Thirteenth Lady's Comback: Her Everyday Life as a Bystander-Chapter 308 - 18: Bai Lili (First Update)

Regardless of Yue Baiyou’s character, her status alone is advantageous. Her parents died young, and her only brother fell in battle. Everyone regarded this orphan with sympathy.

If Susu couldn’t tolerate her, it was different from not being able to tolerate a concubine; the two situations cannot be compared.

When it comes to mistresses or concubines, no woman can remain unjealous. If a woman can’t tolerate a concubine, she’s merely deemed as lacking virtue and being jealous. But if she can’t tolerate an orphan like Yue Baiyou, then that’s a serious matter!

In the military, comrades are like brothers. If one falls in battle, other close comrades often take care of his family and offspring.

Hong Sheng promised his comrades to look after Yue Baiyou. Yet now, even the maid by the side of the family head’s wife can "discipline" her. And when she steps out, she’s "watched." Her claim of being taken care of is dubious, as leftover food is still food, and worn clothes are still clothes.

But people aren’t fools. Yue Baiyou seemed so "strong" when Susu entered the household. If Susu truly treated her that way, the entire Northwest would have heard about it.

This lady dared to challenge the Bai Family’s eldest daughter. Acting like a pitiful orphan now is just too fake!

Moreover, looking at the attire and jewelry on this lady, it’s far better than what many sitting here possess.

Yet there are people who still support her, including that pretentious lady. Hearing such words, she dabbed nonexistent tears with a handkerchief, "Poor Miss Yue, if you have any grievances, you should have Mrs. Qin stand up for you later!"

As she spoke, Madam Liu, Madam Jiang, and Madam Bai entered the room.

Those present quickly stood up to greet them. After some pleasantries, they also noticed Bai Lili, secretly assessing her. Apart from her family’s wealth, her looks and demeanor couldn’t compare with Madam Su’s.

Bai Lili naturally sensed the subtle glances from others, but she believed they were admiring her attire today. She puffed her chest slightly, a bunch of poor folks who’ve surely never seen such luxurious clothing; she was in a good mood today, so let them look!

Bai Lili wore a silver-striped gauze top, with a large red gauze jacket over it, paired with a skirt of tight-color gauze with gold-thread embroidery.

Her hair was styled in a ingot-shaped bun, adorned with a large red begonia gauze flower, with crystal beads embedded on the silk petals. The center of the flower featured golden threads with rice-sized pearls, making it quite exquisite.

On the left side of her bun was an eight-treasure coral auspicious hairpin, while the right side had a pair of green butterfly pearl flowers bridge-inlay green jade gold hairpin. A red gold inlaid ruby butterfly pressed her hair at the back.

Her ears were adorned with golden filigree lantern earrings, with a ruby bead the size of a lotus seed in the middle. Around her neck was a gold necklace inlaid with a mutton fat jade lotus pendant the size of an egg.

Her wrist held four high-ice green jade bangles. On the ring finger of her left hand was a ring with a gold-set diamond-shaped rose purple-blue gemstone.

Bai Lili had an oval face, with prominent eyebrows and eyes, which made her seem less purely Han. It was said her great-grandmother was a beauty from the Uygur region, perhaps a genetic throwback. Coupled with her tall and voluptuous figure, she had a touch of exotic minority charm. 𝓯𝙧𝙚𝒆𝙬𝙚𝒃𝙣𝙤𝒗𝓮𝓵.𝙘𝙤𝙢

She scanned the room and noticed no strangers, raising an eyebrow. That impudent maid dared not to have arrived yet! Hmm, is she here now?

Bai Lili saw Yue Baiyou and knew that Madam Su must have come. Otherwise, why would Mrs. Qin invite Yue Baiyou?

However, since Madam Su wasn’t there, could she be with Mrs. Qin? The thought that Mrs. Sun said Mrs. Qin had an important guest and led them directly to the front hall without meeting them first infuriated Bai Lili.

What was so special about her? A twice-married widow who only has a way out because of her better background and a good brother.

Could the so-called important guest be that Madam Su?

"Isn’t this Miss Yue? What are you doing here? Oh, I remember, your extraordinary sister-in-law brought you. Where is Madam Su? We are still waiting to pay our respects!"

The speaker was Miss Zhang, sister-in-law to Madam Jiang, whose family had the surname Zhang. Miss Zhang and Yue Baiyou mutually disliked each other.

Miss Zhang came from a prestigious family and was of legitimate birth. She had both status and knowledge, but was spoiled by her family and lacked even a trace of gracefulness. She was the type who would disappear in a crowd.

She always looked down upon Yue Baiyou, viewing her as a "commoner turned phoenix," and was jealous of her beautiful appearance. Whenever she saw her, she would make sarcastic remarks.

Today, upon seeing Yue Baiyou, she didn’t wait for Bai Lili to speak and immediately focused her firepower on ridiculing Yue Baiyou, even mocking Susu.

Bai Lili sat quietly to the side as usual, feigning aloofness, merely playing with the ring on her hand. The gemstone on it was of a rare color, bestowed by the emperor to placate her father.

Along with it came a secret decree. Thinking about its contents, Bai Lili straightened her posture further, as if already sitting on a throne, waiting for others to pay homage.

She found it laughable that she once liked Hong Sheng. What kind of person was he? A peasant by birth. Her liking him was his fortune, yet he dared refuse her; he really didn’t know what was good for him.

Now, she no longer liked him and had a better future awaiting her with a nobler status; she wouldn’t even accept a Fourth Rank Madam if it were handed to her.

But her dignity couldn’t be sullied; she vowed that Hong Sheng would meet a dire end, starting now by taking some interest from his wife.

As for that fool Yue Baiyou, who thought holding some spices could grasp the Bai Family’s weakness and dreamt of controlling her, she was completely clueless.

Forget it, since she leaked so much information about Hong Sheng, let her at least have a whole corpse.

But the plan needed a little change. Regardless of being Hong Sheng’s principal wife or concubine, she wasn’t interested, so there was no rush to end Madam Su.

Rumors had it that Hong Sheng was deeply and exclusively devoted to his wife, so Madam Su might still be of great use in the future!

There was no need to share these thoughts with Yue Baiyou. This woman only recognized silver and was insatiably greedy. Given enough interest, who knows if she would sell her out!

Other people clearly weren’t aware of the cruel thoughts running through the seemingly proud Bai Lili’s mind.

The woman who wiped her tears saying Yue Baiyou was pitiful glanced secretly at Madam Bai. Seeing her wearing a gentle smile, she flattered Miss Zhang, "Madam Su is accompanying Mrs. Qin in the main room. Didn’t you see her when you went up to greet them?"

As soon as the words were spoken, the room fell silent. Madam Liu, the oldest in the room, felt a bit awkward, quietly picked up her teacup, observing the bright color of the tea, its fragrant aroma captivating. The tea leaves were uniform in size and length, resembling silver needles with visible white fuzz.

Madam Liu took a sip; it was tribute tea, Gozhu Purple Bamboo Shoot, not the kind her family drank. Only an even better kind would be the "urgent tea" required to be offered to the Capital before Qingming.

Thinking of this, Madam Liu suppressed her anger and said, "Mrs. Qin is entertaining important guests over there, and we haven’t yet paid our respects to the lady of the house. Commander Hong is favored by Commander Liu, and naturally, Madam Su is given more honor than us!"