Bochun had a vague sense that her young mistress was speaking with a hidden meaning.
Before she could press further, the door was tapped cautiously.
"Miss Jingyue, Old Madame has ordered me to pick a few capable maidservants and pageboys to wait on you. Would you..."
Lin Jingyan dropped the leisurely demeanor she had worn in front of Bochun. "Come in."
A servant dressed as a steward immediately led four maidservants and four pageboys into the room, where they stood in two neat rows with lowered eyes and submissive expressions.
The steward bowed with a smile. "I am the newly promoted steward, surnamed Chen. Miss, you may simply call me Steward Chen. If you have any instructions, I will certainly do my utmost."
Listening from the side, Bochun couldn't help asking, "What about Steward Wang?"
Steward Chen smiled even more brightly. "Steward Wang neglected the young mistress and stirred up trouble everywhere. Originally, he was supposed to be punished and sent to the estate outside the city along with the matrons from Old Madame's courtyard. Thanks to Madame's intercession, he is now cleaning the horse stables."
Bochun's eyes lit up, and she instantly felt a great deal of relief.
Not to mention, her mistress was having a much more comfortable time in the Chengyuan Marquis Manor than she had in the Lin Family.
Even the small courtyard they lived in was three times the size of the one she used to have at the Lin Family.
"I must thank Grandmother for helping me vent my anger, otherwise... being new here, I wouldn't have known what to do if I had been wronged."
Lin Jingyan looked over the two rows of maidservants and pageboys, pointing out three people. "These few are too rash; they raised their heads repeatedly while the master was speaking, showing no manners. Have the matrons discipline them properly later."
Steward Chen glanced at them and recognized that these individuals had previously served in the courtyards of the Marquise and Miss Yingliu.
This newly recognized young mistress possessed no small amount of skill and discernment; she could not be easily offended.
A bit more genuine warmth appeared in Steward Chen's smile.
"Ximing Courtyard is spacious and not easy to clean. Xiaoba and Xiaojiao have great strength, and Xiaohuang has a skill for pruning flower branches. Would the young mistress care to keep them?"
The named individuals immediately stepped forward, keeping their heads down and bowing respectfully.
Lin Jingyan nodded. "Let's keep these three, and with the senior maidservant Bochun, that will make four."
Lin Jingyan gave Steward Chen plenty of face, so he pressed the matter no further. After dismissing the other maidservants and pageboys, he casually mentioned:
"Young Mistress, rest easy. The Marquis and the Marquise are planning to host a small banquet the day after tomorrow, inviting a few families on good terms with the Marquis Manor to celebrate your official return to the family.
After the banquet, you will be the legitimate eldest young mistress of our Chengyuan Marquis Manor in every sense."
Lin Jingyan's eyes flickered. She took a sip of tea and smiled.
"The day after tomorrow? Very well. Please have Steward Chen send over an invitation. Today, County Princess Yunhua and I hit it off immediately, so for an event as major as officially returning to the Marquis Manor, we simply must invite her to join in the lively occasion."
County Princess Yunhua?
Steward Chen's expression remained completely unchanged, but a tempest raged in his heart.
"Very well, I will go prepare the invitation right away and ensure it does not dampen your spirits."
After Steward Chen left, Lin Jingyan casually instructed the remaining two pageboys and one maidservant to sweep the courtyard, then walked over to the floral mother-of-pearl dressing case.
Inside the case were two sets of hair ornaments, both inlaid with gold and jade, easily worth a thousand gold pieces at a glance.
She removed a white jade bracelet and a green jade bracelet from her wrists. After letting her fingertips linger over the two sets of hair ornaments, she put on the blood-jade bracelet that Lin Jingyan had given her.
*
"What? She wants to invite County Princess Yunhua?" After hearing Steward Chen's report, Marquise He wore a look of intense displeasure. "Just her? A cheap slave born of a merchant family, and she thinks she can invite County Princess Yunhua?"
Steward Chen didn't even dare to draw a full breath.
The Marquis frowned in thought, then slammed his hand onto the table. "That's enough! It's just an invitation, let her send it. It's not a major matter.
And as for you, you can grumble in private all you like, but in front of Mother and Jin'er, you must never scold Lin Jingyan."
He was unwilling, yet she replied, "Marquis, rest assured, I know my limits."
The entire Chengyuan Marquis Manor relied solely on the friendship between Old Madame and the Empress Dowager to avoid being stripped of its peerage or demoted.
Although they were currently obscure in the Capital, they were still far better off than certain other families, at least barely managing to maintain the glory of a Marquis Manor on the surface.
Once something happened to Old Madame or she stopped protecting the Chengyuan Marquis Manor...
He did not dare to think further, yet failing to think about it left her feeling unbearably suffocated.
"Marquis, you are Old Madame's own son, and Yinyuan and Yinggeng are her own grandsons—why won't Old Madame plan for her own family?
She caused us to lose so much face right in front of Young Master Xu. If word of this gets out, how are we supposed to show our faces?"
The more the Marquis listened, the more annoyed he became. "Young Master Xu is not a gossipy person... Fine, fine, let's talk business. The invitation must be sent to Prince Ruicheng Manor. Regardless of whether County Princess Yunhua comes or not, this banquet must be a grand affair!"
"That's easy to say, but where is the silver supposed to come from for a grand affair?" He muttered under her breath.
The Marquis frowned. "Then what do you propose we do? Call it off?"
He glared at him. "That simply won't do!"
The Chengyuan Marquis Manor had been quiet for far too long; it desperately needed an event to assert its presence.
Originally, He had planned to use the excuse of Yinyuan and Yinggeng becoming students under Young Master Xu to widely invite guests, but...
Furthermore, Young Master Xu was a low-key person who would never show his face at such a banquet, which was why they had thought to use Lin Jingyan's return to the Marquis Manor to host a small gathering.
During the event, they could quietly leak the news that Zheng Jin had taken Young Master Xu as his master.
Who would have thought that Lin Jingyan would insist on inviting County Princess Yunhua to attend? Whether she would actually come was another matter entirely—wasn't she deliberately stirring up trouble?
He rolled her eyes twice, then cast a coquettish glance at the Marquis. "A grand banquet is fine, but the Marquis must promise me one thing..."
Steward Chen's glance softened the Marquis's heart considerably. "It's just a small matter. You are her legal mother now, so you have full authority to decide."
*
Meanwhile, Prince Ruicheng Manor was receiving an unexpected guest. The entire household was on high alert, not daring to show the slightest negligence.
County Princess Yunhua was also trembling with fear as she led the visitor to the pavilion in the back garden. Lifting her gaze slightly to look at the exceptionally handsome face across from her in the wheelchair, she lamented her ill fortune.
To think that a momentary rashness, manipulated by others into racing horses through a crowded street, would bring the Crown Prince—who never concerned himself with court affairs—to her doorstep in person to demand accountability... When her Prince Father returned from his fief, he would surely chew her out!
County Princess Yunhua lowered her gaze, refusing to look at the man in the wheelchair. "Your Highness, I have already compensated all the commoners in the street, and I even had restorative medicine sent to Old Madame of the Chengyuan Marquis Manor to calm her nerves.
The person who plotted against me has just been sent to the Dali Temple, and Yunhua swears she will never commit such an offense again."
She wasn't afraid of being banished to the borderlands to freeze in the wind; she only feared implicating her Prince Father and causing him to fall under suspicion, risking his life.
The Crown Prince paused for a moment before quickly recovering, speaking calmly:
"My purpose in coming here today is indeed concerning this matter. You..."
County Princess Yunhua dismissed her attendants, leaving only the guard commander Jingfeng by her side, and cast aside her previous arrogance from the street incident to drop heavily to her knees before the wheelchair.
"Your Highness, I beg you, for the sake of our shared imperial bloodline, spare my Prince Father's life. This entire affair was Yunhua's fault, and it has nothing to do with my father. If Your Highness wishes to punish someone, punish me."
Jingfeng dropped to his knees right along with her.
The Crown Prince: "..."
Tingnan, who was pushing the wheelchair, struggled to hold back his laughter.
His Highness had perhaps forgotten that his fearsome reputation in the Capital preceded him; whenever he personally took the trouble to visit someone's doorstep, it meant either confiscation of property and exile or execution of the entire family.
The master of Jingya Pavilion—none other than the reigning Crown Prince—spoke with a completely expressionless face:
"My purpose in coming here today is to ask you: what on earth did that little girl from the Chengyuan Marquis Manor say to you on the street to make you give up your urge to cause a scene?"
"Ah?" County Princess Yunhua raised her head in utter bewilderment.