"You, you..." Zheng Xiu wanted to compliment her on her round and plump breasts, but was afraid that she would think she was saying she was fat, so she didn't know what to say for a moment.
Princess Nanrong laughed again, and patted the shoulder of the Crown Prince's Consort of Prince Xin, "You naughty girl, stop teasing Sister Zheng."
The Crown Prince's Consort of Prince Xin blinked at Zheng Xiu, "Okay, Sister Zheng, don't think about it, I was just teasing you. Look at your blushing face, it's so adorable."
After this joke, Zheng Xiu felt a lot closer to them.
As they were talking, the maid passed on the message: "The wife of the Marquis of Zhongyong has arrived."
The Princess of Nanrong County curled her lips and whispered: "She is so arrogant. She always comes last to show off her status."
The Princess of Xin also sneered: "What status can be shown off? It's just this." He pointed to the top of his head and said, "I helped their family, otherwise I wouldn't even get a title."
The Marquis of Zhongyong was originally just a doctor in the Ministry of Works, and he was promoted because of his unique insights in the construction of canals. If he hadn't sent a girl to the palace for selection, he wouldn't have been named the Marquis of Zhongyong. That girl was none other than the current Queen Mother. The Queen Mother was incredibly lucky. At that time, the late Emperor had no children and the Empress Dowager had died. Not long after the Queen Mother entered the palace, she gave birth to a boy. That was the late Emperor's first son, and he was very pleasing to him, so he made her the Empress. It was also for the Queen Mother's sake that the late Emperor promoted her family. The House of the Earl of Loyalty and Bravery benefited from it, and they thought this was feasible, so they sent another girl to the palace. She was Concubine Xiao Shu, who gave birth to the second prince.
The Prince of Nanrong and the Prince of Xin were both from legitimate royal families, so they naturally looked down on this kind of family.
Zheng Xiu was also shocked. The House of the Earl of Loyalty and Bravery, the Queen Mother's family, were the evil people who harmed her parents!
The current Earl of Zhongyong is the Queen Mother's biological brother. The wife of the Earl of Zhongyong is wearing a beige silk satin gown with plum, bamboo and chrysanthemum patterns. She looks to be in her early fifties, and her face is still young and decent, but there are two heavy puppet lines at the corners of her mouth, which makes her look serious and difficult to get along with.
Zheng Xiu looked at her deeply for a few times, then looked away, only to repeatedly tell herself in her heart that on such an occasion today, she represented the face of the Duke of Qing's Mansion, and must not show any abnormality.
The princesses around Princess Guihe are all daughters of the late emperor. Although they are not as favored as Princess Guihe, they are also respected and proud. However, when the wife of the Earl of Zhongyong comes, no one takes her seriously, and they still talk to themselves. Princess Guihe just glanced up casually, then turned her head back to continue listening to what other people were saying. Lian Xinwang Mansion and Nanrong County Prince Mansion both had the same attitude, not to mention that she had already had a grudge with the Queen Mother, so naturally she looked down on them.
Lady Zhongyong Marquis greeted Princess Guihe with a stern face and presented a gift list. Princess Guihe just glanced at Qiu Rui and told her to take the gift list. She didn't even look at her, and waved her hand to let her find a place to sit. Lady
Zhongyong Marquis's face became even uglier. These royal family members were so arrogant and looked down on others, which made her lose face.
However, they, who were of legitimate royal family, looked down on the House of the Marquis Zhongyong, but other nobles followed suit. Especially the few fallen nobles of the Marquis of Qing'an, they flocked to the wife of the Earl of Zhongyong and started talking to her - anyway, Princess Guihe always looked down on them, so it would be better to get close to the wife of the Earl of Zhongyong and ring the Queen Mother's wooden clock.
Princess Guihe was too lazy to pay attention to their little thoughts and just let them go.
While the wife of the Earl of Zhongyong was talking to the wife of the Marquis of Qing'an, she glanced quietly around the room. She had heard about the identity of the second wife of the Duke of Qing's mansion. The two families were completely at odds with each other. The one who wanted to seize the wife was the younger brother of the current Earl of Zhongyong. As the eldest brother, the Earl of Zhongyong loved his younger brother very much. Whenever he thought of it, he would curse Zheng Ren's family. In his opinion, the younger brother was just young and playful. Zheng Ren could have just endured it and let it go. But he made such a big fuss, which not only ruined his family's reputation, but also gave the emperor a reason to settle accounts with him later. If the younger brother had not been beaten back to a commoner, he would not have lingered in the Qin and Chu mansions, and finally died of a head injury. The wife of the Earl
of Zhongyong did not have any feelings for her deceased brother-in-law, but she also had a deep hostility towards the Zheng family. However, the room was filled with many female relatives, and Zheng Xiu rarely went out, so no one could find out what she looked like. She was not dressed very well, and Lady Zhongyong could not tell for a moment.
She was just about to quietly inform the maid to find out, when she heard a sudden cry from the head. She looked carefully and found that it was Princess Guihe who knocked over the teacup and spilled the hot tea on her knees. The cry came from Qiu Rui who was behind Princess Guihe.
She couldn't help but sneer secretly. Princess Guihe had been seriously ill some time ago. The Duke of Qing kept a tight lid on her condition, and the imperial physician was treating her personally, so Princess Guihe's condition was even more closely guarded. Many people came to visit, but Princess Guihe refused to see them. For a while, there were rumors outside, all kinds of rumors. If the Ministry of Internal Affairs had not been asked to organize her birthday celebration, many people would have thought that Princess Guihe would have died.
Seeing Princess Guihe's condition, she sat on a strange-shaped chair and could not walk properly. She could not even hold a teacup steadily. She looked like a half-useless person. People like the wife of the Earl of Loyalty and Bravery, who had always been neglected by her, would naturally laugh at her in their hearts.
Zheng Xiu heard the noise, stood up, walked quickly to Princess Guihe, and asked with concern: "Are you okay?" Then she took a handkerchief and wiped the tea leaves off her skirt.
Princess Guihe frowned, and wanted to get angry but had to hold it back. She said with a sullen face: "No problem. Qiurui will accompany me to change clothes, and you will entertain the guests first."
Qiurui responded and pushed Princess Guihe out.
Seeing her unhappy expression, Zheng Xiu thought she was burned and wanted to go and see. But as the hostess, she could not neglect all the guests, so she stopped and asked Taozhi to replace the tea and snacks for the ladies.
The room was quiet for a while, and then it became lively again.
Lady Zhongyong looked at Zheng Xiu for a few times, thinking that she had a good appearance. If her mother looked like this, it was no wonder that she caught the attention of her brother-in-law.
Her gaze lingered for a moment, and the wife of the Marquis of Qing'an beside her chuckled and said, "This is the second wife of the Zheng family. I heard that she was born in a small family, but she looks quite different from the people in the capital."
The grievances between the Zhongyong Marquis's Mansion and the Zheng family were no secret, and they were once the topic of conversation among people in the capital. The wife of the Marquis of Qing'an wanted to please the Zhongyong Marquis's Mansion, so she naturally spoke to Zheng Xiu.
The wife of the Zhongyong Marquis also smiled disdainfully and said, "Looking at the whole dress, you can't tell her background."
The wife of the Marquis of Qing'an said again, "Dressing up is just to deceive people's eyes, but what she says and does can't deceive people." Just now, when Princess Guihe was in trouble, Zheng Shi showed that she was more dedicated than the maids, and it was obvious that she was trying to show her courtesy. But don't think about the status of Princess Guihe. There are so many people who want to flatter her, but they all flatter the horse's hoof. The wife of Marquis Qing'an made a joke about the time when Princess Guihe asked Zheng Xiu to sit somewhere else, and told the wife of the Earl of Zhongyong.
The wife of the Earl of Zhongyong herself was too embarrassed to be in front of Princess Guihe, but after hearing this, she smiled with a schadenfreude and said, "With her background, shouldn't she cling to Princess Guihe? Otherwise, how can she have a seat in this room full of ladies and girls?"
The wife of the Marquis of Qing'an echoed, "That's right. But don't you think about how discerning Princess Guihe is? No matter how shamelessly she tries to please him, she won't look at her any differently."
They didn't deliberately lower their voices. When others heard them, they either echoed them or simply kept silent and pretended not to hear. Zheng Xiu was a third-rank official with no distinguished family background. In their opinion, the fact that she had the nerve to sit with them was already a great honor for her. Zheng
Xiu didn't notice that someone was talking about her, but was only focused on listening to what the Crown Prince's wife and the Princess of Nanrong County were saying. The two of them were like a crosstalk performer, one praising and the other making fun, and they kept telling Zheng Xiu all the funny things that Xue Zhi and the other two did when they were young, which made her laugh so hard that she fell backwards and laughed non-stop.
Soon, a maid came with a message that Princess Guihe was not at home, so Taozhi whispered in Zheng Xiu's ear, "Second Madam, the kitchen said that the banquet is ready and the dishes can be served now. The princess is not here, so you think you should lead them to the side hall first.
Princess Guihe is clean, so she will have to change into a whole set of clothes and wash up. It will take quite a while, and it is estimated that she will not be back for a while. Zheng Xiu nodded, stood up, and said to everyone, "The meal is ready, please go to the side hall. "
Banquets were held in both side halls, and there was only one Princess Guihe. She sat in one and could not go to the other.
But it was always like this in previous years. Princess Guihe always sat in the East Hall, which was occupied by royal family members and honorable nobles. The West Hall was occupied by the upright and some declining nobles. The Mansion of the Marquis of Zhongyong was definitely not declining, but Princess Guihe looked down on such a 'nouveau riche' who gained glory by relying on her daughter, and she placed her in the West Hall every year.
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