Chapter 51: Zheng Shu's Mother Smiles and Sends a Jade Bangle (Seeking Collection)

  Daiyu had read "The Records of Lize" and naturally knew that Liangzhou was a place far away in the land of Shu and Han, thousands of miles from the capital. The thought of the Jia family marrying off their illegitimate daughter to such a distant place sent chills down one's spine.

  Ping'er, still unaware of Daiyu's change, continued: "Our old lady has never been very pleased with this family, but now that they've become relatives of the imperial family, we should give them some face." Ping'er said this in a deliberately lowered voice: "The two madams are present, and Lin girl is gone; if you hear anything, don't take it to heart."

  Daiyu felt a sense of gratitude towards Ping'er for the first time, who had been living in an awkward position for so long. Feng's sister was sharp-tongued and Xue Pan was a lecher, it was rare that Ping'er could still maintain her kind heart after serving these two masters. If someone else had said this, they would not have spoken to themselves like that.

  Daiyu took note of Ping'er's kindness and considered this maid to be blessed. A few years later, during the disaster that befell the Jia household, it was thanks to today's conversation that Ping'er's life was saved.

  This is a later story and will be put aside for the time being. Let us just say that everyone went to Lady Jia's courtyard, entered the grand flower hall, passed through the east-west corridor, and arrived at the old lady's upper house.

  "Miss Lin has arrived!" The little maid reported to the inside in a hurry. Grandma Jia's room was full of beautiful women dressed in red and green, but as soon as Daiyu entered, she was the only one wearing a plain white dress with a moon-white silk pattern, making her stand out even more from the crowd.

  "Daiyu paid her respects to her maternal grandmother and also paid her respects to both of her aunts."

  Lady Wang smiled and called out Xueyan's name: "Xueyan, come here quickly. Today we have a noble guest in our home, go and pay your respects." The old lady pointed to the young woman sitting on the eastern chair, "This is your Zheng family aunt, from Yizhou."

  Daiyu had met her aunt.

  Daiyu made a deep curtsy. The aunt of the Zheng family hastily grasped Daiyu's hand and helped her up, then looked her up and down for quite some time before smiling at Lady Jia and saying: "Our old lady always says that your esteemed household is especially good at producing girls with both virtue and talent; today I've finally seen it for myself, so our long journey from Shu and Han hasn't been in vain." The aunt took off a bracelet from her wrist. "This was part of my dowry when I got married; Miss Lin, please don't think it's worthless - it's just a small token of your aunt's feelings."

  This bangle is made of full green jade, with good carving and polishing. Jia Min left many pieces of jewelry for Daiyu when she passed away, including a full green bangle that was no less beautiful than this one. As soon as Daiyu saw it, she knew it was a rare treasure. When she heard from Aunt Zheng that it was her own dowry from years ago, she quickly declined.

  Aunt Zheng's eyes were warm and kind, and without saying a word, she put the bangle on Daiyu's wrist. "It's rare for me to have a good relationship with Lin girl, don't you think I'm looking down on Auntie who came from the countryside?"

  Zheng Shu's aunt was indeed a formidable figure, and with just one sentence, she managed to both praise and scold. The wives of Xing and Wang, who were sitting on the side, looked embarrassed. They had previously thought that Zheng's family lived in a remote area and wasn't a prominent aristocratic family, and they only had a son who was a Ningyuan General of the fifth rank, so they didn't often socialize with them. But unexpectedly, this year, the head of the Zheng family guarding the border achieved great merit, repelling the invasion of the southwestern barbarians. The Emperor was overjoyed and promoted him to Cloud Flag General of the third rank, bypassing normal procedures, and also betrothed his daughter to the Imperial Prince as a concubine, bringing glory to the entire family.

  Nowadays, Mrs. Wang is the most fawning, she still hopes that the Zheng family will find a way out for her own daughter Yuanchun!

  Aunt Zheng's words were also a veiled way of telling the people of the Jia mansion that their family, the Zhengs, were not some poor relations who had come to fawn on them.

  Lady Jia was a shrewd old woman, but she pretended to be delighted and said with a smile: "Thank you, Aunt Xue. Since Yu'er is destined for you, let's have more gatherings in the future. By the way, has the wedding date of your eldest daughter and the Third Prince been fixed?"

  Zheng Shu's aunt perked up at the mention of this and smiled: "Not yet, first let the palace's ladies teach for a while. The palace sent someone to say that we have to wait until the eldest prince takes his consort before going to the third prince."

  "This is indeed so, the eldest prince's marriage has been in an uproar for days, and it's said that a girl from the Du family in the south has been chosen?"

  Daiyu saw Matriarch Jia mention Du Wan's sister and immediately perked up her spirits to listen.

  Auntie Zheng nodded, "Yes, we passed by the Front An Street a couple of days ago and saw that the Du's mansion was bustling with activity, and there were Imperial Guards stationed outside. It seems that the Du family has just arrived in the capital as well."

  Wang Xifeng, who was sitting on one side, heard Zheng Qiaojie's words and had a sudden movement in her heart. She went to observe Daiyu again and saw that Daiyu was listening intently with rapt attention. Feng Jie then smiled brightly and interjected: "What a coincidence! Our family's Lin girl and the Lin family's son also entered Beijing on the same day. It just so happens that the Du family is also from Suzhou, who knows whether these two families will arrive one after another!"

  Mrs. Jia's spirit was startled, and she hastily asked Daiyu: "Daiyu, did you and your brother run into the Du family's fleet when you came?"

  As soon as Old Lady Jia asked this question, not only Xing's wife and Wang's wife looked at Daiyu, but even Zheng Qiao's mother, who was sitting on the side drinking tea, also pricked up her ears to listen carefully.

  Daiyu never thought that what was originally just a conversation about Du Wan's sister would suddenly turn into a discussion about her own family. She looked at Wang Xifeng with a thoughtful expression, coldly smiling to herself - these people from the Wang family really can't bear to see their own good fortune? Originally she still had some gratitude towards Feng Jie, but now it had all turned to nothing. "I wonder if Grandmother meant that the Du family is the same as the Du family of the Jiangsu Provincial Governor?"

  Lady Wang's eyes lit up as soon as she heard it, knowing that the names matched. "Is that right, Yuer? If the Du family really has a connection with the Lin family and can curry favor with the eldest prince, the Jia household will have gained another powerful ally."

  "If it were his family, there would still be some fate. Mr. Du's son and my brother are classmates, this time they came to Beijing together, but they separated at the dock."

  Lady Wang, who was listening to Daiyu's words, was so delighted that she almost jumped up. She had been worried about not having a reason to visit the Du family, and now this was a perfect excuse. For the first time, Lady Wang looked at Daiyu with such warmth, "Big girl, you're really good at keeping secrets. If you had told us earlier, we could have also invited the ladies of the Du family over for a visit, and gotten to know them better."

  "Lin Daiyu did not dare to accept the words of her second aunt. The Du family and her brother were only ordinary fellow disciples, not a particularly close relationship. Now that she and her brother lived here, she didn't want to add trouble for both aunts." Lin Daiyu's words cooled down Wang Furen's enthusiasm.

  Lady Wang was humiliated, and the happiest person was Lady Xing. Seeing her long-time arch-nemesis suffer such a great loss, how could she not be happy? Thinking of the thousand taels that Lin's family had given to her own family, she looked at Daiyu with even more favor. Lady Xing hypocritically said: "I think what Miss said makes sense. The Du family is probably busy right now, and even if we go to invite them, they may not come."

  Madam Wang glared fiercely at Mrs. Xing, scaring her into shutting up.

  Although Old Lady Jia didn't want to see her second daughter-in-law, she also didn't want to lose face in front of Aunt Zheng, an outsider. "Alright, Yu'er's words make sense, but your second aunt is also well-intentioned. Tomorrow when you're free, have your brother Xue go to the Du family to deliver a wedding invitation. In the past, our family and Old Master Du had some connections; now that their children are in the capital, I, as an old woman, must show them some courtesy."

  "Since it's the old lady who wants to treat us, we can't miss out on the fun either," said Zheng Shu hastily.

  "This is natural, in the future you Zheng and Du families will be relatives by marriage, it's good to interact more." Old Lady Jia said with a hint of a smile.

  One was the legitimate wife's family of the eldest prince, and the other was the concubine's family of the third prince. It could be said that they were relatives, but Lady Jia's words carried a hint of sarcasm to vent her recent displeasure.

  Zheng's aunt seemed as if she hadn't caught the hint of sarcasm from the host, and continued to chat cheerfully about family matters.

  Before long, a young maid came in to report: "Young Master Zheng has come to pay his respects to the elderly lady and the madams."

  Daiyu and Ying Chun, Tan Chun, Xi Chun three sisters hurriedly retreated into the back of the green silk room.

  Then Jia Baoyu accompanied a young nobleman of fifteen or sixteen years old to come in. The youth wore a purple gold crown on his head, wearing a black gold cloud red sword sleeve, tied with a five-color silk long tassel palace belt, outside the wicker green small team flower's tassel jacket, and stepped on the same color system's small court boots. He looked handsome and had a few similarities with Baoyu, but with more dignity.

  Tan Chun whispered in the green silk room: "Lin sister, look at Zheng's brother and our Lin brother, who is more heroic?"

  Daiyu looked at Tanchun in surprise, as these three sisters usually didn't say such ill-mannered words. But then she thought of the scene from yesterday and it wasn't hard to understand. Whether it was Yingchun or Tanchun, they had all reached the age of marriage, and girls having thoughts about love were common human emotions. However, when Daiyu thought that they were thinking of her own brother, she didn't feel very comfortable. It wasn't that Daiyu looked down on Tanchun and the others, but rather the opposite - she thought that the daughters of the Jia family were all unusually good. It's just that Daiyu had always wanted to have a sister-in-law like Yiran.

  Daiyu's face was tense, and she said, "Third sister must have had some thoughts in her mind. Although I couldn't see clearly through the green gauze window, I suppose Zheng's cousin is also an extraordinary person. Just now, I heard from our grandmother and Aunt Zheng that this Zheng cousin not only has to attend the wedding of their family's eldest daughter but also needs to prepare for next year's martial arts examination. My brother is a scholar, and naturally, he and Zheng cousin are on different paths. How can they be compared?"

  Tanchun had met Lin's elder brother the day before, and she had her own little ideas in mind. It wasn't that Tanchun was an unmarried girl who was shameless, but rather it was because of her family background. As a daughter born out of wedlock to a government official, her future prospects still depended on what her stepmother said. Although she seemed to be favored, unfortunately, there was the hindrance of her aunt-in-law.

  A girl from a family like hers would either marry one of her father's lower-ranking officials or find someone who was also a descendant of a prestigious family, and if all else failed, she could only become someone's concubine.

  Tan Chun didn't want to spend her life in such a muddle, so Lin Zhiyuan was the best stepping stone.

  It seems there is another cousin Zheng now.

  PS: I'll work harder this week~~~ Please collect me! Hope to be on shelves next month!