Chapter 9 Foreplay

  Pang Luo Xue returned to her boudoir and began carefully selecting silk threads, looking at the painting and picking up the embroidery fabric to start embroidering carefully. Zi Juan came in with a cup of ginseng tea and told me that tonight the old lady would be worshiping Buddha, so we wouldn't be allowed to attend to our duties in the He Xiang Yuan. Tomorrow was the Peony Banquet, although Miss hadn't yet reached adulthood, as the daughter of the Duke's household she naturally had to be meticulous, lest she lose the dignity of a Duke's daughter. The old madam had bestowed an eight-treasured crystal hairpin on Miss, which Miss would have to wear tomorrow.

  The old lady had a noble status, and she usually devoted herself to Buddhism, not getting close to us grandchildren. She was quite cold in nature. When the old master was young, he didn't like the old lady much and also kept his distance from her. On the other hand, several concubines were favored. Fortunately, the son was quite promising, otherwise, it wouldn't be her sitting in this position now. After the old master passed away, she sent the concubines to another house, and the illegitimate sons were suppressed and couldn't make a name for themselves, so they left early to live separately. Therefore, she had deep prejudices against the concubines. However, the current lord is her own son, and she hopes he can have many descendants. Seeing the love between parents makes her feel awkward. The old lady was also a difficult person when she was young, and it's not easy to fool her even now. But she is extremely good to me and my brother. In the past life, she ignored me because of Pan Luoyu's interference. The crystal hairpin, she only gave the crystal hairpin to me, and Pan Luoyu was unhappy for a while, so at the Peony Banquet, she made me kneel at the palace gate and receive punishment. At that time, I thought it was an accident, which made me unable to touch needles, threads, or musical instruments from then on. The pain I suffered back then, when I lift my hand now, the past pain seems still vivid in my mind. In this life, I should at least get some interest back.

  Just after nightfall, I sewed for an afternoon and my eyes are tired. For dinner, I cooked several delicious dishes in the small kitchen with lotus root and lotus leaves, closed the door and had a warm meal together.

  "Miss, soon the young lady will be coming, and the young lady seems to be speaking softly to you, but I always feel like she's hiding a knife behind her smile." Lotus leaf pouted.

  "Yes, yes, and that Wang's wife relies on her younger sister being the imperial concubine now, always opposing Madam. The steward has also started to flatter and fawn over her." Lotus nodded in agreement, pecking at her rice like a chicken. "However, Miss seems different from before."

  "Alright, I know you're all looking at me. Hurry up and eat, tomorrow we still have to accompany me to the palace. Eat quickly, let's calculate how much of my monthly allowance is left, can't always rely on this little bit of silver to make a living, your family's young lady is someone who wants to achieve great things, finish eating and think carefully about it. How to come up with a solution."

  A meal, and I ate with relish. Things must come one step at a time, meals must be eaten mouthful by mouthful. No hurry, no hurry, I comforted myself.

  At the time of You, Pang Luo Yu was in Wang Yiniang's courtyard selecting clothes and accessories for entering the palace the next day. When she heard that the old lady had rewarded the second young lady with an eight-treasured agate hairpin, her face suddenly turned black, and she forcibly tore her handkerchief to shreds. This old lady usually gave her a cold shoulder during the day, but she endured it, thinking that although Pang Luo Yu was born out of wedlock in the Guo Gong Fu, her mother's family background was not ordinary, and her aunt in the palace was a noble consort, even if she were a legitimate daughter. The old thing can wait, I, Pang Luo Yu, will sooner or later wear bright red clothes openly and honorably.

  "Mother, if Aunt hadn't ordered her daughter to attend the peony banquet, I'm sure Grandmother would still be keeping me under house arrest. She's too biased towards Xue'er, giving her all the good things. Is she trying to humiliate me in public? Women should reflect on themselves, otherwise Second Uncle and Third Uncle wouldn't have been driven out of the mansion." Pang Luoyu muttered discontentedly.

  Wang's aunt was displeased but also knew it was the truth. This old thing really didn't care about anything except for his own interests. "Yu'er, be careful what you say, walls have ears. It's getting late, don't forget to check on your sister. Let's not argue about who's right or wrong for now, let's just wait and see what happens in the future. Your mother is still waiting for your good news tomorrow."

  Pang Luo Yu thought of Xue Er's embroidery skills and smiled slightly, saying "I have an appointment with my sister today, I'm afraid she's waiting anxiously. Daughter will take her leave first, mother should rest early."

  "Go and see where Master is resting today." Wang Yiniang said to Xianglan after Pang Luoyu left.

  "It's at Fourth Aunt's place," said Jiang Lan, lowering her head and not daring to look at Wang Aunt's increasingly dark face.

  "Hmph, you really think being pregnant is something to be proud of. Flirting with the old master every day, I'd like to see if you have the luck for that." Madam Wang's gaze sank. She then said "Go take a look at what Madame and Third Madame are doing, come back and wash up before telling me."

  "Yes, mistress." said Qianlan.

  On the other hand, Pang Luoyu had Song Zhi bring many gifts bestowed by the imperial concubine to Luoxue Pavilion. Although she was reluctant in her heart, thinking of the benefits it could bring, she endured it. So with a smile all over her face, she let Song Zhi knock on the door. The one who opened the door was Lian Ye.

  "I have seen the young mistress. My mistress is waiting for you in the embroidery room, please follow me." Lianye held a lantern to lead the way.

  Pang Luoyu felt that the Falling Snow Pavilion seemed even more beautiful as soon as she entered the courtyard. Although the Falling Snow Pavilion was not as large as his Listening Rain Pavilion, it was precious because it had a fragrant hot spring inside, a natural warm spring. Since Pang Luoyu grew up, her father became more and more fond of her, and all the good things were in her place. The more Pang Luoyu thought about it, the more unwilling she felt. Peach blossoms and pear blossoms fell mixed together, and the light flower petals fell on the small road paved with goose egg stones, which was really beautiful. As they approached the Embroidered Building, the prosperity became more and more lively, and the peonies and paeonias filled a pool of flowers, while the apricot flowers and weeping roses surrounded the small road tightly. Such a beautiful scene fell into Pang Luoyu's eyes and turned into deep jealousy. Even when Song Zhi pulled her several times, she didn't notice it.

  Lotus Leaf turned around and saw the jealousy in Big Sister's eyes, which also surprised her. Song Zhi hastily said "Big Sister, are you tired from walking?"

  Pang Luo Yu just woke up and said "Alright, you all wait outside, I'll go in myself."

  She was also afraid that Lian Ye would notice something wrong, so she simply stayed outside. She took over the lantern from Lian Ye and walked inside.

  Pang Luoxue sat under the embroidered corridor, holding a book in her hand, lazily reclining on the noble couch, with a lazy charm. The petals of the hanging silk begonia beside her fell down a few pieces among her hair, but she didn't notice.

  Pang Luoyu walked to the front of the embroidered building and saw that it was a delicate beauty, hiding her discontent in her heart, piling up a warm smile on her face, saying "Sister is really in good spirits, such a beautiful scenery, should be appreciated at night, it's really interesting."

  Pang Luoxue saw her, slowly sat up, and smiled brightly, instantly making the comparison pale in comparison. "Sister is really joking, younger sister just finished embroidering that picture, took a break, and sister arrived."

  Looking at the delicate and lovely little face, her gaze fell on her slender fingers again, with a deep and mysterious look, it was indeed a pair of clever hands. Suppressing a smile, she said "Why doesn't my sister welcome me? Today, I received a reward from our aunt, but I left the best things for my sister, how did I know that my sister would be so unwelcoming to me, it's really not fun."

  Looking at Pan Luoyu's pretentious expression really makes me want to vomit. Since it's not interesting, why come uninvited? Do you really think I don't know what you're thinking? "How dare I, sister? You've come to help me evaluate, it's my good fortune. Hmm, I've already put it in a brocade box and was just about to send it to you, so why not have you try it on here, and then I'll give it to mother."

  Pan Luo Yu's face turned urgent, thinking to herself "I still need to use it, how can I evaluate it here?" So she smiled and took it over, saying "Sister, you're not curious what I brought for you, but instead so anxious. These are all rare and hard to find things. They're quite exquisite, let's go take a look first, we can come back to this later, no need to rush."

  Pang Luo Xue knew what she was up to as soon as she heard it, and Pang Luo Yu said that this is a case of heaven having a road you don't take, hell having no door you come knocking on... can't blame me for that. So she smiled and agreed, and the two sisters went to the embroidery building arm in arm...