"Mrs. Su."
Almost instantly, people of all statuses, whether higher or lower than Zhong, rushed toward her.
"Madam Su's brocade is so beautiful, she looks like a celestial being!"
"The gold phoenix hairpin in Madam Su's hair is so exquisitely crafted. Where was it made?"
"Madam Su is wearing gold-embroidered shoes. A pair of these must cost a hundred taels of gold."
Everyone flattered Madam Zhong from head to toe, not for any other reason than that they had already received the news that the main figures at today's concubine selection banquet were Madam Zhong and her daughter.
The fact that the Third Prince was choosing a consort and that Consort Su would select her own consort from her family was already an open secret. To put it nicely, these people were just there to go through the motions; to put it bluntly, they were just picking up the concubines that the Su family didn't want, such as Zhaorong or Wanyi. No matter what they did, it didn't stop them from flattering the Su family.
The noble ladies surrounded Madam Zhong, while the young ladies surrounded Su Feiling and Su Muyao.
"Is that snow satin that Miss Su is wearing? I've heard that snow satin is very precious, and it's hard to buy even for a thousand pieces of gold."
"Miss Su has a refined and elegant temperament, and this snow satin suits her perfectly."
"Miss Su looks absolutely stunning in this outfit, even more radiant and beautiful than before."
Su Feiling politely raised her lips in response to the compliments from those noble ladies, remaining unmoved. Her haughty demeanor made it seem as if she were already the Third Prince's consort.
As for Su Muyao, she was showing off her skirt to the noble ladies: "This is purple silk gauze, isn't it beautiful? You can't buy it in the fabric shops of the capital!"
The noble ladies surrounded Su Muyao, stroking her skirt with envy: "So it's purple silk, no wonder it looks so beautiful."
"If you can't buy it in Kyoto, where did you buy it from?"
"Yes, this dress is so pretty, I want to buy it too."
"This Purple Smoke Silk is..." Su Muyao subconsciously wanted to show off, but then stopped herself from speaking.
She couldn't say it, but someone naturally chimed in: "Purple smoke gauze is also known as purple soft smoke gauze. It comes from Jiangnan and requires the softest silk and the softest hands. It needs to be hand-woven by girls in their late teens to early twenties using natural silk. It is extremely precious, with only one or two bolts produced each year. Because the production is too small, it cannot be used as a tribute."
Everyone looked up in unison and saw Madam Zhao from the Prime Minister's residence arriving with her two daughters.
"Madam Zhao." Everyone nodded and bowed to her.
Madam Zhao walked up to Su Muyao and glanced at the dress she was wearing: "This purple silk is indeed extremely precious. Let alone a thousand pieces of gold, I'm afraid even ten thousand pieces of gold wouldn't be enough to buy a single piece."
"So this is how precious the Purple Smoke Silk is!" After Madam Zhao's explanation, everyone looked at Su Muyao with even more envy.
Su Muyao became increasingly smug and was about to say something modest when she heard Madam Zhao change the subject: "This priceless soft silk gauze, I seem to remember that Madam Su had two pieces in her dowry back then, one of which was purple."
As she spoke, Madam Zhao looked at a middle-aged woman sitting alone in the pavilion: "Madam Mu, as a member of Madam Su's family, should know best about Madam Su's dowry."
As soon as Madam Zhao asked the question, everyone turned to look at the beautiful woman in the pavilion.
Originally intending to avoid a life of leisure, Lady Tang, the wife of the Marquis of Dingping, could no longer escape her fate after being questioned in public by Lady Zhao. However, she did not get up and remained seated in the pavilion: "Indeed, I personally prepared my younger sister's dowry. It includes not only the purple silk gauze worn by the Fourth Miss Su and the purple gold eight-treasure headdress, but also the snow-white satin worn by the Second Miss Su and the mutton-fat jade bracelet on her wrist, as well as the brocade worn by the Second Madam Su, the golden phoenix hairpin in her hair, the gold-threaded shoes on her feet, and the exquisite pearl at her waist... Of course, there are many other things besides these."
Tang sat in the pavilion, her voice low, but her sharp gaze pointed out everything on Zhong and her daughter that belonged to Mu Junyu.
Tang's words instantly drew everyone's attention to Zhong and her daughter.
"Look closely at that golden phoenix hairpin; it does indeed seem to be the one Madam Su used before, even the ruby is exactly the same!"
“I remember now, Madam Su wore those mutton fat jade bracelets, gold-threaded shoes, and exquisite beads before. These really were all part of Madam Su’s dowry.”
"I thought it belonged to the second branch of the Su family, but I didn't expect it to be all Madam Su's dowry."
"How dare Madam Su use someone else's dowry to embellish her own reputation?"
"They're shameless. They stole other people's things and are so smug about it. Their upbringing is just unbelievable."
Hearing the disgusted words around her, Su Muyao blushed with shame. She felt that the silk dress she was wearing was no longer splendid and luxurious, but rather an ugly garment that revealed all her greed, making her wish she could take it off and throw it away immediately.
Su Feiling's composure was clearly better than Su Muyao's. Apart from covering the mutton-fat jade bracelet with her sleeve, she did not show much shame on her face.
And then there's Zhong, who felt no remorse whatsoever, only anger.
She turned around abruptly, scanning Tang Shi from head to toe, and said with disdain, "I didn't know Mu Junyu had so much dowry. Since the Marquis of Dingping's mansion is so wealthy, why doesn't Madam Mu dress herself and her daughter up nicely? Why are you dressed so plainly?"
As soon as Zhong said this, everyone's attention shifted to Tang once again.
Today, Tang was indeed dressed very simply, in a lake-green embroidered long dress without any excessive decorations. She wore only a jade hairpin and matching jade earrings, which made her pretty face look even more elegant.
Behind her, her daughter Mu Lingxi was also dressed in an extremely simple moon-white dress, with a white jade hairpin in her hair and white jade earrings of the same color. Although the simple color made her look ethereal, compared with the group of noble ladies who were dressed in flamboyant clothes, her outfit was indeed too plain.
Compared to Su Feiling, who pretended to be elegant, this mother and daughter were truly elegant.
This selection banquet for imperial concubines was not something Tang Shi originally wanted to attend, but since Consort Su had sent an invitation to the Marquis of Dingping's residence, she had no choice but to come with Xi'er. She had intended to stay quietly in a corner and wait for the selection to end, but she didn't expect that she still couldn't escape the peace and quiet.
Since they've already come knocking on her door, it's not her style to cower like a coward.
Tang got up and walked out of the pavilion.
A glint of excitement flashed in Mu Lingxi's eyes as she followed behind her.
It has to be said that Tang's aura was absolutely powerful. When the onlookers saw Tang coming, they all unconsciously moved aside to make way for her.
Tang led Mu Lingxi to Zhong and Zhao. She first greeted Zhao before looking at Zhong and saying, "Even though our Dingping Marquis's mansion has declined, we can still afford to prepare a dowry for our daughter. On the other hand, Madam Su is at the height of her power and influence. Why does she need to use someone else's dowry to make a show of herself?"
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
