Zhu Jiayu agreed to Xiao Wan's request and indeed kept his appointment the next day.
Xiao Wan's close friends were also respectable ladies from prominent families. When they arrived at the agreed-upon teahouse, the ladies first praised Zhu Jiayu from head to toe. One said she had a good figure, another said she was beautiful, another praised her for being well-mannered, and yet another praised her for being polite. In short, in the eyes of all the ladies, Zhu Jiayu was simply wonderful.
After carefully answering the ladies' questions, such as their age and what books they usually read at home, the topic naturally turned to marriage.
Upon learning that Zhu Jiayu was still unmarried at such an age, the ladies reacted just like Xiao Wan, all offering to introduce her to promising young men. Fortunately, Xiao Wan had already asked Zhu Jiayu about her wishes yesterday, so she didn't put her in a difficult position today and declined the offers on her behalf.
Fearing that Ayu might feel uncomfortable, she smiled and said to her, "Life in the inner quarters is long. If you don't want to spend all your time fighting with the concubines and maids, then you need to find something to do. So we've agreed to meet here twice a month, either to have tea and chat, or to compose poems and discuss philosophy. You don't need to be reserved. If you're not interested, just go sit to the side. I'll have a servant bring you two popular novels from the capital."
Zhu Jiayu knew that her aunt was thinking of her, but that was precisely why she refused her aunt's suggestion, saying, "I also benefited a lot from listening to Aunt and the other aunts chat. Aunt doesn't need to worry about me."
This wasn't the first time she'd attended such an event. In her previous life, the ladies and young women would often try to make fun of her by having her chat with them, but the topics were all things she couldn't understand, from court politics to cosmetics. Back then, she could still bear the loneliness and boredom, and now, her skills in this area had naturally improved even further.
She understood that her aunt valued her and wanted to promote her, which was why she brought her here to meet the ladies. If she were to actually do as her aunt suggested and go and read the storybooks according to her own wishes, the ladies might not say it to her face, but they would despise her for being shallow and crude.
Seeing how understanding and sensible she was, Xiao Wan gently patted her hand and sighed, "Good child."
Zhu Jiayu smiled at her, then remained silent, sitting quietly to the side and listening to their conversation.
Having spent several years in the aristocratic class of Yujing in her previous life, she wasn't completely unable to understand what they were saying; on the contrary, she even knew more than they did.
"...Speaking of which, I can't help but envy Princess Jinyang. Her husband treated her with deep affection. Although the princess had no children after many years of marriage, her husband still treated her with utmost respect and harmony, without any resentment or scandal involving a maid climbing into her bed to keep a mistress. The two of them truly embodied the line from the book, 'To become a pair of mandarin ducks, what is death to me? I envy not the immortals.'"
Zhu Jiayu held the teacup with longing, but in her heart she thought, "Of course there won't be any scandal of maids climbing into bed to keep mistresses. This prince consort is a homosexual. He has been married to the princess for many years, and the two of them have always been doing their own thing. They are both happy and content, and of course, they are harmonious and respectful to each other."
"Speaking of Princess Jinyang, how can we forget Princess Shaoling? These two used to fight fiercely when they were young. But now that the princess is happily married, it is said that the princess and General Wei have a small quarrel every three days and a big fight every five days. Last time General Wei went out, someone saw that his forehead was bruised and swollen. Many people are guessing in private whether the princess hit him with something."
Zhu Jiayu followed with a regretful expression, but sighed inwardly. Although there had always been rumors of discord between the two, when news of General Wei's death came, it was still Princess Shaoling who stayed at the General's Mansion, never remarried, and raised her young son in mourning clothes.
It is clear that rumors and public opinion are actually two different things, sometimes completely unrelated.
After the ladies had finished gossiping, they asked someone to bring flower vases and flowers, as they had agreed to arrange flowers together that day.
The process of flower arranging is long and quiet. The ladies need to select the flowers and materials, and consider the color scheme and artistic conception. On the gilded red lacquer plate beside them are scattered jade pendants, hairpins, and other objects, which are the prizes for this flower arrangement. Whoever arranges the flowers best gets the prize.
Zhu Jiayu was indeed getting bored while waiting. She gently beckoned to Qin Fang, who understood and slowly moved to her side, saying softly, "Miss Zhu."
Zhu Jiayu spoke softly, just like her: "Go ask the shopkeeper for a set of paper, ink, brush, and inkstone."
This was no big deal. Qin Fang quickly went downstairs, brought back paper, ink, brush, and inkstone, and then served her by laying out the Xuan paper and grinding the ink. On the other hand, she also had a selfish reason for wanting to see what this Miss Zhu was up to.
Then she saw Zhu Jiayu kneeling behind the desk, holding a brush with his wrist suspended, and beginning to paint.
When others paint, they must pause frequently to carefully observe the figures and their features before they can begin to sketch, in order to achieve a lifelike and natural effect. However, Zhu Jiayu completed her work in one go without pausing at all. By the time the ladies finished arranging the flowers, the wolf-hair brush in her hand had also come to a stop.
The woman in the painting is delicate and beautiful, elegant and refined. Her eyebrows and eyes are as fine as spring rain, and her expression is as graceful as pear blossoms in the wind. In front of her are neatly scattered osmanthus branches, liriope, calamus, marigolds and other flowers and trees. The woman is smiling and holding a lotus flower in her hand, as if she has already thought about how to match the flowers.
The painting depicts Xiao Wan preparing to arrange flowers.
She let out a soft sigh, and when she looked up, she saw that the ladies had somehow gathered around her, carefully examining the figures, flowers, and trees in the painting. She blushed immediately and said shyly:
"Ayu doesn't know anything about flower arranging, but she is quite good at painting. So she thought she would make a painting to add some interest to everyone. Aunts and maternal aunts, please don't laugh at Ayu for overestimating herself."
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