Chapter 521 Old Mrs. Qiao is up to her old tricks again
Qiao Qinghe naturally accepted Li Sanqi's invitation to move.
However, no one knows how Old Mrs. Qiao found out that Qiao Qinghe had been invited to Princess Huaiyang's housewarming banquet. Old Mrs. Qiao, who hadn't caused trouble for a long time, came to find her again before the housewarming banquet.
Upon hearing Old Mrs. Qiao's purpose, Qiao Qinghe unconsciously frowned. "You want me to take Qiao Ning to the banquet?"
What wicked scheme is this old lady plotting now?
Grandma Qiao said matter-of-factly, "Such a good opportunity is perfect to take Qiao Ning to broaden her horizons and let the powerful and influential families in the capital get to know her."
As he spoke, he glanced at Qiao Qinghe and said, "Don't tell me you didn't realize why I brought Qiao Ning to the capital."
Qiao Qinghe didn't say anything.
Of course she could tell. Whether it was Qiao Ning's age or her appearance, she was clearly someone sent to the capital to be matched with a good family.
Seeing that Qiao Qinghe still wouldn't agree, Old Madam Qiao became a little impatient. "What do you mean by this? I've already let bygones be bygones regarding the adoption of Jingyi. Are you going to refuse to find a good family for Qiao Ning?"
Qiao Qinghe took a deep breath, suppressing her displeasure, and said in a gentle tone, "I know why you brought Qiao Ning to the capital, and I will carefully choose a good family for Qiao Ning."
"However, this matter cannot be rushed; it must be done step by step."
"At Princess Huaiyang's housewarming banquet, all the guests were members of the royal family, princes and princesses."
"Given my status, it's already a stretch that I was invited. If I were to bring Qiao Ning along without permission, what would others think of me?"
Grandma Qiao wasn't having it, and said coldly, "So, in the end, you just don't want to take Qiao Ning with you!"
Qiao Qinghe frowned and said helplessly, "I said it's not that I don't want to bring it, it's that I can't bring it."
"You've just arrived in the capital, and Qiao Ning hasn't shown her face in public yet. It's really inappropriate to bring her to the banquet so rashly."
Fearing that Old Madam Qiao would nag again, Qiao Qinghe quickly promised, "I will hold a banquet at the mansion in a while and invite all the noble ladies of the capital. I will personally introduce Qiao Ning to everyone then."
"Once everyone knows Qiao Ning, I can take her to banquets held by various families and find her a good match."
What do you think?
Grandma Qiao looked at Qiao Qinghe suspiciously, "You're not lying to me, are you?"
Qiao Qinghe smiled and reassured her, "How could that be? I like Qiao Ning very much. Of course I will take her marriage seriously."
"That's good." Grandma Qiao nodded.
Qiao Qinghe spent a long time comforting her before finally getting rid of the old lady.
After seeing the people off, Qiao Qinghe summoned Madam He and said, "Go and investigate who sent the message to the old lady that I was going to a banquet at Princess Huaiyang's residence."
This matter, while not exactly a secret, was not deliberately discussed outside of it.
The only people who knew about it, besides her and Weijia, were a few people who served her and others who had made preparations for the banquet.
He accepted the order and left.
She found the person in just half an afternoon.
It turned out that the coachman had sold the information to the maidservant who served Old Madam Qiao.
In the past, when Qiao Qinghe went out, Amo was always the one responsible for driving the carriage.
But Amo went to Jiangnan with Qiao Jingyao before the New Year, so a new person was assigned to drive the carriage.
The newly appointed servant was handpicked by Madam He from among the servants in the mansion; he was the best driver and drove the carriage the most smoothly.
Who would have thought that while the servant was skilled at driving, he had no problem with his mouth.
The maidservant next to Old Madam Qiao gave him a handful of dried peanuts and tricked him into revealing information about Qiao Qinghe's recent travels.
As for the maid who went to get information, she was a servant that the old lady had recently bought.
Madam He has already interrogated her and said that the old lady gave her two qian of silver to find out Qiao Qinghe's whereabouts.
This maid was clever; knowing that the people in the hospital were tight-lipped, she took a different approach and approached the coachman in charge of driving the carriage.
"Madam, what should we do with these two?"
Without a second thought, Qiao Qinghe said, "Sell them all off. The Qiao family doesn't need servants who can't keep their mouths shut, much less servants who don't recognize their masters."
"Yes." Madam He accepted the order and withdrew.
Qiao Qinghe didn't take this matter to heart.
However, the servants in the mansion were on edge because of this incident. This was especially true for those who had just entered the mansion and were serving the Qiao family in Jiangnan. They were all trembling with fear and trepidation, not daring to overstep their bounds in the slightest.
When Old Mrs. Qiao learned that the maid she had bought had been sold after only one use, she threw a tantrum in her room. It took Qiao Jingyi and his wife a long time to coax her into calming her down.
The next day, the couple took Grandma Qiao out shopping again, and when they returned, the old lady seemed much happier.
According to the servants, the old lady bought Qiao Ning new clothes after returning from shopping.
As long as the old lady doesn't cause her any trouble, that's a good thing.
Qiao Qinghe didn't take it to heart.
That evening, Qiao Qinghe confirmed the housewarming gift to Li Sanqi with Madam He again, and asked Ashuang to prepare the clothes she would wear to the banquet before preparing to go to bed early.
Tomorrow is the day Li Sanqi moves into her new home. She needs to get up early, first go to Sanchi Lane to pick up Qiao Yuanyao, then go to the East City to meet up with Madam Zheng, and then go together to Princess Huaiyang's residence in the North City.
Li Sanqi held a housewarming banquet and even invited her, so there was no reason not to invite Madam Zheng.
So, after discussing it again, the two old ladies decided to go together.
Qiao Qinghe was not surprised that Li Sanqi would invite Qiao Yuanyao.
Back then, Qiao Yuanyao also acted as a messenger between Wei Jia and Li Sanqi, and stayed by Li Sanqi's side for a period of time.
Although it happened a long time ago, there's still some semblance of friendship between us.
Just as Qiao Qinghe finished washing up and was about to go to bed, a maid came in to report that Qiao Ning had something to ask to see her.
Qiao Qinghe was surprised for a moment, then asked her maid to invite the person in.
In the days that followed, she also learned a bit about Qiao Ning.
This is a quiet little girl who rarely leaves her house except to come and pay her respects every morning.
If it weren't for something important, she would never have come to see her at this time.
Once the person entered, Qiao Qinghe cut to the chase and asked, "You've come to see me so late, is there something you need?"
Qiao Ning looked around the room, her expression hesitant.
Qiao Qinghe then waved for everyone except Ah Shuang to leave.
This time, Qiao Ning hesitated only for a moment before kneeling down in front of Qiao Qinghe, who was sitting on the bed.
Qiao Qinghe was startled and quickly asked, "Child, just say what you want to say. Why are you kneeling down all of a sudden?"
"Ah Shuang, quickly help him up."
Ah Shuang quickly went to help the person.
But Qiao Ning insisted on not getting up, saying, "Auntie, please listen to me first."
Seeing her resolute attitude, Qiao Qinghe stopped trying to persuade her and nodded, saying, "Go ahead."
Qiao Ning bit her lip before saying, "My great-grandmother went shopping today and bought me a beautiful new outfit."
"I already know about this." Qiao Qinghe asked, puzzled, "You don't need to worry. It's just a set of clothes; even if it's expensive, my aunt can afford it."
Qiao Ning shook her head, her face pale, and said, "My great-grandmother just came to my room and told me to wear that new dress to the banquet at Princess Huaiyang's residence tomorrow."
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