Chapter 7: Miss Qiao Enters Zhenbei Marquis Mansion
After entering the Marquis' Mansion, Yun Qiao did not dare to look around, and followed Zhou's steps and walked forward.
It was just unfortunate that they were halfway there when they saw a dark figure walking by not far away. The man was quite tall. She looked at him curiously and only saw the back of a dark head.
At this time, Mrs. Zhou said that the man was the Marquis of Zhenbei himself.
Zhou tilted her head to look, and like Yun Qiao, she didn't see the real person.
But just by looking at his back, one can tell that the man must be exceptionally outstanding. It's just a pity that he doesn't like women for no reason.
"Be careful, don't let anyone accuse you of being unruly..."
Yun Qiao hummed softly.
The further you go, the more people you see.
After they arrived at Shou'an Hall, the residence of the old lady of the Marquis of Zhenbei, the old maid beside the old lady Zhou walked to the side of Yun Qiao, as if she was on guard against her escaping.
Yun Qiao had no intention of running away. She wanted Xiao Tao to find an opportunity to slip aside and find out whether the Marquis of Zhenbei really didn't like women.
While Yun Qiao's thoughts were drifting, she saw Old Madam Zhou walking forward.
He was greeting and talking to the old lady of the Marquis' Mansion.
"It's been a while since I last saw you. Hey, who's that girl next to you? She's incredibly beautiful. Call her over so I can take a look..."
Before Old Madam Zhou came, there were a few girls who came here, and the old lady of the Marquis' Mansion also took a look at them and thought they were very good.
But when I looked at this one again, I felt that what I saw before was just average.
Old Madam Zhou stepped forward, smiled, and said, "This is the daughter of my Sanniang's husband's younger sister. Her sister-in-law is a poor woman. When the couple got into trouble, this child was raised by Sanniang since she was young..."
Who is Zhou Sanniang?
The old lady of the Marquis’ Mansion didn’t know.
But she knew that she liked this cousin.
Old Madam Zhou raised her hand and looked at Yun Qiao with a gentle smile on her loving face, which reminded Yun Qiao of the warm image of a kind old grandmother.
"Come to me..."
Yun Qiao walked slowly and leisurely to the old lady.
"What's your name?" asked the old lady of the Marquis's Mansion.
"Yun Qiao."
"But can you read and write?"
Yun Qiao said, "I went to private school with my cousin for three years and read some books."
The old lady immediately became interested and asked Yun Qiao what books she had read...
this……
Yun Qiao hesitated for a moment and said a few words: women's virtues and appearance, women's precepts, and women's training!
Was she going to tell the old lady that all she read were storybooks, like the one about a rich young lady having a ridiculous one-night stand with a down-and-out scholar in a temple, or the one about a rich young lady ignoring her parents' objections and insisting on marrying a country boy, and then being abandoned by her husband after marriage, and having to endure eighteen years of suffering in a cold kiln, digging up all the bitter vegetables around her?
These are definitely not things that can be said.
The old lady of the Marquis' Mansion seems to like Yun Qiao very much.
But after just a few questions, Yun Qiao was taken away by Zhou. The old lady of the Zhou family sat next to the old lady of the Marquis' Mansion and chatted about family matters.
Seeing that the old lady of the Marquis' Mansion liked Yun Qiao very much, Zhou's attitude towards Yun Qiao also improved a lot.
"We will have dinner at the Marquis' Mansion this morning. You can sit with the other girls and enjoy your meal without worrying about anything else."
"I'll stay up ahead. After you've finished eating, don't move around. Wait for me to send someone to find you, and then we can leave together."
Yun Qiao replied yes!
Then she was taken to a place with the maid of the Marquis' Mansion, not a house, but a pavilion outside.
In such a cold day, isn't it torture to let a bunch of beautiful girls sit in the pavilion?
When she arrived, she saw that besides her, there were several other girls sitting together. It was hard to tell whether they were happy or unhappy, as their expressions varied.
Under the guidance of the maid, Yun Qiao found a place to sit down.
She was not a talkative person, so she sat down quietly, but moved her head slightly and looked around.
It was the girl next to Yun Qiao who wanted to talk to her...
Suddenly, a wealthy, well-dressed old lady came in from outside. She looked at the girls in the pavilion and said with a smile:
"Girls, you've been waiting for a long time. Just now, two mice ran into the inner room. I was afraid they would scare you, so I just caught them. Ladies, please go into the inner room first. I'll prepare dinner now."
There was a rat in the room where the Marquis of Zhenbei entertained guests?
This is something that never happens. It's just an excuse to let them sit in this pavilion for a while.
Combined with what Yun Qiao had learned earlier, it was probably that the Marquis of Zhenbei was here to look for a girl.
Yun Qiao didn't seem to have a good impression of the Marquis of Zhenbei, who was rumored to be not interested in women.
As the old lady in front walked inside, the round-faced girl who was about to talk to Yun Qiao quietly pulled down the sleeve of her clothes.
"Miss, do you know why the old lady of Zhenbei Marquis asked us to come here? Originally, my sister was going to come, but she caught a cold, so my aunt asked me to come instead."
The round-faced girl is chubby and has baby fat on her body. She looks innocent and simple.
Yun Qiao thought for a moment and whispered to her, "I don't know either, but I vaguely guess that he's going to choose a concubine for the Marquis of Zhenbei."
"Ah? I don't want to be a concubine."
The round-faced girl was about to cry as she spoke.
Yun Qiao frowned, a little regretful for telling her the truth, and then looked at her and said, "Keep your voice down. If someone hears you and notices you, you will definitely be chosen..."
Frightened by Yun Qiao, the round-faced girl immediately covered her mouth.
Subconsciously, she moved closer to Yun Qiao.
Yun Qiao ignored her and just walked forward.
There were eight girls this time, two at each table.
All the meals were the same, with three dishes and a soup in front of each person, including both meat and vegetables, and four pastries.
The dishes are eight-treasure duck, stewed chicken with mushrooms, and stir-fried cabbage hearts. The soup is stewed pigeon with cordyceps flowers. The pastries are: steamed cheese with sugar, osmanthus cake, rose cake, and chrysanthemum cake.
Of course, what they eat is naturally a little worse than what the wives of officials eat.
After all, they were sent to be concubines.
This is because the old lady of the Marquis of Zhenbei has high requirements and wants to find a good concubine for her son. If it were an ordinary family, who would go to such lengths?
Just these foods cost a lot of money.
Yun Qiao looked at the delicious food in front of her. It was delicious and beautiful, especially the presentation, which was really exquisite.
Just wait until the dish is served, then the mother who is responsible for taking care of the eight girls said.
Please have dinner, ladies.
There was a woman in red in the front, she picked up the chopsticks cheerfully and started eating first.
Yun Qiao and the other girls also started to eat.
As for what others think, Yun Qiao doesn’t know. She just wants to enjoy the food.
We ate both chicken and duck, and they tasted very good.
Especially the Eight Treasure Duck, which had no duck smell at all, and the pigeon soup, which was very delicious. Yunqiao also took a bite of the last pastry.
Seeing that there were still quite a few pieces left, it would be a waste to throw them away here. She looked around and secretly wrapped a few pieces in a handkerchief and stuffed them into her sleeves when no one was paying attention.
Anyway, her clothes were loose and others couldn't see anything.
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