Chapter Fifty-Six: Passing Off Inferior Goods as Superior
At this time, most of the guests had already taken their seats, but the formal banquet had not yet begun; only a few exquisite cold dishes and snacks had been served.
Everyone praised it:
"Lord Song is so fortunate! Look at this birthday banquet, it's truly magnificent!"
"Yes, yes, the table is elegantly arranged, and the cold dishes are refreshing and delicious. Miss Sang Yu has really gone to great lengths."
"Miss Sang Yu is so young, yet she manages such a large banquet so well. She will surely be a great mistress of the house in the future!"
"The Marquis of Yongjia's family has such a daughter; she is truly an honor to the family!"
Just then, Countess Fu Yang arrived.
As soon as she came in, she warmly took Song Sangyu's hand, looked her up and down, and praised her endlessly. The two chatted and laughed, looking even closer than a mother and daughter.
As for Song Yiqiu, who stepped forward to greet her, Madam Fu only glanced at her indifferently and nodded perfunctorily, her contempt obvious.
Fu Langxing, on the other hand, was not as cold as before when he saw Song Yiqiu today. Instead, he took the initiative to ask her a question:
"Miss Song...are you feeling much better?"
Although the tone wasn't particularly warm, it at least carried a touch of humanity.
Seeing that the time was right, Madam Song smiled and said to Madam Fu and several other prominent ladies around her:
“Our Sangyu is sensible and well-behaved, and quite capable of managing a household. Speaking of which, the old lady and the old lady of the Earl’s Mansion arranged a marriage between their son and our Song family’s eldest daughter when they were still children. It was truly a match made in heaven.”
She deliberately emphasized the words "legitimate daughter" and stressed them repeatedly.
“Our Sangyu, though not my biological daughter, has been raised by my side since childhood and is registered under my name. She is a legitimate daughter of the principal wife, just like Yiqiu.”
Madam Fu Yang clearly adored Song Sangyu, and immediately went along with her words, feigning difficulty as she smiled:
"Oh dear, this is a difficult problem. Both are legitimate daughters, and both are so outstanding. Which one should Langxing marry? It's a happy dilemma!"
Some guests who were looking for a good show immediately started to jeer:
"What's so difficult about that? In my opinion, you should marry both of them! Young Master, you are truly blessed!"
"Exactly! One is scholarly, the other martial; one is still, the other active—they complement each other perfectly!"
"Miss Sangyu is gentle and virtuous, while Miss Yiqiu is spirited and dashing. Wouldn't it be a wonderful story to marry both of them?"
Hearing these comments, Song Yiqiu felt nauseous and her face turned cold.
The Crown Prince suddenly spoke in a cold voice:
"Are you all here today to celebrate Lord Song's birthday, or to act as matchmakers for the Earl's family? Why is the banquet taking so long to begin? Are you perhaps waiting for the food to get cold before you eat?"
The impatience in his words was obvious.
Only then did Song Shenshi and Song Sangyu realize what had happened and quickly apologized.
Song Sangyu quickly clapped her hands and shouted:
"Serve the hot dishes!"
The servants, who had been waiting, filed in and brought out one steaming dish after another to each table.
However, when the guests lifted the lids of their bowls and prepared to start eating, many of their expressions changed slightly.
The dish, which was supposedly abalone and mushroom stew, contained pitifully small abalone in very few portions, and was mostly filled with cheap mushrooms.
The bird's nest strands in the rock sugar bird's nest cup were sparse and the soup was cloudy, clearly indicating it was a second-rate product.
The pan-fried cod was clearly made with ordinary sea fish; the flesh was coarse and it was definitely not cod.
The braised shark fin soup was even more outrageous; there was only broth and no shark fin, and they used some vermicelli to make up the difference...
A murmur of discussion immediately arose during the gathering:
"This...this abalone is so small! It doesn't seem to match the scale of this banquet..."
"Hmm, the texture of this bird's nest... seems different from what I've tasted before?"
"Madam Song, this cod... doesn't seem to be silver cod?"
"Tsk tsk, this shark fin soup... the broth is indeed delicious, but the 'fin'..."
Of course, there were also people who were on good terms with Song Shen or who wanted to curry favor with Song Sangyu who stepped in to smooth things over:
"Oh dear, with so many guests today, the kitchen is in a bit of a rush, so some oversights are inevitable."
"Yes, yes, it's generally not bad! For Miss Sangyu's first time handling this, it's quite remarkable."
"Drink up! Drink up! Don't worry about these trivial matters!"
But the seeds of discontent had already been sown, and the atmosphere became somewhat awkward.
The smug smile on Song Sangyu's face gradually froze, and fine beads of sweat appeared on her forehead.
Madam Song's face also darkened, and she secretly glared at the steward in charge of the matter.
Song Sangyu's mind was in complete chaos. She had no idea how the perfectly good dishes could have turned out like this.
She simply followed her mother's instructions, assigning all aspects of the banquet's preparation, cooking, and arrangements to different stewards and servants.
She believed that as the legitimate daughter, all she needed to do was make a dazzling appearance at the last moment and receive everyone's praise and envy. Why should she get involved in those mundane and trivial matters?
Suppressing her anger, her mother, Song Shenshi, took the opportunity while picking up some food to ask her in a low, urgent voice:
"Sang Yu! What exactly happened? When you were selecting the dishes and finalizing the menu, didn't you personally go to the kitchen to check and taste them?"
Song Sangye was speechless when asked the question, and stammered in response:
"I...I didn't know I had to go see it myself...These small things can be easily handled by servants..."
She assumed that as long as she gave the order, it would be done properly.
But she quickly composed herself, knowing that she absolutely could not show weakness at this moment.
She took a deep breath, forced a polite smile, picked up her wine glass, stood up, and addressed the crowd:
"Distinguished guests, today is my father's birthday, a day that should be filled with joy. However, due to Sang Yu's negligence in supervision, such a blunder has occurred, spoiling everyone's mood. It is truly Sang Yu's fault."
As she spoke, she raised her glass:
"Sang Yu hereby offers three cups as punishment to apologize to everyone! It must be that a new servant in the kitchen is unfamiliar with the rules, or made a mistake in the rush and took the wrong ingredients. I will investigate and punish them severely after the banquet! Please forgive me!"
After saying that, she actually drank three glasses of wine.
This proactive move to take responsibility did indeed have some effect.
The somewhat awkward atmosphere eased slightly, and some people began to speak up to smooth things over:
"Miss Sang Yu, you flatter me. It's inevitable that some minor mistakes will happen at such a grand banquet."
"Yes, yes, who can be perfect in every aspect? Miss Sang Yu's sense of responsibility really shows the demeanor of a matriarch."
"Lord Song, your daughter is not only beautiful, but also has a straightforward and generous personality!"
Listening to these discussions, Song Sangyu secretly breathed a sigh of relief, feeling that the situation seemed to have been brought back a little.
She quickly gave her personal maid, Liu Ye, a wink, signaling her to go to the kitchen and find out what was going on.
Song Yiqiu sat not far away, coldly watching Song Sangyu's flustered appearance, and gently shook her head.
My dear sister, you can't even handle it already? What a pity, this is just... the very beginning.
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