Chapter 36 Banquet (Part 1)

After sending his son-in-law away, the eldest master returned to the main house. The eldest wife couldn't help but sneer: "Is it because the house is too shabby that the uncle-in-law feels it's dirty to sit here?"

The eldest master frowned: "What nonsense are you talking about? The Marquis is not that kind of person. It is true that the emperor has something to discuss with him - you know that Liu Ge has retired and there are many things to do in the court. In public, he is an important official in the court, and in private, he is the emperor's uncle, how can he stay out of it..."

"I wonder when he became a bachelor?" The eldest wife said sarcastically, but her tone was much milder than before.

"You came to Yanjing and haven't met Madam Liu yet?" The old man didn't want to talk too much with the eldest wife, so he reminded her, "They will leave early tomorrow morning. You can take some time to go and see them! And also go to the third brother's wife and see if there is anything you can do to help them."

"I need you to tell me." The eldest wife said angrily, "I have prepared everything a long time ago. I'm just waiting for you to come back and go there together." She also called Luo Yu to help the eldest master change his clothes, and the couple went out to the Liu Mansion.

Wu Niang was applying facial mask and washing her hair in the room, while Shiyi Niang was making clothes for Zhe Ge in the room.

The next day, the Xu family's carriage to pick them up arrived at the third quarter of the first lunar month, and the eldest wife had just given instructions for all the household affairs.

Grandma Luo and the first wife got on the first carriage, Fifth Lady and Eleventh Lady got on the second, Mother Xu, Brother Hui and Brother Hui's wet nurse got on the third carriage, Amber, Holly, Ziwei and Ziyuan got on the fourth carriage, and their mother sent by the lady to pick them up and several servants of the Luo family got on the fifth and sixth carriages. Together with more than thirty guards, they left Gongxian Hutong and headed towards Hehuali in a mighty procession.

It was early noon when we arrived at Xu's house.

They went to see Yuanniang first.

Madam Wen had arrived a long time ago. After everyone greeted each other, Brother Zhe and Brother Xiu hugged each other with smiles on their faces. They held hands and went to the back garden to see the koi.

"Today you have to accompany Brother Xiu to have dinner at Grandmother's house." Yuanniang said softly, "After dinner, let Sister Wei Zi take you to see the koi. Okay?"

Brother Zhe nodded obediently, and Brother Xiu also said "OK", winning all the praise from the adults.

After chatting for a while, they went to see the lady, accompanied by Madam Wen.

The lady was waiting in the hall with a little girl of eight or nine years old who was wearing a red silk jacket.

When Zhege saw the little girl, he happily shouted "Zhenjie'er", then struggled out of the wet nurse's arms and ran towards the little girl.

The little girl smiled and walked forward, took his hand, and said, "Why did you lose Brother Xiu?"

Brother Zhe lowered his head embarrassedly and called out "Brother Xiu" in a low voice.

Brother Xiu didn't mind. He ran over, took Brother Zhe's hand, and called the girl "cousin".

In the Xu family, only Madam Wen gave birth to a girl when Xu Lingyi came to power. Without much thought, Shiyi Niang knew that this little girl was Xu Lingyi's eldest daughter.

She couldn't help but look at Zhen Jie'er carefully.

She seemed to be taller than other children of the same age, with fair skin, thick eyebrows and big eyes, completely different from the petite and delicate Madam Wen.

Or, looks like his father?

While Shiyi Niang was thinking, Zhen Jie'er had already called out "Aunt" to Aunt Wen.

Madam Wen smiled as she heard this and called out "Miss".

The lady had already smiled and asked someone to give Brother Xiu a reward of silver.

Brother Xiu thanked the old lady in a baby voice. The old lady held Brother Xiu in her arms and kept praising him, "This child is so adorable!"

The eldest wife's eyes were full of smiles. After being humble for a while, Grandma Luo, Fifth Lady, Eleventh Lady and Madam Wen came forward to pay their respects to the dowager, and they chatted and laughed as they went to the chamber where the dowager usually rested.

As soon as everyone sat down, a little maid came to report: "Mrs. Cheng and Miss are here."

"Please come in!" As soon as the lady's voice fell, Mrs. Qiao came in with the sixth daughter of the Qiao family whom she had met last time.

Mrs. Qiao wore a red full-sleeved jacket with gold all over her hair, a peony bun, a red gold phoenix knot with four pearls in the middle, and a large red ruby ​​on her right hand. She was dressed very gorgeously. Miss Qiao wore a goose yellow embroidered green persimmon bud pattern jacket, a fallen horse bun, a gold step-shake, a honey wax stone pearl flower, and a pair of red gold inlaid purple pendants on her ears. She was dressed in a gentle and charming way.

Eleventh Lady couldn't help but glance at Fifth Lady beside her.

Today she wore a pomegranate red jacket with gold all over it, and she had her hair done up in a high bun. She wore three cloisonné and red coral ruyi gold hairpins, and pure gold and emerald cat's eye pendants on her ears. She looked gorgeous and dignified.

Look at yourself again.

She had her hair tied into twin buns, and wore two fingernail-sized pomegranate-red silk flowers, a pair of red silver pearl pendants on her ears, and a pea green jacket with cloud patterns... She looked a little childish.

Eleventh Lady was very satisfied with the effect, and the corners of her mouth curled up slightly.

Everyone greeted each other and sat down. The maid served tea and snacks. Wei Zi took Zhen Jie'er, Zhe Ge and Xiu Ge to the greenhouse.

There was a laughter coming from outside the door: "I'm late, please don't blame me, distinguished guest." As soon as the words fell, a group of maids and wives came in, escorting a young woman of about twenty-five or twenty-six years old.

She had a graceful figure, and wore a bright red jacket with hundreds of butterflies embroidered all over it. She had her hair in a heart-shaped bun with a red gold branch inserted in the middle, and a precious flower inlaid with Atlantic pearls and jade leaves on the right. She had willow-shaped eyebrows, almond-shaped eyes, and a little makeup. She looked energetic and capable.

Eleventh Lady looked unfamiliar, but she knew Miss Qiao Liu. She stood up and called out "Third Madam" with a smile.

The third wife? That must be the wife of Xu Lingyi's half-brother Xu Lingning!

Wu Niang and Shiyi Niang also stood up after hearing this.

The eldest wife had already greeted the visitor: "Third Madam, long time no see?"

The third wife hurried forward and bowed to the first wife, saying with a smile, "I am late, please don't blame me, first wife."

The first wife hurriedly took the third wife's hand and said, "Yes, you are getting more beautiful!"

"Thank you for the compliment, Madam." The Third Lady politely exchanged a few words with the First Lady, and then greeted Madam Qiao. Then she smiled and greeted the Sixth Miss Qiao: "Lotus Room, you are a rare guest!"

It turns out that the sixth young lady of the Qiao family is called Lianfang!

Eleventh Lady pondered in her heart.

Mrs. Qiao glanced at the old lady and said, "She never leaves the house. She spends her days either sewing or teaching her nieces to read."

The Sixth Miss Qiao blushed as she heard this and asked the Third Lady, "Why don't you see your two nephews?"

The Third Lady smiled and said, "She hasn't finished school yet." Then she turned around and looked at the Fifth Lady and the Eleventh Lady: "Who was it? From a distance, she looked like a fairy. It turns out to be the young lady from my father-in-law's family!"

After hearing this, the eldest wife immediately recommended Wu Niang and Shiyi Niang to the third wife.

Eleventh Lady had heard from the eldest wife that the father of the Third Lady of the Xu family was the illegitimate son of the Zhongqin Earl Gan family. He studied hard and passed the imperial examination at the age of 21 and the imperial examination at the age of 44. Now he and Luo Zhenxing are studying at the Imperial College...

From her tone, she seems to be very familiar with the Qiao family... Is it that Mrs. Qiao has a wide social circle? Or is it that the powerful families in Beijing are all intertwined?

She believes more in the latter.

Eleventh Lady’s eyes turned slightly.

After everyone had exchanged greetings, Grandma Luo had already greeted the Third Madam with a smile.

The third lady smiled and took her hand, saying angrily, "Sister-in-law misses you so much that she doesn't come to visit more often."

Grandma Luo smiled and said, "Now that mother has come to Yanjing and there is someone to take care of the family, I will definitely come over more often. I'm afraid you will dislike it by then."

The two exchanged a few pleasantries, and the Third Lady came forward to pay her respects to the Grand Lady, and explained to her with a smile, "The Third Master is back, and I was helping him wash and dress, so I'm late, please don't blame me, mother."

The lady nodded amiably and asked, "Is the third son back?"

"Yes!" The Third Lady said respectfully, "I just came back. I wanted to come and pay my respects to mother right away. But when I heard that mother had guests, I went to bed first." She then explained to Mrs. Qiao and the First Lady, "Our Third Master went to Tianjin to collect a debt."

Xu Lingning was born a scholar. The Xu family donated a fourth-rank Tongzhi position to him. He did not work as an official, but helped with household affairs.

The lady nodded slightly, smiled and stood up: "Madam, you are sitting here listening to my idle talk, I am afraid you are already hungry. Let's go to the flower hall, and you can taste the flavor of our Yanjing - although it is not as good as Jiangnan, it has its own flavor."

The third lady hurried forward and hugged the lady.

"You are too polite, Madam." The eldest wife said politely, "Yanjing is an important place in the capital, how can it be compared with our small town in the south of the Yangtze River!"

Wu Niang went forward to hug the eldest wife, while Shiyi Niang followed them silently, leaving Zhen Jie'er, Zhe Ge and Hui Ge in the old lady's room. They all chatted and laughed and went to the newly built five-room flower hall behind the old lady's room.

On the way, Mrs. Qiao smiled and said to the first wife, "This was originally an unused study. The fifth master was filial and turned the back house into a flower hall last year. He also built a stage for the lady in the yard. It was called "Dianchun Hall"." She raised her face and asked the lady, "Is this the name? Am I remembering it correctly?"

"That's the name!" The lady smiled to her eyes, and it was obvious that she was very happy that someone had mentioned this. "He just likes to mess around. He also wants to buy a few children and hire someone to teach them how to act, so that he can form an in-house troupe. He said that in the future, if there are any happy events, he won't need to invite outsiders to avoid being shabby."

"That's a good thing!" Mrs. Qiao said with a smile, "If you don't find anyone you like, I still have a few smart and clever maids who haven't been retained yet. I think they are better looking than the ones from the "Deyin Troupe" who enter the palace to sing for the Empress."

Whenever the old lady spoke, Mrs. Qiao would join in the conversation, and she would talk about people they just met, intentionally or unintentionally ignoring the first lady. The old lady looked like she knew nothing about it, and would occasionally say a few words to the first lady.

"Do you like to watch operas, madam?" She said with a smile, "In the past two years, a group called 'Deyin Troupe' has emerged in Yanjing. They are from Yangzhou and specialize in singing Yiyang Opera. On the birthday of the Empress, the Emperor even invited them to perform in the palace. Now, people all over Yanjing are following the Deyin Troupe's operas. I heard that the 'Jiuyuan Pavilion' where they perform is always packed and it's hard to get a seat!"

The first wife laughed and said, "The Deyin Troupe once performed in our Hangzhou Prefecture and was also very famous. But I spend most of my time at home and have never heard the Deyin Troupe perform."

The lady smiled and said, "How about we invite some singers to sing at home in a few days?"

"How can this be so embarrassing!" The eldest wife declined politely, "In the inner courtyard of the mansion..."

"I think this is a good idea!" Mrs. Qiao interrupted the eldest wife with a smile, "You don't know, our Fifth Master loves to listen to opera, but the Marquis hates it being noisy. Every time the Fifth Master sees the Marquis, he is so surprised that he flies away like a swallow..." She whispered, "Instead of letting the masters go outside, why not just play at home."

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When will the days without electricity end?