Thirteenth Lady's Comback: Her Everyday Life as a Bystander-Chapter 255 - 7: Visitors (Part 1)

(Three Chapters today, with an additional Chapter for every hundred extra recommendation votes!)

Susu had just stepped out of the courtyard gate when she bumped into Yue Baiyou, who had come over after getting the news.

This girl, with some inexplicable self-confidence, believed that Hong Sheng must have ulterior motives for marrying Susu. She thought there was affection between her and Hong Sheng, and even if she couldn’t be the main wife, she was destined to be a noble concubine at least.

Actually, it was the first time Susu had seen a girl who could maintain such confidence in front of her face, and she found it quite refreshing.

If she had been thinking more logically, Susu wouldn’t have minded giving her a hand. After all, it was Hong Sheng who had made a promise to her brother.

But girls who were desperate to join the ranks of wealth, no matter what, were not a novelty for Susu. Even if it was a fiery pit ahead, they would jump without hesitation—let alone if Hong Sheng was young, promising, handsome, and wealthy.

When this girl realized that Susu treated her like a transparent person, she simply decided to put her efforts into Hong Sheng. But now that Hong Sheng had figured out her intentions, he was trying to avoid her, let alone arranging a "coincidental" meeting?

However, she had the freedom to move around wherever she liked, except for Susu’s courtyard and the outer study, making a nuisance of herself to a lot of people.

Now that they had bumped into each other face to face, ignoring her would be impolite, so Susu smiled and greeted her. Susu originally thought she was here for today’s banquet and assumed she wanted to play the hostess role.

Who knew she would say, "I meant to help sister-in-law with entertaining the guests, but I already made plans to go shopping with friends today, so I ask for your understanding."

These words made Susu take a rare direct look at her.

After meeting Susu, this girl seemed to realize that she couldn’t compare in looks and finally changed out of her elaborate red outfit.

Today, she wore a mauve blouse embroidered with lilacs and a pleated skirt embroidered with green butterflies, with a yellow sash adorned with three stripes of blue silk around her slim waist.

Her hair was styled in a falling horse bun, adorned with a butterfly and emerald pearl flower, with a jeweled gold hairpin slanted in her hair, a gem-embedded golden hair clip pressing down her hair, a pair of pearl-embedded gold earrings, and her hands wearing four thin gold bracelets.

Without the heavy makeup, her face looked quite decent, but as soon as she spoke, the northwestern accent was odd enough, not to mention what she said left Susu puzzled. What’s this girl up to now?

But as for Susu, her nature was naturally indifferent. To put it nicely, it’s calmness; not so nicely, it’s aloofness. Since everything was left to Hong Sheng to handle, she was too lazy to bother herself.

Let her go out if she wishes. Originally, Susu was worried she might cause trouble.

"Feel free, Miss!" Then...

Then Susu led her people towards the second gate. Although she was quite curious about this girl’s boldness, now wasn’t the time for curiosity.

Yue Baiyou: "..."

Shouldn’t this "sister-in-law" pretend to be considerate and ask, "Do you have enough money?" or "Shall I charge it to the account?"

She had heard that the servants at home received rewards totaling about one or two hundred taels of silver. Wasn’t she known for using money to deter people!

If it were anyone else, they wouldn’t accept such "insult," but Yue Baiyou didn’t mind. She would have gladly accepted her "kindness," making sure Susu felt the financial sting!

But... hey, why aren’t you following the script!

If Susu knew what she was thinking, she would surely chuckle.

Twice, and tell her, "Miss, aren’t you overthinking? Whose money is blown in by the wind?" Even her generosity was selective.

Of course, Susu had no idea that she had left even her romantic rival feeling choked.

When she reached the second gate, she saw Shuimo’s wife and an old soldier’s wife, known as Mrs. Zhou, welcoming a group of female guests through the Hanging Flower Gate.

The hearts of these women were not as light as when they arrived, feeling quite uneasy now.

This change of heart came first when they alighted at the West Corner Gate, seeing the maids and matrons welcoming them in red and green attire. Not to mention the leader wearing a golden cloud-patterned hairpin with a thumb-sized southern red jade piece, showing craftsmanship beyond what could be made in a small place like Hami.

This woman was naturally Shuimo’s wife. Since Bai Fu’s wife remained in the Capital, Susu let her stay by her side, as she already knew medicine and now conveniently tended to Susu’s health, taking the role of a wet nurse.

Susu certainly wouldn’t treat her poorly, giving her the first share of rewards and allowing her attire to come from Susu’s and Shuimo’s bridal chest.

Shuimo’s wife, being from a wealthy family, thought her dressing was quite low-key. But in a place like Hami, it was still striking.

Even without considering her attire, her demeanor was extraordinary, making others mistake her for a noblewoman.

Meanwhile, standing behind her was the old soldier’s wife, Mrs. Zhou, right? By appearance, she seemed so, yet no one dared recognize her.

The old Mrs. Zhou, with a gloomy face, hunched back, sallow and thin, looked like death was imminent.

This woman now wore a silk dress, hair in a round bun with plum blossom silver hairpins, gourd-shaped silver earrings dangling from her ears, and gold bracelets on her wrists weighing four taels each.

Though her face wasn’t too rosy, she beamed with pride, standing tall and appearing quite charming.

Everyone watched in disbelief, but once Mrs. Zhou spoke, they couldn’t deny this was the frail woman they’d known! My goodness, had she taken some miraculous elixir?

Upon entering the door, just a few steps in, they were surprised to need sedan chairs.

Once they dismounted the chairs, before they could even take in the pavilion, the flower walls, and the winding corridor, a group of pretty maids surrounded them, "Esteemed guests have arrived, madam is already at the second gate to welcome you, please, please!"

Amongst these women, even the most experienced ones were speechless. Were these really just maids? Then what must the madam they mentioned look like? 𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝔀𝓮𝒃𝙣𝓸𝒗𝒆𝒍.𝙘𝒐𝒎

They passed through the Hanging Flower Gate, passed through the hall and screen, and upon seeing Susu under the crabapple tree in the courtyard, there was instant silence, with only the sound of breathing filling the whole yard.

Susu gave a faint smile and walked up, glancing slightly over them. Apart from one little radish, all the young ladies appeared older than her. Although she held the highest status, she was still young and would not expect such elders to bow before her. Hence, respecting the old and cherishing the young was customary.

So as the crowd was still stunned, Susu seized the chance to curtsey briefly, causing the female guests to immediately set aside their amazement at her beauty, hastily stepping aside and rushing awkwardly to return the courtesy.

The oldest among them, an elderly lady, was Yang Xiaoshan’s grandmother, aged sixty-three, already considered long-lived in ancient times. It was said she had once fought alongside her husband against the Tartars and could still enjoy two large bowls of rice with her braised pork.

These were tales Susu overheard from Yang Xiaoshan and his brothers’ conversations during idle moments on the road. Therefore, Susu knew even more than what Hong Sheng told her about the incoming female guests.