Volume 3, Chapter 381 – Misty Silk Gauze, Bright Moon Skirt

The young girl was wrapped in peacock blue misty gauze. The luan embroidered in gold thread on her skirt caught the candlelight, its wings seeming to spread and flutter against her slender waist.

Cheng Yinyin narrowed her eyes, sizing her up.

Ugly. Hideous.

The stench of a fox.

Anyone who didn’t know better would take her for some woman from the pleasure quarters.

Having silently sneered at her, she walked forward smiling and reached out to steady the gilded kingfisher feather hairpin dangling precariously at Lu Zhuxin’s temple.

“This South Sea mermaid silk skirt was a birthday gift from my mother. I never expected it would suit Second Sister so well.”

Surprise crossed Lu Zhuxin’s face.

“This… this is too precious. I can’t wear it.”

Country bumpkin.

Cheng Yinyin let out a soft snort.

“What are you saying, Second Sister? Could it be you look down on this old dress just because I’ve worn it before?”

“Little Sister, that’s not what I meant.” Lu Zhuxin tugged uneasily at her wide sleeve, which revealed the lotus pink bodice underneath, the jade bracelet at her wrist clinking against the jeweled armlet.

“This is your birthday gift, a token of your mother’s love. How could I possibly wear it?”

If you don’t wear it, how am I supposed to watch you make a fool of yourself?

Thinking of the tricks she had already had the seamstress arrange, Cheng Yinyin laughed inwardly.

Still, these aged ornaments she had dug out of the storeroom actually set off the little wretch’s youthful plainness rather nicely.

“Just stop refusing, Second Sister. These clothes don’t fit me anymore. If you won’t take them, they’ll only end up buried at the bottom of a chest.”

“Um… but…” Lu Zhuxin still hesitated.

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“Besides beauty, clothes and jewelry are also a woman’s winning tools.” Cheng Yinyin smiled. “The selection is about to begin. Surely Second Sister doesn’t want to leave Noble Consort Wei with a poor impression.”

Lu Zhuxin quietly studied the expression on Cheng Yinyin’s face.

Given this girl’s temperament, unprompted kindness meant either treachery or theft.

Something had probably been done to this dress.

The Cheng family’s storyline wasn’t part of the original novel, so Lu Zhuxin had no way of knowing exactly what had been done to it.

Of course, with the cultivation of an Eighth Realm great demon, she wasn’t afraid of Cheng Yinyin’s petty tricks.

Still, she wondered whether Chi Xiyan, the eldest daughter of the Chi family, would be able to see through what Cheng Yinyin had done.

If she could see through it, would she really have the heart to stand by and watch her own dear sister be harmed by Cheng Yinyin?

At the thought, the corner of Lu Zhuxin’s lips curved slightly.

She nodded at Cheng Yinyin.

“Thank you, Little Sister Yin.”

“Once I pass the selection, I’ll repay you with something even more precious someday.”

Cheng Yinyin nearly laughed out loud.

Listen to this girl. Surely she didn’t actually think she could pass the selection.

Better not let a couple of compliments go to her head and make her think she was some legendary beauty.

***

Outside the Cheng residence, Cheng Zhuo had already had the carriage prepared in advance.

Watching carriage after carriage depart down the road, he turned to Madam Qian beside him. “Why haven’t those girls come out yet? Did Yinyin really deliver the clothes to Lixia?”

Madam Qian said with a smile, “My lord, don’t you trust Yinyin to handle things properly?”

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“Look, isn’t that them now?”

As she spoke, Madam Qian gestured for Cheng Zhuo to look toward the gate. But the moment she glanced over herself, she froze.

The first to arrive was Chi Xiyan.

But Chi Xiyan wasn’t wearing the outfit they had prepared for her in advance.

What was going on? Where had that little wretch gotten those clothes?

Cheng Zhuo hadn’t noticed Madam Qian’s expression. He looked toward Chi Xiyan.

The tall, slender woman wore a moon white cloud brocade cross collar robe, its hem embroidered edge to edge with dark patterns in black ice silkworm silk, her long black hair gathered simply with a single jade cloud hairpin.

Compared to the elaborate finery of the other noble daughters, it seemed almost plain.

Yet this simple, understated styling didn’t diminish her beauty in the least. If anything, it only sharpened her air of quiet strength.

Amid a crowd of noble daughters decked out in gaudy splendor, she stood out like a crane among chickens.

“She carries herself with more grace than those girls buried under pearls and jade.”

Cheng Zhuo stroked his beard and nodded.

“Yinyin really did put thought into this.”

Beside him, Madam Qian heard his words, and her eye twitched involuntarily.

As the lady of the Cheng household, she had a discerning eye of her own.

Those seemingly casual ice silkworm silk embroidery threads were, in truth, split from the sinew of a thousand year old snow flood dragon, and at every turn of the pattern were embedded flecks of star stone almost invisible to the naked eye. It was spoils the Seven Sword Sects alone had claimed during their northern campaign against the demon territory, now cut down into mere trim on a skirt hem.

It looked understated. In truth, it was extravagant beyond measure.w

Something like this was well beyond what Yinyin could ever produce.

All of it belonged to that girl herself.

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At the thought, Madam Qian’s gaze darkened.

What kind of fortune had that girl stumbled into, that she could produce something like this?

Chi Xiyan walked closer and cast a cold glance at Madam Qian.

Then she bowed respectfully to the two of them. “Family Head. My lady.”

“Good.” Cheng Zhuo looked at Chi Xiyan, growing more pleased by the moment. Truly worthy of being his daughter.

If his eldest daughter already possessed such looks, he wondered what his second daughter would turn out to be like.

The thought had barely settled in Cheng Zhuo’s mind when Cheng Yinyin’s honeyed voice drifted out from within.

“Father!”

Cheng Yinyin walked slowly out, holding Lu Zhuxin’s hand.

When she caught sight of Chi Xiyan standing before the carriage, astonishment flickered in her eyes, and the words slipped out before she could stop them.

“Why aren’t you wearing the dress I gave you?”

Chi Xiyan ignored her and looked instead toward Lu Zhuxin beside her.

Lu Zhuxin kept her head bowed, staring fixedly at the ground, not meeting her eyes.

Chi Xiyan let out a soft sigh, then studied Lu Zhuxin’s new attire.

Her sister looked lovely. No matter what she wore, she always looked lovely.

The South Sea mermaid silk really was quite a treasure too.

It was far better than the garbage they had given her.

Cheng Yinyin’s differing treatment of the two of them was rather obvious.

Still, for some reason, Chi Xiyan couldn’t shake a faint sense that something was wrong.

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Would Cheng Yinyin really be this kind to Little Xue’er?

South Sea mermaid silk… South Sea mermaid silk… Was there something wrong with it?

Chi Xiyan’s fine brows knit together.

“Yinyin, what did you mean by that just now?” Cheng Zhuo asked, frowning. “Wasn’t Lixia’s outfit something you prepared yesterday?”

Cheng Yinyin’s expression froze on the spot.

Seeing this, Madam Qian hurried to smooth things over. “My lord, it’s getting late. Let’s get the girls into the carriage quickly.”

“If we’re late for the selection, everything we’ve worked toward will have been for nothing.”

Hearing this, Cheng Zhuo agreed that now wasn’t the time to press the matter.

Clothes were a trivial thing. Attending the selection was what mattered.

He hurried to clear a path for his daughters. “Quickly, get in the carriage.”

“Go early and leave a good impression on Noble Consort Wei.”

Cheng Yinyin shot Chi Xiyan a venomous glare before pulling Lu Zhuxin up into the carriage.

Chi Xiyan still paid her no mind, treating her as though she weren’t even there.

As for the selection held at Huayue Court, Cheng Zhuo, being the family head, was not permitted to accompany them.

Before long, the three sisters arrived together by carriage at Huayue Court.

Within Huayue Court, a hundred flowers vied in splendor and spirit mist curled through the air, as though it were a realm of immortals.

A high platform had already been raised within the garden. Below it stood several hundred candidates gathered from every corner of the land, each one striking in appearance and extraordinary in bearing.