Chapter 20 Old Tea New Tea
"Greetings? Forget it." Old Madam Shen scoffed and flicked the lid of the teapot beside her. "This is old tea. I guess Madam doesn't take my second sister-in-law and I, two old things, seriously."
"I don't know how your mother-in-law taught you when she was alive. Even when she was alive, she wouldn't dare treat us two sisters-in-law like this."
Old Mrs. Shen was the first to attack. She brought up the other party's deceased mother-in-law and said that Mrs. Cui, the wife of the clan leader, was not as generous as her mother-in-law. She also said that she was disrespectful to the elders and actually used stale tea to entertain the elders.
Mrs. Cui smiled calmly at this and said, "It's my fault for being so frugal in the past. I had quite a bit of old tea left, all of it top-quality tea. I felt it would be a shame to throw it away, so I asked someone to take it. Now, I forgot to ask someone to replace it."
After saying this, Madam Cui instructed the maid beside her, "Go get this year's new tea and replace the two old ladies and the ladies with new teacups. Third Aunt, are you satisfied with this?"
After Mrs. Cui said this, she walked forward and sat down in the main seat. The other female members of the Cui clan bowed to the clan leader's wife.
Mrs. Cui sat in the main seat and accepted the greetings of everyone. She was the virtuous and tolerant wife of the clan leader and said, "Everyone, please sit down and talk."
Old Madam Shen felt inferior, snorted coldly, and then glared at Old Madam Xu.
You naughty monkey, are you mute today? Speak!
Mrs. Xu took a sip of tea and said, "New tea tastes good, while old tea has little flavor. It's tasteless to drink, but it's a pity to throw it away. Madam, you are the wife of the Cui clan leader, and you should understand your status and position.
When it's time to use new tea, use it. Don't do things like passing inferior tea off as good quality. Otherwise, when the guests drink it, they'll feel slighted, and it'll bring shame to the Cui family."
I don't know if this refers to tea or people.
Mrs. Cui's dignified and gentle smile froze slightly.
She wanted to marry Cui Yun to the King of Northern Yan as his queen, but Cui Yun's frail body was just like "passing off inferior goods as good ones", wasn't it?
Mrs. Xu continued, "People who pass off inferior tea as good sometimes think they can get away with it without anyone knowing. But once they're found out, not only will they have to humbly apologize, but they'll also have to throw out the old tea and replace it with new."
Does the old tea that is about to be thrown away imply that the inferior Cui Yun will be returned by the Yan family?
Mrs. Cui's face turned pale. She endured it again and again, but finally couldn't stand it anymore: "Second Aunt, I respect you as an elder, why do you say such derogatory words?"
"I don't know who I'm belittling." Old Mrs. Xu sighed, looking surprised. She asked Old Mrs. Shen, "Sister-in-law, aren't we talking about old tea and new tea?"
"Right, right, right." Old Madam Shen nodded repeatedly. "Drinking tea means talking about tea. Could it be anything else? Madam, who is this old rascal talking about? Who is passing off inferior tea as good quality?"
"No one, I just misunderstood." Mrs. Cui gritted her teeth and endured it again and again before swallowing her anger.
These two old ladies did it on purpose!
"What brings you here today, my two aunts?" Mrs. Cui secretly resented them and lost her patience to flatter them, so she asked directly.
"What's going on? Madam, what's going on?" Old Madam Xu gently waved a silk fan embroidered with pine and crane symbols. "I thought Madam knew the truth. But does Madam know what Fourth Lady said today?"
Madam Cui said, "Second Aunt also said that. How can we take it seriously if it's just nonsense?"
"So according to Madam, this is all Si Niang's nonsense, it's all fake?"
"Of course it's fake."
"Then let me ask Madam, have the Cui clan members sent out the visiting card to the King of Northern Yan?"
"No, the candidate hasn't been decided yet, so why would we send him out?"
"That means marrying Si Niang off and letting my daughter A Si be a concubine is completely absurd."
"Exactly."
At this point, Mrs. Cui could only deny it.
In fact, she already felt a little regretful in her heart, thinking that she shouldn't have listened to Cui Yun and insisted on fighting for the position of Queen of Northern Yan.
Now the Cui family members have started fighting among themselves, and she, the wife of the clan leader, has been embarrassed time and again.
But when she thought of Cui Yun's dream and her son who was lying in bed with a broken leg and unable to get out of bed, she felt very depressed.
Although her A'un was a little too proud of herself, there was a saying that was true: when A'un became queen, empress, or even queen mother, even if the Cui family members were dissatisfied with her behavior, they still had to shut their mouths and bow to her.
By that time, the Cui family would no longer be the Cui family with three direct branches restraining each other. In the future, there would be only one owner of the Cui family, and that would be the eldest branch of the Cui family. There would no longer be any distinction between the eldest branch, the second branch, and the third branch.
"Did everyone hear clearly?" Old Madam Xu glanced around. "The clan leader's wife said that the candidate hasn't been decided yet. The idea of marrying Fourth Lady off and making Sixth Lady a concubine is nonsense."
"I heard it." Old Mrs. Shen was the first to speak.
"We heard it too." Everyone nodded repeatedly and bore witness to this.
Mrs. Cui's face was about to turn black. The incident had become so serious, but she had denied it in person. When the incident came to light, she pushed the blame on Cui Yun. Cui Yun would probably become the target of public criticism.
Mrs. Xu continued, "Then please write a name card in front of so many people and have someone send it to Pingzhou City."
"Write now?" Mrs. Cui's expression changed again. "I'm afraid this won't be a good idea."
"What's wrong with that?" Old Mrs. Xu asked her back.
"Since the clan members have objections to this name card, Madam, please write one in front of everyone. The Cui clan members will only recognize this name card, and all others are fake."
"Why, could it be that what Madam said before was all a lie, and a visiting card really was sent to Pingzhou City?"
"Of course not." Mrs. Cui was almost in a cold sweat. She had no choice but to explain, "I'm not writing now, not because I can't, but because my family has so many beautiful women. I'm overwhelmed and don't know which one to choose."
"So you haven't decided on a candidate yet." Old Madam Xu raised her eyebrows and chuckled. "That's not difficult. Since we're all here, we can help you with some advice so you don't have to worry and hesitate."
When Old Lady Shen heard this, she immediately became interested: "Then I recommend my daughter A Yao. My daughter A Yao is full of grace and dignity, and she deserves the respect of a queen. The other daughters of the Cui family... no, no, no girl in the world can compare to my daughter A Yao!"
"That's right!" Old Madam Xu immediately clapped her thigh in agreement. "Your Fifth Lady truly has the air of a queen. My Sixth Lady isn't even as good as her."
Old Madam Shen was smug: "That's right, your Sixth Madam is not as good as my Fifth Madam!"
Mrs. Xu nodded repeatedly: "Choose her, choose her!"
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