On December 15th, the Plum Blossom Banquet was held at the Princess's residence.

When the time came, the women from each family arrived one after another.

The horse garden at the princess's residence, where carriages were parked, suddenly became bustling with activity. Various fine carriages and horses filled the air, and noble ladies and young women swayed gracefully, their hairpins and ornaments jingling as they chatted and laughed as they went off together.

The carriage of the Marquis of Dingguo's residence came to a stop.

The maid jumped down, placed a small stool under the carriage, and helped Madam Chen out of the carriage first.

Next were Ye Caiping, Jin'er, Huan'er, and Shen Manman.

As soon as the four of them disembarked from the carriage, several familiar noblewomen came forward to greet them and together they headed to the garden where the banquet was being held.

As soon as they entered the second gate, they heard a laugh: "It's the Lady of Dingguo and Lady Ye."

Then, Mei came over with a woman and two girls who looked about eight or nine years old.

Madam Shen nodded slightly and continued walking forward.

Madam Mei quickly followed and looked at Ye Caiping: "Mrs. Ye, I forgot to tell you when I placed the order at your residence the day before yesterday that my family doesn't have five sets of glass beaded curtains, but six sets."

Ye Caiping disliked Madam Mei and replied indifferently, "It's nothing, I'll remember it."

Madam Mei smiled broadly, appearing friendly with Ye Caiping: "Oh, I forgot to introduce you. This is my sister-in-law from my maternal family, her husband's surname is Que. This is my daughter Gu Yao, and this is my niece Que Shan."

Ye Caiping was so annoyed that she finally coughed and said, "Madam Gu, do you know what you're saying? Aren't you surnamed Mei? How come your maiden name is Que?"

Upon hearing this, a playful glint flashed in Madam Shen's eyes. The surrounding women fell silent for a moment, several of them covering their mouths and giggling softly.

Mei's face froze.

Shen Manman chuckled, "I'm sorry, my aunt is new here and doesn't know many things. Madam Gu is the same; she didn't explain things clearly, which really caused misunderstandings."

Madam Mei looked embarrassed and laughed, "Yes, yes, I didn't explain clearly. My surname is Mei... The Que family is my adopted family. I grew up in the Que family, so the Que family is my maternal family."

Ye Caiping looked as if she had just realized something: "I see."

Because of this, Madam Mei couldn't stick to the higher-ups anymore, and quickened her pace.

Ye Caiping and the others walked slowly, falling behind by a step. A lady whispered to Ye Caiping the instructions:

"This Madam Gu was actually born a maid... The claim that she grew up in the Que family is just that she was a maid in the Que family."

"After Miss Que married, Miss Que passed away. She was lucky enough to take her place as the second wife and then became the adopted sister of the Que family."

"Miss Que's son... well, I don't know what happened... he was suddenly kicked out of the house."

There was a hint of disdain in his words.

The meaning is clear: Madam Mei cannot tolerate the son born to her daughter.

Mei, who was in front, heard this, but her face remained smiling, showing her inner strength.

Madam Na Que turned around to defend Madam Mei: "Madam Liao, please don't talk nonsense. I know you and Xin Yan are close, but you can't wrong an innocent person."

Madam Liao was a close friend of the deceased Que Xinyan, so she had always been at odds with Madam Mei.

Madam Que said, "Gu Han's matter has been investigated very clearly. He was just mistaken. He was in a hurry to inherit the title, so he poisoned his brother-in-law."

"How could we, as uncles and aunts, wrong our own nephew?"

As she spoke, Madam Que cautiously looked at Madam Shen and Ye Caiping: "Madam of Dingguo, Lady Ye, don't you agree?"

Madam Shen's expression turned slightly cold, and she remained silent.

Her maidservant stepped forward with a stern face: "Madam Que, we are about to see the princess. It's best not to talk about such things, lest we offend the princess's ears."

Madam Que's face stiffened slightly.

Regardless of who is right or wrong, one should not speak such sordid things in front of important people.

Saying that she had offended the princess's ears was actually a way of telling her not to offend the ears of Lady Dingguo and Ye Caiping.

Although both the Dingguo Marquis's Mansion and the Ningguo Marquis's Mansion are marquis's mansions, the latter is the emperor's brother-in-law, which is incomparable to others.

Madam Shen, holding a plum blossom hand warmer, glanced indifferently at Madam Que and asked, "What does your husband do?"

Madam Que's expression tightened: "My husband is an Assistant Minister of the Ministry of Works."

Madam Shen raised an eyebrow: "I remember that the seasonal flower banquet is only for the wives of officials of the fourth rank and above."

Madam Que's face instantly turned awkward. Since Old Master Que passed away more than ten years ago, the Que family has been declining day by day.

The current head of the family, Que De, only holds the title of Juren (a degree in the imperial examination system) and was able to enter the court as an official only because of the old man's influence.

After all these years, he hasn't made any progress and is still just a lowly sixth-rank official.

Mei blushed and stepped forward: "Oh... Sister-in-law, you came with me..."

It means I came here by freeloading off her.

It's nothing new for those of lower rank to freeload at banquets attended by those of higher rank; everyone tacitly approves of it.

But it's always a little embarrassing to say it out loud.

Madam Mei secretly resented the Que family for bringing her shame, but if she lost even her maternal family, she would truly be nothing more than a rootless maid.

Madam Shen ignored her and continued walking forward while turning to chat with Ye Caiping.

As Mei watched the Shen family members being escorted away, she felt a surge of humiliation.

She used to be a lowly maid, and she thought it would be great if she could become a first-class maid.

Once she became a first-class maid, she started wishing she could become a young lady or even a mistress...

She climbed the ranks step by step until she became the wife of a marquis, the principal wife of a third-rank military officer.

This scenery is both infinitely beautiful and finite!

In this circle, they can only be considered third-rate.

When will she be able to integrate into the Shen family's circle?

Thinking about it, she quickened her pace, a smile on her face. But as soon as she reached Ye Caiping's back, she was blocked by the maidservant next to Madam Shen, who glared at her.

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