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At the wedding, He Yu had been causing a ruckus for several days during the holiday.
Today, Xuanping Wang finally returned to court, and Xiao Yao could finally settle down. When she got up in the morning, He Yu had already left. Xiao Yao admired him; he had to rise at the hour of the tiger to attend court, yet he had been so lively last night that he stayed up until nearly midnight.
She wondered how he managed to get up this morning as she lay in bed.
Lost in thought, she suddenly heard Yun Bi's voice from outside the tent, "My lady, are you awake? Do you wish to get up?"
Xiao Yao lay on the bed for a moment before lazily responding that she would get up.
Upon receiving Xiao Yao's reply, the bed curtains slowly opened from both sides, and several maidservants began to attend to Xiao Yao. Now, her three personal maidservants were Yun Zhu, who was undoubtedly the head maid, and although Yun Yue and Yun Bi were not in charge, they were all part of Xiao Yao's dowry and thus held a status not much lower than Yun Zhu's.
Getting up was merely a matter of titles. Aside from the subtle hierarchy in front of the prince and princess, in other parts of the mansion, everyone called them "Miss Yun Yue" and "Miss Yun Bi." The three of them understood that their current status was thanks to Xiao Yao as the princess; they were devotedly serving their two mistresses and would never compete for attention in front of them over trivial matters.
Now that Xiao Yao was living in the Central Courtyard, aside from her three personal maidservants, the other serving maids were directly taken from those originally assigned to the prince. If more help was needed, they could simply find a few clever ones from the East Back Courtyard.
When Xiao Yao discussed this with He Yu, he just smiled at her and said, "The Xuanping Prince's Mansion will be your home from now on; naturally, you will be in charge of matters within this residence." Hearing this from He Yu, Xiao Yao nodded in acknowledgment.
While washing up, a maid entered and bowed, saying, "Princess, Madam Cheng and Pan Meiren from the western back garden have come to pay their respects."
Xiao Yao suddenly remembered that there were still two women in the back courtyard. After several days of chaos with He Yu, she had truly forgotten about this matter. Seeing Xiao Yao's uncertain expression, Yun Zhu said, "If my lady does not wish to meet them, just send them back; there's no need to trouble yourself."
"Forget it," Xiao Yao waved her hand. "I will have to see them sooner or later; let them wait in the side room. I will go after I have breakfast."
"Understood." Yun Zhu smiled and stood up but then locked eyes with Xiao Yao. Xiao Yao also smiled back.
The maid received the response, bowed again, and went out to relay the message. Xiao Yao then leisurely prepared for breakfast under the service of her three maidservants.
Yun Yue and Yun Bi both knew that Xiao Yao preferred to have breakfast before changing clothes; according to their mistress's habit, she did not want any soup or sauce dripping on her clothes. Otherwise, she would have to go through the trouble of changing again. While Xiao Yao claimed it was to avoid staining her clothes, in reality, it was just laziness.
In ancient times, clothing was layered and quite complex, changing outfits could be exhausting for both the maid and the mistress.
After a leisurely breakfast, she finally went to the inner chamber to change into a light purple cloud-patterned long dress, paired with a silver-inlaid jade belt, which appeared both cool and elegant. However, her makeup featured soft eyebrows that nicely balanced out Xiao Yao's original imposing presence from her attire.
Once she was nearly ready, Xiao Yao stood up and looked around, then nodded in satisfaction, "Let's go."
"Yes." Yun Zhu stepped forward to support Xiao Yao's hand and guided her towards the side hall.
In the side hall, Cheng Yuezhu and Pan Yueliang sat in their respective positions, neither speaking to the other, only occasionally sipping from their tea bowls.
As Cheng Yuezhu glanced over, she noticed Pan Yueliang's slender fingers painted with vermilion resting on the sweet white porcelain, which made them appear even more delicate. Cheng Yuezhu couldn't help but scoff inwardly; if this person were in another royal residence, she would likely be favored greatly. She probably thought that entering the Xuanping Prince's Mansion, even if she couldn't become a secondary consort or a wife, she would still receive considerable favor.
However, who would have thought that the so-called charming Xuanping Wang had never even touched either of his two concubines! Who would believe that? With this thought, Cheng Yuezhu clenched her fist within her wide sleeves, her nails digging into her palm painfully.
She had always assumed that someone as high-ranking as the prince would surely marry a legitimate daughter or a legitimate second daughter from one of the noble families in the capital. As the daughter of a fifth-rank official, she had never dared to dream of becoming the prince's primary consort.
Entering the mansion as a wife, she thought that if she could bear one son and one daughter, she might be elevated to a secondary consort status; that would be enough for her. She truly didn't ask for much.
Yet unexpectedly, to everyone's astonishment, the prince did not marry any woman from the noble families in the capital but instead traveled far south to secretly take a woman with almost no background as his primary consort.
With this realization, Cheng Yuezhu felt waves of discontent rise within her. If she had known about the prince's intentions earlier, why wouldn't it have been herself sitting in that position? The more she thought about it, the more dissatisfied she became.
Looking at the woman beside her with lowered eyes and submissive demeanor, Cheng Yuezhu felt nothing but disdain and looked down even more on this woman next to her.
Pan Yueliang was a beauty sent by the Eldest Prince, essentially akin to those courtesans who sell their talents without selling their bodies; such women are forever mere playthings for men and can never rise high in status.
While lost in thought, they heard a maid announce that the princess had arrived.
Both Cheng Yuezhu and Pan Yueliang stood up simultaneously. "We pay our respects to the princess."
Pan Yueliang is a beauty, but strictly speaking, she is not even worthy of being called a Consort. Naturally, she cannot refer to herself as "concubine" and can only call herself a servant like the maids. In fact, Pan Yueliang's status might even be lower than that of several personal maids around Xiao Yao.
Yun Zhu helped Xiao Yao sit down in the main seat, and immediately a maid presented tea. Only then did Xiao Yao say, "You may rise."
Cheng Yuezhu pressed her lips together and stood up with Miao Xin's support, while Pan Yueliang got up by herself. For someone of her status, having a maid to serve her in the Wangfu was already quite good; how could she expect to be attended to closely?
Afterward, Cheng Yuezhu and Pan Yueliang offered tea to Xiao Yao, acknowledging her position as the head of the household.
Xiao Yao smiled and said, "From now on, we are all family. Calling me Wangfei feels too distant; how about we call each other sister?"
Cheng Yuezhu forced a smile and replied, "If I offend you in the future, I hope sister will not take it to heart."
Xiao Yao smiled, knowing that Cheng Yuezhu seemed to be two years older than her. This was merely a way for Cheng Yuezhu to recognize her own status. As for Pan Yueliang, Xiao Yao was not worried; this woman was merely a plaything. From what Yun Zhu had said before coming in, she had been quite obedient and rarely left her courtyard.
On the contrary, when Cheng Yuezhu arrived, her status as a lady made her somewhat presumptuous.
Previously, she often strolled through the garden and dressed extravagantly. This intention was clearly evident. Even after the news of the Emperor's marriage decree reached the mansion, someone heard things being thrown in Cheng Yuezhu's courtyard.
After all, no one expected that He Yu would end up marrying a girl from such a family background as Xiao Yao's.
Since Xiao Yao could become Xuanping Wang's Wangfei, why couldn't Cheng Yuezhu?
Xiao Yao listened with great interest to these gossip stories on the way here and was not in a hurry at all.
Since He Yu had managed to avoid these two for the past year or two, it was clear that he had little interest in them. If he really wanted to deal with them, it wouldn't be too difficult.
"What's there to offend or not offend?" Xiao Yao blew on the tea leaves and took a sip before leisurely saying, "We are all sisters after all; we are all here to serve Wang Ye. Only if Wang Ye is well will our lives be better. Cheng Mei Mei, do you agree?"
"Yes, Wangfei is right; I have been presumptuous." Cheng Yuezhu opened her mouth but found that she could not bring herself to call her "sister." Clearly, she had entered the mansion first but allowed this Yellow-Haired Girl to take the lead. How could she accept that?
After sitting for a short while, Cheng Yuezhu excused herself, claiming she was feeling unwell, and left Pan Yueliang alone to face Xiao Yao.
When Cheng Yuezhu was present, Pan Yueliang could simply play the role of a background character, silently following behind Cheng Yuezhu. Now that Cheng Yuezhu had left, Pan Yueliang suddenly felt tense.
Seeing Cheng Yuezhu leave, Xiao Yao did not stop her and merely smiled slightly.
Cheng Yuezhu was the daughter of an official and would naturally carry herself with pride as a lady of the household. She likely could not tolerate Xiao Yao's earlier words.
However, Xiao Yao was not in a hurry; if she had the ability to remain proud like that, then Xiao Yao would truly admire such a woman. She just wondered how long Cheng Yuezhu could maintain that attitude.
Turning her attention back to the beauty before her, she had to admit that Pan Yueliang was indeed stunning. The soft and delicate aura about her would instantly evoke a protective instinct in any man.
Xiao Yao couldn't help but wonder what He Yu was thinking, leaving this beauty unattended for over half a year without even making a move.
But then she recalled that this woman seemed to have been sent by the Eldest Prince. Xiao Yao furrowed her brows; could it be that He Yu was avoiding her because of this connection? It would be unwise to let a concubine sent by a prince into his household without precautions.
With this thought, Xiao Yao felt as if she began to understand the situation better.
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