Consoling and advising

  Yang Lan brought her maidservants Biyun and Biyue to pay respects to the old lady, then prepared to enter the palace to pay respects to the empress dowager, just in time to see several people fighting together.

  Lotus adjusted her clothes, smoothed out the disheveled hair at her temples, and then quickly walked down the steps to greet them, with a flattering smile on her face. She grasped Yang Lan's arm, pouted her mouth, and complained about the injustice, "The young lady's servant is being wronged! You can't blame the servant! The servant didn't bully Miss Yang, the servant doesn't have that kind of nerve!"

  Yang Lan raised an eyebrow and smiled, casting a sidelong glance at Furan. She was wearing a pink diagonal scarf with a sea of red jacket outside, a bean green horse face skirt, her skin was ruddy and shiny, making Furan look more beautiful than flowers, as charming as peach blossoms. He thought to himself that she was also a beauty.

  Today, Yang Lan is going to the palace wearing a white satin dress with a pale yellow embroidered spring flower pattern on the slanted collar and standing collar, paired with a crimson red mid-waist skirt, a light yellow embroidered green bamboo leaf on the half sleeve, and on her head, she wears a hairpin with a gold-inlaid ruby, a silver-inlaid pearl hairpin, on top of which are eighteen round Hepu South pearls, emitting a soft and warm luster, obviously not an ordinary product. On the left side of her temple, there is a peacock-shaped hair clip pressing down on her hair.

  A stunning outfit accentuated Yang Lan's slender figure, making her look even more elegant and refined. Her every move was filled with a sense of poise and grandeur that was pleasing to the eye. Her bright and sparkling eyes made her appear full of vitality, exuding a youthful energy.

  "Is the old lady all right? Has she woken up?" Yang Lan asked softly.

  "The old lady is already up, and just asked about the county master! You'd better hurry in!" Furong hastily said with a smile, using her words to force Li Qianshu aside, and gave a wink to the little maids, turning around to let Yang Lan enter the house.

  Li Qianxue is a young lady after all, and she was raised spoiled. How can these servant girls handle such hard work? She stumbled and almost fell, but fortunately Xiaohong saw it and rushed to hold her up, so she didn't fall flat on her face.

  Seeing Yang Lan's unimpeded entry into the Song He Tang, but herself unable to enter, Li Qianxue was so angry that she felt dizzy and pointed at Furong. Her whole body trembled unconsciously as she pointed at her and stuttered, "You... you... these... insolent slaves!"

  Yang Lan took Biyun directly into the Songhe Hall, and just before entering the door, she glanced at Li Qianshuang, who happened to look over, her eyes red with resentment, as if she wanted to tear her apart. Yang Lan just smiled calmly, "Sister, if you delay any longer, it will be dark. So, sister, you really dislike being born and raised in the Li family!" She deliberately emphasized the last sentence heavily.

  Since I've already offended them, might as well offend them thoroughly. I'm not gold, silver or jewels, it's impossible to make everyone like me, so why bother?

  After finishing, she didn't care how the people around her looked at Li Qianshu and her servant with contemptuous eyes, as long as it wasn't a good intention. Yang Lan raised her chin slightly and walked into the inner room to pay respects to the old lady.

  Li Qianshuo, standing outside the courtyard and not being allowed to enter, suddenly felt very lonely, desolate and desperate. Especially when she saw that all the maids and servants in the courtyard looked at her with mocking and disdainful eyes, occasionally pointing and gesturing at her, her face felt like it was on fire, burning with a scorching pain, and she wished she could find a crack in the ground to hide in immediately.

  Xiao Hong looked at her master's face with some trepidation, his complexion was deathly pale and terrifying, really frightening!

  "Miss, let's go! The old lady might really be uncomfortable. We'll come visit her again another day!"

  Li Qianxue slowly came back to her senses, looked around with a cold gaze, and a hint of a cold smile appeared at the corner of her mouth. "Since the old lady doesn't have time to see me, then I'll take my leave!" After saying that, she turned around and walked out.

  A rough-looking woman spat a mouthful of thick phlegm after Li Qianxue left, "What a thing! An orphan girl is still so arrogant, looking down on this one and that one, I don't know what she's relying on! She was driven out by the old lady, what a joke!"

  The oval-faced third young lady standing beside her smiled and said, "Auntie Wang should be careful, after all, she is the master, who knows that one day she will be taken back again! If the master finds out that we are gossiping here, we will definitely get a beating!"

  Queenie's mother wasn't intimidated at all, instead she was smug and proudly raised her head, laughing, "Hmph! Just you wait and see! It won't be easy for her to come back, and even if she does, she won't be as spoiled as she is today!"

  The little girl was very interested and leaned in with a bright look in her eyes, asking in a low voice: "What's the reason for this? Mommy, tell me!"

  Queen Wang looked pleased, seeing Xiao Yatou like this, the sulking in her heart also dissipated a lot. She glanced around and saw that everyone had gone to work, then said: "The eldest princess has never liked her, thinking she's petty-minded, but after all, it's just a matter of dowry for a girl, and she won't be too particular about it!" She stopped intentionally at this point.

  The little girl listened and thought about the past behavior of Princess Chang, and couldn't help but nod her head in agreement. She used her hand to push King's mother, urging: "You continue to speak!" She ran quickly to get a cup of tea for King's mother.

  The queen mother felt that she had said enough, took a sip of tea to moisten her throat, and then said: "It is not known who spread it out, saying that the eldest aunt sent a letter to the marquis before her death, saying that the two had made an agreement and became engaged. This matter was somehow heard by that person, who kept it in mind, thinking with all his heart that he was the future madam of the Hou Mansion, looking at that appearance as if she were really the mistress.

  "What a pity! The eldest princess never agreed to it in the first place. Later, when Master Hou was locked in the room with Old Lady for half a day, they must have discussed something, and then Li Qianshu fell ill the next day! Isn't that a clear sign of rejection? She's changed so much over the past two years, always looking like a crybaby, as if she's been wronged by the heavens. Who can stand her? And yet she still dares to have designs on Master, ha! Master would be crazy to take a liking to her!"

  The little girl was shocked, staring at the round eyes, "How can a lady have such thoughts! This marriage is all arranged by parents and matchmakers, even for us ordinary people, when a girl reaches the age, it's up to her parents to ask for a favor from the master, who has their own ideas? Shouldn't they be dragged out and beaten to death? What a shame! No wonder she was kicked out, lucky we didn't bring shame to our young mistress!"

  Queen Mother nodded and said, "Isn't that the truth! The marriage of a daughter is controlled by her elders. What time does it have to do with the girl herself? Just because of this, she doesn't deserve to be the future mistress of the Hou Mansion!"

  "It's no wonder that the young mistress looks down on her! Even I, a lowly servant, can't stand her! She has no self-respect at all. The other day, I heard that her maid Xiaohong had even sent gifts to the master! At first, I thought it was because she had taken a liking to Chang Le or Chang Fu, but it turns out there's more to it than that!" The little maid suddenly realized what was going on.

  These women usually exchange information with each other when they have nothing to do, and their families are familiar with each other, some of whom are even related. Basically, they can grasp and understand the gossip in the mansion at the first time, and no one can hide it from them.

  Wang's mother nodded. "My wife knew about this a long time ago, and I heard that Master let Changle return everything, not keeping a single thing!"

  The little girl burst out laughing, as if she had heard some ridiculous joke. "How could the young master possibly take a liking to her? She's just an orphan, and the emperor is her uncle! How could he choose someone like her as his daughter-in-law? The noble ladies of the entire capital are all vying for our master's attention, let alone someone like her!"

  "Isn't that what they say? Even we servants understand this principle, but she doesn't. If you want to talk about her good or bad fortune, she's still a relative of the Yang family. No matter how lowly she marries, with the Yang family as her backing, wouldn't her life be peaceful and happy? Why must she get entangled in this grand household?" Madam Wang sighed.

  The little girl nodded as if she understood, but wisely didn't ask any more questions. Soon the sound of someone calling out came, and the little girl quickly jumped up to get back to work.

  Yang Lan saw the old lady sitting on the soft couch with a listless expression as soon as she entered the house. Her spirit was weak and her complexion didn't look good either. She rolled her eyes, still kowtowed and paid respects, "Greetings to the elderly!"

  "Well, get up! Today we're going to the palace! You'd better be careful when you go, the palace is not like home, it's always better to be more cautious!" The old lady still managed to muster up some spirit and reminded her a couple of times.

  Yang Lan nodded happily. "Yes, granddaughter understands, grandmother I see you're not feeling well, otherwise take a rest, after a few days the weather will really heat up. My mother has a villa that's quite secluded, why don't I accompany you to the villa to escape the heat? If you think it's okay, I'll call Third Sister and the others, let the housekeeper tidy up in advance, we can also go have some fun for a few days, how about it?"

  In her heart, she still decided to be a little more tolerant. Although the old lady was biased and muddled, she hadn't done anything bad, and she had been kind to them. After all, she was their grandmother and deserved their filial piety. Moreover, since their parents were no longer around, it was only right that they should help their parents fulfill their filial duties as daughters.

  The old lady was somewhat disheartened and wanted to refuse, but was interrupted by a sentence from the nearby peony: "Old lady, this is indeed a filial piety of the princess! I've heard that the princess's villa is beautiful and secluded, and I've long wanted to take a look. This time, it's really a chance to bask in her glory. Let's go take a look, old lady! We can stay for three or four days, and the fruits and vegetables on the estate are all fresh. It's more interesting than staying at home. The princess taught you Tai Chi, didn't she? You haven't practiced it lately, but you should keep it up. Last year, you were doing great, and I could see that you were eating an extra bowl of rice every day!"

  Furong happily pulled the old lady's sleeve back and forth, she was the closest servant to serve the old lady except for Xu's mother, careful and gentle in temperament, with a warm and kind personality, most importantly, she could read and do arithmetic, and was in charge of the old lady's private storage.

  The old lady was somewhat disappointed and uncomfortable with her granddaughter, and didn't want to go, but when she looked up, she saw the box on the sour branch wooden cabinet on the right side, where the embroidery screen that was sent yesterday was placed. Thinking of that exquisite embroidery, the old lady's heart softened a bit, and her gaze at Yang Lan also became more benevolent. This child is good, just a bit tongue-tied, but truly filial.

  Thinking of this, she felt relieved again. Forget it, I've said too much, at my age, just eating, drinking and playing is enough, why bother with so many things and let others disturb me? What's the point?!

  "Alright, I won't disappoint you. You arrange the days and take Third Sister, Fourth Sister, and Fifth Sister along. We'll go to the villa to have some fun! If you have good sisters-in-law, you can also write an invitation letter. A girl's family should also give a few handkerchiefs." He was amused by their playful teasing and his interest was piqued.

  ps：

  Sorry, I'm late, something happened at home this morning