Chapter 746 - 744 How Is the Brain Formed?
When a younger family member’s friend comes to visit, it’s only proper for them to meet the elders of the household.
Duchess An actually didn’t know much about Second Miss Zhou, but after listening to Ye Xinyan’s introduction, she learned that Second Miss Zhou was the daughter of the former Prefect of Yuyuan Prefecture, who had returned to the capital with her father to report on his official duties, so her family’s social status was not low.
Furthermore, this young lady was the only close friend of her granddaughter, who had been a cause of her headaches for twenty years. Therefore, Duchess An was very enthusiastic toward Zhou Biyao.
After the warm greetings, Duchess An had Nanny Qian bring out a long, narrow rosewood box containing a dazzling gold Step Shake encrusted with red and blue gems.
Having given the Gem-encrusted Gold Step Shake to Zhou Biyao as a meeting gift, Ye Xinyan then led her out to leave.
Once they had left the Duchess’s courtyard, Zhou Biyao did not hand the slender box to Qian Yue but clicked her tongue at Ye Xinyan, saying, "My friendship with Sister Qi really pays off. Back when my mother met her, my mother didn’t give her such a valuable meeting gift. But a single gesture from Duchess An and the wife of the heir apparent is a Step Shake with huge red and blue gems, what a fortune."
Ye Xinyan glanced at the jewelry box in her hand and said, "Look at your little ambition, as if your parents mistreat you."
Zhou Biyao said cheerfully, "There’s no mistreatment, but such conspicuous gemstone Step Shakes are not something every family comes by. In my family, there are two sisters-in-law and an elder sister; even if we were wealthier, we couldn’t produce four pieces of such outstanding jewelry. When I go back and wear it out, it’ll make my two sisters-in-law envious. Let them look down on what I do then."
"How shallow." Ye Xinyan labeled Zhou Biyao’s thoughts and then corrected her recent address of Madam Yin, "You can’t call my mother ’Madam’ anymore. It’s against propriety and not good for you or my mother. You should call her ’Eldest Lady’ from now on."
After hearing Ye Xinyan’s admonition, Zhou Biyao’s smile collapsed, and she sulkily followed her, only to grumble after a while, "What’s with your father? He himself doesn’t want to live well, but why must he drag down the... Eldest Lady and the elder sister? Everything was fine, and now even the Eldest Lady’s status has been reduced. The Eldest Lady, after all, is the legitimate daughter of a marquis’s house, yet her plight is so rough."