Did I bite you hard last night?
She still remembered this, and Yu Zhi's eyes welled up with tears: "Mmm..."
"I won't bite you next time, what if you hurt yourself?"
She finally showed some basic human decency, and Yu Zhi shed tears of gratitude: "Didn't you say you'd only try a couple of bites?"
"You've already tasted it, what's the difference between two bites and two hundred bites?"
"..."
If she had known this would happen, Yu Zhi would never have dared to stay in bed.
The sunlight was neither too warm nor too cold. After she finished dressing and went outside, she saw the figure kneeling outside the door and exclaimed softly, "Granny Wu? Why are you kneeling here?"
Thinking of the commotion she and the Fourth Miss had made in the room, she was so ashamed she could hardly lift her head: "Granny, please get up!"
Granny Wu looked at the well-dressed fourth young lady.
Wei Pingxi smiled casually: "Her words are my words. Get up. Don't rush to kneel again."
She has a strange personality; she dislikes people who are unruly or who place too much importance on rules. After experiencing this firsthand, Granny Wu became even more convinced that the Fourth Miss was truly dignified.
She secretly watched Aunt Yu walk out of her courtyard. Based on her experience, the Fourth Miss had been very kind to her after taking a concubine.
Her willow-leaf eyes were alluring but not seductive, her complexion was rosy, she looked shy, and her chest was fuller than usual.
Yu Zhi was unaware that she had seen through quite a few 'truths' at a glance, but Wu Mama's little tricks did not escape the Fourth Miss's notice.
“From now on, Granny will follow Zhizhi. Jinshi and Yinding are still too inexperienced to deter petty scoundrels. With you by her side, I doubt those nobodies will dare to act recklessly. I will personally speak to Mother.”
Yu Zhi looked slightly pleased.
Granny Wu was taken aback, then overjoyed: "Thank you so much, Fourth Miss! Thank you so much, Aunt Yu!"
...
After getting ready, Wei Pingxi led his favorite concubine to Liulan Courtyard to pay his respects to his mother.
Li Le, accompanied by the servants of the courtyard, rushed over to greet them: "Greetings, Fourth Miss; greetings, Aunt Yu."
"Get up, where is Mother? Is she up yet?"
"I just got up. Madam said, 'Miss, please come in.'"
With these words, Wei Pingxi strode forward with composure.
After dressing up, Madam Wei sat in front of the dressing table, gazing at her reflection in the bronze mirror, lost in thought.
Good morning, Mother.
Yu Zhi followed the Fourth Miss and bowed to greet her.
"Rise. We're all family, no need for such formalities." Madam Wei turned around, her entire being exuding elegance and nobility. "Your zither playing last night kept many people awake. Did you enjoy it?"
"Not bad," Wei Pingxi teased. "Did you disturb your mother?"
"It's alright."
The mother and daughter smiled at each other.
"Zhizhi, come to your mother."
"yes."
Yu Zhi stepped forward.
Madam Wei carefully observed her features: "You've been through a lot lately. It's rare for my daughter to have someone she can confide in. You're very good."
"Thank you, Mother."
"There's nothing to thank me for. I was just telling the truth."
"Mother, Granny Wu is a good person. Let her follow Zhizhi from now on."
Madam Wei's beautiful eyes flickered: "Alright, whatever you say is fine."
The mother and daughter chatted for a quarter of an hour, and Yuzhi accompanied them for breakfast.
Madam Wei was devout and spent a lot of time worshipping Buddha; those with discernment would generally not disturb her.
As they walked out of Liulan Courtyard, the two happened to run into the two wives of the first and second branches of the family. Wei Pingxi gave a forced smile and said, "Greetings, sisters-in-law. Mother has gone into the small Buddhist hall. If you have nothing else to do, you can kneel in the courtyard and kowtow before leaving."
Yu Zhi was a beat slower, and said in a soft voice, "Greetings to both of you sisters-in-law."
The first wife resented Wei Pingxi for playing music late at night, which made her restless and agitated.
She couldn't lash out at Wei Pingxi, but when she heard a concubine call her "sister-in-law" with such audacity, she immediately sneered: "You dare call me sister-in-law? You're a worthless piece of trash!"
Miss Wei smiled broadly, while Yu Zhi's fair and rosy face turned slightly pale.
The second wife had always had a strained relationship with her sister-in-law. The enemy of my enemy is my friend. However, when the fourth young lady's woman was scolded, the fourth young lady remained silent and was not in a hurry to stand up for her.
Let's see how this concubine responds.
Yu Zhi gripped the Fourth Miss's sleeve tightly, her back straight: "I'm even worthy to call you 'Mother,' so why am I not worthy to call you 'Mother'? Are you of higher status than Mother?"
The First Madam was startled: "You—"
"What do you mean, 'you'? Just accept my politeness. She's my woman, and calling you 'sister-in-law' is an honor. Don't push your luck!"
Wei Pingxi glanced at the sky: "Alright, hurry up and go to the courtyard to kowtow. When did you come to pay your respects to Mother? Don't you have any manners?"
She muttered something to herself, and as she was about to walk away with Yu Zhi in her hand, she suddenly stopped, smiling at the stunned Second Madam: "Second Sister-in-law, don't you think so?"
"Yes, yes..."
The second wife was happy to see the wicked woman who was trying to seduce her husband make a fool of herself, but she didn't dare to talk to Wei Pingxi much.
I had heard that the Fourth Miss was even more unscrupulous than before, and seeing it for myself was truly chilling.
The First Madam was so angry that she had to swallow her anger. This was Liulan Courtyard, and the person in the entire Wei family who protected Wei Pingxi the most was her mother-in-law. If she had a fight with Wei Pingxi in Liulan Courtyard, it was obvious who would suffer.
She swallowed her anger and watched resentfully as the disrespectful fourth young lady left.
Yu Zhi was filled with anxiety.
"Your skills are a little lacking, and your words aren't sharp enough, but that's okay, you can practice slowly."
"Practice slowly?"
Wei Pingxi smiled and said, "They can't afford to offend me, so they can only provoke you. You are now the face of my Jingzhe Academy, so don't let anyone bully you."
"..."
Yu Zhi scolded her for digging her own grave and making enemies, and after walking a few steps, she whispered, "I think I did pretty well."
"It's just passable."
"It's much better than before."
In the past, when people insulted her with words like that, she had no leverage to rely on.
But it felt really good to have the Fourth Miss stand up for her.
Before even entering the Jingzhe Courtyard, I heard Emerald's heart-wrenching cries of despair.
There wasn't time to administer the caning yesterday, and besides, it would be better to discipline the errant maid in broad daylight so that everyone could see it and it would have a more effective deterrent effect.
Agate personally wielded the cane without mercy, wanting everyone in the courtyard to see that breaking the Fourth Miss's rules meant that no matter who it was, they would be punished!
"Ouch! Ouch! That hurts!"
Looking at Emerald, who was being tortured while lying face down on the bench, Yu Zhi asked timidly, "What...what happened to her?"
"She has no sense of propriety and dares to say anything. We need to teach her the lesson that words can lead to trouble."
Upon hearing the Fourth Miss's voice, Emerald's wailing grew louder and more forceful. Listening carefully, Yu Zhi was not worried that she would be badly beaten.
"You hit her if she says something wrong, so what if I say something wrong? Would you have Agate hit me too?"
"It's hard to say."
Wei Pingxi chuckled and pinched her cheek: "You should worry about how the two wives will cause trouble first."
"They can't even manage their own men, so they try to manage other women. What bad luck. You'd better stand up for yourself. There are so many eyes in the mansion watching you."
With a ready-made live target, wouldn't they be constantly being watched?
Yu Zhi glared at her, annoyed.
"Are you done fighting? If you are, go and make me a pot of tea."
"It's over, it's over." Agate tossed aside the wooden staff and quickly ran off to get busy.
Jade was struck ten times, but it didn't break any bones or tendons; it only suffered physical pain.
The fourth young lady went to the art studio to hone her painting skills. It was obvious that she was there to paint portraits of beauties. Yu Zhi suppressed her awkwardness and asked curiously, "What did you say that got you beaten?"
"..."
"Can't you tell?"
Jade scratched its head.
How could she say that she misunderstood the young lady and thought she was so heartless that she wouldn't even spare her own mother-in-law?
These words are fine to whisper to Agate, but how could they be told to Auntie?
She slapped herself in the face: "I am guilty!"
"..."
Yu Zhi shut her mouth, not daring to ask any further questions.
"Auntie."
"Granny Wu."
Granny Wu genuinely wanted to see her do well: "Once you leave Jingzhe Courtyard, you represent the face of Jingzhe Courtyard. With the Fourth Miss as your backer, you can be absolutely assertive. It doesn't matter if others don't like it; as long as the Fourth Miss likes it, that's enough."
“Granny, I know.” Yu Zhi took out a golden peanut from her sleeve and smiled shyly: “It’s for you, Granny, to thank you for taking care of me in the courtyard.”
"This is unacceptable..."
"Please accept what I'm giving you. You'll need to rely on me a lot in the future."
She made rapid progress in just three days.