When the other ladies came in and saw this, they were stunned again.
The location at a flower-viewing banquet is very particular. The closer you are to the main seat, the more it represents your status or the more you are valued by the host.
Xi Rong sat in the front and no one had any objection.
But the wife of a county magistrate was sitting in the front, which made it a little difficult to understand.
But no matter what they thought, no one questioned it.
Prince Jin is like a local emperor in the Northern Frontier, and the favored concubine Hua is almost equivalent to the favored imperial concubine in the harem.
So no one would be stupid enough to question and offend Concubine Hua.
About an incense stick of time later, a woman dressed in luxurious clothes walked in.
The ladies present all stood up and greeted with a smile, "Meet Concubine Hua!"
Shi Qingluo and Xi Rong also stood up and greeted them along with the mainstream.
Concubine Hua smiled and asked everyone to sit down. When she passed by some ladies, she would stop and say a few words.
When Shi Qingluo saw Concubine Hua's appearance, she was indeed about 60% similar to the Queen.
It’s just that the two people give people completely different feelings.
The queen gives people a feeling of elegance and dignity.
Concubine Hua is bright and versatile, a bit like Wang Xifeng in A Dream of Red Mansions.
Seeing Concubine Hua getting along well with the other ladies, Shi Qingluo felt that Prince Jin's promotion of her was not only because he wanted to annoy the Emperor, Empress and Crown Prince in the capital, but also because of Concubine Hua's social skills.
After all, ladies’ diplomacy is actually quite important.
Concubine Hua walked up from behind and stopped at where Shi Qingluo and the other person were.
She looked at Xi Rong with a smile on her face, "My Lord, it is such an honor for me to have you come to my flower-viewing banquet today!"
It was the first time that Xi Rong met Concubine Hua, and she did not lose her composure because of Shi Qingluo's reminder before she came.
She grew up in the palace, and the queen was very kind to her, treating her almost like her own daughter.
So when she faced Concubine Hua who looked like the Queen, she felt a little uncomfortable.
He secretly cursed Prince Jin for being a disrespectful person.
She smiled faintly and said, "Concubine Hua, you are too polite."
Concubine Hua didn't care about Xi Rong's attitude. She always knew that she looked like the Queen, and Xi Rong was raised by the Queen Mother and the Queen.
It's normal to feel uncomfortable seeing her.
So she was just being polite and doing her best to be a good host to Xi Rong.
After all, her target was not Xi Rong.
Concubine Hua turned her gaze to Shi Qingluo and was surprised.
Wasn't it said that Shi Qingluo was just a village woman? Her appearance and temperament didn't look like one at all. Next to the Zhennan Marquis who grew up in the palace, she was not suppressed, but stood out.
She smiled and said, "This must be Madam Shi."
Shi Qingluo smiled and said, "I am."
Concubine Hua reached out and held Shi Qingluo's hand affectionately. "I heard that Madam Shi donated high-yield seeds and made so many good things. She also has an old immortal master. I thought she must be a fairy-like figure."
"It's true today. As soon as I saw you, I felt close to you and liked you."
Shi Qingluo discovered that Concubine Hua was not only good at socializing, but also able to humble herself to win people over.
It's not offensive at all. After all, who doesn't like to hear nice words?
Of course, Shi Qingluo did not let his guard down.
She smiled and said, "Concubine Hua, you are too kind."
Concubine Hua chuckled and said, "You deserve it."
Shi Qingluo thought to herself, she is worthy of being Prince Jin’s woman. Prince Jin said the same thing that day.
Concubine Hua chatted with Shi Qingluo in a friendly manner for a few minutes before letting go of her hand and sitting in the main seat.
Now everyone knows Shi Qingluo's identity.
It turned out that it was not only the county magistrate's wife, but also the village woman who donated the seeds.
But she doesn't look like a village woman. If you don't know her, you might think she is the lady of some noble family.
Smart people also knew why Concubine Hua was so friendly and polite to Shi Qingluo. After all, it was said that this man was the disciple of some old immortal and had many ways to make money in his mind.
It seems that this is the person that Prince Jin wants to win over.
No wonder they felt that this flower-viewing banquet was a bit strange. How come Concubine Hua even invited the wives of county magistrates from various counties?
It turned out that it was aimed at Shi Qingluo.
He also had different thoughts about Shi Qingluo in his heart. Although he still looked down on her status, he would not offend her.
Some ladies who didn't know the ins and outs of this were now despising Shi Qingluo's identity, yet envious of her for catching the eye of Concubine Hua at once.
Especially the other wives of the county magistrates who were attending such a flower-viewing banquet for the first time, they were feeling jealous.
Everyone drank some tea first, and then Concubine Hua stood up and asked everyone to go and appreciate the flowers together.
She also walked over to Shi Qingluo and started chatting with him.
At the beginning, I introduced Beicheng and some of the local customs to Shi Qingluo and Xi Rong.
From time to time, he would ask about the capital and Nanxi County.
She is good at chatting and the topics she finds are easy for people to participate in.
As they chatted, Concubine Hua smiled and said to Shi Qingluo, "I've always heard that you have a lot of ideas. I also want to make some money recently. Can you give me some advice?"
Shi Qingluo sighed again, no wonder Concubine Hua was favored by Prince Jin, this was completely because she followed Prince Jin's style of doing things.
Shi Qingluo did not refuse, but asked: "What does Concubine Hua want to do?"
Concubine Hua shook her head, "I don't know that either."
Shi Qingluo asked again: "Do you have any shops under your name now?"
Concubine Hua smiled and said truthfully: "There is an embroidery shop, a paper shop, and a restaurant."
She came from a poor family and was brought back from a small place by Prince Jin, penniless at the time.
These shops were opened by someone else with the money she had saved over the years.
The real housekeeper power of the palace lies in the hands of the princess. Although she is favored and seems to have a glamorous status, she is the one who attends almost all the social events in the palace. However, this also causes a lot of expenses, and she often has to use the income from her own shop.
The prince asked her to test Shi Qingluo as soon as they met, which was exactly what she wanted.
If Shi Qingluo could really help her come up with some ideas to make money, she would of course be happy.
She was just a girl from a small merchant family, and she had met all kinds of people around Prince Jin over the years, so she did not look down on Shi Qingluo because of her identity as a village woman.
On the contrary, because the prince attaches great importance to it, she will also take it seriously.
Shi Qingluo smiled and said, "I'm not good at embroidery, but I do have a recipe for improving paper and some recipes for cooking, which may be able to help Concubine Hua."
Before, papermaking had never been taken out to set up workshops to manufacture and sell paper on a large scale, because it would damage the interests of the big papermaking families.
Her husband was a scholar before, and now he is only a county magistrate. His status has not reached a certain level, and the hatred is too great. He is targeted by the aristocratic families and it is easy for him to be overthrown.
She had thought about how to show her favor to Prince Jin before, and after much deliberation, she decided to take the lead by improving the recipe for papermaking.
Once Jinwang reduces the cost of paper, the selling price will naturally drop as well.
By then, the price of paper in the entire Daliang will be impacted, affecting the interests of the aristocratic families behind those expensive papers. Prince Jin will also be taking advantage of the situation to attract the hatred of those big families.
For the sake of money, Prince Jin naturally would not care about being targeted and might even fight back. This would probably be something the emperor would be happy to see.
So let Prince Jin pull the hatred and take the blame, and she just needs to follow Prince Jin and drink some soup.
The remaining four chapters will be released around 17:30-18:00~ (End of this chapter)
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