Nanny Li told Zhao the identities of all the ladies and young ladies who came to the Marquis' Mansion today.
Zhao wrote them down one by one, greeted them in various ways, and then invited them to sit in the garden.
Several boys from the Feng family also asked their teacher for leave to go home today, and Zhao's family members also came.
The maids led the guests to their assigned seats, and the tables were filled with various fruits and snacks.
When most of the guests had arrived, Zhao and her sisters-in-law helped Old Lady Feng into the garden, and Feng Jiu was also held by her aunt.
The ladies and young ladies from each family paid their respects to Old Lady Feng, and Old Lady Feng also calmly exchanged pleasantries with the ladies and young ladies from each family.
A stage was set up in the garden, and on the stage was a troupe invited by the Feng family, and the opera performed on the stage was in a style that Feng Jiu could not understand.
Almost all the officials above the fourth rank in the capital were here, and the Feng family was really bustling today.
After the troupe finished their performance, Feng Lao Si came on stage and said, "Dear guests, I am truly honored to have you visit my humble home today.
On behalf of my whole family, I would like to extend my warmest welcome to you all.
Although there is no fine wine at today's banquet, we have delicious food and wine. It is a great pleasure to have friends coming from afar.
It is a great honor for us to have such a great gathering of distinguished guests here today. We hope that we can all gather here to talk about the good and the bad and share our friendship. I, Feng Shengjue, would like to offer a toast to all the guests.
Feng Laosi raised his glass and drank a drink. The guests also raised their glasses and drank the wine together.
Feng Lao Si: "Everyone, eat and drink well. Please forgive us if we are not well-received."
As soon as Feng Lao Si finished speaking, Xiao Si at the door came hurriedly to report: "My Lord, His Royal Highness the Crown Prince, His Royal Highness Prince Chen, and the Princess have arrived."
Just as Feng Lao Si was about to go out to greet them, the prince and his two companions came in.
Everyone knelt down in unison, "Greetings to His Royal Highness the Crown Prince, to His Royal Highness Prince Chen, and to His Royal Highness the Princess."
The prince raised his hand: "Everyone, get up."
Everyone then stood up, and Feng Lao Si led them to the seats of honor.
The eldest princess also came to the female guests' side. Zhao asked the eldest princess to sit at the head, but the eldest princess refused.
He came directly to sit next to Fengjiu. Fengjiu looked at Nangong Meng, raised his eyebrows, and said in Nangong Meng's ear with a smile: "Why are you here, Master Nan?"
Nangong Meng scratched Fengjiu's nose and whispered in her ear, "Little girl, you already knew I was a woman, didn't you?"
Feng Jiu nodded: "When I first saw you, I knew you were a girl. It was just that I foolishly thought you were a boy."
Nangong Meng couldn't help but chuckle as she covered her mouth when she thought of the man's shock when he saw her just now.
At this moment, Feng Zhong had not yet come to his senses. He didn't know whether he had seen it wrong or the princess and Master Nan looked alike.
Is the princess the same person as the Young Master Nan whom he knew? Then why did she pretend to be a man to make friends with him?
There were always two people at each table at the banquet. Because there were not enough people today, the prince also transferred dozens of people from the prince's mansion to help.
The maids placed two charcoal stoves on each table, with a double-boiled pot on each stove, and plates of ingredients were placed on the table.
The ladies and young ladies from each family looked at these unknown dishes, wondering why they were all raw. When all the dishes were served, the maids beside them told them how to eat them.
The Feng family initially planned to hold the banquet like other families, but the weather in the first month of the lunar year was so cold that the dishes were basically cold by the time they were served.
It would be better to let everyone eat something hot, which would also serve as an advertisement for the hot pot restaurant that is about to open.
Soon, the overbearing fragrance filled the entire garden, and everyone couldn't wait to eat it.
The ladies who were reserved at first became less reserved after eating the hot pot, and all of them ate with sweat on their foreheads.
The crispy duck intestines, dipped in the prepared sauce, are filled with the crispy and tender taste of the duck intestines in one bite.
Tripe is also a favorite of everyone. It is so satisfying when paired with cold juice.
Nangong Meng was amazed by the food and couldn't stop eating it.
Not far away, Xiao Si was grilling a barbecue, with various meat skewers grilled on more than a dozen grills.
The maids placed the grilled skewers on trays, one on each table.
After everyone tasted the skewers, their eyes lit up. They had never seen such food before. This was not like they were here for a banquet.
It's obvious that they are here to taste the delicious food. The banquet at Anping Marquis' Mansion is really different.
In the past, when we attended banquets, we would just eat a small amount symbolically. But now, everyone eats without even raising their heads.
They completely threw their modesty aside. Haven't you seen those young ladies wiping the sweat from their foreheads with handkerchiefs while eating?
The men were also eating without even raising their heads, and they would take a sip of wine from time to time. The taste was simply amazing.
Before everyone put down their chopsticks, dessert arrived.
There is a strawberry cake on the snow-white porcelain plate. It smells sweet and looks delicious.
Some ladies secretly loosened their belts, and after the maids took the hot pot away, they brought in some fruit.
Everyone: "This Anping Marquis wants to starve them all to death!"
Don’t want to eat it? But they can’t help it. Most of the fruits on the table are ones they have never seen before.
Eat? Their stomachs were really full, and some ladies secretly sucked in their stomachs.
You have to suck it in. Can’t you see that your clothes are getting tighter?
At this time, the maid came with a tray again. Everyone was almost shocked. What delicious food could this be?
The maids came forward, put down the things on the tray, and explained to the ladies how to use the things on the tray.
The tray contains powder, lipstick and other items for touch-up.
Didn’t you see that the makeup on the faces of these ladies and young ladies was smudged, and the maids were instructing them on how to use it.
Some ladies, seeing that their maids knew more than they did, simply asked the maids to help them touch up their makeup.
After the ladies finished, everyone around them exclaimed, "Wow, your skin has become so much better! It even covered up the spots on your face. The color of this lip balm is so pretty!"
Bai Ruoxue, wife of Chen Zhengchuan, the Minister of Personnel, asked: "Madam Hou, where did you buy this lip balm and powder? Why do they look so good?"
Zhao smiled and said, "Madam Chen, these are all from our own store. It will open in a few days. Madam Chen, you can go to the store and take a look. There are many skin care products."
"Oh, I must go and see it when it opens. These are so useful."
Seeing that everyone was full, Zhao stood up and said, "Let's walk around the garden together. We can't digest our food sitting here right now."
The ladies said, "If we don't walk around, our clothes will burst."
Everyone followed Zhao to stroll in the garden. There was nothing to see in winter, but Fengjiu had room for it.
There are all kinds of flowers in her space, including peonies of various colors, hydrangeas of various colors, and roses of various colors.
These gardeners were invited from the palace. They arranged the flowers beautifully, and the ladies were all fascinated by this sea of flowers.
Everyone was amazed that there were so many beautiful flowers in this weather.
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