Chapter 57: The Flower Viewing Banquet

One was named Jixiang, and the other was named Ruyi.

In ancient times, the two maidservants were a bit old for their roles. Jixiang was seventeen, lively and outgoing, while Ruyi was eighteen, quiet and reserved.

After finalizing the schedule with Wang Junhao to treat his younger sister, they each returned home.

Bringing the two maids back to her residence, she had Mother Zhang brief them on the household rules and protocols.

A few days later, the medical clinic officially opened.

Everything regarding the decoration and opening of the clinic this time had been entrusted to Zhang Yuankai. Jiang Lihua was extremely satisfied; he was indeed a man of talent, well worth cultivating.

On this day, Zhao Sihui arrived at the clinic.

"Miss Zhao, why are you here?" Jiang Lihua asked in surprise.

For a young lady of high birth like Zhao Sihui, surely she didn't need to visit a medical clinic in person for ailments?

"I came here specifically to find you, Lihua," Zhao Sihui said softly. "Three days from now, I am hosting a flower appreciation gathering. I've come to deliver an invitation and invite you to attend."

"I see." Jiang Lihua wasn't particularly eager to go.

As the legitimate daughter of the Prime Minister's estate, Zhao Sihui's social circle would undoubtedly consist of young ladies from official families. Jiang Lihua didn't know a single person among them, and going would simply mean standing around awkwardly.

Seeing that she didn't reply for a long time, Zhao Sihui said with a disappointed tone, "Lihua, you wouldn't be unwilling to go, would you?"

Uhm... Zhao Sihui meant well, and Jiang Lihua found it difficult to refuse. She nodded, "Not at all. See you in three days."

"Wonderful." Zhao Sihui immediately handed the invitation to Jiang Lihua with a happy expression. "You must come, alright?"

After Zhao Sihui left, Jiang Lihua carefully picked up the invitation to examine it.

As expected of the Prime Minister's estate—filthy rich. The invitation was crafted with absolute sophistication and grandeur, looking exceptionally exquisite.

Time flew by in a blur.

In the blink of an eye, the day of the flower appreciation banquet arrived.

Jiang Lihua woke up early to dress and groom herself. Taking Jixiang and Ruyi with her, she carried a gift and set off for the Prime Minister's estate.

Upon arriving at the gates of the Prime Minister's estate, quite a number of sedan chairs were already lined up outside waiting. Jiang Lihua couldn't help but think that aristocratic women in ancient times certainly had a knack for waking up early.

When it was Jiang Lihua's turn, the gatekeeper lifted his chin arrogantly and asked, "Which household's young miss are you?"

Jiang Lihua frowned slightly and replied, "I am not from any particular household's estate. I am Jiang Lihua. Your young miss invited me here, and this is the invitation."

The gatekeeper took the invitation, glanced at it, and gave her a sideways look. "Your name isn't written on the invitation. How are we supposed to prove this invitation belongs to you?"

Hearing the gatekeeper's words, the surrounding young ladies cast strange and disdainful glances at Jiang Lihua.

Some of them even scoffed aloud.

"These days, you really see all sorts of people."

"Indeed. Trying to pull a scam at the Prime Minister's flower appreciation party—she certainly has some nerve."

"She must be from some lowly, obscure family just looking to broaden her horizons."

"Hurry up and leave, don't make a fool of yourself or waste our time. We're still waiting in line."
......

Jiang Lihua was utterly speechless. Had she known the servants at the Prime Minister's estate behaved like this, she would never have come.

"Gather the gifts, let's go," Jiang Lihua told Jixiang and Ruyi.

Jixiang and Ruyi retrieved the items and turned to leave.

They were halted by a shout from the gatekeeper: "Is the Prime Minister's estate a place where you can just come and go as you please? You can leave, but leave the gifts behind."

"On what grounds?" Jiang Lihua turned back to ask.

"On the grounds that your fake invitation wasted my time," the gatekeeper said arrogantly.

She had originally wanted to avoid bickering with such a petty person, but the other party kept pushing their luck.

Jiang Lihua sneered, "Hah! I already told you it was given to me by your young miss. If you don't believe me, go inside and ask her."

"I am leaving with my belongings now. If you dare to continue making trouble, don't blame me for being unpolite."

Her aversion to stirring up trouble did not mean she was afraid of it.

"Oh? You've got quite a fiery temper, little girl!" The gatekeeper was provoked by Jiang Lihua as well. "My temper is even bigger than yours! Drop the things and get lost, or don't blame me for getting rough."

The gatekeeper's attitude was arrogant to the extreme.

Just as Jiang Lihua was about to secretly poison the gatekeeper to teach him a lesson, Su Moxue's voice rang out.

"Who are you planning to be unpolite to?"

Jiang Lihua withdrew her hand.

Hidden in the shadows, Zhao Sihui also pulled back the foot she had been about to step forward with.

She had deliberately orchestrated this behind the scenes to give Jiang Lihua a humiliating reality check, intending to step in afterward to rescue her and play the hero, but Su Moxue had rudely interrupted.

Without even bothering to look at the newcomer, the gatekeeper snapped, "Mind your own business, or I won't be polite to you either!"

Su Moxue directly gave her personal maid a look.

The maid stepped forward and delivered a resounding slap across the gatekeeper's face.

With the sheer force of the blow, the gatekeeper spat blood and collapsed to the ground. "You... who are you people? How dare you strike me at the Prime Minister's estate?"

"Hmph, my young miss is Su Moxue, the granddaughter of the esteemed Grand General Su. Do I have the right to strike you?" the maid retorted.

Terrified, the gatekeeper cowered on the ground, too frightened to utter another word.

Grand General Su's reputation in the capital was legendary.

The young ladies who had mocked Jiang Lihua earlier never expected that the target of the servants' bullying would be intimately acquainted with Su Moxue.

Gone was their previous smugness; they shrank their necks in fear, terrified that Jiang Lihua might demand an accounting from them.

Su Moxue walked over to Jiang Lihua. "Lihua, are you alright? Why did you come here?"

Jiang Lihua shook her head. "I'm fine. Miss Zhao Sihui of the Prime Minister's estate invited me."

"How do you even know Zhao Sihui?" Su Moxue asked, her expression rather puzzled.

"We met by chance." Seeing the strange look on Su Moxue's face, Jiang Lihua asked, "Is something wrong?"

"Oh, it's nothing. I just really don't like Zhao Sihui. Every time I look at her, she feels so two-faced and hypocritical," Su Moxue complained. "Yet somehow everyone else thinks she's wonderful. Isn't that infuriating?"

Jiang Lihua smiled and said nothing.

Whether Zhao Sihui was hypocritical or not, she didn't know, but judging by the behavior of the servants at the Prime Minister's estate, she had already lost all favorable impressions of the household.

As the saying goes: If the upper beam is crooked, the lower beams will follow.

By extension, it was entirely possible that the masters of the Prime Minister's estate weren't any better.

At that moment, Zhao Sihui approached with her maids. "Lihua, why are you standing outside instead of coming in? I've been waiting for you for so long."

Catching sight of the gatekeeper sprawled on the ground, she covered her mouth in shock and asked, "What on earth happened here?"

"He blocked me, claimed my invitation was fake, wouldn't let me enter, and even tried to confiscate the gifts I brought when I decided to leave," Jiang Lihua explained concisely. "Then Miss Su helped me teach this arrogant servant a lesson."

"Audacious!" Zhao Sihui's expression turned slightly angry as she scolded, "Don't think that just because you are a relative of my mother's you can behave however you please here!"

"Spare my life, Young Miss! I wasn't doing it on purpose; she wouldn't say which household she was from, so I thought she was an imposter and tried to stop her from entering," the gatekeeper cried out tearfully.

"Wrong is wrong. Someone, drag him away and give him twenty heavy board beatings." With a wave of Zhao Sihui's hand, servants immediately came forward to haul the gatekeeper away.

"Zhao Sihui, this is a failure of your hospitality," Su Moxue chimed in. "Since you invited someone over, you should have made proper arrangements with your staff. You couldn't possibly have been giving our Lihua a deliberate dose of humiliation, could you?"

Inside, Zhao Sihui was seething with rage. This Su Moxue always seemed to cross her path and oppose her.

She quickly waved her hands to explain to Su Moxue, "How could that be? Lihua and I hit it off immediately, and Brother Ni even said that Lihua and I have very similar personalities. Why would I ever do such a thing?"

With that, she turned to Jiang Lihua with an apologetic expression. "Lihua, I am so sorry. It's all my fault for not thinking things through."

Without waiting for Jiang Lihua to respond, she stepped forward and grabbed her hand. "Come on, Lihua, let's go inside together."

Since the other girl had gone to such lengths, refusing to enter would seem inappropriate.

Jiang Lihua followed Zhao Sihui inside, with Su Moxue walking right beside her.

Upon reaching the flower-viewing courtyard, a considerable number of young ladies had already gathered.

Seeing Zhao Sihui leading an unfamiliar young woman in, accompanied by Su Moxue, they grew intensely curious about Jiang Lihua's background. A young lady who was on particularly close terms with Zhao Sihui stepped forward to ask, "Sihui, why haven't we ever seen this younger sister before?"

"She only recently moved to the capital. This is Jiang Lihua, and her cousin is this year's Jieyuan (top scorer in the provincial examination)," Zhao Sihui introduced.

Hearing this, the gathered young ladies wore expressions tinged with slight disdain.

They had originally thought she might be some previously secluded young lady of high birth, but it turned out she had no notable family background to speak of—just a cousin who passed the provincial exams!

Jiang Lihua smiled faintly and spoke up, "I am a physician. I opened a medical clinic on South Street. If any of you happen to fall ill, you are welcome to come find me."

"Pfft—" Su Moxue burst out laughing. That was hilarious.

The faces of the young ladies darkened instantly. Every single one of them was a shrewd schemer raised within inner courtyards; how could they possibly miss the satirical undertone in Jiang Lihua's words?

"What do you mean by that? Are you saying we're sick?"

"How utterly rude! Besides, since when does the Eastern Lin Kingdom have female physicians?"

"Exactly! Don't assume that knowing a few herbs gives you the right to call yourself a doctor."

Several young ladies indignantly retorted.

"I didn't say any of you were sick, but if you insist on fitting yourselves into the description, there's nothing I can do," Jiang Lihua said, spreading her hands in a helpless gesture.

"Besides, my master is Elder Bai Qiusan. I wonder if that gives me enough qualification to call myself a physician?" She spoke as casually as a breeze, yet everyone present was struck dumb with shock—including Su Moxue, who knew her well.

Bai Qiusan—who in the capital didn't know him?

He was a legendary figure to whom even the Emperor showed a measure of respect, and it was said his medical skills could bring the dead back to life.

Countless noble families in the capital had tried to have their children accepted as his disciples, but due to his arrogant and notoriously picky nature, out of the hundreds who sought apprenticeship, he hadn't favored a single one.

Now, hearing Jiang Lihua claim to be the old master's disciple, who wouldn't be dumbfounded?

"Hmph! Just because you say so doesn't make it true. What evidence do you have?"

"That's right! Produce proof, or why should we believe you?"

Jiang Lihua's temper flared up as well, and she rolled her eyes. "Believe it or not, suit yourselves!"

Oddly enough, her arrogant and dismissive attitude actually made those young ladies believe her a little bit more.

If she didn't have backing, how could she dare speak with such utter confidence?

Furthermore, pretending to be Elder Bai's disciple and getting caught carried horrific consequences!

They still remembered something that happened many years ago.

An individual had gone around defrauding people under the guise of being Elder Bai's disciple. Once exposed, that person was subjected to methods so utterly terrifying by the old master that they were broken beyond recognition.

To this day, that wretched soul was still hiding away, too terrified to show their face in public.

Ever since then, no one in the capital ever dared to impersonate Elder Bai's disciple again.

And what Su Moxue said next completely convinced the remaining skeptics.

Su Moxue chimed in, "Lihua is someone who personally treated the Third Imperial Prince himself! So what if she told you to come find her if you get sick?"

"She's doing it out of the goodness of her heart, afraid you might fall into the hands of quacks, yet you repay her kindness like this—truly ungrateful wretches!"

The young ladies felt a cold sweat break out. Did she take them for fools? Still, this wasn't the time to argue semantics.

They quickly stepped forward to offer profuse apologies for their earlier behavior and showered Jiang Lihua with honeyed words to win her favor.

Ah, truly, there are no permanent enemies, only permanent interests. As long as mutual benefit was involved, these people could be friends with anyone.

Left abruptly standing by herself and ignored, Zhao Sihui trembled with rage, her hands tightly clenched into fists inside her sleeves.

Her calculations had completely failed. She had assumed Jiang Lihua was merely a country bumpkin from some rural backwater, never expecting her to possess such backing and status.