Chapter 94: Shadow (III)
Chapter 94: Shadow (III)
The brief but thrilling confrontation finally came to an end. Many people in the room, including the servants, found themselves soaked in a cold sweat.
When Cheng Yujin was talking to Zheng Gugu, Cheng Yumo stood in front of the door. Her eyes were wide open, staring at a loss at the situation inside the room. After the confrontation ended, everyone finally had the time to welcome Cheng Yumo and prepare a seat for her.
Even though the Gugu had taken a step back, everyone still had lingering fear, and no one dared to speak loudly. Cheng Yumo was left in the air for a long time, but everyone still treated her half-heartedly even after she was seated. She was secretly fuming.
The female official’s attack just now was aimed at Huo family. Cheng Yumo, as Huo family’s daughter-in-law, naturally felt awkward and uncomfortable.
Zheng Gugu lost her face in front of so many people. Holding such a grudge in her heart, she deliberately saved up her energy, waiting for the opportunity to retaliate. Zheng Gugu’s eyes suddenly focused. Realizing that Cheng Yujin had just made a mistake, she jumped out in a hurry: “Miss Cheng, your tea etiquette just now was wrong.”
As soon as the words fell, all voices disappeared, and the room fell into total silence. Cheng Yujin calmly asked: “Oh? Which part did I do wrong?”
“When Miss Cheng offered tea for Old Madam Cheng just now, you lacked etiquette and being disrespectful.”
Cheng Yujin just gave an “Oh,” nodded slowly, stepped aside, and gestured for Zheng Gugu to come forward: “Forgive me for being stupid, but I don’t know where I did wrong. Please show me an example.”
Zheng Gugu snorted disdainfully. Trying to use this trick to suppress her? This Eldest Miss Cheng truly underestimated a senior female official who specialized in teaching etiquette. Zheng Gugu came forward and took a teacup on the tray, then began to demonstrate the standard tea etiquette.
Another female official moved her lips, trying to stop her colleague. But Zheng Gugu was faster and had stepped forward before she could stop her. Seeing this, the female official quietly shook her head and sighed silently.
After Zheng Gugu finished her demonstration, she was very proud. She was sure that this time, Cheng Yujin had fallen into her hands. However, Cheng Yujin suddenly said, “Please stop. And do not let go of your hands.”
Zheng Gugu was taken aback; her posture subconsciously stiffened. When the reaction came to her, she was furious. Cheng Yujin dared! In the past, it was always her who ordered others to stop and then pointed their mistakes one by one. Now, a little girl like Cheng Yujin dared to do the same to her?
Zheng Gugu was very angry, but Cheng Yujin didn’t care. She looked around and sighed, as if she wanted to talk, but was hesitant to embarrass the other party.
A fire ignited in Zheng Gugu’s heart. She said tartly: “Miss Cheng, if you have something to say, just speak it. Why do you sigh?”
“Since Zheng Gugu has said so, then please excuse my rudeness.” Cheng Yujin pursed her lips slightly and then pointed her fingers at Zheng Gugu’s elbow, forearm, and back. She said: “When offering tea to the elders, one must step forward quickly and step back slowly. The eyes must be half-dropped, but the back must not arch. The neck must also be lowered but not folded. Gugu, your back just now was bent down, which is not conforming to the etiquette rules. Also, your movement when placing the teacup was wrong. Instead of raising your arm, you directly placed the teacup in front of the elder, which is extremely disrespectful.”
Zheng Gugu couldn’t believe it: “You are lecturing me in etiquette?”
“Yes.” Cheng Yujin smiled lightly and then turned to look at the three remaining female official. “Three Gugus, can you kindly tell us whether what I just said was correct or not?”
The other three were hesitant, but they finally said with a sigh: “Eldest Miss Cheng is correct.”
Zheng Gugu suddenly turned red all over. She always put on the aura of someone in charge of teaching etiquette and had used her authority to scold and beat many draft girls on the ground of ‘education.’ However, it was impossible for her to master every single etiquette by the book, so it was not strange that there were some aspects where she wasn’t perfect. Just now, it wasn’t that Cheng Yujin was wrong, but Zheng Gugu judged Cheng Yujin to be wrong by her own standards.
Zheng Gugu had lost a great amount of face. Even so, she was still someone who came from the palace, so she didn’t lose herself on the spot. After uttering an apology, she stepped aside and stood silently. Although she didn’t lose her final decency, she also didn’t dare to speak anymore.
Xu Nianchun was utterly amazed. So it turned out that there were so many rules just to offer a cup of tea! The girl didn’t know which was more terrifying: the imperial family and their extremely detailed rules, or Cheng Yujin’s inhuman ability.
Biao sister Jin actually pointed out the mistakes made by a palace Gugu! Xu Nianchun suddenly felt extremely fortunate. Fortunately, Cheng Yujin was only her biao sister, not a clan sister, let alone a sister from the same parents. If she was to face such a perfect sister day in and day out, she would be too stifled to even take a breath.
There were many others who had the same thoughts as Xu Nianchun. Everyone was amazed at Cheng Yujin and couldn’t help casting sympathetic glances at Cheng Yumo. Cheng Yumo lowered her eyes. Her face was cold and without expression, but her heart was raging tumultuously.
Everyone’s eyes at this moment seemed to be a repeat of her nightmare. She had been living under Cheng Yujin’s shadow for her whole previous life. This time, she had been born again, and everything obviously had changed. Why was it still like this?
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