"What are you still standing there for!" He turned around and whispered to Chen Lijiao, "Hurry up and get the Hongfu and Qingyu troupes over! I don't know if they're free today. Tell them to bring more silver. Even if the price is a little high, don't worry. Hurry and get someone to replace the singer on the stage!"
Chen Lijiao gritted her teeth, answered yes, turned around and told the servants to go.
Chen Lijiao also blamed her mother in her heart. She had never told anyone about any taboos before, but now that something happened, she was taking her anger out on herself. She had thought that she could get some benefits from holding a birthday banquet, but now she had to spend the money she had hidden away.
But the most important thing now is to resolve this matter. Otherwise, if my grandmother finds out later, I will be in big trouble.
Fortunately, the silver was enough. The Qingyu Troupe was out of town to perform today and couldn't come, but the Hongfu Troupe was free. After receiving the silver, they didn't delay and quickly brought people to the Shen Mansion to replace the people from the You family troupe.
Old Madam Shen had finally packed up. She was wearing an extremely luxurious outfit today, having taken out all the best things she had kept in her closet. She was already in her twilight years, and such a birthday was more likely to happen every time, so she had prepared three sets of clothes, just waiting to show off today.
When everyone saw Madam Shen coming, they all stood up and saluted her. Madam Shen accepted the salute happily and signaled to everyone that there was no need to be so polite.
Everyone praised Old Madam Shen for being blessed. They had heard long before that the head of the first house, Mrs. Jiang, managed the Shen family in an orderly manner. Now, there was a girl named Shen Lijiao from the second house who was able to organize a birthday banquet for her grandmother at such a young age, and her methods were even more extraordinary.
There were also people in the crowd who had just seen the performance by the You Family Troupe, but at this moment everyone was surrounding Old Madam Shen and constantly complimenting her, so no one mentioned what had just happened to bring bad luck.
Old Madam Shen also wanted to praise Chen Lijiao, so she called Chen Lijiao to her side, touched Chen Lijiao's hand and said: "This granddaughter of mine is the one who loves me the most. It is rare for her to have such filial piety. If there is anything that is not well received today, I hope you will forgive me."
Everyone quickly said no, no, it was good to have such a heart, which was many times better than those younger generations who only knew how to enjoy themselves but not how to be filial.
Shen Lijiao received great praise today, and her vanity was greatly satisfied.
Because it was her grandmother's birthday, she was wearing red today. She blushed even more at being praised by everyone, and now she said, "Celebrating my grandmother's birthday is what I should do."
"That's better than many other girls." Someone praised.
Once someone took the lead, everyone was happy to say a few good words in front of Old Madam Shen. They were originally the families of Shen Er's friends, and at this moment they were even more willing to praise Shen Lijiao.
"I heard that the second young lady is engaged to the Duke's Mansion?"
"Yes, the Duke's Mansion is truly blessed to be able to marry a girl as talented and beautiful as the Second Miss."
As soon as these words were spoken, everyone's attention was drawn to Mrs. Fang of the Duke's Mansion.
Mrs. Fang arrived late and did not see the performance of the You family opera troupe just now, but because she had just arrived, Mrs. Shen came out right after her. Logically, she was the most senior among the nobles present today, but she did not receive any attention. She was a little unhappy at the moment, and suddenly someone brought the topic to the Duke's Mansion, and she had to force a smile to respond.
If Madam Fang was willing, she should have said a few polite words along with everyone's praise, but she really disliked Chen Lijiao. Moreover, she always felt that the Duke's Mansion was forced to get engaged with the Shen family. She really looked down on this marriage, so apart from being able to force a smile, she really couldn't say anything good.
Seeing her like this, everyone had no choice but to give up.
Fortunately, it was almost time for lunch, so the women followed the steward's lead and went to the dining room to sit down.
Because Old Madam Shen had arranged a whole day of activities for her birthday, the men still had to attend court. Only the nobles attended lunch, and the main meal was served in the evening.
The second and third sons of the Shen family were not eligible to attend court due to their rank. Shen Wangqiu had specially asked for leave from the emperor because it was Old Madam Shen's birthday today.
The current emperor is a man of benevolence and filial piety. When he heard that Chen Wangqiu was asking for leave to celebrate his mother's birthday, he agreed.
Because most of the guests at today's banquet were Shen Er's friends, and they didn't have to attend court due to their status and rank, the hall was still packed with people at lunchtime.
The housekeeper was stunned when she saw this scene. She quickly ran over and whispered in Shen Lijiao's ear:
"Didn't the Second Miss say that the luncheon would only be for the nobles? I wonder how so many people came? We have tables and chairs, but we don't have enough food for the banquet!"
Normal people would prepare ten or twenty tables for a banquet, but Chen Lijiao was thinking about saving some money and only prepared two tables. Now, seeing that there were obviously more than two tables of people in front of her, Chen Lijiao felt a headache.
But since everyone was here, Chen Lijiao couldn't ask them to leave. She also felt resentful towards her father, blaming him for not telling her earlier that so many people were invited. She prepared the banquet according to the invitation, but some people came even though they didn't receive the invitation.
Just now, Chen Lijiao was in the backyard watching a play with the ladies, and she had no idea that so many men had come to the front yard.
It was too late to prepare the banquet at the moment. Shen Lijiao calmed down and whispered to the housekeeper:
"Tell the kitchen staff to re-platter the dishes we've prepared and move them around according to the number of people we have sitting around today. That will be fine."
"Ah? Is this even possible?" The housekeeper thought this was too inappropriate. "What if it's a whole chicken or fish?"
What to do? What can I do if I can call Chen Lijiao?
Chen Lijiao gritted her teeth and said, "Cut the whole chicken into pieces, the whole fish into sections, whatever needs to be done."
"Okay." Now it seems that there is no better way.
The housekeeper took the order and went to give instructions to the kitchen.
Shen Liyue sat steadily in her seat with her mother Shen. Today, Shen Liyue wore a light red dress, which made her look festive but not stealing the limelight from others. Her pretty face looked particularly lively.
Even if she disliked Chen Lijiao, or even if she resented the old lady's partiality, Chen Liyue would never seek misfortune at her grandmother's birthday party.
But who knew that although she didn't want to cause trouble, someone was deliberately looking for trouble with her.
Shen Liyue sat quietly with a proper smile on her face when she saw He approaching with a foreign man she had never seen before.
Seeing He coming over, Shen Liyue was about to stand up, but was stopped by Jiang, who secretly winked at her.
She sat patiently to see what He was up to.
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