Chapter 3
Su Mansion
The women's reception room was full of flowers. Because the old lady of the host family had not arrived yet, the girls present got permission from their elders and went in groups of three or four to greet familiar people. .
Luo Chaoyang took the two girls to find a table at the end and sat down.
Her family had just returned to Beijing and didn't know anyone, so she naturally wouldn't be so shameless as to seek attention. Of course, she would never admit that she was afraid of the strong smell of powder.
Looking at the hundreds of flowers blooming in the hall and the beautiful ladies, I can't help but sigh, this is truly a beautiful scenery on earth! Eating delicious food and looking at beautiful women, Luo Chaoyan felt that this life was a bit extravagant and sinful.
"Girl, do you want to go say hello to them? Look at the Fifth Girl." Shu Lan pointed at Luo Chaoning, who was flitting among the crowd like a colorful butterfly.
"Beauty can only be admired from afar and not touched. I won't go!" Luo Chaoyan shook her head.
Shu Lan said anxiously, "But before you left, didn't Madam tell you to get to know more people and show your face so that it would be easier to find your husband's family in the future. If you don't go, Madam will know and she might not let you go out to hang out."
"Don't worry, Dad is here!" Luo Chaoyan felt warm in her heart when she thought of her parents' loving daily life. Her father seemed to be strictly controlled by her mother, but in her opinion, her mother was the one who fell into the fog of her father. Her father loved her the most and would grant her whatever she asked for.
Seeing her heartless appearance, Shu Lan could only sigh! Aunt Lu, I really tried my best!
"Try this peach pastry. The peach pastry from the Su Mansion seems to be better than the one from Xiangsulou." Luo Chaoyan said in surprise after finishing a piece of peach pastry.
Pineapple took a piece and tasted it, then he squinted his eyes like a squirrel and kept chewing with his mouth. It took only a short while to solve one piece. She wanted to get more, but she saw her daughter holding a plate of peach cakes in her arms to protect the food.
She looked at Luo Chaoyan pitifully and said, "Girl, please give me another piece." As she said that, she reached out to take it.
Luo Chaoyan slapped away the hand she extended to her, and said disdainfully: "How dare you eat this? I've spent so much time learning how to make dim sum from Su Xiang, but you haven't even learned a single trick from hers. "
"Girl, you are blaming me now. It was you who didn't let Su Xiang come with us to Kyoto."
Luo Chaoyan rolled her eyes at her and said, "Su Xiang is about to get married. How heartless of me to let her come to Kyoto with me."
She sighed. The pastries of this dynasty were too sweet and she couldn't get used to them. What she missed most when she came to this ancient place was the various modern pastries, especially the durian thousand-layer cake. well! It's a pity that she is clumsy and she really can't do it.
Su Xiang is a maid who grew up with her. She is clever and deft, and can make some delicious snacks just by listening to her description. This peach pastry is one of them.
Shu Lan also said, "I really miss the snacks made by Su Xiang."
well!
The three of them sighed together.
"Pineapple!" Luo Chaoyan suddenly looked at the pineapple with a "drooling" look.
"Do you want to eat this peach cake more often in the future?"
Fengli said with a bitter face, "Girl, I really can't learn it!" She looked at Shulan for help.
Shu Lan gave her a helpless look in return. She didn't have much talent in cooking either, but fortunately, she wasn't as greedy as Pineapple, so the girl wouldn't "torture" her too much.
"You are stupid. I am not asking you to learn from others. I am asking you to buy from this person."
"Buy?" Fengli's eyes widened. "Miss, this Su Mansion is the residence of the second-rank minister of the current dynasty. Who would be so stupid as to think that their kitchen is a pastry shop?"
Stupid? Is this talking about her? Luo Chaoyan raised her finger and flicked her forehead: "On weekdays, you eat so much, why don't you grow smarter? I've been with your girl for so long, why haven't you learned anything smarter?"
Shu Lan and Feng Li looked at their narcissistic girl in silence.
"Girl, tell me, what bad idea do you have!" Pineapple looked as if "there is nothing more sad than a dead heart."
"I told you you're stupid, but you still don't admit it." Luo Chaoyan said, "You can go and ask about this chef first to see what kind of person he is. Then we can pay a high price and ask him to cook for us in the kitchen we prepared during his vacation. This way, we won't be counted as buying snacks at the Su Mansion."
When Pineapple heard this, her eyes lit up, "Yes! The girl is really smart. I'll go right away." After saying that, she ran out happily.
Not long after Fengli ran out, Old Madam Su came in, supported by her daughter-in-law and granddaughter.
Everyone present saluted her.
After she sat down at the top seat, she waved to everyone with a festive look on her face: "Everyone, please feel free to do as you please."
Everyone smiled and nodded in agreement when they heard this.
The banquet began, with singing and dancing taking turns, and some girls who loved to show off also performed on stage.
Luo Chaoning came to Luo Chaoyan's side at some point without knowing it. She smiled so gently and considerately, "Cousin, what talent are you going to show?" She seemed very expectant.
Seeing her change into a light gauze dance costume, Luo Chaoyan smiled and said, "No, it's enough for the Luo family to have you, my cousin, to take the spotlight. If I were to be added, that would be too much. As the ancients said, "It's better to be less than enough." So the Luo family is relying on you. Come on, my cousin!"
"You!" Luo Chaoning just felt a tightness in his chest. She had already thought of some sarcastic words, but Luo Chaoyan always managed to block them out. It was like a punch on cotton, making her feel like the mouse being tricked. Not only did I not make her angry, but I was angry at myself instead.
"Hmph! You don't know what's good for you!"
Luo Chaoning angrily threw his sleeves and walked away.
Shu Lan said with some amusement: "Girl, why do you think these five girls are doing this?" Every time you provoke them, they get very angry.
"There are only two girls like us at home, so she can only ask me to be her supporting role." Luo Chaoyan didn't care and stretched. She slept too late last night and got up early in the morning, so she felt a little sleepy now.
"Shu Lan, let's find a quiet place to take a nap."
"Girl, this...what if the eldest lady comes to look for you later?" Shu Lan was a little hesitant.
"The way I'm dressed today, she won't be willing to introduce me to those ladies!" Luo Chaoyan said with certainty.
Shu Lan nodded helplessly: "Okay then!"
So the two of them quietly left the main hall and walked to a lotus pond in the backyard.
This was introduced to them by the servants of the Su Mansion when they first entered the mansion. It is said that this lotus pond is the largest and most beautiful one in their Su Mansion except for the one in the palace.
There were not many people around the lotus pond at this time, it was really a quiet place. The lotus pond is full of lotus flowers, and now is the season when lotus flowers are in full bloom.
The faint lotus fragrance, accompanied by the refreshing cool breeze, makes people feel more drowsy. Luo Chaoyan sat under the willow tree, leaned against the trunk and slept for a while. When she woke up, she felt a little thirsty, so she asked Shu Lan to get her some water.
She just stood up and twisted her body, and saw a pretty woman and a boy of four or five years old arguing about something not far away.
"Ah Rui, I heard that you like Cuju." The woman handed a very delicate Cuju ball to the little boy, "Here! I asked someone to make this especially for you!"
Unexpectedly, the boy took the ball and threw it hard into the lotus pond.
The woman was a little furious, but she seemed to have thought of something and said to the boy in a gentle voice, "Ah Rui, I am your aunt. Only if I marry your father can I take better care of you and Xiao An'er."
"You are not my aunt. My grandmother is the main wife, and your mother is just a stepmother. Your mother is a bad woman, and you are also a bad woman. I don't want you to marry my father." The boy put his hands on his hips and yelled at the woman with flaming eyes.
"you……"
The woman looked around and saw that there was no one around. She stopped pretending to be gentle and pointed at the boy fiercely, cursing, "Your grandmother was a short-lived woman, and your mother was also a short-lived woman. You..."
Before she could continue to curse, the boy raised his leg and kicked her in the calf. It was obvious that the child had learned some martial arts at home, otherwise the woman wouldn't have burst into tears in pain.
"If you dare to kick me, I will fight you..."
In an instant, the quiet place that Luo Chaoyan mentioned turned into the fighting arena for these two people.
Although the boy was short, he was very agile. He dodged the woman's attacks and grabbed her long hair, pulling it back and forth, causing the woman to scream in pain. For a moment, the woman was at a disadvantage.
Luo Chaoyan was just thinking about whether she should go forward to help the child, but when she saw this, she gave up the idea. This is much more exciting than the singing and dancing in the house.
After a while, the woman's clothes and hair accessories were in a mess, and the hairpins on her head fell to the ground. She couldn't bear the tragic scene.
The woman was probably pushed too far, and she used all her brute force to grab the boy's legs, making him fall to the ground. Then she picked up a gold hairpin on the ground and was about to stab it into the boy's eyes.
Luo Chaoyan widened her eyes. No, this was not possible. After all, she was still a child. If she was stabbed by this golden hairpin, her future life would probably be ruined.
She quickly thought of a way and shouted, "Master Su, you are here!"
Sure enough, when the woman heard this, her body froze. She looked at the weapon in her hand, was frightened, and quickly let go of the boy and ran away in panic.
Luo Chaoyan breathed a sigh of relief and walked quickly to the boy. Seeing that he didn't seem to be injured, she asked, "Whose child are you? Where are your servants?" Looking at the silk and satin he was wearing, he should be the child of a high-ranking official.
Huo Rui stood up and stared at her: "Did you enjoy watching it just now?"
Luo Chaoyan nodded and said honestly: "That's true, so you don't have to thank me!" This naughty child is really precocious. Compared with her uncle's nephews, he is not cute at all. He is like a little tiger, no! Feels more like a little devil.
Huo Rui was stunned. It was the first time he met a woman who was so frank and not at all pretentious. No, this woman must be pretending. He suddenly got a little angry and asked, "Do you know who my father is?"
Luo Chaoyan shrugged, with a look on her face that almost said "What does it have to do with me?"
"My father's name is Huo Jin!"
"oh!"
oh? That's it?
"Woman, I said my father's name is Huo Jin."
Luo Chaoyan rolled her eyes at him, "I'm not deaf, why are you shouting so loudly!"
When Huo Rui saw her reaction like that, he felt like fire was coming out of his chest. He felt that this woman was either pretending to be stupid or was really stupid.
"You vain women, do you dare to say that you came to the Su Mansion not for my father and Uncle Yi? Humph... Why are you pretending to be stupid!"
This naughty kid's words were really unpleasant to the ear. No wonder the woman wanted to hit him. She almost wanted to do it.
"You are a child, can you please be more polite?" Luo Chaoyan glared at him, "What do you mean by vain? Who doesn't want to marry a talented and handsome husband? Then when you marry a wife in the future, are you willing to marry a vulgar and ugly freak?"
"So you admit that you came here for my father and Uncle Yi!"
"You said Young Master Su was okay, but what does this have to do with your father?"
Huo Rui said proudly, "My father is just like Uncle Yi, both are well-known in Kyoto for their good family background and good looks."
"Oh, so that's why. Why did I say your father's name sound familiar?" Luo Chaoyan suddenly realized.
"You still have time to please me now." Huo Rui pointed to the Cuju ball floating on the edge of the lotus pond, "Go pick it up for me, and I'll tell you what your father likes."
Luo Chaoyan looked at the water in the lotus pond swaying in the wind. She subconsciously moved away and said with a reluctant thank you, "That's not necessary! I have no interest in being your stepmother."
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