bookcurios Chapter 172 Another Qi Yinghe
Chapter 172 Another Qi Yinghe
Qi Yinghe was pretending here, looking as if she had been wronged. Even a fool could tell that she was trying to please everyone.
But everyone in the capital knew how the Zhao family acted. Zhao Fangjin had a well-behaved appearance and there was nothing wrong with him. How could a child raised by the eldest daughter of Longxi be someone who did not know the difference between respect and inferiority?
Let's look at Zhao Fangyu. She was a female official in the palace. After she came out of the imperial prison, she was able to work as a female official in front of the emperor and was eventually promoted to the head aunt. How could she be a girl who was raised with poor discipline and poor education?
Qi Yinghe and the others didn't know, so how could Zhao Fangjin and her sisters not know?
Especially Zhao Fangjin, who has been brought by the eldest lady to attend various banquets since he was a child. If the eldest lady had not deliberately selected the man for marriage, there would be countless people who have tried to test Zhao Fangjin's marriage openly or secretly!
The nosy lady was wearing a dark purple coat with no embroidery and only fur edges. She took it off in the warm room, revealing the wide-edged jacket and tube-top skirt underneath.
He is probably in his thirties, not very young.
"Sister has a grudge against her?"
Zhao Fangjin fanned herself leisurely with a fan. She had a bad temper and felt hot in crowded places. "She had a girl and wanted to marry her to Song Bai. When she was rejected, she thought it was me who was causing trouble and snatched their marriage."
"There is no deep hatred, but she feels that I have blocked her daughter's path. When she sees me doing well, she will cry and be angry. When she sees me doing badly, she will feel happy all over."
Just because there is such a person around, Zhao Fangjin will never show her weak side. Of course, during these days of marriage, Song Bai and she have a harmonious relationship and strong love for each other. Their life is quite comfortable, but not as good as when she was at her parents' home.
But just this alone has made many families who did not marry their daughters regret it very much.
The seats around were separated and quite spacious, so apart from the maids serving them, no one else could hear what they said.
Zhao Fangyu saw someone in the crowd staring at Qi Yinghe intently, so he asked, "Is that your sister-in-law? Why does she look a little strange?"
It wasn't that Zhao Fangyu was looking for trouble, it was just that the look in the girl's eyes when she looked at Qi Yinghe made her feel strange, as if she felt heartache, and also as if she was disappointed in her friend.
Zhao Fangjin took a sip, his eyes as steady as a deep pool: "Do you know what dishes we're having today? If there's anything you like, are you happy?"
When Zhao Fangyu saw Zhao Fangjin lightly tapping the table with his fingertips, he realized that today's banquet was the Hongmen Banquet.
A Hongmen Banquet specifically targeting Qi Yinghe and the people behind her.
Probably everyone in the Song family knew the purpose and process of this banquet, but for the sake of the Song family, no one leaked the news. This girl had a good relationship with Qi Yinghe, so she felt sorry for her misfortune and angry at her for not fighting for it.
Before this side was over, there was a commotion outside the door. Not long after, a lady in an ink-colored wide-sleeved jacket with black fox fur came in. She had a few white jade and gold hairpins on her head. Although she didn't have many ornaments, her aura overwhelmed everyone else.
She was holding a little girl in her hand, who looked about six or seven years old. As soon as she entered the door, she said that the little girl had never seen a farewell spring banquet, so she came uninvited to bring her little daughter to see it.
The person who came was the prime minister's wife, the biological mother of the third prince Yang Xiaofei, and the person she was holding in her hand was Yang Xiaofei's biological sister.
This lady was extraordinary. She was nearly 40 years old and still gave birth to a daughter for the prime minister. It was like an old clam giving birth to a pearl. I wonder how many ladies in the capital who were not in harmony with their husbands were envious of her.
The prime minister's wife came uninvited. The old lady of the Song family went to greet her in person, and Zhao Fangjin followed. Zhao Fangyu sat steadily on the side, watching this kind-looking round-faced woman walk into the warm room surrounded by people.
It’s not about expensive fabrics or expensive clothes, but when power reaches a certain level, everything is just a passing cloud.
The prime minister's wife and daughter sat down, and there was a slight change in the seating arrangement, but no one said anything.
Zhao Fangjin was busy for a while before coming back. Zhao Fangyu asked Chunshao to peel a plate of fresh longans for her in advance. When the people came back, she pushed it in front of them.
Zhao Fangjin wiped the sweat from his face with a handkerchief, his eyes slightly gloomy.
The jade bell rang, the banquet began, and Song Shangshu's collection of wine was brought up one jug after another. Those who were not good at drinking were served various kinds of ointments and thirst quenching water.
Qi Yinghe sat quite far away from them, and rows of maids lined up to serve her dishes and snacks.
Everyone present was decked out in jewels and precious stones, except Qi Yinghe, who looked like a dodder that had been ripped out of its tree, and looked out of place.
The old lady and the prime minister's wife had a very pleasant conversation, and the banquet was extremely harmonious. The little girls were chattering about something, and Zhao Fangyu even heard Cui Zimin's name.
But all these soon disappeared because a little maid came to report that there were relatives from the old lady's hometown outside the door.
As she said this, the little maid looked at Qi Yinghe in embarrassment.
Just this one glance is enough to make everyone present have wild thoughts.
Coincidentally, another cousin came to seek refuge.
The old lady's face darkened, and Zhao Fangjin hurried out to smooth things over. After all, Zhao Fangjin's mother-in-law also came out to mediate.
When the maid invited the person in, washed him up and sent him to the banquet, the banquet had already been finished.
The young girls gathered together to play the game of touhu (pitch-pot) and back-sixes (shuanglu). Zhao Fangyu and Zhao Fangjin sat together to chat. Zhao Fangyu did not go to socialize with the other ladies. She just sat there and people came to look for her.
The little maid who had just come to report the news came in again, bringing with her the washed cousin, and walked out step by step from the outside of the warm room.
The person who came was wearing a sky-blue fur jacket with wide edges and a turquoise blue skirt with gold woven into it. She had her hair in a small bun with a few small gold hairpins inserted in it, a string of pearls around her neck, and a pair of ruby and sapphire flower earrings on her ears.
Zhao Fangyu felt something was wrong when he saw it. The small flower earrings and the gold hairpin necklace were all Zhao Fangjin's! Even the clothes looked like the dowry that the lady had given to Zhao Fangjin!
It's no wonder that Zhao Fangyu remembered it so clearly, because the turquoise blue and gold-woven material was specially snatched by the lady from Nanjing. There wasn't much, so half was given to Zhao Fangjin as a dowry and the other half was given to her.
Zhao Fangyu felt a little depressed. She didn't believe that the Song family didn't have clothes and jewelry that this cousin could wear. There was obviously a real young lady of the Song family who was about the same age sitting there.
The visitor politely bowed to the old lady and the prime minister's wife, and his words seemed no different from those of the other ladies.
Before the people around the old lady could invite Qi Yinghe to leave the banquet, the nosy lady jumped out to stir up trouble again.
"We are cousins, but I haven't asked her last name. I have a little daughter at home who likes to play with girls of your age."
The girl in the azure blue jacket bowed from a distance, but the words she said caused the entire table to fall silent for a moment.
"In reply to this lady, my surname is Qi and my maiden name is Yinghe."