The following day was the day Miss Xue Baoshan of the Xue family was hosting a banquet.
Although Xue Baoshan had some disagreements with Zhu Jiayu and Qiu Lingyan, the Xue and Qiu families were still in the same circle and would see each other often. The elders of the two families also had some relationship. Therefore, even though Xue Baoshan did not want to have anything to do with them anymore, she still sent visiting cards to the Qiu family's young ladies a few days ago out of consideration for the families.
Last night, after Zhu Jiayu ordered her maid to send clothes to each household, Qiu Lingyan immediately decided that she would wear the dress that her cousin had specially sent to her at the Xue family banquet the next day.
Qiu Mingyan only glanced at it before having it put into a box.
She looked down on Zhu Jiayu.
Not only that, she also took away her sister's clothes and forbade her to wear them: "You are a young lady of the Qiu family. What kind of fine clothes don't you want? Why do you covet her little sleeveless shirt and horse-faced robe? You're so shallow that even a turtle can't stand it!"
Since her sister had said so, Qiu Boyan had no choice but to give it up, no matter how hard it was. She didn't want to create a rift between her and her sister over a dress.
In the Song residence, Fuyao received the clothes sent by the Qiu family early in the morning and immediately presented them to her young mistress. Song Jiangmei opened the silk cloth and saw a pine-green embroidered lily-patterned cardigan and a blue-green three-pleated skirt with silver thread patterns.
She frowned, looking somewhat disgusted: "What does she mean by this? Does she think she can't win the bet, so she's trying to win me over beforehand? Does she think I'll remember her kindness this way?"
Fuyao looked down at the dress in her hands. She thought her mistress would be very happy. But seeing her mistress like this now, she felt a little embarrassed, and even the smile on her face became forced.
She paused, then asked, "What should we do with this? Should I take it and dispose of it?"
She turned to leave as she spoke, afraid that staying any longer would upset the young lady.
Song Jiangmei frowned even more deeply, her voice urgent: "Wait!"
Seemingly realizing that she had overreacted, she paused for a moment before pursing her lips and saying, "I'll wear this to the Xue family's house today."
She grumbled in annoyance, "Knowing I like red, she still sent me such a dull color. I really don't know what she's up to!"
Fuyao was dumbfounded, and it took her a while to understand: So Miss is still happy, right?
At the Xue family banquet, unsurprisingly, Qiu Lingyan and Song Jiangmei easily became the focus of everyone's attention.
It must be said that Zhu Jiayu has a good eye; the dresses she chose for them were all very suitable for them. Qiu Lingyan was born with delicate features, slender eyebrows and eyes, an oval face, a small nose, and a small mouth. However, she was upright in her actions, which was completely opposite to her appearance. People who had met her said that there was a huge contrast between her appearance and her personality.
Zhu Jiayu then chose a set of moon-white strapless tops paired with gray-blue long skirts, and an outer half-sleeved jacket with contrasting colors inside and out. The outer layer was a washed light green, while the inner layer was crimson. Both the front and back were embroidered with bamboo leaf patterns in gold thread, creating a contrast between reality and illusion, and overlapping light and shadow, exuding an indescribable air of nobility and chivalry.
Song Jiangmei had always liked to wear red dresses. The color was so dazzling that it was easy for people to overlook her facial features and temperament. If you looked closely, you would find that her eyebrows and eyes did not match the red color. Although she was beautiful, she was beautiful but lacked spirit.
Today, she changed to a color scheme of pine green and cyan, which immediately highlighted her clear and bright features, drawing more attention to her face.
At this moment, some people began to sigh, wondering how they hadn't noticed before that Miss Song was such a beautiful woman with a refined and elegant demeanor, just like the lily on her dress, both pure and vibrant.
While the fools were still secretly envious, the wise ones had already greeted them with smiles, asking where they had made their clothes, praising the excellent embroidery and the ingenious design and color scheme.
Qiu Lingyan generously showed off her dress to everyone, then glanced at Song Jiangmei discreetly before saying gracefully, "My cousin chose it for me. As for which shop, you'll have to ask my cousin."
Song Jiangmei's face was usually expressionless; she only showed her joys and sorrows to men. However, she probably wouldn't do that anymore, since she really didn't like those fools.
She glanced back at Qiu Lingyan, and spoke in a soft voice with the pride unique to people from Yujing, her tone rising slightly at the end: "Mine was also sent to the Song residence by Miss Zhu."
After speaking, the two exchanged a glance, their eyes sparking with barely concealed rage. The thought that their matching blue-green dresses made their expressions even more unpleasant.
Zhu Jiayu was completely unaware of this. She had gotten up late today and had rushed out the door not long ago, and was still on her way.
She had no idea that Qiu Lingyan and Song Jiangmei had stunned the young ladies of Heling City with the dresses she had given them, nor did she know that the two sisters, Qiu Boyan and Qiu Mingyan, were also suffering a great deal of anger because they were not wearing the dresses she had given them.
"The Qiu family's cousin has excellent taste. Song Jiangmei, who has always been proud, wore the dress that she gave her, which shows that she is very satisfied with the dress. I don't believe that if Zhu Jiayu had given the Qiu sisters dresses as well, they would have been able to resist wearing them."
The allure of clothing and jewelry to women is innate, just as men are naturally drawn to beautiful women and power.
Although Qiu Mingyan said that Zhu Jiayu had given them dresses, the claim that they didn't want to wear them was hardly convincing to the others. Saying the dresses were soaked or dirty and unwearable was far more believable than that they didn't want to wear them.
"But it's nothing. Everyone has vanity. We'll just believe what she says. We can't really try to find out if it's true or not."
Upon hearing this, all the women around covered their faces and laughed.
Although Qiu Mingyan, who was not far away, did not know what they were talking about, the faint smiles in their eyes and the occasional glances they cast at her were enough to make her uneasy, as if she had thorns in her back.
She pursed her lips, remained silent, and only wanted to get up and leave.
Qiu Boyan noticed that her expression was strange, so she leaned over and whispered to ask her what was wrong.
They were all laughing at us for being ungrateful.
“But that’s what we are,” Qiu Boyan looked at her, not understanding why she was angry because someone had told the truth. “If you’re unhappy, then next time you can wear the dress that Cousin Jiayu sent, just like Third Sister. Then everyone will praise you.”
Qiu Mingyan was furious, feeling that she couldn't communicate with her at all, so she pushed her away and went to another pond in the garden.
She'd rather play alone than be laughed at here.
Zhu Jiayu arrived at the Xue residence at this time, and as soon as she arrived, she was surrounded by everyone.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com