There was a lot of commotion in the north of the city. When the gentry of Meixian heard the news, they all came with their own cooks and grain, oil, meat and vegetables.
Some of the cunning ones even asked their wives and daughters to come along.
When the women first arrived at the place, they saw poor people everywhere in the carriage and covered their noses with their handkerchiefs in disgust, as if there was some disgusting smell on the people.
He immediately asked the coachman to turn the horse around and go home.
After being persuaded by her parents with great difficulty to get off the carriage, she stepped into a puddle of mud, and her delicate embroidered shoes were instantly soaked by the dirty water on the ground.
He was about to lose his temper when he saw his mortal enemy coming, and his expression immediately changed.
The two immediately began to flatter and criticize each other, fighting openly and secretly.
It was not until they saw the county magistrate's carriage approaching that they stopped arguing and all came forward to pay their respects.
Then he saw the county magistrate's daughter being helped down from the carriage by a maid.
The two men looked at each other, and immediately pointed their spearheads at the county magistrate's daughter.
"Sister Qinghe is here too!"
Su Qinghe, the county magistrate's daughter, glanced at the two men with a cold expression and nodded calmly, "Lord Zhao has come all the way from the capital to help the people of Mei County. Tonight is New Year's Eve, and we should show our hospitality."
After that, she ignored the two of them, frowned, and walked with the help of two maids on this bumpy, muddy road soaked by snow water, following the county magistrate to pay a visit to Zhao Yiming.
Seeing Su Qinghe walking away, the two women curled their lips with disdain.
"She speaks so eloquently, I dare say she is not here for Lord Zhao in the capital."
"That's right, pretending to be so noble, but you're just trying to curry favor with me."
Upon hearing this, the two of them looked at each other and quickly turned away. They had just been complaining about Su Qinghe with a common hatred, but immediately they looked like they didn't like each other anymore.
"Hey there! My little ancestors, why are you two still here? Your father has already gone, why don't you hurry up and catch up?"
Although the two of them look down on each other, their mothers have been friends for many years. This time, the two families communicated with each other and brought their daughters together.
The two mothers found their daughters and immediately pulled them towards their husbands.
At this time, their husbands were following Magistrate Su closely, and like other gentry, they kept boasting and flattering him.
It was not until the group came in front of Zhao Yiming that they stopped flattering him.
The county magistrate had just had enough of the flattery from the gentry, but now the wind had changed and it was his turn to flatter Zhao Yiming.
"Since Lord Zhao has not accepted my invitation, I have no choice but to come here uninvited with my family to show my hospitality. How can I let Lord Zhao come all this way and spend the New Year alone? I hope Lord Zhao doesn't mind. Even though we've changed venues, we can still eat and drink well."
As he spoke, he pulled Su Qinghe behind him and introduced her, "This is my daughter Qinghe. She is well-educated and well-mannered, and is proficient in everything from music, chess, calligraphy, and painting. You are of similar age and have many topics to talk about. I'm sure you will have a good chat."
Su Qinghe, acting as a noble lady, only raised her head slightly to glance at Zhao Yiming, then bowed slightly with a blush on her face, "Qinghe greets Master Zhao, Master Zhao is well."
Zhao Yiming didn't even glance at Su Qinghe, and only replied politely and distantly, "Well, hello, Miss Su."
The two women not far away almost laughed out loud when they saw Zhao Yiming's cold attitude towards Su Qinghe.
Not minding the tit-for-tat exchange between the two at all, they huddled together and whispered, "See? Su Qinghe's face is red. It's a pity that Master Zhao didn't even look at her."
"That's right, that's right. But, this Lord Zhao from the capital is so handsome! No wonder Su Qinghe, who thinks highly of herself and has her eyes on the top of her head, has to lower her eyebrows and have her heart stirred!"
The two people's whispers were soon interrupted by their respective mothers, who dragged them to see Zhao Yiming.
When facing them, Zhao Yiming was still polite and distant, but compared with Su Qinghe before, they were more open-minded.
Anyway, they treat everyone like this and they are not targeting them specifically, so they are not ashamed.
Zhao Yiming's cold attitude made the gentry who came with their daughters give up the idea. Although they wanted to climb up the social ladder, they were not the kind of people who would do anything to achieve their goals.
Moreover, since Zhao Yiming had no interest in their daughter, if they forced him, they would not only lose control of Mr. Zhao but also offend the county magistrate, which would be counterproductive.
After three rounds of drinking, he asked his wife to find an excuse to take their daughter back first. In the end, only Su Qinghe, the daughter of the county magistrate, was left at the scene.
This puzzled everyone present. Could it be that County Magistrate Su had taken a fancy to Lord Zhao as his son-in-law and was determined to get him?
Some people who didn't want to get involved found excuses to leave, but a few brave people who wanted to watch the fun stayed shamelessly.
Then, as expected, County Magistrate Su began to find various excuses to drink with Zhao Yiming.
Unfortunately, Zhao Yiming had already taken alcohol-detoxifying medicine in advance. Even though County Magistrate Su drank himself to the point of passing out, he remained as steady as a rock.
Contrary to her usual behavior, when she saw her father lying down, Su Qinghe, as a child, not only did not take her father to say goodbye immediately, but she stood up and walked towards Zhao Yiming, saying that she wanted to do her best to be a good host on behalf of her father.
"Thank you, Lord Zhao, for your righteous rescue of the folks in Meixian. Qinghe would like to offer a toast to Lord Zhao on behalf of everyone. Qinghe will drink first as a token of respect." As she said this, she drank the wine in the bowl in one gulp.
When he looked at Zhao Yiming again, he didn't touch the drink in front of him. Instead, he looked at Su Qinghe in front of him with a smile.
Being looked at directly by such a handsome man, Su Qinghe's heart was beating like a deer. Her face was red, not knowing whether it was from the alcohol or shyness. She could only lower her head and secretly look up at him.
However, what Zhao Yiming said the next second made her face turn pale, and she wanted to find a hole to crawl into.
Zhao Yiming said, "I came to Mei County to provide disaster relief at the order of His Majesty. This is my duty. If I do a good job, His Majesty will reward me. I don't need anyone to thank me.
Moreover, Miss Su is not an official, and has never received any assistance from me. How can she represent the people of Mei County?"
"This, I..." Su Qinghe's face turned pale, and the hand holding the wine glass subconsciously clenched until her fingers turned white and she couldn't utter another word.
These words were completely merciless, saying that Su Qinghe was shameless and had no self-awareness. After all, she was a lady from the boudoir and was thin-skinned. The courage she had just stood up to toast was gone in an instant.
After a hasty bow, he had the county magistrate helped up and left in disgrace.
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