Empress’ Game: Make-up Master Chapter 61 - First Appearance in Refined Company

Wu Lixiang continued to “praise” Wu Sheyue. “My third sister is very impressive. Do you know, she used to be ugly and foolish, and then overnight she became well. Isn’t that amazing? Isn’t my third sister especially pretty?”

“…” Wu Sheyue glanced at Wu Lixiang and said nothing.

Ning’er was furious behind her, stamping her foot. What was worse was that she had no right to interrupt, which made her even more anxious.

Surprise appeared in the eyes of the young ladies. This Third Miss Wu was truly beautiful. She could easily be mistaken for a legitimate daughter. How was she so different from the ugly, foolish person in the rumors?

They could not help studying Wu Sheyue’s face carefully and murmuring to one another.

“So she’s Third Miss.”

“Third Miss really is so pretty.”

“She looks like a completely different person.”

“Yes, she doesn’t resemble that…”

But this exaggerated amazement and praise was clearly not the effect Wu Lixiang had wanted. She put on an innocent and lovely smile, tugged Wu Sheyue’s hand, and raised her voice to ask, “Third Sister, do you remember the year you drank lamp oil as if it were soup? Eldest Sister should remember that too. Thinking about it now, so much time has passed.”

Wu Liuyun, who had been named, did not speak, but her cold face seemed to carry a hidden smile. Every time she saw the concubine-born daughters scheming and tearing one another down, she revealed such an expression.

The young ladies were made a little awkward by Wu Lixiang’s topic. If a normal person were teased like this, she would definitely be humiliated and angry. They all thought Wu Sheyue would be angry. Yet she showed no strong reaction at all.

Wu Sheyue merely looked a little surprised and asked cautiously, “Fourth Sister… are you all right? What exactly are you talking about?”

Compared with Wu Lixiang suddenly saying so many inexplicable and brainless things, Wu Sheyue’s reaction now seemed more normal. It was as if the person who had always been foolish was Wu Lixiang, not Wu Sheyue.

Wu Sheyue’s response made the excited Wu Lixiang feel as if her punch had landed in soft cotton. Her face turned extremely awkward.

The other young ladies could naturally see that the situation was delicate. One concubine-born daughter from the Minister of Revenue’s family wanted to smooth things over, so she skipped past Wu Lixiang and curiously asked Wu Sheyue, “I heard Third Miss recovered because she received the protection of the immortals? Congratulations, Third Miss.”

Wu Sheyue froze, and her expression grew slightly sad. Her voice was low and mournful. “Perhaps so. Thank you.”

Another girl, hearing this, leaned closer curiously and asked, “Third Miss, forgive me for asking, but what did it feel like?”

Wu Sheyue looked at her and sighed in a cold, ghostly voice. “It was like waking from a nightmare. I never want to dream again.”

“Ah…”

The young ladies all wore different expressions. They had not expected Wu Sheyue to be so sorrowful.

One girl mumbled to the person beside her, “I remember hearing someone say that Third Miss said something at the gate that day… that she didn’t want to keep pretending—”

As she spoke, she stopped at just the right moment. After all, the Prime Minister’s legitimate eldest daughter was here. She should not say everything aloud.

But the surrounding people all understood what she had meant. Xin Zhi’s broken engagement was widely known, and rumor said that on that day at the gate, Wu Sheyue had said, “I’ve pretended for so many years, and it’s enough.” Now, linking that with her sorrowful expression, it was difficult not to think deeper thoughts.

Many people simply thought too much. Suddenly, they shivered all over. It seemed the waters of the Prime Minister’s Residence ran very deep.

Wu Liuyun disliked marketplace gossip the most. Of course she did not know what these young ladies meant, but the noble coldness she had cultivated since childhood had already set in. She could not lower herself to ask.

Wu Lixiang naturally had never heard the rumors about her own family either. Seeing these people speaking in riddles, she was puzzled, as if she had missed an important conversation. She asked curiously, “What are you talking about?”

The young ladies looked away and did not answer.

At this moment, Wu Sheyue was extremely satisfied. That little foreshadowing line she had thrown in at the time truly had not been wasted. This was exactly the effect she wanted.

With the right words and actions, she could guide others toward the conclusion she wanted them to reach. That way, she would not have to explain everywhere in the future, and no one could grasp any flaw in her words. In modern times, she had failed this course. In ancient times, forced by her environment, she was becoming more and more skilled.

Wu Lixiang looked around and found that none of these sisters she usually played with would tell her. Each one seemed to be hiding something. Because of this, she grew even angrier at Wu Sheyue, thinking that this slut must have done something.

Wu Liuyun looked at them and seemed to have grown tired. She casually found an excuse and left with Yingtao. All these young ladies knew Wu Liuyun’s temperament and did not try to keep her.

This time, Wu Liuyun did not drag Wu Sheyue along. Clearly, she was generously granting Wu Sheyue a chance to build feelings with the “other concubine-born daughters.”

But Wu Sheyue was willing to stay with Wu Lixiang for a while longer.

Wu Sheyue sat by the lake with them for a while. During the conversation afterward, Wu Lixiang continued finding ways to bring up how foolish Third Miss Wu used to be and what glorious deeds she had done, as if afraid others would forget.

After listening awkwardly for a while, Wu Sheyue suddenly cut in. “Oh right, Fourth Sister. Grandmother was looking for you earlier. You’d better hurry over and see.”

As expected, these words made Wu Lixiang’s eyes light up. She hurriedly asked, “Really? Grandmother was looking for me?”

Grandmother rarely took the initiative to call them over. Whenever she did, there was always something happening. Perhaps… perhaps an important guest had suddenly arrived today, and Grandmother wanted her to meet them.

“Ah, when did Grandmother look for me? Why are you only saying this now?” Thinking of this, Wu Lixiang grew angry again. Wu Sheyue had been here for ages, so how had she only just remembered to tell her? Who knew if the important guest was still there.

“She was looking for you when I came over just now. Go quickly.”

Wu Lixiang was both angry and anxious. She did not know whether Wu Sheyue had deliberately told her late, but there was no time to argue. She said urgently, “Then I’ll go now. Third Sister, you all have fun.”

Then she led her maid and hurried toward that side as if her eyebrows were on fire. The sight left the young ladies staring in astonishment.

Wu Sheyue smiled faintly. “Everyone, forgive her. She’s just like this.” Good. The world was quiet now. In any case, Grandmother had asked where the girls had gone. She had not lied.

The young ladies looked at one another and nodded. Inwardly, they thought Wu Sheyue seemed much more normal than Wu Lixiang.