Ye Family's Miss

voice and said, "Consort, you should consider carefully. The benefits of getting rid of the Xu family are not negligible for you as well, right Removing the Xu family would be equivalent to severing...The Imperial Capital Ode 37. Miss Ye's Family

Chapter 37: Miss of the Ye Family

In late April, someone from the Ye residence came to fetch Ye Li back home. Ye Ying’s wedding was scheduled for the last day of April, said to be the only auspicious day that month. Xu Hongyu casually dismissed the people sent by the Ye family until the day before Ye Ying's wedding when he finally had Xu Qingbai and Xu Qingyan personally escort Ye Li back. Despite his displeasure, Secretary Ye remained silent due to an inexplicable fear of his brother-in-law, only instructing Ye Li to return to Qingyi軒 (Xuan) to rest well.

When Ye Li went to the Xu residence, she brought only two maidservants, Qingshuang and Qingxia. Upon her return, however, she brought back a family of more than ten people including Nurse Lin and Nurse Wei, as well as two senior maids, Qingluan and Qingyu, personally chosen by her grandfather. The originally small Qingyi軒 (Xuan) now felt crowded. When Nurse Wei saw the arrangement inside Qingyi軒 (Xuan), she was so distressed that she kept wiping away tears, saying it didn't look like a place for a thousand gold daughter to live in at all. Ye Li wasn’t bothered by this and only smiled as she said, "No matter how splendidly we decorate it, once we leave, won't others benefit from it" Nurse Wei still insisted, saying that they couldn't make things difficult for the young lady and directed the maidservants to redecorate Ye Li’s room. Faced with everyone's dissatisfaction towards her room, including even her aunt who would repeatedly complain upon every visit, Ye Li could do nothing but let them have their way.

"Miss, Miss Ye has arrived."

Ye Li put down the needlework in her hand and smiled as she said, "Please invite the Young Prince's Concubine to come in."

Soon, a beautiful woman in palace attire stepped into the room. Upon seeing Ye Li sitting by the table, she couldn’t help but smile and say, “Third sister.”

Ye Li hurriedly got up to greet her, "I pay my respects to the Secondary Consort of Prince Su."

The woman was indeed Lady Ye Zhen, the eldest daughter of the Ye family and the Secondary Consort of Prince Su of the Southern Commandery. She held onto Ye Li’s hand with a smile and said, "You honor me too much. After your marriage, I will pay my respects to you as well. Since there are no outsiders here now, we should still refer to each other as sisters." Ye Li nodded and smiled back, saying, "Then please take a seat, Eldest Senior Sister." Lady Zhen's birth mother was a close attendant maid who grew up with the Grand Secretary of Ye from childhood. When she was only five years old, her mother died due to illness. Since then, Lady Zhen had been raised by Xu Shì and at the time of Xu’s death, Lady Zhen was already thirteen years old. Therefore, Ye Li and Ye Zhen still maintained a relatively good relationship. Occasionally when Ye Zhen was home, she would also take care of Ye Li, but before she even turned fifteen, Consort Wang had arranged her marriage to Prince Su as his secondary consort. It was said that the Prince did not dote on Ye Zhen particularly, and after eight or nine years of marriage, they still hadn’t produced any heirs. Ye Zhen rarely returned home to the Ye family. The two sisters hadn't seen each other for almost two years now, and this visit might be related to Ye Ying's wedding.

Lady Zhen lightly touched the large red brocade on the table; her heart stirred slightly, "Is this... Phoenix Brocade Is Third Sister making her wedding gown"

Ye Li nodded. She wasn't too picky about wedding gowns, so she hadn’t hurried to make one before. Otherwise, what would she do with the Phoenix Brocades that Great Uncle specially brought over After all, according to Chu customs, every woman could only have one wedding gown; making another was considered inauspicious. Lady Zhen stroked the soft red silk on her hand enviously and looked at Ye Li, "Is this not something Mother prepared for you I see that Fourth Sister used just Mandarin Ducks Brocade, which is said to be a gift from Empress Dowager." Ye Li frowned slightly; looking at the wedding gown before her, she was somewhat hesitant. Empress Dowager had bestowed upon Ye Ying the Mandarin Ducks Brocade, and if she herself used Phoenix Brocade, it would not look good for Empress Dowager’s sake. Lady Zhen had been a secondary consort for many years and wasn’t without knowledge; after some thought, she said, "Phoenix Brocade is an imperial fabric of the Western Ling Kingdom exclusively reserved for the royal family. Not only can it not be woven in common households but its sale is strictly forbidden. Originally, both Western Ling and Southern Commandery sent this as a gift to the Imperial Family every year, but apparently, due to some mishap during Emperor Taizong's reign, their weaving techniques were lost. This Phoenix Brocade should have been one of the two bolts bestowed upon the Xu family when Third Sister was born"

"Eldest Senior Sister has sharp eyes; this is indeed what Great Uncle brought from the capital at Grandfather’s request," Ye Li said with a nod. A wedding gown made of Phoenix Brocade used to be the dream of every maiden in Jingdu. Unlike the dazzling Mandarin Ducks Brocade, Phoenix Brocade didn’t stand out much and looked like ordinary red silk fabric. But when it was exposed to light, lifelike phoenix patterns would appear on its surface. And if someone wore it and moved about, it would give others an illusion of flying phoenixes. The best way to make a wedding gown from this brocade was to embroider patterns such as lotus flowers or peonies onto it; when still, the gown would look like blooming lotuses and competing peonies but under sunlight or lamplight, exquisite Phoenix Peony embroidery would astound anyone who saw it. Ye Li had already made her head veil earlier and was surprised to find that in both sunlight and lamplight, even changes in light intensity affected the color and form of the phoenixes on the brocade. This world’s craftsmanship truly amazed this modern woman with wide experience. Unlike Mandarin Ducks Brocade which could still be found albeit rarely, Phoenix Brocade might not exist anywhere across all countries. In fact, it was precisely due to the loss of Phoenix Brocade that Southern Commandery's Mandarin Ducks Brocade gained its fame.

"Since the wedding dress was賜by the late emperor and now also blessed by His Majesty, wearing this outfit is perfectly appropriate for my dear sister. It will surely astonish everyone in the entire capital city," Ye Zhen said with a smile, her eyes flashing with satisfaction. She could easily imagine how Lady Wang and Ye Ying would react when they saw Ye Li dressed like this on her wedding day.

Ye Li nodded and casually handed the incomplete wedding dress to Qingluan who was serving nearby. Smiling at Ye Zhen, she said, "I have been talking about myself all this time. How is big sister doing It has been a long time."

Ye Zhen's smile faded somewhat as she lowered her eyes and replied, "How could anything be wrong with me I just go on living like this."

Ye Li had heard about the reputation of the Southern Marquis' heir too. Unfortunately, it wasn't something within her control. Besides, their relationship was not close enough for Ye Li to inquire into her personal affairs. She could only say, "No matter what, one must always put oneself first. If one doesn't cherish oneself, who else can be expected to do so"

Ye Zhen was stunned and looked at Ye Li, saying, "My dear sister is right. These past few years... it hasn't been easy for my dear sister either. In the future... with the Xu family supporting her, she won’t find things harder than when she lived at home."

Ye Li smiled faintly and stood up, asking, "Has big sister visited fourth sister yet"

Ye Zhen shook her head and said, "I just paid respects to grandmother. Fourth sister is busy selecting new jewelry that was sent over, so I didn't want to disturb her."

Ye Li smiled and said, "Then let's go together. Qingxia, take out the Phoenix Facing the Sun jewelry set and bring it to fourth sister as a gift."

Qing Shuang said, "Young Miss, isn't that the gift from Elder Madam" And it was also one of the most precious ones. Fourth Young Lady had wanted it before but Elder Madam didn’t give it to her. It would be a waste to send it now.

Ye Li waved her hand and said, "I can't use that either. If Fourth Sister likes it, then I will give it to her." Ye Li could only stay away from the set of luxurious and precious ornaments, without any doubt that if she really wore all of them, her neck would hurt later on. Actually, Ye Ying probably wouldn’t wear them anyway since she always maintained an image of being delicate and aloof. She was just angry because Elder Madam had given it to herself instead of her. Ye Zhen carefully observed Ye Li’s indifferent smile and sighed softly, "Among our sisters, Third Sister has the best disposition."

Ye Li smiled and said, "It's not that I have a good nature. Anyway, we don’t live together forever. It's just this month or so. Arguing over these petty matters is really pointless."

Ye Zhen lowered her head and smiled, "Fourth Sister speaks the truth."

—— Interlude ——

Happy New Year!ould open the gates of Bian City. Furthermore, such a protracted war was unsuitable for them with limited troops deep in Western Li territory.Moxiu Yao did not care at all and said, "Ah... By the time...