Chapter 853 Equality
In the end, Daji went to buy some vegetables and meat, and the cook made a sumptuous dinner.
When County Magistrate Tang saw that his wife did not mention it, he smiled. After dinner, he went to the study to talk with Mr. Zhuang, and asked Mrs. Tang to stay in the yard to play with Manbao and the others.
Manbao was a little puzzled because County Magistrate Tang hadn't said anything serious since he arrived. So when Madam Tang stayed in the yard to play with them, she couldn't help but ask, "Madam, how did you and County Magistrate Tang find time to come and see us today?"
Mrs. Tang glanced at her and said, "Manbao, I just saw a pot of particularly beautiful yellow orchid in the study. It looks better than the pot of magnolia I bought."
Manbao coughed lightly and said, "Madam must have seen it wrong. That orchid that has been kept in the pot is no better than the one grown in the garden."
"But I like Huang Lan."
Manbao said disappointedly, "It's a pity that I only have one pot, which I have already given to you, sir. If you really want it, you can only wait for another two years. By then, I will have divided the plants and can give you a pot."
"I'll give you two hundred taels, will you sell it?"
Manbao is no longer short of money, so money is just a number to her. She shook her head firmly.
Mrs. Tang looked at her and smiled after a while: "Well, it seems that I am not destined to be with this pot of flowers."
She paused, then looked at Manbao and said, "You probably don't know, but the steward of the palace who you said had a connection with your first pot of white peony was beaten with twenty sticks yesterday and sent to work in the farm."
Manbao was slightly surprised, then smiled and said, "Really? That's really unfortunate."
Madam Tang reached out and tapped her forehead, saying, "You're quite courageous and have a strong temper. People say that if you hold your temper for a while, the storm will be peaceful. But you've caused such a turmoil that you've dragged so many people into it."
Manbao was a little confused and tilted his head and said, "But Madam Tang, I feel like you all look down on her privately. I thought you wouldn't mind."
Mrs. Tang: "...Who told you these words?"
"You guys," Manbao said, "When Ji Hao was exposed last year, I didn't think you were afraid of the Princess of Yizhou."
Not only were they not afraid, they simply looked down on him. When Ying Wenhai was taken away by County Magistrate Tang, the Ying family was in turmoil, and Mrs. Tang hid directly in a Taoist temple.
Because Jishidiang was involved, Manbao heard a lot of these things in the pharmacy, and wasn't she always being looked for by the Ying family?
She had heard that the Princess of Yizhou had gone to a Taoist temple on purpose, but Madam Tang refused to see her. Of course, her excuse was that she was in seclusion to pay respects to the Taoists.
But Manbao felt that the wife of a sixth-rank county magistrate dared to refuse to see the super-rank princess when she came to visit, which in itself was a disrespect to the princess.
In the past, Manbao didn’t care about these things, so she didn’t think too much about them. But once she paid attention, these things were not difficult for her. She just treated them as characters in the book and thought about the meaning of their words and actions.
Mrs. Tang looked at Manbao and was speechless for a long time.
She didn't think much of the Princess of Yizhou, but she didn't show it so obviously, right?
Mrs. Tang was in a daze until she got into the carriage.
County Magistrate Tang kept looking at her sideways. Seeing that she ignored him, he coughed lightly and asked, "Didn't you say you were going to settle the score with her? I didn't see you going to settle the score with her."
Mrs. Tang glanced at him and said, "I always thought she was just a little girl who learned some medical skills."
County Magistrate Tang raised his eyebrows and asked, "What about now?"
"I only just realized how much she studied," Mrs. Tang said, straightening her sleeves. "I saw the imperial edict and notes from her book on her desk today. I remember writing home a year ago, and my mother said that Xiaoliu had just finished reading the Spring and Autumn Annals, and that the family planned to send him to the Imperial College this year."
The children of the Wang family naturally did not need to take an exam to enter the Imperial College, but were directly admitted through grace.
Mrs. Tang said, "Xiao Liu is sixteen this year. Although he's not very good at home, he's quite impressive when he goes out. Zhou Man is only twelve this year, right?"
County Magistrate Tang laughed and said, "Bai Shan is slightly better at studying than she is."
"That's different. Not to mention that Bai Shan is a year older than her, and he's studying at the provincial school, and she's also studying medicine." For Mrs. Tang, studying medicine was not something she was afraid of or respected, because in her eyes, a doctor was just a craftsman. Being a good student was different.
The Wang family is a family of farmers and scholars. She knows very well how important reading is and how difficult it is to read good books.
But the Manbao she saw today was completely different from the Manbao she knew before.
County Magistrate Tang: "So you won't settle the score with her?"
Mrs. Tang waved her hand and said nonchalantly, "Forget it, forget it, it's not a big deal."
County Magistrate Tang smiled and retracted his gaze. Before leaving the courtyard, he quietly found Bai Shan and warned him, "You'd better stay away from the Yizhou Palace. Don't do anything too dangerous when you are young."
At first, Mrs. Tang obviously did not regard Manbao as someone who could stand on the same level as her, but after going to the study, she silently put Manbao on the same level as her to communicate.
But others did not change like Mrs. Tang. Mrs. Huang and Mrs. Wei could be considered the vested interests. Lord Huang was in a high position and had great power. Mrs. Huang did not care much about offending the Princess of Yizhou. Instead, she just watched a good show.
Madam Wei was different. She was in a bad mood, but she didn't dare to tell her mother-in-law. She could only complain secretly to Lord Wei, "What's wrong with Ting'er's classmate? He sold a pot of white peonies to the Princess of Yizhou, but then sold so many pots. Didn't you see how the Princess's face turned pale when the silk was torn off?"
Lord Wei frowned slightly and asked, "How much did the princess spend on that pot of white peonies?"
Madam Wei paused and said, "As soon as she entered, the princess said she had won a pot of pure-colored peonies worth a fortune, but she didn't specify how much she paid for it."
Lord Wei said, "You'd better find out more before you speak. There are so many ladies present, the princess won't be able to remember you."
"But," Madam Wei said anxiously, "Yesterday at the flower viewing event, the flowers that Madam Huang and I brought out were the most outstanding. On the other hand, many people had white peonies. I'm afraid the princess will remember me instead of anyone else."
Mr. Wei: ...
Mrs. Wei did not have the confidence of Mrs. Huang and Mrs. Tang, and Lord Wei was not Lord Huang or County Magistrate Tang. He had to get up from the bed and ask carefully about the flower viewing matter.
The more he listened, the more Lord Wei felt something was wrong.
Madam Wei quickly said, "You also feel something's amiss, don't you? This pot of white peonies is so rare, how could Ting'er's classmate have come up with twenty-one pots all at once? And how is it so coincidental that most of them were sold to us, with one family even selling two pots, yet the only one was given to the princess?"
The next update will be around 9pm
(End of this chapter)
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