After introducing her family to Su Rong, the eldest princess, Sheng An, introduced all the ladies present, displaying the loving and favoring attitude of a grandmother introducing her grandchild. She then softly urged the ladies to kindly watch over Xiaoqi in the future.
All the ladies present were shocked, though considering the status of the eldest princess, Sheng An, they were careful to keep their faces polite. There wasn’t a single naive one among them, the treatment Su Rong received was of a kind rarely seen for a lowly born girl from a small manual clan. The Princess Qingping had brought her in person, Rui’an Queen had given her generous welcoming gifts, and the people of the Duke Residence treated her as if she were one of their own.
What was particularly astonishing was Su Rong’s perfectly polite demeanor. There wasn’t a hint of arrogant delight in her attitude when being doted on; nor did she display any signs of awkward hesitation. She handled everything with grace, in comparison to many ladies in the room, she was more than on par, if not slightly better.
After this encounter, it immediately debunked the accusations made by Lord Liu at the morning assembly that Su Xu had failed in educating his daughter and that Su Rong lacked proper etiquette. It was clear slander. No wonder Princess Qingping had been so furious to protect Su Rong. No wonder Lord Liu ended up being dismissed.
After introducing Su Rong to all the ladies and young misses, Sheng An, the eldest princess laughed and let go of Su Rong, saying, "You young ladies go and enjoy yourselves now!"
Rui’an Queen called Xie Ying, the fourth miss of the residence who hadn’t yet married, introducing her to Su Rong. She then instructed Xie Yuan, "You accompany the young ladies and ensure they are taken care of."
Xie Ying agreed, "Don’t worry, Mother."
And so, Xie Ying led Duanhua, Su Rong, Zhou Yun, and the other young ladies out of the reception room towards the backyard.
Every part of the Rui’an King Residence was extremely refined, and all the servants did their jobs proficiently in serving the visitors. Xie Ying led the group toward the Water Pavilion in the garden. "Let’s go to the Osmanthus Garden. My brother and his friends have claimed the Jasmine Garden."
The women agreed.
Duanhua, who was on good terms with Xie Ying, jokingly asked, "Aren’t you afraid I’ll pluck all the osmanthus flowers to make Osmanthus Cake?"
Xie Ying laughed behind her hand, "Osmanthus isn’t considered valuable. If you want to make Osmanthus Cake, feel free to pick them. My mother won’t mind."
Duanhua thought about it, during the Mid-Autumn Festival in Daliang, every household grew osmanthus trees. People would sit beneath the tree to enjoy mooncakes and admire the moon. Osmanthus flowers were not particularly special. Unlike the chrysanthemum of the Crown Prince’s wife, which were rare and high quality blooms.
Duanhua teasingly asked, "What about jasmine?" She turned and asked Su Rong, "Can jasmine be used to make tea?"
Su Rong softly cleared her throat, "It can?"
Hearing this, Duanhua said to Xie Ying, "What if I pick the jasmine flowers?"
Xie Ying still laughed, "Our Jasmine Garden is grown for its fragrance, and they are not rare varieties. Whether you pick them or not, my mother won’t mind. Besides, we use them to make jasmine tea as well. You don’t have to pick them yourself. If you want to drink it, I can send you a few jars later on."
Duanhua giggled, "Alright."
After plucking the Crown Prince’s wife’s chrysanthemum, she had developed a fondness for various flower teas. Every time she saw a flower, she would first think of whether it could be made into tea.
The group was on their way to the Osmanthus Garden when they passed by the Jasmine Garden, from which lively noises could be heard.
All the women turned to look. Inside the Jasmine Garden, a mix of young masters could be seen sitting and standing. Xie Lin was introducing each of them to Fen Ling in turn after sending her away. He did not go out to meet more guests.
Su Rong spotted Zhou Gu. He was lazily leaning against a pillar inside the pavilion, exuding a sense of idleness. A small young master was speaking close to him. Although Su Rong did not hear what the young master said, she noticed Zhou Gu nodding. Even when numerous footsteps passed by the pavilion, he didn’t spare a glance their way.
Many young masters ceased their playful antics, not wanting to offend the passing ladies.
The women quickly moved on and the liveliness resumed in the Jasmine Garden.
One young master asked Xie Lin, "Brother Xie, was the beautiful young lady in the light green dress Su Qi?"
Xie Lin nodded. "Yes, that’s Lady Su Qi."
Hearing this, the young master glanced at Zhou Gu, wanted to say something but halted due to Zhou Gu’s presence.
The Fifth Young Master from the Residence of the Minister of State, who was yet unmarried and had quite the taste for beauty, was two years younger than Crown Prince Lu Weiran. His name was Lu Xuecheng. He approached Zhou Gu and asked, "Brother Zhou, you broke off the engagement with Lady Su Qi, right?"
Zhou Gu lifted his eyes to look at him and simply responded with a grunt.
Lu Xuecheng wrung his hands together, "Since you have broken off the engagement, may I propose to her?"
Zhou Gu squinted his eyes, "As you wish."
Lu Xuecheng was overjoyed, "I’ll propose tomorrow."
Fen Ling rolled his eyes at hearing this. This odious guy actually wanted to propose to his sister. He didn’t even look in the mirror. Without much delay, he walked over and hooked his arm around Lu Xuecheng’s shoulder, "Brother Lu, my brother is right here, why don’t you ask him directly instead of Zhou Gu? I can answer your questions regarding my sister’s marriage."
Lu Xuecheng quickly turned his head, "Ah? Yes, Fen Ling, you are Lady Su Qi’s brother. I forgot about you. Tell me quickly."
Fen Ling began counting on his fingers, "Firstly, my sister likes handsome men. Secondly, she prefers men with broad shoulders and a slim waist, who are well proportioned. She doesn’t like men who are too fat, too bulky, or too dark. Thirdly, she prefers rich men, ideally those who have at least 10,000 tael as their private stash. Fourthly, She likes educated men. They don’t necessarily have to be scholarly famous throughout Capital City, but should be able to write beautiful prose and create poetry spontaneously. And fifthly, she likes men with a good temperament and character, who are not lustful, and have no concubines in their house."
Having listed five requirements, he noticed Lu Xuecheng’s dumbfounded expression, causing him to sigh, "That’s a brief summary. There are certainly many other requirements. Brother Lu, can you meet these expectations? If not, I would advise you not to propose at all. Otherwise, my sister will certainly turn you away. Even though she looks pretty, she is by no means soft-hearted and you wouldn’t want to end up being a laughing stock."
Lu Xuecheng was at a loss for a response. "Are you kidding me?"
"Of course not," Fen Ling replied quietly. "Do you know why my sister broke off the engagement with Zhou Gu? That’s because he did not meet one of the requirements, specifically he has a bad temperament."
Lu Xuecheng stared wide-eyed, comparing Fen Ling’s list with Zhou Gu. Indeed Zhou Gu only lacked in the temperament department, everything else met the criteria. As for the requirement of the 10,000 tael private stash, Lu Xuecheng reckoned that Zhou Gu, being the favored one, must have accumulated a hefty sum over the years and could probably meet that requirement too.
He instantly felt discouraged, "Then, never mind."
No matter how beautiful a woman was, he could never meet those requirements.
He wasn’t foolish enough to attempt to trick Su Rong like Ning Ze. After all, a woman who could call off an engagement with Zhou Gu and could have Princess Qingping stand up for her, was not someone he could take advantage of.
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