Flowery Hair: A Maidservant

Chapter 212 A Young Girl's Thoughts and Marriage

into the night.

Donggua went to the small kitchen of Fu'anju to accompany Steward An. When Huayan returned to Yunyi Courtyard with Lvliu, the Third Miss was talking with her sisters to Consort Chun. Mengzhu, Ruizhu and Mingyue were serving Consort Chun.

When Mengzhu saw Huayan enter the flower hall, she silently nodded slightly to her. She and Ruizhu had already returned to the mansion before dinner.

In June of this year, the Third Miss came of age. Because of the relationship between the Eldest Young Master and Consort Chun, many mistresses in the capital had indeed had feelings for the Third Miss, and some had asked the Yun family and the Marquis of Huai'an Mansion, who were familiar with the Tang family, to inquire about her in a roundabout way.

However, Madam Yun declined, saying that she planned to keep the Third Miss by her side for another two years and had not yet begun to look at potential partners.

Hua Yan, accompanied by Lü Liu, bowed to the young ladies. However, the third young lady and the others dared not accept Hua Yan's greetings as before, and instead rose to return the greetings.

The third young lady still had some impression of Green Willow, and said with a smile, "It's been several years since we last met. Green Willow looks more and more composed and capable now. I heard from my eldest sister that Green Willow helped her a lot when she first arrived in Jinnan."

After bowing respectfully according to etiquette, Green Willow replied, "When the young lady first arrived in Jinnan, she had several dowry shops, and I helped look after them for a period of time."

Actually, it wasn't about looking after the shops. If it weren't for Green Willow sending a message to the mansion to protect the Tang family's reputation, the eldest young lady would have probably caused a huge uproar in the Song family's inner quarters. This matter caused quite a stir in the Lin'an mansion for a few days. Madam Yun sent a letter, arranged for a long-time nanny to be by the eldest young lady's side, and took back all the dowry estates and shops, leaving Green Willow to look after them for a while. Only after the eldest young lady calmed down was Green Willow allowed to return them.

During that period, Huanyun was in Jinnan. With Huanyun's skills and experience, she was more than capable of helping Lvliu manage several shops. However, Lvliu had also experienced a lot. Last year, she went through the refugee crisis and saw a lot of suffering, which made her more resolute.

The seventh young lady chimed in crisply, "My eldest sister cried several times today at the old lady's and Aunt Liu's places."

The fifth young lady pouted and said, "Today is the day my second sister visits her family. My eldest sister's crying and wailing is really unlucky."

My elder sister wants to stay in the capital, but she's also worried that her husband might go astray alone on the frontier. If you ask me, what's so great about the capital? It would be better to go to the frontier with him. Manager Gong mentioned Guangyang Prefecture's clear skies and gentle breezes when he visited last time; it's quite enchanting.”

The third young lady's eyes trembled slightly. "Eldest sister has never suffered much hardship. The Northwest is bitterly cold, and even Quan-ge'er couldn't endure it."

The Fifth Miss gave a soft hum and fell silent, while the Sixth Miss remained indifferent, as if lost in thought.

Consort Chun looked at her younger sisters sitting below with a hint of envy in her eyes, but the bitter smile did not reach them. She said lightly, "Eldest sister is indeed overthinking things. Eldest brother-in-law is an upright man and is by no means a fickle person."

This marriage is excellent. Song Chengrui has never even had a private roommate. After the marriage, the young lady has become even more delicate and charming. Consort Chun, seeing this, couldn't help but feel a little envious.

The third young lady took a sip of tea and abruptly changed the subject, mentioning her close friends from Lin'an. She first talked about how the third young lady of Prefect Qin's (formerly the Assistant Prefect of Lin'an) family had also gotten married last year. She heard that he was a former student of Prefect Qin and that his married life was quite happy. She then briefly mentioned the circumstances of other people, mostly the concubine's daughters she knew.

Hua Yan had only heard a few words when she realized the Third Miss's deeper meaning.

Within the grand mansions, the fates of legitimate and illegitimate children differed greatly.

The eldest daughter, born to the principal wife, is pampered and spoiled from a young age. Like the second young lady, she is expected to achieve great things by the family and is showered with affection. She receives meticulous instruction from renowned teachers, and by the time she reaches marriageable age, her dowry is overflowing with silks, jewels, and other precious items. When it comes time to arrange marriage, she is often chosen as the principal wife and enters into a prestigious family.

Daughters born out of wedlock, however, were often neglected by their stepmothers from a young age and received little formal education. As they grew up, their stepmothers often used them for personal gain, arbitrarily marrying them off, and most of them became concubines, dependent on the principal wife.

Their fates diverged so drastically, a truly poignant situation.

However, in the Tang family, Madam Yun, as the legal mother, never mistreated the eldest daughter or other concubine daughters. Even with the fourth daughter's foolish and vicious nature, Madam Yun did give her a chance.

The third young lady has reached marriageable age, and her fear of being implicated by her birth mother and unborn sister is understandable.

Consort Chun looked at the Third Miss gently and interrupted, "Third sister, there's no need to worry. Your marriage is not in a hurry. I have already instructed Mother that our Lin'an Marquis's Mansion does not need to form a marriage alliance. The most important thing for your marriages is to suit your own tastes."

The third young lady's eyes welled up with tears, and her face showed gratitude.

Both the fifth and sixth young ladies will be of marriageable age next year. Upon hearing this, even the innocent and carefree fifth young lady couldn't help but blush.

"I don't want to get married. What's wrong with being a girl for the rest of my life?"

My second cousin got engaged to the son of the Xu family, the Vice Minister of the Court of Judicial Review, at the end of July. It was considered a good match. However, it wasn't until after the engagement that my aunt and cousin Wen found out that the second young master Xu had once been in love with a woman and was still deeply in love with her...

The sixth young lady hurriedly reached out and covered the fifth young lady's mouth. The fifth young lady blinked, feeling guilty and not daring to say anything more.

Hua Yan and Consort Chun exchanged a glance. They were unaware of this matter, but Hua Yan knew who the Second Young Master Xu admired was.

Even the Third Miss was unaware of such a secret. She couldn't help but sigh, "No wonder my second cousin is so downcast today. My aunt was overjoyed when my eldest cousin married into the Prince Rui's household, so my second cousin's marriage must have been carefully chosen for a long time..."

Consort Chun glared at the Fifth Miss and said helplessly, "Fifth Sister... could it be that you went to Fu'an Residence to eavesdrop again? You must not mention this in front of others."

"Only Sixth Sister knows about this, Second Sister, please rest assured." Fifth Miss pretended to drink tea, and muttered to herself with her head down.

Consort Chun said to the sixth young lady, who looked like a quail, "I'm afraid your temperament will require your mother to discipline you more. Your sixth sister is steady and reliable, so you should also help look after her on a daily basis."

The sixth young lady nodded repeatedly, "I will obey Second Sister's instructions."

"At the end of July, when the late emperor was seriously ill, my second cousin was over seventeen years old. It's understandable that my aunt was a little anxious. Since the second young master Xu also agrees to this marriage, it would be good if they could treat each other with respect after marriage."

Hua Yan lowered her head and pondered. This matter was not so simple. Given the temperament of the second young lady of the Marquis's mansion, and now that the Marquis of Huai'an's mansion had gained some influence, she would inevitably cause trouble after marrying into the Xu family.

However, this had little to do with the Marquis of Lin'an's residence, and everyone present only sighed a few times before saying nothing more.

After the young ladies left, Consort Chun said to Hua Yan, "It's rare for Green Willow to come all this way. Meng Zhu will be on night duty tonight. You two don't need to serve her here. You two can have a good chat."

Hua Yan bowed her head in agreement and led Lü Liu back to the side room where she used to live in the mansion.

The interior furnishings remained unchanged, just as they were before I left.

Hua Yan probed briefly and, seeing that Lü Liu knew nothing about entering the palace, reassured her and said, "Now that you are managing the embroidery shop of the merchant guild in Jin Nan, learn from Manager Zheng how to manage things. Before you return to Jin Nan tomorrow, leave a list of the people you can use and give it to Mother Wei. The ones you mentioned in your last letter, like Chun Tao, are quite good."

Green Willow nodded blankly, "They are all from Jinzhou, and were selected from among the refugees at your request. Sister Huanyun once sent people back to Jinnan to teach them, and Yingchun is in charge of them. Now they have learned almost all the rules and etiquette, and Chuntao is especially clever."

"Remember this, don't forget it."

Hua Yan gave her another reminder.