The emperor was extremely fond of peonies and once rewarded a folk flower craftsman with 10,000 taels of gold for presenting him with a thousand rare yellow peony leaves. He also built a peony garden, where many varieties of peonies were planted, including some rare species from all over the country. Whenever the flowers bloomed, he would hold banquets and invite his officials to admire them, accompanied by beautiful women singing and dancing. The most beautiful peonies were selected and their owners became famous throughout the land, earning a handsome sum of money. As a result, all the royal families, nobles, and wealthy merchants in the capital took pride in having rare peonies in their homes and competed with each other to show off their flowers. Even ordinary people felt proud if they had peonies at home, and when the peony season arrived, the whole city was filled with people admiring the flowers.

  Today, the Liu familys banquet is no exception. Among the guests who came, regardless of men and women, eight out of ten wore peonies. Especially the female guests, on their high hair buns, most of them wore a large peony, which was more rare, larger, more gorgeous, and more valuable than their clothes, jewelry, and appearance.

  Peony, however, was one of the few women who did not wear a peony hairpin. She didnt follow Liu Chong to greet the guests, but instead hid in a shaded area under the trees, quietly observing the guests attending the flower banquet. Due to her previous illness and dislike of going out, fearing noise and not liking to socialize, Peony searched through her memories for a long time, only finding a few familiar faces among the guests. As for the person she was eager to see, Qinghua County Master and Li Yi, they had yet to appear.

  Yuer stood by, diligently pointing out to the guest to look at Peony: "Young Madam, take a look at that lady wearing a silver-red large-sleeved gauze shirt, with a red peony hairpin and a golden step shake. She is the wife of Pan Rong, the son of the Marquis of Chu State, one of the young masters best friends, Mrs. Bai. Last year, she just gave birth to a young prince, and their family is also like ours, with many people. Although she looks cold and proud, her temper is actually quite good. If you like, Young Madam, you can talk to her, and she will definitely not neglect you."

  The peony was reminded by the words full of deep meaning behind Yuer, and couldnt help but carefully examine the wife of the Marquis of Chu States son. This madam was surrounded by a group of chattering women, intently staring at the white jade board in front of her, which was still covered with green silk and had not revealed its true appearance. Occasionally, she would frown and coldly glance at the women beside her who were trying to curry favor.

  "Who are those women surrounding her, dressed so gaudily and acting so coquettishly?" he wondered. "They seem to be fawning all over Madame Bai, but she doesnt appear to be paying them much attention."

  Yuer paused, awkwardly smiling: "They are all the princes concubines." After thinking for a moment, she added another sentence, "Not every madam of the house is as gentle and kind as Young Madam."

  Yuers flattery was too obvious, Peony smiled faintly and pointed to another girl who was dressed in a charming manner, circling around the purple iris, eager to try. The girl with the hairpin flower said: "This young lady is beautiful, whose family is she from?"

  Yuer glanced at him and smiled: "No wonder you didnt recognize her, this is the second lady of the Qi family. She returned to Beijing with Uncle last month from their post and came to pay respects when you were unwell and didnt come out. Later, several times she came to the mansion, they just missed each other due to misunderstandings."

  Yuer said that, Peony had a number, this is the elder brother of Qis wife who has just been appointed as the fifth-grade official, Qi Changlins eldest daughter Qi Yuzhu, who is only 16 years old. It is said that she is a talented woman, and she has been favored by many people. She once had a grand wish to marry a good man in her life. Liu Can held this flower banquet this time, more than half of the reason was for Qi Yuzhu, wanting to find a good marriage for her.

  It turns out that the people who socialize with the Liu family are all from high-ranking families, noble and aristocratic families. The He family is very wealthy, but its also a mismatched door and household, no wonder the Liu family feels uncomfortable from top to bottom. Its unknown how the Liu family ended up in such a situation back then, unable to rely on other sources of help, they could only turn to the He family for assistance.

  Peony was lost in thought, when Liu Changans ten or so delicate and lovely family entertainers, led by Xian Su, walked over with the gentle breeze, sat down not far away, and began to chat and laugh in soft voices.

  Although Xianer had never been favored by her mother-in-law, she lived alone in a delicate small courtyard with five or six people serving her. Liu Cheng was there for more than ten days every month. She also bullied Mudan, who was not favored and not liked, with a soft personality, and didnt take Mudan seriously from the beginning. At this time, she clearly saw Mudan and Yuer were here, but pretended to be unaware, leading everyone to tune the silk and bamboo instruments on the side, laughing loudly, and in an instant, Mudan was startled and confused.

  Yuer had been angry with her for a long time, and now she wanted to take advantage of the opportunity to use Peonys hand to teach her a lesson. She also wanted to test Peonys depth, so she said: "Young Madam, she is too arrogant, completely disregarding rules and etiquette... let me send someone to scold her severely..."

  Lins mother sneered, "Even if she is arrogant and looks down on others, its still the young masters wife who should reprimand her. Isnt Yu Niang overstepping her bounds? It can be seen that although Yu Niang appears to respect the mistress on the surface, in reality, she also has a condescending attitude towards her."

  Yuer hastily stood up, looking at Peony with a face full of anxiety: "Young Madam, please forgive me, I didnt have such thoughts, its just that seeing them being so rude, my heart was indignant, and in the heat of the moment, I couldnt help but lose my manners..."

  Peony had long understood that these people didnt take themselves seriously, and Jades politeness was just a pretence to curry favour with Madame Qi. As for herself, a humble officials daughter who couldnt even enter Madame Qis courtyard, if she really wanted to make an issue of it in front of all these guests, wouldnt that be truly humiliating? So she smiled and said: "Its not a big deal, if I were to argue with them, that would be losing my dignity. If they want to stay here, we can just change the venue."

  Yuer quietly observed her expression, smiled and said: "Young Madam is absolutely right, I have no knowledge. Theres nothing good here either, lets go over there, its quiet and we can see the situation in this field clearly."

  This was a place specially prepared for outdoor recreation, with decades-old trees like screens surrounding a thick and soft grassy area of over 20 square meters. Under the shade of the trees, mats were laid out on the ground, and low tables were filled with fruit, wine, water, and pastries. On one side of the hosts seat, there was a small thatched hut, half-hidden by a cluster of blooming lilacs, making it an ideal place to go. Yuer pointed at this very hut.

  "Ah, thats a good place to go, in that case, lets go then."

  The two had just stood up when a maid hastily ran over, bowed and said: "Young Madam, Young Master has asked you to go to the front to welcome the guests. The Princess has arrived."

  As soon as this was said, the sound of silk and bamboo instruments suddenly stopped, and all the people in the house, Lin Mama, Yu He, Yu Er, and everyone else looked at Peony with sympathetic or mocking eyes. Xian Su even got up and walked to Peonys front, smiling: "The slave has seen the young lady, last time the princess said she wanted to see the slave dance the green waist, the slave practiced for a long time, last night I danced for the young master, the young master said it was already good enough. Please let the young lady ask the princesss opinion, if she is still willing to grant an audience, the slave will perform a dance."

  How dare you show off in front of Peony like that! Lins mother was so angry that she was trembling with rage, and just as she was about to scold Xian Su, Peony had already walked past her without even giving her a glance: "Since the young master is already aware of this matter, he naturally has his own thoughts on whether or not to jump. As a servant, its good that you want to please your master, but rushing forward like this without regard for propriety is unseemly. Since youve become a household slave, you should forget about your past and follow the rules of the estate. Dont let people laugh at you for being frivolous."

  Yuer burst out laughing: "Miss Xian Su, you continue to be busy. Im sure that later on, the young master will have some free time and will definitely send someone to summon you."

  Her small face turned pale with anger, and when Peony was far away, she spat out a mouthful of saliva: "What kind of thing! Just the daughter of a merchant, relying on luck to get this position, thinking that she really flew up to become a phoenix? Dare to laugh at me!" She thought in her heart, waiting for Liu Can to go to her place in the evening, and must give Peony some eye medicine.

  The peony itself was unaware of the delicate thoughts behind it, but secretly thought that Liu Cheng had asked him to welcome the county master, and the two must have harbored evil intentions. How should he respond appropriately?

  Not yet at the garden gate, Peony saw Liu Chuan and a young man wearing a blue arrow-sleeved robe standing under a willow tree, chatting with a tall, full-bodied, and extravagantly dressed young woman. A handsome youth in Hu attire and seven or eight young maids in green clothes stood quietly not far away, looking like they were probably Qinghua Junzhu and her entourage.

  Liu Chong turned around and happened to see Peony, then whispered something to the two men. The man in luxurious clothes and Qinghua Junzhu both turned their heads to look at Peony.

  The peony was clearly visible, and the handsome mans eyes flashed with a hint of surprise. However, Qinghua Junzhu had an inquiring and measuring gaze on her face, with unconcealed disdain and disgust in her eyes.

  ——*——*——*——

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