"Ruoruo, call your great-aunt," Ran Yan said.
Ruoruo obediently called out, "Great-aunt."
Du Shi exclaid with delight, "It’s been only half a month since I’ve seen you, and you can speak already? And so clearly too!"
"It’s about ti he started talking; children learn quickly, though Ji’er still doesn’t speak very clearly," Ran Yan said.
Xiao Lao Da continued to sleep soundly while Du Shi cheerfully encouraged Xiao Lao Er to call out. Indeed, as soon as he opened his mouth, he amused everyone present. "Great-aunt"—none of the three words sounded the sa, which was easier for cats and yeah-yeah to say.
"Noble Lady arrives! The Graceful Lady arrives! The Virtuous Lady arrives! The Worthy Lady arrives!" a sharp voice suddenly echoed through the hall.
Everyone imdiately took their places and sat up straight. Du Shi also handed Ruoruo over to Wan Lu to hold.
Ran Yan looked up and saw a group of won enter, clad in skirts vibrant as flowers, led by four consorts in beautiful attire. Followed by this, the na of each princess began to be called out, and then the nine concubines.
Once they had all settled down and exchanged courtesies with the royal won, Wei Noble Lady began a formal speech. Soon after, the singing and dancing began.
It was then that Du Shi found an opportunity to whisper privately with Ran Yan, leaning in slightly and whispering, "The Ran family treated your mother poorly, and now they neither see nor inquire about you?"
Although Ran Yan’s mother was only a concubine daughter of the Zheng family, marrying into a minor family was already a significant honor, and the Ran family gained much favor from having ties with the Zheng family. If the Zhengs learned that they dared not to treat a Zheng daughter well, this would surely need to be reckoned with harshly.
Having grown up in a prominent household, Du Shi, from a Noble Lady to a Noble Wife, knew these issues of powerful family courtyards all too well. Upon hearing this news, countless scenarios ford in her mind, but no matter which scenario, it always led to one conclusion— the Ran family was foolish.
Ran Yan was not good at pretense, but she truly detested the conduct of the Ran family. Upon hearing Du Shi’s question, her expression naturally turned cold, "This matter greatly pains , but since I am a daughter of the Ran family, I dare not criticize my family too heavily, for fear that people might see as unfilial."
"In you flows the blood of the Zheng family from Xingyang," Du Shi said calmly, then fell silent.
Ran Yan turned the thought over in her mind, understanding that Du Shi was reminding her that the Zhengs of Xingyang were willing to support her. Du Shi should not have asked this question in such a setting, but she did anyway...
Since the Zheng family already knew about this issue, and those present were of not insignificant status, other royal won surely knew as well. By asking this question, Du Shi clearly told Ran Yan that should others inquire later, she could straightforwardly take a stance and clearly distance herself from the Ran family.
Ran Yan turned back and saw that Ruoruo and Xiao Lao Er were both naively staring at the dance, while Xiao Lao Da also opened his eyes to glance over.
Ran Yan smiled at the three children, truly reminiscent of Grandmother Liu entering the Grand View Garden.
However, after watching for a while, each one exhibited different behaviors; Xiao Lao Da, clearly over the novelty, nestled sleepily in his nanny’s arms, while Ruoruo remained intently focused, and Xiao Lao Er started dancing along exuberantly, leaving his nanny exhausted and sweating, unable to quiet him no matter how she tried.
Ran Yan didn’t intervene; the child was still too young to reason with, and if he wanted to frolic, then let him, as others wouldn’t mind too much.
After a while, not only did Xiao Lao Er dance, but as the singing started, he even began to shout along. Suddenly, many eyes were turned their way.
Even Ran Yan, who usually had a deadpan expression even as Mount Tai crumbled before her, found this hard to bear and secretly glared at Xiao Lao Er. He truly treated this place as his own backyard.
Noble Lady Wei, seated at the head, had also noticed the situation here and a warm smile blossod on her dignified and beautiful face before she continued to watch the dance in the center of the room.
Ran Yan sat and watched for a while too, and when she noticed that the second son of the Xiao family had stopped whimpering, she turned her head to see two girls around sixteen years old lying on the ground, using handkerchiefs to catch his attention. One of the girls was using a handkerchief to make various shapes, now a flower, now a bird, and the second son of the Xiao family watched intently.
Ran Yan couldn’t help but look at them closely, but she only glanced at the beautiful girl next to the other before her attention was captured by the girl folding the handkerchief.
The girl was beautiful, without any makeup, but her appearance wasn’t significantly better than the girl next to her. However, her slightly upturned peach blossom eyes seed to twinkle like stars, adding a lively and cunning charm to her soft beauty.
The two girls, realizing Ran Yan was watching, perford a courtesy towards her.
Ran Yan noticed they were wearing palace clothes but not the ceremonial clothes.
"iniang, let’s go," the girl hiding behind the other, who had been folding the handkerchief, tugged at her.
Ran Yan’s heart skipped a beat as she looked towards the girl called iniang, "Is your surna Wu?"
"Does Lady recognize ?" Wu iniang asked with a candid smile.
Ran Yan thought to herself, recognize? More than just recognize! Everything you do in the future, I know as if they were treasures in my ho.
Wu Zetian! Surely, Li Shimin must have already t her, who, it is said, because of her alluring eyes, bestowed upon her the na iniang.
Ran Yan had also thought about the scene of eting Wu Zetian, but she never imagined that she would find her lying on the ground, playing with her son using a handkerchief.
Ran Yan regained her composure and spoke, "No, I just thought you resembled the Noble Consort, so I guessed, tentatively."
"Lady has quite the discerning eye," Wu iniang said, looking toward the second son of Xiao, "Your child is very lively and adorable, I really like him."
Although Wu iniang ranked much lower than Ran Yan, she was a consort in the palace, and moreover, the Tang Dynasty was not strict about these hierarchies, so their conversation was very casual.
"If you like him, why not play with him for a while?" Ran Yan said.
Wu iniang was just about to nod when the girl behind her tugged at her sleeve. Wu iniang stuck out her tongue, glanced at the dance and singing in the center, "Thank you, Lady Xiang Liang, but the song and dance are almost over... We sneaked here, you won’t tell, right?"
Wu iniang winked at Ran Yan and handed a small bird folded from the handkerchief to the second son of Xiao, then stealthily ran back.
The other girl said, "We promised the Ninth Prince and Princess Jinyang, I guess we’ve played too long this ti!"
"No harm, the Ninth Prince and Princess Jinyang are the easiest to appease, just sweet talk them a bit."
"Then you do the sweet-talking."
"Fine, when have I not..." (To be continued. If you like this work, you are welco to Qidian (qidian) to cast recomndation tickets and monthly tickets, your support is my biggest motivation.)
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