Chapter 56: Cold Treatment

The small courtyard had been completely rearranged by Dou Hongyan and was now solely occupied by Erya.

As the courtyard gates opened, the interior was in no way inferior to the Listening Rain Garden. Maidservants with hairpins, skirts, and jade pendants moved about in an orderly fashion with lowered heads, making the place look even more meticulously managed than the Listening Rain Garden itself.

Not to mention, the items Dou Hongyan had personally drawn from the treasury for Erya's use far surpassed in quality the mass-produced goods Shen Yishu had personally picked out on the streets.

Liu Xin'er still possessed enough discernment to tell the difference between good and bad.

As for the young masters...

While they might not fully appreciate finer distinctions, just the sight of the lavish and exquisite courtyard, followed by the sight of the completely transformed Erya, filled their hearts with a sense of reverent awe.

Consequently, when they spoke to Erya, their voices unconsciously softened. "Is this really Erya?"

"I almost didn't recognize her."

Before them stood a delicately graceful young girl, standing tall and poised in a well-fitted and proper young lady's attire.

Back in the Listening Rain Garden, her hair—which was always dusty and unkempt from doing chores and tending to children for Liu Xin'er—was now slicked with osmanthus hair oil, adorned with a few neat and dainty cardamom-red hairpins.

Coupled with the remarkable results of Matron Zhao's etiquette training, she stood before them and executed a graceful and noble bow.

She looked lively and charming, radiating an air of aristocratic elegance that was completely new.

Thinking of the noble young ladies perched high upon the clouds that he had occasionally glimpsed when going out to play in the past, Shun'er muttered, "She doesn't look like my sister at all. She really looks like a proper young lady now."

Hearing this, Liu Xin'er secretly glared at Shun'er.

However, seeing the look of satisfaction on Shen Yishu's face out of the corner of her eye, she forced a smile and linked her arm through his, remaining silent.

Shen Yishu was thoroughly pleased.

He nodded and praised, "Splendid. This is how my child should look. It is only right that Dou meticulously trains Erya. You've done well."

Dou Hongyan rolled her eyes inwardly; Shen Yishu was as brazen-faced as ever.

She then added leisurely, "Erya was born the eldest daughter of the Marquis's estate; what talk is there of looking like one? This is what she ought to look like. This courtyard belongs exclusively to the eldest lady."

"The maidservants, footmen, and those senior, rule-abiding matrons are all under the eldest lady's sole authority. Only thus does it befit the demeanor of the eldest lady of our Marquis's estate."

The scrawny, cowardly country girl of the past had completely vanished.

The more Shen Yishu looked, the more satisfied he became.

A pretty country girl could at most secure the position of a concubine, but cultivating her into a young lady of a noble Marquis's estate would allow her to reach for even higher branches in the future.

And the benefits would still ultimately be his.

He nodded, feeling gratified by Dou Hongyan's apparent submission, and looked at her with a gentle expression. "You've worked hard managing the Marquis's estate. I've been away all these years, but I have seen your contributions. Having you in the Marquis's estate is my good fortune."

Shen Yishu fancied himself brimming with charm, spreading his tail like a peacock before Dou Hongyan to show off.

Immersed entirely in the belief that Dou Hongyan must be utterly devoted to him and was therefore considering everything from his perspective, his expression toward her grew even softer.

He failed to notice the hand resting on his forearm tightening its grip.

The gentle smile on Liu Xin'er's face was nearly impossible to maintain.

She lowered her head, feeling utterly defeated and panic-stricken in her heart.

Her only reliance was Shen Yishu's partiality, but lately... Shen Yishu had long stopped mentioning letting her become the mistress of the household.

Now, she also had to watch helplessly as the relationship between Shen Yishu and Dou Hongyan grew increasingly harmonious.

How could she possibly be reconciled to this?

Therefore, she gently tugged at Shen Yishu's sleeve and said softly, "Now that Erya has people of noble birth from the palace instructing her, what about the young masters... aren't we showing favoritism?"

Lowering her head, she cast a swift glance at Dou Hongyan and said with a deeply troubled expression, "The young masters are still learning the Three Character Classic from Tutor Wang."