It seems that Shi Qingluo, this village woman, is not just arrogant and domineering because of her status.
She wanted to push Shi Qingluo to the opposite side of all the ladies and isolate him.
However, the other party took advantage of her courtesy to push her to the opposite side of the other ladies.
At this time, the ladies who wanted to make friends with Shi Qingluo stood up one after another and bowed to her and Xi Rong, "Greetings to the Princess, Greetings to the Marquis!"
Whether others were willing or not, they had to stand up and greet him.
In fact, this should have been done when they first met Shi Qingluo and Xi Rong. After all, their status was much higher than theirs.
It’s just that many people feel that they are from aristocratic families and have a sense of superiority. They want to show Shi Qingluo a little power, so they deliberately ignore her identity as a princess.
As for the Marquis of Zhennan, no one present had ever seen him, so basically no one recognized him.
After what Mrs. Butcher did, they had no choice but to bow again.
Most of these ladies were smart people and understood that Shi Qingluo was trying to intimidate them.
I have to say, this move was played just right.
Not only did he slap the face of the arrogant Madam Zhu, but he also used Madam Butcher to establish his authority.
Is this really a village woman? Shi Qingluo waited for all the ladies to finish their greetings before she smiled gently and raised her hand, "Everyone, please don't be polite."
Madam Tu and others stood up feeling frustrated.
Mrs. Tu suddenly didn't want to sit down and drink tea anymore, so she suggested, "Now that all the ladies are here, why don't we go enjoy the flowers?"
Shi Qingluo and Xi Rong looked at each other and said with a smile: "Okay!"
The two people with the highest status had no objection, so the other ladies naturally had even less objection.
So he followed Mrs. Butcher toward the courtyard specially designed for flower viewing.
The Tu Mansion is very large. Because Mrs. Tu loves flowers, she built various courtyards so that flowers can be enjoyed all year round.
It is now late March, the time when apricot blossoms are in full bloom, and the Tu family has a special apricot garden.
Therefore, as soon as they entered the door, they saw apricot flowers in full bloom in the garden. There was a pavilion in the middle of the garden, and a maid was making tea inside.
Mrs. Butcher took everyone for a walk in the apricot garden, and then took everyone into the pavilion.
It can be seen that the pavilion was deliberately built large, with several long tables and chairs covered with woolen cushions.
There is a brazier under each long table, and a clay stove on the table for making tea.
The pavilion was deliberately built in a wind shelter, so everyone can feel the warmth as soon as they enter.
Obviously, this pavilion is used for appreciating flowers and greeting guests. The lady of the Tu family thought of it very thoughtfully.
After sitting down, Mrs. Butcher held an exquisite heater and looked at everyone with a kind smile.
"The flowers in the yard are in full bloom today. Why don't you recite some poems or play the piano to liven things up?"
She had already made up her mind that if she wanted to embarrass Shi Qing, she would start with music, chess, calligraphy and painting.
A peasant girl probably can't even recognize a few words, let alone this.
Most of the ladies and young ladies from noble families agreed with a smile.
So Mrs. Butcher wrote a poem while looking at the apricot blossoms in the garden and asked everyone to appreciate it.
Those who thought they were talented not only appreciated the poems written by Mrs. Butcher, but also wrote poems of their own.
There was also a young lady who wanted to perform, so she played the piano prepared by Mrs. Butcher.
Shi Qingluo leaned lazily on the back of the chair, listening to the piano music and these people composing poems.
It must be said that these ladies do have something, whether it is poetry or playing the piano.
A young lady had just finished playing a piece of music and Mrs. Butcher smiled and praised her a few words.
Then he looked at Shi Qingluo and asked, "What do you think, Princess?"
Shi Qingluo said truthfully: "Very good."
Mrs. Butcher felt amused. This answer was really perfunctory.
She pressed on, "Then why don't you give us a detailed evaluation, Princess?"
Shi Qingluo nodded and said, "I listened to her piano playing, sometimes it was as soothing as a flowing spring, sometimes it was as rapid as a waterfall, and sometimes it was as clear as pearls falling on a jade plate. She was so emotionally invested, as if she was in the mountains and flowing water. The artistic conception was very good."
Upon hearing Shi Qingluo's comments, the ladies present were stunned, obviously surprised.
When I heard her say it was good before, I thought she didn’t understand and was just saying it perfunctorily.
Now these comments are all on point and interpret the mood that this song wants to express.
Mrs. Butcher was also stunned. She didn't expect Shi Qingluo knew this.
She thought for a moment and chuckled, "It seems that the princess's piano skills must be quite good. Why don't you play a piece for her?"
Shi Qingluo looked at her and shrugged, then said generously, "I can't play the piano."
She can play a few pieces on the piano, but she can't play the guqin.
Mrs. Butcher breathed a sigh of relief. It turned out that this peasant girl couldn't play the piano.
She had a look of regret, but her expression was tinged with a sense of superiority, "That's a pity. I wanted to listen to the princess's music."
Many people also thought that she was indeed a peasant girl who couldn't even play the piano, and they all said, "Yes, it's such a pity."
Shi Qingluo could tell what they meant.
She curled her lips and said, "I'm not good at the guqin, but I can play the flute. Do you want to listen?"
The ancient flute is one of the ten ancient musical instruments, and it was also a popular and elegant instrument in ancient times.
"Mrs. Tu, do you have a bamboo flute prepared?"
Then she added: "Of course, it would be fine if there was a jade flute. I'm not picky."
Mrs. Tu: “…”
She did not prepare a bamboo flute, and there was no jade flute at home.
However, she guessed that Shi Qingluo might have deliberately changed the subject. Maybe he didn't know how to play the bamboo flute, but because there was none here, he deliberately said that he could.
She smiled and said, "Since the princess wants to play the flute, I naturally don't want to spoil her fun."
Then he told the maid to fetch a bamboo flute.
Shi Qingluo smiled and said, "I don't want to play the flute, but you keep asking me to play a song, and I can't refuse your kindness, so I just have to respond to the occasion."
Madam Tu sneered in her heart, but smiled on her face, "Then I would like to thank the princess for her kindness."
While the maid went to get the bamboo flute, Mrs. Butcher suggested that everyone write down the poems they had just composed.
There is a table on the side of the pavilion, on which paper, pen, ink, inkstone, and painting tools have already been prepared.
Mrs. Butcher took the lead in writing down her own poem, and quickly sketched a picture of apricot blossoms, which seemed to echo the poem.
After reading it, the other ladies praised it one after another.
Then everyone took turns to write poems or paint.
After everyone had taken turns to go up, Madam Tu smiled and said to Shi Qingluo, "Princess, please leave a calligraphy as well."
A lady chimed in, "Yes, all the wives of the prefects left their calligraphy works when they attended the banquet. We also want to admire the princess's calligraphy works."
Shi Qingluo could not compose poetry, but he was good at painting and writing, which he learned from his grandfather.
She naturally had ancient poems about apricot blossoms in her memory, but she didn't want to plagiarize others.
After a moment's thought, she looked at Madam Tu and said with a smile, "Madam Tu insisted on showing everyone my calligraphy. Since you are the host of the banquet, I will still give you this honor."
"But I'm too lazy to think of poems or paint alone. I wonder if Madam Tu would mind if I paint and write them again according to what you have drawn and written?"
(End of this chapter)
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