Chapter 26 Distress
Chen Tang sat back in his original seat, and his eyes didn't move away until the eldest daughter of the Left Prime Minister's Mansion came on stage to play the guzheng, but there was one thing that lingered.
Chen Tang looked over and bumped into Xie Guimo again.
But this time, she felt a little guilty.
Afraid that Xie Guimo would see his own shadow in her sword dance.
In her previous life, it was Chen Xian who asked her to dance with a sword. However, at that time, Chen Xian was the second prince's wife and was pregnant. Chen Xian proposed to the emperor that she dance with a sword at the welcoming banquet for the envoys from Western Liang. She could not refuse, and Xie Guimo was afraid that she would lose face for him, so he taught her personally.
If she hadn't worked so hard, there's no way she could dance so well.
The sound of the guzheng spread over the garden, and Chen Tang enjoyed it while drinking tea, which was quite pleasant.
But this comfort turned into distress when the spring banquet ended.
At the Spring Banquet, ladies from prominent families and young masters from aristocratic families performed their talents. The Shou Palace prepared prizes, and several noble ladies selected the one with the best talent as a reward.
The prize for the young master of aristocratic family was a Duan inkstone, which he gave to the eldest young master of the Right Prime Minister's Mansion.
The prize for the lady was a big Dongzhu, but Chen Tang didn't expect it to fall on her.
Originally, winning the prize was a good thing, but the Spring Banquet invited unengaged ladies and young masters from aristocratic families to attend. Every year, the door of the house of the girl who won the prize would be trampled down by people.
She was pushed out by Chen Xi and had to dance with a sword, but she didn't want to take first place, nor did she want to be in the limelight and get married.
Isn't this just asking for trouble for her?
Shen Tang was extremely depressed and couldn't be happy at all.
Chen Tang was unhappy in his heart, but Chen Xian's unhappiness was directly on her face. She endured from the moment Chen Tang came on stage until the Spring Festival ended, and until the carriage left the area where the Shouwang Mansion was located. Finally, she could no longer endure it and gritted her teeth and said, "Second sister is really good at hiding her shortcomings!"
Chen Tang was so angry that he sneered, "I am good at sword dancing. Don't you know that clearly, elder sister? Otherwise, why would you push me out to dance with the sword for you without hesitation?"
Chen Tang knew that Chen Xi's purpose was to embarrass her in public, but being able to do such a thing did not mean that she could say such a thing, otherwise if the old lady heard about it, she would be severely punished.
Chen Xi had no words to refute, and her silver teeth were almost broken.
The two of them had said nothing on the way here, and they only said these two sentences on the way back. Chen Tang lifted the curtain of the car and looked outside, praying that no one would like her, otherwise if her grandmother and father arranged a marriage for her, she would have to find a way to cancel it.
What is this?
Chen Tang was extremely depressed, feeling that what he was holding in his hand was not a Dongzhu, but a hot potato.
Here, Chen Tang and Shen Xi had not returned to the Marquis' Mansion yet. The news that she had won the prize by dancing with a sword at the Spring Banquet reached the old lady's ears, and she was very happy.
After returning to the Marquis' Mansion, Chen Tang went to see the old lady. When he walked around the screen, he saw the old lady looking at him with a kind face, "Did you really win the prize at the Spring Banquet?"
Chen Tang then presented the Dongzhu, "This is the lucky charm of the Shou Palace, I present it to my grandmother."
The old lady smiled and said, "I am very pleased that you have such filial piety. You can keep it well..."
Before she finished speaking, the second wife said, "This is the first time that the second girl has won a prize. She is showing her filial piety to you, old lady. You should keep it."
The second wife's favorite thing to do was to get things from the old lady and the marquis to Shen Xi, and then to get things into the old lady's hands, because once they were in the old lady's hands, they might fall into Shen Xi's hands.
Chen Tang was not someone that Chen Xiang would play tricks on. It was just an oriental pearl, she would not be reluctant to give it up. This thing was considered a rare item for the Marquis's Mansion, but the Jingyang Palace put it in a box, so it was no wonder that Chen Xiang was reluctant to give up this marriage.
Chen Tang placed the Dongzhu on the small table next to the old lady.
The Third Madam laughed and said, "Normally the Second Miss doesn't show off her talents, but I didn't expect that she would make a splash at the Spring Banquet. When I heard the servants report it, I even suspected that the news was wrong. The Second Miss is hiding too deeply."
Chen Tang said, "It was just luck. My talent is far inferior to that of my elder sister. I am on stage on behalf of my elder sister today, so I dare not not try my best."
This is not something that can be achieved by luck. As for not being as good as Chen Xiang, she used to think that the second girl could not compare to the eldest girl, whether in music, chess, calligraphy, painting, poetry or songs. But since several girls went out of the house to buy jewelry a few days ago, the third wife saw Chen Tang's intelligence, and coupled with today's winning the lottery, she was sure that Chen Tang had been giving in to Chen Xiang before.
The Third Wife was certain that it was Chen Xian who drugged her, framed Chen Tang, pushed Chen Tang into the fire pit, and hurt Chen Tang's heart, so Chen Tang stopped letting Chen Xian do what she wanted.
The second wife asked Chen Xi, "Is your foot injury serious?"
Shen Xi said, "It was just a slight twist, it's no problem."
Chen Luo asked, "Can we still go to the Jokhang Temple tomorrow?"
Chen Xian copied Buddhist scriptures to pray for Jiang, and planned to send them to the Jokhang Temple for worship tomorrow. Now that she has sprained her ankle, she may not be able to go.
The second wife said, "There is no rush to go to the Jokhang Temple in the next few days. It won't be too late to go after your sprained foot heals."
If possible, the second wife didn't want Chen Xian to copy the Buddhist scriptures at all, let alone send them to the Jokhang Temple in person. Chen Xian almost died at the hands of Jiang.
Chen Xi bit her lip lightly, her voice sounding a little aggrieved, "My mother didn't like me when she was alive. If I can't go to the Jokhang Temple because of a sprain, my mother would be even more dissatisfied with me if she knew about it..."
This mother and daughter pair are really good at sowing discord. Chen Tang even regretted using his mother Jiang's dream as an excuse to do things, giving Chen Xi the opportunity to pretend to be pitiful and gain sympathy.
The old lady sighed, "What mother wouldn't love the flesh that fell from her body? Your mother is like this because she is sick. Grandmother shouldn't have stopped you from worshipping your mother all these years."
Shen Xi nodded obediently.
The old lady looked at Mother Wang and said, "Bring me the jade bracelet on my dressing table."
Chen Xian thought it was for her, but when Mother Wang brought the jade bracelet, the old lady waved at Chen Tang and put the jade bracelet on Chen Tang's wrist.
How many good things has the old lady given to Chen Tang these days!
These jewellery should all belong to her!
Shen Xi was so jealous that her eyes turned red, and the second wife also looked unhappy.
Chen Tang sat for a while, then took Ginkgo back to Qingyi Garden.
Not long after returning, Gingko came in and told Chen Tang, "The young lady's ankle was fake. She practiced sword dancing when she returned to Qinglan Garden, but she let the sword slip out of her hand several times, which made the young lady so angry that she used the sword to break several pots of flowers in the yard..."
Poor pots of flowers, they suffered such a tragic loss at the hands of the young girl.
Chen Tang was happily lying on the couch eating fruit.
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