"I wonder who will be able to endure you in the future, you little..."
"I just won't be good with him." Jiang Xuesui reached for the bamboo ladle, scooped a spoonful of milk tea into her teacup. "And as for the milk tea you brewed, I insist on drinking it."
Before Wen Qiao could even caution her, Jiang Xuesui raised the cup and downed it in one gulp. The boiling hot milk tea instantly scalded her mouth, raising blisters, but she forced herself to show no sign of discomfort.
Meeting Wen Qiao's concerned gaze, Jiang Xuesui felt a twinge of guilt.
"Wen Xiang, quickly fetch some ice!" Wen Qiao went to the medicine cabinet and found a bottle of powder specially for treating mouth sores and ulcers.
By the time he returned to the tea table, Wen Xiang had already made Jiang Xuesui hold ice in her mouth.
Witnessing the whole affair, Wen Xiang felt both sympathy and amusement. She said to Jiang Xuesui, "Miss, you're too stubborn. It's not worth sulking with the eldest young master. Every time you sulk, you hurt yourself a thousand times without harming him at all. That only lets him be smug every time."
But in truth, Wen Xiang knew that whenever Jiang Xuesui sulked with Wen Qiao, he would be so upset he couldn't eat or sleep, always trying every means to make her calm down first. They were a pair of fated tormentors.
Wen Qiao dissolved the powder into a medicinal broth and placed the small silver bowl of it beside himself, deliberately saying, "Wen Xiang, don't waste your words on this little stubborn mule. She's a delicate darling who can't even stand the bitterness of medicine. With that injury, she probably won't be able to eat cold food for days."
Jiang Xuesui snatched the small silver bowl and downed it in one gulp, then held up the empty bowl to show Wen Qiao.
"Who says I'm afraid of bitter medicine? Look, did I even frown just now? Tonight I'll eat cold food right in front of you—plenty of it!"
Fearing Jiang Xuesui might still want milk tea, Wen Qiao ordered Wen Yuan to remove the clay pot containing the milk tea and replace it with cool, clear honeysuckle dew.
He Lanlin entered the tea room, smiling. "Yuanyuan, so you're here at cousin's place. I just obtained a pipa score that includes the piece 'Spring River Flower Moon Night' you've been looking for."
Jiang Xuesui snorted at He Lanlin and quickly hurried away with small, quick steps.
He Lanlin was baffled. Seeing Wen Qiao leisurely sipping tea, he asked, "Cousin, what did I do to upset Yuanyuan?"
"She just told me she won't be good with you," Wen Qiao said.
He Lanlin racked his brain, trying to recall any recent indiscretions, but couldn't figure out what he'd done wrong to be disliked by Yuanyuan.
Suddenly, He Lanlin slapped his thigh—slapping Wen Qiao's thigh, nearly making him spill his tea.
"It must be because my mother and your grandmother and madams have been talking about a golden match again. Yuanyuan is shy about it. Now whenever she sees me, she's embarrassed and avoids me." He Lanlin pulled out the Jade Qilin hanging inside his robe and made as if to smash it on the ground.
His attendant Liuyun, quick-eyed and nimble, caught the Jade Qilin, breaking out in a cold sweat.
"Your Highness, why take out your anger on this Jade Qilin? If you break it, the Consort Dowager will surely have us servants killed."
Wen Xiao sneered, "The Consort Dowager should have punished you sycophants long ago. Our young miss is a grown girl now. Your Highness always coaxes her out to play, and you don't even advise against it—you just let him do as he pleases. Rumors have been spreading in the capital. This is ruining our young miss's reputation, as if she has to be paired with Your Highness."
Wen Xiao was sharp-tongued; she was the one who scolded the older women for drinking and playing cards, and the young maids for idling. She was close to Jinping and Yuming, who served Jiang Xuesui, and had watched Jiang Xuesui grow up. She truly cared about Jiang Xuesui's good name.
Just then, Jiang Xuesui remembered she had left her pearl earring on the tea table and came back to find it. Outside the tea room door, she overheard Wen Xiao's defense of her.
She admired Wen Xiao inwardly as a sensible maid.
She hadn't wanted to continue roughhousing with He Lanlin as they did when they were children, but the bond of childhood friendship made it hard for her to say harsh words to his face.
Her father had long said her marriage was hers to decide, but she couldn't marry out—her future husband would have to marry into the family.
Throughout history, had there ever been a case of a prince marrying into an official's family?
Even if Jiang Xuesui had the ability, she had no romantic feelings for He Lanlin—just companionship, not even as close as her blood cousin Wen Qiao.
Today was a good day to clarify those delicate matters with He Lanlin.
Jiang Xuesui entered, first bowing to He Lanlin, then casting a grateful glance at Wen Xiao.
"Your Highness, what Wen Xiao said is also my true feeling. Although I don't bear the Wen surname, I grew up in this mansion. If my reputation is tarnished, it will also implicate these unmarried cousin sisters. Even if I can't be a perfect lady, Your Highness should be a gentleman."
With that, she bent down to feel under the tea table, found the pearl earring, and tucked it into her sleeve.
As she looked up, Jiang Xuesui saw Wen Qiao give her a faint smile. She thought it was an illusion, but when she blinked, sure enough, Wen Qiao still wore that frosty expression.
Wen Qiao rarely praised her; it was good enough if he didn't argue with her.
But her father was very fond of Wen Qiao. Sometimes when they met, her father couldn't stop talking about Wen Qiao, almost wishing her mother would come back to life and give him a son like Wen Qiao.
He Lanlin was about to speak, but Jiang Xuesui's words choked him.
Jiang Xuesui said, "My father has only me as his daughter, and your mother has only you as her son."
After Jiang Xuesui left, a dejected He Lanlin turned to Wen Qiao. "Are you saying Yuanyuan and I can't be a destined couple?"
Wen Qiao asked, "Can you abandon your clan and your surname for her?"
He Lanlin hesitated.
"Minister Jiang is reasonable. If Yuanyuan insists on me, wouldn't Minister Jiang allow her to be my princess?"
A trace of anger flickered in Wen Qiao's clear eyes.
"You want her to sacrifice for you, but you're unwilling to sacrifice yourself. Don't talk about destined matches and karma here. She is my uncle's precious jewel, the apple of his eye. She is different from other young ladies. Since childhood, she has known to love herself before loving others. She would never act like a moth drawn to a flame for some man, breaking her father's heart."
He Lanlin gave a bitter smile. "I only dare to think about it. After all, now it's I who can't do without her, not the other way around. But cousin, could you abandon your clan and your surname for a girl you like?"
Wen Qiao didn't hesitate for a moment.
"I could."
*
The next day, after paying her respects to Old Madam Wen, Jiang Xuesui took a carriage to Xiangji Temple to offer incense.
She had heard that the bodhisattva at Xiangji Temple was most efficacious in blessing the peace of the household. Jiang Xuesui donated three thousand taels for oil money and asked the abbot to burn two hundred catties of lamp oil before the bodhisattva every day. If the oil money ran out, they could come to the Duke Xiangguo's mansion to ask her for more.