Su Nuannuan said hurriedly, "Don't get me wrong, old lady. I'm just telling the truth. I don't mean to show off for our grandfather. The real meritorious person is here." After saying that, she suddenly turned around, pulled Aunt Jing and Duan Xinqi over, and said with a smile, "I only knew how to make cakes. The reason why this big cake is so dazzling and colorful is thanks to the skillful hands of Sister Jing and Sister Two. The pine and crane at the bottom were painted by Sister Jing, and Sister Two is even more amazing. She carved the old birthday star, the longevity peach, and the dragon head cane above. I saw with my own eyes that with just a few strokes, these things showed their outlines, and after a little carving, they became more and more exquisite. It's a pity that there is not enough time, otherwise it would be more than enough to carve a pair of golden boy and jade girl."
Aunt Jing and Duan Xinqi never expected that they would be pulled out by Su Nuannuan to be praised in front of so many dignitaries. Their faces flushed for a moment, and Duan Xinqi kept trying to hide behind her sister-in-law. Aunt Jing had experienced big occasions before, after a moment of shock, she understood and chuckled, "Grandma is really modest. If it weren't for the cake she made, I and my second sister would have no place to use our skills. In fact, my second sister is more skilled. I didn't know she had this skill."
Su Nuannuan smiled and said, "So, being clever and deft is something that is innate. Aunt Lin's embroidery is very delicate, and my second sister followed her example. I heard from my second sister that she usually just draws a few flower patterns for Aunt Lin, and occasionally carves some flowers or birthday stars and lucky stars out of wood to kill time. Who knew that today she would use her skills? The old lady said, is this birthday star carved too well?"
Old Lady Fang was a very shrewd old lady, so she certainly understood what Su Nuannuan meant. She sighed in her heart that this child was attentive and kind, and naturally agreed with him. So several ladies in the corridor looked at Duan Xinqi carefully. The more they looked, the brighter their eyes became. Some of them even couldn't help but whisper to their relatives and friends.
Madam Yang glanced at Aunt Lin behind her, and saw that the usually cowardly beautiful woman was already in tears, wiping them with a handkerchief, but still couldn't stop. She said calmly: "Okay, Nuannuan has helped the child to have a good time today. You don't have to worry about her life in the future. I'm not saying anything bad about you. You, as a mother, should also worry more about your daughter. Look how beautiful the child is today? I didn't know she was such a beauty, it's all because you didn't dress her up carefully. Don't you think about how old she is? She will soon be old enough to get married, and Nuannuan, as her sister-in-law, has to worry about all this."
Madam Yang was just talking without any concern, but she was not hypocritical. She had not been involved in the affairs of the mansion for many years. She only maintained a superficial indifference towards Liu Min and Aunt Lin, the two women who stole her husband. Who knew what kind of life Aunt Lin and her son lived? So when she saw Duan Xinqi standing next to Su Nuannuan, she thought that Aunt Lin was unwilling to dress up her daughter, but she never thought: Even if Aunt Lin wanted to dress up Duan Xinqi, where would she get such good materials and jewelry?
Aunt Lin naturally would not resent Madam Yang's words. She was a cowardly and self-deprecating woman. On the contrary, she was somewhat flattered after hearing this. She nodded repeatedly and said, "Yes, Madam is right. Second Miss...thanks to the eldest lady..."
Before he could finish, he heard Liu Min beside him chuckle and say, "Well, look how excited you are. Those who know you would say you are crying with joy, while those who don't would think you are crying on such a happy day. I wonder how much injustice you must have suffered."
This sentence frightened Aunt Lin so much that she immediately shut up and said repeatedly: "Mrs. Min is teaching me that it was the maid who lost her composure."
Madam Yang glanced at Liu Min and said calmly, "It's rare for her to see her daughter shine, so why should she be so happy? Everyone is just looking at the big cake now. Is it necessary to scare her like this?"
Liu Min pursed her lips and smiled, and said nothing more, but her heart was already filled with hatred. As soon as she knew that Su Nuannuan's birthday gift to Old Lady Fang was a birthday cake, she knew that the eldest wife's limelight today would definitely overshadow her son and daughter-in-law. However, even though she was mentally prepared, she did not expect that this birthday gift would be so novel and beautiful, and it would attract everyone's attention and steal the limelight from all the birthday gifts. What's the point of overshadowing her son and daughter-in-law? This was simply a one-size-fits-all attack, leaving no way for Tingye and the others to survive.
As she was thinking about it, she unconsciously looked in the direction of the old marquis Duan Ni in the courtyard, and saw several nobles surrounding him, talking about something excitedly, and two of them gave him a thumbs up, while her husband was looking at the big cake with a smile on his face, stroking his beard, nodding and smiling, his eyes full of admiration.
Seeing this scene, Liu Min felt a blackness in front of her eyes. Could it be that all her twenty years of hard work was wasted just because of a meal? Ever since that woman returned to the backyard, nothing has gone smoothly. Why didn't she die in Meiyue Tower? Why did she come back? Where is her backbone? Didn't she have a big fight with Duan Tingxuan that day? How come she has become a virtuous and good daughter-in-law after returning? How could the Duke of Pingguo give birth to such a weak thing.
Mrs. Min was completely trapped in all-round resentment. Others didn't notice her expression, but how could Mrs. Yang not notice it? Forget about the pleasure in her heart. She secretly thought that the heavens had eyes, I followed the etiquette and couldn't please my husband, I couldn't compete with you for favor, and even my son's position as the crown prince was in jeopardy. In the past twenty years, I have been suffering. But I didn't expect that the situation would change. Now your son and daughter-in-law are suppressed by my son and daughter-in-law. How do you feel? Does it feel good to have your hopes dashed? Hahaha...
Compared to the old marquis' wives and concubines, Xu Ranyun and Xue Zhilan were the ones who really had bitterness and hatred in their hearts. But now who would care about their feelings? Everyone was concerned about when they could eat the big cake.
Old Lady Fang was also anxious. Seeing that she had almost finished showing off, she coughed and said to Su Nuannuan, "Okay, how do you eat this? Let's get it down for everyone to taste. They have honored me by coming to celebrate my birthday. I can't just let people look at it and not eat it."
Su Nuannuan smiled and said, "This is easy, Master. You are tall, so I'll have to trouble you to take it off layer by layer."
Duan Tingxuan nodded: "That's no problem. Qiu Ling, have someone move the table over, and we'll divide the cake in the yard?" The last sentence was to ask for Grandma Fang's opinion. Seeing his grandmother nod, he took a brand new machete from Su Nuannuan, looked at the table set, and then tiptoed to take down the birthday cake on the top.
Then he quickly placed the remaining two to six layers of cake. Two eight-immortal tables were placed side by side, but they were filled with six cakes. Duan Tingxuan said to Su Nuannuan, "Cut them first, and then the last one after that."
"Okay, you arrange it." The grandmother was only responsible for making the cake, and she completely let go of the power at this time. She saw her husband cut a piece of the birthday cake, and Honglian beside him quickly handed over the prepared white disk with peaches. He put the cake on the table, personally brought it to Grandma Fang, knelt down and said: "May you be blessed with good fortune like the long-flowing water of the East Sea, and live as long as the evergreen pines of the Southern Mountains. Grandmother, this is a gift from my grandson and Nuannuan, please try it."
"Okay! Okay, Okay!" Old Lady Fang nodded repeatedly and took the plate. She felt embarrassed to eat with big mouthfuls at this moment, after all, so many people were watching. She had to scoop a spoonful into her mouth, tasted it carefully, and nodded vigorously, "It's delicious, Nuannuan, this tastes no worse than ice cream. It's delicious, really delicious. Xuan'er, come on, cut it for everyone to taste, this is also a new taste, please have a taste, adults and Your Highnesses."
Duan Tingxuan agreed, and then he took the birthday cake and handed it to Qiu Ling, laughing and said, "It's your birthday, so the birthday cake should naturally belong to you, so we won't share it."
The scumbag is really smart, no wonder he has a successful career and even the emperor treats him as his own. Su Nuannuan complained in her heart, and sure enough, she saw that Old Lady Fang smiled with her teeth showing and nodded repeatedly, saying, "Okay, okay, as expected, my good grandson is still filial to me."
Then the cake was distributed to everyone. The young marquis was very measured when cutting the cake. He estimated the size of the cake and the number of people. It took him half an hour to cut it. Finally, everyone was happy. Everyone got a piece. Although it was only a small piece, considering that there were more than 200 people, it was a good result. So everyone ate it with great care and praised it.
The sun was high in the sky, and although there was a canopy in the yard, the weather was still very hot. Duan Tingxuan wiped the sweat off his head and looked at the empty cake base in front of him. He felt that something was wrong. He looked up blankly and saw those people eating happily in the courtyard under the corridor. The feeling of something wrong in his heart became stronger.
Just as I was wondering, I saw my wife coming over, leaning her head slightly, as if she wanted to speak in his ear. The young marquis was overjoyed, and temporarily threw all his doubts aside, thinking to himself that Nuannuan was willing to talk to me in public now, did it mean that she was no longer as calm about me as before?
This realization made his heart beat wildly, and he felt like he was floating in the clouds. But soon, after hearing what Su Nuannuan said, his mood suddenly fell into the abyss. The words were: "Stupid, you forgot to cut yourself a piece of cake."
For a young marquis who practices martial arts, the stability of his hands is always the most important factor. Whether it is a piece of thin paper or a goose feather, or the meteor hammer and black gold knife weighing hundreds of pounds in the palace armory, once he holds it, it is as steady as a mountain. However, at this moment, his hand holding the machete was shaking, shaking like a leaf in the wind or a crab in a net. His originally cheerful face was gradually replaced by grief and despair.
"Calm down, Duan Tingxuan, you need to calm down. Don't forget, this is your grandmother's birthday party. Are you going to lose your princely demeanor just because of a piece of cake?"
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