Page 1158

A group of people happily left the house, and just as the last carriage turned the street corner, a pretty maid from the Yao Mansion opposite walked out and approached the Lin family’s main gate.

The young servant at the gate opened it and exclaimed, "Oh, isn’t this Mo Zhu, the personal maid of Miss Yao Hanai from the mansion across the street?"

Having been in the company of Miss Yao Hanai for a long time, Mo Zhu also carried a bit of her mistress’s aloofness towards others.

Flashing the invitation in her hand, Mo Zhu slightly curved her lips and asked, "May I inquire if Miss Lin is at home?"

Because of the lesson learned from the previous incident with Su Qiuyu, the two servants did not dare to let her inside without permission.

They wanted to avoid being rude by blocking the entry, so they invited her just inside the gate and said with a smile, "Forgive us, miss, but our old master and Madam, along with the young ladies, have gone out of town and are not at home. "

Gone out of town?

Mo Zhu’s brow furrowed slightly as she handed them the invitation, "A few days ago, my mistress thought of inviting Miss Lin for a gathering. Unfortunately, she coincidentally ran into Princess Anle, so she asked me to send this invitation quickly. Please make sure Miss Lin attends."

Without any instruction from their master, the two servants dared not say much and merely responded with a smile without making any comment.

After handing over the invitation, Mo Zhu rolled her eyes playfully and asked with a smirk, "Have Old Master Lin and Madam Lin’s family all gone out? Is there some event? They left in the afternoon; are they planning to stay somewhere for a few days?"

Blinking, the two servants replied with a chuckle, "Actually, our young miss bought a manor outside of town and took the old master and Madam to have a look. They should be back soon."

So that’s the story.

"So she purchased a manor, did she? Miss Lin is truly admirable," she said.

Although she praised with her words, Mo Zhu scoffed disdainfully in her heart, no wonder the young mistress looked down on her.

Mo Zhu asked about some other matters, but the two servants skillfully dodged the questions with vague answers. Perceiving their evasion, Mo Zhu, sharp as she was, knew she would get nothing more from them and politely took her leave.

Upon seeing Yao Hanai, Mo Zhu simply reported what she had learned.

Yao Hanai was playing with her new fan, beautifully adorned with an orchid.

"Buying a manor? Ha, perhaps thinking of reviving their old rural pursuits?

" Yao Hanai said with a sneer, setting the fan on the table and wiping her hands with a cloth, "No wonder Su Qiuyu says she’s a little country girl unfit for public appearance, buying a manor outside the Capital city as soon as she arrived! "

Mo Zhu also laughed mockingly, "Exactly. I heard that their madam even hired Sister Chang to teach them manners! Who knows if those little country girls can actually learn anything?"

Yao Hanai shook her head somewhat sympathetically and said, "Sister Chang is famously a tough old woman in the capital. Not just those country girls, even the noble Young Ladies of the Capital can hardly endure her. I think they’re not really going to see a manor; they’re probably just making an excuse to sneak out for some fun. "

At this, Mo Zhu immediately started flattering, completely shedding her earlier standoffish demeanor from when she interacted with outsiders, "Miss, you’re right.

I also remember when Sister Chang was teaching you the manners, she constantly praised you as the model of capital ladies!

Compared to you, those little country girls from Lin family are utterly insignificant. "

Having said that, she remembered the invitations she had sent out and slightly furrowed her brows, "Miss, do you think they would still dare to attend your banquet? What if..."

"Sister, are you in the room?"

Mo Zhu hadn’t finished speaking when she was suddenly interrupted by Yao Zhilan’s voice, who had burst into the courtyard.

Yao Han Yan’s originally gentle face changed instantly as she signaled Mo Zhu with her eyes to welcome her in.

As Mo Zhu lifted the curtain, Yao Zhilan had already arrived at the gallery, cheerfully smiling upon seeing the figures inside the room, and loudly laughed, "Sister, you’re in the room? Why didn’t you answer me?"

Yao Han Yan slowly sat down at the desk, carefully putting away the fan she had just finished painting.

However, before she could close the box, Yao Zhilan snatched the fan away, "Wow! Sister, you made another fan? It’s so beautiful!

A few days ago, when I talked to Miss Guo, she mentioned that you have exquisite painting skills and hoped to receive a treasure of your calligraphy.

I didn’t expect to see it today, hehe, it’s really pretty, Sister, you truly deserve to be known as the number one talented woman in the Capital city! "

Yao Han Yan, holding the lid of the box, paused, torn between putting it down and holding on to it. She looked up, staring coldly at her silly, illegitimate sister, wondering how their father ever managed to have her.

Actually, if anyone was to blame, it would be her mother. If her mother hadn’t deliberately suppressed these illegitimate children, worried that their brilliance would overshadow her own, she wouldn’t have failed to hire competent tutors for them.

"Since you like it, I’ll give it to you," Yao Han Yan said in a cold tone, feeling particularly disgusted when she looked at the fan in Yao Zhilan’s hand.

Mo Zhu, sensing the opportunity, stepped forward deftly and took the box lid from her hands, placing it aside.

Yao Zhilan hadn’t yet realized that her actions had already annoyed her sister, and she was still happy about receiving her treasure.

Pretending to fan herself with the fan, Yao Zhilan sat down to one side and said to her sister, "Sister, I heard you just sent Mo Zhu across the way to deliver an invitation to that village girl? Why invite her to our house? It really lowers our standards."

As Mo Zhu served the tea, upon hearing her mention ’standards,’ she nearly couldn’t help but laugh out loud. Waving a fan in the middle of winter—Second Miss’s standards weren’t exactly high either.

Yao Han Yan watched her fan herself with the fan and was so annoyed that she walked over to her guqin and casually plucked the strings, producing a series of crisp and pleasant sounds.

"Second Sister, mind your words. Miss Lin is a woman favored by Princess Anle and furthermore, Second Young Master Xia dotes on her dearly. How can she be compared to an ordinary village girl?"

If Yao Zhilan believed that Lin Yuan was favored by Princess Anle, she was convinced, especially since she had personally seen the princess leaving her residence to welcome her. However, if one said she was a beloved of Xia Zheng, Yao Zhilan wouldn’t believe it.

She widened her eyes, quickly stood up from her stool. "Second Young Master Xia? No way! Isn’t he fond of Miss Su from the Su family? Su Qiuyu! Everyone in the whole Capital city knows that!"

Yao Han Yan wiped the guqin strings with a cloth, her cold voice slowly emerged, "Miss Su’s affection is unrequited."

"But, but how do you know that, Sister? No one in the whole Capital city has talked about this!"

Yao Zhilan still didn’t believe it; after all, Xia Zheng was also the man of her dreams. Although she knew she wasn’t a match for Xia Zheng, losing to Su Qiuyu and losing to a village girl were completely different matters, not even comparable in her own words—a matter of completely different tastes.