Volume 1 Chapter 11

  Here, Li brought two daughters back from the banquet and returned to Qinghuatang with a happy face.

  Today Li was able to get the invitation and attend the banquet hosted by the wife of Pingnan Hou, thanks to the help of a close friend from her boudoir before she got married.

  Her close friend in the boudoir was fortunate enough to marry Xuan Yi Bo as his second wife, and later gave birth to a son, solidifying her position. Because she cherished her past friendship with Li Shi, she personally spoke up for her and asked Ping Nan Hou Fu Ren for an invitation.

  Mr. Li spared no expense in dressing up his two daughters for the banquet, hoping they would win the favor of those noble ladies and secure a good marriage, thus rising to prominence.

  Moreover, judging from the situation today, several high-ranking officials' wives have a good impression of Lian'er and Rong'er. If they can be favored by any royal relatives, that would be even better.

  Mr. Li couldn't help but beam with pride as he said to his two daughters, "In a few days, another Duchess will also be hosting a banquet, and your mother almost wore out her tongue begging for an invitation, so you must seize the opportunity to make a good impression."

  Xia Lian and Xia Rong's faces turned red with shyness, as many noble young masters attended the banquet at Pingnan Houfu, all of whom they had never seen before. They were all eager to show off their talents, hoping to be noticed by one of the noble sons.

  Now when he heard that Li said that in a few days, the Princess would also host a banquet, he was overjoyed and looked forward to it.

  Xia Rong couldn't hide the smug look on her face: she and her sister's appearance among the Kyoto official family girls could be considered top-notch, and if they could be favored by some prestigious family and get engaged, they would become superior beings, enjoying endless glory and wealth.

  Although Xia Lian's face didn't show anything, in her heart she was secretly planning how to make a stunning display in the next few days and surpass all the other flowers.

  It's because of the Crown Prince Baoli Rongjin's upcoming selection of a bride that these frequent banquets are suddenly happening in Kyoto.

  This made the ladies of noble families with daughters of marriageable age very worried, if their own daughter was accidentally favored by the quiet king's consort, they would have no choice but to marry her off due to the power and influence of the quiet king's mansion.

  This realization made those aristocrats panic, and they hastily arranged marriages for their daughters with good families to avoid this disaster.

  Now that Pingnan Hou's wife has taken the lead, other noblewomen in Kyoto are also getting lively, and even Fuyang Wangfei has sent out invitations to host a banquet.

  One matchmaking banquet followed another, all for the purpose of quickly finding a good marriage for their own daughter, and also to let their unmarried son take a look at the young ladies from other families to see if there was anyone suitable.

  The lanterns had just been lit, and Xia Ting was still sitting at her desk as usual every evening, dealing with various business matters. Late Yu thoughtfully brought over a few plates of pastries for her mistress to fill her stomach.

  Smelling the fragrance of pastries, Xia Ting smiled and looked at her "It's already quite late, you go to sleep first."

  Wan Yu brought over a cup of hot tea "I'm not sleepy, miss, you have a sip of hot tea first and eat some pastries"

  Xia Ting took over the teacup, the temperature in her hand was just right, and the pastry placed aside was also her favorite rose shortbread.

  Lifting the tea lid, gently fanning away the misty hot air and taking a sip, he suddenly remembered his mother Madame Shi's matter, looked up and asked "Has there been any progress on the matter I told you to investigate?"

  Wan Yu took a few steps forward and lowered her voice, saying "Miss, are you asking about Old Lady Xia's affairs?"

  Xia Ting nodded slightly, she wanted to know why Old Lady Xia was being so unwelcoming to her mother.

  If it's said that Li is slandering and vilifying her mother, then based on her observations over the past few days, this Old Lady Xia shouldn't be a muddle-headed person, she should not have believed Li's one-sided words.

  So she had sent Lan Yu privately a few days ago to inquire about Mrs. Xia's past and see if there was anything special.

  Wan Yu continued to lower her voice and said, "The matter of Old Lady Xia is only known by a few old people in the mansion, except for those who are loyal to Old Lady. I heard that Zhou Pazi, the cook in charge of the kitchen, has also been serving in the Xia Mansion for many years. Moreover, this person has a weakness, which is being greedy."

  Xia Ting's eyes drooped slightly as she whispered, "In that case, have someone wrap two packages of melon seeds and send them to her tomorrow."

  These melon seeds are a new snack in Tianqi country, the people here don't know that they can be eaten after being stir-fried and only use them as seeds.

  It's even better that the old lady is a glutton. As the saying goes, "Eat people's mouths are soft, take people's hands are short." I think tomorrow should know what she wants to answer.

  The next morning, the kitchen of Xia's mansion was already bustling with activity.

  Zhou Pozi was busily stirring the porridge for several masters to prepare breakfast, and from getting up to now, she had been standing for nearly an hour, which made her exhausted.

  As those maids one by one carried the dishes of food out, the other kitchen workers and rough servants also rushed to eat breakfast, afraid that if they were late, the food would be snatched away.

  Zhou Pozi came alone to the back of the kitchen, carrying a large food box, and sat down on the stone steps. She placed the food box in front of her on a large bluestone slab.

  With a sly glance around, making sure no one was watching, he quickly opened the food box. He took out a large bowl of fragrant white rice, two steaming hot meat dishes and a vegetable dish, plus a bowl of egg drop soup that was almost overflowing.

  He picked up his chopsticks and began to shovel the rice from the bowl into his mouth, constantly picking up dishes of vegetables and meat with his chopsticks, eating with a slurping sound.

  Muttering to herself while eating: This mistress is really stingy, with so many people in the mansion, she doesn't even allow the kitchen to buy more chicken, duck, fish and vegetables. She's always clutching her silver tightly and won't let go. As a result, she can only get this little bit of oil and water every day, not even enough to fill the gaps between her teeth.

  Mrs. Zhou was holding a large bowl and slurping down the egg drop soup, when a maid in light blue clothing walked over with a small bamboo basket covered with cloth and arrived at the stone steps, smiling and greeting her: "Mrs. Zhou, I didn't know you were here, it took me a while to find you."

  Zhou Pozi was startled, hastily put down the half-drunk soup, and busily gathered the bowls, chopsticks, and plates into the food box. Finally, she wiped her mouth with her sleeve and smiled awkwardly, saying "Isn't this the green awning from the second young lady's room? I wonder what business you have with my old self? Or is it that the second young lady was dissatisfied with today's breakfast, if so, I'll go prepare another serving."

  As soon as she finished speaking, Mrs. Zhou secretly slapped herself in the mouth. Since the second young lady entered the mansion, she had been living alone in the pear garden and was not responsible for the meals on that side, so what did it have to do with her?

  It's not that she's stupid, it's just that this second miss is too formidable. As soon as she entered the mansion, she scared the mistress half to death, and Wang's hand still hasn't recovered until now, swollen like a pig's trotter. How could she dare to confront this lady?

  She also heard from the stewards of the Xia Manor that Liyuan was actually under the control of the second young mistress, except for letting people go to the Xia Manor's accounting room every month to collect the monthly silver for the three masters. The monthly silver for other servants in Liyuan were all given by this second young mistress, not a single penny was used from the Xia Manor's money, let alone other masters who dared not think about ordering around the servants of Liyuan.

  Even the ingredients purchased daily by Liyuan's side are all top-notch goods. There are chicken, duck, fish, goose, abalone, sea cucumber, and dried seafood of all kinds. Several times she was seen, so many good things that she was tempted to death, even the lady's side did not have such a large budget to purchase such complete high-end ingredients.

  Lu Wenyu looked at Zhou Pozi's unpredictable face, didn't break the silence, and smiled as she sat down on the stone steps. "Zhou Mama has a good heart, Miss is very satisfied with breakfast, today I came to give Zhou Mama some good things."

  Zhou Pozi's eyes lit up and she smiled obsequiously, "I wonder what good thing it is?"

  Green picked up the cloth on the bamboo basket, took out a paper package and opened it. Inside was a full pile of melon seeds.

  Nanny Zhang leaned in for a closer look and sniffed it, asking "What's this? It smells quite fragrant."

  Lu Wenyi picked up a melon seed with one hand, and with a gentle force from her index finger and thumb, the shell cracked open with a "crack" sound, revealing the white plump melon kernel inside. Then she smiled and replied, "This is called a melon seed, it's delicious to eat fresh." She said to Zhou Mama, "Try some."

  Zhou Po took the melon seeds, threw a handful into her mouth and chewed, nodding repeatedly as she did so. "Not bad, this is really delicious." Not only did it smell fragrant, but it also tasted fragrant.

  "Of course, this melon is our young lady's secret recipe, usually only served to our madam and young master as a snack. It's not for sale outside, no matter how much money someone has, they can't get it. Even the old master wants some, he has to go to the pear garden to ask our madam."