The bright morning sun shone down, casting the figure before them in a cloud-like, ethereal glow, momentarily leaving everyone speechless. After a long pause, a concubine spoke, “Is that… Lingyun?”
Lu Lingyun glanced at the concubine who had spoken, recognizing her as Meng, one of her father’s mistresses. It was Meng’s illegitimate son who had carried her out of the house when she married. “It’s only been a few days, and you already don’t recognize me?” Lu Lingyun chuckled, her voice laced with playful sarcasm.
The room suddenly came alive with chatter. “Indeed, I couldn’t recognize her!” “The aura she carries now, we wouldn’t even dare to!” “Exactly! When Lingyun walked in just now, I thought she was some heavenly being or a noble lady from the palace!” “I felt the same way. Such an imposing aura, I’ve only seen it in noblemen and marquises!” “No wonder they say the侯府 [Houfu (Marquis’s Manor)] nourishes people! Look at Lingyun, she’s only been married for a few days and she’s already completely different from us!”
Lu Lingyun’s relatives and in-laws were all from similar, respectable families, even those from their hometown who were considered “poor” were still landowners who toiled the fields. Among them, Lu Lingyun had the highest and best marriage. She married into the侯府 [Houfu (Marquis’s Manor)]. A truly prestigious noble family, a chasm separated them from the rest.
Everyone showered Lu Lingyun with compliments. Sitting in the room, Lu Han Yi watched with her eyes wide, her hand clutching a handkerchief. Her mother called out to her several times, but she didn’t hear a word.
Lu Lingyun gracefully approached, “Greetings, Mother.”
Liu Shi quickly rose and pulled Lu Lingyun towards the couch with a warm smile, “You are so polite, my dear. Come, come, sit beside me and let your mother have a good look at you.”
Lu Lingyun obliged. The main seat was a long couch, with Lu Han Yi already seated on the right. Liu Shi pulled Lu Lingyun to sit on the left. Throughout this, Lu Han Yi couldn’t take her eyes off the shimmering brocade and the colorful cloud crown adorning Lu Lingyun.
“Where did you get that shimmering brocade and colorful cloud crown!” she blurted out.
“My mother-in-law gave them to me,” Lu Lingyun answered calmly. Lu Han Yi’s eyes were burning with envy.
In her previous life, she had spent over a decade in the Houfu and had seen Qin Shi’s prized possessions, these two treasures that she kept under lock and key. The first time she saw them, she was captivated by them, but Qin Shi never gifted them to her. Despite multiple attempts, through subtle hints and even direct requests, Qin Shi never relented.
Why did she give them to Lu Lingyun right after her arrival? Why, why, why! It was enough to make her furious!
At that moment, Liu Shi’s servant girl whispered something in her ear. Liu Shi, taken aback for a moment, turned to Lu Lingyun with a surprised smile, “Lingyun, I heard that your mother-in-law has already entrusted you with managing the household affairs?”
Lu Lingyun’s news travelled slowly back from the Houfu, and it quickly spread through the words of her maids, Chun Xing, Chun He, and Shuang Hong.
Lu Lingyun showed no outward change in expression. She glanced at the three maids, “Yes, my mother-in-law is kind and she trusts me. She wants me to learn how to manage the household.”
As soon as she finished speaking, the room was filled with compliments once again.
“Oh, our Lingyun has truly married into a good family!”
“Exactly! To entrust the new wife with managing the household affairs right after her arrival, that speaks volumes about the family!”
“It’s the Houfu, after all, a noble family, their way of doing things is just different!”
“It also speaks to Lingyun’s capabilities, how many people could handle such a responsibility?”
The compliments came in waves, interrupted only by a cold sneer of jealousy. “Don’t be ridiculous,” a voice said.
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