Exclusive golden branch

Chapter 510
It's getting hotter in May.

Xiangli returned to the yard with the cold skin and honeydew melon brought from the kitchen. Everyday, she saw another servant woman lying on the grass and peeking at the yard. This time, it was much better than before. I put on a green skirt that is similar in color to the grass to camouflage it.

But so what?Can't you see when her Xiangli has bad eyesight?Xiangli laughed angrily, walked over, kicked the maid away unceremoniously.

Is there something wrong with these three ladies?If you want to find the third master, you can look outside. What is the old man sending people to peek in the young lady's yard?Could it be that the young lady hid it if the third master disappeared?It costs rations to support a person, who is happy to hide the third master?
Xiangli shook her head, walked quickly into the yard, walked to Jiang Shaoyan who was reclined on the imperial concubine's couch in front of the window, and handed her the cut honeydew melon: "Miss, I just took it out of the well water, it's very cold , eat quickly!"

When it's hot, people don't want to move. Even the young lady can't bring up the interest of going into the kitchen. Her appetite is not as good as it was a few days ago. She usually eats two bowls of porridge in the morning, but now she only eats one and a half bowls. .

Xiangli sighed, sat down on the small soft stool beside her, took the honeydew melon handed over by Jiang Shaoyan, happily said "Thank you miss", before taking it.

Jiang Shaoyan sat up halfway from the imperial concubine's couch, took a bite of the honeydew melon, the sweetness and coldness in her mouth quenched a little of the dryness of the heat, she looked up at the invitation card that Xiangli had placed next to the honeydew melon plate, and looked up a little unexpectedly. She raised her eyes: "Which company sent the invitation?"

As soon as these words came out, the eyes of Xiangli, who had been burying her head in the melon, lit up "suddenly", and happily moved to Jiang Shaoyan's side, and said to Jiang Shaoyan: "Miss still remembers the unlucky one who was rumored to be divorced one after another a while ago." Are you asking for your fiancé?"

Jiang Shaoyan's movement of eating melons slowed down a bit, but she didn't stop completely. She just said "hmm" and asked Xiangli, "That Li Xuanjing, the second son of the Li family in Longxi?"

"Yes, yes, it's the one named Li Xuanjing!" Xiangli kept nodding her head as she spoke, "I almost forgot his name, it seems that's what he's called."

She really has a good memory!She almost couldn't remember the name of this unlucky fiancé, she just thought it was a bit of a mouthful, but the young lady remembered it after hearing it only once.

Of course, these insignificant things can only be thought about, Xiangli pointed to the invitation card and said to Jiang Shaoyan: "It's the invitation card from Mrs. Li, the mother of Second Young Master Li."

There are many big and small banquets in the capital, and there are several big and small banquets almost every day, but the invitations for these banquets are usually not sent to Dongpingbo Mansion.

Speaking of this, I have to "thank you" Mrs. Jiang.Regardless of whether Dongpingbo is now dilapidated or not, in any case, Dongpingbo's mansion is an uncle's mansion, and it occupies the word "bo", so it is a powerful person.

Therefore, the invitations for most banquets were indeed sent to Dongpingbo's mansion.However, due to her own reasons, Mrs. Jiang did not like to make friends with other people. At first she would occasionally go to banquets after marrying in Dongpingbo Mansion, but later she did not go to a single banquet. not enough.

There are only a handful of invitations that can be received throughout the year.

Jiang Shaoyan took the invitation from Xiangli and glanced at it, but the content of the invitation was nothing special.Leaving aside the polite rhetoric, there is only one sentence to blame in the end--appreciating flowers in the wild goose garden.

Wild Goose Garden is the private garden of the Dajing Clan in the former dynasty. Although it is not as famous as Furong Garden, it is still the private garden of the Dajing Clan who is arrogant and extravagant. Furong Garden is hard to borrow, but Wild Goose Garden is much easier to borrow, so many dignitaries in the capital often choose Wild Goose Garden for small banquets.

Flower appreciation at this time... Well, it's not impossible to enjoy it. There are many varieties of flowers and trees planted in the Wild Goose Garden, and there are flowers to enjoy all year round. However, the wife of General Li, who is in charge of the Longxi Army, borrowed the Wild Goose Garden just to enjoy it. flower?
The Dongping uncle's mansion has nothing to do with the Li family. To be honest, Mrs. Li may not know her, and she may not know Mrs. Li.

Jiang Shaoyan held the invitation in her hand and thought about it, then said to Xiangli: "Go and ask the steward, and ask him which other companies have received this invitation."

Xiangli said "Oh", but did not move, but said directly: "There is no need to ask the manager about this. The person who sent the invitation said that it was for the lady, and he also specifically said that he would hand it to the person close to the lady. Come on, so the steward called me over to get the invitation. When I received the invitation, the person who sent the invitation told me not to overthink it, that is, the general’s wife had reserved the Wild Goose Garden for a month. She originally wanted to enjoy the flowers by herself, but later she felt bored and decided to leave We invited all the female family members of the capital to join in the fun. We have had several banquets before, and this is not the first time, nor will it be the last time."

Xiangli finished what the person who sent the invitation said in one breath, then continued to lower her head and gnawed a mouthful of melon, not paying attention: "So, it's just about enjoying the flowers, it doesn't matter if you go or not!"

Looking at the other little maids who lowered their heads and gnawed melons, Jiang Shaoyan just smiled and didn't make a sound.

No wonder it's really meaningless!When sending invitations, which one must specially send them to the people around the lady?Not only did they send it to the people around them, but they also deliberately said so many words... If it is an ordinary flower viewing, why bother to talk so nonsense?
To put it bluntly, what the general's wife meant was that she wanted the female relatives to go to the Wild Goose Garden no matter what, to show her face and let her have a look.

As for what made that Mrs. Li decide to take a look at the female relatives of each family, thinking of the unlucky Second Young Master Li who was divorced one after another, I can probably guess the reason.

There are people who "be bitten by a snake for ten years and are afraid of well ropes", that Mrs. Li is indeed the wife of a general, a hero among women, she was not affected by the successive divorces, and now she looks like she is going to find someone for the second son Li. The third fiancée.

Since Mrs. Li has said so, it is always bad not to go.

Go and go!It should not have much to do with Mrs. Li's visit to Mrs. Li's second son.

"Back up the gift!" Jiang Shaoyan made up her mind and said, "On weekdays, if you want to go to the Wild Goose Garden to see the scenery, you need to spend some money to get in. Now you don't even need to spend money to enter the Wild Goose Garden to see the scenery. , wouldn't it be great?"

Xiangli thought about it seriously, then nodded and said: "Not only do you not need money to see the scenery, but you can also eat a table for free. The general's wife should not be stingy about such things."

There is nothing wrong with these words... Jiang Shaoyan was amused by the little maid.

After resting these days, I have almost recovered, and I can indeed go out and walk around.Although she didn't plan to have a deep friendship with anyone, it is still necessary to get acquainted in front of people occasionally.

……

Two days later, Jiang Shaoyan took Xiangli and Xiao Wu out. Hearing that Jiang Shaoyan was going out to a banquet today, Jiang Zhao specially returned Xiao Wu to her for a day, and picked out a few more guards from home to go out on business.

The case handling office of the Ministry of Industry feels as if they have to walk through mountains of swords and seas of fire every day when they go out, which is embarrassing and worrying at the same time.

When sending Jiang Zhao out, Jiang Shaoyan tested Jiang Zhao: "Father, is this case... too dangerous?"

Jiang Zhao shook his head, met the girl's concerned face, and at the same time he was ironing his words, he just shook his head again and again, and said with a smile: "Don't think too much, it's not your family's responsibility to care about it. It’s about you, go to the Wild Goose Garden and have fun today!”

The rich and powerful forces in the capital are intricate and complex, no matter whether it is a big banquet or a small banquet, it is inevitable to make friends and broaden the communication network, but as far as Jiang Zhao is concerned, she has never made such a request to her. Every time she goes out, she always says "have fun" exhorted.

Having such a father, Jiang Shaoyan is really envious.

The girl rolled her eyes and said "OK".

Seeing that the girl smiled, Jiang Zhao rubbed the girl's head, turned around and led her away.

As soon as Jiang Zhao left, Jiang Shaoyan also got into the carriage.

This time around Yanyuan, she will not be the host and guest, and she doesn't need to make much preparations. She prepared a gift that is not too light and heavy, and took Xiangli and Xiao Wu to go to Yanyuan in a carriage.

The general's wife has been hosting banquets for many days in a row these days, and the cumbersome process of guiding the way, naturally, several confidantes and nuns are already familiar with it.

After receiving the invitations from their group, Xiao Wu waited outside. Jiang Shaoyan took Xiangli and followed the guiding mother to the mat in front of the main building of Yanyuan Garden. Introduce, guide the way nanny occasionally introduce a few words, but it will not appear awkward because no one speaks.

Enjoy the flowers!Jiang Shaoyan responded a few times very cooperatively, but she looked at it very seriously. The flowers and trees cultivated and trimmed by a professional gardener are naturally beautiful and delicate.

After walking through the long corridor and stepping onto the square in front of the Qiyan Tower, he clearly noticed that there were many more eyes on him.Jiang Shaoyan didn't take it seriously, this kind of curiosity was occasionally mixed with a bit of malicious gaze, she had long been used to it.

He was led to the general's wife by the nanny who led the way.

Jiang Shaoyan reached out and gave her a gift, then took the prepared gift from Xiangli and handed it to the nurse next to the general's wife.

"I've seen Mrs. Li!"

"Miss Jiang Si!" Mrs. Li, who has a gentle and delicate face but firm eyes, smiled at her and said gently, "Take a seat!"

There would be no unreasonable likes and dislikes after a shallow salute, Jiang Shaoyan followed the guiding mother to the side table and sat down.

She came not too early or too late, and there were already many people at the table. Seeing her take a seat at this time, those curious eyes looked at her again, some were purely curious, and some were obviously disdainful and malicious.

Jiang Shaoyan casually folded a small bunch of grapes on the table and handed them to Xiangli behind her, and then began to pick the grapes on the small table in front of her.

In all fairness, there is nothing wrong with guests eating everything on the table in front of them, not to mention eating grapes, even if they eat everything on the table.

But after taking a few grapes, she heard a few small but clear voices from behind her.

"It's Miss Jiang Si, I didn't expect her to come too!" After saying a word, there was a burst of cheerful laughter mixed with a little bit of malice.

Jiang Shaoyan drooped her eyes as if she hadn't heard anything, and carefully picked grapes and ate them.

"She's as fat as a pig, who wants her? No wonder Ji Dacai was so angry back then!"

"That's right! He actually has the nerve to come here. Could it be that he thinks that someone like Mr. Li has her share?"

"Look! Look! She's so fat that she's still eating. If I just kill her, how can she have the face to come out to see people?"

……

Reaching out her hand to pat Xiangli, whose angry teeth were itching behind her, Jiang Shaoyan handed another bunch of grapes to Xiangli, looked at her, and said, "Eat grapes."

Xiangli pursed her lips, took the grapes, glared resentfully at the few female relatives who gathered together and looked towards this side from behind, and looked away after carefully noting the faces of those people.

Those girls didn't care about the gaze of a little maid, and even continued to cover their mouths and snigger unabashedly.

Jiang Shaoyan yawned, and continued to eat grapes seriously, except that she turned half her body and handed some grapes, apples, snacks and other things on the table to Xiangli, she didn't look back at them seriously from beginning to end.

Although it's interesting to laugh at a "fat and stupid" woman, but after laughing at it, the other party just kept silent like a dumb person, pretending that she didn't hear it, and the girls felt that the boringness gradually subsided, and they turned to pay attention to the people on the table. other people.

There are not a few people who can figure out the meaning of Mrs. Li. Although the second son Li, who has been retired one after another, is "poor" in the eyes of the common people, he is still an out-and-out good husband-in-law in the eyes of unmarried women in the capital. The range of women that the Da Furen invited to the feast was extremely wide, and the female family members of the back houses of the sixth and seventh rank officials who had not received invitations in the past also received the invitations. For those people, Li Xuan was even more shining like a man. A golden tortoise son-in-law is generally good at recruiting people.

Therefore, after Mrs. Li revealed such a layer of meaning and didn't mind her background, the ladies who accepted the invitation and wanted to show themselves in front of Mrs. Li.

The ladies who laughed at her for being "stupid and fat" behind her didn't forget their business. After Mrs. Li took her seat, they turned their attention to the ladies who were more beautiful and temperamental in the same seat as Mrs. Li.

Jiang Shaoyan propped her chin, while lazily listening to Mrs. Li chatting with the ladies in the front row, while carefully choosing the tea and snacks on the table to eat.

There is no poetry or lyrics, let alone a performance of piano, chess, calligraphy and painting by the female relatives, just gossip and family routines... It seems that Mrs. Li doesn't want to pick a "talented woman" for the second son of Li. Instead, focus on other things.

Jiang Shaoyan didn't care about this, it was none of her business, she just turned around and handed a piece of horseshoe cake to Xiangli, taking advantage of the gap between handing the cake, she quickly glanced at the ladies behind her who had just laughed at her.At this time, those ladies didn't notice the girls looking at them, they were staring at Mrs. Li and those ladies who could strike up a conversation with envy and jealousy.

After taking a serious look at the looks and attire of the ladies and the waistbands on their waists, Jiang Shaoyan was about to look away when she met the gaze of an inconspicuous maidservant behind the table. Looking at each other, Jiang Shaoyan smiled at her before waiting for the maidservant who was carrying tea and snacks to respond, and turned around.

Mrs. Li really put a lot of effort into the marriage of the Second Young Master Li, so...the envious and jealous ladies behind her were quick to speak, and it is estimated that they have completely missed their rich son-in-law, the Second Young Master Li. .

So... even better!Jiang Shaoyan thought in his heart: Don't worry about Mrs. Li or Second Young Master Li taking advantage of the power of the Li family in Longxi to put pressure on her when she takes a fancy to the people behind her.

Does she look like such a bully?A few of them have no ability, and the elders in the family are only the daughters of sixth-rank Beijing officials, can they step on her?
(End of this chapter)