The Battle of the Noble Ladies (Book 1)

Chapter 50 - Teaching a Daughter

The Old Lady had not been very supportive of this marriage from the beginning.

Although the Pingyang Marquis had followed the founding emperor through life and death, his character was not good. After achieving success, he immediately abandoned his first wife to marry a noble lady.

Moreover, during the Chenghua era, the Xiao family became infamous for the brothers' scandal over marrying a princess, leading to the emperor's disdain. It was unlikely they would be granted another generation of the Marquis title, and they would soon be demoted to a count. Without any promising descendants, the Pingyang Marquis Residence might disappear from the capital within forty or fifty years.

However, there were still good people in the Xiao family. The current Marquis Xiao was a good man, very understanding and kind-hearted, and had a close friendship with the First Master.

Since the First Master was on good terms with Marquis Xiao, they naturally discussed their children's marriages.

The Old Master saw that Xiao Yan was a good person and thought that the family tradition should be good, so he agreed.

Who knew the Pingyang Marquis Lady and Fourth Miss Xiao would turn out to be such people.

The Old Lady Song's face grew darker as she thought about it. Just then, Yulan returned and nodded slightly to the Old Lady.

It seemed she had something to say, so the Old Lady excused herself to change clothes and took Yulan to a side room, "Did something happen with the girls?"

Now having no good feelings towards Fourth Miss Xiao, she suspected that Fourth Miss Xiao had caused trouble again.

Yulan quickly shook her head with a smile and recounted how Song Chuyi had handled the situation, praising, "Even if I had a hundred hours, I couldn't come up with such words... Our Sixth Miss truly has a crystal-clear heart and a mind like a seven-orifice exquisite jade!"

The Old Lady Song's expression softened a bit—Fourth Miss Xiao had attacked the Song family by bringing up the brothers' inheritance dispute, thinking she could bully them.

Fourth Miss Xiao soon returned crying to complain to the Pingyang Marquis Lady, unable to heed the advice of her maids and unable to swallow her anger.

Song Chumi and the others followed her in, their lips tightly pressed, looking at Fourth Miss Xiao with disdain.

Such a noble lady...

The Pingyang Marquis Lady, doting on her children, panicked seeing her daughter crying so hard, fearing that the Song girls had taken revenge for their sister and hurt Fourth Miss Xiao.

She ignored the First Lady's mocking smile and checked her daughter from head to toe, relieved to find not a hair out of place.

Only after calming down did she notice the Old Lady Song, now changed and smiling at her, though the smile didn't reach her eyes.

Without needing anyone to say it, the Pingyang Marquis Lady blushed.

The expressions of all the Song family members in the room conveyed the same message: Is your daughter so noble that others' daughters should be trampled underfoot?

The usually thick-skinned Pingyang Marquis Lady finally felt ashamed and uneasily explained to the Old Lady Song, "Our... Fourth Miss has a quick temper, but her heart... her heart is good..."

She couldn't continue.

The Old Lady Song gave a cold smile and began to dismiss her guests, "I'm old and often feel sleepy, I'm not as useful as I used to be."

The First Lady stood up, not even glancing at the Pingyang Marquis Lady, and respectfully said, "In that case, I'll take the children and leave you to rest."

The Pingyang Marquis Lady didn't even get to see Song Chuxuan, and the Old Lady Song and the First Lady didn't mention her at all.

She had thought the Song family would be the anxious ones, as a married girl returning to her maternal home without her husband's family would be seen as disgraceful. But the Song family didn't seem to care at all, acting as if nothing had happened.

The Pingyang Marquis Lady's heart sank, and after a long pause, she cautiously asked, "With so many guests at the marquis' residence, it would be hard to manage without Second Miss..."

"My second sister probably wouldn't be much help," Song Chuwan finally understood the situation and smiled, "It's quite a coincidence. I remember the wife of the Assistant Minister of Rites held a flower-viewing banquet recently. The heir's wife attended, but my second sister was nowhere to be seen. I was curious and asked about it."

Song Chuwan finished in one breath, glanced at Fourth Miss Xiao and the Pingyang Marquis Lady, and continued, "The heir's wife said my second sister was too timid for such occasions and didn't come. It's funny, my second sister used to accompany the Noble Consort in the palace, often seeing the Empress Dowager and the Empress, yet she would be afraid of a flower-viewing banquet... If she is afraid of that, how can she entertain guests?"

The Pingyang Marquis Lady's face turned ashen, her lips trembling but unable to speak.

What could she say? They had indeed been tormenting Song Chuxuan.

The First Lady couldn't hold back any longer and turned to the Pingyang Marquis Lady, her eyes like nails, "As mothers, why can't you put yourself in someone else's shoes, Lady Xiao?"

Fourth Miss Xiao couldn't help but defend her mother, "She's been married for two years and hasn't had a child yet, and she won't allow my brother to have a concubine. What kind of noble lady is that?"

The atmosphere in the room suddenly turned cold.

Old Lady Song's patience had truly reached its limit this time. Without even glancing at Fourth Miss Xiao, she coldly smiled at the Pingyang Marquis Lady and said, "Your noble daughter is truly well-mannered. If I had the time, I would really like to discuss this with others."

Being highly respected among the nobility, if she were to openly criticize a junior, that junior's reputation would be utterly ruined.

The Pingyang Marquis Lady, terrified, suddenly slapped Fourth Miss Xiao.

With a loud smack, Fourth Miss Xiao was stunned.

Covering her face in disbelief, Fourth Miss Xiao was about to shout when her mother slapped her again, causing her to stagger and fall into the arms of a nearby maid.

"Have you forgotten all the rules I taught you?" The Pingyang Marquis Lady, suppressing her pain and reluctance, sternly scolded her daughter, "You have no manners at home, and it's one thing to argue with your sister-in-law since it's within the family. But you can't change your behavior even when visiting others. From now on, you won't be coming out with me anymore!"

Old Lady Song pulled Song Chuyi into her arms, covering her ears, and turned to the Pingyang Marquis Lady, asking, "Why are you hitting your daughter here, Lady Xiao?"