Chapter 567: The smell of gunpowder
Because of the arrival of Mrs. Guo and her daughter, Governor Guo's house in Ningmen Prefecture became lively. Before the banquet on April 20th, women from officials' families came to visit.
The affairs of the Duke's Mansion naturally attracted much attention and were talked about with great relish. Even though Daohua had never left her home, she still heard a lot of gossip. Among them, the most common thing she heard was the praises of Miss Guo from the wives of various families.
Some say she is born with a beautiful face and fair skin and bones; some say she is graceful and elegant, with a good character; some even flatter and exaggerate, saying directly that no woman in Zhongzhou can match her.
After hearing this, Daohua smiled and put it out of her mind. She had important things to do at the moment and had no time for gossip.
Grandma Gu's old illness seemed to have relapsed. The last time she went to Taohua Village, Daohua saw that she had become thinner and thinner. Her master's eyes were filled with worry and anxiety. Now she is thinking hard about how to match medicinal food to alleviate Grandma Gu's condition and at the same time nourish her body.
Daohua carefully selected the prepared spatial medicinal herbs and took out a lot of food grown in the space. She was packing them up at the moment, preparing to go to Taohua Village after attending the banquet at Guo's Mansion.
When I was done, it was time for dinner.
On the way to Songheyuan, Wang Maner talked about the gossip she heard today: "Miss, today the matchmaker brought a number of maids aged fifteen or sixteen into the young prince's mansion."
Daohua raised an eyebrow: "There is not a single maid in Xiao Yeyang's mansion. In the eyes of those two maids from the palace, this is probably wrong and abnormal."
Wang Man'er pouted, "The young prince is not in the mansion right now, and those two maids are making decisions on their own. Aren't they afraid that the young prince will blame them when he comes back?"
Daohua smiled and said, "They are not ordinary maids. One represents the Queen Mother, and the other represents the Emperor. Even though Xiao Yeyang is the master, they dare not be too harsh on them. Besides, they are here to take care of Xiao Yeyang's daily life. Since the mansion is short of staff, adding a few maids to serve in the mansion is also a good idea."
Wang Man'er frowned and pouted, "Miss, I heard that the maids brought by the matchmaker were all pretty good-looking."
Daohua turned her head and looked at her, then asked with a smile, "What are you worried about?"
Wang Man'er moved her lips, hesitated for a moment, and then said, "Miss, I have heard a lot from the maids of other officials about maids seducing their masters. Some are shameless and even..."
Daohua asked with a smile, "Even what?"
Wang Maner frowned, "She even shamelessly climbed into the master's bed." Then, a worried look appeared on her face. "There are already four maids in the palace, and now there are so many more maids to choose from. What will happen to the young prince?"
He paused and glanced at the rice flowers, "What if the young prince gets into trouble?"
Looking at Wang Man'er who looked worried, Daohua was speechless: "What's there to worry about? If Xiao Yeyang didn't have that intention, who could have made him fall into trouble?"
Wang Maner looked at her daughter who didn't care at all and became a little anxious: "What if the young prince can't control himself?" After saying this, her face turned red.
She was older than the girl and knew more than the girl. In addition, she often dealt with the women in the mansion and had heard some stories about men and women.
Daohua frowned, was silent for a while, and murmured, "What's the use of a man who is not clean both physically and mentally?" After that, she quickened her pace and said no more.
On April 20th, the women of the Yan family accompanied Madam Li to the Guo residence for a banquet. Madam Guo did not come out to receive the guests, but instead sent a housekeeper to lead the guests in.
"Mrs. Guo is really self-righteous. When we went to the Dong family for a banquet, Mrs. Dong came to greet us personally."
Yan Yile muttered softly.
Yan Yihan glared at her sister, then pulled her a few steps behind the others before whispering, "The Guo family is from the Duke of Dingguo's mansion, and their status is distinguished. Naturally, they wouldn't condescend to come out and greet someone. Stop talking nonsense, or your aunt will find out and send you back home."
Yan Yile curled her lips and said nothing more.
Soon, everyone in the Yan family met Mrs. Guo and her daughter.
As soon as they met, Mrs. Guo warmly took Mrs. Li's hand and greeted her warmly.
Mrs. Li knew that this might be because their family had helped Governor Guo before, so she responded appropriately with a smile.
Seeing that Mrs. Guo did not try to climb up because of her special approach to Mrs. Li, she smiled more. People who knew their limits were easy to get along with. She didn't mind getting closer to Mrs. Li in the future. Then she moved her gaze, and when she saw the rice flowers behind her, her eyes flashed.
The rumors from outside were indeed true, the eldest daughter of the Yan family really had a good appearance.
At this moment, Guo Xueming was also looking at the rice flowers.
Of course, Daohua was also looking at the girl from the Duke's family.
The two men looked at each other, then simultaneously put on a proper smile on their faces and bowed.
Mrs. Guo saw that Daohua was well-mannered and behaved in a generous manner, and her demeanor was no less than that of her daughter. Thinking of the rumors that Yeyang was close to the Yan family, she frowned slightly.
According to her heart, she didn't want to marry her daughter to Yeyang. Firstly, it was because of the bad relationship between Prince Heping and his sister-in-law, and secondly, it was because of Xiao Yeyang's bad character when he was a child.
But now her daughter's marriage is not going well, and Ye Yang is the backup candidate, so she doesn't want him to have any entanglement with other girls.
It seems that she has to find out more about the relationship between Ye Yang and the girls of the Yan family.
Although she had so many thoughts in her mind, Mrs. Guo did not show it at all. She smiled and greeted Mrs. Li and others.
Here, Guo Xueming also led Daohua and others to where the girls were staying.
As soon as the rice flowers arrived, several girls stood up and came over to greet them with a smile.
Seeing that Daohua was very popular, Guo Xueming still had a smile on his face.
Daohua was also paying attention to Guo Xueming. She saw that she had a smile as warm as spring breeze and did not neglect any girl present. Her attitude was neither too close nor too distant, always maintaining a comfortable distance. She couldn't help but praise her in her heart, saying that she was indeed worthy of being a girl from the Duke's Mansion, and she really took everything into consideration.
At noon, Mrs. Guo saw that all the guests had arrived and prepared to lead everyone to have dinner.
However, at this moment, a housekeeper came quickly and whispered a few words in Mrs. Guo's ear. Daohua saw that the perfect smile on Mrs. Guo's face began to crack, and she couldn't help but feel curious.
Soon, everyone saw Mrs. Jiang and her daughter walking over with smiles on their faces.
"Sister Yuan, you didn't even tell me you were coming to Zhongzhou, and you didn't invite me to the banquet today. But I shamelessly came here on my own."
As soon as she arrived, Mrs. Jiang smiled and spoke first.
Mrs. Guo suppressed her anger and said with a forced smile, "I dare not rashly invite Mrs. Jiang. The distance between the provincial capital and Ningmen Mansion is not short. If anything happens to you on the way, even if there are ten of me, I can't bear the responsibility."
Mrs. Jiang smiled and continued, "Thank you, Sister Yuan, for your concern. You are right. It was indeed quite troublesome to come to Ningmen Mansion from the provincial capital. However, this problem has been resolved now."
As he spoke, he smiled at the others present.
"As everyone knows, my Jingwan is a little weak. Since coming to Zhongzhou, my master has been asking around and finally found a famous doctor in Ningmen Mansion not long ago. Jingwan and I will be living in Ningmen Mansion for a while."
Hearing this, everyone was surprised, and Mrs. Guo's solar plexus jumped violently several times.
Daohua stood among the ladies, silently watching the scene filled with the smell of gunpowder. She glanced at Guo Xueming next to her and saw that she still had a smile on her face and her eyes were still gentle when she looked at Jiang Wanying. She couldn't help but say in her heart, this is a master.
(End of this chapter)
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