Song Yutang's scalp instantly prickled.
The "young miss" presumably meant Jiang Muyan's younger sister, Jiang Zhixia.
And a husband's younger sister was one of the hardest creatures in the world to please.
Song Yutang still remembered the first time she met Li Zerui's younger sister, Princess Qionghua, after her wedding. Smiling, the princess splashed a cup of scalding tea in her face. "There was a fly on your face, Sister-in-law. Flies don't bite eggs without cracks. Before you married... were you unclean?"
At the winter solstice palace banquet, Princess Qionghua put dozens of embroidery needles in her shoes.
To avoid losing her composure before the emperor and empress, Song Yutang endured having both feet pierced into bloody pulp.
Over the next few years, the princess "accidentally" smashed her mother's keepsake, "carelessly" had her personal palace maid beaten to death, and "unintentionally" skinned her beloved cat.
During the autumn hunt, she even lured an ugly guard into Song Yutang's tent...
Even though she later killed Princess Qionghua, the memory of each incident still sent a chill down her spine.
Online reports also said that the Jiang Family's young miss was deeply scheming. While her parents were still running a small restaurant, she had gotten pregnant out of wedlock and married into a wealthy family.
After marrying into the family, she had angered her mother-in-law into a stroke, bullied her widowed sister-in-law, and nearly killed her nephew.
A sister-in-law like that probably wouldn't be easy to get along with either.
But what storms and crashing waves had the crown princess not weathered?
She put on a dignified smile and walked downstairs at an unhurried pace.
While she was still at the turn of the stairs, she saw a woman sitting beside Li Xiulan.
She was tall and very beautiful.
But weariness and exhaustion filled her face, and her clothes had been washed until they had faded.
Song Yutang couldn't help frowning. "????"
This...
Was this really her deeply scheming, viciously ruthless sister-in-law???
"S-Sister-in-law, I'm Zhixia." The woman had clearly noticed Song Yutang too and hurried to her feet, wringing her hands awkwardly.
"A-Auntie, I'm Tuantuan." The little girl beside her also hastily stood up, her face full of fear.
Song Yutang froze.
These really were her sister-in-law and little niece.
Why did they look even more spineless than her mother-in-law?
What happened to vicious and ruthless?
Noticing Song Yutang studying her, Jiang Zhixia grew even more uncomfortable. She hurriedly took a velvet jewelry box from her canvas bag and cautiously approached. "Sister-in-law, on the day you married my brother, I... something came up at home, so I couldn't attend. It was all my fault. This is a small token of my regard. Please... you must accept it."
Song Yutang opened the box suspiciously.
Inside was a chain with an unusual design. It was neither gold nor silver, and she couldn't identify the material. The style was also somewhat...
Strange.
Xiao Tuantuan's eyes instantly widened. "Mommy, that's Xiao Hei's leash."
Song Yutang: "???"
Xiao Hei...
That sounded like a dog.
A dog leash as a gift for their first meeting?
This sister-in-law didn't look like someone who would do that.
Jiang Zhixia's face suddenly went deathly pale. She hastily snatched back the box and apologized incoherently. "I-I'm sorry, Sister-in-law. I took the wrong one. I really took the wrong one."
Tuantuan blinked her clear, wide eyes and corrected her earnestly. "You didn't take the wrong one, Mommy. I saw the pretty necklace you bought for Auntie around Xiao Hei's neck. Eldest Auntie must have switched them again."
Jiang Zhixia's eyes instantly reddened. She bowed to Song Yutang again and again, apologizing. "I'm sorry, Sister-in-law. I really didn't know this would happen... I'll buy you another one. I'll go to the mall and pick one out right now..."
Before she finished, her phone rang.
Jiang Zhixia answered in a fluster, and a woman's cutting voice immediately came clearly through the receiver. "...Jiang Zhixia, how dare you steal money to buy a necklace to suck up to that living corpse of a brother's wife? You and your daughter sponge off the Ji Family, eating and drinking for free, and you still dare funnel money back to your birth family? I put the necklace on Xiao Hei. Get back here this instant and kneel in the ancestral hall. Try this again, and I'll have Yanzhou divorce you."
Song Yutang frowned as she listened. "Who is that?"
Jiang Zhixia lowered her head in embarrassment. "She's... my husband's eldest brother's wife. My eldest sister-in-law."
Song Yutang understood at once.
So being a daughter-in-law in a wealthy family wasn't easy either, especially with a sharp-tongued, spiteful fellow daughter-in-law.
It seemed she had suffered plenty of mistreatment in the Ji Family. No wonder the mother and daughter were so timid; they were practically having a stress response to the very role of sister-in-law.
Li Xiulan was sitting a little farther away and hadn't heard the call clearly. Seeing her daughter's expression change, she hurriedly asked, "Zhixia, what happened? Why do you look so pale?"
Jiang Zhixia wiped away her tears and forced a smile, then turned back to Song Yutang and apologized frantically. "I'm sorry, Sister-in-law. I'm sorry, I'm really sorry... I didn't know my eldest sister-in-law would... How about this? Let's go to the mall and choose another gift, as my apology to you."
Seeing how utterly at a loss she was, Song Yutang didn't want to embarrass her. "All right."
She brought Li Xiulan along too. "Mom, come with us. You could use a few new clothes as well."
Although Li Xiulan was the richest man's daughter-in-law, she usually dressed very simply.
When she went to work in the vegetable patch, she even wore street-stall clothes that cost just over ten yuan apiece.
Song Yutang thought there was nothing wrong with being frugal, but one should still maintain a reasonable level of presentability.
"Well... all right." Since both her daughter-in-law and daughter were going, Li Xiulan couldn't very well refuse.
When the three women arrived at the mall, Song Yutang led her straight into a women's clothing store and personally picked out several well-cut, comfortable outfits.
One look at the prices on the tags sent Li Xiulan shrinking back in fright, waving her hands repeatedly. "No, no! Over a hundred thousand for one outfit? Th-this is too expensive. I'd feel like it was burning me just wearing it."
Song Yutang smiled and pulled her back. "Money is earned to be spent. What else would you keep it for?"
Li Xiulan grew even more embarrassed, stammering as her face flushed red.
She wasn't stingy. She truly didn't have that much money.
She and her husband had given most of their hard-earned savings to Song Yutang, and some of what remained had to be set aside for their younger son's schooling.
Unaware of the circumstances, Song Yutang assumed she was simply frugal and handed her card to the sales assistant with a smile. "It's fine. These are good quality. Buy a few outfits, and they'll last for years."
After buying the clothes, Song Yutang took her to a cosmetics counter to buy lipstick and a few basic cosmetics.
Li Xiulan wrung her fingers uneasily the entire time, her eyes growing slightly hot.
The old master had previously asked Wu Caixia to take her shopping too, but because she knew nothing, she had been subjected to sneers and cutting remarks the whole way.
Although her daughter-in-law was also a wealthy young lady, she was gentle and kind.
She was completely different from the rich wives in this circle.
Their family had truly found a treasure in gaining such a daughter-in-law.
Seeing how well Song Yutang treated her mother, Jiang Zhixia insisted on choosing some clothes for her as a return gift.
The clothes Song Yutang wore had all been prepared in advance by the Jiang Family and didn't particularly suit her taste.
Besides, exchanging gifts was a form of social interaction, so she couldn't very well refuse. She casually chose a women's clothing store.
But the moment they stepped inside, several sales assistants gathered in a corner and began pointing at Jiang Zhixia:
"That's her... the shameless homewrecker..."
"When the upper beam is crooked, the lower beam won't be straight. Her daughter's no good either. She actually dared bully the lawful wife's son right in front of her..."
"No wonder the lawful wife grabbed her hair and slapped her. A cheap slut like that would deserve it even if she were beaten to death..."
Jiang Zhixia went rigid and lowered her head even farther.
Song Yutang's gaze cooled slightly.
But she didn't know the full story and wasn't close to Jiang Zhixia. By either sentiment or reason, it wasn't appropriate for her to lash out directly. "This store's style doesn't really suit me. Let's try another one."
Jiang Zhixia gave her a grateful look and silently followed.
When they reached the jewelry section, Jiang Zhixia seemed determined to make up for her earlier mistake and deliberately chose a well-known luxury jeweler. "Sister-in-law, pick anything you like. Whatever catches your eye, I'll buy it for you."
Seeing her so meek, Song Yutang really couldn't bear to make her spend more money. She casually chose the cheapest bracelet. "This one will do."
Jiang Zhixia grew anxious, waving her hands repeatedly. "How could that do? It's too cheap. Sister-in-law, choose something expensive, something nice. I-I can afford it..."
Before she finished, a shrill female voice suddenly rang out from the entrance. "Well, well! Jiang Zhixia, you shameless slut! How dare you steal my husband's supplementary card and squander money out here? And you even dare bring these disreputable people to a place like this? Looks like your skin's itching for another beating..."