Madam Xiang wanted to catch up with her, but a maid sent by Empress Dowager Meng stopped her, "Madam, it's getting late. If Fourteenth Miss Meng didn't sleep now and got a pale face tomorrow, the Empress Dowager would definitely punish us!"
How could Madam Xiang bear this?
But the maid didn't compromise even if she had pestered her for a long time. In the end, the maid just fell to her knees, grabbed her skirt's hemline, and cried badly, "Madam, please, madam. You've also served the Empress Dowager before, so you must know that the Empress Dowager dislikes useless servants. I had a hard time getting the opportunity to serve Fourteenth Miss Meng. Please, Madam! Don’t let me be punished by the Empress Dowager!"
Madam Xiang had been a senior maid of Empress Dowager Meng before and had always been favored by her, so she was quite respected by the servants in Xin Shou Palace, otherwise she could not sneak in the palace after the palace gate was lock
The Gongsun siblings and Sheng Shuihe had the same idea about this, "He is so talented that the Royal Preceptor can't bear his dark future."Before Sheng Weiqiao thought about it carefully, she still thought it was true. After all, Sheng Shuihe was really talented.But thinking about it at this moment, she thought that only talent might not be able to impress Huan Guanlan.After all, Huan Guanlan was so cosmopolitan!When he was the first-rank official and recognized as the great scholar in the world, so many people traveled thousands of miles and knelt in front of his door just to get his advice.To put it bluntly, Sheng Shuihe's talent might be rare for ordinary people. While for Huan Guanlan, it might just be common.After all, when he hadn't been in trouble, so many talented scholars tried to learn from him, even if he was just their nominal teacher.The disciples he had taught personally
When Sheng Weiqiao was thinking, a young girl who was about fourteen-year-old said with a smile in a clear voice, "Do you know the new powder in the Palace?"“Are you talking about the ‘Jade Peach Flower Powder’ that the maid gave to Noble Consort Shu?" Another girl sitting next to her who was about the same age as her answered immediately.This girl was wearing a pomegranate-red dress with a ruddy face, and she was very eye-catching among the girls in gorgeous dress. Sheng Weiqiao, Sheng Weiwu, and Gongsun Yingjiang sat a few people away from her, and they could smell the scent of rouge coming from her. She might wear a heavy makeup and said articulately, "It is said to be the ancient recipe found in the book. It is blended with plaster, talc, mussel powder, wax fat, musk, and motherwort. It is more delicate and shinier than ordinary powder, and it is good for the skin. But it's scarce, and nobody has it!"Princess Huihe smiled and asked, "Sin
"Good news!" Huan Yehe broke the silence, seeing that everyone had accepted the news. She cast an eye over the crowd and smiled cheerfully despite the coldness in her eyes, "We must visit State Duke Zheng Family sometime and say congratulation!""I'll skip this!" Zhao Taoxuan raised her brows and responded curtly, "I'll go back now, if you're setting off to see Fourteenth Miss Meng!"She rose and gave Huan Yehe a nod as if to leave.Huan Yehe explained immediately, "I said I must go, sometime! Not now! Would I leave my guests alone and go talk with others after inviting you here in my name? Besides, Meng Family must be having a private talk now. They're a big family, and Fourteenth Miss Meng received the decree just now. I won't intrude on their family gathering!"Then Zhao Taoxuan sat down and flicked her mauve pleated skirt. She smiled, "So I'll stay."Sheng Weiqiao inwardly complimented Zhao Taoxuan on her tact. The
Huan Yehe blew on her tea contained in a rosebay-patterned teacup and took a sip. She sighed, "I heard they decided to find the truth to prove their master’s innocence after learning the unjust accusation against him! Meng Boqin's potency isn't to be abused by others, after all.""But how is it connected to our acts back in the cave?" Sheng Weiqiao got impatient. Huan Yehe wasn't talking nonsense, but her vague response to Sheng Weiqiao's question and her emphasis on the involvement of Meng Boqin and their risk of being exposed appeared to be a sign that she was creating tension and flustering Sheng Weiqiao.Sheng Weiqiao didn't develop those negotiation tactics, as her parents pampered her and only wanted her to lead a carefree life. But it didn't mean she didn't pick up anything concerning that through her daily conversation with her father Sheng Lanci, who was known to be an expert in this field. Hence, she felt displeased, seeing through Huan Yehe's int
"What's wrong with you?!" Huan Yehe frantically squeezed her hanky and rolled her eyes at Sheng Weiqiao, "I see your brother as a sly rival rather than a potential lover. Moreover, girls tend to feign fear rather than overcome fear when facing the men they like! It's the trick to get one’s attention! There's no need for me to overcome anything unless your brother and I switch the gender roles!"After criticizing Sheng Weiqiao's view on relationships, she expressly smoothed her chignon and pushed in the hairpin, showing off the tender aura around her. Then she continued, "Sheng Shuihe isn't compassionate, but he's a man, still!"Sheng Weiqiao pursed her lips, interpreting Huan Yehe’s words as contempt for females, "You seemed to think that girls had to stay at home and be depressed all day long. But a princess from the former dynasty once formed an army of women for the war!""That's not what I mean." Huan Yehe explained, "You mentioned the prin
But Madam Nan was favorable to her saying, "You made sense! He looks like that kind of person who would try to impress Weiqiao with underhand tricks, but that's too much for him!"She pondered, "Then... What happened actually?"Xu Caikui uttered indignantly, "Mother, haven't you seen it? As Grandfather wrote in the letter, Eldest Brother went to Nanfeng County with Senior Master Sheng to discuss the possibility of marriage between the two families, and the academic communication with Uncle Sheng was merely a pretext. Senior Master Sheng also connived at that deed... But for Sheng Family's part, wouldn't they manage to test Eldest Brother's faithfulness to their most beloved daughter?"Sheng Weiqiao was speechless.Please, we didn't have such a convention in our family!And my grandfather only prompted us to talk more so that we could ascertain if we matched!On the top of that, did many people fall in love
Sheng Weiqiao was exhausted when she finally returned to Jihong Pavilion.And then she remembered something crucial that had been ignored by all of them, "Fourteenth Miss Meng accepted the decree of being step-empress. Even if Ningwei Marquis Family didn’t support Meng Family, Caikui, her sister and the three girls in my party have all attended to the birthday banquet of Fourteenth Miss Meng, we're supposed to go felicitate her on the decree that declared her the future empress, despite the political independence of Ningwei Marquis Family!"Other people, including Huan Yehe, all swung by Meng Family after the activities in Yongyi Count Family wrapped up.They would have done the same if Madam Nan and Xu Caikui hadn't mauled Xu Baomo as if he had been their arch enemy throughout the afternoon. Sheng Weiqiao had been trying to convince them that Xu Baomo wasn't as filthy as they expected, while they were trying to suggest that she shouldn't be be
Sheng Shuihe and Xu Baomo didn't know that Sheng Weiqiao stabbed Xu Baomo in the back these days, so after saying their farewells to Madam Nan, they went to the drawing room to eat food unsuspectingly.At this time, the table in the drawing room had been covered with various dishes, such as fried gardenias, plain chicken, fried wild bamboo shoots, shrimp, jujube puree cake, fried shrimp, tomato crispy rice, ham and broad beans, shredded chicken white fungus, osmanthus fish sticks, sweet and sour lotus root, fresh mushroom cabbage, white braised pork belly, braised red shellfish...Obviously, the chefs of Marquis Mansion cooked the food with earnestness.Staying in the Examination Hall for nine consecutive days, except for the porridge and water provided by the Examination Hall, they could only eat some dry food. Looking at the food at this time, they had a great appetite.Madam Nan didn't let anyone come to serve them, so only they