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During lunch, Madam Yin deliberately sat down next to Lanqin. Ever since Lanqin helped her plead with the Fujin to question Shaoyao, she had been trying to befriend Lanqin from time to time.
Lanqin simply dislikes being hypocritical with people. Although she felt sorry for Yin Shi being bullied by the servants and helped her, that was out of her sense of justice and her tough-girl mentality, but it didn't mean that she liked Yin Shi that much.
After lunch, the group followed the Third Prince's wife to Xiaoyin Pavilion in the Third Prince's residence. It was a square courtyard with two entrances and two exits. On the north side of the courtyard stood a rather tall building with a raised platform and staircases on both sides, where a group of musicians were waiting. Each of the other sides of the courtyard had a main house with side rooms beside it. The Third Prince's wife had already arranged tables and chairs in the courtyard, laden with fruits and candied fruit. The group took their seats according to their rank. Their maids stood in a row behind them, not allowed to approach unless summoned by their masters. To shield them from the summer sun, the Third Prince's wife had a large canopy erected above the tables, and with the gentle summer breeze, it wasn't too hot.
With a sudden bang of gongs and drums, a "woman" dressed in a phoenix coronet and embroidered robes, with exquisitely drawn eyebrows and eyes, entered from behind a curtain. It is said that the Third Princess Consort specially invited the most famous Li Family Troupe in the capital, and the troupe's star performer was the woman in full costume who was now on stage.
“This is the ‘Drunken Concubine’ scene, isn’t it?” Madam Yin held a hexagonal, palace-shaped fan in her hand, gently waving it, and glanced at Lanqin sitting next to her as she spoke.
"Oh, judging from the actor's attire, it must be." Lanqin wasn't particularly interested in opera, but she had to come with the Fujin for this social occasion. She just hoped that after the opera, the Fujin would take them away. However, Madam Yin seemed very interested in the opera, and kept quietly discussing the plot with her.
"Sister, you have to admit, this Yang Guifei is really something. She completely disregards morality and ethics, actually committing such an indecent act with her own father-in-law, and yet she enjoys the emperor's favor in the harem. She truly has no sense of shame," said Madam Yin disdainfully. Having been well-versed in "Admonitions for Women" and "Women's Virtues" since childhood, she naturally disagreed with Yang Guifei, who had always been criticized by traditional morality. Madam Song and Madam Wu, sitting in front of them, nodded in agreement upon hearing this.
Wu said, "This shameless vixen has truly ruined the life of Emperor Xuanzong of Tang, a wise and benevolent ruler."
Song also said, "However, Emperor Xuanzong of Tang was able to pull back from the brink and avoid making another mistake when he was later ordered to commit suicide at Mawei Slope."
Listening to their idle chatter, Lanqin thought to herself: What boring housewives. Oh well, these are the only things they can talk about to relieve their boredom.
Seeing that Lanqin remained silent, Madam Wu couldn't help but speak up, "Sister Niu, why aren't you saying anything? Do you not agree with what we just said?"
I don't know what's wrong with this Wu family member. She always seems to want to fight with Lanqin. She's like a plague that you can't escape.
After silently cursing Wu Shi in her heart, Lanqin smiled perfectly and said, "After listening to what my sisters have to say, I really have nothing to say. It's not that I disagree, it's just that you've already said everything I wanted to say, so what else can I say?"
Seeing Lanqin's innocent expression, Madam Wu was speechless after hearing what she said.
In fact, Lanqin had absolutely no interest in whether Yang Guifei was shameless or not. She didn't respond earlier because she disagreed with their arguments, and besides, she had no interest in engaging in such a boring conversation.
"Princess Niu, in your opinion, isn't the affair between Emperor Xuanzong of Tang and Consort Yang one of the reasons for the downfall of the Tang Dynasty?" The one who asked this question was none other than the Third Princess Consort.
Lanqin had never forgotten how this Third Princess Consort had humiliated her in front of all the other princess consorts, and therefore she held no goodwill towards her. Sure enough, seeing her deliberately bring up these words again, although she was displeased, she could only suppress her displeasure and replied with utmost respect, "This concubine cannot agree with this statement. Since ancient times, there have been many sayings about women bringing ruin to the country, but Lanqin would like to ask: without the permission of those men, how could a woman who has always been confined to the inner palace have the ability to bring ruin to the country? Take King You of Zhou, for example, who lit the beacon fires to amuse Bao Si, and then blamed all the crimes on Bao Si, not realizing that the real culprit was King You of Zhou."
As expected, after these words were spoken, all the women present were stunned speechless by Lanqin's shocking remarks. Lanqin had naturally anticipated this: it was no wonder that these women, confined to their homes, spent their entire lives trying to please the men beside them who had multiple wives and concubines. Asking them to understand the feminist rhetoric Lanqin brought from the 21st century was like casting pearls before swine.
“Sister Niu’s words have truly opened my eyes. I wonder what the Fourth Prince would think if he heard them.” The Third Princess Consort glanced at the Fourth Princess Consort and said meaningfully to her.
Fourth Prince's wife certainly understood Third Prince's meaning, but to think that these nonsensical words could make Lady Niu dislike Fourth Prince was truly wishful thinking.
Lanqin found it amusing, but she didn't dare to argue. As the mistress of the house, she was just a guest. So she said in a conciliatory tone, "Third Princess, you are too kind. I was just speaking off the cuff. Please don't take it seriously."
The Third Princess smiled gently, finally feeling a little better about her resentment towards Lanqin, and said happily, "It's best if Princess Niu doesn't speak carelessly."
Lanqin said no more and simply looked down at the palace fan in her hand. Seeing that she seemed unhappy, Madam Yin immediately comforted her, "Sister, there's no need to be sad. We're only here for one day anyway."
Seeing the concern on Yin's beautiful face, Lanqin gratefully returned a gentle smile and whispered, "I'm fine!"
When Lady Wu saw Lanqin being reprimanded by the Third Princess Consort, she was naturally delighted and couldn't help but sarcastically say, "Perhaps it's because Sister Niu herself has the same feelings as Yang Guifei and Bao Si that she defends them so much."
Her words were extremely malicious, comparing the Fourth Prince's favor towards Lanqin to Emperor Xuanzong's favor towards Yang Guifei, or King You of Zhou's favor towards Bao Si that led to the downfall of his kingdom. On the one hand, she was trying to sow discord between Lanqin and the Fujin (the princess's wife) and the other princesses, and on the other hand, she was cursing Lanqin to be destroyed by his favor in the end, just like the former.
Upon hearing this, Lanqin was no longer willing to be manipulated by Madam Wu. She looked up at her and said in a tone that only Madam Yin and Madam Wu could hear, "Sister Wu, you have quite the nerve to compare the Fourth Prince to Emperor Xuanzong of Tang and King You of Zhou. Aren't you afraid that the current Crown Prince will have a problem with you?"
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