Hongye had a maid come over to replace the bowls and chopsticks. After cleaning up, Qin Yuan sat down again and said with a smile to the lady next to her, "It seems that this birthday banquet at the Duke of Zhenguo's mansion was held in a bit of a rush. This is the second time. Earlier, I was sitting in the garden when a maid came to bring tea and almost spilled it all over me."
The lady was surprised: "We did not meet, and even if it was in a hurry, there should not be a second time. This is too much."
He lowered his voice and said, "They have several wives in charge of the household, and each of them has their own favorite servants. But after all, it is the Duke's mansion. No matter what happens inside, they shouldn't make mistakes and lose face outside."
That's quite an interesting point.
Qin Yuan smiled and said, "I hope it won't happen a third time. I don't want to go to change clothes."
The lady picked up a piece of roasted camel hump, put it in her mouth, rolled her eyes, and laughed, "Then you'll have to be extra careful."
Qin Yuan also smiled.
This guy is quite something; he's shrewd and doesn't shy away from trouble.
Say whatever you want.
In other words, Empress Lin and others relied on their power and status to scheme against everyone else, treating them like fools.
During the banquet, the ladies all drank peach blossom wine. After finishing one pot, a maidservant would bring more wine. When it came to Qin Yuan's cup, she could smell the aroma and knew there was something wrong, but she didn't say anything. She just refused to touch that cup of wine again.
If anyone tried to persuade her to drink, Qin Yuan would say that she couldn't hold her liquor well and that she was out with her mother-in-law, so she dared not get drunk.
She was beautiful, and her face was flushed from the wine, making her look even more delicate. Her pitiful and pleading appearance made people feel sorry for her, so they stopped urging her to drink.
The young girl who poured the wine waited beside her for a long time, but she didn't drink it, so she left dejectedly.
Qin Yuan then casually handed the wine to Yang'er: "I accidentally spilled some oil in there, you can pour it out."
Yang'er glanced at the wine and saw that there wasn't a single drop of oil on the surface. She knew there was something wrong with the wine, so she stepped back. Hehua quickly replaced it.
The lady sitting next to me smiled and said, "If you happen to be unable to hold your liquor and need to change clothes or take a walk, why don't you ask me to come along?"
Qin Yuan was stunned for a moment.
The lady continued, “The Lady of Dingbei Marquis rarely goes out, so I’m afraid she doesn’t know that I’m the second daughter-in-law of the Pan family. Originally, my mother-in-law and elder sister-in-law were supposed to come today, but some things happened to hold them up before I left, so I came instead. The Lady of Dingbei Marquis and I hit it off immediately and I want to get to know each other better.”
Qin Yuan asked cautiously, "Excuse me, is this the residence of Chief Minister Pan?"
“That’s right,” Grandma Pan nodded with a smile.
The Grand Secretary was from Jiangxi, and Zhang Hanlin was also from Jiangxi. Nowadays, most people from Jiangxi have pledged allegiance to the Prince of Qi. No wonder Madam Pan speaks so directly and is so close to her.
It is evident that the Pan family was aware of the alliance between the Prince of Qi and the Marquis of Dingbei.
Qin Yuan said affectionately, "No wonder you sounded a bit like someone from Jiangxi when you spoke earlier."
Grandma Pan smiled and said, "We Jiangxi people can't seem to get rid of some of the pronunciations in our Mandarin. Even after living in Beijing for over ten years, you can still tell the difference."
Qin Yuan laughed and said, "It's hard to change one's accent. I heard that even Chief Minister Pan hasn't changed it yet. He's probably been in the capital for over forty years now."
Grandma Pan thought for a moment and said, "Pretty much."
He added, "Let's talk and eat. The Duke's mansion is hosting a birthday banquet, and all the dishes are of the finest quality." As he spoke, he picked up a piece of dragonfish belly with his chopsticks and put it in his mouth, savoring it carefully.
Qin Yuan also picked up a piece with her chopsticks. Indeed, since they were here, they should eat well and not suffer any loss. It took a lot of thought to send this Yellow River carp.
When she returned to Beijing with Lin Ziqi in her previous life, Chief Minister Pan had already retired to his hometown, so he naturally had never met this Second Madam Pan.
Lin Ziqi did mention Chief Minister Pan, saying that he had offended the emperor and had no choice but to leave. After he left, the Jiangxi clique lost its influence in the court, and in the following ten years, the number of people from Jiangxi who passed the imperial examinations decreased by nearly 30%.
Seeing the fate of Grand Secretary Pan, Lin Ziqi lost even more of his scholarly integrity towards the emperor, becoming obsequious and preoccupied with how to seize power, form cliques, and marginalize military generals.
The entire court was in a state of chaos, with everyone thinking about just getting by and making money.
The waters of officialdom are even more filthy and rotten.
Thinking of this, Qin Yuan couldn't help but sigh. The world is full of vicissitudes. The officials of the previous dynasty were corrupt, the civil officials loved money, the military generals were afraid of death, and the people suffered greatly. When Emperor Taizu founded the country, Daxing Dynasty was extremely poor. Officials' salaries were calculated in grain, and the empress's annual salary was only two hundred shi of millet. The dowry and betrothal gifts for marriages in the common people were extremely simple. In order to continue the family line, people were already married at the age of thirteen or fourteen.
At that time, officials were loyal to the court and cared for the people. Their memorials to the court were for the sake of the common people and the country. Even though Emperor Taizu was extremely ruthless when he was suspicious and killed many officials, the officialdom was still upright and honest, with few corrupt officials, and scholars were also very principled.
Several dynasties have passed, the people are prosperous, weddings are extravagant, and official salaries have increased many times over. However, officials have become corrupt and cunning. There are more and more scholars in the countryside, but their situation is hard to describe. It is still better now, but in another ten years or so, the scholars in the south will be really troublesome. Studying for official titles has become a means of profiting and oppressing the people. In Nanjing and Suzhou, wealthy merchants will even hire a scholar to beat them up when they quarrel. You can imagine what kind of people the scholars have become.
Everyone knew that the foundation of the Daxing court was crumbling, but they all chose to let nature take its course.
Officials like Pan Jinlian no longer have a chance to rise in rank.
Qin Yuan picked up another piece of roasted camel hump with her chopsticks. The oily fat, dipped in pepper and dogwood, was truly delicious.
The other ladies barely touched their chopsticks, which benefited them.
The two of them had eaten until their mouths were greasy, and the maid who was pouring wine came over again. Seeing that the wine in Qin Yuan's cup was untouched, she looked very anxious.
Qin Yuan pretended not to know and happily ate with Granny Pan. She wanted to finish eating first and wouldn't touch any of the dishes, soup, or drinks that would be served later.
Let's see what other tricks these people have up their sleeves.
A short while later, the Ninth Princess led a group of people over.
Granny Pan asked, "Did the Ninth Princess come looking for you?"
Qin Yuan hesitated: "What do you want with me?"
Grandma Pan just smiled, stuffed another mouthful of deer tendon into her mouth, chewed it up and swallowed it before saying, "As expected, they came for you."
As soon as she finished speaking, a group of people surrounding the Ninth Princess had already completely surrounded the table.
Qin Yuan let out a sigh of relief: ...I'm truly impressed.
Although the ladies were puzzled, they did not forget their manners and hurriedly stood up.
The Ninth Princess raised her chin and said, "There's no need for formalities, everyone. I've come to chat with the Lady of Dingbei. Please sit down."
Even so, no one dared to sit down again.
There's no reason why princesses sit instead of standing.
But the ladies couldn't just leave like that, since the birthday celebrant was still keeping the Empress company.
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