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Before they knew it, it was Princess Yuanzhao's birthday banquet. Because the princess was favored by the current emperor, her birthday celebration was very lively.
Before this day, Xie Wu had been working hard to finish the embroidery of the "Hundred Longevity Characters" painting. He ordered it to be properly framed and placed in a gold-inlaid and jewel-encrusted gift box, which was listed first on the gift list prepared by the Prime Minister's residence.
Early this morning, the young ladies of the Prime Minister's residence were pulled out of bed to do their hair and makeup. The goal was not for them to be dazzlingly beautiful, but for them to be dignified and elegant.
Qin Sang's makeup and clothing were arranged by Granny Liu. Her makeup was fairly normal and did not deliberately suppress her appearance, which meant she had been instructed to do so. However, the clothes she was given looked a bit old-fashioned.
The navy blue brocade skirt with dark gold flowing cloud patterns looked a bit dull in the late spring and early summer weather.
She wanted to suggest a more ordinary outfit, but Granny Liu said that it was the Princess's birthday banquet today, and she shouldn't be too flamboyant, lest she overshadow the host.
So Qin Sang had no choice but to give up, thinking she would find a shady spot later so it wouldn't be too hot.
However, after getting on the bus, it was discovered that Xie Wu's makeup and clothing were much more delicate and refined. Her dress was also specially made, a gentle pale yellow gauze, with moon white dyed dark floral plain brocade trimmed with black edges, playful yet composed.
Next up was Xie Lin, also dressed in a refreshing pinkish-blue outfit, looking lively and unique.
When Xie Lin saw her, he laughed and said, "Why are you dressed so formally? Even if the occasion is formal, you don't have to be this formal."
Xie Wu glanced at her and defended Qin Sang, saying, "It's alright. Sister Qin Sang is exceptionally beautiful. It doesn't matter if she dresses a bit old-fashioned. This dark blue actually makes her skin look even fairer."
Qin Sang: "..." Thank you so much.
Xie Lin gently shook her jade-handled, tassel-embroidered round fan and said softly, "Yes, in Sister Xie Wu's eyes, Sister Qin Sang is like a fairy descended to earth, pleasing to everyone. No wonder you only play with her after I came. It seems that we, with our plain looks, are not worthy of your attention."
Xie Lin is two years younger than Xie Wu, but like her mother, she is tall and well-developed. Although her face still looks a little childish, she already looks like a rather mature young woman.
To be honest, she's not exactly a pushover; she can be quite radiant when she dresses up.
Xie Wu, always straightforward, couldn't stand Xie Lin's veiled sarcasm. She immediately retorted, "Yes, I like good-looking people. Who doesn't like good-looking people? Don't you? Don't you and your girlfriends often talk about others behind their backs? You Qi is the granddaughter of the Minister of Justice. Every time you see her, you laugh at her for being ugly. Now that you see someone good-looking, you feel resentful. What are you thinking? I think your petty and stingy nature is exactly like your stepmother's. You can't tolerate anyone. You'll suffer a lot in the future!"
Xie Lin was shocked that her casual remark would provoke such humiliation from Xie Wu. Her face flushed with anger: "Sister Xie Wu, you're supposed to be the older sister, how can you bully me like this?!"
Xie Wu: "It wasn't me who invited you to ride with me. You were the one who got on and started acting all sarcastic. Am I supposed to put up with you every single time?"
Xie Lin's eyes immediately reddened slightly, and he retorted sarcastically, "When have you ever tolerated me? Just because I was born to a concubine, and my maternal grandparents are merchants, you can't stand me like that?"
In the past, Xie Wu would let it go if she saw Xie Wu about to cry after saying a few words, since Xie Wu was younger. But today, Xie Wu didn't want to indulge her: "Stop bringing up the issue of whether we are legitimate or illegitimate. The family has never mistreated the children of concubines. You and I were both raised by the nannies in the manor. Grandfather also treats us equally, hoping that we can work together to continue the glory and wealth of the Prime Minister's manor today. You, on the other hand, are always being sarcastic and looking at people with your own petty mind, always saying that I bully you! Let me tell you clearly, I can't stand you, simply because I think you are pretentious, it has nothing to do with your background, understand?"
Xie Lin's face flushed red and then pale from her words, her fingers gripping the fan until they turned white, and tears quickly welled up in her eyes. Her lips trembled, and she finally couldn't help but shout, "Stop the car!"
"Stop what?" Xie Wu quickly interjected. "The caravan has already set off. There's more than just our carriage. If we stop here, all the carriages behind us will have to stop too. Do you want the whole manor and all the people along the street to watch us bicker?"
"Fine, I'll watch. It's not like I wanted to start a fight. You're the one who's being unforgiving and humiliating me." Xie Lin was so angry that he stood up and walked out of the carriage.
I heard her whispering something to the maid who was accompanying her outside. After she finished speaking, she came back with red eyes, feeling extremely wronged, and started sobbing.
Qin Sang sat to the side watching the commotion. Her clothes were thick and the carriage was stuffy, so she fanned herself and advised, "It's just a few words between sisters. Sister Xie Wu is straightforward, so Sister Lin doesn't need to take it too seriously. If you cry and ruin your makeup, then all that getting up early to dress up today will have been for nothing."
"I don't need your fake advice; you're just bullying me!"
Qin Sang also thought about it for a moment, wondering if what she and Xie Wu were doing could be considered bullying.
But she felt that she hadn't said a word, and had even tried to mediate when the other woman cried, so she hadn't really bullied her. Therefore, she ignored her, fanned herself, pulled the curtain open a crack, and went to look at the street scene.
***
Like the Queen Mother of the West's birthday banquet in heaven, it was extremely lively, with gods and immortals gathering together. Although the one on earth was not the Queen Mother, it was still bustling with officials and gentry coming and going.
They got out of the car and saw that this place was not the princess's residence, but rather a clubhouse. The gate was wide and imposing, with large, shiny copper nails, and two large, gilded characters were written on the gate: "Caiyuan".
Seeing her slight doubt, Xie Wu quickly whispered to her, "The Princess is very clean and doesn't like people coming to her residence to bother her. Every time she holds a birthday banquet, she comes to this Caiyuan Garden."
Qin Sang understood.
After looking around, he saw young men and women from all directions surging in, their graceful figures adorned with gold and jade ornaments, their flowing gauze dresses transforming the otherwise plain entrance into a magnificent and opulent space.
At that moment, her gaze caught sight of a familiar figure. Xie Sui'an raised an eyebrow at him from afar but didn't come over. Soon after, Xie Xiao grabbed her shoulders and pulled her away.
She was pulled along by Xie Wu, following closely beside the mistress, and was led through the gate.
Inside, there is a wide bluestone avenue, with flowers blooming on both sides and various colorful lanterns, making it extremely lively.
There were also maids dressed in matching pink dresses standing every hundred paces, guiding the guests.
Just a hundred or so steps inside, two familiar wives of officials came up to greet them warmly, and the young ladies and maids below also began to wink and exchange glances.
Qin Sang was quite excited to see this, thinking that such an occasion was rare and that she should make more friends and acquaintances.
If the imperial court is a man's court, with high-ranking officials and ministers forming the foundation of the country, then the women in the inner quarters are like water. As the saying goes, water drips and wears away stone. Over the years, these foundations might be completely eroded by this water.
Controlling the inner workings of the household means controlling half of the imperial court's fate.
However, there were so many officials and their families that Qin Sang had to memorize some of them before she began to feel dizzy and lightheaded.
The ladies who were on good terms with the two ladies of the Xie family knew who the family members of the Prime Minister's residence were. Now that Qin Sang had suddenly appeared, and was so eye-catching, they couldn't help but ask her a few questions.
The First Madam would always reply in a formulaic way: "The orphan of the Prime Minister's deceased close friend was entrusted to my family. He is a pitiful child. The Prime Minister solemnly instructed me to take good care of him. Tell me, how could I not obey?"
After hearing this, the ladies looked at Qin Sang with five parts pity, three parts sympathy and two parts fondness: "Tsk tsk tsk, you are so lucky to have such a beautiful daughter. She will definitely have a bright future."
Wang Huiwen smiled and said, "Not at all," and then brushed it off.
As a new face, and constantly being asked about, Qin Sang unsurprisingly garnered some envious, jealous, or disdainful glances.
I don't know whether to say she has a bad fate or a good one.
Later, after the elders finished exchanging pleasantries, offered birthday wishes and gifts to the princess, and took their seats, the matriarch instructed Xie Wu, the eldest sister, to take her younger sisters to play elsewhere.
In front of adults, everyone behaves well and obediently, but once they are away from adults, the children run wild, forming groups of three or five and doing their own thing.
Qin Sang walked beside Xie Wu, listening to everyone discuss where to go for fun, while keeping an eye on a little girl in a red dress next to her.
Before coming here, she had spent several days sorting out and eliminating potential suitors, and temporarily narrowed down her shortlist of three promising young men.
First is Tan Bi, the eldest son of the Marquis of Weide. He is young and promising, wielding real power. In his early twenties, he has already become the Commander of the Palace Guard, showing great momentum. He is still unmarried and is a direct descendant of the Crown Prince. However, it is said that he is arrogant, haughty, and extremely rude to women, and is a ruthless and bloodthirsty person.
Secondly, there's Xiahou Ye from the Marquis of Du Nan's family—yes, one of the Four Young Masters of the Capital. He is a bit of a playboy, but his mother is the current Empress's younger sister, making the Empress his aunt, giving him a very powerful backing.
Third is Prince Ning'an, Zhao Kun, the current emperor's youngest brother. He is said to be a disabled and eccentric prince. Although he has a fiefdom, the emperor keeps him confined to the capital year-round, preventing him from going there, claiming he needs the Imperial Medical Academy's miraculous medicines to keep him alive. Rumors circulate that his cruel nature has already caused the deaths of two of his wives.
Of the women who came today, only the Prince of Ning'an's family was absent; the other two women had family members with them.
The younger sister of the Palace Guard Commander was the beautiful and arrogant Princess Fangfei, whom Xie Wu had mentioned before, whom even Xie Sui'an looked down upon. And the one from Xiahou Ye's family was Xiahou Yuan, who was currently discussing marriage with Xie Sui'an.
During the pleasantries, I didn't see Princess Fangfei, but I did see Xiahou Yuan. However, that Miss Xiahou Yuan didn't pay any attention to me at all.
She was a delicate and lovely girl, looking preoccupied with her own thoughts. She had been eager to leave the table for a while, and as soon as the crowd dispersed, she and her maid quietly slipped away from the group and headed down a quiet path.
Qin Sang followed the direction with her gaze, feeling that this opportunity to be alone together was extremely rare, and immediately prepared to follow.
Unexpectedly, Xie Wu suddenly grabbed her wrist and dragged her in another direction: "Come on, come on, I'll show you around!"
"..." Qin Sang, "What have you learned?"
Xie Wu: "You'll know when you get there."
By this time, Xie Wu had been accompanied by several like-minded friends, who all urged her, "Come on, come on, there's a beautiful view ahead!"
After walking through the corridors and gardens for a while, they suddenly saw a clear lake.
A pavilion with upturned eaves stood on the lake, where a circle of noble ladies in brocade robes sat, while on the boardwalk outside the pavilion, a row of maids stood with their heads bowed and eyes lowered.
Xie Wu said mysteriously to Qin Sang, "In the pavilion ahead, there is Princess Fangfei, whom I told you about, who always flaunts her beauty."
"oh?"
"Oh, what do you mean 'oh'? Come on, let me introduce you to them!"
It was like finding a needle in a haystack, only to have it fall into your lap effortlessly. She was secretly delighted, but outwardly feigned fear and declined, saying, "Let's not..."
Xie Wu turned to look at her: "She claims to be the most beautiful woman in the capital and once humiliated me. Will you help her or not?"
Qin Sang waved her fan, then waved it again: "But she's a princess, I can't afford to offend her."
"So what?" Xie Wu said nonchalantly. "With Grandfather backing us up, she wouldn't dare do anything to us. I just can't stand her arrogant attitude. She thinks she's all that because she's pretty, she's got a big tail wagging like crazy. Let's go show her what it means to be outmatched."
Several other daughters of officials echoed this sentiment: "Exactly, she looks down on people so much!"
Qin Sang covered her lips with her fan: "...What should I do, I..."
Before he could finish speaking, he was already being half-pushed and half-forced onto the wooden boardwalk.
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