Returning to the Prime Minister’s Mansion, when Song Ci got on the small carriage, she called out to Song Ruqi.
Song Ruqi was startled, thinking she might also be scolded like her cousin. She stood up straight for no reason, feeling very nervous.
"Qiqi, although you are a Prime Minister’s daughter, you are only the second daughter of the Song Minister’s Mansion. In the future, when you encounter Zhao Mingyao, remember she is the County Lord. She has a ranked title, and you do not, so she is superior to you," Song Ci said gently. "You are about to come of age soon, and your marriage can’t be delayed much longer. There’s no need to tarnish your reputation by disregarding seniority, speaking harshly, or confronting her. If she slaps you, you wouldn’t have any justification."
Song Ruqi felt a bit aggrieved and her eyes turned red.
"Remembering her status doesn’t mean you have to lower yourself, but be careful not to give others a handle over you, it’s not worth the loss."
"But you said, if someone bullies us, we should fight back. Isn’t this fighting back?" Song Ruqi couldn’t help but argue.
Song Ci blinked: "If you can’t beat them, then run. If the other party is stronger, why fight? Of course, you should run away. Why stay to suffer losses just to be stubborn?"
A double standard, indeed, from you. Changing your tune at every moment.
Seeing her angry and red-eyed like a rabbit, Song Ci could not help but pinch her cheek: "Don’t be upset, fight if you must, but use the right method."
Song Ci paused, pretending to be profound: "You guess. Today I’m tired, I’ll teach you the ways of the world another day, let’s go."
Without waiting for the young girl to respond, she tapped the tung oil-coated carriage, urging it to move quickly.
Song Ruqi looked bewildered at the fleeing grandmother, and only after the carriage was far away did she look at Nanny Gong and say, "Nanny Gong, grandmother, is she not fully well?"
This behavior seems strange, unlike the grandmother from before, and she even called me Qiqi?
Nanny Gong watched the departing carriage, her gaze flickering slightly: "Perhaps, the Old Madam has forgotten many things."
Song Ruqi felt a pang of panic in her heart.
Nanny Gong bent her knee slightly towards Song Ruqi, helping her into the carriage, and quickly followed Song Ci’s carriage.
Song Ruwei returned to the Plum Garden without a word, and the moment she got home, she plunged into Lu’s arms and cried aloud.
Lu was somewhat surprised and quickly asked, "What’s wrong? Didn’t you go shopping with your grandmother? Why are you crying upon return?"
"Mother, grandmother, grandmother must have been angry with me, sob." Song Ruwei was crying so hard she couldn’t catch her breath.
Startled, Lu urgently asked what had happened, but her daughter only kept crying, so she had to call in her daughter’s personal maid, Jade, to inquire.
Jade didn’t actually know what happened with the carriage; she just said what she knew and then Song Ruwei herself took out the hairpin and told Lu.
"Mother, do you think grandmother is already upset with me, blaming me for making her lose face?"
Lu held her arms: "Well, do you think your grandmother was right? Did you truly want that hairpin but pretended to be generous?"
Song Ruwei hesitated, a bit panicked: "I, I... the other party is a County Lord, I just didn’t want to offend her, but grandmother said I did it for a reputation."
"It’s right not to want to offend her, but you can’t embarrass your grandmother on the spot either. You could have sent it to the County Lord afterward. As it stands, neither here nor there, it’s you who ends up embarrassed," Lu chided.
Song Ruwei: "Then, was I wrong?"
Lu said: "You weren’t wrong, you just used the wrong method. In future scenarios , take it as a lesson, and don’t make yourself an outsider in and out. You need to think through things comprehensively."
Song Ruwei lowered her head. However, it seems that grandmother’s words also made some sense, she didn’t really want to yield for reputation’s sake, was it really okay to yield?