Fortunate Life of the Rural Beauty
Chapter 503 - 494: Reappearance

Chapter 503: Chapter 494: Reappearance

No matter how small Yu’er may be, she is so perceptive, always picking up on people’s facial expressions. Being adored by everyone since she was born and being heavily spoiled by her grandfather and two older brothers, no one has ever made a displeased face in front of her. That is, until this woman showed up and not only gave her a dirty look, but also reprimanded her causing Yu’er to feel wronged. She suddenly let out a wailing cry.

When their sister began to shed tears, her brothers started to bawl, stomping as they wailed, "The mean lady made our sister cry... we’ll sic the dog on you..."

Lady Rong Zhao frowned by all the sobbing, "Rong Zhao, what in the world are you doing? You scared the child."

Rong Zhao was not amused, wondering what she’d done wrong and retorting "I didn’t do anything. Mrs. Chen is my daughter-in-law. If she doesn’t know manners, is it not my place to teach her?"

Just as the words had left her lips, she noticed a small black bird-like toy on Yu’er’s skirt. It appeared to have turned its small head slightly. She got a fright and blinked, but the toy bird remained static. She must have seen wrong.

However, Rong Zhao felt a chill down her spine and had a dreaded feeling of ominousness. But as she was in public, she had to maintain her dignity and decided not to say anything more, though she was still visibly upset.

Whilst Chen Afu holds Rong Zhao in high esteem, she was not willing to let Liao Chen’s grandchildren kneel and bow to this woman, much less address her as ’grandmother’. The proud and stubborn Liao Chen would not stand it either. Hence, Marquis Chu had been preventing them from meeting Rong Zhao, as he was not only afraid of Rong Zhao causing them harm but might also hold this notion. Except for Ms. Chu who has different blood coursing through her veins and is related to the horse family, so she is also considered to be one of Rong Zhao’s grandchildren. But the other three children have no relations with Rong Zao.

However, either through validating state laws or household rules, these children cheap still show their respect to her, including addressing her as ’grandmother’.

Chen Afu was quietly pleased with herself, even with Jin Yanzi’s reckless behaviour, it was beneficial to have brought him along. He could keep Rong Zhao in check and she just needed a way to buy some time.

Chen Afu remarked, "Your Highness is correct in her teachings. But the two young brothers are too little to kneel on their own." She glanced back at Yu’er who was being carried in someone’s arms, crying bitterly, then turned to the two servants and instructed "bring the boys over to kneel in front of Her Highness."

No one could have been aware that the small bird toy hanging on the skirt of Yu’er had nodded and turned its little green bean eyes. Jin Yanzi spent the first half of the night playing with Jin Beibei and Yu’er, and the latter half spent in the palace with Shiyi. It was taking a nap when it was abruptly roused. Not only was its nap interrupted, but the unpleasant woman caused a ruckus which further annoyed it.

Jin Yanzi rotated its eyeballs and uttered two cries.

Owing to Jin Yanzi’s arrival, many birds had flown in and were perched on the window sills, roofs, and trees of Hudian Pavilion. Now, hearing its summon, they all flew towards the building chirping away.

The servants hadn’t even gotten a chance to kneel with Yu’er and the brothers when they observed a flock of birds flying into the room. Forming a small pot lid-like shape, they circled above Rong Zhao’s head.

Rong Zhao let out a scream instantly. One of the maids behind her quickly opened an umbrella she had prepared. Everyone else was equally scared, some gasped loudly while others screamed. A few of the kids started to cry out of fear.

After a while, the others weren’t so frightened, especially since the "bird pot lid" wasn’t very big, and it only followed Rong Zhao around without causing harm to others, and most importantly, none of the birds soiled any place.

In a state of panic, Rong Zhao yelled as she scurried around, "Get these birds out of here...quickly..."

Given the circumstances, everyone referred to the birds as "Bird Fairy" that attacked Rong Zhao, so who dared to drive them away? This resulted in no one heeding to Rong Zhao’s plea. Finally, Rong Zhao ran out of the room and eventually managed to take refuge in a room with closed windows, leaving the "Bird Pot Lid" behind.

The "Bird Pot Lid" circled above the guest room for a while before it ascended higher into the sky, flew off to a distance and gradually dispersed.

This sudden change of events had grabbed the attention of the guests, including the male guests from the opposite side of Mingyan Lake.

Prince An and Queen An were quite angry. They believed that Rong Zhao had brought bad luck into their An Royal Mansion. Besides this, a priceless solid gold lion figurine embedded with cat’s eye stones that adorned the study in the royal mansion was found missing. Those two cat’s eye stones were the size of an adult’s thumb and were bestowed by the Emperor as a token of appreciation towards Prince An’s help with a significant matter. The loss of a royal gift is a significant loss. However, they couldn’t reveal it. And this whole incident was an added disadvantage.

Subsequently, the couple of Prince An visited the Yinji Temple to pray for blessings and donated 2,000 taels of silver as charity for lamp oil. But of course, this happened later.

Marquis Chu was among the spectators. He guessed Rong Zhao probably lost her temper and provoked Chen Afu and his gang, and the "Bird Pot Lid" was surely created to deal with Rong Zhao. Despite not wanting to witness the spectacle, he had to walk across the bridge reluctantly and head towards Hudian Pavilion on the opposite bank of the lake.

Seeing that the flock of birds dispersed without causing any harm, Marquis Chu felt somewhat relieved. He didn’t want to cause too much trouble as there were too many onlookers and they were in An Royal Mansion. Too much uproar might only infuriate Prince An further and cause him to lose his face again due to Rong Zhao. However, even so, Rong Zhao’s reputation took another hit.

Marquis Chu, in a stern voice, commanded Rong Zhao’s servants, "Fetch a sedan chair and assist Her Highness back to rest."

Seeing Marquis Chu’s gloomy countenance, the two servants trembling with fear went to fetch the sedan chair. When it arrived, someone knocked on the room door and said, "Your Highness, the birds are gone. The Prince Consort asks you to return home."

The room was opened, and two servants ushered the scared and shaken Rong Zhao out, guiding her directly into the sedan chair.

Rong Zhao was regretful to the point of death, knowing she shouldn’t have attended. Earlier, she presumed that she won’t be attacked by birds as there hasn’t been an incident in over two years. Never did she anticipate having to face it today and on top of that, the attack took place in full public view.

After what people had witnessed, she dreaded she may never appear in public again. Today’s gathering consisted of all the conspicuous households from the capital. Once again, she had lost face for the royal family. Luckily, none of the birds dropped excrement, else things could have been worse...

When Shiyi brought Princess Li Cheng over to build relationships with Chu Hanyan, the "Bird Pot Lid" incident had already passed. He regretted missing it and hated that he hadn’t arrived sooner.

He brought Princess Li with him today, hoping that she could bond with Chu Hanyan, particularly as he was aware that Chen Afu was in search of close friends for her niece. In his opinion, as Li Cheng was gentle and likeable and they had a close relationship, Li Cheng and Miss Chu can surely become close friends.