A Silkie / 烏骨雞 (wu ji gi lit. black bone chicken)

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Kufu was quite surprised when she heard Yuxi's answer, "Concubine Wen wants to ally with Miss to deal with Third Madam?" After she had done uttering these words, when she remembered that Concubine Wen together with Concubine Xin had fought with Wu s.h.i.+ till they had eyes like a silkie, she felt that, what Yuxi just said was right.

Yuxi casually instructed, "If Concubine Wen comes back later on, you will have to send her away." With this instruction, Yuxi went back to her study.

Concubine Wen also wanted to ally with Yuxi. Both her and Concubine Xin had allied with each other to fight against Wu s.h.i.+ and yet, they still suffered a lot of losses. So she turned her mind to Yuxi, who was also at odds with Wu s.h.i.+, but she did not expect that Yuxi would totally ignore her.

Concubine Wen asked for Concubine Xin's opinion, "What do you think of Fourth Miss? Even if she is loved by Eldest Madam, won't she still have to rely on her younger brothers when she's going to get married?" Yuxi's relations.h.i.+p with Wu s.h.i.+ was so bad that the two of the diborn by formal wife⁷young masters would be unlikely to back her up. If Fourth Miss was really a smart person, she should have allied with them.

Concubine Xin was the child of this family servant and she had once been the Old Madam's personal maid. Thus, she was very clear about the Old Madam's temperament. In this way, as a concubine, she could consider this as a gift. She was actually unwilling to fight with Wu s.h.i.+ if she was not forced to do so. "Fourth Miss does not need the backing of her younger brothers." When she saw the surprised expression on Concubine Wen's face, she continued, "It is enough for Fourth Miss to have the support from Lord s.h.i.+ziheir of a n.o.ble family⁸and Second Master, so she doesn't care much of her own blood brothers' support."

Concubine Wen felt that Concubine Xin was thinking too much that she scoffed, "With just one call from Lord s.h.i.+ziheir of a n.o.ble family⁸, that isn't sufficient to say that he will give his support to her in the future."

Concubine Xin smiled and said nothing more. She was the child of a servant in the state residence, consequently, she knew much more than Concubine Wen. Naturally, she was also aware that Fourth Miss was favoured by Lord s.h.i.+ziheir of a n.o.ble family⁸, and even much more closer with the Second Master, uncomparable with her own siblings. With these kinds of relations.h.i.+p, why should she worry about not having a brother to back her up after she got married? Since Fourth Miss was secured in the knowledge that she had backing, this also became one of the reasons why she dared to go against Third Madam.

When Wu s.h.i.+ knew that Concubine Wen had gone to Yuxi, she immediately sent someone to inquire what Concubine Wen and Yuxi had talked about. "Mama Chen, what do you think Concubine Wen wants to do?" If it was possible, Wu s.h.i.+ was unwilling to be matched with Yuxi. No matter what, to be pitted against to Yuxi was the same as being pitted against Qiu s.h.i.+. At the beginning, Qiu s.h.i.+ had poured dog blood on her headChinese idiom : to scold in a very humiliating fas.h.i.+on⁹for splas.h.i.+ng tea on Yuxi. Later on, when Yuxi became ill, Qiu s.h.i.+ once again made her feel distressed and depressed. Up until now, Qiu s.h.i.+ had never given her a very good expression.

Mama Chen tried to sooth, "Don't worry, Madam. Fourth Miss would surely don't have a good expression on Concubine Wen. She didn't even give any face to Miss Biaofamily relations.h.i.+p via females¹⁰Qiu. How can she suddenly be willing to make friends with a concubine?"

The person who went to inquire about the news soon returned. "When Fourth Miss came back to Rose Courtyard, Concubine Wen came out after a minute." How could there be anything happened in such a short time?

Wu s.h.i.+ also didn't inquire what the two had said to each other, as by asking would only end up be in vain. If she didn't precisely return to the state residence at that time, she wouldn't have been aware of this matter. Rose Courtyard was just like an iron barrel. It was almost impossible to inquire about the news inside. Of course, Tingyun Pavilion was also no exception. For Wu s.h.i.+ to encounter such two fine stepdaughters, her intuition told her that she had been down on her luck.

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