Thirteenth Lady's Comback: Her Everyday Life as a Bystander-Chapter 250 - 2: Troublesome Matters (Second Update)

Due to the wrong message, Yue Baiyou, who was slapped in the face upon meeting, looked at Susu, who had her face covered, and thought viciously: A shady slut, just a maid by birth, what are you so proud about?

In her heart, she hated the dumb soldier who delivered the message to her. He couldn’t do anything right, and yet he dared to wish for her. He should take a look in the mirror at his own conduct.

As it turns out, after the soldiers who traveled to the Capital together returned to Hami, someone came to curry favor with Yue Baiyou. But this person only heard bits and pieces from the comrades who accompanied Hong Sheng to propose, such as how Hong Sheng’s betrothal gifts were prepared, or that his wife was a maid from the Bo Mansion.

This little hearsay, plus some imagination, constituted the information Yue Baiyou knew. She simply thought Hong Sheng might be marrying a maid to attach himself to the Bo Mansion.

And since she was a maid who left the mansion, she must not be young anymore, which is why there’s the malicious address of "elder sister."

Hong Sheng then introduced: "This is Miss Yue, her elder brother was my comrade when I first came to the Northwest." Upon hearing this, Miss Yue’s eyes turned red, and tears immediately welled up.

Susu sighed at the melodramatic performance of this young lady and thought, Hong Sheng’s comrade must have died on the battlefield.

As for why she was at Hong Sheng’s house, Susu could almost see the melodramatic plot unfold. Probably, both parents died, and she relied on her brother.

Now that her brother is gone, she had to be entrusted to Hong Sheng. Then over time, feelings develop or something... Haha, it’s all just a routine, don’t expect me to sympathize with her.

Sympathizing with a woman eyeing my husband and inviting the wolf into the house, isn’t a lack of a brain, that’s just being dumb!

So Susu calmly watched as Miss Yue, with tears still not smudged by her heavy makeup, greeted her again, saying: "Baiyou greets sister-in-law!"

Haha, Baiyou (indeed), it truly is a sad story. But, damn, she can really bend and stretch.

Susu smiled and reached out, offering a light support, "Miss, you’re too courteous." In terms of demeanor and appearance, a hundred Yue Baiyous couldn’t match one Susu.

Even with a light veil on her face, Susu’s elegant and noble aura was evident in every move.

Yue Baiyou: Completely defeated.

After lingering at the door for a while, Susu looked at Hong Sheng and said, "Husband, it’s almost lunchtime, we should hurry in and settle down!" Susu wasn’t interested in being put on display.

Hong Sheng found it amusing and slightly exasperating when Susu seemed to listen to him in front of everyone, prioritizing him as if the earlier scene was everyone’s illusion. He guessed he’d have to climb into bed in the middle of the night again tonight.

But on the surface, he solemnly said, "Let’s go home!" Then he took the lead and walked in front, with Susu following behind him like a demure wife.

Passing through the servants at the entrance, all of them bowed or kneeled on one knee, declaring, "Greetings to the master and mistress!"

Hong Sheng waved his hand, and Susu gently said, "Stand up, once we’re settled, we’ll meet everyone."

The house Hong Sheng bought was newly built only two or three years ago. The previous owner’s caravan was robbed on the road, losing a lot of cargo, and many employees died. The compensation alone was a significant expense.

To manage these affairs, the previous owner had to sell off their Hami assets, at least to get some liquid silver and possibly make a comeback.

This house was priced at a thousand taels, but knowing it was a military officer who wanted to buy it, they reduced it by two hundred taels. Since all the furniture and fittings in the house were made from good wood and very new, Hong Sheng spent another thousand taels to buy them.

The furniture, ironically, was more expensive than the house. But Hong Sheng feared Susu would dislike it, considering it had been used by others, so he had everything stored in the warehouse. Even if Susu didn’t use it, they could still sell it later for a profit.

This house was genuinely nice, a five-courtyard siheyuan. The first courtyard, before the Hanging Flower Gate, was a narrow courtyard with houses sitting oppositely. The second courtyard housed reception rooms and east and west wing rooms. Then there was another Hanging Flower Gate, forming the third courtyard between the reception rooms and this gate. The main house and wing rooms located in the fourth courtyard were the main courtyard behind the Hanging Flower Gate. Behind it was the back-covering house, the fifth courtyard.

On the east and west sides of the fifth courtyard, there are rows of houses serving as the kitchen and servants’ quarters.

Inside the residential courtyard, there’s a north-south cross-shaped corridor. The front courtyard has jujube trees, pomegranates, and flowerbeds with peonies, which are in full bloom now, with Susu recognizing several rare varieties.

Between the fourth and fifth courtyards, there’s a small garden where roses, peonies, begonias, wisterias, pomegranates, irises, and other flowers vie in beauty, attracting butterflies and bees flitting around.

Hong Sheng didn’t rush to settle in but took Susu on a tour around the house. Behind the main house was a small bamboo building, originally prepared by the previous owner as an embroidery building for their daughter.

The exquisite two-story bamboo building not only faced the small garden but also allowed a complete view of the entire house from its balcony.

Susu was very pleased with this house. Once she’s added some furniture, it would be habitable and she could arrange everything according to her taste.

But her good mood was cut off here because the current situation was awful—without the consent of the household man and woman, the bamboo building already had an occupant, that was Miss Yue Baiyou.

Having seen thick-skinned people before, she’s never seen someone so shameless. Alongside Susu’s current feelings, even Hong Sheng’s expression looked displeased.

He was not very familiar with Yue Baiyou’s brother, having been mere soldiers in the same Hundred Households.

But when he was promoted to Chief Banner, that comrade was reassigned to his command. Before they got familiar, they went to the battlefield, where that comrade sacrificed his life.

The comrade didn’t die instantly but was gravely injured. At that time, it wasn’t just Hong Sheng beside him, so the responsibility didn’t solely fall on him.

However, since Hong Sheng was a superior officer who came back from the battlefield and was promoted from Chief Banner to Hundred Households, everyone naturally assumed he’d take more care of things. Hong Sheng, with a chivalrous heart, didn’t refuse.

At that time, Yue Baiyou was already sixteen, not young anymore. Hong Sheng thought of taking her in as a sworn sister, finding her a good husband with a generous dowry, to repay the brotherly camaraderie from fighting enemies together.

However, upon hearing her brother’s death, the girl fainted, and after waking, refused to eat or drink. Hong Sheng had no choice but to move her from their shabby house to his residence, having the old nanny at home look after her until she accepted reality.

Later, the young lady accepted her brother’s death on the battlefield but refused Hong Sheng’s offer to become his sister, saying she had a brother and wouldn’t recognize any others (haha). Seeing her so sad, Hong Sheng decided not to press the issue, though he still regarded her as a sister in his heart.

While the girl lived at his house, in order to avoid suspicion, Hong Sheng didn’t often return home, and at that time, all he focused on was striving upward, trying to earn a status worthy of Susu, without paying attention to others.