Since Huangfu Yue's sisters-in-law, Zhu Jiayi and the others, were all pampered individuals who had never traveled far, they couldn't walk quickly, each moving at a leisurely pace.
Xu Yuqing was particularly delicate, crying out for a rest after every short distance. By noon, Huangfu Yue and her party had only covered twenty li.
"Yue'er, I really can't walk anymore. It's noon, let's stop for lunch. Quickly get a chair out for me to sit on... no, get a couch for me to lie down on and rest!"
Xu Yuqing had long wanted to stop. Seeing the sun directly overhead, signaling it was already noon, she refused to go any further. She stopped, turned, and called out to her younger sister-in-law who was driving the carriage.
Before Huangfu Yue could respond, Xu Yuqing looked at the maids supporting her, "I'm so tired, my feet hurt so badly. Hurry and massage them for me."
"Yes." The two maids supporting Xu Yuqing quickly squatted down to massage her feet.
"Massage my feet too, my feet hurt terribly," Zhong Liangshu also instructed her maids.
Zhong Liangshu's maids immediately complied, just like Xu Yuqing's, squatting to massage her feet.
"Eldest Young Mistress, would you like me to massage your feet?" Zhu Jiayi's maid asked Zhu Jiayi.
Zhu Jiayi nodded. Her feet were also hurting badly. She had never walked such a long distance before. Even though she had been resting along the way, her feet still couldn't handle such a journey.
Huangfu Yue looked at her sisters-in-law and shook her head inwardly. They were too dramatic, truly lacking in exercise. It wasn't as if they had walked twenty li without a single rest.
Even if they had walked twenty li in one go without stopping, they wouldn't be like this.
They were truly a group of "ladies of leisure"!
Leading this group of slow-moving "ladies of leisure," she wondered when they would ever reach Lingping.
Their progress was truly too slow. They had walked all morning and only covered twenty li, which was ten kilometers. Normally, anyone healthy and without pain could easily walk twenty-five kilometers, or fifty li, in a morning.
Huangfu Yue sighed softly inwardly, jumped off the horse-drawn carriage, went to the side of the road to survey the area, picked a spot, and took a long couch and chairs from her spatial storage for the royal household to rest.
Seeing only one long couch, which was the purple sandalwood and white jade couch that Consort Dowager Zheng had previously sat on, Xu Yuqing knew Consort Dowager Zheng would surely occupy it. Feeling it inappropriate to sit there, she frowned.
"Yue'er, why is there only one long couch? This couch belongs to Grandmother, where is mine?" Xu Yuqing immediately asked Huangfu Yue.
"I only have this one long couch in my Qiankun Bag, no other couches. You can sit on a chair," Huangfu Yue replied.
"But I want to lie down and rest," Xu Yuqing cried.
"But there's only this one long couch, no extra ones. You'll have to make do," Huangfu Yue said, barely suppressing the urge to roll her eyes, forcing herself to be patient.
"But..." Xu Yuqing pouted, unwilling to make do. She wanted Huangfu Yue to find a way to satisfy her. However, after uttering just two words, she was interrupted by Consort Dowager Zheng.
"Enough! Yuqing, don't trouble Yue'er. You'll have to make do." Consort Dowager Zheng's voice rang out from inside the carriage, a gentle reprimand.
Xu Yuqing put on a wronged expression, pouted, but fearing Consort Dowager Zheng's authority, dared not say anything more. She could only huff and puff and find a chair to sit and rest. The maid serving her quickly followed and squatted down to massage her feet again.
Zhong Liangshu and Zhu Jiayi also quickly found chairs to sit down, and their maids followed them, continuing to massage their feet.
"Grandmother, let me help you down from the carriage to rest on the couch and stretch your muscles. You must be bored staying in the carriage, and you'd like to stretch, wouldn't you?"
Huangfu Yue returned to the front of the carriage and extended her hand towards Consort Dowager Zheng inside.
Consort Dowager Zheng smiled, her lips curling up, and rose to take her granddaughter's hand. With her granddaughter's support, she alighted from the carriage.
The maids and the elderly servant attending Consort Dowager Zheng saw her get out of the carriage and immediately stepped forward to help her to the couch to rest. Huangfu Yue then extended her hand to Yang Wanqian.
"Fourth Sister-in-law, let me help you down."
Yang Wanqian looked at the hand extended towards her. It was a rare and beautiful hand, exquisitely delicate and flawless in every aspect, so beautiful that even women couldn't help but be captivated. Yet, this very hand had easily killed more than a dozen people.
Thinking that the hand before her had killed many people, Yang Wanqian became fearful. After hesitating for almost a minute, she shyly extended her hand to grasp her sister-in-law's hand and alighted from the carriage with her help.
Actually, she didn't want to touch her sister-in-law's hand that had killed people. She had wanted a maid to help her down, but she was afraid doing so would anger her sister-in-law and reveal her fear of her.
Huangfu Yue saw the change in her fourth sister-in-law's expression and knew what she was thinking, feeling a bit helpless.
After helping Yang Wanqian down from the carriage, Huangfu Yue looked at her nephews and nieces who had long been impatient to get off the carriage and were all standing. She smiled and waved at them.
"Come, let me carry you down."