A few days before the palace banquet, the silk and satin shop sent five pieces of gold-woven satin that were fashionable in Beijing. The Fan Yang Lu family was naturally not short of money, so Lu Qi waved her hand and told Wu Niang and Jiuniang to choose the materials they liked. But what he didn't expect was that Lu Binghui actually wanted everything he saw. In the end, because of Mrs. Lu's partiality, Lu Binghui actually got five pieces of material.
Lu Qi felt sorry for Jiuniang and wanted to subsidize her daughter with a few bolts of gold-woven satin in private. Unexpectedly, because of the Queen's words that she liked young women wearing gold-woven satin the most, the gold-woven satin in Beijing actually sold out. There was gold-woven satin even further away, but by the time it arrived, it was too late to cut the clothes.
At that time, Lu Qi was vaguely unhappy with Wu Niang, but because she was her mother's lifeblood, she could only pretend not to know. Later, when Jiuniang came to the study to bring soup and snacks, she took the initiative to say that she could just wear the clothes she brought back from Lingzhou, which made Lu Qi calm down. Now that he heard about this matter, Lu Qi naturally disliked Wuniang even more.
Lu Qi comforted Ms. Li in a low voice, and it took a long time for Ms. Li to calm down. Li leaned in Lu Qi's arms and said worriedly, "Langjun, if A Rui has such a personality, how can it be good for her to get married in the future? I'm really worried that she will be bullied by others in her husband's family and she still says it's nothing."
Lu Qi remained silent. He was a shrewd and capable official in the court, but he could not always support his daughter after she got married. After a while, Lu Qi said, "An Niang, the abbot of Fengtianguo Temple once said that A Rui is a blessed person. She doesn't have to fight, and the good things in the world will naturally come to her. Look at what she did at the palace banquet. You don’t have to do anything, wouldn’t the Queen personally check your identity?”
Thinking of A Rui's childhood experience, Mrs. Li thought the same, then she put away her sad face and washed and ate with her husband.
In Kunyi Palace, the queen was chatting with the prince about today's palace banquet while holding several portraits. Those in the portrait are the ladies that the Queen is interested in today.
The dazzlingly beautiful girl in the first portrait with arrogant features is Ling Qi, the daughter of the general of the auxiliary country. Both her father and brother have made great achievements in the military, and they also had a comradeship with His Highness the Crown Prince in the past. If she is chosen to be the Crown Princess, she will definitely be able to help the Crown Prince. But today's palace banquet showed that she has an impatient temper and is easy to be provoked. I am afraid that there will be no peace in the harem in the future.
The second portrait shows an elegant, gentle and naturally noble girl, Chi Weiyan, the daughter of the eldest princess of Ruyang. The eldest princess of Ruyang supported the current Holy Emperor's enthronement and won the Holy Heart. In recent years, the emperor has become more and more suspicious of the growing prince. If she marries Chi Weiyan, Princess Ruyang will probably speak kindly to the emperor, which may ease the relationship between the emperor and the prince over time. However, Princess Ruyang's consort died young, and Chi Weiyan's family background was not obvious, leaving her as the daughter of a princess.
The dignified, gentle and scholarly girl in the third portrait is Sheng Yuning, the daughter of the Minister of Civil Affairs. Her father, Sheng Shangshu, was the head of a prominent scholarly family in the south of the Yangtze River. The writing style in Jiangnan was far superior to that of other places. Therefore, Sheng Shangshu can be regarded as the leader of today's civil servants. Miss Sheng is also dignified and gentle. But Sheng Shangshu is a slippery old man, and even if he marries his daughter, he may not be willing to bet on the prince.
The lively and radiant girl in the fourth portrait is the daughter of a new noble in the current court. As a new upstart who suddenly rose up, Dingweihou was highly relied upon by the emperor, so he was naturally worth winning over. It's just that the time for the rise of this power is too short, and the female relatives in the family are not as accustomed to various occasions as other noble ladies. The empress is worried that she will not be able to be a queen with a mother-in-law in the future.
Looking at the portraits one by one, Xiao Min chuckled, "Mother, it's always difficult to be satisfied with marriage. These young ladies and sons have their own pros and cons, and it's up to the mother to make the decision." After hearing this, the queen was aroused. Because of her competitive spirit, as the empress of the world, her son is not only the prince of the dynasty, but also a handsome, civilized, and martial man. She must find a marriage for her son that will bring all the benefits.
After hesitating for a moment, the queen took out the last portrait. The elegant, pure and fresh beauty in the portrait is none other than Lu Bingzhen. There was a bit of regret in the queen's words. "I do have a candidate for the Crown Princess who is perfect in all four aspects, but she may not be willing to be the Crown Princess."
Taking the portrait, Xiao Min smiled. This was his preferred candidate. It was not in vain for the mother to recognize her as a well-rounded daughter-in-law. He thought about it up and down, and then heard the queen continue to say.
"This young lady is the ninth lady of the Lu family. Her father is the head of the Lu family in Fanyang, and her mother is from the direct branch of the Li family in Longxi. Mr. Lu has just been transferred back to Beijing. His official position has not been determined, but he will not be lower than the previous ones. Her brothers He is also capable, and has achieved success in both writing and martial arts. Lu Jiuniang also has a good temperament, and when people try to push her, she suppresses the troublemakers with ease. "
The Queen, who became more and more regretful as she spoke, couldn't help but sigh, "It's a pity that there are girls in this world who don't want to be the Crown Princess, and there are also families who don't want to be the Crown Prince's family. The palace had previously released news that the most favored girls are wearing gold-woven satin. , but today she is still dressed in a Jiangnan graceful way. This shows that the Lu family does not want to cater to the preferences of the people in the palace, and they have no intention of marrying a daughter into the East Palace."
As for Lu Binghui, who always catered to the palace, her attitude towards her cousins was ruthlessly ignored by the queen.
"Your Majesty, the Fanyang Lu family has no intention of marrying a daughter into the East Palace, but this does not mean that they have no intention of marrying a daughter to Your Highness." The person who said this was Xiuxin. She was the Queen's maid, and she accompanied the Queen, mother and son in the deep palace. After decades of ups and downs, she was the only one qualified to interrupt when the queen and the prince were talking.
The Queen was puzzled when she heard this, and Xiu Xin continued, "The Fan Yang Lu family has no intention of getting involved in the East Palace, but His Highness is a rare good man in the world. Your Highness's riding and archery martial arts, poetry and calligraphy, which are not top-notch? Your Highness also So handsome, what if the Ninth Lady of the Lu family sees His Highness and admires Him?"
The queen was moved after hearing this. She looked at her son in front of her and felt that there was nothing wrong with him. The current reluctance of the Lu family in Fan Yang must be because the Lu Qi family has been serving as officials for many years, so they don't know that the prince is top-notch in everything.
Xiao Min felt his mother's gaze lingering on him for a long time. He coughed slightly uncomfortably and heard his mother say thoughtfully, "What Xiu Xin said makes sense. I'll summon my estranged wife in half a month and also invite Mrs. Lu." Take your daughter with you."
Three days later, Lu Bingzhen, who was playing the piano in Liuchunwu with peace of mind, was about to tune the strings when he heard a commotion outside the house. Caibing hurriedly walked in and gasped, "My dear lady, the old woman has sent someone to invite you to Chunhui Hall."
After hearing this, Lu Bingzhen straightened her clothes and walked out of the house. She saw a middle-aged woman with a mean face in the yard. When the woman saw Lu Bingzhen, she said angrily, "Ninth Lady is really good. She came back from the palace banquet and yet she didn't go to greet her grandmother. Sure enough, she grew up in the countryside for many years and doesn't understand the rules."
This is because the fifth cousin did not take advantage of the palace banquet yesterday. The grandmother who regarded the fifth cousin as her lifeblood came to seek justice for her favorite granddaughter. As for this servant girl who claimed to be of high status, Lu Bingzhen didn't even bother to know who she was.
With just one look from Lu Bingzhen, Cai Bing had someone bring a chair to the corridor. After carefully cleaning it, burning incense and adding tea, Lu Bingzhen sat down and said, "I don't know. I, Lu Jiuniang, don't understand the rules." Where did it come from? Apparently several masters from aristocratic families praised me as a model of etiquette in the aristocratic families."
The servant girl choked. The uncles in Jiu Niangzi's words were all well-known figures in various families. If she dared to say that these words were said by Mrs. Lu at this moment, wouldn't it mean that Mrs. Lu and Mrs. Lu were related to each other? There are rumors of discord among aristocratic families.
Ahem, Lu Bingzhen coughed twice, and then said weakly, "What's more, I got a cold the day before yesterday. If I didn't go to say hello to my grandmother, I was worried that I would pass the illness to her. Since my grandmother said that, then of course I will too. I want to pay my respects."
Hearing this, the servant girl also hesitated a bit. The older the old lady gets, the more afraid of death she becomes. Now, anyone who is serving her closely will be severely scolded by her if they make even the slightest unlucky remarks. If Ninth Lady went to pay her respects if she was really sick, the old lady would probably blame herself.
Thinking like this, the servant woman's momentum weakened, and she saw another familiar person walking into the yard. This person is Li's confidant, named Zisu.
"Ninth Lady, madam said that some family friends are coming to visit today. Please come and meet the guests." After saying this respectfully, Zisu also saw the servant woman and smiled and said, "It's a coincidence that Aunt Peilan is here. Madam is about to send someone to the old lady’s yard to ask the fifth lady if she is free to come with us to meet guests?”
Hearing that the wife of a family friend was here, Peilan hurriedly left and went back to the yard to report the matter. Peilan had a good idea in her mind. She would definitely not be able to invite the Ninth Lady today, so she might as well go and tell the good news to the old lady as a trick. The old lady has long planned to marry the fifth lady into a wealthy family. Now that she has such an opportunity to appear in front of the wife of a wealthy family, why not seize it?
Half a quarter of an hour later, Lu Bingzhen saw Lu Binghui, who was dressed up and arriving outside the flower hall where her mother was entertaining guests. Thinking of what happened at the previous palace banquet, Lu Binghui couldn't help but feel a little embarrassed. Lu Bingzhen, however, seemed unaware. He bowed to her with a normal expression and then walked into the flower hall with Lu Binghui.
There were already several ladies in the hall, and the two sisters actually saw the eldest princess of Huyang, whom they met once at the palace banquet, as well as the Li family of Longxi and the wives of many high-ranking marquises. When the two sisters sat down after seeing each other, Princess Huyang's hearty laughter came, "Ninth Lady is really a wonderful person, come here, come to me."
Today, Lu Bingzhen dressed a little casually because she was at home. She only wore a lace dress, but she wore the lace dress to give her a charming look. A pair of bright wrists are like frost and snow, with a jade bracelet of frost under the moon hanging loosely on them.
