Gasp! She's a Time Traveler Using Modern Tech to Improve Ancient Life-Chapter 575 - 573: The Princess of Xiangcheng’s Invitation

Chapter 575: Chapter 573: The Princess of Xiangcheng’s Invitation

Since she couldn’t leave in the short term, Lin Wanwan had to settle down for now.

The first thing was to arrange for little Qingyu to enter the Xiao family’s primary school.

Shamefully, Lin Wanwan had a very laissez-faire attitude towards little Qingyu’s education, rarely caring about it.

Children of little Qingyu’s age in the Xiao family had long moved past primary school and were already studying in private schools.

The primary school was filled with little toddlers aged three or four, four or five. The key point was that these toddlers were somehow a bit more knowledgeable than little Qingyu, which motivated her to learn, possibly due to the environment.

The Xiao family’s legacy was built on generations of accumulated education; anyone uneducated and merely surviving would become a pruned branch.

On the first day of moving into the Xiao family, Lin Wanwan only saw Xiao Yixun’s mother and two of Xiao Shen’s concubine-born daughters, aged about thirteen or fourteen, living in the same courtyard. She didn’t see anyone else.

This Xiao Deyan, an aged scholar currently serving as Chief of the Imperial Secretariat and Hongwen Academy Scholar, and Xiao Shen, the Crown Prince’s Horse Washer, were nowhere to be seen by Lin Wanwan.

Logically, Lin Wanwan had taken care of Xiao Yixun for nearly a year; now she was here, they should have naturally thrown a family banquet to welcome her! But there was none of that, as if Lin Wanwan was just a poor relative seeking help.

From this one detail, their attitude towards Xiao Yixun could be imagined, and Lin Wanwan couldn’t help but feel even more compassion for Xiao Yixun.

How pitiful, to have no love from parents, no connections with siblings, a grandmother gone, a grandfather indifferent, and close relatives might as well be nonexistent—truly tragic.

However, this sense of sympathy didn’t last long. When Lin Wanwan saw the rough servant maid’s hands full of frostbite from washing clothes on a cold day, she retracted her feelings.

Xiao Yixun wasn’t pitiful at all; at least she had no worries about food and clothing, lived a life of ease with meals prepared and clothes ready, and could skip routines due to illness.

Those truly pitiable were the commoners who couldn’t fill their stomachs or clothe themselves, and the servants in the Xiao Mansion who were forever of lower status, unable to rise through generations.

That night, the two concubine-born daughters sharing the Bamboo Garden with Xiao Yixun had consecutive nightmares. In the middle of the night, they rushed out of their boudoir in just their inner clothes, loudly proclaiming there was a monster, causing half of the Xiao Mansion to be in an uproar.

Xiao Yixun’s mother didn’t even come over, only sending an old, close servant to move the two concubine daughters overnight.

Xiao Yixun stood expressionlessly in the main room of the Bamboo Garden, watching the servants come and go, moving her concubine sisters out.

Luckily, Lin Wanwan was somewhat prepared tonight. She didn’t return to the modern era; instead, she waited in her room.

Upon hearing the commotion, Lin Wanwan got up, put on her clothes, and came to the main room, where she saw Xiao Yixun standing alone in the dim candlelight, holding the White Fox.

Hearing Lin Wanwan’s approach, Xiao Yixun glanced back at her with a face that was neither joyful nor sorrowful, her light-colored eyes showing no shine, like a deep abyss.

Though Xiao Yixun was always like an icy beauty, Lin Wanwan had been with her day and night for so long that she naturally sensed her emotional changes.

Xiao Yixun’s mother quietly moved the two concubine daughters out of the Bamboo Garden. Although everyone knew it must have been Xiao Yixun’s doing, Xiao Shen’s couple pretended not to know.

Lin Wanwan didn’t know whether to admire Xiao Yixun for not having to follow rules or pity her for being ignored.

Perhaps Xiao Yixun still harbored thoughts of her mother coming to scold her?

After all, the two concubine sisters were clearly abnormal tonight, had lost their composure, and everyone in the Xiao Mansion probably knew that Xiao Yixun was skilled in playing with poison.

But nothing happened.

No one came to accuse Xiao Yixun, and no one sought her out.

No one asked her before the concubine sisters moved into Xiao Yixun’s Bamboo Garden, nor did anyone inform her when they moved out.

After silently watching in the main room for a while, Xiao Yixun suddenly turned and returned to her room. Lin Wanwan caught a glimpse of Xiao Yixun’s silent back, feeling her grievance reaching the sky.

Lin Wanwan shook her head slightly, returned to her room, and went back to swiping time in the modern world.

Now that Lu Shouyue lived next door, she couldn’t disappear for too long in the modern world, as he always wanted to visit. Fortunately, Lin Wanwan herself had arranged to spend more time in the modern world to balance out the time between the two worlds.

On the second day at the Xiao family, Lin Wanwan suddenly received an invitation to a spring banquet from the Xiangcheng Princess, scheduled for the day after tomorrow at noon.

The Xiangcheng Princess was Li Shimin’s eldest daughter, married to Xiao Rui, Xiao Yu’s eldest son (her own cousin), also being Xiao Chong’s uncle.

The birth mother of the Xiangcheng Princess was unknown, and her early life was also undocumented. Historically, she first appeared on the record when she was married to Xiao Rui.

The true nature of the Xiangcheng Princess is hard to say. In any case, in the history books, she was described as a well-educated, mild-mannered, filial, kind, and composed woman, perfectly fitting the Great Tang Zhen Guan Period’s ideal woman standard, being exemplary.

Li Shimin was very pleased with this eldest daughter, who treated her in-laws as parents, adhering to the principles of morning and evening greetings, so much so that he didn’t build a separate Princess Mansion. He frequently asked other princesses to learn from their eldest sister, the Xiangcheng Princess.

The Xiao family was also very satisfied with this princess daughter-in-law, as she had a high status yet carried herself humbly. It was recorded that she gave birth to seven sons and a daughter for the Xiao family (Lin Wanwan tended to believe that Xiao family’s concubine children were also registered under the Xiangcheng Princess’s name).

But why she suddenly invited Lin Wanwan to a spring banquet was unclear—everyone in the Xiao Mansion found it strange. Lin Wanwan had been in Chang’an for less than three days. How could she have caught the Xiangcheng Princess’s attention?

But upon receiving the invitation, Lin Wanwan instantly knew—this had everything to do with Xiao Chong, one hundred percent!

According to the ancient unwritten rule of "parents alive, no division of family," Xiao Yu’s descendants were currently living with him in the Xiao Mansion, which naturally included Xiao Chong’s second branch.

According to historical records, the matriarch of Xiao Chong’s branch at this time was a fill-in wife with no surname left behind, and she was childless, so presumably, she had no power in the household either.

As a princess and the eldest daughter-in-law, the Xiangcheng Princess surely handled household affairs, naturally including those of Xiao Chong.

Although Lin Wanwan understood the reason for the invitation, her mind still became unsettled as soon as she received it.

How had Xiao Chong explained her to his family? Was this an invitation to a friendly gathering or a trap? Most importantly, if she met Xiao Chong, how should she respond?

Ah, just the thought made her heart chaotic.

Xiao Chong was way too fast. How could he manage to have his family’s big boss invite her within a few days of arriving in Chang’an! It made her head spin!

Yet what slightly calmed Lin Wanwan was knowing that the Xiangcheng Princess was a moral exemplar and a model woman, and dealing with her shouldn’t be too challenging.