Chapter 170: Want to Mourn the Dead? You Go First!

Li Qingluo didn't even lift her head: "No."

Even a touch of Li Kechuan's belongings makes her feel inauspicious!

Pei Lao Furen, rather regretfully, said, "That horse actually looks quite fine. Was it the one he used to ride himself?"

Unfortunately, he now lacks a leg, so not only can he not ride, he can't even mount a horse.

Therefore, if he sends out his own horse, it clearly means he's genuinely trying to flatter Li Qingluo now.

The stablehand said, "The eldest son's horse—after his leg was broken, he himself, personally, killed it…"

"This white horse was once kept by the eldest son… he said he wanted to give it to—oh no—he wanted to give it to that Liu family's eldest daughter."

Li Qingluo hadn't become angry yet, but Pei Lao Furen was already irritated.

"What a worthless thing! The items Liu Qingzhu didn't take, are we Li Qingluo still scrambling to pick them up?"

"Stupid to the heavens—if you're trying to please the younger sister, you shouldn't act so perfunctorily!"

"Go, sell this horse!"

Pei Lao Furen feared that the lunatic Li Kechuan would come again and kill this horse.

So she simply disposed of the horse first.

Then she promptly chose an even more beautiful black horse for Li Qingluo.

"Li Qingluo, you needn't worry about this; if you want to deal with him, do so; if not, just consider him a clump of cow dung and horse manure!"

Li Qingluo was amused by her grandmother.

"Yes, Li Qingluo indeed has always adhered to that."

Soon, the days flew by to the seventeenth day of the twelfth month.

The snow had ceased for two or three days, and all of Jinling was melting, so the cold outside was so severe that one could barely stay standing.

Que'er muttered in complaint, "We have to ride a horse—can't we wait until spring? My hands are both sore and itchy; yesterday I couldn't even hold a brush while writing, and going outside I have no idea how uncomfortable it'll be!"

Princess Nanping really… does she think every girl in the world is like her? She grew up in the northwest from childhood, so she's not afraid of Jinling's slight wind and snow.

"Miss, why not simply feign illness and skip this trip? Besides, you don't even know how to ride; the snowy road is icy and slippery—if you fall, what will become of you?"

Li Qingluo shook her head, "No. The invitation that Princess Nanping sincerely sent me—if I don't go, she'll be disappointed."

Cui Er, holding the ointment, was carefully applying it to Li Qingluo's hands repeatedly.

Hearing Queer's words, Cui Er said, "Miss, I think Queer's words are reasonable. It's so cold today that probably few girls will attend the gathering; perhaps you should just not go."

Deng Mama, busy nearby, interjected, "You two, shut up! The miss has her own ideas; do you think you can decide for her?"

"The miss has only been back to Jinling for a few months? In Jinling she hasn't even firmly stood on her feet yet. It's already hard enough that a princess is so eager to associate with her; the miss usually stays cooped up at home pondering those matters, and now there's a lively banquet—according to this old servant, she should go!"

"Besides, it's not just you who feel cold; don't the other girls feel cold as well?"

"I heard the riding will be at an out-of-town horse field; there it's all grass, not mud road, so you really can't fall."

"If you still claim you can't ride, there will be other amusements that don't involve riding."

"Princess, don't you have any fresh fun?"

"Miss should go out for a walk, lest she be old-fashioned all day."

Li Qingluo: "..."

Is she old?

Que'er and Cui Er didn't dare utter another word.

And they quickly helped Li Qingluo with her grooming.

Deng Mama, smiling, came over, put away the ointment and asked Li Qingluo, "Miss, the Old Lady asked yesterday, has the ointment you've been using improved over this period?"

Li Qingluo: "Much better."

Now that she is of golden noble standing, how could she not be fine?

As they stepped outside, a bone‑piercing cold wind blew, and Que'er and Cui Er couldn't help pulling their necks tight.

Deng Mama tightened the rabbit‑fur collar around Li Qingluo's neck again, then wrapped her cloak around her entirely, and quickly embraced her as they walked out together.

Seeing the two maids shivering, Li Qingluo realized: it seemed only she truly didn't feel very cold.

She thought of her childhood, when she couldn't eat enough or stay warm, and even on heavy snow days she still had to climb the mountain to collect firewood.

If she didn't gather enough, there wasn't even a bowl of hot soup at home.

She had become accustomed to climbing the mountain; once, when night fell, she simply found a cave and hid inside rather than returning.

That cave was truly warm.

Li Qingluo lit a fire, and managed to catch a plump rabbit.

That night, she ate the entire rabbit herself.

But the next day, heavy snow fell on the mountain.

She carried a bundle of firewood alone back home; as she walked, Li Qingluo, clad in only two thin layers, felt her hands and feet were about to freeze solid.

She didn't know what kind of resolve allowed her to descend the mountain.

After returning home, she used the pretext of tending the fire but couldn't warm herself at the stove, and eventually she became feverish from being overheated.

That time, if it hadn't been for Wang Shi's care and her stubbornness in calling a doctor, Li Qingluo might not have made it through.

However, since then, she seems truly no longer afraid of the cold.

The carriage arrived at the outskirts.

Before the carriage settled, Li Qingluo heard Princess Nanping's voice, "Sister Li Qingluo, you finally made it!"

Princess Nanping ushered Li Qingluo into the crowd.

Unexpectedly, there were quite a number of noble ladies today—about seventeen or eighteen.

Most had previously crossed paths at the princess's residence.

Li Qingluo also saw a familiar face, Pan Li.

Pan Li saw her as if she had never known her before, and lightly turned her head away.

Princess Nanping pulled Li Qingluo to sit by the fire and said, "Ignore her. I never wanted her here, but she's my cousin; if she flirts with my father, the girls of our princess residence become hers, it seems."

Princess Nanping pouted, still completely childlike in temperament.

Li Qingluo patted her head, reached out and took from Que'er the plate of snacks she had prepared for Princess Nanping.

"Try it?"

Princess Nanping grabbed it and shoved it into her mouth; the nearby personal maid was horrified, not even having time to stop her and say to test for poison first, as the young mistress gulped it down whole!

After all, for something that goes into the mouth, their young mistress didn't even examine it carefully!

If this ends badly, *** would have to make them lose their heads?

The maids looked nervous, but Princess Nanping said, "This is unbelievably delicious! Sister Luo'er, what did you make it with? The texture is so smooth, sweet but not cloying, it melts in the mouth, tastier than the pastries from our princess residence. I want more!"

Li Qingluo saw her delight and smiled.

"It's made with taro."

Que'er added from beside her, "Your Highness, Princess, this was made early this morning by our lady herself for you. She said to let you try it, and later it will be sold in the lady's restaurant."

Princess Nanping, excited, said, "Restaurant? Sister Luo'er, are you opening a restaurant?"

Li Qingluo replied, "It's set for the 25th; we'll open the Zhenxiu Soup Pot Restaurant on West City Street. If the princess doesn't mind, you should come that day to see it; I'll treat you to the pot and more pastries."

Li Qingluo's voice was neither loud nor soft, just right for the women present to hear.

Princess Nanping responded repeatedly with joy and then ate two more pieces.

From beside, a sour voice sneered, "Truly unabashed; after such a scandal in the family, they still have the nerve to keep strolling in public. Moreover, a dignified noblewoman who willingly degrades herself to become a merchant—she really comes from the valleys; don't you think the characters 'shameful' are written just right!"

Li Qingluo didn't even need to look up to know it was Pan Li's voice.

Immediately someone echoed, "Indeed, if I were her, I'd have already hung myself with a rope at home; she still has the face to appear."

"Those disgraceful deeds of her family are the talk of Jinling City; who doesn't know? The reputation of the Jiangjun Fu maids has long been rotten."

"I've heard that Zhongyi Hou Fu no longer even mentions the marriage between the two families."

"Who would still dare to marry their daughters?"

"How shameful! They even loudly proclaim the restaurant business—what respectable lady would do such a thing?"

Li Qingluo: "Your mother, then, really doesn't do business? Isn't she also a respectable woman?"

"The wives of the great aristocratic households—who doesn't hold several, even dozens, of shops in their hands?"

"Some are merely leased out, but most families don't have businesses at all?"

"This is an unspoken understanding."

"But if you bring it up, it becomes shameful, doesn't it?"

Li Qingluo reached out, continued tending her fire, and said lightly, "You've become quite clean now. How come the person who used to be as close as sisters with Liu Qiongzhu…"

"If we talk about mourning the dead, I think you are more suited to go ahead first."

"After all, you and she are closer to the other girls of Jiangjun Fu than the rest of our girls, and that's known throughout Jinling City."

"Could it be that you truly know nothing of the disgrace she committed?"

Pan Li and several others' faces turned sour, recalling Liu Qiongzhu's deeds, and they were instantly mortified.

"What did she do, how would we know?"

"We're not living with her day after day!"

Li Qingluo: "Then her disgrace, what does it have to do with me?"

"I was mistakenly swapped with Liu Qiongzhu back then; these years she has taken my place in my family enjoying all the honors, so why should her disgrace implicate me?"

"As for the reputation of the other daughters of Jiangjun Fu, she is not a Li family girl, so there's no talk of any connection."

Pan Li, angry, said, "Stop being so cunning! This is about the upbringing of your Jiangjun Fu…"

Li Qingluo: "What do I have to…"

She turned her head to Pan Li, her gaze icy and sharp: "Since I returned to the residence, it was my grandmother, who had been secluded for years, that personally taught me; it's only been half a year, and my reputation truly has no connection."

"But anyone with eyes who can discern right from wrong cannot lay blame on my grandmother!"

"As for the others, how do you know it's because others don't want the marriage, rather than our family refusing?"

"Besides, I only earn my own money through my abilities; after all, unlike you, who have been surrounded by gold and jade since childhood, I come from the valleys, I've never seen money, so my outlook is narrow, I don't know what 'shameful' looks like."

Li Qingluo retorted each sentence without holding back, nearly driving Pan Li and the others' eyes and noses to the brink of bursting.

"You—!"