Chu Jinyao was one of the latecomers. She lived far away and was not as convenient as the other girls. When she arrived, Rongning Hall was already full of people.

The old lady was wearing a dark red brocade bodice and a peony forehead guard, sitting upright on the Luohan bed. Seeing that most people had arrived, she cleared her throat and smiled kindly, which was a rare occasion, "As soon as your aunt came home, she told the princess about our family. The old ancestor of the palace was very happy after hearing it, and even the princess likes our girl. Your aunt sent a message back saying that in a few days, the princess will formally send a letter to invite our Changxing Marquis Mansion to visit. The person she sent back to deliver the message has already arrived, and it is estimated that the princess' invitation will be delivered in a few days."

The girls immediately cheered in low voices. The seventh girl threw herself into the old lady's arms and said, "That's great, I haven't been to the palace yet!"

The seventh girl was young and not yet old enough to be taken out by her mother, so she was particularly keen on going out. The other girls were older than the seventh girl, but they rarely went out. When they heard that they could go out after a while, and that they would go to the Huailing County Prince's Mansion in another place, they excitedly held their handkerchiefs and couldn't wait to discuss it with their good sisters.

Old Madam Chu also smiled at them and didn't scold them to pay attention to the rules. Nowadays, the world is particularly harsh on women. Most girls have been locked up in the back house since birth. The farthest distance they can walk is the second gate. Except for the Lantern Festival and March 3rd, they can rarely go out at other times of the year. Now they suddenly learned that they can go out for a banquet, and go to the wealthy Huailing County Prince's Mansion in Taiyuan. Even the most reserved girls can hardly resist the excitement.

Madam Chu waited until the girls had calmed down before she said, "This visit to the Prince's Mansion is a very important event. You seldom go out, so when you do go out, you must keep up appearances. Zhao..."

Zhao stepped forward and said, "My daughter-in-law is here."

"Have the girls' clothes for this season been prepared?"

"The girls in our family have four sets of clothes for each season, and they have already been distributed."

"They've become rich..." Madam Chu thought for a moment and said, "It's a rare opportunity for them to go out for a walk, so let's make them some new clothes. I'll call the Li family's daughter-in-law in a while, and you can pick out the fabrics you like. After you've chosen, I'll pay for all the money. And as for headpieces, I remember the last time I bought new headpieces was during the Chinese New Year. Do you have enough jewelry now?"

The younger generation were all smart, and when they heard this, they naturally said in unison, "Grandma, we have worn our headpieces many times, please have some pity on us!"

The girls acted coquettishly, and several maids who were favored also said, "The old lady is very generous. She has given several girls new headpieces. What nothing?"

Old Madam Chu laughed so hard that she said, "You monkeys! Well, call the people from the Treasure Pavilion in and pick whatever you like. I am old and there is no more room for me to dress up, but you young girls are in your prime and should not be neglected."

Yan flattered Old Madam Chu, "Mother, I don't believe what you said. You are still very young. The time when my family came to visit, they whispered to me that if they hadn't known the old lord of our mansion at that time, they would have thought you and I were of the same generation!"

These words were so explicit that Zhao couldn't say such words even to please her mother-in-law. But Yan could, so it's no wonder that Yan was the most prestigious of the three daughters-in-law. Madam Chu poked Yan's head with her finger: "You are so disrespectful, you can say such words, aren't you afraid of being laughed at by the younger generation!"

Yan said: "Mother, I am innocent! I was telling the truth!"

The seventh girl nestled in Madam Chu's arms and responded: "My mother is right, the old ancestor is still healthy and young!"

Nanny Gu and others smiled and agreed, Chu Jinxian sat next to Madam Chu, smiling faintly. Chu Jinyao stood in the hall, not like the other sisters who spoke witty words and kept saying flattering words, but just smiled to meet the occasion.

Old Madam Chu was so coaxed that she couldn't close her mouth. She said, "You all are more clever than the oriole! Do you think I don't know what you want to do? You are just plotting against my private life! Well, our house is so lively. There is no need to invite the people from the Treasure Pavilion. Just go, the three of you daughters-in-law, take your daughters, and go to the street to pick out a few headdresses that suit your taste. No matter how much money you spend, it will all be charged to my account."

Oh, when Yan heard this, she laughed so hard that her eyes were almost squeezed out. Chu Jinyao was also happy when she saw this scene.

Rongning Hall was full of harmony. Chu Jinmiao forced a smile, watched for a while, and quietly retreated.

She was still under house arrest in name, but when faced with such a big thing, she had to come to the old lady. If no one said anything or mentioned it, and everyone turned a blind eye, the house arrest would be over.

In the past, Chu Jinmiao would be the most active among the sisters. She is the eldest daughter of the eldest house, the biological daughter of Marquis Changxing, and is far more noble than the girls of the second and third houses. There are only two legitimate daughters in the eldest house. Chu Jinxian is dignified and serious, and would not say such flattering words. Chu Jinmiao, as the youngest legitimate daughter, is the one who is most qualified to act coquettishly in front of her grandmother and attract everyone's attention. Unfortunately, the arrival of Chu Jinyao brought all this to an abrupt end.

What's more, since the last incident, Chu Jinmiao always felt uncomfortable seeing the old lady. As soon as she saw Old Madam Chu, Chu Jinmiao thought of her failure. It was hard to tell whether it was out of fear or deliberate avoidance, but Chu Jinmiao didn't want to face Old Madam Chu more and more. Even in situations like when her sisters were acting coquettishly, Chu Jinmiao rarely spoke.

Chu Jinmiao avoided the crowd and walked out by herself. She stood on the corridor of the Marquis' Mansion and looked up at the blue sky. The laughter of the girls of the Chu family kept coming from behind her. Chu Jinmiao listened and reached out uncontrollably to tighten her cloak.

Once, she was also one of the laughers, but now, the grandmother inside is not her grandmother, and the sisters are no longer her sisters. She can no longer stand up straight, argue with the girls of Changxing Marquis' Mansion, and give orders to the servants of the Marquis' Mansion. What's worse, her grandmother has created a rift with her. And all this is because of Chu Jinyao.

Chu Jinmiao couldn't help thinking, why did Chu Jinyao come back? She was the one who grew up here, the title of the young lady of the marquis's mansion, the relatives and sisters of the Chu family, were originally hers! Now a Chu Jinyao suddenly appeared and said that her thirteen years were all wrong, how could Chu Jinmiao accept it?

Chu Jinmiao stood for a while, and couldn't stand the continuous laughter in the room, so she walked away with a gloomy face. Forget it, since the people of the Chu family no longer accept her, she doesn't want it! She is already thirteen years old, and she will be able to discuss marriage soon. She will find a decent and noble husband's family for herself, marry in glory, live her own life, and then let these people in the Chu family regret it!

In Rongning Hall, the grandparents and grandchildren talked and laughed for a long time. A maid looked around and said, "Where is the fourth lady? She was here just now."

The atmosphere in the room froze slightly. The old lady's smile gradually faded, and she counted the Buddhist beads in her hand without saying anything. Chu Jinxian sat beside the old lady, as if she didn't hear it. The second lady was invisible as always. The third lady rolled her eyes and snorted in a sinister way. Chu Jinyao was in a very sensitive position. She had already noticed that Chu Jinmiao was gone, but she didn't say anything. Now that she was asked in public, she would not say anything. Finally, it was the sixth daughter from the third room who said, "It's a little hot in the room. Maybe the fourth sister went outside to get some fresh air."

Zhao said anxiously, "She is not in good health and gets out of breath easily in crowded places. Mother, how about I go out to look for her?"

The old lady said calmly, "Since she went out to get some fresh air, let her take a rest. She will come back by herself in a while."

Don't even look for it? Zhao was so anxious, but she didn't dare to disobey Old Lady Chu, so she could only reluctantly lower her head and answer, "Yes."

Yan squinted at Zhao and laughed secretly.

Sure enough, three or four days later, the invitation from Princess Huailing was delivered to the Marquis of Changxing's Mansion. The visiting card of the palace was noble and majestic, and even gold foil was used to emboss patterns around it. Yan took the invitation and exclaimed, "It's worthy of being a palace, it's really generous. It's just a card that is used and thrown away, but it is decorated with real gold! Oh, it's really..."

Zhao felt that Yan was very embarrassed, so she turned her face away and stopped looking. They were all dressed up today and gathered at the old lady's place. When everyone arrived, they would go to the street together. After hearing what Yan said, the other girls felt that Yan was a little petty, but they all understood in their hearts that the gap between Huailing Palace and Changxing Marquisate widened in these seemingly insignificant details. How could Changxing Marquisate be willing to use gold foil embossing when sending invitations to guests, but Huailing Palace didn't care at all. Even if Changxing Marquisate could afford it, it didn't have the qualifications. These gold and silver decorations can only be used by the royal family. When

everyone was gathered, Chu Jinyao was taken by his mother to pay respects to the old lady. After getting the old lady's permission, he boarded the carriage accompanied by his brothers and drove slowly to the street.

This was Chu Jinyao's first time to the market. She originally lived in the Su family and had no qualifications to follow her father to the county town. Later, she was taken away by the Marquis of Changxing unexpectedly. She rode a carriage all the way back to the Marquis of Changxing's mansion, and she didn't even have time to see what Taiyuan City looked like. Now she finally got out, and she was very excited all the way. She could hardly hold back from lifting the curtain to look outside.

But Chu Jinyao didn't dare to do it. She and Chu Jinxian were in the same carriage, while Zhao and Chu Jinmiao were in another carriage. Chu Jinxian still sat dignified in the shaking carriage. Even if Chu Jinxian didn't look in her direction, Chu Jinyao knew that Chu Jinxian would not let her do something as disgraceful as lifting the curtain.

Chu Jinxian may have noticed that Chu Jinyao was too excited to sit still. Actually, there was no need to see it, because Chu Jinyao had already shown it. Chu Jinxian was helpless and sad, and whispered to Chu Jinyao: "There are many people on the street, and it's not appropriate for people to see our faces. When we get to the Treasure Pavilion, you can look openly."

Chu Jinyao was stunned for a while before she realized that Chu Jinxian was comforting her. Chu Jinyao was flattered and said: "I understand, thank you, elder sister."

Chu Jinxian's words were true. The carriage of the Marquis' Mansion drove for a while and turned a corner. Sure enough, the noise outside the curtain became farther away, and even the road surface became much smoother, and the carriage no longer bumped up and down. Chu Jinyao waited patiently for a while, and heard the carriage knock on the ground. After a while of busy work, the voice of the maid rang outside the carriage: "Eldest Miss, Fifth Miss, we have arrived at the Treasure Pavilion. I will help you down."

Chu Jinxian left first, and Chu Jinyao, supported by the maid, slowly got off the carriage. In fact, Chu Jinyao was used to being active since she was a child. She could land on the ground with a light jump from the carriage. But she couldn't do such a thing in front of so many people.

After Chu Jinyao landed, she immediately turned around to look at the street. This street is full of brocade, gold, and jade. People coming and going are either rich or noble, and carriages of officials or nobles can be seen everywhere. Chu Jinyao was amazed. She had never seen such a vast and magnificent commercial street before! It was many times more magnificent than the county town described by Su Sheng, Su's father.

Qin Yi saw Chu Jinyao's appearance and couldn't help but whispered, "It's just an ordinary street, what's the big deal? If you really like it, you should go to see the commercial streets in Beijing."

Chu Jinyao's eyes sparkled, and she also quietly asked Qin Yi, "Is Beijing bigger than Taiyuan?"

Qin Yi smiled softly, "It's just Taiyuan, so it can't be compared with Beijing."

Chu Jinyao sighed softly. Taiyuan opened her eyes, and Beijing was even more vast and magnificent than Taiyuan. What kind of scene would that be? Chu Jinyao thought for a while, and finally said somewhat disappointedly: "It's a pity that I have no chance to see the capital. I can only think about it in my dreams."

"How could that be?" Qin Yi said, "If you want to go, isn't it easy?"

Chu Jinyao shook her head lightly: "I am a girl. I can't even go out on weekdays, let alone go to the capital. Even if I get married, I don't want to go to such a far place. No matter how good the capital is, it has nothing to do with me. My home is in Taiyuan, and I don't want to be too far away from my parents."

Qin Yi was silent this time. He once again realized that he and Chu Jinyao were utterly different.

"Miss!" Shancha's voice rang out from behind. She held up her skirt and hurried down the stairs. She walked to Chu Jinyao's side and complained, "Miss, why are you hiding here alone? I thought you went in with the fourth lady, but I had a hard time finding you, and the eldest lady complained about you! Why do you always run around alone!"

Qin Yi's face darkened when he heard this, and he almost scolded the maid for being rude. Who gave her the courage to talk to Chu Jinyao like this? Chu Jinyao vaguely felt that Qin Yi was a little irritable. She gently reached out and covered the jade pendant, then said to Shancha: "I know. Is the elder sister waiting for me inside?"

"Yes." Shancha was scolded by Chu Jinxian, and she was upset. She wanted to say more, but she saw Chu Jinyao walked past her and went straight inside. Shancha was

directly ignored by Chu Jinyao, and she became more and more depressed, but she knew her identity after all. There were so many masters in the store, and any one of them could crush her to death with one hand. She didn't dare to quarrel with the fifth lady in such a place. Shancha had to hold her anger, pouting and following Chu Jinyao, and walked into the store dejectedly.

Chu Jinxian was waiting at the door. When she saw Chu Jinyao coming in over the threshold, she breathed a sigh of relief and frowned, "What's wrong with those maids around you? So many of them followed you, but they could still lose you?"

"Sister, stop talking." Chu Jinyao gently pulled Chu Jinxian's hand and said, "It's rare for us sisters to go out together, so don't be angry about these things. I will discipline them when we get back."

Chu Jinxian looked at Shancha, whose eyes were wandering, and then looked at Nanny Sun, who followed closely behind Zhao and Chu Jinmiao. She knew Chu Jinyao's difficulties. But she couldn't help Chu Jinyao to settle everything. The way to survive in the back house could only be slowly explored by Chu Jinyao herself.

Chu Jinxian sighed and said no more. After seeing this, Chu Jinyao secretly sighed in her heart, this is a real family. Chu Jinxian couldn't find her, and the first thing she asked when they met was if she was okay, and the second thing she said was to scold her maid for being irresponsible. If it was Zhao, she would just frown and say, "Why are you running around again? How can this be so?"

Zhao looked at her, and it seemed that she always had a strong prejudice. Zhao hoped that her daughter would be a decent lady from the moment she appeared, no matter what her daughter encountered. Chu Jinyao sighed, perhaps, what Zhao needed was a lady like Chu Jinmiao who was fragile, eloquent, and needed Zhao very much, not her biological daughter who came back halfway.

Chu Jinxian was already engaged, so she couldn't go out anymore, but Chu Jinxian insisted to go with them. Chu Jinxian looked at the intimate backs of Zhao and Chu Jinmiao, and thought that she was right. Zhao only had Chu Jinmiao in her eyes, and she had completely forgotten that she had a daughter to take care of. Chu Jinyao had been back for so long, but Zhao still refused to adapt to the new situation. If Chu Jinxian didn't come today, the other girls would have been taken by their mothers to look at jewelry, and Chu Jinyao would have been left behind. Who knows how embarrassed she would have been. Even

Chu Jinxian felt a sense of regret for Zhao.

The young man at the Treasure Pavilion saw two extremely beautiful girls standing hand in hand in the hall, one as gentle as the moon and the other as bright as the morning sun. He quickly ran over and greeted them, "Girls, what do you want to see?"

The staff knew that these were all distinguished guests of the Changxing Marquis's Mansion. Judging from their appearance and clothing, they were most likely legitimate daughters of the mansion. Although they didn't know why the two of them stood out alone, it didn't matter. It was enough to know that these two were important customers!

Chu Jinxian put her mind at ease, not paying attention to these annoying things, and pulled Chu Jinyao inside: "You don't have many pieces of jewelry. Let's take this opportunity to buy them all at once." She turned around and told the waiter lightly: "Go and take out all the head ornaments you have, whether they are hairpins, double-strand hairpins or brooches, take them all out and let us take a look."

When the waiter heard this, his heart blossomed, and he immediately responded straightforwardly: "Okay, okay."

The waiter wanted to please this big customer, so he brought over a lot of exquisite jewelry and introduced them one by one. Chu Jinxian was very calm. She took the hair ornaments in the box and looked at them. She asked two questions and said, "Pack them all up."

Chu Jinyao broke out in a cold sweat when she heard this: "Sister, I can't use so many. It's not good for us to do this..."

Their movements here alarmed Yan. Yan saw that there were many boxes in front of Chu Jinyao and Chu Jinxian. Chu Jinxian had packed several of them. Yan immediately became unhappy: "Why can you two take so many?"

Although Mrs. Chu told them to choose as they like, they couldn't take it seriously. The female relatives understood tacitly that they could pick one large hairpin and two small ones. Anyway, the approximate amount of money was this much. If the amount exceeds by too much and you want to take the opportunity to buy more items, you can pay for it yourself.

Yan looked at Chu Jinxian and Chu Jinyao, and was furious. Aren't they too much? It was the old lady who paid for it, so why can they get so much?

Chu Jinyao secretly pulled Chu Jinxian's sleeve. Chu Jinxian pressed down Chu Jinyao's hand, glanced at Yan indifferently, and said, "Don't worry, Second Aunt. These are given to Fifth Sister by me and will be paid in my name."

Yan was speechless. She looked at a gold hairpin, a pair of gold barbells, and a pair of silver beaded silk hairpins in front of Chu Jinyao, and said in a strange voice, "The eldest lady is worthy of being the old lady's favorite. Her wealth is really enviable."

Chu Jinxian ignored Yan and said to Chu Jinyao, "Pick whatever you like. Don't worry about anything else."

Chu Jinyao held it in for a long time and said softly, "Thank you, sister." She was grateful for Chu Jinxian's kindness, but also sad about her own financial difficulties.

The commotion here inevitably alarmed other people, and naturally many people heard what Chu Jinxian said. They were envious and jealous, but they could do nothing. Chu Jinxian was favored by the old lady, and she had the best food, clothing and daily necessities since she was a child. Her dowry was six thousand taels, and the old lady didn't know how much she had to subsidize privately. Chu Jinxian was very confident, and if she wanted to spend money to make Chu Jinyao happy, she really didn't care about this little money.

Zhao also heard what Chu Jinxian said, and she felt a little embarrassed. She brought Chu Jinmiao over and said, "I forgot that Jinyao still needs jewelry. Since she's out today, let's do it together."

Zhao planned to pay for it herself. As a mother, how could she let her eldest daughter pay for it? She glanced at the things on the table and frowned, "Do we have to buy all of this together? When you go to a party, you have to change into new clothes, but you can't wear new headgear. If you wear a brand new headgear, people will laugh at you."

"Fang Zheng has a long life ahead of her, so it's important to prepare some for her." Chu Jinxian said lightly, and then said to the staff, "Put all these away."

In front of so many people, Zhao couldn't say anything more, she said, "You are still a girl, keep the dowry for yourself, and I'll take care

of these." Chu Jinxian pushed Zhao's hand and said, "Mother, I will be leaving home soon, and Jinyao just came back. As her elder sister, I can't spend much time with her, so I can only compensate her with these external things. This is my intention. If mother also wants to compensate her, that's another matter."

Chu Jinyao raised her eyebrows secretly after hearing this, and suddenly felt that her eldest sister was also a powerful person. Sure enough, Zhao felt embarrassed after hearing this, so she had to say, "Okay, I won't compete with you. I just saw a set of gemstone headdresses that is pretty good, and Jinyao happens to have no gemstone jewelry, so I will give her this set."

Chu Jinxian said this, Zhao couldn't stop Chu Jinxian, but it was not good to say nothing. As a dignified marquis' wife, could she be outdone by her eldest daughter Chu Jinxian? Of course not, she could only buy another more expensive set for Chu Jinyao to show off.

Chu Jinmiao was shocked when she heard that she wanted to buy gemstones. She didn't even have a few gemstone jewelry, and they were all accumulated over the years, and they couldn't even make up a set! On what basis can Chu Jinyao get a whole set of gemstone head ornaments?

Chu Jinmiao looked at Chu Jinyao with a very unfriendly look. Chu Jinyao felt that it would be a fool not to take advantage of the opportunity. She lowered her head and said nothing, letting Chu Jinxian and Zhao arrange it. Chu Jinmiao stared at Chu Jinyao to no avail. She became angrier and angrier, so she reached out to pull Zhao's sleeve: "Mother..."

Even if Zhao was the wife of the marquis, it was impossible for her to buy two sets of gemstone head ornaments at once. Chu Jinmiao did this in front of everyone. Who could not understand what Chu Jinmiao meant? Zhao was a little embarrassed. For the first time, she thought that Chu Jinmiao only cared about herself and was not well-behaved at all. This thought was fleeting. Zhao looked at Chu Jinmiao's pitiful eyes and couldn't bear it. She said, "I saw a pair of golden butterfly combs just now. If you like them, take them together."

Chu Jinmiao was not very happy. A golden comb and a set of gemstone head ornaments, this is too much difference! But in front of so many people, Chu Jinmiao could only reluctantly say, "Thank you, mother."

In the end, Chu Jinyao looked at the big and small packages of things being moved to her car, and she was very moved. It feels good to have money, but these are all her sister and mother's money. When can she have her own income?

Chu Jinyao thought about it and decided not to make things difficult for herself. Her entire fortune was only half a piece of Yunjin and thirty taels of deposited silver. She had planned for the monthly allowance for a long time, but she didn't save any of it.

She felt speechless sadness.

Although there were some minor incidents during this trip, the female family members all bought their favorite jewelry and were all happy. Chu Jinyao followed the crowd out. When Zhao and Yan went out, they met the wives of officials from other prefectures, who were holding hands and talking intimately. Chu Jinyao stood bored among the sisters, listening to the adults' greetings. She glanced around casually and found that a new brocade cloth shop had opened next to the Treasure Pavilion.

Chu Jinyao's mind immediately started to move.

She was quite good at needlework. If she had the opportunity to open a shop, I'm afraid the most suitable one would be a brocade shop. Chu Jinyao didn't know that she didn't have the chance to own a brocade shop, but she wanted to find out in advance, at least to understand the market.

Thinking of this, Chu Jinyao quietly left the team and walked to the next door. As soon as she walked down the stairs, she heard Qin Yi ask: "Where are you going?" "

I'm going to talk to the clerk of this store..." Before she finished speaking, she saw a group of majestic cavalrymen appear at the end of the long street. They sat on tall horses with grim faces, galloping towards this side at a high speed, and appeared in front of her in an instant. A little boy in a red silk robe squatted on the side of the road playing with stone beads. Suddenly, his stone beads shook and rolled out. The boy ran after the beads without even looking up.

Screams suddenly rang out on the street, and Chu Jinyao couldn't help shouting: "Be careful!"