Chapter 235 Birthday Banquet

On the day of her birthday banquet, Yu Qingci woke up early and let Tong'er and Lianqiao help her with her makeup.

Today she wore a lake-blue brocade dress with gold-embroidered lotus patterns, over which she wore a light gauze jacket of the same color. Her hair was styled in a high bun, adorned with a red-gold and kingfisher feather phoenix hairpin, and she wore warm and lustrous white mutton fat jade earrings. Her whole appearance was elegant and refined, yet dignified and noble.

Lu Yunqi walked in, dressed in a brand-new dark brocade robe, his posture upright and his bearing imposing. His eyes lit up upon seeing his young wife, and he stepped forward.

Yu Qingci turned around and smiled gently at him: "Husband, how is this outfit?"

Lu Yunqi's eyes never left his young wife, and he blurted out:

"nice!"

His blank stare made Tong'er and Lianqiao burst into laughter.

Yu Qingci blushed and gave him a reproachful look.

Lu Yunqi took in his wife's charming and innocent appearance. As a military man, he was used to speaking and acting directly, saying whatever came to mind without thinking that there was anything wrong with what he said.

Seeing the maids covering their mouths and giggling, he didn't feel embarrassed at all. Instead, he stepped forward and moved the phoenix hairpin that his wife had in her hair, and put it back in place.

"It looks better this way."

Yu Qingci: ...

Granny Pei came in from outside and said, "General, Madam, this old servant just went out to take a look around. All the staff in all places have been arranged. The tea, snacks, fruits, and candied fruit for the guests in the front hall have all been prepared. The maids and servants who are leading the way have also been assigned their duties. The opera troupe that we invited is already waiting in the West Flower Hall and can start at any time."

Yu Qingci nodded: "Thank you for your hard work, Granny. There are many things to do today. Please bring a few more people with you to help with the errands, so you don't get too tired."

Granny Pei smiled and nodded: "Don't worry, Madam, this old servant is in good health and can handle this situation."

Just then, someone came to report that guests had arrived in the front yard. Lu Yunqi gave them a few instructions and then went out.

Today, Lu Yunqi was in charge of entertaining the male guests, so Yu Qingci only needed to stay in the inner courtyard to greet the female guests. After her husband went out, she would examine her reflection in the mirror for a moment to make sure there was nothing wrong before leading Granny Pei and the others out to get busy.

Several groups of women had already arrived and were greeted by maids and servants at Songbai Hall. Upon entering the courtyard, one could hear bursts of laughter and conversation emanating from within.

Most of those who arrived early were Lu Yunqi's colleagues and subordinates, female relatives of military families, and female relatives from various clans. Madam Ma was naturally among them; she arrived very early this morning.

Surprisingly, even the Wei family, who hadn't been seen for a long time, came.

In fact, not only did Madam Wei come today, but the Second Master also brought his two sons, Lu Yunzhang and Lu Yunbo, to the male guests in the front courtyard.

Ever since Wei's attempt to arrange Yun Chu's marriage failed and she was severely punished by Yu Qingci, losing all face, she has been hiding at home and has not dared to leave the house.

Who would have thought that while she was hiding at home, disaster would strike out of nowhere? Rumors suddenly spread that she was having an affair with a stranger, and the man even took out her undergarment in public, which immediately confirmed the credibility of the rumors.

Even though she guessed that this was the General's Mansion's blatant retaliation against her, she was powerless to fight back and could only continue to hide at home like a coward.

That old bastard, the Second Master, how could he let her off the hook after she was forced to wear a green hat? He took his anger out on her almost every day, and Madam Wei was filled with remorse.

Upon reflection, the second branch of the family had never had a smooth life since they separated from the main branch. The trouble caused by the second son, Yunbo, resulted in them being swindled out of five thousand taels of silver, and most of the family's assets were lost in an instant.

The family doesn't have much property left, and the few shops they have are barely surviving and unable to make ends meet, not to mention the group of relatives from the mother's side who are clinging to them and sucking their blood.

The eldest son, Yun Zhang, wanted to dismiss her brothers and nephews from her maternal family and take back the shop to run it herself. Unfortunately, her family members were all stubborn and unruly. As soon as they heard that Yun Zhang wanted to kick them out of the shop, they immediately turned hostile and started making a scene, pointing their fingers at Yun Zhang and accusing him of disrespecting his elders and not even tolerating his own uncle. Anyone who didn't know better would think that the shop belonged to her maternal family.

After several such incidents, Yunzhang got annoyed and simply gave up and stopped managing the shop.

Without the chores outside, Yun Zhang can only stay at home all day with nothing to do, spending his days with his maid Ling'er.

The daughter-in-law, Yue, was a person who couldn't tolerate others. Seeing her husband spending all his time with the maid Ling'er, she couldn't stand it and started to cause trouble, constantly battling with Ling'er.

Ling'er is quite formidable. Now that she has someone backing her up, she's even more fearless and simply keeps causing chaos and disorder in the house all day long.

Since that incident, the second son, Yunbo, has lost all interest in venturing out. He spends his days either lying in bed sleeping or drinking himself into a stupor. His daughter-in-law, Ye, is as silent as a gourd.

In short, life is absolutely terrible.

Who would have thought that Yunqi, the nephew who had been dead for so long, would actually return and make great contributions to the court, successfully inheriting the position of General Ningyuan, and the General's Mansion would return to its former glory.

The second branch of the family now wishes they could go back a few months. They would have gone to great lengths to curry favor with their sister-in-law and niece-in-law, and would never have agreed to the division of the family property.

With this in mind, the whole family got together and decided to visit the eldest sister-in-law's birthday banquet today.

We offended the main wife's family badly before, so it wouldn't be right to kick them out on this joyous occasion, would it?

So when the second family arrived with smiles on their faces, Butler Lu, who was in charge of greeting guests at the door, was instructed by Lu Yunqi to turn a blind eye and let them in.

At this moment, Wei Shi sat stiffly in the crowd, enduring the various stares from the women around her. Their undisguised contempt and schadenfreude made her wish she could disappear into nowhere.

Some women who knew her even joked about her affair with the blacksmith, making her so embarrassed she wanted to disappear into the ground.

Having finally gained entry to the General's mansion, she was met with a group of women behaving like monkeys, constantly provoking and mocking her. She dared not confront them, and could only repeatedly mutter her defenses:

That's not true; someone is deliberately spreading rumors about her.

Ma sat not far from Wei, eating snacks and watching her second sister-in-law's antics with great pleasure.

Serves her right. She's always causing trouble and has almost offended the whole family. Yet she still has the nerve to come over for a banquet. Who gave her that kind of face?

And that scandalous affair that happened a while ago... tsk tsk tsk, if it were her, she would never have the audacity to show her face here today.

Madam Ma had forgotten that compared to Madam Wei, her past actions were no less egregious.