Chapter 366: Bleeding Heart

Hua spoke, and the noisy and bustling garden became quiet.

Zhu Lan smiled and said, "The tea is here. You will know after you taste it, Chen Yiren."

Liu Ya got the hint from the mistress and went downstairs to get the brewed tea.

The tea cups were delivered to each table. Hua knew it was good tea after just one smell. Since she couldn't suppress Yang today, wouldn't she and her husband be suppressed by the Zhou couple?

Hua took a sip and her heart sank. Didn't the Zhou family come from farming and studying? How could they have top-grade tea? No matter how unwilling she was, she couldn't make trouble. She wanted to suppress Yang, but it would only cause trouble for the old man. She put on a smeared face and said, "Not bad."

Zhulan smiled more deeply, "It seems that Hua Yiren has tasted better tea. The tea bestowed by the Emperor was only good in return!"

She understood why Hua was looking for trouble. It was a matter of stance, but that didn't mean she had a good temper.

Hua's hands trembled and she took a deep breath. This time she didn't dare to underestimate Yang at all. If Yang had told her what kind of tea it was from the beginning, she wouldn't have found fault with her. But Yang didn't do that. After she made her move, he slowly set a trap for her. What a scheming person! Thinking of her husband's evaluation of Lord Zhou, the couple had hearts full of schemes.

Miao narrowed her eyes. It was really wonderful. She felt that she could smooth things over. "It is thanks to sister-in-law that we can drink the top-grade tea today. Thank you sister-in-law for this."

Zhu Lan paused. This Miao and the Tongpan mentioned by Zhou Shuren are really similar. They are both the kind of people who like to smooth things over. "Today, not only are we tasting tea, I also bought some flowers. Let's chat while arranging the flowers."

As they were talking, Liu Ya and others came up with flowers and various vases.

Zhu Lan smiled and said, "I have always kept porcelain vases simple, so I specially asked someone to polish wooden vases and bamboo baskets so that you can choose the flower arrangements you like."

Miao's eyes lit up. She liked the shape of the wooden bottle. "Sister-in-law is really clever. However, it would be boring if we just arranged the flowers. Why not let our daughters compete? We will be the judges and give prizes to the winners."

Today, everyone brought their daughters with them. The oldest is thirteen years old, and the youngest is about eight years old. They know Xue Han's age, so they brought people of similar age with them on purpose.

Hua had recovered and said with a smile, "That's a good idea."

Zhulan had nothing to refute, "Okay, then I'll host the tea party today and I'll pay for the prize."

As she spoke, Zhulan said to Liuya, "There is a set of newly made head ornaments on the third shelf of the cabinet. Bring them here."

This set of headdress was the dowry that Zhulan prepared for Xuehan. It was newly made in the capital and was inlaid with red gemstones. It had a festive meaning and no need to be low-key today. Although it cost her money, Zhulan could take this opportunity to make people no longer dare to underestimate the Zhou family.

Come on, the ladies are all waiting to see the first appearance.

In the front yard, Zhou Shuren had just started tasting tea.

Chen Chen took a sip of tea, and his thoughts disappeared. He wondered why Lord Zhou had this tea, as it should be a tribute. He was even thinking about how to surpass Lord Zhou in the tea ceremony. "Good tea."

Zhou Shuren smiled and said, "It was a gift from the Emperor, but I feel guilty about it!"

Chen Chen swallowed the tea in his mouth and had a deeper understanding of the emperor's regard for Lord Zhou. When he thought about how he had never even seen the emperor's shadow and had endured all the way to get here, he felt very jealous. "Lord Zhou has stabilized Lizhou City, so where does the guilt come from?"

Zhou Shuren likes to answer, "I am worried about the Tongsheng exam and the provincial exam next year. Alas, I feel ashamed of the emperor's grace!"

Chen Chen was silent. It was indeed a worrying thing. "Ah!"

Zhou Shuren added: "However, I have an idea. It depends on whether you support it."

He Yun, the magistrate, still believed in Lord Zhou. Lord Zhou's method would be useful to Lizhou City. "Please tell me, sir. As long as we can help, we will definitely help."

Zhou Shuren looked at Chen Chen. Master Chen didn't know why he had a bad feeling, but seeing that everyone agreed, he suppressed his panic and said, "Master, please speak."

Zhou Shuren curled his lips and said, "I decided to hire a maid..."

Zhou Shuren repeated what he had said to Zhulan yesterday. After he finished, Zhou Shuren paused and said, "I come from a family of farmers and scholars. My family doesn't have many books. I am not like Master Chen who often tells me what books he has read. To be honest, I have never read many of them. However, I also have two rare books. Although they are not unique, they are worth some money. I have taken them out. Alas, who made me not have as many books as Master Chen? I am so ashamed."

He Yun, "......."

He said that Lord Zhou didn't look like a good-tempered person, so why did he tolerate Lord Chen? It turned out that he was waiting here!

Chen Chen, "......."

He regretted showing off. I wonder if there is any medicine to cure his regret!

Zhou Shuren took a sip of tea and said, "The Emperor's gift of Tea King is so generous!"

Chen Chen, "........"

Chen Chen took a deep breath and said to him, "I'll take out three books."

Zhou Shuren touched the teacup and said, "I counted how many books Master Chen mentioned in the past few days that I haven't read. It seems to be seven, or so."

Chen Chen interrupted, "Five, Mr. Zhou, I'll give you five."

Zhou Shuren didn't want to go too far, even though he clearly remembered there were eight books, "Then I remembered it wrong, five books, five books."

Chen Chen breathed a sigh of relief, but his heart was bleeding. If he copied more, even the treasures in his hands would lose value. His heart ached.

He Yun was startled when he saw Lord Zhou looking at him. "I don't have many books at home, but my wife gave me two as a dowry. I'll give you three."

Zhou Shuren was very satisfied, because He Yun came from a farming and reading family just like him.

Some of the other adults wanted to curse, while others were speechless, but they had all drunk the tea bestowed by the emperor, and those who really could not produce the books decided to donate silver.

When Chen Chen heard that he could donate money, his heart wasn't just bleeding, it was about to dry up!

In the garden, Liu Ya has returned with a head-ornament. This piece of Zhulan head-ornament cost her fifty taels!

Zhu Lan smiled and said, "I asked a famous master in the capital to make this. I'm going to use it as a prize today."

Hua and Miao looked at each other. They had high standards and knew that this headdress was not cheap. They winked at their respective ladies, determined to win.

Especially Hua, she must win to ease the anger in her heart.

Zhulan chose a bamboo basket and flowers and came back to sit. She did not put pressure on the concubine. Anyway, other girls had not learned it. In this dynasty, flower arrangement was taught by mothers to their daughters. Although the origin of flower arrangement was very ancient, it was just a game between girls in this dynasty and the previous dynasty. If Zhulan did not want to save money and make the ceremony more decent, she would not have thought of this idea.

Time passed quickly and the girls were all ready. It was very simple, they could do whatever looked good.

To be fair, the little girls' works had no names and they sat separately from the adults. Zhulan and others took pens and wrote down their favorite works. The one with the most votes won.

The rules are simple and the results come quickly.

The final vote fell into Zhulan's hands. She raised her eyebrows and looked at the list, very surprised.

(End of this chapter)