Chapter 58: What are you expecting from flattery?
"This is the spring tea that Yun'an brought from Qingyun Mountain. Everyone, try it." Beigong Yao said with a smile.
When everyone saw the tea leaves in the maid's hand, their eyes suddenly lit up.
"If my guess is correct, this should be Longjing tea."
"Longjing tea from Qingyun Mountain is the best quality tea. We are in for a treat today."
“Longjing tea is delicate and must be brewed with mountain spring water and a purple clay pot. It also requires a person with superb tea art to brew a good pot of tea. People who don’t know how to brew tea will only waste a good thing.”
"I heard that Lin Youcheng's wife is an expert in tea making. Everyone who has tasted her tea is full of praise."
"Mrs. Chen brews tea in a smooth and seamless manner. Just watching her is an ultimate enjoyment. I had the honor of tasting it at Jiang Zuocheng's birthday banquet a few days ago. It tasted so good, so good!"
As they spoke, everyone looked towards Lin Miaoyin subconsciously.
The Princess of Ning was the legitimate daughter of Prime Minister Lin and was brought up by Xiao Chen. She must have learned something about the art of tea.
Looking at the expectant eyes of everyone, Lin Miaoyin twitched the corners of her mouth.
She was a well-known fool in Shengjing, who was incapable of playing the musical instrument, chess, calligraphy, or painting, and knew nothing about tea art or needlework.
It’s not like these people don’t know her reputation, what are they expecting?
"Princess Ning, your mother is such a great tea lover, I'm sure you are also quite accomplished in this area. I wonder if we will have the honor to taste some today?" Although Ye Lanyue had just been humiliated, it did not affect her from provoking Lin Miaoyin again.
Lin Miaoyin was too lazy to pay attention to this kind of person who had no brains and could only talk big.
Her identity is Princess Ning, and Ye Lanyue is just a lady from a former marquis's mansion. How dare he order her to make tea?
Does she deserve to drink the tea she made?
If she doesn't respond, the only one who will be embarrassed will be Ye Lanyue.
Just when the atmosphere was about to cool down, the one on her right gently spoke, "Sister's tea art is naturally good, but sister just treated the young master of the Qi Palace today and was too tired. If Miss Ye Er doesn't mind, I will do it for you."
Lin Miaoyin frowned slightly.
Yuzhu at the side couldn't help curling her lips, "I never knew before that the most talented lady in Shengjing actually loves to show off so much."
She did not lower her voice, Beigong You heard it, and Song Qingyun heard it too.
Beigong You looked at Lin Miaoyin unhappily, but Lin Miaoyin pretended not to see it and let him be unhappy.
What Yuzhu said is what she wanted to say, what's the problem?
But Song Qingyun seemed unaware and stood up slowly.
Upon seeing this, the maid immediately handed over the Longjing tea in her hand, prepared tea sets, and waited on her to make tea.
Song Qingyun is very skilled in tea art and is a leader in Shengjing.
In addition to poetry and songs, tea art also played a big role in her reputation as a talented woman.
When a beauty makes tea, even the process becomes pleasing to the eye.
Everyone watched her rinse the tea set, test the temperature, and brew the tea with ease, and they all relaxed physically and mentally.
Soon, the sweet and refreshing tea aroma filled the entire waterside pavilion.
"Please enjoy it." Song Qingyun was gentle and generous, with a decent smile, and even her back was straight, completely different from her previous timid appearance.
Yuzhu hated her behavior, "If you don't know her, you would think she is the Princess of Ning."
Not only did she think so, but everyone present also felt that only a woman as talented, gentle and lovely as Song Qingyun was suitable to be the Princess of Ning.
As for Lin Miaoyin...
So what if he knows medical skills? It's still not good enough for him to be accepted by the upper class.
"Concubine Song is extremely talented and capable. Not only could she become the wife of an official, she could also be married to a prince as a princess. I didn't expect her to become a concubine. What a pity." Ye Lanyue pretended to be regretful.
Everyone was also watching the excitement, not minding the big deal, "If it weren't for that incident back then, the Ning Wangfei would have to be replaced."
Hearing everyone's discussions, Song Qingyun became more confident.
It was easier to act gentle and kind, "Stop saying that. There is only one Princess Ning, she will always be your elder sister. I never dare to have any improper thoughts."
After hearing her sensible and reasonable words, everyone felt even more sorry for her.
"My humble concubine is showing off her skills." She glanced at Lin Miaoyin and said, "In addition to medical skills, my sister is also very good at making tea. My little trick is nothing but a show of skill in front of my sister. Please stop praising me."
These words seemed to be directed at Lin Miaoyin, but in fact they were flattery.
Lin Miaoyin doesn't understand the art of tea at all. The higher Song Qingyun praises her, the harder she will fall.
Sure enough, after hearing what Song Qingyun said, Ye Lanyue was even more determined not to let Lin Miaoyin go, "Princess Ning, since you are so skilled in tea making, let us see it for ourselves."
"I'm sorry, everyone. I'm really tired today..."
However, the more Song Qingyun refused, the more curious everyone became.
"Princess Ning's tea art is even better than Concubine Song's. Doesn't that mean her tea art is one of the best in Shengjing?"
"Princess Ning has inherited all the true skills from Madam Lin, so she is naturally an expert." Everyone was looking forward to Lin Miaoyin's demonstration of tea art.
"Princess, please let us see Princess Ning's tea art." Ye Lanyue requested.
There was a hint of coldness in Beigong Yao's eyes.
But with so many pairs of expectant eyes looking at her, she couldn't refuse her.
He could only pinch his brows and give a look to the people around him.
She specially ordered people to prepare tonight's dinner carefully, with the purpose of introducing Lu Yun'an who had returned from Qingyun Mountain to everyone, so that she could attract Beigong Yu's attention. But the second daughter of Ningyuan Marquis' family had no sense at all, was stupid and talked too much, and after being tossed around by her, tonight's dinner almost became a family dinner of Ning Wangfu.
"Well." Lin Miaoyin stood up.
In the current situation, even if the eldest princess didn't say anything, she would be in a difficult situation.
It’s just making tea. Although she hasn’t studied it, she does understand it.
As the saying goes, you have never eaten pork but you have seen pigs run. What's more, Xiao Bailian showed up to teach just now.
As she stepped forward, a gentle voice came from the crowd, "Princess Ning, I am quite interested in the tea ceremony. Can you let me help you so that I can learn a thing or two?"
When Lin Miaoyin turned her head, she saw a servant pushing a wheelchair towards her, with a sky-blue figure on the wheelchair.
Her eyes looked up and met the man's gentle face.
Lin Miaoyin recognized him instantly. Isn’t this... the sick young man who helped her in the afternoon?
"Mother." The man bowed to Beigong Yao who was sitting on the main seat.
Beigong Yao raised his hand slightly and agreed.
Lin Miaoyin learned the identity of this person from the original owner's memory: the eldest son of the first wife of the Duke of Song, Lu Zhizhou.
He has suffered from foot disease since childhood and has difficulty walking.
But she observed today and found that there was nothing wrong with his feet, it was just that the muscles in his legs had atrophied too much.
"Minglu, push me over." Lu Zhizhou ordered the servant.
Coming to the tea set, he began to wash the cups and brew tea gracefully. One could tell at a glance that he was an accomplished tea-maker.
It turns out that helping out was fake, and helping her out was real.
Lin Miaoyin didn't understand. The original owner had no friendship with this person before and didn't even know him.
Why should he help himself?
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