Thirteenth Lady's Comback: Her Everyday Life as a Bystander-Chapter 88 - 14: Seeds of Calamity (Part 1)
Sui’an Hall was in high spirits, and over at Fifth Miss’s place, she was very happy too. Her own uncle, Gao Yue, had also achieved success. Although not as prestigious as the Princely Heir, he entered the second rank and became a Scholar. Furthermore, he caught the attention of Lord Qi, the Vice Minister of the Ministry of Personnel, who intended to marry his daughter to him! Although she was just a concubine’s daughter, this still meant an alliance through marriage with the Qi Family.
The Qi Family might be considered second-rate in the noble circles of the Capital, but Lord Qi had married the legitimate daughter of Mr. Wang.
And who was Mr. Wang? He was the current Chief Cabinet Minister and Lord Imperial Father-in-law, who had served through two reigns and had disciples all over.
Now, with Gao Yue forming a bond with the Qi Family, to say it boldly, he could even call the current Empress ’Aunt’ and Mr. Wang ’Grandfather’.
Since the Gao Family sold their daughter to the Song Family as a maid, and relied on the money and monthly allowance from her ’sale’, they had slowly improved their situation. However, they weren’t affluent enough to support a scholar!
But since Aunt Gao, a former maid, climbed into the Third Master’s bed and gave birth to Fifth Miss, gaining the status of an aunt, the Third Master never treated her poorly. Aunt Gao had ample silver to invest in her brother, hoping he would excel in his studies, become an official, and bring honor and prestige to her. It’s said that Aunt Gao and her daughter were like ingrates, spending the Song Family’s money yet feeling that they were wronged by them!
Initially, the Third Madam refused to release Aunt Gao from maid status. After the birth of Fifth Miss, Aunt Gao intended to curry favor with the Third Master and be elevated to Noble Concubine status. After all, her brother was only nine and already a child scholar.
But the Third Madam consulted Old Madam and only granted her the status of a Legitimate Concubine, and it was promoted from a concubine without a Concubine Adoption Document. This left Aunt Gao with lingering resentment, which she frequently mentioned to her daughter.
Fifth Miss learned from her aunt, putting on a pitiful act from a young age and frequently badmouthing the Third Madam to the Third Master. Fortunately, the Third Master wasn’t one to pamper his concubine while neglecting his wife, and the Third Madam had given birth to a Legitimate Son and Daughter.
Subsequently, Fifth Miss was brought to Old Madam for upbringing. As the Third Madam gave birth to Sixth Young Master, she and the Third Master grew ever closer, as if they had returned to the early days of their marriage. Aunt Gao and her daughter tried to undermine the Third Madam, but the Third Master no longer believed them and distanced himself from the household’s aunts, spending his nights only in the Third Madam’s room.
Seeing that they couldn’t shake the Third Madam’s position, Aunt Gao and her daughter pinned all their hopes on Gao Yue, hoping for his success in the imperial exams.
Now that their dreams had come true, Fifth Miss was generous enough to give some of her old clothes to the maids. Upon learning that her uncle was to marry a noble lady, she quickly packed some inconspicuous silver and jewelry and had her wet nurse deliver them to her external family.
It turned out that Gao Yue arrived in the Capital at almost the same time as Old Madam Song. With the silver given by his sister, he bought a small house near the Fourth Ring, close to the Third Ring Road, at a high price. Though it was only a two-entry place, it cost four to five hundred taels of silver.
Gao Yue was ambitious, hiring an old woman to fetch water and cook for him, while he devoted himself to studying. By meeting others through literary gatherings, he gained some reputation and made friends, including a concubine-born Third Young Master from the Qi Mansion.
When Gao Yue passed the exams, this Third Young Master reported to his father, and Lord Qi investigated Gao Yue, learning that he was ambitious and somehow connected to the currently thriving Shun’an Earl Mansion. Although he was merely the brother of a concubine from the third branch, seeing how much silver his sister invested in him, it was evident that even the Song Family valued Gao Yue. Otherwise, how would a concubine have so much silver?
After this investigation, Lord Qi decided to marry his daughter to Gao Yue.
This Fifth Miss of the Qi Family was the full sister of the Qi Third Young Master, and their mother was much loved by Lord Qi. No matter how clever Mrs. Qi was, she couldn’t outmatch a beauty’s pillow talk, and thus the matter was settled!
Mrs. Qi scoffed, using her family’s resources to thoroughly investigate Gao Yue again. For someone seeming so sincere, how could he be a good man? Otherwise, why would he be so content using the proceeds from his sister’s sell-off!
Gao Yue had been in the Capital for so long, yet no proper member of the Shun’an Earl Mansion, not even a genuine steward, had been sent to associate with him—only a woman visiting a few times.
Upon further inquiry, they discovered the woman always entered and left the Shun’an Earl Mansion in secrecy. Mrs. Qi spent some silver to learn that the woman was the wet nurse of Fifth Miss from the third branch of the Song Family. At this point, Mrs. Qi understood everything!
The Song Family doesn’t acknowledge Gao Yue; it was just that the concubine and the concubine-born daughter had aspirations. After all, which respectable family would recognize a concubine’s family as legitimate relatives?
Mrs. Qi had attended several gatherings where she met Old Madam Song, whose demeanor revealed sharpness. So Fifth Miss Song’s actions were a slap in the face to her Legitimate Mother and the Song Family, bound to cause problems in the future.
Regarding the concubine-born daughter in her own family, Mrs. Qi scoffed again; spoiled by her mother, she was unaware of the world, with large ambitions but little knowledge—a disaster waiting to unfold.
These many thoughts on the Qi Family’s side were unknown to Fifth Miss. She only knew that her uncle became a Scholar and would marry a noble lady in spring next year. Comparing her sisters, even the families of her eldest and second sisters, who were of legitimate birth, didn’t have such capable maternal families. Their families were all hopeless cases.
And although her grandmother’s and Legitimate Mother’s families were rich, they were merely Royal Merchants—unable to compare with official families, even if associated with the Royal Family.
Thinking of this, Fifth Miss changed into a newly made vibrant outfit and, with Bisha accompanying her, went out to pay respects to Old Madam in Sui’an Hall.
Today was neither the first nor the fifteenth of the month. Old Madam hadn’t summoned the girls for chatting or a meal, so it was surprising to see Fifth Miss, who usually disliked going out, dressed in such brightness and extravagance to greet Old Madam.
Third Miss, Fourth Miss, and Sixth Miss received the news. Even though they were not together, they all had the same expression, giving a cold laugh and saying, "Let her!" After so many years as sisters, who didn’t know who!
Usually, when Fifth Miss played the victim, they let her be a bit, as they were, after all, sisters raised under their grandmother’s name. It wouldn’t do to cause a scene.
But now, if she was pushing herself towards trouble, none wanted to stop her.
Third Miss also considered her birth mother and her maternal family but offering some silver was the limit; recognizing them as kin was out of the question. Her aunt wouldn’t be so easily confused.
Fourth Miss’s birth mother was a Yangzhou thin horse, sold off since childhood, with no family to speak of!
As for Sixth Miss, seeing her stepsister expose her fox tail step by step and now slap her own mother in the face, she never considered her a sister at heart. Hearing the news, she sent word to her brothers. With the eldest brother soon to marry, and their parents coming to the Capital soon, it seemed that Fifth Sister wouldn’t stay long in the Capital; further residence would spell trouble!
Fifth Miss arrived just as Old Madam was having breakfast, and Old Madam invited her to join.
After the meal, Fifth Miss said with a smile, "The food at Grandmother’s is always fragrant, it makes me overeat every time!" Then she pretended to pat her stomach, trying to amuse Old Madam, but the only voice in the room was hers, making it awkward.
Bisha quickly found an excuse for her master, saying, "The food from the same small kitchen tastes sweeter today because the girl is happy to be with Old Madam!" Fifth Miss responded eagerly, "Isn’t that the case?"
Old Madam, though annoyed by her shallow ambitions, could only offer words to save face for her granddaughter. She said, "Seeing you enjoying your meal makes me happy too! It seems just yesterday that Fifth Girl grew to be as beautiful as a flower!" 𝚏𝗿𝗲𝐞𝐰𝚎𝕓𝐧𝚘𝘃𝗲𝐥.𝐜𝚘𝕞
Fifth Miss exhaled in relief, saying, "Speaking of people like a flower, there is Susu here by Grandmother’s side, outshining even myself." She then praised Susu’s clothes today, with a flash of envy in her eyes, and pointed to her attire, saying, "I usually don’t like such bright colors, but since our family has so many joyous occasions, I’ve picked out some chi-red, silver-red, sapphire, and orange-yellow materials, including a piece of Shu brocade embroidered with large white orchids in silver thread that the Lady awarded me! I’ve been unwilling to use it, but now I’ve made a few outfits, and I’ll wear one someday for Grandmother to see."
