Regent, please maintain your aloof image.

Afterwards, Su Qianrou arrived at Fuxi Courtyard.

By this time, everyone had arrived except for her, so when she came in, Lin Xiaoran and Liu Meng couldn't help but make sarcastic remarks.

"Our third young lady is quite arrogant. She's always the last to arrive when we pay our respects. I wonder if she's here to pay her respects or to cause trouble."

"Sister-in-law, you'll get used to it. Now that my second brother has become the Minister of Revenue, I'm afraid he'll become even more arrogant in the future. Who knows, he might not come at all if he doesn't want to."

"What my third sister-in-law said is very true."

Su Qianrou ignored their words and slowly walked over to sit down next to Song Shiyu.

Seeing her like this, Su Huaizhu couldn't help but speak up, "Third sister, if you don't think about yourself, you should think about your second uncle. Now that your second uncle has just taken up the position of Minister of Revenue, and you, third sister, are already showing such disrespect to your grandmother, if word gets out, people will gossip. That's not all; the most important thing is that it might affect your second uncle's career. Don't you think so, third sister?"

Before Su Qianrou could answer, Su Wanshan said, "Second sister is right. Sister should be more careful so as not to implicate father."

“I was feeling unwell, and my maid, feeling sorry for me, let me sleep a little longer. That’s why I’m a little late. Besides, my grandmother once said that it wouldn’t be too late to come and pay my respects when I’m feeling better. Now, although I’m feeling a little better, I’m not fully recovered yet. I just thought that since I haven’t come to pay my respects for a long time, my grandmother would inevitably worry about me, so I came here just now. But I never expected that in the mouths of my second sister and fourth sister, I would become a disloyal and unfilial person.”

Upon hearing this, Su Huaizhu and Su Wanshan's faces turned ashen. They were at a loss for words and remained silent.

Lin Xiaoran and Liu Meng knew she was quick-witted, but they didn't expect her to be so eloquent and persuasive, almost able to make the dead seem alive.

Seeing this, Song Shiyu stepped in to smooth things over, saying, "Grandmother hasn't come out yet, so Third Sister isn't too late... By the way, Sister, today is your birthday. This is a birthday gift for you. See if you like it." As she spoke, she handed a small box to Su Qianrou.

Su Qianrou accepted it and said, "Thank you, sister-in-law. I like everything you give me."

"If you like it, that's fine."

Then, Su Qianrou gave the box to Chunzhu, and then looked at Lin Xiaoran and Liu Meng, asking, "I wonder what kind of gift Aunt and Third Aunt have prepared for me? I'm really looking forward to it."

Lin Xiaoran and Liu Meng smiled awkwardly. Neither of them knew it was her birthday today, so they hadn't made any preparations.

Lin Rong said, "Rou'er, how can you ask for gifts like this... Sister-in-law, Third Sister-in-law, please forgive her, she's just a child and doesn't know any better, don't take it to heart."

“It was my fault. I was thinking that Mother would send birthday gifts back in advance for my eldest sister, second brother, and third brother every year, so I assumed that my aunt and third aunt had also prepared gifts for me. That’s why I asked. But I forgot that my aunt and third aunt have never sent birthday gifts to my eldest brother, Xiaoyu, or me over the years. However, my aunt and third aunt are not the kind of people who don’t know etiquette, so I suppose they must have prepared them, but they’re just keeping them for now, thinking of giving them to us when we come back, right, aunt and third aunt?”

Lin Xiaoran and Liu Meng both looked very unpleasant. They knew that if Su Qianrou and her two siblings gave each other a birthday gift every year, then all of them would need to prepare at least forty gifts. Not to mention that they couldn't gather that many gifts in a short time, even if they could, they would not give them away. Therefore, neither of them spoke.

"Why aren't my aunt and third aunt saying anything? Is there a problem?"

“No, I’ll have someone send you your birthday gift later,” Lin Xiaoran said.

"Me too."

"Then I'll thank you in advance, Aunt and Third Aunt," Su Qianrou said. She didn't dwell on the previous gifts, partly because she didn't want to get entangled with them, and partly because she knew the gifts they gave her weren't anything good, so she didn't need them.

Just then, the old lady walked out, supported by a young woman, followed by a sixteen-year-old man and a fourteen-year-old girl.

"I suppose this is my third cousin and her two children," Su Qianrou thought to herself. Then, she stood up, bowed, and said, "Greetings to Grandmother."

"Greetings to Mother."

"Please sit down."

Then, everyone sat down.

The old lady asked, feigning concern, "What are you all talking about?"

Normally, Lin Xiaoran would have rushed to answer, but today, she remained silent as if she hadn't heard a word.

Liu Meng is the same.

So Lin Rong replied, "Replying to Mother, we are discussing the birthday ceremony."

"Why did you bring this up out of nowhere?"

"It's not without reason. Today is Rou'er's birthday, so I mentioned it."

The old lady was a little embarrassed, but she quickly recovered and didn't say anything, keeping quiet about the gift-giving.

Su Qianrou hadn't expected her to give it to her at all, so she didn't say anything and just sat quietly.

For a moment, no one spoke, and the atmosphere became somewhat awkward.

Seeing this, Zhang Hongmei said with a smile, "Aunt, won't you introduce us? Otherwise, if we meet in the mansion one day, we won't know how to address each other."

"Yes... let me introduce you. This is your third cousin."

Su Qianrou and the others stood up, curtsied, and said, "Greetings, Third Aunt."

Zhang Hongmei smiled brightly and said, "Ladies, you're too kind." Then, she looked at her two children and said, "Hurry up and come out to greet your older and younger sisters."

So, Liu Xiang and Liu Feng came out.

"Greetings, sisters."

"Greetings, elder sisters and younger sisters."

Su Qianrou and the others returned the greeting.

Then Liu Feng said, "Aunt, now that I have met all my sisters, I will take my leave."

"Yes, go ahead," the old lady said, not trying to stop him, because he was a man from outside the family.

After leaving Fuxi Courtyard, Su Qianrou was starving and just wanted to go back for a meal as soon as possible. Unexpectedly, someone called out to her, "Rou'er."

Upon hearing this, Su Qianrou turned around and was somewhat surprised to see that it was Zhang Hongmei.

Then, Zhang Hongmei brought Liu Xiang over.

"Third cousin".

"Rou'er... I hope you don't mind me calling you that."

"I don't mind."

"That's good."

"I wonder what my third cousin wants with me."

"It's like this, Xiang'er has always lived in Lingnan and has never been to the capital, so she is very curious about it. I wonder if Rou'er could take her out for a stroll."

"My aunt has probably come to the wrong person. I just got back myself, so I'm not very familiar with the capital."

"It's alright, you can take her with you when you go out in the future."

Su Qianrou thought to herself, "She's trying to cling to me." "I don't plan to go out for the time being. If Xiang'er really wants to go out, she can go find other sisters or even her second sister."

Zhang Hongmei wanted to say something more.

Su Qianrou spoke first, saying, "I have other matters to attend to, so I'll take my leave now. Please make yourself at home, Third Aunt." With that, she turned and left.

Watching her departing figure, Liu Xiang said indignantly, "What's there to be so arrogant about? She's just the daughter of a high-ranking official. Once I become a princess, I'll make her pay."

"Shut up, don't you even know where you are?" Zhang Hongmei scolded.

Although Liu Xiang was unconvinced, she didn't say anything more.