li Zhiqin was so angry that she wanted to slap Shu Yao, who was just a foodie and didn't know how to help her sister-in-law. Shu Yao was too lazy to use her special ability to scan Li Zhiqin, but Guwalgiya had taught her that one shouldn't be too obvious. The old lady would eventually pass away, and the title of Anqing Wang wouldn't fall to her brother-in-law's head. The more her sister-in-law struggled, the less inheritance she would get. Logically, her sister-in-law should have catered to the young master's wife, who would become the new mistress after the New Year. As the wife of a junwang, Anqing Wang's title wasn't an iron hat, and the sons would divide the family property. The old lady was similar to the old madam, who attached great importance to money. No matter what, she would favor her biological son, and the amount of inheritance for the illegitimate children depended on the kindness of the heir. After the division of the family property, her sister-in-law's family would have to move out of the wangfu and rely on her brother for support. Shu Yao was too lazy to remind her sister-in-law that their mother had said they could do as they pleased, but from the root, they didn't understand. You couldn't advise them once, let alone multiple times. Her sister-in-law was a married-out daughter, and whether she was good or bad had nothing to do with the gongzhufu. If she wasn't living well, it was because the old madam hadn't taught her well. Guwalgiya didn't have time to help the old madam teach her daughters.

  Guarjia herself had three children to take care of, and she was grateful that they could manage on their own. Shu Yao ate another pastry, wondering if the cook at home would make some too. Her mother kept a close eye on her, not allowing her to eat pastries all the time. If she wanted to eat pastries, she had to eat an extra bowl of rice during meals. Shu Yao was frustrated with Guarjia's persistent plan to fatten her up, as high-calorie foods were easy to gain weight from. Shu Yao always calculated the calories she consumed at every meal, and if she ate too much, she would have to go for a walk or do some gardening in space to burn off the extra energy. But Shu Yao was lazy.

  The crown prince's consort took a bite of the pastry, imitating Shu Yao's mannerisms, and smiled as she nodded, "Indeed, it's not bad. Reward."

  "Hmm."

  The Crown Prince's consort looked at Shu Yao again, how could she bear to look away, Shu Yao's smile was sweet and beautiful, the Crown Prince's consort felt a warmth in her heart, "You're also good, come here, give the pearl necklace to Shu Yao."

  "Chirp."

  Shu Yao declined: "No need, no need, I didn't do anything."

  The Crown Prince's concubine smiled more deeply, "You're better than them." On Shu Yao's body, the Crown Prince's concubine felt a moment of relaxation before fighting with her mother-in-law and sister-in-law. She didn't need to think about troubles anymore. With just one sentence and a piece of pastry, Shu Yao got two bracelets, she had made a great profit.

  Li Ziqing appears calm on the surface but is deeply entangled in her heart, Shu Yao only eats and sleeps, unable to see the current situation clearly, which part is good?

  "Returning to the master, the girl from the Ula Nara Fu has arrived."

  Shu Yao clearly felt Li Zhiqing's concern, and she couldn't just sit idly by. Shu Yao activated her special ability, scanning Li Zhiqing once, but it didn't work. She tried again, but still nothing. Shu Yao was getting anxious. Based on the difficulty level, the deeper the thoughts were hidden, the harder it was for her ability to scan them. Shu Yao wondered who exactly Wulana was?

  Suddenly, a girl two or three years older than Shu Yao walked into the house. Shu Yao was stunned when she saw her. She looked like her mother, not just in facial features like Gual Jia's, but also in some aspects of her temperament.

  "Inner Minister Fei Yanggu's daughter, Ulanara, curtsied and paid her respects to the Crown Prince's consort."

  "Enough of your politeness, get up quickly."

  After Urana's respectful bow, she stood up steadily and Shu Yao gave her a timely evaluation. With this steady temperament, she really resembles her mother. Shu Yao couldn't help but feel sad, as she was raised by the Guwalgiya family and still hadn't learned until now. The talented Shu Yao had been struck down.

  "Please, Sister Yu Rong, don't be so polite." Li Ziqing bowed her knees to Wu Lanala Yurong, who helped her up and said with a distant tone, "No need for excessive courtesy." Although she was being distant, it didn't make people feel uncomfortable, but rather made them think that Yu Rong was well-mannered.

  After the two sat down, Shu Yao found that her cousin Li Qinger was more energetic and less elegant than usual. Shu Yao couldn't understand what Li Qinger wanted to do again. Her special ability wasn't working properly, and it broke down at a critical moment. Shu Yao was very annoyed and felt that something interesting would happen.

  Shu Yao couldn't scan to, focused on the dim sum in front of her, Shu Yao sipped tea and relaxed, but suddenly realized, Shu Yao furrowed her brow, all sorts of deaths, Ulanara's various deaths? Li Zhiqing would calculate fortunes? How did she know Ulanara would lose favor with her future husband, all sorts of deaths? It was too strange.

  Isn't it that the Eight Banners' beauties are only married after being selected? Shu Yao thinks that when even the emperor's mind is not normal, and one can only be married after being chosen by the emperor, there is no human rights. How did Mother respond to the selection at that time? Shu Yao thought again, go back and ask, was Mother eliminated because she gave the emperor a cold shoulder?

  There is still one more update at around 2 pm, Xiaozui will continue to work hard.