"Madam, what are you going to wear on the 15th? I'm afraid that the laurel green skirt with a full chest and brocade pattern that we had thought of before is not wearable." Minghui said.

Indeed, wearing a green dress and a jade headpiece would be all green, which is not quite appropriate.

Minghui added: "Madam originally wanted to wear something simple, but now that the princess has gifted you with such a gorgeous head, you should choose a bright dress to match." As she said that, she went to open the closet and asked Fen Ge and Bai Zhu to help hang out the clothes of the season.

Zheng Xiu was also in a dilemma, not knowing what to wear. She always dressed like that, and suddenly she was asked to change her style, and she had no idea for a while.

Fen Ge suggested, "Madam, wear this blue satin flowered half-sleeve with a five-color brocade plate and gold embroidered silk skirt. What do you think?"

The half-sleeve was very plain and elegant, but the skirt was very eye-catching. Zheng Xiu had always thought that the skirt was too bright and had never worn it. Wearing it like this, it was not particularly eye-catching.

Zheng Xiu nodded, "Then wear it like this." A slight change of style would not disappoint the headgear that Guihe Princess had given her.

When Xue Zhi came back, three maids were ironing clothes with an iron filled with hot water.

After Zheng Xiu welcomed him in, he looked at the selected clothes with interest and said with a smile: "Ah Xiu, is this the dress you are going to wear for my sister-in-law's birthday? It turns out that your closet contains more than just a few plain and simple colors." The five-color brocade plate and gold-embroidered silk skirt was actually bought by him through someone else, but after not seeing Zheng Xiu wearing it for a long time, he gradually forgot about it.

Zheng Xiu opened the brocade box on the table and showed it to him, saying, "The princess gave me a headdress, but I thought it might not match my plain clothes, so I asked Minghui and the others to choose another one for me."

Xue Zhi also praised, "What my sister-in-law gave me is really a good thing. This headdress looks very new, so it must have not been worn much. It will look good on you."

Zheng Xiu pursed her lips and smiled, "It's an old jade headdress. I was afraid that I was too young to look good in it, but you said it would look good.

You are really sweet." Xue Zhi chuckled and thought to himself, you will know if you are sweet after you try it. But thinking that the maid was present, Zheng Xiu was too shy to say it out loud, so she would be upset, so she just kept it to herself.

On April 15th, the mansion of Duke Qing was crowded with guests and the noise was bustling.

Xue Zhi and Xue Qin were entertaining guests in the front yard with their children, while Princess Guihe and Zheng Xiu were receiving female guests in the back yard.

Princess Guihe did not want to be seen with a disability, so she simply went out in a wheelchair. However, the wheelchair was no longer the mahogany one that Zheng Xiu had asked the carpenter in the mansion to make. Instead, it was carved from golden nanmu with intricate patterns. Even the handles on the back of the chair were shaped like phoenixes.

Zheng Xiu got up before dawn to dress and report to Changfeng Garden first. After Princess Guihe had finished packing, they went to the flower hall for reception.

The flower hall was divided into three rooms. The middle one was the most spacious and was used to entertain female guests. The other two were used for banquets.

The floor was covered with a thin carpet with auspicious patterns from Persia. The tables and chairs in the whole room were made of huanghuali wood. The decorations on the tables were all made in the palace, including blue and white porcelain vases, Tang Sancai sculptures, and red gold incense burners. Zheng Xiu heard that these things were all from the Ministry of Internal Affairs, and after the birthday banquet, they would be returned to Princess Guihe's private storehouse. Every year, apart from other things, these tables and chairs alone are worth a lot of money.

Princess Guihe couldn't be without someone around her, but the old nanny caught a cold and was bedridden two days ago. Zheng Xiu stood behind Princess Guihe spontaneously to fill the old nanny's vacancy.

Soon, the female guests came into the flower hall one after another. They first congratulated Princess Guihe and then presented their gift lists.

Zheng Xiu helped to receive the gifts and put them in her purse.

An hour later, almost all the female guests on the list had arrived and sat in the room to chat over tea.

Princess Guihe turned around and saw Zheng Xiu, whose face was stiff from smiling.

"Okay, stop standing and stop smiling. It's annoying to look at you." Princess Guihe pursed her lips and said, "Find a place to sit."

Zheng Xiu responded, turned around, moved her cheekbones, and sat down next to Princess Guihe.

Princess Guihe really didn't know what to say to her. With such a great opportunity, anyone who knew how to handle things would have gone to get close to the ladies of various families. How could Zheng Xiu be so stupid and even sit next to her? They saw each other every day, and they still couldn't get enough of each other!

She glared at Zheng Xiu with hatred and said, "Sit farther away. There are too many people and I can't breathe."

Although everyone in the room was talking loudly, they were all used to multitasking. Seeing Princess Guihe's expression and hearing what she said, many people began to make calculations in their hearts - the rumors outside that Princess Guihe and Madam Xue were not on good terms, seemed to be true?

Zheng Xiu responded awkwardly, stood up and found an empty seat to sit down.

Princess Guihe drove her away, then turned around and told another maid, Taozhi, "Go and follow the second wife." Zheng Xiu didn't know anyone in the upper circles of the capital, and Minghui, who followed her, had never seen any big scenes, so she was afraid that she would make a fool of herself. Taozhi

responded and followed.

Although Zheng Xiu didn't have many acquaintances in the capital, Xue Zhi had been in this circle since he was a child, and he also had many friends. Naturally, some people couldn't bear to see her alone.

For example, the Prince of Xin and the Prince of Nanrong had played with Xue Zhi since they were young. If it weren't for the generation difference between the Prince of Xin and the Prince of Nanrong, the three of them might have become sworn brothers when they were young.

The Xin Wang's Crown Prince's Consort and the Nanrong County Princess were sitting together and talking, and soon they asked their personal maid to pass a message to Zheng Xiu, asking her to sit with them.

In fact, there is a saying about the order in which the people in the room should sit. The royal family, the nobles, and the pure stream all form their own factions.

Zheng Xiu didn't know the two of them, she only knew that Xue Zhi told her the night before that she could hang out with the Xin Wang's Crown Prince's Consort and the Nanrong County Princess. Both of them were of higher status than her, so it made sense to let the maid come over to pass the message, so she smiled and agreed, and moved over to join them.

Taozhi just whispered in Zheng Xiu's ear the identities of the two people - "The one wearing a long skirt with flying birds and flowers is the Xin Wang's Crown Prince's Consort, and the one wearing a blue and rosy silk dress with ancient smoke patterns is the Nanrong County Princess."

The Xin Prince's wife had just given birth, and her breasts were plump and smooth, looking very amiable.

The Nanrong County Prince's wife had a pretty face, smiled first, and looked approachable.

Both of them looked to be in their mid-twenties, much older than Zheng Xiu. Zheng Xiu bowed to them and greeted them.

The Xin Prince's wife smiled and said, "Sister Zheng, please don't be so polite. It's embarrassing for me and your sister Li." The

Nanrong County Prince's wife and the Xin Prince's wife were close friends before they got married, and they married two men who were very close to each other. They had been together a lot over the years and were as close as sisters.

The Princess of Nanrong County glanced at the Princess of Xin with a reproachful look, "We were supposed to go and invite Sister Zheng over in person, but you were too lazy to move. Sister Zheng thought we cared about those people who were just being polite."

The Princess of Xin stood up and cordially took Zheng Xiu to sit down beside her.

When she stood up, Zheng Xiu realized that one of the Princess of Xin's feet was not right, and she walked with a limp. She didn't dare to look at her any more, and quickly looked away and sat down.

"Sister Zheng looks really young." Princess Nanrong said with envy, "Look at her smooth and tight face, I really want to kiss her."

She said so directly that Zheng Xiu blushed immediately and said, "Princess, you are too kind. You are also in your prime now. I should envy you."

Princess Nanrong laughed, "Sister Zheng is not only beautiful, but also sweet. General Xue is so lucky."

Princess Xin also laughed and said, "Okay, Sister Zheng has finished praising her, please praise me too."