No matter what kind of turmoil arose in Dingjing City, or what undercurrents surged, the outward appearance was always peaceful and prosperous. The annual Chrysanthemum Banquet was approaching, and since the Guangwen Hall inspection happened to be held not long after the Chrysanthemum Banquet, they were simply held together this year.
Unlike previous years, the verification now became a grand banquet held in public by the nobles.
Early in the morning, Old Madam Shen sent her maid Xier to the west courtyard, saying that she had hired a tailor to prepare clothes for the chrysanthemum banquet, and asked Shen Miao to pick some out.
Shen Miao nodded in agreement.
In the past, when she went to the inspection, Shen Miao always wore whatever she wanted, because she was just a tail, and wearing something conspicuous would only make people laugh. But now that the inspection was going on and the Chrysanthemum Banquet was going on, it was not right not to make some clothes.
The wives of ministers from various families were present at the Chrysanthemum Banquet, most of them coming to see their sons and daughters-in-law. Therefore, any daughter would dress up to attend, hoping to become increasingly beautiful. Although Old Lady Shen disliked the eldest wife, she still had to do it for the sake of face. Moreover, Old Lady Shen was a person who only cared about her own interests. If she could exchange Shen Miao for a marriage with a benefit, then selling her would not be a bad idea.
Bai Lu seemed somewhat happy. As she walked with Shen Miao towards Rong Jing Hall, she said, "I didn't expect the Chrysanthemum Banquet to be here so soon. Isn't it Miss's favorite Chrysanthemum Banquet? You can enjoy the flowers there."
Shen Miao enjoyed the Chrysanthemum Banquet, but not for the flowers. She was always isolated at every such banquet, and while Shen Yue and Shen Qing certainly contributed to this, she herself was also dull and clumsy, and she always dressed inappropriately, only to be mocked behind others' backs without realizing it.
She loved the Chrysanthemum Banquet only because of Fu Xiuyi.
Fu Xiuyi had also been present at the chrysanthemum banquet a year ago. That day, she was once again ridiculed and isolated. The chrysanthemum garden was ablaze with color, and everyone was looking for the reddest and brightest ones. She walked to a corner and saw a pot of white chrysanthemums in the distance.
White chrysanthemums, generally used for funerals, are inherently unappealing, and this one, besides, looked rather pathetic. Its petals were a bit droopy, perhaps from the rain or the wind, and it stood alone in a corner, unnoticed.
Perhaps feeling a sense of sympathy, Shen Miao felt that she and Juhua were exactly the same. Alone and unseen, a pitiful little creature. Just as she was sighing with regret, she saw a man in fancy clothes approach Juhua.
He reached out and picked up the flower branch, gently caressing the petals. Someone beside him asked him, "Ninth brother, this flower is so sad and miserable, what's so beautiful about it?"
The man in fine clothes smiled and said, "It's pitiful that it's so weak and helpless."
It was this sentence, "Pity its fragility and helplessness," that made Shen Miao feel favorable towards the man. When the man turned around, she was even more captivated by his handsome appearance.
Later, Shen Miao learned from the female relatives that the person over there was the ninth prince of the current emperor, Prince Ding, Fu Xiuyi.
Perhaps it was always irrational to be in love with someone when you were young. Fu Xiuyi's words were clearly referring to Chrysanthemum, but she felt that she could relate to him. She thought that if she married such a gentle man, he would surely cherish her as he cherished the lonely flower.
Unfortunately, she was ultimately misguided. Fu Xiuyi cherished delicate flowers, the world, and Madam Mei, but unfortunately, he had never once shown pity to her. He saw everything she had done as a wife's "duty." Those days of mutual respect were nothing more than a play Fu Xiuyi had to endure while suppressing his disgust.
He didn't feel sorry for the chrysanthemum, he just mentioned it casually, but she took it seriously.
"Young lady?" She was lost in thought and didn't even realize she was at the entrance of Rongjing Hall. Bai Lu hurriedly reminded her, and Shen Miao followed Xi'er inside.
Shen Yuanbai was not present today. Old Madam Shen was wearing a long, buttoned, blue-white embroidered gown. She was already in her seventies, yet she wore such a vibrant blue, which made her face look like a ghost. Yet, she herself was completely unaware of it.
Shen Yue and Shen Qing both stood beside their mothers. The second branch originally had two concubine daughters, but Ren Wanyun was too overbearing and domineering. At banquets like this, concubine daughters were never allowed to go out and steal the spotlight. As for the third branch, Shen Wan, besides his legal wife Chen Ruoqiu, only had one concubine, not to mention any concubine sons and daughters.
As a result, only the legitimate daughters of each family received invitations to attend the flower banquet.
Shen Miao greeted Old Madam Shen. Ren Wanyun looked at Shen Miao and said with a smile, "Xiao Wu is here. Come and pick out the fabrics. I'll let Li Niang take your measurements later."
Shen Qing said with a smile: "My second sister and I have already chosen, and we are just waiting for you to choose."
It was clearly Xier who arrived late, but it seemed like she was to blame, leaving everyone else in Rongjing Hall alone. Shen Miao was too lazy to argue with her and simply walked over to the soft couch with the cloth spread out.
Li Niang was a middle-aged woman in her thirties. Every year, new clothes for everyone in the Shen family were made and purchased from her shop. In her youth, she had learned some embroidery skills from a palace lady, and her clothes were very beautiful.
There were five or six pieces of cloth spread out in front of him. One piece of crabapple-colored cloth and one piece of smoky pink cloth had already been picked out and taken away. Needless to say, they must have belonged to Shen Qing and Shen Yue.
The scenes of her past life were vivid in her mind. At the chrysanthemum banquet, Shen Qing, wearing a crabapple-colored dress embroidered with scattered flowers, looked warm and generous, even more beautiful than the flowers. And Shen Yue, in a light pink satin jacket and skirt embroidered with white pear blossoms and lilies, looked even more delicate and pure. And she, in a pale yellow dress and the glittering golden necklace and jewelry given by Old Madam Shen, looked like a joke, unaware of it.
And the light yellow fabric was chosen at the instigation of my aunt and sister.
Chen Yue smiled and said, "Fifth sister has fair skin, why not pick that light yellow dress? Besides, it will make her look lively and cute, it really suits her."
Shen Qing also nodded repeatedly: "Not bad, anyway, looking at the remaining materials, it seems that the light yellow color will suit Fifth Sister better."
Chen Ruoqiu smiled but said nothing. Ren Wanyun's eyes flashed with a hint of sarcasm.
Shen Miao doesn’t know how to pick clothes.
Madam Shen was often away from home, and with her mother away, the child inevitably lost many advantages. The other people in the Shen Mansion all had their own agendas, so how could they truly teach the little girl how to dress? Thus, over time, Shen Miao would only follow Shen Qing and Shen Yue, picking whatever they said.
For example, the pale yellow material complemented her complexion beautifully, but it made her look too childish and a bit cheap. Add to that the glittering gold jewelry, and she looked every bit the daughter of a landlord.
Guyu and the others wanted to persuade her to throw away the jewelry, but she was still stubborn and kept embarrassing herself.
That's ridiculous.
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