Shen Lijiao gnashed her teeth in hatred. She wished she could get rid of this hot potato as soon as possible, but every word Shen Liyue said made sense and she couldn't refute it.
In fact, she had already seen from Fang's mother's eyes that her future mother-in-law disliked her. If the dinner was successfully held, perhaps she could make up for it a little, but if the dinner was handed over to someone else, it would be difficult to find an opportunity to prove herself in the future.
After some thought, Shen Lijiao almost gritted her teeth and said, "Grandma, let your granddaughter host the dinner. Don't worry, your granddaughter will not let you down."
Old Madam Shen rolled her eyes at Chen Lijiao in annoyance. She usually favored the second house more, and she knew it herself, but she also knew that the second house did not have the ability to handle such a big matter.
Moreover, at this point, although the second wife contributed money, she also contributed after all, but the first wife did not contribute a penny. How can she feel at ease about this?
So today, she wanted to lie on Jiang's body and bite off a piece of meat. It was natural for her, as a daughter-in-law, to pay for her mother-in-law's birthday.
Then Old Madam Shen said, "If this matter is still to be handed over to Jiao'er, then your eldest wife will pay the money."
Mrs. Shen's words hit the mark of Shen Lijiao, so Shen Lijiao immediately responded: "Yes, didn't my aunt say before that the birthday gift for grandma could be converted into silver?"
Jiang smiled. She was just worrying about how to refuse, but Chen Lijiao gave her a message.
Jiang was surprised and asked, "Mother, if you wanted to exchange the birthday gift for cash, why didn't you tell me earlier? The birthday gift is already prepared, and we're just waiting to present it tonight when everyone else presents their birthday gifts. Now that you want to exchange it for cash, it's too late for me to do it."
Jiang spoke bluntly, which made Mrs. Shen embarrassed for a while.
Old Madam Shen kept scolding Chen Lijiao for being stupid in her heart. What a fool she was. She had originally asked Jiang to pay for it with confidence, but Chen Lijiao said that she wanted to use the birthday gift to cash it. If she told others about it, they would scold her to death, saying that she was short-sighted and wanted to exchange even the birthday gift for money.
Seeing that Old Madam Shen looked unhappy, Jiang smiled and said, "Don't worry, mother. I have already prepared a birthday gift for you. I won't let you down."
"Children always need training. Jiao'er is already engaged. If we don't dare to let her do it at home, how will she convince others when she becomes the head of the Duke's Mansion in the future?"
Old Madam Shen was filled with hatred, but she couldn't say anything. She could only wave her hand and tell everyone to leave.
After leaving the old lady's room, Shen Lijiao became worried again.
The banquet prepared at home was obviously useless. The best way now was to order it from a restaurant outside, but the problem was where would she get the money!
In order to present herself well in front of everyone today, she had specially made several sets of clothes and spent a lot of money on a set of jewelry at Jinlou. After all this, the little money she had embezzled before was already gone, so how could she afford to book a meal at a restaurant?
When Chen Lijiao went to He's room, He knew why she came without her even saying anything.
He knew that this matter would be difficult to handle without money, but she was also reluctant to give up the money she had embezzled. How could she take the banknotes out of her pocket after it was in her pocket?
No matter how much she doted on Chen Lijiao, she was just a daughter. She also had a son, and her son would get married in the future. Chen Lijiao's marriage had already been settled, but her son's marriage was not yet settled, so she had to make plans for her son.
So when Shen Lijiao stretched out her hand to ask her for money, He could only frown.
Chen Lijiao wasted a lot of time talking, and He also complained to her.
To sum it up in one sentence, you don’t have money, and you don’t have your life either.
Shen Lijiao had no choice but to go to her own kitchen to think of another solution.
Finally it was night and the house was full of guests.
Even Lu Yun came.
Chen Liyue was very happy to see Lu Yun, but also felt strange because she had not invited Lu Yun. Lu Yun was a princess, and she didn't need to come to such an occasion.
Lu Yun blinked at Shen Liyue.
"I heard from my royal brother that there's something exciting going on here, but since it's not convenient for him to come, he asked me to come and take a look."
There was another reason Lu Yun didn't tell her. Lu Xingzhou was afraid that the dinner party would be chaotic and out of control, so he asked Lu Yun to protect her.
Chen Liyue was not worried about this at all. With so many people around, how could things get too chaotic? At most, a few people would be lost. She would not be afraid if too many people were lost, because they were not hers anyway.
If Chen Lijiao's behavior would bring bad reputation to the daughter of the Shen family and make her unable to get married, that would be exactly what Chen Liyue wanted.
She doesn't want to get married anyway.
Moreover, she would not want to marry into a family that could not tell right from wrong.
Before the dinner started, everyone had already arrived at the birthday hall.
Old Madam Shen was still sitting in the high seat, and according to procedure, the guests presented birthday gifts one after another.
What Lu Yun brought was a jade statue of Guanyin. Although it was not big, it was exquisite, especially the pair of eyes, which were carved to look lifelike.
Everyone who comes is a guest, and no matter whether the gifts they present are ordinary or valuable, Mrs. Shen happily accepts them.
After the guests have presented their birthday gifts, it is the turn of their family members.
When it was Jiang's turn, she waved her hand, and four servants came together to carry up a huge object covered with red cloth.
Because it was covered with a red cloth, everyone didn't know what was underneath and looked over curiously.
Old Madam Shen's expression also relaxed a lot. This thing looked so big, so it must be quite valuable.
Out of everyone's curiosity, Jiang took off the red cloth with her own hands, and when everyone looked at it, they saw a picture of a hundred years of longevity.
"This picture of a hundred years of longevity was drawn by Wei'an himself. Wei'an said he didn't ask for anything else but longevity for the old lady."
Shen Liyue smiled secretly. This really seemed like something her brother could do. She looked at Shen Weian, who looked very pleased with himself. This gift was so good that no one could find fault with it.
Mrs. Shen's mouth twitched and she was speechless.
Just when everyone was still not able to react, Shen Liyue stood up.
"When grandma celebrated her birthday, my brother personally drew a picture of her longevity. How could a granddaughter be outdone by him?"
Chen Liyue also waved her hand and ordered someone to bring up another huge object.
Chen Liyue didn't keep anyone in suspense and directly lifted the red cloth. When everyone looked, they saw only a huge longevity peach.
"This is a birthday peach made by my granddaughter herself. In order to steam it, my granddaughter learned from a pastry chef for half a month and even had a giant steamer specially made for her. Every piece of dough on this birthday peach was pinched by my granddaughter herself!"
After Shen Liyue finished speaking, she raised her hand and handed it to Madam Shen.
Just before standing up, Shen Liyue rubbed her hands fiercely twice, rubbing them red.
"Grandma, look! I've burned my hands red steaming this birthday peach for you. I have the same wish as my brother: I just want you to live a long and happy life."
May you live a long and blessed life! Old Madam Shen is almost mad at them now!
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