The Eldest Daughter Is Beautiful and Saucy
Chapter 535: Heaven’s Proud Daughter
Chapter 535: Heaven’s Proud Daughter
“Today, your second aunt’s dowry farm sent some seasonal fruits. The honeydew melon is especially sweet. Although you don’t like sweets, you can try some!”
After saying this, Old Lady Dong asked Nanny Wang to prepare a chessboard and asked a maid to cut a plate of fruit.
Bai Qingyan pretended not to know that Old Lady Dong was crying. She only felt a pang in her heart. She lowered her eyes and nodded to hide her red eyes.
It was a rare occasion that Old Madam Dong was in such a good mood, so Bai Qingyan played a few games with her. Nanny Wang and several maids in Old Madam Dong’s room joined in the fun, saying that Bai Qingyan was an expert in chess and was well-known in the capital, and that the old madam was also an excellent chess player, so they asked everyone to place a bet to see who would win!
Seeing that his grandmother was in high spirits, Bai Qingyan would try to win a piece or two every time to make the old lady happy.
Unexpectedly, Old Lady Dong picked up the white pieces on the chessboard and put them into the chess box. She smiled and said to Bai Qingyan, “After all, I am old. I am not as smart as young people. I lose!”
Chun Tao, who was standing behind Bai Qingyan holding a teapot, was very straightforward and said quickly, “The old lady obviously won!”
Nanny Wang covered her lips with her hands and laughed: “You little fool! Can’t you see that your daughter is deliberately giving in to the old lady!”
Chun Tao was called “little fool” by the cheerful and amiable Nanny Wang, and her face immediately turned red. She asked in a low voice: “So does the old lady count this as a loss or a win? I and a few sisters outside bet on our girl to win!”
Chuntao’s words caused everyone in the room to burst into laughter. Nanny Wang even said that Chuntao was a little money-grubber.
Nanny Wang sighed in her heart that the old lady’s place had not been so lively for a long time, and it was all thanks to the cousin’s coming.
After such a commotion in Old Madam Dong’s room, Bai Qingyan waited for Old Madam Dong to take a nap, but the nap did not take place. Instead, Bai Qingyan was pulled aside by Old Madam Dong to have a private conversation.
Old Lady Dong sat back on the couch leaning against her hidden bag, dismissed her attendants, tightly grasped Bai Qingyan’s hand, stared at Bai Qingyan with her sharp eyes, and talked about the emperor’s stupidity.
“Once the fate of the Lin family’s imperial power ends in your hands, have you ever thought about how to face your grandmother?” Seeing Bai Qingyan frowning and unwilling to speak, Old Lady Dong sighed and stretched out her hand to hold Bai Qingyan in her arms, patting her back like coaxing a child, “It’s not that grandma wants to poke you in the heart, your grandmother is the eldest princess of the Lin family, and the royal family is her natal family. How can she not take care of it? Your grandmother was born in the royal family, she has pride and arrogance. It’s okay to destroy the Lin family’s imperial power. She is not afraid of being a princess of a fallen country, but the one who destroys the Lin family’s imperial power… must not be her descendants, especially you… who were raised in her arms since childhood.”
Old Lady Dong looked down at Bai Qingyan in her arms and asked softly, “Do you understand?”
Bai Qingyan pursed her lips and nestled in Old Madam Dong’s arms without saying a word. In terms of closeness… Bai Qingyan was closer to the Grand Princess than to Old Madam Dong. She had never thought that one day her grandmother would say such words to her. It showed that her grandmother really loved her.
The reason why Old Lady Dong brought up this matter with Bai Qingyan was because Dong Qingyue told her about Bai Qingyan’s ambitions last night.
Old Lady Dong was afraid… With the eldest princess’s temper, if Bai Qingyan really destroyed the Lin royal power with her own hands, the eldest princess might just apologize to her ancestors with a white silk ribbon.
But if this is true, it would leave a huge pain in Bai Qingyan’s heart, especially since she is a very loyal person. I am afraid it would become a lifelong knot in her heart, and she would think that she was unfilial and killed her dearest grandmother.
Instead of trying to comfort Bai Qingyan afterwards, it is better to explain it to the child early on so that she can be mentally prepared and on guard.
“Granddaughter understands!” Bai Qingyan nodded sullenly in Old Lady Dong’s arms. She said she understood, but she still couldn’t come up with a plan in her mind. If it really came to that, she hadn’t figured out how to tell her grandmother or how to comfort her.
Old Lady Dong gently stroked Bai Qingyan’s back and said, “Grandmother would like to go and persuade your grandmother for you, but if she does so, she will be even more upset and feel that you, her granddaughter who has grown up in her arms, have become distant from her. The person who tied the bell must untie it, Abao…you have to understand this.”
Bai Qingyan said nothing, just nodded in the arms of Old Lady Dong.
The grandparents chatted with each other for a while, and then Bai Qingyan helped Old Lady Dong lie down.
Bai Qingyan had just come out of Old Madam Dong’s room when he saw Dong Tingyun walking into the courtyard with a smile on her face, with a maid behind her carrying a rattan bamboo food box.
“Cousin!” Dong Tingyun asked with a smile, “Has grandma gone to bed?”
Bai Qingyan nodded: “I have already rested.”
“Then I won’t go in to disturb you. Cousin, if you have time, I have some newly brewed rose wine and lotus cakes made by my aunt. Would you like to try some?” Dong Tingyun turned around and took the food box from the maid, as if she wanted to sit down with Bai Qingyan. She glanced at Chuntao who was standing behind Bai Qingyan in an orderly manner, and said with a stiff smile, “I have something to tell you, cousin!”
Dong Tingyun had never been to the Bai family in Dadu, let alone Shuoyang, so she didn’t know the relationship between the legitimate and illegitimate children in the Bai family. But in a family like theirs, there was a clear distinction between legitimate and illegitimate children. She was a concubine’s daughter… When the elders were around, they would talk to the legitimate daughter, and the legitimate daughter would agree for the sake of the elders’ face.
But in private, legitimate daughters usually look down on illegitimate daughters, not to mention that her cousin was once the eldest legitimate daughter of the Duke of Zhenguo’s Mansion, a truly favored daughter of heaven, and now she is even a princess. Dong Tingyun didn’t know if Bai Qingyan would look down on her if she rashly invited him, or would find an excuse to leave, and she felt uneasy.
Bai Qingyan heard this and nodded.
Seeing that Bai Qingyan didn’t refuse or seem reluctant, Dong Tingyun smiled even brighter and happier: “Why don’t we go to the Shanshui Pavilion? The view there is great!”
Seeing this, Chuntao stepped forward and took the food box from Dong Tingyun, then retreated behind Bai Qingyan and followed him to Shanshuixuan.
The Shanshui Pavilion, as the name suggests, is located on a rockery, surrounded by mountains and water. On one side is the rippling lake with blooming lotus flowers and koi chasing each other, and on the other side are tall trees standing in deep green.
Chuntao and Dong Tingyun’s personal maid brought out lotus cakes and a plate of crabapple cakes, and a white jade wine pot filled with rose wine brewed by Dong Tingyun, and placed slender carved silver chopsticks and wine glasses on it.
After everything was arranged properly, Chuntao and Dong Tingyun’s maids bowed and left.
In the pavilion with the cool breeze and swaying curtains, Dong Tingyun poured a glass of wine for Bai Qingyan and said with a smile: “Before cousin came to Dengzhou, she probably didn’t know that she had a sister like me!”
“My mother told me before I came here.” Bai Qingyan asked calmly, “What do you want to tell me, cousin?”
The third update! Please continue to ask for monthly votes! I will briefly explain the low status of the concubine of the Dong family and the reasons for it tomorrow, as tomorrow is New Year’s Eve…