Chapter 8: Seven Common Ailments, One Connected Sisterly Heart

The next day, A-wu went to Yuxiu Pavilion as usual. Rong Si and Rong Wu had already arrived and were waiting for Mr. Bai.

"Oh, Fourth Sister, this bracelet is so beautiful," A-wu said, pointing to a jade bracelet on Rong Si's wrist. The color was warm and the quality was quite good; it was a significant improvement over the bracelets Rong Si used to wear, and it didn't look like the handiwork of that harsh Second Aunt who was so strict with the concubine-born daughters.

"The Duchess of Jin offered it to me yesterday," Rong Si said somewhat proudly. She even extended her wrist toward A-wu to let her take a closer look; in this household, she could only find a bit of pride in front of A-wu.

A-wu indeed looked at her with an envious expression, which caused Rong Si's floodgates to open. She began to list the virtues of the Duchess of Jin, talking about how kind and approachable she was, how elegant she was, and how much she liked her.

A-wu was extremely familiar with Lady Liu, the Duchess of Jin. The Duke of Jin was highly relied upon by the current Emperor, and this Duchess was also a person with great popularity; there was almost no one in the capital who did not like her. Even the notoriously difficult Princess Royal was on excellent terms with her.

Rong Si then went on to talk about the noble ladies she had met, belittling those who looked down on her for being a concubine-born daughter, adding casually, "It's a good thing you didn't go, Sixth Sister."

A-wu listened with one ear in and one ear out; she understood the appearances and temperaments of the capital's noble ladies much better than Rong Si did. Finally, Rong Si said, "It's a pity the Duchess of Jin passed away so early, otherwise she would surely have kept me talking."

"Why did she pass away so early?" A-wu asked casually.

"I heard that Princess Kangning of the Princess Royal's manor passed away. The Princess Royal has been depressed for a long time and has been unwell recently. The Duchess of Jin left so early just to go visit the Princess Royal."

A-wu thought to herself, *Well, the Duchess of Jin is indeed cunning; she didn't want to deal with those social obligations, so she used the Princess Royal's name as an excuse.* However, A-wu had actually wanted to know this information, and she hadn't expected to hear it from Rong Si; it was worth her pretending to admire that ordinary bracelet.

The news of Princess Kangning's passing brought a sense of relief to A-wu's heart. She couldn't quite describe the feeling, but internally, she was absolutely unwilling to have another soul take her place to please the Princess Royal. That was her mother, after all. She only wondered how much grief the Princess Royal must be feeling now; the Princess Royal's affection for A-wu had been etched into her very bones.

Just as Rong Si was about to continue boasting about what she had seen and heard, Mr. Bai arrived, forcing her to stop.

A-wu did not enjoy Mr. Bai's lessons, but she would perk up once she reached Teacher Gu's zither lessons. Originally, she had intended to just get through her studies in a mediocre fashion, but after yesterday's events, A-wu planned to make an appearance so that she could strive for opportunities to leave the manor in the future. Otherwise, if she simply faded away like this, she would never catch anyone's eye.

Therefore, A-wu listened with exceptional focus during her lessons today. She could already perform the piece "Autumn Rhyme of the Han Palace" taught by Teacher Gu, which was much better than the stumbling attempts of Rong Si and Rong Wu. However, she couldn't achieve everything in one stroke to avoid startling everyone; she merely accelerated the pace of her progress slightly.

During the afternoon calligraphy and painting class, A-wu's superior calligraphy also earned praise from the teacher. As for chess, Rong Wu was still the leader; as for needlework, Rong Si remained at the top. The three sisters each had their strengths and got along quite harmoniously.

Days passed like flowing water, and A-wu's studies grew better and better. In the fields of zither and calligraphy, she had become the teacher's most valued student. When the Old Master occasionally asked his grandchildren about their studies, the teacher would mention A-wu, and the Old Master would stroke his beard and nod. He couldn't expect much from the generation of his sons, so he only hoped his grandchildren would make something of themselves. As for the granddaughters, if their studies were excellent, they would have better prospects in marriage negotiations and could help the household in the future.

For more than half a year, A-wu had not left the manor at all. Lady Cui had far too few social engagements; compared to the situation with the Princess Royal, where there were small gatherings every three days and grand banquets every five, it was like the difference between clouds and mud.

Lady Cui had grown up in Qingzhou and had no close friends in the capital. She was also too lazy to attend the household's social engagements, and others didn't expect her to go. As for engagements from Third Master Rong's side, there were even fewer. Third Master Rong's usual social circle consisted of his academic peers, who naturally did not bring their families. Furthermore, he was merely a minor *juren*; in the year he first passed the provincial exam, people valued him enough to invite him to banquets, but now that he had failed three times, everyone had lost interest in supporting a failing cause, so naturally, no one invited the couple anymore.

Thus, A-wu also completely gave up on such thoughts and threw herself entirely into her studies. The Rong household had spared no expense for Rong Wu, who now had a bit of a reputation. The First Madam had sought connections everywhere, and the teachers invited to instruct them were quite extraordinary; Rong Si and A-wu had essentially gotten a bargain by studying under them.

At the end of summer, the teachers for chess and calligraphy were changed, and a famous scholar was hired to teach. Although there were distinctions between men and women, the old gentleman was over seventy, so the strict social barriers between the sexes were inevitably somewhat relaxed. The Old Master also used connections to invite a senior palace lady, who had retired to her hometown, to teach etiquette. In these six months, Rong Wu had begun to make a name for herself in the circle of noble ladies in the capital; surely, when she grew older, the title of the "Twin Beauties of the Capital" would belong to her.

Although A-wu was proud, she did not dare to be arrogant before the old gentleman and studied with dedication.

One day during Mr. Bai's lesson, Rong Wu appeared somewhat distracted. Mr. Bai frowned frequently, but she did not notice. After class, she was kept behind by Mr. Bai, while A-wu followed Rong Si to Tinglan Pavilion.

"Fourth Sister, what is wrong with Fifth Sister today?" A-wu couldn't help but feel curious. After all, they were sisters in the same family and had lived together for some time; although Rong Wu was somewhat arrogant, her character was not bad.

Rong Si's eyes darted around. Seeing that there was no one around, she lowered her head and whispered to A-wu, "Do you know that Eldest Sister came back yesterday?"

A-wu shook her head. This Fourth Sister's mind was truly active; she seemed to know a little bit about every large and small matter in the manor.

Rong Si had an expression that said, *Just as I thought*, but since there was no one nearby to gossip with, she could only confide a bit to her younger sister. "Eldest Sister came back crying, saying that Eldest Brother-in-law took another concubine."

A-wu thought nothing of it in her heart. It was perfectly normal for a man to take a concubine; why would a legal wife run home crying? It was so petty; instead of wasting time on that, she should go home and make sure that concubine was kept in line.

"Just because of that?" A-wu put on an "innocent" face.

"I heard it's a noble concubine. As soon as she entered the door, Brother-in-law slapped Eldest Sister's face for that wench's sake. Now, he won't even step foot in Eldest Sister's room and stays in the noble concubine's quarters all the time."

A-wu's face turned red, and she stared at Rong Si with her mouth wide open in shock. To be able to find out such private bedroom matters—this Fourth Sister was truly too fierce. And to tell such things to a younger sister of such a small age, she had no shame. How did that Second Aunt raise her children?

"Fourth Sister, how can you say such things?" The somewhat traditional and stiff A-wu couldn't help but lecture her.

Rong Si curled her lip, clearly unimpressed. "Are you going to listen or not?"

A-wu thought for a moment and then nodded, thinking to herself that she would just forget such dross once she returned.

Rong Si let out an old-fashioned sigh. "Do you think Eldest Brother-in-law dares to bully Eldest Sister like this for no reason?"

A-wu remained silent but fell into deep thought. She hadn't expected the situation in the Duke of An's manor to have become so bad. But then again, everyone in the capital was a shrewd fox; they had long since realized that the Duke of An's manor was now nothing but an empty shell, and some people didn't even want to give them face anymore.

The Duke of An was now old, and he had only three sons. The eldest son, the heir to the Duke of An, currently held a useless post in the Ministry of Revenue; the second son was a loafer who only knew how to marry concubines and father sons, and already had four sons, three of whom were born of concubines; the third son, who was A-wu's father, was slightly better, but he had failed the exams repeatedly and held little hope. The whole family seemed to have no future. If it weren't for the fact that the Duke of An had risked his life alongside the current Emperor in his younger years, and thus held some sentimental value in the Emperor's eyes, the Duke's manor would have collapsed long ago.

"Is Fifth Sister sad because of this?" A-wu asked softly.

Rong Si sighed. At this moment, they were kindred spirits, like grasshoppers on the same string, and she felt a bit more sisterly affection for A-wu. "Sixth Sister, we must rely on ourselves in the future. You must be careful and not be so muddled. Take Eldest Sister, for example; although the family she married into looks good, who knows what it's really like behind closed doors? Even if she comes home to complain, what can the family do?" Not to mention that even a legitimate daughter like Rong Jin was in this state; if it were her and Sixth Sister, who knew how much more pitiful they would be.

A-wu gazed at Rong Si somewhat blankly. She hadn't expected her to say such things to her, so she stopped holding a grudge against her usual pettiness.

In fact, Rong Si's words served as a wake-up call for A-wu, making her truly understand her current identity and status; she was no longer Princess Kangning. Princess Kangning could worry about nothing; she didn't have to worry about marriage, nor did she have to worry about her husband's family treating her poorly. Er, of course, she did worry about marriage; back then, wasn't she sickly? A woman who could not carry on the lineage would not be easily married into a powerful and wealthy family, no matter how prestigious.

Knowing she was physically weak, A-wu had never considered marriage, and she had only felt a slight fondness for that great talent, Tang, before letting it go. Given her proud temperament, how could she possibly endure being mistreated by a husband's family due to her illness? Otherwise, with the prestige of the Princess Royal, it wouldn't have been difficult for A-wu to marry well.

But now, as Rong Xuan, marriage was indeed something she had to consider. As soon as she considered it, A-wu was stunned; her future looked bleak. Marrying high was impossible, but even marrying low did not guarantee a worry-free life. The Duke of An's manor sounded grand, but it was actually an empty shell, and now it couldn't even maintain the appearance of a paper tiger.

She hadn't expected that Rong Jin's return and her complaints would have such a great impact on these growing younger sisters. Rong Wu also changed her habitually arrogant and aloof manner, beginning to navigate the social circles of the capital's young ladies, and her reputation for talent gradually grew.

Rong Si also became more diligent in her studies; although she was not as outstanding as Rong Wu, she was still superior to the others and became increasingly sycophantic toward Rong Wu.

As the New Year approached, Lady Cui suddenly said one day that she wanted to take A-wu out.

Early in the morning, Lady Cui dressed A-wu in new clothes, and together they went to inform the Old Madam of their departure.

It turned out that Lady Cui's father, Cui Zhixing, the Prefect of Qingzhou, had completed his three-year term and had come to the capital to report his duties while waiting for reassignment from the Ministry of Personnel. Since her father was in the capital, Lady Cui had to go and see him regardless.

The Cui family had a three-entry residence in the Lu Men area of the capital, where Cui Zhixing was staying during his time in the capital. Accompanying him this time were Lady Cui's eldest brother and his two sons.

A-wu followed Lady Cui through the entrance, paid her respects to her maternal grandfather and eldest uncle, and then greeted her two cousins.