Xiao Jinxiang finally realized what she was saying, her face and eyes turned red, she almost cried, and raised her hand to hit her. Jiang Yuchao was prepared, and dodged the blow by tilting his head, causing Xiao Jinxiang to knock down the bonsai pine next to her, and it fell to the ground with a bang.
At this time, women from various families were coming and going. Although there was no one in their corner, there were always people passing by. The sound attracted everyone's surprised attention.
Jiang Yuchao changed his smile, stood up and said sternly: "What day is this? It's the old lady's birthday. If you are still throwing a tantrum at this time, father and lady will definitely punish you if they know about it. Don't say those nonsense anymore!"
Xiao Jinxiang glared at her with red eyes: "You said Prince Yu..."
Jiang Yuchao interrupted her sternly: "I told you not to talk about Prince Yu anymore. Put away your little thoughts. Father won't agree. My sister is already famous. You are not allowed to follow in her footsteps! You are not young anymore, why can't you learn to be obedient!"
Jiang Yuchao's voice was quite loud, and at this time of great attention, some female relatives heard some key words and immediately understood what the two sisters were arguing about. It turned out to be for Prince Yu. It seemed that the fourth lady had feelings for Prince Yu. What a great drama.
Xiao Jinxiang, who was being treated as a good show, covered her chest and gasped for breath. She wanted to hit Xiao Jinyue again, but she couldn't do it under the gazes of those hidden eyes. She could only hold her breath and almost hurt herself.
When Xiao Jinxiang ran away crying to complain to her mother, Xiao Jinyue sat down in another place to drink tea. Look, it's so easy to anger Xiao Jinxiang to death, humiliate Prince Yu and make her twice as angry.
The second rule of quarreling is that attacking the person herself is not as good as attacking the person she cares about.
When the banquet started, Jiang Yuchao didn't see Xiao Jinxiang again. Although the birthday banquet was lively, it had nothing to do with her as a minor supporting role. A group of people gathered in front of Old Madam Xiao to show their filial piety. She gave a mediocre gift and stayed aside. Old Madam Xiao had many descendants and didn't care much about her embarrassing granddaughter. She was amused by her eldest son's twin daughters.
The twins, Xiao Jinzhu and Xiao Jinshan, had a good relationship with Xiao Jinxiang, so of course they didn't like Xiao Jinyue. As soon as Jiang Yuchao looked at them, he knew that they were trying to stir up trouble. Sure enough, when Xiao Jinzhu saw that she had made the old lady happy, she immediately started to stir up trouble, pretending to be innocent and saying, "Oh, by the way, the third sister from the second uncle's family is here too. Last time, Jinshan and I went to Mingyue Temple to visit her, but she was turned away by the third sister."
When everyone stopped laughing, they all looked at Jiang Yuchao. Jiang Yuchao exclaimed at the right time, spilled the tea on her skirt, and made a weak face, "I have been sick on and off for a month, and now I can't even hold a cup of tea. Sister Jinzhu, how dare I bring trouble to my sisters at home with my current reputation? I know you are all good people, but don't get too close to me in the future. It will not be good for you. If something happens and I pass on my illness to you, I will be even more worried."
These words were spoken with sorrow and sincerity. Old Madam Xiao, who was angry with her before, saw that she cared so much about the reputation of her sisters. She also heard that she was living a hard life in the Taoist temple with nothing and was sick. She felt a little sorry for her and softened her tone. She said, "What are you still standing there for? Why don't you go down and change into clean clothes quickly?"
"Yes." Jiang Yuchao left as he was told. Before leaving, he saw clearly the unwillingness in the twin sisters' eyes. They were probably planning to point her out and squeeze her, wanting the old lady to dislike her and embarrass her in front of so many people, but in the end, they only said one sentence and did not accomplish anything, and their faces turned blue.
Jiang Yuchao thought, you two little brats, you have been spoiled and have never been fed before, come on, I will treat you to food as many times as you come.
She left the flower hall where the two families had gathered and went outside to get some fresh air and enjoy the view. The scenery of this big house was nice, with flowers in full bloom and willows in green, presenting a thriving scene.
The hem of her skirt got a little wet, but she didn't plan to change her clothes, so she just walked outside to dry them.
She walked by the pond for a while, and then another person came out of the flower hall. He was Xiao Yunqi, the eldest son of Xiao Xiangguo, and Xiao Jinyue's brother from the same mother. He was a bully like his sister Xiao Jinyue. Although he was the eldest son of Xiao Xiangguo, he was not treated as well as his younger brother who was a few years younger. In the entire Xiao Mansion, he was probably the only one who really cared about Xiao Jinyue. But he was also a kind person who didn't fight or compete, and couldn't protect his sister.
"Jinyue, you just said you were sick. Have you seen a good doctor?" Xiao Yunqi looked at his sister worriedly.
Jiang Yuchao was good at quarreling, but not good at dealing with other people's kindness, especially when this kindness was not for her, but for the original Xiao Jinyue. She could only simply nod, "Much better, not serious."
Xiao Yunqi: "Are you blaming me for not visiting you these days? You live in the women's temple, and I can't go there, and I'm afraid of disturbing you." He took out a purse and said, "You live alone in that cold place, is it enough for you to spend? I have some silver and banknotes here..."
He himself didn't have much monthly allowance in the mansion, so these were probably all he could take out. Jiang Yuchao confiscated them, "There's enough money, keep these for your own use."
She made the smile on her face look a little softer and added, "Brother, don't worry about me."
She was really not used to this kind of scene and felt uncomfortable all over.
Xiao Yunqi looked at her carefully and suddenly said, "I feel like my sister seems a little different."
Jiang Yuchao didn't even raise his eyebrows when he heard him say that. He just said, "After going through life and death, everyone will be different."
Xiao Yunqi immediately felt sorry for his sister. He recalled the bruises on his sister's neck and blamed himself for being useless as a brother. He didn't dare to mention this matter again, fearing that it would upset his sister, so he carefully mentioned other things, "Jinyue, you are living alone in Mingyue Temple now. I think you must be bored and lonely. Next time, I will send you a puppy to keep you company. I heard that many women in the inner house like to raise kittens and puppies to relieve their loneliness. You may be happier looking at these little things."
Jiang Yuchao had never raised a cat or dog before and wanted to refuse, but Xiao Yunqi's worried look made her hesitate. Finally, she said, "Okay, thank you, brother." Anyway, she could just give it to any servant to raise.
Seeing that she agreed, Xiao Yunqi became happy, and his tone was a little excited, "Okay, brother will find you the most obedient and well-behaved dog. You know King Yuling, brother met him by chance a few days ago, he has a lot of dogs, I heard that they are all very smart, I wonder how many people want them, brother will ask for one for you." He thought that if he gave a dog, he also wanted to give his sister the best.
Jiang Yuchao nodded indifferently.
The next day after she returned from the birthday party, a middle-aged woman carrying a basket came to Mingyue Temple and knocked on her door.
"Is the third daughter of the Xiao family here? This puppy was sent here by the eldest son of the Xiao family." The kind-looking woman came to see Jiang Yuchao with a bamboo basket in her arms. She bowed to her first, then put the basket down, lifted the cloth covering it, and took out a fat yellow puppy. The puppy's belly and four paws were all white, and the belly was also white. It had a short tail tip and big eyes like black grapes.
It looked cute, but Jiang Yuchao didn't expect that it was just an ordinary dog. She thought Xiao Yunqi would get her some strange breed of dog, but it was okay this way, as dogs were easy to raise.
The puppy looked like it was born not long ago and had just learned to walk. After the woman put it down from her hands, it twisted its chubby body towards Jiang Yuchao, sniffing her skirt and shoes, with its little tail wagging behind it. After a while, it tilted its head back and barked at her twice in a very babyish voice.
Jiang Yuchao didn't move. She was used to tit-for-tat and not used to any kindness or closeness. She couldn't accept even the closeness of a puppy. But the puppy somehow liked her very much. It ran around her feet, wagging its fleshy little tail.
Seeing the puppy's appearance, the woman who brought the dog smiled even more and asked, "I wonder if there is anyone here who knows how to raise a dog. If not, I will teach you a few words."
Jiang Yuchao pointed out two usually obedient slaves and said, "You two will take care of it from now on."
The two men looked delighted and quickly agreed, then went to listen to the woman talk about some things to pay attention to when raising a dog.
The woman left Mingyue Temple, went to the street corner and took a carriage, and returned to Yuling Palace. She walked into the gate of Yuling Palace. The old man at the door was snoring and didn't notice her at all, but the black dogs lying at the door immediately raised their heads alertly, and when they saw her, they lay down again. The woman was used to it and walked into the palace. This Yuling Palace was not like other houses that were popular for their elegance and built rockery, lotus ponds, curved pools and corridors. The houses in the palace were all on a high platform, grand and simple. After passing through the courtyards, there was a very wide grassland and lake behind, and even a forest in the courtyard.
Yuling King Xi Zhuoyu was rolling up his sleeves and brushing a big dog with a brush. Xiao Yunqi was sitting next to him watching, glancing towards the door from time to time, as if waiting for something.
As soon as the woman appeared, Xiao Yunqi stood up. Seeing that the bamboo basket was no longer in her hand, he smiled. "Did you deliver it?"
The woman smiled and said, "Yes, the little guy likes Miss Xiao San very much."
Xiao Yunqi: "I said, my sister is likable, so the puppy must like her too."
Xi Zhuoyu, who was brushing the dog's fur, smiled and shook his head, "Then you were worried just now."
Xiao Yunqi and Xi Zhuoyu talked about wanting to ask for a dog for their sister, but the owner said that they could take the dog to have a look, and if they liked the dog, they could agree, but if they didn't like the dog, they could take it back. This was the first time Xiao Yunqi had seen such a thing.
"We agreed that if your sister doesn't want to keep the dog anymore, you can't throw it away. You have to send it back to me," Xi Zhuoyu said.
Xiao Yunqi: “…”
Xi Zhuoyu dropped the brush and patted the big dog beside him, as if talking to a person, "You heard it, your daughter has found a good family. She is willing to do so. I will take you to meet her when I have the chance."
The big dog whimpered.
The author has something to say: Now you can start praising me.