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……"
There was nothing to do after the court session, so Ji Yingying went straight home.
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!
Apple happened to come 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 don't know about this?" It's been such a long time, why are you holding the banquet now? Didn't you say last time that the emperor didn't want to hold it and didn't have time?
"Ah... didn't the master and his wife tell you?"
"No."
[Such a big thing, but I didn’t even inform you, haha…] Ji Yingying was a little angry after being ridiculed, but not very angry. She didn’t come back until dark last night, and it was Eunuch Cao who sent her back. She came back and slept right after eating, and her mother didn’t have time 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.
"Master Xiaoji is back?"
Everyone immediately stood up and saluted. Besides the Minister of Works, she was 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 holding a banquet and you didn't tell me. I need to ask for leave!" Ji Yingying walked over and whispered in her mother's ear. As a daughter, she should ask for leave for such a big thing so that she could sleep a little longer.
"You... the emperor said you can't ask for leave, so I didn't tell you."
It's that old Deng again, shameless.
Just as she was about to complain, the Crown Prince and the Crown Princess arrived, and then the Queen also arrived.
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.
"Empress, you're here. Let me tell you, the Emperor is so abominable. In order to prevent me from taking leave, he didn't even let my mother inform me that we're hosting a banquet at home today."
"Yeah?"
"Yeah, it's just one day. It won't cause any trouble if I take a day off."
The queen smiled and thought: If I ask for leave for one day, you will want to ask for leave for two days. I'm afraid you will 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 I have to come, it would be fatal.
After welcoming the guests in, Fang Yulan grabbed Ji Yingying and said, "Don't talk nonsense 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 responded and followed him in. As soon as she entered, the queen asked Ji Yingying to sit next to her. As soon as Ji Yingying sat down, the queen immediately asked someone to bring her some snacks.
Seeing that she was eating obediently beside her, the queen started chatting with everyone.
Seeing this, everyone couldn't help but weigh Ji Yingying's importance, which was probably even greater than they had previously thought.
After eating, Ji Yingying drank half a cup of tea before listening to the ladies chatting.
Fang Yulan was afraid that she would start to overthink things, so she said, "Yingying, take the 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 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 feeling cold? How about we go over there and warm ourselves 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 sitting down, someone asked, "Your Highness, I heard that women can become officials now. Is this true?"
"It's true. There are three women taking the exam this time. If you want to become an official and fight for the family fortune, study hard and catch up quickly..."
Before he finished speaking, a young lady with pearl flowers in her hair frowned and said hesitantly: "It's just... wouldn't it be against etiquette for a woman to show up in public and participate in government affairs? Besides, the affairs of the inner house are different from those of the court. I'm afraid a girl..." He stopped talking halfway when he saw that Ji Yingying's expression had not changed, so he stopped talking awkwardly.
"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. I believe I will become the top scholar one day."
"Okay, okay, you believe it."
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 okay, it's okay."
"Aunt Ji said she set up a barbecue grill for us and told us to 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."
With a group of people, they divided 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, the banquet was all about eating and drinking. Otherwise, she would just feel bored and chat with a group of unfamiliar young ladies whose worldviews were completely different.
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