Chapter 624 The Wise but Seemingly Foolish Lady of Jin
As they approached, the various groups exchanged greetings, and then one of them walked up to Qiao Qinghe and affectionately took her arm, asking in a clear tone, "Madam, has anyone been so blind as to bully you?"
As he spoke, his eyes inadvertently drifted towards the Liu family members out of the corner of his eye.
Lady Yongning, with a smile, walked past the Liu family members and stood quietly next to Qiao Qinghe.
The attitude of the Marquis of Yongning's mansion is self-evident.
The faces of the Liu family members were already as ugly as could be.
Both Madam Liu and Miss Liu looked silently at Old Madam Liu, waiting for her to make a decision.
Whether it's Madam Liu or Miss Liu who apologizes, the Liu family is definitely going to lose face today.
Seeing that Madam Liu had not yet made a decision, Miss Liu took a deep breath, turned around and walked up to Qiao Yuanyao and Qiao Ning, and said sincerely, "My mother's words were inappropriate and hurt the feelings of the two young ladies. I apologize to you both on behalf of my mother."
As he spoke, he bowed again to the two of them, making a very proper gesture.
Qiao Ning looked at Qiao Yuanyao.
Qiao Yuanyao smiled and personally helped the woman up. "Fifth Miss, please get up quickly. My aunt is very protective of her own and can't stand hearing others speak ill of us."
"Please tell Madam Liu, Fifth Miss, not to offend my aunt again."
Miss Liu clenched the handkerchief in her hand, but nodded with a faint smile, "I have remembered Miss Qiao's words. I will definitely pass them on to everyone in the Liu family later."
Qiao Yuanyao smiled and said nothing more.
Qiao Qinghe watched silently, which was considered as tacitly acknowledging that Qiao Yuanyao accepted the apology.
The matter was thus concluded.
Everyone breathed a sigh of relief.
Just then, Li Sanqi, dressed in finery, walked briskly toward them with Wen Xiu.
Upon seeing this, everyone quickly stepped forward to pay their respects.
Madam Zheng, who had been silently observing from the sidelines, was the first to step forward.
She asked with a smile, "Why is the princess out here?"
"I heard something happened at the Chuihua Gate, so I came out to see what's going on." Li Sanqi's gaze swept across the entire scene, lingering on the Liu family members for a moment before finally settling on Qiao Qinghe.
The Duke of Jin's mansion and the Marquis of Yongning's mansion were both on good terms with Qiao Qinghe, leaving only the Liu family, who were at odds with her. It was obvious without asking that the Liu family was causing trouble again.
"Madam, has something happened here?"
Well, as soon as Li Sanqi said this, clearly favoring Qiao Qinghe, the Liu family felt utterly hopeless.
They underestimated Qiao Qinghe's network of connections!
No wonder Consort Hui values Qiao Qinghe so much! She would rather let the Qiao family take away the young prince than truly antagonize the Qiao family. In the past few months, she has been trying every means to ease the relationship between the Qi Prince's Mansion and the Qiao family.
The reason they kept the Liu family girl from getting married was ultimately because they wanted to curry favor with the Qiao family.
Sigh, they should probably avoid the Qiao family from now on!
Just when the Liu family thought Qiao Qinghe would take the opportunity to complain and get Li Sanqi to punish them again, they heard Qiao Qinghe say calmly, "It was a small misunderstanding, but it has been resolved. Thank you for making this trip, Princess."
"It's also our fault for acting inappropriately. Instead of going in first and finding a place to sit, we started talking to ourselves right at the door. This made the princess worry for no reason."
Li Sanqi could tell that Qiao Qinghe was just giving her the runaround, but she didn't delve into it; as long as the matter was resolved, that was fine.
She is really busy today.
Madam Wen personally oversaw the affairs of the ladies, wives, and old ladies, while she was in charge of the affairs of the young ladies.
Although this wasn't her first time hosting a banquet, none of them had been on such a large scale or had such a large number of attendees.
Moreover, this was the first serious task that her father had given her.
She wanted to do her best and show her father her abilities, so she inevitably wanted to do everything herself.
So, she successfully kept herself busy like a spinning top.
"Now that everything is alright here, let's go inside."
Li Sanqi made the final decision and instructed the old woman who had previously led Qiao Qinghe and her group: "Take the old ladies to the Grand Madam's place for their seats."
"You guys come with me, I'll personally lead you to the waterside pavilion."
The following words were spoken to Qiao Yuanyao, Zhen Huan, and others.
When Li Sanqi spoke, everyone smiled and said goodbye, and the two sides went their separate ways.
Just as Qiao Qinghe and her entourage gathered in front of the hanging flower gate, Madam Wen, who was talking with guests in the bamboo pavilion, also received a report from her servants.
Hearing that Qiao Qinghe had caused trouble again, Madam Wen felt a surge of annoyance.
Why does this person always cause trouble at other people's banquets?
Although she didn't intend to let her off the hook at today's banquet, it's two different things: her causing trouble for the Qiao family and the Qiao family causing trouble for her!
Suppressing her displeasure, Madam Wen summoned her daughter-in-law, Madam Yongchang, and asked her to go to the hanging flower gate to resolve the issue.
As a result, less than a quarter of an hour after Lady Yongchang left, she personally led a large group of people back, including Lady Zheng, Qiao Qinghe, the Lady of the Duke of Jin, and Lady Yongning.
Madam Wen personally rose to greet him, and after exchanging pleasantries, they took their seats.
Madam Zheng, along with Lady Bai, the wife of the Duke of Jin, naturally sat down with Qiao Qinghe. Lady Yongning smiled and spoke briefly with the others before going to the ladies she was on good terms with.
The Liu family mother-in-law and daughter-in-law glanced at the situation in the hall and went to the side to find an acquaintance.
No one cared where the Liu family mother-in-law and daughter-in-law went.
However, Bai was quite puzzled to see that Lady Yongning did not sit with them but went elsewhere.
"Isn't Lady Yongning a close friend of the Old Madam? She was just helping the Old Madam a moment ago, so why is she at another table now?"
Madam Zheng knew that Madam Bai wasn't particularly clever, so it wasn't surprising that she asked such a question. Seeing that Qiao Qinghe didn't seem to care, she patiently explained to her, "The Lady of Yongning Marquis and Old Madam Qiao are on good terms; that's a private relationship. Helping each other out in private is nothing to be ashamed of."
"However, in public, the Lady of Yongning Marquis represents the entire Yongning Marquis's mansion. She needs to be careful about who she associates with, otherwise she will be subject to malicious speculation by those with ulterior motives."
"Now, the Enping Marquisate, the Yongchang Marquisate, and the Yongning Marquisate each hold military power."
"His Majesty will not be pleased if anyone gets close to anyone else."
"Therefore, maintaining an appropriate distance is essential."
Madam Bai frowned. "What does this have to do with the old lady?"
Madam Zheng sighed helplessly, but Qiao Qinghe smiled and explained, "Have you forgotten that the Lady of Enping Marquis is my goddaughter?"
That's actually true.
However, not many people knew when Zhen Huan was first recognized as a member of the secret guard. Even Zhen Huan herself subconsciously identified more with her identity as a bodyguard. Therefore, apart from the time she spent in Da'e, Zhen Huan rarely called her grandmother as openly as Su Rongrong did.
This has resulted in very few people in the capital knowing about their grandmother-granddaughter relationship.
Madam Bai suddenly realized, "The Marquis of Enping's mansion stands behind the old lady, so the Marquis of Yongning's mansion can't openly have too much contact with the old lady?"
Qiao Qinghe smiled and nodded.
However, Madam Bai asked another startling question: "Isn't the fourth young lady of the Yongning Marquis's mansion engaged to the Prince of Chu? And the Yongchang Marquis's mansion is the Prince of Chu's maternal grandparents' family. Doesn't that mean both families have become the Prince of Chu's people?"
"Can Your Majesty rest assured?"
Qiao Qinghe and Madam Zheng were both taken aback.
Unless Emperor Xiaozhao has already decided to make the Prince of Chu the crown prince, it would be strange if he could feel at ease!
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