Thirteenth Lady's Comback: Her Everyday Life as a Bystander-Chapter 51 - 3: Each Has Their Differences (Part 3)

In Taoran Inn, Fourth Miss and Sixth Miss were fiddling with various paints in the study. Seeing Susu, they pulled her over to check if the colors they mixed were right. Susu said, "Good girls, let me have a sip of water first. Although the courtyards are not far apart, the journey here was quite tiring." 𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝔀𝓮𝒃𝙣𝓸𝒗𝒆𝒍.𝙘𝒐𝒎

Sixth Miss hurriedly asked the maid to serve tea and instructed, "Bring the Siamese sweet pomelo my father had sent over." Then she turned her head playfully to Susu and said, "I know that fruit is your favorite, sister, so I kept one just for you."

In the presence of Sixth Miss, Susu was most at ease. She smiled at these words, dazzling everyone in the room. Susu was aware of the impact of her smile, and seeing this, she laughed even more mischievously, saying, "My good girl, thank you for keeping me in mind!"

Siam is the ancient name for Thailand. The Song family’s merchant ships brought back a batch of fruits from Thailand earlier in the year, among which were pomelos. Though Susu had been in Great Chu for five years, this was the first time she had seen a pomelo. Such fruits were considered rare in Chu Country, and Sui’an Hall distributed only ten to guests, making it quite presentable.

Old Madam generously ordered the maids to share one, and Susu rarely ate more, which Sixth Miss noted. Normally, when many people were around, she wouldn’t mention it. She had received only two herself yet saved one for Susu, a thoughtfulness that moved Susu deeply.

Seeing Susu smile radiantly, Fourth Miss quickly said, "Stop it, you’re dazzling my eyes. When I go out as a guest, those madams remark they’ve never seen such a beauty, and I feel bashful hearing this. That’s because they haven’t seen our Susu, what do you call this?"

Before Fourth Miss could finish, Sixth Miss shook her head and exclaimed, "A single smile can topple a city, another can overturn an entire country." Her exaggerated expression made everyone in the room burst into laughter.

Susu chuckled helplessly, saying, "Where did you learn this peculiar behavior, Miss? You should let Third Madam see and have you copy books as punishment."

After a round of laughter and play, they left the maids to tidy up the study. The two young ladies and Susu went to the Warm Pavilion. Susu personally peeled the pomelo, her slender, white hand holding a small silver knife inlaid with blue gemstones. With a gentle scratch and cut, she peeled it and divided the segments among the girls. She also took a piece for herself, saying, "Eating like this is the most satisfying. Having it peeled and served on a plate loses the interest."

Having witnessed Susu’s talent for food over the past two years, Sixth Miss nodded enthusiastically. Fourth Miss observed with a smile, saying, "When it comes to food, you two always share a common language."

Susu stopped after eating two segments, washed her hands, and said, "Good girls, let me take the leftovers. I read in a miscellaneous book earlier that this pomelo can be made into honey pomelo tea, which is also very fragrant and sweet. Once I’ve made it, I’ll bring it back to sweeten your mouths too."

How could the young ladies refuse? Sixth Miss even sent someone to inform Third Madam and brought back two more, telling Susu to "make the most of it"!

After finishing the talk about the pomelo, Susu then spoke to the young ladies about Old Madam’s instructions. Sixth Miss, being playful, wailed at the mention of attending school again to learn etiquette tomorrow, "This is going to take my life!" Susu quickly clucked her tongue, "It’s the New Year, Miss, don’t you know any taboos? If Old Madam hears about this, you’ll get scolded again."

Sixth Miss giggled, unconcerned. Only Fourth Miss’s expression shifted slightly, and after a moment, she sighed, "Since we enjoy such prosperity, there are always sacrifices to be made for it."

Sixth Miss was still young and had never been told private matters, so she lived a carefree life, unaware of what Fourth Miss lamented. But Susu had some guesses.

Fourth Miss was likely the next from the Song family to be sent into the Royal Family, most probably to Prince Ke Mansion. Even if Prince Ke didn’t already have a Main Wife, entering as a concubine born from a side family meant she’d be at most a Concubine. Although in Great Chu, concubines of such rank received actual Fifth Rank titles, stipends, and grain, they were still just concubines.

Because of her mother’s status, Fourth Miss grew up vowing never to become a concubine. But the current situation left her with no choice.

Thinking of this, Susu couldn’t help but recall the current female lead, Ruan Shiniang, who was in Prince Ke’s harem. In the novel, Ruan Shiniang became a chief maid in Prince Ke’s study at the age of sixteen, which was this year. Shortly after, the author introduced a melodramatic plot, where aphrodisiacs proved unmatched, turning Ruan Shiniang into Prince Ke’s concubine.

At this point, there was no special relationship between Prince Ke and the female lead, just some goodwill. But Prince Ke’s wife arranged for Ruan Shiniang to a remote courtyard, secretly treating her harshly. The female lead endured for a whole year, preparing to vie for favor, starting her journey of rising to empress dowager.

Unsurprisingly, Fourth Miss was also destined for Prince Ke Mansion. With the lead’s formidable charm, should Fourth Miss oppose, her intelligence would label her a "malicious supporting role"; if she could ally with the lead, given the lead’s nature of repaying kindness, she might at least become an Imperial Concubine, benefiting the Song family.

However, how to get Fourth Miss to connect with this golden opportunity worried Susu. After pondering for a long time with no solution, Susu decided to leave it for now. When the boat reaches the pier, it will naturally align; for now, they would have to take one step at a time.

Susu patted Fourth Miss’s hand, changing the subject, "Look what I brought for you, Misses?" Although young, Sixth Miss sensed the atmosphere wasn’t great and eagerly asked, "Sister, what good stuff did you bring?"

Fourth Miss carefully observed Susu, finally fixing her gaze on the deerskin pouch hanging from Susu’s waist next to her pocket. This was made by Susu herself, cleverly divided into several compartments with charcoal pencils, paper, honey fat, a small mirror, and snacks inside. Fourth Miss said, "It’s definitely not food, the Sixth girl will be disappointed."

Sixth Miss tugged Susu’s sleeve, "Good sister, quickly show us! Even if it’s not food, anything you bring out won’t disappoint us."

Finally, Susu smiled and took out two flat white jade boxes about an inch in size and two flower-engraved glass bottles of finger length from the deerskin pouch, handing them to the girls, "Inside the boxes is lip balm; just a little applied on your lips gives a soft color and keeps them moist and translucent to prevent dryness. The glass bottles contain plum blossom essence, which only requires a few drops in a cup of honey water to become incredibly fragrant. Plum blossom brew has a strong kick and isn’t suitable for you to drink, and with charcoal fires burning indoors now, this drink is cool, detoxifying, and stops coughs."

Saying this, Susu felt a bit embarrassed, "They were all made using half-blooming unopened flower buds from Plum Garden this year, wasting quite a few plum trees."

The young ladies were intrigued upon hearing this. Fourth Miss applied the lip balm, complementing her glossy cherry lips on her oval face, making her radiant and stunningly beautiful. Sixth Miss had the fragrance essence mixed for drinking, and both enjoyed a mouthful of aroma.

Sixth Miss was thrilled, saying, "I find it no less than osmanthus and rose essence bestowed by the palace, even sweeter and more fragrant. This is great, now that Sister Susu can make it herself, we’ll never need to worry about finding it when we want it!"