Chapter Fifty-Five: Selling Everything
On this day, the sun shone brightly, and spring was in full bloom.
Gu Jingxi's honeymoon was over. He left home at 4:45 AM and didn't return until dusk, which was just around dinnertime.
Meng Jinyao only saw him when the lamps were lit, and sometimes she couldn't see him at all. Gu Jingxi would only return under the stars and moon after she fell asleep, but she didn't care much and just did her own thing.
At this moment, Meng Jinyao was reviewing the account books of Gu Jingxi's private assets to understand how much income he earned each year, so as to fulfill her duty as a wife to manage the household for him.
Chunliu came in with an invitation and respectfully handed it to Meng Jinyao: "Madam, this is an invitation from the Rongguo Duke's Mansion."
Meng Jinyao paused in her flipping through the account book. She had been married into the Changxing Marquis's mansion for more than half a month, and this was the first time she had received an invitation from someone else. It seemed that those people were taking a wait-and-see attitude, and only invited her to visit because they knew that the Changxing Marquis's mansion treated her well.
She took the invitation and glanced at it. It was a tea party hosted by the Duchess of Rongguo, inviting her to attend the next day. She put down the invitation, looked up and asked Chunliu, "What is the relationship between the Duke of Rongguo's mansion and the Marquis of Changxing's mansion?"
Chunliu answered truthfully: "We don't have a very close relationship; we're just casual acquaintances."
Meng Jinyao nodded gently: "Yes, I understand."
Unable to fathom her meaning, Chunliu couldn't help but ask, "Madam, are you going to keep your appointment?"
Meng Jinyao smiled and said, "Of course I'll go. Since the Duchess has invited me, why wouldn't I go?"
"But……"
Chunliu hesitated, then glanced at her with concern.
Meng Jinyao chuckled and asked with a smile, "But they didn't genuinely invite me; they just want to see me make a fool of myself? Not only will they want to see me make a fool of myself, but they might even find fault with me and humiliate me?"
Chunliu remained silent, only nodding slightly. Indeed, it was true. Those ladies must all want to see their mistress make a fool of herself. Recently, everything that had happened to their mistress was something that most people would never encounter in their entire lives, and each one was a shocking and shameful affair. People outside had never stopped talking about their mistress, with various opinions, some sympathizing with her and others despising her.
Meng Jinyao said nonchalantly, "What are you making fun of me for? Aren't I doing just fine? I got my mother's dowry back, my husband is powerful and influential, and I don't have any concubines or mistresses. My mother-in-law is gentle and kind. The only downside is that I have an unruly son."
Chunliu was speechless: "..."
So what others consider shameful is actually a great thing to you?
Meng Jinyao glanced at her and smiled, "I thought you were quite clever before, but now it seems you're not clever enough in some things. Why don't you broaden your mind and look at things from a different angle? Getting stuck in a rut can easily blind you."
Chunliu seemed to understand but not quite. After pondering for a moment, she realized what was going on and quickly nodded, "What Madam says is true. I was just being stubborn and only thought about the downsides, but I overlooked the benefits."
Meng Jinyao waved her hand, signaling her to step back, and continued looking at the account book.
Chunliu bowed and withdrew.
Ningdong, who was serving her, asked, "Madam, we can look at the account book another day. Why don't I help you choose your clothes and jewelry for the banquet tomorrow? You can use them directly tomorrow without having to choose them again."
Meng Jinyao thought for a moment, then nodded and agreed, "Alright."
Ningdong smiled and said, "This servant will definitely dress you up like a fairy, so that you will outshine all the beauties tomorrow."
-
The next day, it was nearly 9:00 AM.
Meng Jinyao took Qingqiu and Ningdong to the Rongguo Duke's Mansion for a banquet.
She thought she hadn't arrived too late, but when she got there she found that she was quite late, as many officials' wives and noble ladies had already gathered in the flower hall.
Everyone had assumed she wouldn't dare go out and therefore wouldn't come. But when they saw her appear, almost everyone looked at her with a mixture of surprise and astonishment, and then scrutinized her.
She was dressed in a sky-blue pleated moon skirt, her black hair was tied in a single bun, and she wore a pearl and jade hairpin. Her makeup was simple, but she was beautiful, charming and bright, and dignified and elegant.
When she smiles, her beauty is dazzling, outshining all the flowers; she is a rare beauty.
No wonder the Marquis of Changxing, who always valued rules, would marry her. With such a beautiful wife by his side, what did it matter if he was ridiculed by the world? Originally, the Marquis of Changxing had a hidden illness, so no noble lady was willing to marry him. Now that his son had run away from the marriage, he had just gotten a great deal. He decided to keep the good stuff in the family.
Ignoring their scrutinizing gazes, Meng Jinyao smiled gracefully and said apologetically, "Ladies, I'm so sorry I'm late."
Everyone politely replied, "It's not late, it's not late, we're the ones who arrived early."
The Duchess of Rongguo was of the same generation as Gu Jingxi. If the two families were close, Gu Jingxi would have to call her sister-in-law. However, the two families were only casual acquaintances. She said in a friendly manner, "Madam Gu, please take a seat first."
A maid immediately led Meng Jinyao to her seat.
Seating is not based on first-come, first-served; it is arranged according to the status and position of each lady. Otherwise, if someone of higher status arrives late and is relegated to a corner, it would seem disrespectful to the host.
Marquis Changxing, Gu Jingxi, held a high position and enjoyed the emperor's favor, so Meng Jinyao always had a seat near the front.
The Yongchang Marquis's Mansion had fallen on hard times and was considered a down-on-his-luck household by others. It could no longer receive invitations from high-ranking families and had been reduced to associating only with the families of lower- and middle-ranking officials. In addition, Meng Jinyao did not like to curry favor with others, so many of the ladies and noblewomen present were people Meng Jinyao did not recognize.
In terms of knowing people, Meng Jinyu actually knows more than she does. After all, although Meng Jinyu is two years younger than her, she is very ambitious and likes to scheme and become someone else's follower in order to get into the upper class and, incidentally, marry into a good family.
The Duchess of Rongguo, as a gracious hostess, introduced her to many wives of officials. She greeted them all warmly and politely, without being overly enthusiastic or deliberately distant. This earned her high regard from many of the ladies. Despite being raised by a poor family, she was not impolite and remained poised and graceful.
Suddenly, a lady said, "Madam Gu, I heard that your maternal family, the Yongchang Marquis's Mansion, has been raising money like crazy lately, even Madam Meng is selling her dowry for cash. Is that true?"
Upon hearing this, everyone's gaze turned to Meng Jinyao again, this time with a look of anticipation.
The news that Meng Jinyao's stepmother, Sun, had seized her birth mother's dowry had already spread throughout the capital. It was said that Meng Jinyao had used Zhou's dowry list to demand its return, but Sun had not expected that there were two copies of Zhou's dowry list. In the end, her attempt to steal the chicken backfired.
In the past few days, Sun pawned her dowry for cash, which may have been due to misappropriation of the dowry belonging to Meng Jinyao's birth mother, Zhou. Now she has no choice but to return the money.
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