Jiu Zhang Ji: The Daily Life of the Reborn Daughter

Chapter 9: Acquaintance

Bai and Bai Rou'er sat on the stone pier beside the road for another hour. It was already noon. The early spring sun was very hot at noon, and the mother and daughter's faces were tanned and oily.

Bai sat on a stone pillar, still leaning on the stick in her hand, sighing and groaning, not knowing what to do.

At this time, odd jobs, odd jobs, and people doing shopping all had to go back home, and there were more and more people on the road.

A horse-drawn carriage was slowly approaching from afar. Bai Shi looked at the carriage and felt it was familiar. After seeing the word "Chen" hanging on the carriage, she quickly stood up and limped to stop the carriage.

This is the carriage of the wife of the censor Chen Shu. Previously, it was used by Qiao Lili's mother, and later by Qiao Lili. The Bai family is also considered a guest of honor in the homes of noble families and high-ranking officials in the capital. People often invite her to tea parties, flower-viewing banquets, etc. Madam Chen is someone she often meets in these places.

The driver saw a dirty woman suddenly stop the carriage, stopped the horse and shouted, "Where did you come from, old woman? Don't you want to die?"

Mrs. Bai was not even forty years old. She was usually dressed up by Qiao Lili and looked to be in her thirties. She was always praised for her youthful appearance. But now she was called an old woman and she was immediately furious.

Just as she was about to scold the driver, the dog slave was so blind that she saw the driver turn the carriage to the side and try to go around her. She immediately stopped scolding him and quickly greeted the people in the carriage.

"Is it Madam Chen? Yes, I am." People originally introduced her as the Marquis's wife. Later, when she went out for social events with Qiao Lili, she was introduced as Bai, the in-law of the Duke of Dingguo's Mansion. Now, how should she introduce herself? Should she say that she is the wife of the General's Mansion?

That won't work. Bai Junzhe's "little general" is just a title used by the two armies. His actual official position is a fifth-rank cavalry captain. It's the same as saying that someone is a vanguard officer. It sounds good, but in fact there is no real position or rank. It's just a good title. It's an internal title. The real general must be conferred by the emperor himself.

In the past few days since I came back, the emperor has not summoned me to the grand court meeting. The emperor has not recognized me as a general, so others can call me by my name, but I cannot recognize him.

Without Qiao Lili, does she not even have a respectable title?

Fortunately, she wasn't embarrassed for too long.

The curtain of the carriage was lifted by a big maid, revealing Madam Chen's exquisitely dressed face. She frowned slightly, as if wondering who this person who knew her was. At this time, Bai's hair was disheveled, her hairpins and rings were crooked, her makeup was smudged by sweat, her dress was covered in mud, and the shoes exposed under the skirt were torn, and one could see the toes that were curled up as much as possible inside the shoes.

The driver called her an old woman, and it was not because his eyesight was poor. It took Mrs. Chen a long time to recognize her. She looked very different from the glamorous and beautiful woman she usually was.

"It's Bai, what happened?" After Mrs. Chen recognized the person, she still didn't dare to ask with certainty.

"Sorry to bother you, Madam Chen. The horse was frightened. We don't know where the driver and the carriage ran away, leaving us mother and daughter here." Bai didn't have the nerve to say that the carriage was taken back by the Duke Dingguo's Mansion, so she had to find a relatively convincing excuse. If she changed the carriage in the future, she could also say that the carriage was lost today.

"Mrs. Chen, could you please give my daughter and I a ride? It would be great if you could take us home on the way. If you have something else to do, just drop us off at a nearby coach shop and we can hire a car to go back." Mrs. Chen and Mrs. Bai were just acquaintances, but when Mrs. Chen thought about it, it was indeed possible.

Mrs. Chen was thinking about General Bai who had just returned from military service. She thought, "It is better to bully an old man than a poor young man. Who knows which cloud will bring rain? If she helps her with a small favor today and extends an olive branch, it may be of great use in the future."

Mrs. Chen warmly invited Bai to get in the car, "We'll take the Buddha to the west and take you home. There's no point in changing cars halfway."

"In that case, I'll have to trouble you, Madam Chen." At this time, Bai Rouer also limped over.

The maid who was serving on the carriage got off, helped the mother and daughter up, lowered the curtain, put away the footstool, and sat on the other side of the shaft. The carriage was not big, and if she went in again, it would be a bit crowded.

The maids in wealthy families were all very considerate, especially those who served their masters. As early as when their mistress agreed to let them get on the carriage, she had laid a thick layer of cloth on the floor and seats to prevent their clothes and shoes from dirtying the carriage.

When Bai and Bai Rou'er got on the carriage and saw this scene, they were very unhappy. This shabby carriage was a world away from their own, and they were afraid that they would get it dirty. However, when they saw the mud on their skirts and the footprints left by their dirty shoes on the cloth, they couldn't even say a word of annoyance.

Mrs. Chen knew that this was very rude, but she also felt sorry for the carriage. The censor was an incorruptible official, and the family had to make many calculations to ensure a steady flow of money. Besides, she and the Bai family were not very close friends, and the future would be discussed later. There was no need for her to change the cushions and felt carpets to send her off today.

"Was she injured when she was frightened by the horse? Otherwise, let's send Bai to the clinic first." Mrs. Chen asked with some reluctance when she saw that the shoe prints left by the mother and daughter were stained with blood.

Bai knew that their feet were only scraped and it was nothing serious, so she quickly refused, "Thank you, Madam Chen, we are sorry to bother you too much. We are not seriously injured either. Let's go home first and ask the doctor to come to our house."

Mrs. Chen must have dropped them off at the clinic and left. It didn't make sense for them to wait until they finished seeing the doctor. Then, how would they get home next? So, it was better for them to go home first.

The carriage creaked, and Bai Rou'er wanted to tell Mrs. Chen how Qiao Lili bullied them and refused to let them ride in the carriage, in order to ruin Qiao Lili's reputation. However, her mother said that the carriage was startled, and when she saw the glaring disgusting cloth, she was even more speechless, and sat in the corner of the carriage with a pouty mouth, sulking alone.

Bai was also in a state of anxiety at the moment. Qiao Lili had even taken back the carriage and did not allow the beggar to call a carriage. It seemed that the matter of Lou Xinyue could not be resolved quietly. She was thinking about a way out in her mind.

Mrs. Chen had originally wanted to chat for a while so that the journey would not be too awkward and could also deepen their relationship. However, when she saw that both the mother and daughter had unfriendly expressions and did not even say a polite word, she suddenly felt unlucky and secretly blamed herself for being nosy.

Thinking back to just now, the clerk from Zhenbaozhai came to her and said that the jewelry she ordered last month was liked by someone else, and the shopkeeper wanted to negotiate with her to purchase the jewelry drawings, saying that a distinguished person was waiting for the result, and wanted to ask her to go to Zhenbaozhai immediately.

The design of the jewelry was drawn by her son in one night, and then she took it to Zhenbaozhai to customize it as a birthday present for her. Now Zhenbaozhai wants to pay for the blueprint. Oh, that's Zhenbaozhai, they will definitely not pay ten or twenty taels of silver. If they can cooperate, it's not impossible to let her son draw a few more.

After sending the waiter away, she changed her clothes and put on makeup for going out, and hurried to Zhenbaozhai. This road was the only way from her home to Zhenbaozhai.

Thinking about the unexpected fortune, Mrs. Chen became happy again because of the bad mood of Bai's mother and daughter.

Mrs. Bai had no desire to talk, and Mrs. Chen was too lazy to pay attention to her. She was secretly calculating in her mind, how much would this jewelry cost to be reasonably sold?

It took just two sticks of incense to arrive at Bai Mansion, but the gate was already surrounded by an angry crowd, and the sound of shouting and cursing was endless.