Chapter 90: The heroine of this sweet romance novel is also a stubborn one...
On the day of the Qixi Festival.
The competition was held in the evening. Although it was organized by the government, not many noble ladies signed up.
In reality, many prominent families with many daughters would set up an incense table at home to celebrate the Qixi Festival, rather than showing themselves in public.
However, not all noble ladies were confined to their homes; many girls, even those who did not register for the competition, would come to watch.
Such competitions are not restricted by social status; any unmarried woman can register to participate.
Zhao Xian glanced at Cui Tingyue, "Are you nervous?"
Because there was no Qixi Festival last year, there were many more people participating in the competitions and watching the events this year.
In particular, after the imperial examinations were held in the spring, cheating in previous years was discovered, and the emperor executed a number of people. In addition, another group of border officials who colluded with enemy countries to massacre civilians were also executed.
In just a few short months, it wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that Jin'an was awash in blood, as too many people were beheaded or exiled.
After living in fear for so long, the people needed some activities to alleviate the pain of those bloody events.
Cui Tingyue twisted her handkerchief and nodded, "I didn't expect there to be so many people."
She had participated in the Qixi Festival before and even received a "Qiqiao" (a traditional Chinese lucky charm), but that was only held in the county town, and there were far fewer people there than here.
"Is this Madam Jiang?" A noble lady wearing a veiled hat walked in, surrounded by maids and servants.
The other party asked a question.
After Zhao Xian agreed, the other party lifted her veil, and Zhao Xian recognized her as the wife of the Prefect of Jinzhao. It seemed that the Qixi Festival was an event organized by the Prefect's household of Jinzhao.
Zhao Xian greeted them with a smile: "The Qixi Festival is very lively this year."
The other person was more enthusiastic than Zhao Xian, saying, "This is the first time I've seen Madam Jiang on the Qixi Festival. What a rare guest! There are seats over there in the stands. Madam Jiang, please come with me to watch. It's not far from where Miss Cui will be competing later, so you can have a clearer view."
The last sentence is the key point.
Zhao Xian did not refuse her kindness upon hearing this, and the stands that the Prefect's wife mentioned were the judges' seats, which were the closest places to the entire competition.
The first competition in the Qixi Festival is threading a needle to pray for skill. Under the moonlight, one must thread a seven-holed needle, and whoever finishes first is considered to have "gained skill".
Because there were too many participants, they were divided into groups. The first person to finish in each group was selected, and then these people competed to thread a nine-hole needle to select the 'skilled' one.
In each of the three competitions, the winner receives a prize related to the Qixi Festival.
Although the first competition was divided into preliminary and final rounds, it was a threading contest where the fastest finisher was given priority, so the competition time was the shortest.
Cui Tingyue stood out and won the first "De Qiao" (a special prize).
Because no one was allowed to wander around during the competition, Cui Tingyue waved the golden needles and colorful thread box in her hand at Zhao Xian; they were the winner's reward.
Zhao Xian knew that Cui Tingyue practiced in private and practiced very diligently.
The Prefect's wife immediately took the lead in praising, "Madam Jiang is truly adept at raising her daughter."
"What a clever and skillful girl, Madam Jiang is blessed."
"Such a wonderful girl, I wonder who she'll end up with."
The judges' wives each offered a compliment, all of which were directed at Zhao Xian.
Zhao Xian thought she came to watch the game for fun, but she was forced into a social obligation mode.
The Prefect's wife congratulated Zhao Xian with a smile, "This second event is a live embroidery session. What do you think the young ladies should embroider today to suit the occasion, Madam Jiang?"
Zhao Xian waved her hand, "The ladies are the judges, so you can make the decision. I'm just a guest, so I don't know anything about this."
"Madam Jiang, please don't be so polite. Each time, it's just a few of us who come up with the topics, like flowers, birds, and fish. I'm afraid the girls who have come before have already run out of ideas for embroidery."
"Yes, Madam Jiang, let's do the same thing this year and try something different."
"Yes, yes, Madam Jiang, please don't be so polite."
Each of the ladies offered their opinions, and Zhao Xian declined twice but could not refuse. "Since you ladies have put it that way, I can no longer refuse. Since today is the Qixi Festival, let me embroider the character 'Qi'."
One of the ladies spoke up: "Is it really that simple?"
One lady remarked, "The simpler the design, the more it tests the embroidery skills."
They set the tasks, and the flowers, birds, fish and insects they embroidered all had fixed objects and similar shapes. They mostly tested the color matching and the differences in embroidery stitches. After all, there was a time limit for on-site embroidery. If the embroidery was too complicated, the embroidery could not be completed, and no matter how beautiful it was, it would be a waste.
If you're only embroidering a single character, trying to make it look beautiful... it'll probably be even harder than in previous competitions.
The Prefect's wife pursed her lips, but the words had already been spoken. They had asked Zhao Xian to set the questions, so it was not appropriate to go back on her word at the last minute.
"Someone, pass on the message: this year's Qixi Festival embroidery theme is 'begging'."
No one had ever assigned a task to embroider words before. Due to time constraints, the embroiderers would practice by embroidering the simplest flowers, birds, fish, and insects, aiming to make the designs beautiful and complete them within the allotted time.
When the questions were first released, many people were initially delighted, thinking that this year's questions were easy. However, they soon noticed that many people began to frown frequently.
It's just a single character; simply embroidering the character wouldn't look good.
The embroidery takes a fixed amount of time; the start of dripping water indicates the start of the timer.
Some people are still thinking about it, while others have already started embroidering.
Because Zhao Xian set the test questions, during the review process, several ladies pulled her along to look at the embroidery pieces.
The question was clearly about 'begging,' but some of the embroidered pieces that were collected were very exquisite, yet so exquisite that they had nothing to do with the question. They looked as if they had been embroidered in advance, but were handed in because the question was not answered correctly.
However, some took it seriously and used various colored embroidery threads to embroider the character "乞" (beg).
Even better is to use flowers, fish, birds, etc. to express the words.
The three best embroidered pieces are the character "乞" (beg) embroidered from a whole jasmine plant, the character "謝" (beg) expressed by a koi fish carrying a flower in its mouth, and the character "鹊踏鹊桥" (magpie crossing a bridge). However, the last piece was not finished.
It must be said that these girls have both good ideas and exquisite embroidery skills.
The ladies who were to be judged were now in a dilemma.
In the end, the one with the koi carp holding a lotus flower in its mouth was chosen as the champion.
The magpie bridge is beautiful, and the embroidery is exquisite, but unfortunately, it's not complete.
A lady wanted to select the painting, not for any other reason than that it was embroidered by Cui Tingyue, but Zhao Xian stopped her. After all, the selected embroidery was to be displayed, and an unfinished embroidery would not be convincing to the public.
The third challenge is to make Qiaoguo (巧果), which requires cooking.
There are three rounds in total, and each round has one person who "passes the test". Girls who cannot cook or make Qiaoguo (a type of pastry) can still register, but those who cannot embroider cannot register.
Therefore, by the third round, the number of participants had decreased significantly. Many of the noble ladies who had participated earlier would not participate in the third round. Firstly, the wealthy girls who had hired cooks did not need to cook, and secondly, many girls dressed up nicely and came out to play, and were unwilling to cook and make Qiaoguo (a type of pastry) and get their clothes dirty.
After all, Qiaoguo requires flour, oil, and other ingredients.
Some embroiderers, in order to keep their hands soft, will not do rough work, for fear that calluses will affect their ability to split the thread.
Zhao Xian went out after dinner. Since she was invited to the stands, the ladies treated her as a judge, and she got a bite of every serving of Qiaoguo.
There aren't many people who make Qiaoguo (巧果), and those that are served are all anonymous, with the ladies giving scores.
To Zhao Xian's surprise, the Qiaoguo (a type of fried dough) that they unanimously voted as having the best taste and the most exquisite craftsmanship was actually made by Cui Tingyue.
Zhao Xian knew that she was skilled in embroidery and that she practiced in private, but she did not know that she was also good at cooking.
In the three matches, Cui Tingyue won two "skillful" awards, and the other ladies congratulated Zhao Xian.
Zhao Xian felt guilty about the compliments.
Just as she was surrounded by the ladies, she saw through the crowd that Lin's sixth wife was walking towards Cui Tingyue.
After Zhao Xian left the group of ladies with a smile, Lin's sixth daughter-in-law had finished speaking. Seeing Zhao Xian approaching, she greeted her with a smile, "Madam Jiang."
As she approached, Zhao Xian suddenly smelled a familiar scent of perfume. Although there were many ladies and young misses present, and various perfumes were mixed together, the perfume scent she smelled when she got close to Lin Nianzang was different; it was unique to Princess Rongyang.
Zhao Xian remembered that when she met Lin Nianzang before, she did not notice that the scent of perfume on her body was familiar.
"Miss Lin." Zhao Xian looked Lin Nianzang up and down. For some reason, she felt that Lin Nianzang was becoming more and more like Princess Rongyang.
Although Zhao Xian disliked Princess Rongyang in the past, she did not harbor much hostility towards her daughter. Her name was given by Princess Rongyang, so her dislike was directed at Princess Rongyang.
But at this moment, the smell was so unforgettable that Zhao Xian had the absurd thought that Lin Niancang might have been possessed by her mother.
"Madam Jiang, Sister Cui, please enjoy your time. I have to leave now," Lin Nianzang said politely.
As she walked past Zhao Xian with her servants, the familiar scent of perfume became even stronger, making Zhao Xian feel irritated.
Zhao Xian looked at Cui Tingyue: "When did you meet Lin's sixth wife?"
“I don’t know her. She came to congratulate me on my ‘lucky day’.” Cui Tingyue shook her head. Too many girls congratulated her today, and she had only met many of them once. She assumed that the girl was just like everyone else.
However, seeing that her adoptive mother knew the other person, Cui Tingyue took Zhao Xian's hand and asked, "Mother, who is she?"
Zhao Xian said succinctly, "She is the Lin family girl who took a liking to Han Mu, and the Empress Dowager's great-granddaughter."
Upon hearing this, Cui Tingyue realized who Lin Nianzang was.
Suddenly she remembered that this wasn't the first time she had met Lin Nianzang. They had met before at a polo match, but they hadn't spoken then.
After Lin Niancang and her men disappeared into the crowd, the smile on her face faded slightly, and she said in a low voice, "Madam Jiang is currently choosing a husband for her adopted daughter, but unfortunately, the wife of the Marquis of Dingyuan is not up to the task."
Before the plan could be implemented, the entire Dingyuan Marquis's mansion was demoted. The former heir of the Dingyuan Marquis was imprisoned for bullying men and women, and his mother was running around trying to help her son.
The Marquis of Dingyuan's pawn is now completely useless.
"No rush, there's plenty of time, take your time." The one who answered was an old woman following behind Lin Niancang. She was an ordinary-looking woman who would not have attracted much attention in a crowd. Her voice was a little hoarse, as if she had been injured.
As the two walked, the old woman walked in front of Lin Nianzang, losing her sense of hierarchy.
After the Qixi Festival competition, the waiting men would accompany their chosen girls to admire the lanterns and solve riddles.
The night is still long. The Qixi Festival, which comes once a year or even once every few years, is a festival exclusively for unmarried girls. It is a rare opportunity for them to go out and have fun, and everyone cherishes it.
“Miss Cui, there’s a game of pitch-pot over there. The prize is a Magpie Bridge Lantern. Shall I go and win it for you?”
“Miss Cui, there is a puppet show being performed on West Street. I would like to invite you to watch it.”
Two voices rang out simultaneously; the former was Xu Luohua, and the latter was Han Mu.
Cui Tingyue looked left and right. She had a good impression of Young Master Xu, but on the day the Sixth Prince married his principal wife, Madam Xu seemed to be frightened by her adoptive mother. Her adoptive mother later told her that the Xu family was probably not up to par.
Han Mu was doomed from the start.
Cui Tingyue didn't answer anyone, "Sorry, I'll guess the riddle."
Once again, several ladies congratulated her. In the midst of their conversation, Zhao Xian glanced around and saw three figures leaving.
Two tall ones and one short one.
To be honest, Zhao Xian was actually having some trouble choosing a husband for Cui Tingyue.
She probably has a hard time making decisions in this regard, since, strictly speaking, her two sons chose their own marriages, with Jiang Liangxu giving his approval.
However, since Cui Tingyue doesn't have an official love interest in the book, there's no way for her to slack off.
Zhao Xian was actually very worried.
The day after the Qixi Festival, someone came from the palace. The Empress sent someone to invite Cui Tingyue into the palace. She heard that Cui Tingyue almost had three consecutive Qixi Festivals, and the Empress wanted to invite her to stay in the palace for a few days.
Having received the Empress's decree, Zhao Xian felt that the Empress was still not giving up, but since the Empress only accepted Cui Tingyue into the palace, she couldn't say much.
Zhao Xian pondered whether she should go to the palace to fetch the person in a day or two.
-Zhuqinyuan-
Watching her personal maid busily packing her luggage, Cui Tingyue realized that it was forbidden to bring maids into the palace. However, the Empress had made an exception, fearing that Cui Tingyue might not be used to palace maids, and thus allowed her to bring one maid into the palace.
"Xiyu, pack some clothes and come with me to the palace."
Dong'er, who was overjoyed at the prospect of accompanying her mistress to the palace, paused in her tracks. "Miss, isn't it usually me who accompanies you?"
"The palace is not like other places. You can lose your head if you say the wrong thing. Dong'er, you stay home and take good care of Ruoxue." Cui Tingyue rubbed the head of the white cat in her arms.
This wasn't the first time. Cui Tingyue wasn't oblivious to Dong'er's unusual feelings for Han Mu; her own personal maid was showing interest in a man outside the marriage.
Whether or not there is a possibility between her and Han Mu, it is not something that Dong'er should comment on or instigate.
Cui Tingyue felt that bringing Dong'er into the palace might lead to her being sold out.
Dong'er was about to cry, "Miss—"
Cui Tingyue didn't look at her. "Alright, my mind is made up."
Xi Yu glanced at Dong'er, nodded obediently, and went to pack her clothes without saying anything more.
After the lady assigned her to serve Miss Cui, she knew that Miss Cui and Dong'er had a deep bond between them, and she would never be able to fit in, so she rarely spoke.
After Xiyu came out of the house, she heard voices coming from inside, but she didn't listen and hurried to the servants' quarters.
Two days after Cui Tingyue was brought into the palace by the Empress, news spread from the home of the Chancellor of the Imperial Academy that their eldest son was engaged and their youngest son was being considered for marriage.
The eldest son was betrothed to a girl from his deceased wife's family, making the two families even closer through marriage.
Zhao Xian didn't react much when she heard the news.
Judging from their refusal to accept the invitation, it seems they never intended to form a marriage alliance with the Jiang family in the first place.
That's fine too. The Jiang family isn't of low social standing, so there's no need for her adopted daughter to marry a widower and become a stepmother. She's afraid people will gossip about her later.
Cui Tingyue went to the palace. Li Lianniang was pregnant, and since she was well past the first trimester, she had the energy to handle the general affairs. She also took over the embroidery room that Cui Tingyue had previously managed.
When Zhao Xian had some free time again, she would occasionally go out to banquets to chat with the wives of officials and learn about the current affairs in the inner quarters of Jin'an.
It was only after attending the banquet that she learned why the eldest son of the Imperial Academy Chancellor's family had suddenly announced his engagement. It turned out that after the Empress sent people to bring Cui Tingyue into the palace, the ladies of the various families had already discerned the Empress's intentions.
He thought there was no need to compete with the Empress and offend her for no reason.
It was only at the banquet that I learned that Madam Xu had brought her niece from her maternal family to live in her home.
Zhao Xian rubbed her temples; once she was out of the story, she felt like she wasn't thinking as much.
Having suffered amnesia once, Zhao Xian disliked doing things that would put her in a difficult position, so she immediately threw the question at Jiang Liangxu, "The Empress isn't trying to force you to help the Sixth Prince, is she? By the way, what kind of person is the Sixth Prince?"
According to the plot of the book, a new emperor will ascend the throne after the autumn hunt. She didn't remember who the new emperor was from the book, which made it impossible for her to avoid danger.
Han Mu is not a known person in the book, yet he happens to be the Empress's nephew, making him highly susceptible to being implicated in the issue of the princes' faction.
"His Majesty is in good health, so there is no need to worry about these things for the time being. Besides, even if Tingyue were a biological daughter, she wouldn't be able to influence her family's affairs, let alone be an adopted daughter," Jiang Liangxu said calmly.
Hearing him say that, Zhao Xian was no longer worried.
But thinking of the autumn hunt, she still told him, "I don't know if this is true or not, so you should be careful."
"good."
After about six or seven days, the Empress still showed no intention of releasing the person. After much deliberation, Zhao Xian decided to resist the urge to go to the palace to fetch the person.
Sometimes when she goes out to a banquet, other women will already be congratulating her.
Zhao Xian knew that she had no chance of finding a match for Cui Tingyue in the social circle of wealthy women in Jin'an.
They were just waiting for Cui Tingyue to come out of the palace so they could ask her what she thought.
During this period, the court made arrangements for the autumn hunt.
While everyone was busy ordering riding gear, Zhao Xian had someone find her a bow and practiced archery.
Of the six arts of a gentleman, Jiang Liangxu was skilled in riding and archery, so he didn't need to ask anyone else to teach him.
Half a month passed in the blink of an eye, and Zhao Xian was thinking about going to the palace to bring Cui Tingyue back.
The servants reported that the second young master and his wife were on their way back and would enter the city in two or three days.
Zhao Xian's plan to enter the palace was put on hold, and she ordered people to tidy up Jiang Heng's courtyard.
"Madam, the Second Young Master and the Second Young Master have returned."
More than half a month after their wedding, Jiang Heng returned with Lu Zhaoying.
"Mother." Jiang Heng's voice came from outside the house, still cheerful and youthful.
After the couple entered the door, Lu Zhaoying curtsied and said, "Your daughter-in-law greets Mother. This is what my husband and I chose on the way here. I hope you like it."
Lu Zhaoying gently patted Jiang Heng's arm, signaling him to hand over the box in his hand.
Jiang Heng placed the brocade box on the table, gently opened the lid, and said, "Mother, this is a tea set that Yingying specially chose for you and Father."
Inside the brocade box was a complete tea set. Zhao Xian picked up a teacup and examined it in her hand; it was a fine Ru ware porcelain in a pale blue-green hue.
"That's thoughtful of you. I've been using the same tea set for a long time, it's time to replace it." Zhao Xian put the cup back in the box and looked at the two of them. "Are your parents-in-law doing well on their journey?"
"I'm fine. We were traveling slowly, so I rested whenever I felt unwell. I'm not feeling any discomfort..." Jiang Heng recounted his experiences on the road, then added regretfully, "It's just that Yun County is too far away. Yingying and I didn't have time to escort them there. Mother, what do you think about me applying for a posting to a post outside the county?"
Hearing Jiang Heng's unreliable words, Lu Zhaoying subtly tugged at his sleeve and replied, "It's already a great opportunity to escort my parents for a while. On the way, my parents kept urging us to come back quickly, afraid that it would delay my husband's return to the city guard camp for duty."
Zhao Xian had witnessed Jiang Heng's love-struck nature before. Before she lost her memory, she would probably have been furious to hear these words. But now... well, children and grandchildren have their own blessings.
"It's not very convenient to go home from the city guard camp. If you really want to change places, you can discuss it with your father and brother."
They had only just gotten married when they faced the prospect of not seeing each other for twenty days at a time. Sometimes, if they were transferred to work, they might not be able to return for a month or two.
The male and female protagonists in the sweet romance novel seem to never be separated. However, because their marriage was brought forward, Jiang Heng is still in the city guard camp and hasn't moved, which deviates from the original plot.
Without a second thought, Jiang Heng shook his head. "No, no, no, the city guard is quite good. I was just saying. Mother, please don't mention it to Father."
The last time he threatened them that he would go to his father-in-law's post, his father warned him in private that if he did it again, he would definitely give in and throw him into the Censorate.
He feared no place except the Censorate, a group of people even more eloquent than Confucius.
Unfortunately, he doesn't like reading, so if he goes there, he might not be able to tell that others are cursing him, and he might not be able to decide whether or not to take action.
"Whatever you want." Zhao Xian said casually. There weren't any particularly complicated plot points in the sweet romance novel, so she wanted to keep the original story as it was to avoid any unexpected complications.
But they are all human beings with their own thoughts. If they make a suggestion, they won't take it or force you to accept it.
After Jiang Heng and Lu Zhaoying returned to the Jiang family, Jiang Heng hurriedly returned to the city guard camp.
From then on, Lu Zhaoying began to give Zhao Xian morning and evening greetings.
For two consecutive days, Lu Zhaoying worked tirelessly without a moment's rest, while Zhao Xian began to complain, feeling as if she were clocking in and out on time for get off work.
Previously, Li Lianniang and Cui Tingyue only paid their respects in the morning, and they didn't need to pay their respects in the evening unless it was a family banquet.
When Lu Zhaoying first arrived at the Jiang family, she was perhaps a little reserved. She never missed a morning or evening greeting and served Zhao Xian her meals with utmost care.
Watching Lu Zhaoying diligently set the table.
Zhao Xian pressed her hand down, "Sit down."
Lu Zhaoying said with a smile, "Mother, please sit down first. I'll finish these things."
“Sit down. We don’t follow those rules in our family.” Zhao Xian raised her hand, showing no sign of yielding.
These past two days, she has been emphasizing that there is no need for her to come and pay her respects morning and night, or to serve her meals three times a day, but Lu Zhaoying will not listen. She nods in agreement when she says this, but then turns around and continues to do as she pleases.
I didn't realize before that the female lead in this sweet romance novel is such a stubborn person.
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Author's note: I've been away from home for a few days and haven't had time to finish the manuscript.
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