Thirteenth Lady's Comback: Her Everyday Life as a Bystander-Chapter 184 - 14: Cause and Effect

Knowing that Susu would stay in the residence for a few days, Old Madam Song was willing to let her settle in first.

Susu still stayed in the East Wing of Sui’an Hall, which the Old Madam had always kept for her. Knowing she was coming, the Old Madam had early on ordered it to be cleaned thoroughly inside and out and assigned several rough maids and matrons to Susu. This time, Susu did not refuse; for some errands, the household servants were more convenient.

Some of the furnishings in the East Wing were gifts from the Old Madam to Susu, which she had taken with her when she left. Now, seeing it again, it was fully furnished with items even better than those she had previously used, clearly newly acquired by the Old Madam.

Even the bedding was brand new, and the curtains were the Soft Smoke Luo that Susu liked, the color of a clear sky after the rain.

Fen Dai and the other three maids arranged the luggage and belongings according to Miss Susu’s habits, while Susu sat in the flower hall, playing with the tea set on the round table.

This was a Longquan Green Porcelain tea set with plum blossom green reliefs of fish playing in the lotus pond, though there was only a small teapot with six tea bowls.

Such fine porcelain is worth thousands of gold, like the Cheng Kiln Five-Colored Small Cover Bell at Miaoyu’s place in Dream of the Red Chamber, which she abandoned as dirty after Granny Liu used it.

But even just a small cup might be worth a hundred silver taels, enough to buy ten acres of good land in the suburb of the Capital.

And this Longquan kiln green porcelain tea set was even more valuable, acquired from somewhere by the Big Master and given to the Old Madam out of respect.

The poet said, Longquan green porcelain is "like the sky of the blue sunset, distant mountains in the late verdant; the lake’s azure waters, the first grass in early spring." It "captures a thousand peaks’ greenness," inherently beautiful with the great beauty of the world; it is "warm and simple in color and form," without need for adornment; at the "break of clouds after rain, when plum flows acidly into green," it stands alone as a scene, implying profound meaning, merging scene and emotion. (Search on Baidu, haha!)

Susu hadn’t expected the Old Madam to bring out such precious items for her use.

Recalling the Old Madam’s view that "tea sets are meant for drinking tea," there was indeed no fault.

Only she herself lacked the Old Madam’s boldness; such precious items, to play with a while was fine, but to actually use them for drinking tea—if they were accidentally chipped or broken, that, indeed, would be a real tragedy.

Susu shook her head, put the tea set away, and set out the translucent and lustrous white tea set she brought with her.

This tea set was also previously gifted by the Old Madam, crafted from sweet white porcelain, naturally of great value, and much loved by Susu.

Just as she set out the tea set, the water on the red clay stove was boiling, and she prepared to make tea when Ning Xiang, Yun Tong, Chun Feng, and Qing Zhu entered hand in hand.

"Just perfect, I was about to make tea. I recently got some Tianshan Snow Chrysanthemum that not only clears the liver and improves vision, but also refreshes the eyes and calms the mind. I’ll have Shuimo pack some for you later."

The four young girls were naturally very excited to see Susu, having much to say. However, upon seeing Susu’s serene demeanor, they quieted down.

First, they greeted Susu respectfully, and seeing her gesture they sat quietly by, watching Susu make tea, adding a few small yellow flowers to each bowl, the little blossoms spinning and opening in the sweet white porcelain, evoking a sense of tranquility and peace.

Susu didn’t speak, just gestured invitingly, watching the four young girls sip the snow chrysanthemum tea, their initial restlessness subside upon entering, Susu then nodded in approval.

Just as she was about to speak, a rough maid assigned to her by the Old Madam came in with a message.

"Miss, Sister Yun Duo sent over a few trays of pastries, saying she instructed the small kitchen to make them especially to Miss’s taste. She also said knowing Ning Xiang and the others are here, once Miss arrived, surely there would be many secrets to be shared. Only now, their status with Miss is different, they should not delay their tasks." 𝕗𝗿𝕖𝐞𝐰𝗲𝕓𝐧𝕠𝕧𝗲𝐥.𝚌𝐨𝚖

The maid was about eleven or twelve years old, her lips bustling, and added, "Those who came are recently selected to serve Nanny Qin, Juan’er handed the pastry box to this slave and left after delivering the message."

Hearing this, Susu saw the expressions of Ning Xiang and the others change, yet she smiled at the young maid and said, "Your mother is Mrs. He from the First Madam’s courtyard, are you called Ling’er?"

The rough maid didn’t expect Miss Susu would recognize her, growing somewhat excited, nodding vigorously, "This slave is called Ling’er!"

Susu took a delicate and small plum blossom gold ring from her pocket, with a tiny fragment of red gemstone embedded, although no larger than a mung bean, the color was exceptionally pure.