Chapter 457, Kidnapping
Halfway through the banquet, a maid ran to Madam Chen and whispered a few words. Then Madam Chen hurried out, and even Old Lady Chen stood up.
"Who's here?"
Everyone looked at it in surprise.
After a while, Mrs. Chen brought Mrs. Jiang and Jiang Wanying over.
As soon as they saw the person, Old Mrs. Chen and Chen Jiarou hurried to greet him.
Daohua looked surprised, tugged at Dong Yuanyao's sleeve, and whispered, "But did they say they were attacked and injured?"
Dong Yuanyao: "It's been so many days, and you still don't allow others to get well. But it's really rare that Mrs. Jiang can condescend to come here in person."
"I know that."
Zhou Jingwan suddenly interrupted.
Daohua and Dong Yuanyao looked over at the same time.
Zhou Jingwan lowered her voice and said, "I heard my grandfather tell my father that the Jiang family wanted to get involved in the gold mine."
Daohua and Dong Yuanyao looked at each other, and both of them tacitly did not continue this topic, and signaled Zhou Jingwan not to say any more.
The gold mine is too complicated, so it’s better for them to know less about it.
They continued to eat, but before they had taken a few bites, Chen Jiarou came over with Jiang Wanying.
"County Lady Jiang has arrived, everyone, why don't you come and greet her?"
Dong Yuanyao glanced at Chen Jiarou and said with a smile, "We are not the host family who need to welcome guests. Isn't it enough to have you, Miss Chen?"
Chen Jiarou's expression suddenly froze.
She discovered that the wives of local officials seemed to have no idea what tact was, and they spoke without giving anyone any face.
Although Dong Yuanyao said that, she still stood up with Daohua and the others and greeted Jiang Wanying.
Jiang Wanying smiled and asked everyone to sit down: "Everyone please sit down, my family is late and disturbed your meal."
Everyone smiled politely, said it was okay, and continued eating their own food.
Seeing that Daohua and the others were not friendly towards Jiang Wanying, Chen Jiarou regretted bringing her to this table. She thought that the girls at this table had the best family background and status among the guests today, but who knew that each of them was so difficult to get along with.
There was no other way, she could only entertain Jiang Wanying by herself.
The two knew each other when they were in Beijing, and for a while, the dinner table was filled with their laughter.
At the main table, Mrs. Chen also greeted Mrs. Jiang enthusiastically, but her behavior was a little too much. She ignored the other people present because she was only greeting Mrs. Jiang.
Fortunately, Mrs. Chen was still there, and she awkwardly invited everyone else to eat.
Seeing the embarrassed and uncomfortable expression on Old Lady Chen's face, Mrs. Dong and the others exchanged glances subtly.
After lunch, everyone left the table and gathered in the back garden in groups of three or four to chat and laugh.
"They say you should marry a virtuous woman. It's true."
Madam Dong sighed to Madam Li, Madam Su, and Madam Zhou.
Mrs. Zhou echoed, "That's right. Look at what Mrs. Chen has done. I'm embarrassed to talk about it."
Madam Dong scoffed, "The Chen family's rise to prominence is solely due to Old Madam Chen's service as the Emperor's wet nurse. Their foundation was weak to begin with, and they should have sought a beneficial marriage while they enjoyed the Emperor's favor."
"But the Chen family chose to marry someone from a small family with little experience to be the head of the family. If they do this, unless their children and grandchildren are outstanding enough, they may not even be able to maintain their current wealth and status."
Madam Li glanced at Chen Jiarou, who was greeting the girls from various families, and said with a smile, "This girl from the Chen family is quite good-looking."
Madam Zhou laughed and said, "What's the point of just being pretty? Madam Chen is pretty enough, but the way she behaves, you can tell she's a bit of a mess."
Her old man had said privately that the emperor was not as close to the Jiang family as it seemed.
As the emperor's confidants, the Chen family actually rushed to curry favor with the Jiang family. It would be strange if they could have a good future.
Mrs. Dong smiled and said, "I think Miss Chen is just average." She nodded at Dong Yuanyao and the others who were feeding the fish. "Which of those girls isn't better than her?"
Mrs. Zhou laughed and said, "That's right."
In front of the fish pond, Daohua was feeding the koi with bait. Suddenly, her sleeve was pulled. She turned around and saw Dong Yuanyao: "What's wrong?"
Dong Yuanyao whispered in Daohua's ear: "I want to go to the bathroom, please accompany me."
Daohua nodded, gave the bait in her hand to Zhou Jingwan, and then left the crowd with Dong Yuanyao.
The Chen family specially prepared changing rooms for the female members of the family. As soon as Daohua and Dong Yuanyao entered, they saw Jiang Wanying and Chen Jiarou washing their hands.
Chen Jiarou: "Miss Dong, Miss Yan, are you guys here to relieve yourself too?"
Daohua nodded and said to Dong Yuanyao, "Go quickly. I'll wait for you here."
Dong Yuanyao felt a little uncomfortable in her stomach. She nodded to Jiang Wanying and Chen Jiarou and went to the inner room.
Jiang Wanying glanced at the rice flowers and said with a smile, "Then let's wait a bit."
Daohua shook her head and said, "County Master, you guys can go and do whatever you want. I'll just wait here by myself."
Jiang Wanying: "There's nothing to be busy about." After saying that, she sat down on a chair beside her.
Seeing her like this, Daohua didn't say anything more and just waited.
Chen Jiarou looked at the two of them, her eyes moved slightly, and she sat aside.
After a moment's silence, Jiang Wanying couldn't help but ask, "Miss Yan, I heard that Brother Yang often comes to your house for dinner?"
Chen Jiarou pricked up her ears when she heard this.
Daohua glanced at Jiang Wanying, didn't deny it, and nodded: "Yes!"
Seeing Daohua said just two words, Jiang Wanying and Chen Jiarou were stunned. That's it?
Jiang Wanying took a deep breath and smiled, "It must be that Miss Yan's food is delicious, otherwise Brother Yang wouldn't come to your house every few days."
Daohua smiled faintly: "The food in my house is just average. As for why the little prince likes to come to my house, why don't I ask my two brothers and let them ask the little prince why?"
Jiang Wanying's face froze. Brother Yang had never liked being bound since he was a child. If he knew that she was secretly spying on him, he would definitely be unhappy.
"That's not necessary. I just thought that since Brother Yang often comes to your house, you must know what he likes to eat, right?" After saying this, she smiled shyly, "Brother Yang and I haven't seen each other for a few years. I don't know if his taste has changed."
Daohua shook her head and smiled, "I don't know about that. Every time the young prince came to my house, he always ate in the front yard."
Hearing this, Jiang Wanying breathed a sigh of relief.
Yes, the Yan family is a family of officials after all, and they still understand the necessary rules and etiquette. It is impossible for them to allow their daughter to meet outsiders casually.
At this time, a maid came in to add more incense to the incense burner.
As soon as the incense started burning, Daohua frowned and fanned her nose with her hand: "What kind of incense is this? Why is it so stuffy?"
Chen Jia took a look and said with a smile: "It's just ordinary agarwood."
"Agarwood." Daohua frowned. How could agarwood have such a strong fragrance? Just as she was about to say something, Dong Yuanyao came out from the inner room.
Dong Yuanyao was slightly surprised to see Jiang Wanying and Chen Jiarou there. She greeted them and went to wash her hands with a smile.
The hand-washing basin was placed next to the incense burner. Dong Yuanyao walked over and felt dizzy before she even washed her hands: "Yiyi, why do I feel dizzy?"
Before he could finish his words, his body swayed twice and then fell limply to the ground.
When Daohua saw this, she was shocked and stood up quickly. Just after taking two steps forward, she felt her hands and feet go weak and she fell down staggeringly: "Come!" Just as she opened her mouth, she was hit from behind.
Before falling into a coma, Daohua saw Jiang Wanying and Chen Jiarou also fall to the ground.
Who is it, who wants to harm them?
(End of this chapter)
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