Chapter 242 Let's see how things go

The Prime Minister's wife's birthday banquet was very lively.

Almost all the noble families who could come from the capital came.

After all, in the entire capital, besides Empress Dowager Zheng, who else could be as fortunate as Lady Xu?

The eldest daughter was the Empress of Dayu, the second daughter was the Duchess of Qi, and the granddaughter was the Crown Princess.

As long as they don't do anything reckless, the Great Yu region won't change much, and the Xu family could potentially prosper for another fifty years.

Madam Xu greeted all the noble ladies who came to offer their birthday wishes with a smile.

The Xu residence was very large. Although it did not have a martial arts training ground like the Duke of Dingguo's residence, it had a plum garden in the backyard.

The plum blossoms in the plum garden are in full bloom right after the heavy snowfall.

Prime Minister Xu loved plum blossoms and built several pavilions in the plum garden to facilitate the appreciation of plum blossoms.

At this moment, although the plum trees in the plum garden are still covered with snow and the blooming plum blossoms are appearing and disappearing in the snow, the snow in the pavilions and the paths for appreciating plum blossoms has been cleared.

Large charcoal braziers were placed in several pavilions early on.

The finest silver charcoal has no smoky smell at all, and it warms the pavilion nicely.

As soon as everyone stepped into the plum garden with Madam Xu, the fragrance of plum blossoms immediately filled their nostrils.

Shangguan Jin glanced at it and had to admire how clever the people in Prime Minister Xu's residence were!

If this plum garden were in later generations, it would definitely be a popular tourist attraction.

After Shangguan Jin followed the others into the plum blossom pavilion and took her seat, Madam Xu glanced at Shangguan Jin and then at Shen Qingyue beside her.

"Princess Pingning, let my Roujia show you around!"

All the young ladies went.

You're young, and you have your own private things to say, so go out and have fun together.

"Whatever is missing, just ask someone to get it."

Shangguan Jin understood immediately.

With Shen Qingyue accompanying them, they were only able to exchange a few words with the Seventh Prince when they finally saw him.

If it were anyone else, the Seventh Prince probably wouldn't even glance at them and would just turn around and leave...

Shen Qingyue had already learned last night why she had come to the Prime Minister's residence today, and immediately stood up with a smile to agree.

Soon, Shen Qingyue left with Shen Qingyu, Xu Roujia (granddaughter of Prime Minister Xu), Qian Qingqing (granddaughter of Minister Qian), Huangfu Ruoxi (youngest daughter of Madam Huangfu), and other girls from other families.

Lady Huangfu was still unaware of what was going on.

When she received Madam Xu's invitation, she originally thought she shouldn't come herself and should have her eldest daughter-in-law come instead.

Who knew that a palace maid came to the Empress's office again and specifically said that Lady Xu had not seen Lady Huangfu for a long time and wanted to have a chat.

They also suggested that the Huangfu family's daughter should go out and see the world, instead of staying cooped up at home all day.

Lady Huangfu was speechless.

Will her daughter get bored?

Haha, Your Honor, her daughter is either at the martial arts training ground or the horse farm, she wishes she never had to go out!

However, Lady Huangfu could also guess it.

If someone asks you to bring your daughter along, it's probably because they're trying to play matchmaker.

"Madam Shangguan, do you think Madam Xu is holding this banquet to find a husband for her granddaughter?"

Lady Huangfu asked Lady Shangguan, who was sitting to the side.

Madam Shangguan nodded, "Of course!"

Therefore, after speaking with Shangguan Jin once, she resolutely refused to bring her granddaughter and grandson out.

The old man said that the Shangguan family would arrange their own marriages and that no one else needed to worry about it...

"No matter what happens, in the end you'll have to agree, right?"

"Let others do whatever they want!" said Madam Shangguan.

Lady Huangfu nodded. That's right, that makes sense. She wasn't even afraid of arranged marriages in the palace, so why would she be afraid of these things?

Although there's no such thing as a perfect banquet, these plum blossoms are indeed quite beautiful.

Lady Huangfu was already thinking about whether she should plant some plum blossoms in her own residence.

But then I thought about the people in the manor...

Lady Huangfu quickly dismissed the idea.

I reckon the plum blossoms won't even have a chance to grow properly before the youngest daughter whips them all down to nothing...

Shangguan Jin had something on her mind. Seeing that Madam Huangfu seemed completely unaware, she decided to give Madam Huangfu a heads-up.

Marriage is about forging a bond of friendship, not about becoming mortal enemies.

Let's hope that instead of becoming relatives, we end up never seeing each other again.

“Madam Huangfu, that wintersweet tree over there is quite nice. Shall we go take a look?” Shangguan Jin suggested.

Upon hearing this, Madam Huangfu knew that Shangguan Jin had something to say, and she quickly got up as well.

Two maids followed behind the two, keeping a distance and not daring to get too close.

"Have you heard some news?" Madam Huangfu asked as she walked.

Shangguan Jin nodded, first looking at the blooming wintersweet, and then leaning her head closer to Madam Huangfu's.

"What are your plans, Miss Ruoxi?"

When Lady Huangfu heard Shangguan Jin mention her youngest daughter, she immediately sighed.

"We don't know yet!"

As you know, our household is being watched by many families.

In addition, Ruoxi is a lively girl who is more interested in swords and spears than in music, chess, calligraphy and painting. There really isn't anyone in the capital who is suitable for her.

I was even planning to tell our Marquis.

Look among the generals at the border; if there's a suitable one, marry a military officer!

Although I don't want my daughter to be like me, constantly worrying about the Marquis in the north.

But these families in the capital really aren't suitable for our Ruoxi.

Shangguan Jin could understand.

Just like how she is now worried about Shen Qingyue's marriage.

After going through everyone in the capital, there really wasn't a suitable one.

"Why are you asking me this so casually? What? Did someone deliver this message to you?" Madam Huangfu asked with a smile.

Shangguan Jin nodded, then whispered to Madam Huangfu, "The imperial family wants to arrange a marriage for the Seventh Prince."

Lady Huangfu...

"Madam Shen, as you know, our Marquis has said that no woman from the Huangfu family will marry into the palace," Madam Huangfu hurriedly said.

Shangguan Jin quickly gestured for Madam Huangfu to lower her voice.

"The imperial family is also considering it now."

He wasn't just considering Ruoxi from your family, but also...

"Your daughter, Yao'er?" Madam Huangfu asked softly.

Upon hearing this, Shangguan Jin immediately denied it.

"How could that be? They're cousins."

"So what if she's a cousin? Isn't the Crown Princess also the Crown Prince's cousin?" Madam Huangfu didn't understand why Shangguan Jin was reacting so strongly.

Shangguan Jin...

She forgot that this was an era where the rule against marriage between close relatives didn't apply...

“It’s not suitable. The imperial family didn’t consider our Yue’er. Yue’er is a bit too much older than the Seventh Prince.” Shangguan Jin gave another reason.

Lady Huangfu thought about it and realized she was right; the Seventh Prince was still young, but Yue'er was quite old...

"Then who else?" Lady Huangfu asked curiously.

"The Empress's niece is Xu Roujia, the one who took Yaojie and the others to play."

Qian Qingqing, from the family of the Minister of Rites.

When Madam Huangfu heard that it was one of these two families, she immediately breathed a sigh of relief.

"Then I won't worry. Don't worry, our Ruoxi is definitely not as good as those two."

Look at the granddaughter of Prime Minister Xu. She is so young, yet she is already so adept at social interaction and has such a charming personality. She is practically a carbon copy of Empress Xu.

Then there's the woman from Minister Qian's family, who is proficient in all the arts, including music, chess, calligraphy, and painting, and is known as the number one female scholar in the capital.

What can our Ruoxi do?

Are you going to pull a surprise attack on us?

The Seventh Prince wouldn't approve of it.

Seeing Madam Huangfu's confident demeanor, Shangguan Jin thought that nothing is absolute, and what if the Seventh Prince had a taste for this?