Song Yihuan was just a concubine's daughter from the Marquis of Ding'an's Mansion and had never been to the Duke of Jiang's Mansion before. So both the Dowager Lady Jiang and the Duke of Jiang were extremely unfamiliar with her.
There were quite a few guests in the banquet hall who recognized Song Yihuan. Immediately, a woman smiled at the Dowager Lady Jiang and said,
"Madam, this young lady is not a guest from the Prince of Ning's Mansion. She is the fourth young lady of the Marquis of Ding'an's Mansion, Song Yihuan."
Song Nanxin also looked at Song Yihuan and smiled. "That's right. This is my fourth younger sister. Yihuan, why don't you come forward and pay your respects to the Dowager Lady Jiang?"
After learning Song Yihuan's identity, the warm and kind expression on the Dowager Lady Jiang's face instantly turned cold and distant.
"Oh, so this is Miss Song the Fourth. I've heard a lot about you. Seeing you today, I can see that, just as the rumors say, you're a rare beauty."
It sounded like a compliment, but anyone could tell that there was extreme sarcasm in her words.
Ji Lingchuan saw all this and subconsciously frowned.
As sensitive as he was, he naturally noticed the change in the Dowager Lady Jiang's attitude towards Song Yihuan.
The Dowager Lady Jiang and the Dowager Lady of the Marquis of Ding'an were bosom friends in their girlhood. Naturally, she didn't have a good look on the daughter of Concubine Rou, who was considered the "culprit" that caused the death of the Dowager Lady of the Marquis of Ding'an.
Song Yihuan also sensed something from the Dowager Lady Jiang's attitude. Taking a deep breath, with a determined look in her eyes, she stepped forward to pay her respects to the Dowager Lady Jiang.
"Song Yihuan from the Marquis of Ding'an's Mansion is here to congratulate the Dowager Lady on your birthday. This is a birthday gift from your junior. May you enjoy good fortune and longevity and live a long life."
She said the auspicious words extremely seriously and sincerely. Then she took out something from her body and handed it to the maid of the Duke of Jiang's Mansion waiting on the side.
Song Nanxin's smile instantly froze on her face, and her heart was filled with shock.
Song Yihuan actually prepared a birthday gift for the Dowager Lady Jiang? When did she prepare it? Why didn't she receive any news about it?!
The Dowager Lady Jiang had already lost interest in Song Yihuan and was about to ask the servant to put the thing away so as not to get in her way.
Unexpectedly, after seeing clearly what was placed on the tray, the Dowager Lady Jiang let out a soft exclamation and sat up a little straighter.
At this moment, her curiosity about the new thing overcame her resistance to Song Yihuan. The Dowager Lady Jiang couldn't wait to wave at the servant and said, "Unfold the birthday gift she brought and let me have a look."
The servant responded and unfolded the birthday gift in her hand. Immediately, there were gasps all around.
It was a long brocade embroidered with cranes and pine trees. The pine trees on it were so vivid that every pinecone was clearly visible, and the pine needles seemed to be swaying in front of people's eyes. The feathers on the cranes also had a luster, shuttling among the auspicious clouds. The whole picture was like a living one.
Such a picture was actually not very rare. But what made the Dowager Lady Jiang curious just now was that she saw that the two sides of this long brocade were not the same.
She immediately asked the servant to turn the long brocade over. Sure enough, behind the pine trees and cranes, there was a character "shou" (longevity) composed of countless characters "fu" (good fortune).
This was actually a double - sided embroidery, and the contents embroidered on the two sides were completely different.
The Dowager Lady Jiang looked at Song Yihuan and couldn't wait to ask, "Girl, where did you get this long brocade? Who is the embroiderer?"
Song Yihuan's eyes welled up with tears, and her vision was blurred.
Word by word, very clearly, she said, "Actually, half of this long brocade was embroidered by my step - mother before her death, and the other half was embroidered by me."
Hearing Song Yihuan's words, the Dowager Lady Jiang first frowned tightly, but after hearing the following words, she was stunned there.
"Back then, when my step - mother embroidered this long brocade, it was to give it to my grandmother, praying for her early recovery. Grandmother loved it so much that she once joked with my step - mother that she should embroider another one so that the Dowager Lady Jiang could have a look on her birthday. But before my step - mother could finish embroidering it, grandmother suddenly passed away. This unfinished long brocade was then sealed away by my step - mother."
"My step - mother often told me about grandmother when she was alive. She said that grandmother still mentioned the Dowager Lady Jiang when she was on her deathbed. Grandmother said that the thing she regretted most in her life was that she couldn't go to the lotus pond in Tianlan Villa with the Dowager Lady Jiang again to pick lotus pods, catch loaches, and then stuff the loaches into the teacher's collar to make a big fuss."
As she spoke, the Dowager Lady Jiang's eyes gradually became moist.
"Yes, that's exactly what she would say. These are all the things we did when we were playing around in the past. Thinking about it now, it was really a rambunctious time."
Song Nanxin stared closely at Song Yihuan, and there were huge waves in her heart.
She had never heard of what Song Yihuan was saying! How did this little girl know so clearly? Could it really be what her charming step - mother told her?
Ji Lingchuan looked at Song Yihuan, and the surprise in his eyes was hard to hide. For some reason, his eyes darkened, and his gaze became deep.
Song Yihuan glanced at Song Nanxin beside the Dowager Lady Jiang and blushed as she smiled. "This time, when I heard that elder sister was going to take me to the banquet, I remembered this unfinished long brocade."
"Knowing that the Dowager Lady Jiang and grandmother were very good friends, I completed the picture of cranes and pine trees on the front side. I used six hundred and sixty - six characters 'fu' to form a character 'shou', which not only fulfilled grandmother's wish back then but also wishes the Dowager Lady Jiang good health and a long life."
"Good! Good!"
The Dowager Lady Jiang was greatly touched. She immediately asked someone to bring the double - sided long brocade in front of her. She gently stroked the embroidery thread on it with her finger, and her heart was filled with mixed feelings.
She wasn't stupid. She could understand the hidden meaning in Song Yihuan's words.
Concubine Rou used to be the most intimate maid beside the Dowager Lady of the Marquis of Ding'an. The fact that the Dowager Lady of the Marquis of Ding'an could tell Concubine Rou these private things on her deathbed showed that their relationship wasn't as bad as the outside world imagined.
At least, until her death, the person accompanying the Dowager Lady of the Marquis of Ding'an was Concubine Rou.
If the Dowager Lady of the Marquis of Ding'an was really angered to death by Concubine Rou, how could she trust her so much and still let her stay by her side until death? Was there some other inside story about the death of the Dowager Lady of the Marquis of Ding'an back then?
A hint of meaning flashed in her eyes. The Dowager Lady Jiang said to the servant beside her, "Hang up this long brocade of pine trees, cranes, and longevity in the most prominent place so that everyone can have a look at this embroidery scroll."
"Yes, Madam."
There was an immediate uproar on the scene.
Although the gift Song Yihuan gave was not very valuable, it was full of her heart and the friendship of the Dowager Lady of the Marquis of Ding'an for her friend. In comparison, the jade Avalokitesvara that Song Nanxin gave, although noble, magnificent, and priceless, was a bit too luxurious and inevitably made people feel it was ostentatious.
When looking at Song Yihuan again, there was no more hostility or coldness in the Dowager Lady Jiang's eyes, only melancholy.
"Girl, come here." She waved at Song Yihuan.
Song Yihuan got up and walked to the Dowager Lady Jiang's side. The Dowager Lady Jiang took off the jade bracelet on her wrist, pulled Song Yihuan's hand, and put the bracelet on her wrist. Smiling at her, she said,
"Your grandmother passed away early. Since your grandmother left, I've rarely had contact with the Marquis's Mansion. This is the first time I've seen you."
"When meeting a junior for the first time, an elder should give a meeting gift. This bracelet was bought by me and your grandmother together back then. We each had one. Now, I'll give it to you."
The cold white jade bracelet hung on Song Yihuan's wrist, making her wrist look even more slender and her skin even whiter.
Song Yihuan let out a sigh of relief. Knowing that she had succeeded, she also showed a smile and replied, "Thank you, Madam. I like it very much."
This extremely bright smile made Ji Lingchuan dazed for a moment, and his gaze became deep.
She seemed to be a bit different from what he had seen before.