Chapter 39

“Jinlan, they all went into that luxurious private room! I heard only the esteemed guests acknowledged by Young Master Xie himself can enter there!”

Miss Wen’s curious eyes were fixed on the private room’s door.

“Young Master Xie is so full of himself. With his wealth, status, and dashing looks, he’s quite the charmer. It’s thanks to his grandfather supporting the current Emperor’s ascension that the Duke’s Residence has enjoyed its century-long prosperity! He’s yet to marry—do you think the one in that private room might be the lady of his heart?”

Miss Song’s envious gaze followed the trays carried in by the staff, who moved like a steady stream into the private room.

Xia Jinlan snorted coldly.

“Hmph! Young Master Xie is nothing but an oily fop. My brother said that when he was studying at the Imperial Academy, he was always full of himself, acting like he was some kind of erudite scholar. He was constantly late for class, left early, and loved to show off! That kind of frivolous dandy who leaves his mark everywhere only ends up breaking girls’ hearts!”

“Jinlan, if I could marry Young Master Xie, I wouldn’t care how many women he dallies with as long as he gives me plenty of silver every day! He’s rich, handsome, and charming—how can you stop a peacock from strutting? Each of us would get what we wanted, so why take it so seriously?”

Miss Song tried to persuade Xia Jinlan, and they both secretly longed to catch Young Master Xie’s attention.

Despite Xia Jinlan’s fiery temper, her family—her grandfather, father, and brother—were all scholars, which made her disdain Young Master Xie’s air of materialism and lack of redeeming virtues.

“Fine! Fine! I can’t argue with you. Let’s head inside—those treasures are beyond our reach anyway. Looking at them will only make us more upset!”

Xia Jinlan turned and walked back inside, disheartened.

“Wait! Look! There’s a girl coming out of the private room!”

Miss Wen exclaimed, stopping the others in their tracks.

“What? Who is it?”

“That girl looks so familiar! Didn’t we just see her downstairs in the main hall?”

“No way!”

The ladies craned their necks, standing on tiptoe to get a better view.

Xia Jinlan hurried over, her curious gaze fixed on the scene. She needed to see for herself—who in the capital could possibly outshine the daughters of the Grand Secretary’s family?

“Miss, this way!”

A graceful and stunningly beautiful shop assistant led Xia Qingqing out of the private room. Her appearance in the exclusive third-floor corridor caused quite a stir.

Even the other young ladies from neighboring private rooms emerged, shocked, to see her.

“Isn’t she just the little concubine-born daughter of the Xia family?”

“Exactly! Didn’t her legitimate elder sister just gang up on her earlier?”

“How could she have come out of the most exclusive private room? Did she get kicked out after wandering in by mistake?”

Xia Jinlan’s sharp eyes confirmed it—it was indeed Xia Qingqing, that little wretch. But… how had she made it to the third floor and even walked out of the top-tier private room?

Questions filled Xia Jinlan’s mind as her expression darkened.

“Jinlan, did your sister sneak up to the third floor? This is such an embarrassment to your family! As her elder sister, aren’t you going to teach her a lesson?”

Miss Wen, eager to provoke trouble, reignited her anger after being snubbed by Xia Qingqing earlier.

“Yeah, Jinlan! As her elder sister, this is the perfect chance to slap her a few times and vent our frustration!”

Miss Song added fuel to the fire.

“Go on! She’s walking toward us now!”

“And she’s wearing the latest set of jewelry from the Treasure Pavilion! I heard that set of kingfisher feather hair ornaments is worth several tens of thousands of silver taels. If she damages it, she’ll either end up in jail or be beaten to death by Young Master Xie as compensation!”

Under the urging of her companions, Xia Jinlan rolled up her sleeves and stood in the middle of the corridor, ready to confront Xia Qingqing.

“Miss, it seems you have quite the fan club here!”

The shop assistant, who had been puzzled by Xia Qingqing’s exclusive membership card earlier, now understood. Miss Xia and Young Master Xie must share a penchant for flaunting wealth—no wonder the young master favored her.

Xia Qingqing had specifically asked the shopkeeper to bring out the most expensive headpiece in the Treasure Pavilion to wear while she strolled the third floor. Her intention was clear—to flaunt it in front of Xia Jinlan and her group, leaving them seething with rage.

When Xia Qingqing saw Xia Jinlan standing in her way, fuming, she approached calmly.

“Xia Qingqing, stop right there! How dare you sneak onto the third floor? You’ve brought disgrace to the Xia family, and as your sister, I must teach you a lesson!”

With that, Xia Jinlan raised her hand and swung it toward Xia Qingqing’s face.

“Thud!”

Xia Qingqing sidestepped smoothly, dodging the blow.

Caught off balance, Xia Jinlan stumbled straight into a shop assistant carrying a tray.

“Crash!”

The jewelry on the tray scattered to the floor, and Xia Jinlan landed squarely on a set of jade hair ornaments, crushing them.

“Ah!”

The shop assistant scrambled up, her eyes brimming with tears as she looked at the shattered jade ornaments.

“Manager! Something terrible has happened! The top-tier jade ornaments were crushed by the second young lady of the Xia family!”

The manager rushed over, flustered.

“Second Miss Xia, you… you…”

The manager’s face twisted in pain as he looked at the ruined jewelry.

“It wasn’t me! Xia Qingqing did it! She pushed me!”

Xia Jinlan, now supported by someone, pointed accusingly at Xia Qingqing, who stood watching with an amused expression.

“Second Miss Xia, you clearly tried to hit Miss Xia, and when she dodged, you fell onto the tray and broke the jewelry yourself.”

The shop assistant’s teary testimony was echoed by the onlookers.

“Yeah, it was Second Miss Xia’s fault! She’s just blaming her sister!”

“What a vicious older sister!”

“Second Miss Xia, this top-tier jade set is worth fifty thousand taels of silver. You’ll have to pay for it, or we’ll report this to the authorities!”

The manager, bolstered by the witnesses, pressed the matter firmly.

“It wasn’t me!”

Hearing the amount, Xia Jinlan was stunned, her legs giving way as she collapsed to the ground.

Looking back at her so-called best friends, she found Miss Wen, Miss Song, and the others turning away and retreating into their rooms.

Now, everyone was eager to dissociate themselves, leaving Xia Jinlan to deal with the aftermath alone.

“Isn’t your grandfather the Grand Secretary? He’s been in power for years—your family must be loaded. Why cry about it?”

Miss Zhang of the Duke of England’s Residence stepped forward, eager to stir the pot.

At a recent chrysanthemum banquet, Xia Jinlan’s arrogance had irked her, and this was the perfect opportunity to settle the score.

“If your grandfather dares to cover for you with money, we’ll expose his corruption. Doesn’t he always claim to be honest and upright?”

Miss Gu from the Marquis of Ningyuan’s Residence added with biting sarcasm, “Tsk, tsk, tsk! The Xia family ladies sure are wealthy. Spending tens of thousands on jewelry must mean the family’s officials have been raking in a fortune through bribes!”

Other young ladies joined in, jeering and mocking.

Xia Qingqing, spreading her hands in mock innocence, turned and strolled back into the exclusive private room.

Meanwhile, Xia Jinlan was dragged to another room by the Treasure Pavilion’s guards to await further action.