Chapter 139 Wedding Banquet (Part 1)

After getting off the carriage at the hanging flower gate of the Zhongshan Marquis's mansion, the housekeeper had already gone to report to the fourth grandmother who was in charge of the Tang family's guest department. She wore a bright red, colorful dress with brocade sleeves, and was surrounded by maids and old women to greet her. She greeted from a distance: "Madam, I've been waiting for you."

The lady smiled and said, "I knew it was you who would be the one to greet the guests!"

The fourth lady of the Tang family knelt and bowed, saying angrily, "You are saying that I talk too much!" As she spoke, her eyes fell on Eleventh Lady, "This is really a rare guest. I didn't expect that the fourth lady would also come."

Last time when they went to the Xu family to watch opera, Madam Tang also took her there, and the two of them knew each other, but there she was still the Eleventh Lady of the Luo family, but now she is the Fourth Lady of the Yongping Marquis's Mansion.

Eleventh Lady smiled and bowed to her: "Fourth Madam."

The fourth grandmother of the Tang family hurriedly returned the gift and looked at the Eleventh Lady in amazement: "She is so young and beautiful, what are we, the old and ugly ones, going to do with her?"

Eleventh Lady just smiled.

The lady tapped the forehead of the fourth grandmother of the Tang family and said, "Just do something weird for me!"

The fourth grandmother of the Tang family said with a smile: "Who are you? Even if I am the Monkey King, I can't escape from your palm!"

The lady laughed.

The fourth grandmother of the Tang family came forward and helped the old lady to the corridor beside her: "Our mistress is waiting for you! She was just wondering why you haven't come yet!" She turned around and called to the eleventh lady, "Our mistress lives not far from here, she will be here soon."

Eleventh Lady smiled and nodded at her. Following behind them, she heard the fourth grandmother of the Tang family chattering and joking, went up the corridor, turned two corners, and entered a courtyard. The fourth grandmother of the Tang family ordered the little maid: "Go and tell the lady quickly, the Taifu and the fourth wife of the Yongping Marquis's mansion are here!"

The little maid ran off to report the news.

As the fourth grandmother of the Tang family walked inside with the old lady, she smiled and said to her, "Madam Tang from the Duke of Dingguo's Mansion, Madam Huang from the Marquis of Yongchang's Mansion, Madam Lin from the Marquis of Weibei's Mansion, and Madam Gan from the Earl of Zhongqin's House have all arrived a long time ago. Our Madam is drinking tea with them now!"

The lady nodded.

Mrs. Tang, a tall and thin lady, was wearing a bright red gown with colorful gold-edged patterns and long sleeves decorated with phoenixes and gourds. She was surrounded by maids and servants and walked out in a hurry: "Sorry for not welcoming you in person, sorry for not welcoming you in person!" She half-knelt and bowed to the lady-in-waiting.

The lady nodded in return and pointed at Shiyi Niang and said to Madam Tang, "You have also seen my fourth daughter-in-law, Luo."

Eleventh Lady knelt and saluted.

Madam Tang's gaze lingered on Eleventh Lady for a while before she smiled and said, "It's really rare! The Fourth Madam of the Xu Family is here too!"

Adhering to the principle of "the less you say, the less you make mistakes", Eleventh Lady stood beside the Lady Dowager with a smile.

Mrs. Tang took the hand of the lady and went inside: "They are all old sisters who often get together. They specially invited them to sit in my room."

The fourth grandmother of the Tang family went to lift the curtain herself, and Eleventh Lady followed the lady into the house.

The room was decorated in a festive mood, with bright red curtains and scarlet carpets. The black lacquered armchair was covered with bright red cushions and backrests with multicolored cloud dragon patterns. In the middle of the room stood a large three-legged gilded enamel brazier, and in the corners of the walls stood fresh green holly trees as tall as a person.

When they saw the lady come in, everyone sitting in the room stood up and came over to greet her.

Mrs. Lin, Mrs. Gan, Mrs. Huang, Madam Zheng, and the eldest grandmother of the Lin family and the third grandmother of the Huang family who I met last time at the Xu family's opera... they are all acquaintances.

It's just that this time is not that time.

The lady introduced Eleventh Lady to everyone: "This is my fourth son's daughter-in-law."

Eleventh Lady stepped forward and saluted everyone.

Mrs. Huang had participated in the recognition of relatives before, so she naturally had a different feeling. She immediately took her hand and said, "Your mother-in-law is the most idle. You must not learn from her. You should be more active in the future if there is anything."

Eleventh Lady smiled and replied respectfully, "Yes."

Perhaps because they were both concubines and close relatives, Mrs. Gan was also very kind to her. Mrs. Lin and Madam Zheng just nodded politely.

The two grandmothers returned the gifts one after another, calling her "Fourth Madam" affectionately.

A little maid reported: "Mrs. Qiao from Duke Cheng's mansion is here!"

Everyone's eyes fell thoughtfully on Eleventh Lady.

Since she had followed the Madam, she would definitely encounter all kinds of situations. Eleventh Lady was mentally prepared. She stood behind the Madam with grace and allowed them to look at her.

"Madam!" Madam Qiao was like a punctured balloon. She no longer had the enthusiasm she had at the Xu family and looked a little unhappy.

The lady smiled and nodded to her, introducing Shiyi Niang to her: "This is my fourth daughter-in-law."

Mrs. Qiao forced a smile at Eleventh Lady, and then greeted her.

Seeing that the atmosphere was becoming tense, the fourth grandmother of Tang hurriedly smiled and asked everyone to sit down. Then a little maid came to report, "The people who are going to pick up the bride's dowry are here."

Mrs. Tang smiled at Shiyi Niang and said, "You young people like to watch the excitement - don't stay here, let Fourth Madam take you to have a look."

After hearing this, Fourth Lady Tang immediately came to invite Eleventh Lady with a smile.

Eleventh Lady smiled and said, "Tomorrow Miss Tang will leave the palace, I will go to see my uncle to give out red envelopes! Today we are moving the wedding dowry, I don't know whether I should feel sorry for Madam Tang or be happy for Miss Tang. I'd better not go."

Everyone laughed at this remark.

Madam Huang and Madam Xu were in love, and when Madam Huang came out, she brought along Third Madam Huang, who was naturally a character too. She immediately flattered Eleventh Lady and pulled her aside to talk: "Last time I saw a small double-sided landscape screen in your wedding attire, and they said you embroidered it yourself, is that true?"

Shiyi Niang knew of Huang Sanniang's good intentions and said with a smile, "I made it when I had nothing to do. It looked good, so I brought it here."

Grandma Huang San was amazed: "It is truly a work of art that surpasses the work of nature. I am afraid that the nobles in the needlework department of the palace cannot embroider something like this. It seems to me that it is the unique skill of Xianling Pavilion. But I heard that the needlework of Xianling Pavilion is not passed on to outsiders, so I am not sure."

Eleventh Lady smiled and said, "I learned the unique skills of Xianling Pavilion, which emphasizes freehand and elegant painting. I am not like the nobles in the palace who emphasize elegance and luxury. Third Lady Huang praised me." She first rejected the excessive praise from Third Lady Huang, so that no one would make a fuss about it, and then explained, "The unique skills of Xianling Pavilion are indeed not passed on to outsiders. However, it was Master Jian of Xianling Pavilion who taught me this skill. This set of needlework of Lingge was originally from her! But she met the wrong person in her early years, and she had no means of living. She was taken care of by the people of Xianlingge, and she had no way to repay them, so she passed this set of needlework to Xianlingge. I followed her to learn the art. Naturally, I am not subject to this restriction. However, because of the great kindness of Xianlingge to Master Jian, it is not convenient for me to pass this set of needlework to others. "Lest someone covet this set of needlework.

Everyone didn't take it seriously at first, but when she told the secrets of Xianling Pavilion, everyone listened attentively. Even the lady heard it for the first time, and a look of surprise flashed in her eyes.

"What a pity, what a pity!" Mrs. Huang San listened with regret, "Otherwise, if we open a Lingxian Pavilion together, I'm afraid we will take away all the business of the Xianling Pavilion."

Eleventh Lady couldn't help but laugh and said, "Come to think of it, this needlework was invented by Master Jian himself, but it was not until he came to Xianling Pavilion that it was able to flourish. I think the success of Xianling Pavilion is not just due to this needlework."

Grandma Lin was sitting on the sidelines, keeping silent. After hearing what Grandma Huang and Shiyi Niang were saying, she couldn't help but say, "Fourth Madam is right. In addition to double-sided embroidery, Xianling Pavilion is also famous for its silk embroidery. It is timeless and I have never seen anything better than what they have in their store."

Eleventh Lady asked with a smile: "Grandma Lin is from the north, right?"

Grandma Lin nodded in confusion: "I'm from the north!"

"People in the north like to use the silk thread from Xianling Pavilion, but people in our Hangzhou area like to use the silk embroidery thread from Caixiufang." Shiyi Niang smiled, "The colors of their colored threads are very fine. There are seven kinds of white alone..."

She talked about everything from the quality of various embroidery threads to the use of colors, and she looked like a great expert. At the end, Mrs. Lin actually said, "…Fourth Madam, I have an unrespectful request." Without waiting for Eleventh Lady to answer, she said directly, "My daughter Hui is twelve years old this year. She has hired several needlework masters, but none of them can help her. I will send her to you tomorrow, and you can help me take a look. I don't have any other intentions, I just want to talk to her so that she can know something."

The situation took a turn for the worse, shocking Eleventh Lady.

She couldn't help but glance at the lady.

The lady looked at her with a smile, as if to say, "You are the one in charge."

Eleventh Lady's heart moved.

She thought of Sister Zhen...

If she had a playmate of the right age, maybe she wouldn't be so lonely!

If anything doesn't work out, I will invite Master Jian over. The tuition fee he offers will definitely be higher than what the Luo family offers!

It's a win-win situation.

Eleventh Lady decided to teach the wise girl of the Lin family. But she couldn't agree too easily. What you can't get is often good.

She looked embarrassed: "I have never taught an apprentice... not to mention that my skills come from Xianling Pavilion..."

Mrs. Lin became even more anxious when she heard this.

The embroidery of Xianling Pavilion is famous all over the world. If you can learn a little bit of it, you will be so proud in your husband's family when you tell others about it!

"Fourth Madam, how about you write a letter to ask Master Jian? If we learn it, will we be able to compete with Xianling Pavilion for business? Besides, even if Xianling Pavilion knows about it, a family like us will not only not humiliate him, but in fact, they will still get the upper hand."

This Grandma Lin has a really quick mind!

Eleventh Lady gritted her teeth and said, "Then I'll write a letter and ask!" She smiled bitterly and said, "It just so happens that the Grandmother likes my embroidery. It would have been much better if she had only liked the crabapple tree in my yard!"

Huang San's grandmother pretended to be puzzled and asked, "What's so good about your crabapple?"

Eleventh Lady smiled and said, "I will ask someone to send it to Grandma Lin's house, so that we don't have to go through so much trouble!"

Everyone laughed when they heard it.

Grandma Lin even said, "I do have a magnolia tree in my yard. If you don't mind, I'll have someone send it to you tomorrow."

After hearing this, Madam Huang pointed at Eleventh Lady and Grandma Lin and said to the Lady Dowager and Madam Lin, "See? You are all spendthrifts. You can't even keep two trees, and you are the only ones who are still treating them like treasures." At this moment, no one cared about being reserved anymore and burst into laughter.

The little maid who came in to report was so amused that she burst into tears: "...Mother said that it's time to eat!"