Thirteenth Lady's Comback: Her Everyday Life as a Bystander-Chapter 188 - 16: The Aftermath of the Drama Queen

On the fifteenth day of the eighth month, the Old Madam and the Heir’s wife went to the palace to attend the palace banquet, and incidentally celebrated Princess Anning’s birthday. Susu had already prepared four types of incense products, three of which were made before she left the mansion, and the last one was inspired after seeing the golden osmanthus of the Huang Family.

One is named "Understanding," a begonia flower-scented aroma pill, which is a gift for Consort Xi. Another, "Childlike," is a lotus scent, first pressed into molds before carving. Susu carved the scene "Most fond of the little rascal child lying by the creek peeling lotus seed pods," replacing the child with a little girl. This incense took Susu four months to complete, and it’s a gift for Princess Anning.

One is called "Jade Hall Riches," with a stronger scent, made into incense sticks, accompanied by four five-colored tourmaline-carved incense burners. The four flower shapes are magnolia, begonia, peony, and osmanthus. This is also for Princess Consort Xi, who can use it herself or present it to the Empress.

The remaining one is "Washed Whiteness," starting with a faint floral scent, followed by a hint of grass and wood fragrance. It then bursts into a rich osmanthus scent, before finally settling into a smoky aroma.

Susu made it into aroma pills. Due to the essential flower dew ingredient, of which she only had a small bottle, only a few pills were made. Susu kept one as a memento, and the rest were brought for the Old Madam. It was fit enough to be presented to the Empress Dowager. This was Susu’s first time creating such a complex incense product.

When the Old Madam and the Heir’s wife returned, they naturally brought many gifts back. Among them, Susu’s meticulously prepared incense products played a major role. As expected, Susu received an assortment of items, including those gifted by Consort Xi and the Princess, as well as a special gift from the Empress Dowager. Although just fine silk, beaded necklace, a palace fan, and some jewelry, it represented honor not everyone could enjoy. The Old Madam surely praised Susu once more.

On the sixteenth, Yang Liu, Bisi, and Ning Cui all came to the Bo Mansion, making Sui’an Hall bustling with activity. Susu and three other young maids from the previous generation demonstrated to the maids of the entire mansion what it means to "benefit from following the Old Madam".

Not to mention Susu, who married into the fifth rank, and Ning Cui, married into the seventh rank. Yang Liu married the largest landowner in Tong County, with a husband as the sole future heir. Minus the troublesome matters they didn’t speak of, she was securely the future Ancestral Lady of the Huang Family. Even Bisi, a current servant of the mansion, had a young husband managing the family’s properties in the Capital, living a life of luxury akin to a true lady.

The gathering of these four women was like a splash of cold water in the middle of summer to the restless servants of Sui’an Hall, instantly sobering them. It was not just those with hidden agendas who acted frantically to cover their malicious thoughts, but even Ning Xiang and others found new resolve. Despite initially being bewildered by Susu’s indirect message, they were all smart children who understood the underlying meaning, their admiration for Susu growing even stronger. No wonder she was Sister Su, brewing great soup—chicken soup for the soul!

Susu had been worried about Yang Liu, but seeing her in good spirits today, with a healthy glow on her face, she finally was at ease. She had learned about the "Mist Dream" fragrance from the memory of "Thirteenth Lady." Though Yang Liu only inhaled a minimal amount, prolonged exposure over half a month impacted her vitality. It’s best to have the Imperial Physician, skilled in dietary supplementation, come and check.

But calling an Imperial Physician to the mansion during major festivals seemed inauspicious, and Yang Liu hadn’t decided how to bring it up with the Old Madam. So she decided happily to stay an extra day at her mother’s home. As it stands, her mother-in-law managed the internal affairs of the Huang Family, while her husband handled external matters—effectively making Yang Liu already the Ancestral Lady of the Huang Family, with her father-in-law stepping aside.

Ning Cui and Bisi stayed until after dinner before leaving, with their husbands coming personally to escort them, naturally visiting the Old Madam. While Bisi’s husband was well-acquainted with them, Ning Cui’s husband was seen only once when they visited the Old Madam after Ning Cui returned home. How to describe him: from the back, he seemed tall and robust, but from the front, unexpectedly, he had the face of a cherub, his youthful looks even more pronounced at twenty-five or six than eighteen-year-old Ning Cui. In modern terms, it was his "contrast cuteness".

Susu still recalled the scene where, upon seeing Ning Cui’s husband for the first time, Yang Liu and the other two exchanged looks and appeared to silently say, "Is this really to your taste?"—embarrassing Ning Cui to the point where she nearly covered her face and fled.

That evening, Yang Liu didn’t return to her own home but stayed with Susu in the East Wing of Sui’an Hall. Apart from the bedroom, the East Wing had beds in the warm pavilion and study. Susu kindly offered the bedroom to Yang Liu, asking the maids to move her bedding to the study.

The two of them were now sitting in the side room outside the bedroom, sharing secrets.

"I heard you mentioning today that your husband now manages the outer estate, has everything been resolved?" Susu asked, tapping a small golden hammer on the walnuts, placing the walnut meats on a small saucer in front of Yang Liu, signaling with her eyes for her to eat more, as it’s good for pregnant women.

Yang Liu swallowed the walnut, toyed with two in her hand, and said, "Although it’s improper to speak ill of elders, I’m still a bit confused. My mother-in-law always had people monitoring the Han Family and my father-in-law. Unaware of the ’Mist Dream,’ she never realized that the Han Family was biding their time for a big move. If not for you, both my baby and I might have perished. Given the Huang Family’s generations of single heirs, my child is likely the next generation’s only offspring. The Han Family wanted to end the Huang Family’s line, but my great-grandfather wouldn’t let them have their way."

Let alone the Han Family, who knows about the Huang Family’s secret "Mist Dream Fragrance"—there’s no sparing them. Once the Huang Family’s patriarch learned of it, within an hour, the Han Family was placed under arrest. What followed were the common intrigues seen in household dramas—sudden illness, and soon the person was gone. The patriarch, decisive and ruthless, didn’t even leave room for arguments.

As for how a maid from the Shun’an Earl Mansion knew the Huang Family’s secret, Yang Liu came up with a plausible excuse. The Earl Mansion’s Old Madam had once spent a fortune to have Susu taught by a renowned master of an incense-making family, a lineage tracing back to the previous dynasty. It’s plausible they knew some royal secrets from back then.

When it comes to the incense-making family and the great master, Yang Liu wasn’t lying. The Old Madam indeed hired such mentors for Susu in Yangzhou. However, the specifics taught were known only to those involved.

Yang Liu continued, "My mother-in-law is no easy catch. When the Han Family was managing, the authority she held was superficial at best. It was only after the Han Family’s fall and my mother-in-law quickly took over household affairs, that I realized some favorite servants of the Han Family quickly became close to her. My concerns were wasted."

Bringing up her father-in-law, she smirked derisively, "Who would have imagined—while seeming to dote on his concubine over his wife at home, deeply devoted to the Han Family, outside he was flaunting a lavish lifestyle with performers and mistresses. A family head so dismissive of ancestral rules that my great-grandfather almost broke his legs. Yet, forcing him to resign as head and reflect on a rural estate might just play into his desires!"

The domestic strife of the Huang Family concluded with the downfall of the Han Family and the Huang Family’s patriarch being sent to the estate. Due to all these disturbances, the elder of the Huang Family personally ordered a certain "Cousin" sent home, secretly chastising his daughter-in-law, leaving Yang Liu, her husband, and mother-in-law benefiting in the end—counting as compensation for Yang Liu.

Mentioning this, Yang Liu couldn’t hold back a cold laughter. Had her child been harmed, even if the Han Family perished and her father-in-law sent away, she’d let them know the depth of being a "doomed pair"!