Chapter 36: The Flower Appreciation Party

  Flower Appreciation Party

  It's much warmer now than it was a few days ago. Although the peach blossoms have reached their peak, other flowers in the garden are also blooming competitively.

  Fragrant jasmine, golden and silver honeysuckle, pure white yulan, and the precious camellias by the small path, as well as the narcissus placed everywhere in the flower hall...

  What meets the eye is fresh and beautiful, like a sea of flowers.

  The ladies and young misses of each household were chatting in hushed tones, admiring the Hou Manor which was truly one-of-a-kind. The elderly lady was indeed a true flower connoisseur.

  These flowers were indeed specially taken care of by the old lady, and the silver spent on them was all from the old lady's own private money. This time, Xiaolin went to ask the old lady for a flower appreciation party, and of course, there were also implicit requests to seek good luck and auspiciousness for the old lady.

  The old lady was not convinced in her heart, but she didn't want to offend someone who was smiling at her, and Lin's wife seemed to be considering her feelings, so she just went along with it.

  Kobayashi first greeted everyone, ordered the maids to serve tea and refreshments, chatted with a few high-ranking ladies for a while, then hurriedly took her sister-in-law, Madame He, to find a quiet corner.

  The two figures disappeared into the distance, a corner of a skirt peeking out from behind the wall. Rui Shu's face was filled with calculation, and he revealed a hint of a gloomy smile as he gazed at the receding figure.

  It was said to be a gathering of ladies, but in fact, there were not many wives who came. However, each wife brought at least one young lady, and the Misses Yin had also invited their friends, so the garden was filled with people as lovely as flowers.

  He's eldest daughter Hui'er, accompanied by her maid, was laughing and chatting with several young ladies. Her mother was a lady from a noble family, both of her aunts were married to the Marquis of Zhenjiang, and her father had recently been promoted to a high official position. As a result, half of the girls in the garden were flattering her.

  Hui'er is thirteen this year, and her appearance resembles that of her aunt's side rather than her mother's. She has a lovely face. On her body was a pale pink satin short jacket, with a soft yellow long skirt below, the style being the most fashionable at present, and the material didn't need to be touched to know it was top-notch. The hem and cuffs were outlined with colored thread, giving off a lively and pretty feeling, and similarly pale pink ribbons were tied high up, perfectly outlining the girl's figure.

  On top of the hair, a few palace flowers are pinned, which is the latest style of Xiang Lou. The palace flowers made of high-quality silk gauze have bright and beautiful colors. When walking, the petals are gently swayed by the breeze, slightly trembling, almost indistinguishable from real flowers.

  Hui'er came today, accompanying her mother He Shi to see her aunt. The second time, He Shi had been intentionally trying to arrange for Hui'er to marry Second Master Yin Jintang, the second young master of the Hou Mansion's branch family.

  Although she is the legitimate daughter, unfortunately her parents are both born out of wedlock. Her aunt's son, who is also born out of wedlock, has a higher status than hers, but it doesn't humiliate her. Moreover, this cousin usually behaves like a scholar and looks quite elegant.

  Although Da Shu Ge had better conditions, her mother He Shi told her not to think about it. With the favoritism of Zhenjiang Hou towards his eldest son, this marriage must be with a high-ranking girl from a good family, and even asking for an imperial marriage was not impossible.

  Originally, this good thing of marrying into the Hou Mansion was not going to fall on her head. The girl by her side, who is two years older than her, is Lin Yun'er, the eldest daughter of the Lin Mansion, who has already reached the age of plus笄 this year. She is the legitimate daughter of her uncle's family and wears and wears at least two grades lower than her. If it weren't for her aunt begging bitterly, her mother wouldn't have brought her over this time.

  But it's also useless to bring it up.

  The first uncle's body was weak and sickly, with no official position. The first aunt was gentle and weak, easy to bully, and had no backing. The only one she could rely on was the old lady of the Lin family. But how could that compare to her own mother having good fortune as a maternal grandmother, with her daughter marrying well and her son becoming an official?

  If the elder sister-in-law were still alive and had an older son, it's possible that Lin Yun would have married into this family. Unfortunately, the elder sister-in-law passed away, and her son is only a few years old, so Lin Yun will not be able to marry into this family in this lifetime.

  Thinking of this, Lin Hui'er felt even more proud, smiling and listening to the praise from the people around her.

  "Hmph, what a pretentious thing!" Rui Xin walked in and saw Lin Hui'er surrounded by the crowd, seeing her as the object of everyone's flattery, and then seeing the brightly colored palace flower on Lin Hui'er's head, suddenly became angry and turned pale.

  As the sixth young lady of the Marquis's residence, except for her two elder sisters, who was more low-key than her? Especially now that the madam is no longer around and her two elder sisters are not in the residence either, she is the first young lady of this Marquis's residence. How could she let an outsider steal the spotlight from her?

  "Hey, isn't this my sister?" Lin Hui'er saw Rui Xian and hurried over. Although she knew that this little girl had always been at odds with her, first of all, she was older and couldn't compare to her in status, so she had to give in. Secondly, she had come here because her mother had promised to arrange a marriage between her and Second Brother.

  It's settled, she is her sister-in-law now. Moreover, with so many ladies and maids watching, she naturally cannot let people say she is arrogant. So she put aside her reserve and came over to greet her first.

  "Who is your sister? Your sister is still at home drinking milk, right!" Rui Xin was annoyed by Lin Hui'er trying to get close to her. From Aunt He to this cousin Hui'er, she always felt that they were inferior to her and couldn't be compared to her.

  She is just a daughter of a fourth-grade official, but she is indeed the daughter of the Marquis of Zhenjiang.

  Lin Hui'er was suddenly robbed of a few words, her face turned pale in an instant. In front of so many people, how could she get down from the stage?

  "Sister, how can you say that? I'm your cousin, and in the future, I'll still be... " Lin Hui'er stretched out her finger, trembling as she pointed at Rui Xiang.

  Rui Xin was already spoiled, and the many girls in the Yin family had given way to her. At this time, seeing Lin Hui'er still dare to point at her, she suddenly became furious and slapped away the other's hand.

  Lin Hui'er's two maidservants were not to be trifled with either. Miss Lin, who had been spoiled at home since childhood, couldn't take this affront and immediately stepped forward to shield her.

  Yin Rui Xin was even more unwilling to show weakness, and several girls from the Yin family came over to persuade her, but Rui Xin had been spoiled since childhood and refused to listen to anyone, causing a commotion in the flower hall.

  Everyone was in an uproar when a young servant came to report that Prince Ze had arrived. The ladies and girls in the Manhua Hall were all stunned.

  This gentleman's name has really reached the point where even the inner house women know about it, but I've never heard that he has any connection with the Zhenjiang Marquis' manor.

  Kobayashi, who knew the news, was complaining to Ho about what had happened a few days ago, but Ho didn't know anything about it. Kobayashi couldn't do anything, so he asked her again about the medicine she had sent over. The medicine had been effective before, unfortunately, it had been cured by some unknown divine doctor who appeared out of nowhere. This time, Kobayashi was going to ask Ho for help and get some more.

  He's family was just in time to discuss the marriage for his daughter, so he hurriedly opened his mouth. Xiao Lin's family didn't like He's family, but they were okay with Hui'er, it's just that she valued her own son more. When she saw He's family bring up this matter, she was unwilling in her heart and feared that He's family wouldn't give in, so she was in a dilemma. Upon hearing that the king had arrived, the two of them hurriedly tidied up their clothes and rushed out to meet him.

  However, several aunts heard the news and were all delighted. The matter of choosing companions to read together had been put off due to Old Madame's illness, and the Prince hadn't said anything about it; now that he was entering the Hou Manor again, wasn't this saying that the person chosen as companion reader would be among them?

  Several aunts heard the news and sent their servants to inform the young masters to return home. Except for the second elder who was already at home, everyone else received the notification. Among them, Yin Ruofei was personally notified by Gong Jiu.

  When Gongjiu arrived, everyone was in class, and suddenly a man dressed as a guard appeared at the door.

  Mr. Sun saw that his opponent was extraordinary and feared that something big would happen, so he put down his book.

  Gongjiu knew that the Mr. Sun in front of him was Yin Ruofei's husband and didn't dare to be presumptuous, respectfully explaining his intentions. Mr. Sun saw his demeanor and guessed he must have come from a military camp, but unexpectedly he was Ze Qinwang's personal guard, and was taken aback for a moment.

  Although he wanted to ask his younger brother how he got involved with Ze Qingwang, since the other party had come to invite him, he naturally couldn't stop him.

  Yin Ruofei had just left, and then several young servants came to ask for leave, saying that the young master of their family was returning. Mr. Sun sighed and simply gave everyone a holiday.

  Actually, before Gongjiu arrived, someone else came to the Hou Mansion. It happened to be during a short break in class. A young servant ran over and asked him to return to the mansion, saying that his uncle's daughter had come and wanted to see him.

  Yin Ruofei thought for half a day before remembering that he indeed had a paternal uncle. Unfortunately, he rarely saw this uncle in his childhood, and heard that he was frail. His mother's health wasn't good either, so she couldn't take him back to the Lin manor, therefore he really hadn't seen this uncle many times.

  Besides, from the time he was driven out of the house to his death, this uncle never came out to say a word, so he naturally didn't have much feeling for this so-called uncle. Now that his cousin from his uncle's family has come and wants him to go back, after thinking about it, it's not as important as going to class.

  There are so many people in the Hou Mansion, it's really necessary for him to entertain them, let alone that his careless second wife is holding a flower appreciation party at the mansion today, and suddenly returning home would be rude to other ladies, it's better to wait until he returns and asks to see the old lady.

  Rong Jingze arrived not long after, and Yin Haicheng also rushed back upon hearing the news, welcoming Rong Jingze. The ladies and misses had been waiting with bated breath for half a day, but in the end, they only caught a glimpse of the king's sedan chair passing by from afar. Before they could even get close, it turned a corner and went elsewhere, leaving them instantly disappointed.

  But just taking a glance from the side, everyone's heart was secretly excited. This Prince Ze indeed lived up to his reputation for being handsome. The young ladies who were friends gathered together, blushing and teasing each other, but in their hearts, they were all thinking of that prince.

  Just then, a loud slapping sound was heard from the corner, and immediately a woman covered her face and began to sob quietly.

  Everyone turned their heads to look, and saw a slender girl wearing a 70-80% new light blue short jacket and a half-new white long skirt, who was Lin Yun'er.

  But the one who actually hit her was another girl from Lin's household, Lin Hui'er. Those familiar with the inside story had already figured it out, and thought that Lin Hui'er must have been bullied by Yin Ruiheng earlier, so she took it out on her own cousin instead?

  Yin Ruofei chatted with Gong Jiu for a while on the way, he was originally chosen by Rong Jingze as his companion reader, and the guards around him naturally knew that there was no secret about Yin Ruofei.

  "Brother Gong, is Master Wang really going to do this?"

  "That's right, young master will help mediate a few words."

  Yin Ruofei nodded gloomily. Given Rong Jingze's temperament, he didn't dare to intervene, fearing that in the end, he would be the one to suffer.

  Just after crossing the second courtyard gate, I saw that we were about to arrive at He Xiang Garden. Suddenly, a cry for help came from ahead: "Save me! Someone has fallen into the pond!"

  The author has something to say: The draft box is also cute, everyone should encourage him.