An ugly girl starts off, then becomes a beauty

Although Sang Ling, the eldest daughter of the Sang family, was ill and did not attend the full-moon banquet for the eldest son, she still performed the necessary etiquette and sent two boxes of gold and silver items and jewellery over.

She had bought all this by cutting down on her own savings. Although she still had some spare money now, as a marquis's wife, with the dowry given by the Sang family, the monthly allowance of the marquis's mansion, and the silks, satins, gold, silver, pearls and jades that were delivered to her from the treasury every half month, she was not too poor - but it also depended on who the gift was for.

If it's someone she doesn't like, she'll have to think carefully before giving anything to him or her, and decide whether the other person is worth it.

Take Ma for example. If she gave something a little more valuable as a gift, she would grumble in her heart.

In the end, it was Zong Xiang and Wei Chu who went to buy the things, and even Cheng Ao was not willing to do this job.

Two days later, the Sang family sent another two boxes, and the person who brought them said that they were thank-you gifts from Madam Ma and Madam Hou.

There were also a number of precious items inside: two ivory jade earrings, two agate inlaid with gold necklaces, four pairs of bloodstone bracelets, six pairs of gold armlets, twelve gold-inlaid silver animal-shaped belt hooks and two jade cups with vermilion birds holding rings, and two pieces of brocade with Ganoderma lucidum bird patterns underneath.

Although the current dynasty is peaceful and prosperous, compared with the industrialized and informationized era, the current productivity is still relatively low. Even a person of the status of the Grand Marshal of the Sang family is so generous in giving a thank-you gift - Ma is probably comparing it with the gift she gave last time.

She was too lazy to ask Zong Xiang and Wei Chu what was inside the things they sent over last time.

After checking that there was nothing unusual in the items, he took the box and went to Jingyuan.

No matter how valuable it is, it is essentially just some flashy and useless things. Instead of keeping it around to get in the way, it is better to give it to Zhang, and at the same time regard it as a return gift for the melon she gave me that time.

Coincidentally, Fourth Uncle was also at home today. When Zhang brought Sang Ling in, she also greeted Fourth Uncle in the front hall.

It is hard to tell the temperament of these uncles of the Nie family. The second uncle is a little more serious, but that's all. As the chief secretary of the Prime Minister's Mansion, he is the busiest person in the mansion except Nie Ce, and Sang Ling seldom sees him. The third uncle is kind and cheerful. Whenever he appears in front of people, he always has a smile on his face. The fourth uncle is also gentle, but he is in poor health and can be heard coughing from time to time. Sometimes he even coughs so much that he has to go out to avoid people.

Before, Cheng had asked Fang about this matter. She said that Silangzhu was healthy in his early years, but he started to decline in recent years. The doctors in the palace could not figure out the reason. The year before last, they invited the imperial physician to see him four or five times. He only said that he had spleen deficiency, fatigue, lung heat, and prescribed medicine, but he also needed to rest. Therefore, he was not in charge of the affairs of the fields and villages in the East Palace later. Madam Zhaoyu took a large part of it to look after the accounts. However, Silangzhu was a strong-willed person. Even though he had not recovered in the past two years, he still went to the fields and villages from time to time to check and hang out with the owners and tenants of the manor. He did not completely abandon this matter.

When Sang Ling and Zhang were talking in the back room, they could hear coughing outside from time to time. After a while, the sickly fourth uncle went out again. Zhang was still talking about it angrily.

"He is always busy. Even if I tell him to stop caring about it, he is still a busy man."

"I'm afraid people will say I'm eating for free in the mansion."

"Actually, in a family like ours, why would we care about these things? I am speaking to you from the heart. Your fourth uncle was raised by your great grandfather since he was a child. Even if he is not his biological son, there is still some friendship between them. He has been working diligently for the family over the years, and his brothers also love him. Tell me, why does he always worry about these things?"

If you are a strong-willed person, you cannot allow yourself to have everything handed to you without doing anything. Some self-respect is never a bad thing. However, Sang Ling would not refute Zhang's words. He just responded with a smile and then asked someone to bring up Ma's return gift for Zhang to choose.

Then there was another round of false flattery.

Zhang was of course happy, and she even wanted to keep Sang Ling to have dinner together in Jingyuan, so she had no choice but to take out Nie Ce again to refuse.

*

With the arrival of autumn, Chang'an became completely cool for a while. It rained for several days at the end of the month, washing away the gloomy atmosphere in the mansion that had been dull for a whole summer. In the evening, Sang Ling sat in the corridor and looked at the rain that had just ended.

Water droplets fell along the eaves, gathered on the camphor leaves, and fell onto the stone floor in front of the house with a plop. Servants came and went in the corridor in the courtyard in groups of three or two, wiping the mud splashed on the corridor. The wind fled into the hall with a refreshing coolness. I saw someone running towards me from the gate, but I didn't recognize him.

"Madam, please pack up. The Marquis is waiting for you at the gate."

"What?" She didn't stand up, but Cheng Lao, who was lighting incense in the house, came over and waited for him to continue.

"The Marquis said he was going out to play."

Sang Ling got up immediately and walked into the house while telling Cheng, "Hurry, hurry, help me change my clothes."

The last part of the voice was still lingering in the room, and Ying Bushi popped out half of his head again, "The Marquis said that he wanted you to dress the same way you did when you entered the palace last time."

The attire she wore when entering the palace, the heavy makeup? How could she get it done? Could she go to Yunyue Pavilion to ask Madam Zhaoyu for someone? She paused, then knelt down in front of the dressing table, brushed aside the rouge and powder on top, and carefully identified each one - since Nie Ce kept his word and was willing to take her out to play, then he was the boss, and she would do whatever he asked, as long as it was not too excessive.

Sang Ling was not incapable of makeup before. Before coming here, she had some experience. She could easily apply heavy makeup, light makeup, and internet celebrity makeup. She had studied fine arts for a few years before college, so her hands were steady. As for coming here, she was busy losing weight and surviving in the first two years, and had to plan for the future step by step, so she had no time to explore these things. Besides, at that time, there was a beautiful woman around her who loved to think about these things. Moreover, the cosmetics of this era were not the same as those of her time. It would take time and effort to study them all over again. If she had completely free time, she might be interested in thinking about these things, but she was overwhelmed by the things in the deep house.

After all this, she was really too lazy to spend time on these things.

Aunt Cheng also called Zong Xiang and Wei Chu over to help the young lady with the dressing table.