The magistrate of Pingyang County, a border town, was surnamed Wang, and his given name was Zheng.
The third day of the eleventh month was the birthday banquet for Magistrate Wang's only son.
The Zhang family was also among those invited. Because of the incident where a corpse was hidden under the plum blossoms at the county magistrate's house, no one in the entire Pingyang County had recently held a flower-viewing banquet or a large feast.
This gathering was also taken advantage of the fact that the county magistrate's eldest son was celebrating his birthday.
"May you be well, Madam."
Madam Zhang bowed slightly to the county magistrate's wife.
She's already this age.
When bowing, you don't need to bend your waist too low.
Aside from the fact that their social statuses are so different...
Magistrate Wang has been serving as the magistrate of Pingyang County for six years. The wealthy families in the county who have dealings with the magistrate's wife only know that her surname is Hua, and they know nothing else about her family.
Everyone assumed she came from some small town.
"Please rise, Madam. Why did you come in person? Does my good-for-nothing son of mine even deserve your attention?"
Madam Zhang smiled, sat down in the seat next to the magistrate's wife, and said...
"You know we don't have any children, I just miss Bin'er."
"If you miss him, just send a servant to deliver a message, and I'll bring him to pay his respects. Why bother with this whole ordeal in this freezing weather?"
The old lady smiled, and the magistrate's wife continued...
"I see that the redness and cracks on your face have healed?"
Madam Zhang nodded and said
"Everything's ready. Look at my daughter-in-law, doesn't she look quite well?"
The magistrate's wife followed the old lady's finger and looked outside.
Indeed, Mrs. Zhang looks much younger.
Surrounded by women, Madam Zhang was speaking eloquently. In Pingyang County, besides the county magistrate's wife, she was now the most important person there.
She used to be the wife of the county magistrate, but she's no longer with us, and none of the people present mentioned that unlucky thing.
The county magistrate's wife was always arrogant and unrealistic; this young lady from the capital looked down on them, a group of women from the border town.
"Sister He, you look several years younger than I did in just a few days!"
The woman speaking was Madam Hu, who served as her husband's assistant.
"You're always so good with words, you're definitely trying to fool me."
"Normally it's one thing, but not today. Is Sister He secretly using some amazing face cream behind our backs and not telling us?"
"Absolutely! You look several years younger than you did a month ago, Sister He! What amazing products have you been using? Don't forget your sisters!"
Mrs. Hu said with a smile
"You lot, you really can't hide anything from any of us," Madam Zhang said.
"What did you use, sister? Tell me, tell me quickly!"
The ladies' circle in Pingyang County doesn't have many rules. The most troublesome one they've encountered over the years was the former wife of the county magistrate. Now that she's gone, everyone is back to normal, chatting and laughing around the table.
"I used plum blossom ointment," Madam Zhang said.
Madam Hu asked
"I've never heard of any shop selling plum blossom ointment. Where did you buy it, sister? From outside the Great Wall?"
Madam Hu thought to herself, if it were outside the Great Wall, she would have her dead husband bring back a few boxes for her to use.
"This plum blossom ointment is not available for purchase outside of stores for the time being."
"Oh, Sister He, stop keeping me in suspense!"
"Yes, dear sister, please tell us, where does this plum blossom ointment come from?"
Madam Zhang leaned forward, took her hand out from under her sleeve, and whispered to her lips...
"Fengyue Tower"
The scene suddenly fell silent.
Fengyue Tower
Yes
I recently heard that the most beautiful courtesan at the brothel performed a dance for Madam Zhang.
But they don't have that much money.
Nearly a thousand taels of snowflake silver at a time
Who can afford this?
"If you also wish to use it, send an invitation to my residence tomorrow, and meet me at my door the day after tomorrow at Shenshi (3-5 PM)."
The ladies remained silent.
Firstly, because Fengyue Tower is a brothel, and these women are considered to be prominent ladies in the county town, wouldn't it be inappropriate for them to openly go to a brothel?
Secondly, she was afraid she wouldn't have enough money and wouldn't be able to pay, which would be incredibly embarrassing.
"Sister, try these frozen persimmons. They're fresh from the harvest this year, and they're incredibly sweet."
Mrs. Hu cleverly changed the subject, making the atmosphere lively again.
The ladies present were all extremely conflicted: should they go or not? What if they didn't have enough money?
With this feeling lingering, even after the banquet ended and they returned home, lying in bed, the ladies couldn't stop thinking about it.
Why can Madam Zhang go, but they can't? It's just about money.
The ladies called their wet nurses to their sides; they had a thousand taels of silver, after all. They figured they could just consider it an opportunity to broaden their horizons.
Go and send an invitation to the Zhang family!
We absolutely have to go!
The wooden plaque for the brothel has been delivered to Madam Zhang, the errand boy instructed.
"Please send someone to inform the building a day in advance before you go, Madam, so we can prepare the required amount of plum blossom ointment. It would be bad if we didn't have enough and upset you."
The old lady listened to the butler relay the story.
Nod
He repeatedly praised Cen's mother for her meticulous work.
—Three days later, at the Zhang family's doorstep
"Oh! All my sisters have arrived?"
Actually, they had already had a quarrel at the door. It wasn't for anything else. When they parted ways that day, they asked each other, and everyone said they weren't going. Madam Hu said the same thing.
And then what happened?
No one's word counts!
A woman's mouth
Deceitful ghosts
Madam Zhang, supporting her mother-in-law, said...
"Get on the bus, everyone. I've already informed Fengyuelou; they're just waiting for us."
Inside the brothel, today was a rare day without the need for martial arts practice.
Because Cen's mother had arranged tasks for them in advance.
I heard that several ladies from the county are coming to apply plum blossom ointment.
The young ladies had tidied up their rooms early and were waiting in the lobby.
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