Chapter 11

Gao Ran was taken aback by this thought. Lin Wei Xi noticed the gaze on her and asked, “What’s the matter?”

Her heart was pounding. She looked at the face in front of her, which was completely different from Gao Xi’s, and laughed at herself for thinking too much. Be it in terms of identity, appearance, or personality, Lin Wei Xi wasn’t similar to Gao Xi in the slightest. Not to mention, Gao Xi was already dead, and Gao Ran had even personally lit the incense in front of her tablet.

Gao Xi, who relied on her grandmother to rob someone of their marriage, ultimately received retribution. If it didn’t belong to her, it was useless to rob it. As for the girl in front of her, there was nothing to her except for her face. She was nothing more than a stepping stone for Gao Ran on her road to being a solely favoured wife.

She overcame her panic, smiling as she said to Lin Wei Xi, “I hope your journey wasn’t too arduous, Miss Lin must’ve suffered a lot on the road, right? All’s well now that you’re here in the residence. I’ll instruct my servants to prepare dinner for you, and you’ll be able to rest properly.”

As Gao Ran was about to send someone to replace Lin Wei Xi’s bedding for a new one, when she interrupted her and said, “Shizi Fei, please wait a moment, I’ve brought my own necessities. In a while, Uncle Zhou will help me move everything over from the front courtyard, no need to trouble Shizi Fei. As for the courtyard where I’ll be staying… His Highness Prince Yan said that he has his own arrangements, so Shizi Fei doesn’t need to bother with it.”

Lin Wei Xi had been completely uncooperative this entire time. She didn’t allow Gao Ran to carry out sisterly acts, she didn’t need the bedding that Gao Ran had prepared, now she didn’t even let Gao Ran lend a hand with her living arrangements. Although Gao Ran was still smiling, the stiffness of her lips revealed her true feelings. Granny Tao, who stood behind her, was already quite displeased. Ever since Gao Ran came to Prince Yan Residence, unlike her suffering in her maiden home, not only was she the one managing the house throughout, Shizi also loved Gao Ran dearly. Even a maid like Granny Tao rose with the circumstances of her mistress, and her ambitions slowly grew as well. What right did an orphan girl, who’d just arrived, have to disrespect Shizi Fei?

Granny Tao got so angry that she spoke without thinking, “Shizi Fei is the mistress of the household, with the entire Prince Yan Residence’s under her control. Miss Lin’s attitude is so terrible, Shizi Fei doesn’t actually need to be concerned with your daily necessities. It can be assumed that your family is rich, so you should be able to handle all your expenses right?”

“Granny Tao.” Gao Ran softly chided, “Miss Lin is a guest.”

Lin Wei Xi smiled to herself. No wonder Gao Ran, a shu daughter, succeeded in marrying her sister’s husband. Her manner of speaking and acting set the bar high. She was clearly scolding the maid, but when she said “Miss Lin is a guest”, she painted Lin Wei Xi as being deliberately provocative and having great ambitions despite clearly coming from a poor family.

Lin Wei Xi gripped the hand-held furnace, covered her lips and coughed twice. After the coughing subsided, her cheeks were painted in an unusually red blush, which made her look even more beautiful. But her tone was, contrary to her looks, careless, “where do I start. Well, my father was conferred as Marquis Zhongyong by the emperor himself, with thousands of acres of fertile land to his name. I am now his only descendant. Although I can’t compare to the Emperor’s noble descendants, I won’t have to worry about my food and clothing.”

Wan Yue was indeed worthy of being someone who’d been carefully trained by the county magistrate Lady. When she saw this, she immediately moved closer to Lin Wei Xi and said, “Although our Miss lost her parents at a young age, she is known as the apple of the Marquis’s eye. Marquis Zhongyong sacrificed his life for the country as an act of loyalty, and our miss became Marquis Zhongyong’s remaining daughter, because of that loyalty.”

Gao Ran’s face darkened when she heard this. She’d actually forgotten that Lin Wei Xi had a nominal Marquis father. If she’d been the child of a martyr in modern times, she would’ve been greatly advantaged, be it from her schooling to her employment, and this was even more so in ancient times, where they put more focus on reputation and family.

Marquis Zhongyong was only an honorary title, with no residence and no real power, but he had died for his country. If Lin Wei Xi were a boy, enlisting in the army would be as easy as a hot knife cutting through butter, just by relying on the Zhongyang name. Even though she was only a girl, it was enough for her to live the rest of her life in comfort just by relying on Marquis Zhongyang’s legacy. And Granny Tao had just tried to insult Lin Wei Xi… Gao Ran’s expression turned ugly, but it was quickly covered up with a smile. She pretended to be angry and said, “Granny Tao, Miss Lin is Marquis Zhongyong’s descendant, and I secretly admire her very much. I’m beyond happy that I can see Miss Lin now, what are you saying?”

Granny Tao hastily lowered her head and retreated behind Gao Ran. Lin Wei Xi stood there like none of it concerned her, watching while stroking her sleeves, then looked up at the vermilion pillars that spanned the corridor, and said slowly, “I just arrived in the capital and don’t understand the rules, so I didn’t dare say too much until now. But seeing the behaviour of the people around Shizi Fei, it turns out that saying the wrong words doesn’t warrant punishment in the capital? Even if someone bullies the guests, it can be swept under the rug with one word from the host.”

The smile on Gao Ran’s face stiffened, “Miss Lin… “

Lin Wei Xi fearlessly looked Gao Ran in the eyes, “What, does Shizi Fei still want to teach me something?”

Gao Ran felt her chest tighten from frustration when she met the challenging expression on Lin Wei Xi’s face. After staring at each other for a moment, in the end Gao Ran didn’t dare say harsh words to the child of a martyr, and said with a sullen face, “Granny Tao, have I been too indulgent with you, so much so that you became arrogant about your abilities? Quickly apologized to Miss Lin.”

Granny Tao was stunned. Ever since she followed Gao Ran to the Prince Yan Residence, her treatment here ,compared to the Duke Ying Residence, felt almost like heaven and earth. She’d gotten used to having the prestige of being the mistress’s wet nurse, and now she had to apologize to a sixteen year old girl in front of so many servants. This was incredibly humiliating. Granny Tao actually didn’t pay much attention to Lin Wei Xi. Wasn’t she just a country bumpkin? Even if her father relied on the Prince to confer the Marquis title to him, it didn’t change the fact that she was just a village girl. Granny Tao looked at Gao Ran in disbelief, but after seeing the look in her eyes, she gave in and toughened up to apologize to Lin Wei Xi, “this slave was complacent and lacked decency, and offended Miss Lin. May Miss Lin please forgive me.”

Lin Wei Xi’s delicate jaw didn’t move, and she only glanced at Granny Tao with her eyelids lowered. She spoke firmly but condescendingly, “Get up. You only spoke rudely to me this time, so I won’t hold you accountable out of consideration for Prince Yan. If you dare insult the name of Marquis Zhongyong again, then you will bear the crime of disrespecting the imperial heroes and no one will be able to take responsibility for you.”

After saying that, Lin Wei Xi didn’t even bother looking at Granny Tao and Gao Ran, and walked forwards. Since marrying into the Prince Yan Residence, Gao Ran had rarely been ignored like this. She was stunned for a moment, rage flaming her eyes, but she suppressed it in the end and quickly chased after Lin Wei Xi.

“Miss Lin, since you don’t want me to prepare the courtyard for you, then where are you going to stay for now?”

Lin Wei Xi paused and she immediately slowed down. She’d almost forgotten that it was supposed to be her first visit to the Prince Yan Residence, so she shouldn’t know her way around. She disguised it with a low cough and said, “I’ll have to trouble Shizi Fei to lead me to the main hall. His Highness Prince Yan has given me great kindness, so I must wait for him to return to pay my respects.”

Gao Ran had nothing to say. In fact, in this short period of time, her opinion of Lin Wei Xi plummeted again and again. She now understood that this wasn’t a little white lotus in the popular sense, but a character with some tricks up her sleeve that stung. With competition suddenly moving in like this, it seemed like Gao Ran still had a long road ahead of her.

The flames in Gao Ran’s heart grew hotter and hotter. She lowered her head to conceal the hostility and aggressiveness in her eyes, and when she raised her head, she looked gentle and generous once again, “Miss Lin is truly honourable and loyal. When Father comes back and sees you, he will definitely be very pleased. Follow me Miss Lin, the main hall of the back courtyard is this way.”

Lin Wei Xi was taken aback for a moment, and realized that when Gao Ran said “Father”, it referred to Prince Yan. Lin Wei Xi felt a little perplexed and an unspeakable pride at the same time. Was Gao Ran trying, and failing, to demonstrate her relationship with Prince Yan? She thought to herself, if it was about their relationship with Prince Yan, no one would know for sure.

Lin Wei Xi fell ill on the way and burned up with a fever the entire night. At that time, she was delirious from fever, but extremely sensitive to the sounds and movement around her. Amidst the haze, she could hear some footsteps, and lifted a sliver of her eyelid after much effort to see Prince Yan sitting at her bedside, his face sombre as he checked her forehead. He frowned in silence, and after a while, left to bring a doctor. Lin Wei Xi laid inside the room and could only hear faint voices coming from outside. Even when discussing her illness, Prince Yan made everyone lower their voice.

Based on the kindness he showed while she was ill, Lin Wei Xi knew she hadn’t been wrong to choose Prince Yan as her role model so many years ago. Even though she’d suffered because of his son, she couldn’t find a reason to be angry with Prince Yan himself. She was in the middle of scolding someone the first time she met him. Then afterwards, her tricks had been exposed, she was seen with an unkempt appearance, and was disciplined when she’d lost her temper… all of her ugliness had already been exposed. It couldn’t get worse, so she was calm in his presence. Even if she clearly showed her dislike for Gao Ran, he wouldn’t bat an eye. But if Gao Ran tried to be a smart aleck and complain to Prince Yan… Heh, then it would be uncertain who was telling the truth and who was lying.

Lin Wei Xi actually knew where the main hall was, but because of her previous mistake, she decided to follow Gao Ran to their destination. Gao Ran was about to lead her in when she was suddenly called away by a servant. Lin Wei Xi’s years of upbringing taught her not to wander around by herself when the host wasn’t there, so she stood there and waited. With her white velvet cloak draped over her shoulder, she stared at the flowers carved onto the window, overcome with boredom, when a voice suddenly came from behind, “Sister Xi.”

Obviously, Lin Wei Xi turned around, just in time to see a man step through the gate and meet her gaze. Hearing the words that were shouted just now, he looked obviously taken aback.

Sister Xi?

Lin Wei Xi’s expression turned stiff when she saw the person walking towards her, so she quickly lowered her head to hide the violent emotions stirring in her eyes. During this time, Zhou Mao Cheng had somehow walked all the way to her side, and said in a carefree manner, “Sister Xi, you cough every other step. Why aren’t you resting inside? What are you doing standing in the draft?”

Lin Wei Xi was afraid that she’d be exposed if she were to relax, so she could only force her face into a neutral expression. She glanced indifferently at the person walking towards her, before shifting her gaze to Zhou Mao Cheng. He slapped his forehead and exclaimed, “whoops, I forgot to introduce you. This is the Prince’s only son, our Prince Yan Residence’s Shizi, Gu Cheng Yao. He’s one of us, so you don’t need to be shy.”

“Who is one of us?” Lin Wei Xi said jerkily without raising her head, and she respectfully and coldly saluted Gu Cheng Yao, “Shizi.”

Zhou Mao Cheng had a rough personality, so he didn’t notice how tense her body was, and even enthusiastically introduced Gu Cheng Yao, “Shizi, this is the girl the Prince mentioned in his letter, the only daughter of Marquis Zhongyong, Lin Wei Xi.”

Normally, a woman’s maiden name couldn’t be revealed, but Gu Cheng Yao was Prince Yan’s son, so to Zhou Mao Cheng, he certainly wasn’t a stranger, and he ended up carelessly revealing Lin Wei Xi’s name. The inexplicable shock Gu Cheng Yao felt didn’t subside until he heard her full name.

So she was called Lin Wei Xi, and she wasn’t Sister Xi. Gu Cheng Yao couldn’t tell what he was feeling, but in front of a guest, he ignored the complicated emotions in his heart. Instead, he smiled politely at her, “I’m Gu Cheng Yao. Since your father sacrificed himself to save my father, then you are the Prince Yan Residence’s honoured guest. In the future, there’s no need to hold yourself back while living in our residence, and if you have any difficulties, just come and find me.”

Lin Wei Xi’s expression was still frigid, but she laughed to herself, laughing until she pitied herself… Gu Cheng Yao had said to a completely unfamiliar woman, “If you have any difficulties, just come and find me.” However, as his wife in her past life, she exhausted herself both mentally and physically in order to manage the household, and racked her brains in order to accommodate his lifestyle. In the end, she fell ill and died of overwork, but she’d never heard Gu Cheng Yao say even one sentence of “if you have any difficulties, you can come find me”.

The ups and downs in one’s life were truly absurd.