Chapter 54-Part 2

Therefore, everything else could be overlooked, but the location of this courtyard was absolutely unacceptable!

Lady Hui of Jing made up her mind to check the other two princesses’ courtyards before making any decisions. Madam Zhao, the palace maid, had initially smirked while inspecting Tian Ying’s courtyard, expecting to find faults. However, when it was time to inspect Cao Xi’s courtyard, her smile disappeared.

Although Cao Xi’s courtyard was much closer to the Crown Prince’s chambers, the furnishings inside were just as shabby as Tian Ying’s, which seemed rather impoverished. On the day of the ceremony, when guests arrived, wouldn’t this greatly damage the face of the Empress’s niece?

Without even needing to see the Bo state princess’s new room, both ladies already had somber expressions, ready to voice their grievances. Madam Zhao spoke most bluntly, summoning the steward and asking if he had the audacity to embezzle, for why were many of the items sent from the palace for Cao Xi missing?

The Empress was highly concerned about appearances and had specially selected several chests of high-quality items from the palace’s tribute to be placed in Cao Xi’s quarters, but none of these items were in sight during the inspection, which greatly angered Madam Zhao.

The steward quickly responded with a smile, “These were the Crown Prince’s orders. Not only were the furnishings of the new rooms to match the specifications for concubines, but so were the ceremonial arrangements.”

Both ladies raised their voices, “Since they are all equal concubines, they should all enter with the rites of the primary consort. This is as shabby as that of concubines!”

The steward, facing the anger of the two ladies, could only smile and remain silent, letting them vent their frustrations.

During Madam Zhao’s outburst, Lady Hui took the opportunity to scrutinize the unaffected Young Master Jiang, standing to the side, then smiled warmly and said, “This must be the brother of the Bo state princess? We haven’t yet seen your sister’s quarters; shall we go take a look and see if they are just as shabby?”

To Lady Hui, Young Master Jiang was in a favorable position, being a trusted aide of the Crown Prince. She had heard he was well-liked and responsible for many details of the wedding arrangements. If she could take this opportunity to gain some benefits for her niece, it would be much easier.

Perhaps he had been speaking ill of them to the Crown Prince? Thinking this, she subtly hinted in her subsequent words, indicating her intention to inspect the Bo state princess’s quarters as well, hoping to find some faults.

Madam Zhao, realizing this, agreed to the suggestion.

Thus, Young Master Jiang agreed with a smile and personally led the two ladies to the Bo state princess’s courtyard.

In Luo’an City, it had recently become fashionable to wear high-heeled clogs with cotton shoes. Though beautiful, they were not very convenient for walking. The two ladies soon found this out the hard way.

It seemed that the Crown Prince’s residence was running short of available courtyards, as the Bo state princess’s quarters were situated in the most remote corner. To reach it, they had to pass through gardens, cross small bridges, walk through bamboo groves, and wind around numerous bends before they could even glimpse the eaves of the house peeking through the trees.

Despite having maidservants for support, both ladies twisted their ankles several times, sweating profusely and cursing silently. The steward, observing Young Master Jiang walking ahead effortlessly in his soft-soled black leather boots, began to suspect him.

There were clearly shorter paths through the gardens, so why did Young Master Jiang deliberately choose the longer, more difficult route? Even though the snow had been cleared from the paths, they were still slippery, and the ladies struggled, nearly slipping several times and losing a few hairpins along the way.

However, to an uninformed observer, Young Master Jiang seemed like a gentle and considerate gentleman, frequently turning back to encourage the ladies with a smile, “Just a little further, ladies, we’re almost there!”

When they finally reached the courtyard, the two ladies were too exhausted to criticize anything immediately. They each chose a chair to sit on, panting heavily until they calmed down.

Once they recovered and looked around, they found that this courtyard was the smallest and most remote of all three! Moreover, the furnishings were extremely modest, with nothing of value. There was nothing for them to criticize because everything was already so poor.