On the day Xie Liwei's twins turned one month old, most of the princes and nobles in the capital came to celebrate.
Yongle came early in the morning to play with the two children. "I really want to come and play with you every day, but Shen Qingque insists that I'm noisy and that you need to rest well after giving birth, so I shouldn't bother you. Am I that noisy? We've only been married a short time, and you're already starting to dislike me!"
Song Yaozhu has finished her postpartum confinement. Today, she is dressed in a dark purple stand-up collar dress embroidered with gold python patterns and auspicious clouds. She wears eight magnolia-shaped gold hairpins and two small, round pearl earrings. She looks elegant, bright, and charming.
“Lord Shen thinks you are lively. If he disliked you, would you still be complaining to me here? He would probably have your father give him a good beating by now.”
Yongle chuckled foolishly, cupping his cheeks as he said, "I said that on purpose. I plan to tell those people who laugh at me for being too old to get married! Humph, I'll make them so jealous!"
"Aren't you afraid of getting beaten up?"
"Hmph, the person who dares to hit me hasn't been born yet!"
After saying that, Song Yaozhu raised her hand and gently tapped her forehead. Yongle snorted and turned to poke the two little ones' foreheads with her fingers. Song Yaozhu was speechless at her behavior.
"By the way, the gold locks you made for the two little ones last time were very beautiful. My sister-in-law saw the craftsmanship and wanted to ask you which craftsman you hired. She also wants to have a carved armlet made by the same craftsman."
"Haha, that's craftsmanship from the Silver Workshop, of course it's good! It's not that I'm unwilling to introduce it to your sister-in-law, but it's not good for things from the palace to leak out. Later, have her give me the blueprints, and I'll say I wanted it and get one for you! But I can't guarantee the construction period, they have to prioritize the palace first."
Song Yaozhu thanked her and didn't stand on ceremony.
"No wonder, I was wondering why the Qilin's fur was so exquisite, it turns out it came from the palace."
"Sigh, on this full moon day, why didn't you put it on the two children!"
"There are so many people around today, I'm afraid someone might see such a fine treasure and steal it when no one is looking. It's a gift from you, so it should be kept safe."
"Don't worry, as their older sister, I'll send them even better ones in the future! You can take them out and put them on, to make me look good."
"You actually gave me face at my two children's one-month celebration?"
"Hehehe, we're all family, don't mind such a small thing!"
After the two finished laughing, the old woman outside said it was time and told someone to take the child to the front yard, as the feast was about to begin.
The weather was clear and cloudless today. The flowers in the courtyard were in full bloom. Xie Liwei was in charge of the front yard, while Song Yaozhu was in charge of the back yard. Even though there were many guests today and the entire mansion was packed with people, the back yard was still tightly guarded, and there were even guards on the roof to patrol in case of any unexpected accidents.
The outer courtyard was for male guests, while most of the ladies in the back courtyard were easy to get along with. Song Yaozhu arranged for the less so ladies to sit at the same table.
Rather than letting one of them spoil the mood of the whole table, it's better to let them spoil each other's fun.
Sure enough, after a lady sat down, she saw that her mortal enemy was sitting at the same table. She immediately turned to the maid of the Prince's mansion and asked, "I want to change tables. Go and arrange it for me."
The maidservant smiled and said, "Madam, all the seating arrangements were made from the beginning and cannot be changed."
"It's no use talking to you. Go and call your princess here. You can't even handle such a small matter. I'll talk to your princess and have her punish you!"
The maidservant said unhurriedly, "When the time comes, the Princess will come to toast us at the banquet!"
Upon hearing such perfunctory words, the lady slammed her hand on the table in anger.
"I am a guest of your royal palace! How dare you treat me like this! Go and summon your princess!"
The maid remained unmoved, and her tone became more serious: "The Princess Consort said that guests are welcome, but there are limits. If anyone acts as if they are of high status and puts on airs, then we apologize for our poor hospitality and will have to see them out!"
That lady was, after all, the wife of a fifth-rank official. Although her husband was of low rank, he was still the son of a concubine in the Prince of Lin'an's mansion. Even if other families looked down on her, they would still give her some face when they saw the Prince's mansion behind her.
She never expected that the person who spoke to her like this today was a servant girl of slave status, and she was so angry that she wanted to reach out and tie the little maid up.
The young maidservant nimbly stepped back, avoiding the slap. The lady, however, was not so fortunate. She had used all her strength to vent her anger, but this brat dared to dodge.
She was slapped with all her might, her upper body twisting as the arm swung out, and then she let out a terrible scream—her arm had cramped.
"You little slut, how dare you dodge me!"
The maidservant curtsied and said neither servilely nor arrogantly, "This servant acted according to orders and did not feel there was anything wrong. If I have made a mistake, Madam should inform my master so that he can punish me."
Seeing the maid's audacity, everyone understood the attitude of the Prince Xiaoyao's Mansion.
The Prince of Xiaoyao's Mansion used to keep a low profile because no one from the Xie family held an official position in the court. Now that Xie Liwei has entered officialdom, they naturally stand taller.
Today's scene can be seen as a warning to others.
"Fine! Fine!" The lady was helped up by her maid and said cursingly, "I know now, your royal palace looks down on me, so I'd rather not eat at this banquet!"
"Yes, madam, please come this way. I will lead the way for you. Someone will return your gifts from today shortly."
The maid's reply made the lady so angry that her face turned red. She had intended to humiliate her, but the other woman had cleverly deflected her anger, leaving her in an awkward position instead.
The lady glanced at the other ladies watching the play, became furious, and stormed off.
With her gone, the atmosphere in the courtyard actually feels better.
"Hey, sister-in-law, you just watch your sister-in-law make a fool of herself without helping her?" someone teased the Princess Consort of Lin'an.
Princess Consort of Lin'an was not annoyed by this. She picked up her wine cup, took a sip, and said, "This wine is quite good today."
Everyone understood what the Princess Consort meant. If that lady was so unrestrained outside, she must be doing something even more infuriating to the Princess Consort at home. Seeing her get the short end of the stick, the Princess Consort of Lin'an couldn't help but feel quite pleased.
Princess Consort of Lin'an thought to herself that after the banquet, she would go back to her husband and make a scene. This time, she would make sure to drive her half-brother's family out of the Prince's mansion!
She'd had enough of sucking the blood out of the Prince's mansion and having to clean up his messes all day long!
After thinking for a moment, she summoned a maid and asked her to go to the front courtyard and tell the Prince that his dear sister-in-law had caused trouble again.
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