The Battle of the Noble Ladies (Book 1)

Chapter 18 - Old Grudges

The Old Lady, having lived for fifty-seven years, had sharp eyes and could tell that Song Chuyi wasn't lying.

She almost didn't hesitate and immediately decided that this was a warning from the spirits through Song Chuyi. Just like when Duke Cheng's family was exterminated, Wang Jin Yi, the sister of the current Fifth Lady Wang, cried every day, saying she dreamed of the Duke Cheng's Mansion catching fire and everyone dying...

Not long after, Duke Cheng's Mansion was indeed consumed by flames.

Thinking of that scene made the Old Lady's heart tremble. She coughed heavily and made a decisive decision, "Xiao Yi, how about you move in with Grandmother from tomorrow and keep me company?"

In her previous life, no matter how much the Old Lady doted on Song Chuyi, she had never called her by her nickname. This was the first time in both lives.

Nanny Huang's eyes widened—since the eldest Miss Song Chu Chen, the Old Lady had never personally raised a girl. Now, the Old Lady actually wanted to personally raise the Sixth Miss?

Song Chuyi nestled in the Old Lady's arms. Hearing this, she seemed extremely surprised and knelt down to kowtow to the Old Lady, finally showing a joyful smile in her eyes for the first time.

She knew that Huangyao had ulterior motives in urging her to meddle in the affairs of the fifth house, but she still went, not just because of her hatred for the Fifth Lady—she knew too well the pain of being stabbed with a soft knife. In her previous life, Shen Qingrang and Song Chuning didn't do any good deeds but taught her a profound lesson.

If you hate someone, pamper them, elevate them to the highest place, and then ruthlessly abandon them at their happiest moment. Cutting with a blunt knife, bit by bit, makes them wish they were dead but unable to die, that's the cruelest.

She had suffered too much from these tactics in her previous life, the heart-wrenching pain keeping her awake at night. In this life, she wanted all those who harmed her to taste this pain.

So, knowing that Huangyao's instigation was to make her a laughingstock and offend the Fifth Lady, she still went.

She was no longer the naive girl she once was, knowing that every action needed careful consideration—she wasn't afraid of offending the Fifth Lady. In the Fifth Lady's eyes, the Song family was a den of wolves, with no good people, including her own children, Song Jie, Song Chu You, and Song Chu Bin.

She wanted to take this opportunity to explain her changes to the Old Lady. After all, no matter how much a person changes, it couldn't be to such an extreme.

And what she planned to do in the future was far more than this. She couldn't rely on her father, so she had to find a higher-level protector. She believed she had found the right one.

So, on the same day, the mood in the second house's main courtyard plummeted from heaven to hell.

Li Shi sat angrily on her soft couch, even her daughter in her arms couldn't calm her down.

"Didn't they say today's incident was a big deal?! She even bit Wang Shi!" Li Shi's usually well-maintained eyes were now showing rare red veins, "How could I not know that our famous Changning Marquis Mansion teaches girls to hit and curse their elders, and then just let it go? The Old Lady's heart is so biased!"

Nanny Yu's eyebrows twitched, fearing that Song Yi would suddenly return. She quickly covered Li Shi's mouth, "Oh my! My dear lady, you were just told to be less impulsive, how can you not change? Can you say such things carelessly? How will you face the Old Lady tomorrow if this gets out?"

Song Chuning, nestled in Li Shi's arms, smiled softly and rubbed her mother's chest, "Mother, don't be angry."

Li Shi then realized that Song Chuning was still in the room.

She didn't want her daughter to learn these underhanded tactics. Her daughter should be an upright and sunny legitimate daughter of the Marquis Mansion.

"Mother is not angry." Li Shi signaled to Nanny Yu and waved her hand tiredly, "Mother has some matters to attend to. Can you go with your nanny for now?"

Song Chuning leaned against Li Shi, not moving. Seeing Nanny Yu turn to call her wet nurse, she smiled and said, "Mother, don't send me away... I think Sixth Sister has changed."

Nanny Yu hesitated and stopped.

Li Shi, however, was a bit angry. She tapped her daughter's forehead and said angrily, "What does it matter to you how she changes? Don't play too close to her! Don't get involved in these matters. When spring comes, your First Aunt will hire tutors for your Fourth and Fifth Sisters. You will go and learn with them. Now go back."

"Mother, that's unreasonable." The porcelain doll-like girl blinked her eyes and smiled, "You like Sixth Sister so much, but you don't let me get close to her. Isn't that just for show?"

Oh my! Nanny Yu exclaimed in her heart, feeling alarmed. The two girls in the second house, so young, yet with a thousand schemes, more capable than those in the third and fifth houses, truly frightening.

Li Shi wasn't surprised by her daughter's cunning. She stroked her daughter's head lovingly, "How can it be the same? Who are you, and who is she? How can you lower yourself to compare with her?"

She had been married for five years and only had this one daughter, Song Chuning, who was naturally precious, and wanted to give her everything good.

Song Chuning climbed up to Li Shi's neck, resting her head on her chest, smiling, "Why not compare? Of course, I have to compare. Otherwise, in front of Grandmother and Father, I will always be inferior to her."

She smiled, her tone calm, but Li Shi shivered inexplicably.

"What nonsense are you talking about?!" She reacted and scolded her daughter, "Inferior to her? She's just the eldest daughter of a widow, is she worth comparing to?"

Song Chuning wasn't angry at being scolded. She even laughed out loud.

"She lost her mother, so Father and Grandmother treat her well. Just for that, I can't compare." Song Chuning held Li Shi's hand, "Because she has no mother, Father, and Grandmother always thinks she's being wronged. No matter how well you treat her, they think it's not enough... naturally, they won't focus on me..."

Li Shi felt a bit sad.

She had been married for over five years, and Old Lady Song had always been indifferent to her. Although she treated Song Chuning, whom Li Shi had given birth to, fairly well, it was just that—fairly well. There was no comparison to how she treated Song Chuyi.

"Ning'er..." Li Shi began to speak with a bitter tone, coughing a few times as she tried to explain something.

But Song Chuning spoke first: "It's nothing, really. There's no way to force someone to like another person in this world. Besides, I don't care about these things."