Chapter 278 Landing on the Island
On the day of the summer banquet.
The thirty noble ladies who were invited arrived as scheduled and were arranged to stay at an imperial estate near Beiyuan.
Before dawn, the girls got up to wash and dress up, hoping to win the Empress Dowager's favor that day.
They had received confirmation beforehand that this summer banquet, seemingly just to keep the Empress Dowager and the Eldest Princess company, was actually a meeting to select a Crown Prince's consort! Almost everyone was on high alert, and several of them were so excited last night that they couldn't sleep!
That's the Crown Princess, the mistress of the Eastern Palace, the future Empress, and the mother of the nation who will rule the world!
No woman could resist such temptation, except for Zheng Yanling and Zhao Mei.
The two of them were helping out at Qiongyulou yesterday morning, and only when they were almost out of time did they hurriedly board the carriage to Beiyuan. By the time they arrived at the Imperial Estate, it was already late at night. The two of them looked haggard, as if they had stayed up all night, and the dark circles under their eyes could not be covered by any amount of makeup.
Zhao Mei was a little uneasy: "Sister Zheng, if the Empress Dowager and the Princess see me like this, won't they think I'm being too impolite...?"
She has no interest in the Crown Prince whatsoever; all she can think about is making money. In fact, before setting off yesterday, she even brought along various face creams and face powders from Qiongyulou, just to promote her products in front of the Empress Dowager and a group of noble ladies.
Looking at her small face in the bronze mirror, which was bright and alert but pale and weak, Zhao Mei finally started to get anxious.
Zheng Yanling cupped her face and looked her over from all sides: "I can't see anything wrong with it, it's fine as it is."
Finally, among the twenty-eight beautiful and graceful young women, there were two little girls who looked listless but whose eyes sparkled with intelligence.
Two days ago, Zheng Yanling personally helped Zhao Mei make money, which also allowed her to experience the joy of making money.
Seeing how hard she was working, Zhao Mei promised her that as long as she helped, she would receive half a percent of the profits from the items sold, deducted from her own earnings.
Zheng Yanling was really looking forward to today's sales pitch—no, today's banquet.
The girls went to the North Garden in twos and threes. Jin Yuan was thinking that the maid sent by the palace to pick them up was not a female official from the Empress Dowager or the Princess, and it seemed that she did not take this so-called selection banquet very seriously. Suddenly, she looked up and saw the two women who had embarrassed her in public the day before!
Jin Yuan tightened her grip on the handkerchief. She wasn't surprised that Zheng Yanling had come, but who was this young lady who owned the shop? How could she possibly attend a banquet in Beiyuan?!
"Ah Yuan, what's wrong? Who did you see?" Her friend noticed her odd behavior and curiously followed her gaze. Seeing only Zheng Yanling and a strange girl, she whispered mockingly, "...Miss Zheng? What's she doing here? She probably only came because of Princess Chang Le, right? Someone as unrestrained and frivolous as her, without a trace of ladylike manners, probably wouldn't even qualify as a concubine of the Crown Prince..."
Jin Yuan sneered: "Hmph, she's got a big heart. We're all dressed up today, but she probably doesn't even care. Look at her unkempt appearance, she's probably confident that she has a good relationship with Princess Chang Le and will definitely be selected."
Jin Yuan said mysteriously, "The other day I went to Zhuque Street, guess what I saw?"
A few of her girlfriends huddled together and whispered, "What did you see?"
Jin Yuan: "Zheng Yanling has gone out to do business and solicit customers! To collude with merchants like this, she really lives up to her reputation. She's notoriously unreliable, and she's ruined the Zheng family's reputation all by herself!"
These girls often played together and were the most devout followers of the traditional social hierarchy of scholars, farmers, artisans, and merchants, with merchants considered the lowest of the low. Now that they heard Zheng Yanling was actually doing business on her own, their attitude towards her became even more contemptuous.
"Good heavens, is Zheng Yanling desperate for money? Why doesn't she just leave the business to those servants to manage? Why is she personally going to sell it?!"
Jin Yuan felt a small sense of satisfaction knowing that someone shared her hatred. She didn't correct the fact that it wasn't a sales pitch, since the meaning was essentially the same. As a noblewoman from a prominent family, she couldn't stand Zheng Yanling's attitude. How dare she publicly ridicule and threaten her the other day? This was her fate.
Jin Yuan then asked, "By the way, who is that person with Zheng Yanling? Do you recognize them?"
The girls said, "They look familiar... but we can't remember who they are."
"By the way, I saw her at the girls' school. In any case, she's definitely not an ordinary person; her family must have some connections. But I don't know who she is. She's like a ghost at the girls' school."
The girls didn't recognize her either, but Jin Yuan nodded to indicate that she knew.
Not knowing the other party's family background, she wasn't sure if she could mess with them; she didn't want to risk offending them.
After chatting with her girlfriends for a while, Jin Yuan casually inquired about some news from the nanny who was leading them:
"Granny, there are quite a few girls here today, maybe twenty? How can the North Garden accommodate so many people?"
The old woman was of average seniority, but she wasn't stupid for being brought to serve in the North Garden, and she immediately replied:
"Beiyuan is a summer palace, so it is naturally spacious. Miss Jin need not worry."
Then, no matter how Jin Yuan tried to get information out of her, the old woman just smiled and remained silent, seemingly realizing that she wanted to find out more.
Jin Yuan was somewhat discouraged. Why were the people in the palace so tight-lipped?
Once they entered the North Garden, the thirty girls finally quieted down, bowing their heads and following the nanny intently toward the island in the middle of the lake where the summer banquet would be held.
Beiyuan was a summer palace, and now the emperor, empress dowager, and crown prince were all there. In a sense, it was the inner palace of the imperial palace. Outside, people could chatter without anyone saying anything, but once inside the palace, things were different.
Not to mention that at least half of the girls here are hoping to gain the favor of the Empress Dowager or the Crown Prince today and rise to a higher social status.
Jin Yuan held her breath, thinking that once she found out who the woman next to Zheng Yanling was, if she was not as good as her own family, she would definitely make her "show off" in front of the Empress Dowager and the Princess!
To reach the island in the middle of the lake, one had to board a small boat, which could only accommodate five girls at a time. Jin Yuan, being cunning, deliberately boarded the boat with Zheng Yanling.
It would take at least a while to row to the island, and she seemed to only just notice the two of them, exclaiming in surprise, "Miss Zheng...?"
Zheng Yanling and Zhao Mei snapped out of their thoughts and met Jin Yuan's gaze.
It's true that clothes make the man; Jin Yuan, who looked just as pretty and cute the other day, now has a touch of nobility thanks to her dazzling outfit.
You just have to ignore her slightly affected expression.
Zheng Yanling pulled Zhao Mei behind her and narrowed her eyes: "Miss Jin, what can I do for you?"
Jin Yuan: "No, no, I was too rude to you two the other day. I've been thinking about it day and night ever since, and I feel uneasy. I was just thinking of finding an opportunity to apologize to you both. It's such a coincidence that we've run into each other again today. It's fate that we've met. May I ask how this young lady is addressed?"
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