Chapter 156 I Didn't Even Know There Was a Banquet
After the morning court session ended, Ji Yingying approached Lord Gongsun and chatted with him with a smile.
"Oh, by the way, my friend's maid has gone missing. They said the last place she was seen was... at this address. Do you want to go check it out?"
Ji Yingying originally just wanted to give it a try, but Lord Gongsun agreed without saying a word.
Wow, that's really unexpected.
"Okay, then go and see if anything is wrong, especially under the bed, or under the bed, look everywhere."
Lord Gongsun agreed, adding, "I've dug up all the land for you, how about that?"
"That's more like it." Ji Yingying breathed a sigh of relief upon hearing his words, and added before leaving, "You must remember that!"
"Um……"
With nothing much to do after court, Ji Yingying went straight back to her residence.
When she got home, the house was decorated with lanterns and colorful streamers, and there were many people around. Ji Yingying was a little surprised. She also found the passing maids unfamiliar. She had never seen them before!
Just then, Apple came over, and Ji Yingying quickly asked, "Are we moving?"
"No, it's a banquet for guests to celebrate the Lady's receipt of the second-rank imperial decree."
"How come I didn't know about this?" It's been so long, why is the banquet only being held now? Didn't you say last time that the Emperor wouldn't allow it and that he was too busy?
"Ah...didn't the master and madam tell you?"
"They didn't say that."
【Such a big thing, and you weren't even notified, haha…】Ji Yingying was a little annoyed by the mockery, but not too angry. She didn't get back until dark last night, and it was even brought back by Eunuch Cao. She ate her fill and went to sleep, and her mother didn't have a chance to tell her.
As soon as I entered the lobby, I saw a group of people chatting animatedly, their smiles quite pleasing to the eye.
"Young Master Ji is back?"
Everyone immediately stood up and bowed, for she was not only the Vice Minister of the Ministry of Works, but also the Eldest Princess.
I heard that she didn't want to use the jade tablet, so the Emperor secretly used it for her.
"Mom, you're hosting a banquet, and you didn't tell me. I'm asking for leave!" Ji Yingying walked over and whispered in her mother's ear. For such a big event, as her daughter, she should ask for leave so she could sleep a little longer.
"You... The Emperor said you can't take leave, so I didn't tell you."
It's that old Deng again, shameless.
Just as he was about to complain, the Crown Prince and Crown Princess arrived, as did the Empress.
Fang Yulan immediately stood up and led people out to greet them. After taking only two steps, she saw that Ji Yingying hadn't moved and was still eating snacks, so she quickly came back and pulled her out.
If she wasn't dragged out, Ji Yingying wouldn't leave at all. In her words, "I just got back, my butt's still warm, not even a ghost could let me out."
"Hurry up, go out and greet them."
"Ah... I haven't finished eating yet." She'd already taken several bites of that pastry, but they wouldn't let her finish it.
When they reached the door, everyone knelt down to greet them, except for Ji Yingying, who remained standing. Since she didn't need to kneel before the Emperor, she naturally didn't need to kneel before the Crown Prince, the Crown Princess, or the Empress.
"Your Majesty, you've arrived. Let me tell you something. The Emperor is so wicked! To prevent me from taking leave, he actually forbade my mother from informing me that there's a banquet being held at home today."
"Yeah?"
"Yeah, it's just one day. It won't cause any trouble if I take a day off."
The Empress smiled and thought to herself: If you ask for leave for one day, you'll want to ask for two days. I'm afraid you'll keep asking for leave.
"Alright, alright, just stay home and rest today."
Easier said than done...
Everyone was panicked. In fact, they didn't want to come, but they were afraid of Ji Yingying's strange inner thoughts.
What if some scandal breaks out again? Where will they put their face?
But not coming is not an option; it's practically a death sentence.
After welcoming them inside, Fang Yulan pulled Ji Yingying aside and said, "Don't say anything carelessly today."
"Here comes my siren again, they say that every day..."
That's because I care about you, I'm afraid you'll have a sharp tongue, and you don't have a big-picture perspective when you do things.
"Who said that? I'm a worldly person."
"You can't let your mind wander, understand?"
"I understand," Ji Yingying replied and followed them inside. As soon as they entered, the Empress asked Ji Yingying to sit next to her. As soon as Ji Yingying sat down, the Empress immediately had someone bring her some snacks.
Seeing that she was eating obediently beside her, the Empress then began to chat with the others.
Seeing this, everyone couldn't help but weigh Ji Yingying's importance, which was probably even greater than they had previously thought.
After finishing her meal, Ji Yingying drank half a cup of tea before listening to the ladies chat.
Fearing that she might overthink things, Fang Yulan said, "Yingying, why don't you take the young ladies for a walk around the mansion?"
It was the dead of winter, and there wasn't much in the yard, so Ji Yingying didn't really want to go out. There was a charcoal fire inside to warm her up, but going out meant being freezing cold.
However, she still obediently led the group of young ladies out.
They were taken directly to the backyard for a stroll. Fang Yulan was worried that she wouldn't be able to entertain the young ladies, so she specially asked Apple and Granny Xia to accompany them.
"Are you all feeling cold? Shall we go over there and warm up by the fire?"
"It's too cold. We might as well sit down and warm ourselves by the fire." Ji Yingying looked at the group of young ladies, none of whom she recognized. Yan Ni wasn't there either; she'd heard that Yan Ni was currently showing off her wedding dress.
[Xiangxiang, keep an eye on everyone, don't let them cause trouble.]
[Received. Everyone's doing well so far. Want to join the fun?]
[We'll eat later. My mom asked me to take them out to play, but I don't know what to play. They're not little kids, and they're not my students.]
After they sat down, someone asked, "Your Highness, I've heard that women can now hold official positions. Is that true?"
"It's true. There are three women in this year's examination. If you want to become officials and compete for family property, study hard and catch up with them..."
Before she could finish speaking, a young lady with a pearl hairpin in her hair frowned and hesitated before speaking, "But... wouldn't it be against etiquette for a woman to show her face in public and participate in court affairs? Besides, the affairs of the inner quarters are different from those of the court, and I'm afraid a young lady..." She stopped mid-sentence when she saw that Ji Yingying's expression had not changed, and awkwardly fell silent.
"It's alright, whether it's the inner quarters or the imperial court, it's all your own choice."
"Yes, Your Highness, I have chosen to study hard, and I believe I will become the top scholar in the imperial examination one day."
"Okay, okay, you believe me."
You can prepare your own things.
Just as they were about to continue their conversation, Yanni arrived. As soon as she came in, Ji Yingying called her over to sit down.
"Sister Ji, I had some things to take care of at home today, so I'm late."
"It's alright, it's alright."
"Aunt Ji said she set up a barbecue grill for us so we could barbecue here."
"Huh?" Ji Yingying didn't know either.
"Aunt Ji also said she prepared mahjong, so we can play mahjong."
"Let's play mahjong first, and then we'll eat the barbecue when it's ready."
They led a group of people, divided them into several tables, and started fighting.
Perhaps because of playing mahjong, Ji Yingying no longer felt bored. She even ate barbecue while playing mahjong and chatted quite happily.
For Ji Yingying, banquets were just about eating and drinking; otherwise, she would find them boring. Chatting with a group of unfamiliar young ladies from wealthy families revealed that their worldviews were completely different.
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