Daughter of aristocratic family

Chapter 443 Gossip
Zhao Wangshu was also the wife of the regent minister, and the noble ladies did not dare to offend her, so they tactfully changed the subject, "Have you heard that a new embroidery shop has opened in the city, and the embroidery there is all rare treasures."

"I heard that the embroidery works in that embroidery shop, whether it is flowers, birds, fish, insects, or landscapes and figures, are all lifelike and make people love them at first sight." Another noble lady joined the discussion, her tone full of admiration.

"Unfortunately, the store only sells three pieces a month, and the Princess of Liao ordered two at once. The other one was requested by the wife of the Marquis of Yongchang, who said that she would send it to the palace for the Imperial Concubine."

Zhao Wangshu's eyebrows twitched slightly. This store's hunger marketing was quite good.

"I wonder who is the owner of this embroidery shop? How could he recruit such a good embroiderer?" someone asked.

"The owner of this shop is a young woman named Miao Sihui. I heard that she has been learning embroidery from her mother since she was a child, and her skills are superb and unmatched. Moreover, not only is she an expert in embroidery, she is also good at management. Under her management, this embroidery shop became famous in just two months and made a lot of money." Another lady replied.

"Oh? Is Miao Sihui really so powerful?" A hint of curiosity and admiration flashed in the man's eyes.

"I have seen her embroidery of 'A Hundred Birds Paying Homage to the Phoenix'. Every bird on it is so lifelike that it seems as if it will fly out of the embroidery cloth."

"I'll go to the embroidery shop tomorrow." The lady loves embroidery.

Everyone talked about this topic for a while, and then a maid came in and reported: "Second Young Madam, the banquet is ready."

Mrs. Tao said to the lady, "Mother, the banquet is ready."

Madam Yu called out to everyone, "Please take your seats."

Everyone stood up and followed Madam Yu and Madam Tao II to the banquet hall with smiles on their faces.

There was a table in the banquet hall, with the feast prepared by Concubine Jing on behalf of the emperor.

The food on the table had been left for more than a day, and Zhao Wangshu could vaguely smell it going bad.

The weather is too hot, and the dishes will go bad even if they are chilled. But they have to be kept until the end of the banquet tomorrow before they can be removed.

It smells bad today, and it will definitely smell worse tomorrow.

Given Zhao Wangshu's rank, she sat quite close to the table of food. She fanned herself vigorously a few times, and the breeze blew away the sour smell that lingered at her nose.

The Tao family's birthday banquet was quite sumptuous, with three main dishes, eight cold dishes, eight hot dishes, four rice dishes, two desserts, and two plates of dried fruits.

Zhao Wangshu made a rough calculation and concluded that this table of food would cost about one hundred taels of silver.

The Tao family also invited a famous opera troupe from the capital, and the opening play was "Magu Offering Longevity".

The lady at the next table pointed at the actor on the stage and said, "Look at that actor, his figure is graceful and his singing voice is melodious, it's really wonderful."

"That's Jiang Chun, the lead actor of the Sixi Troupe. He's the most popular female role in the capital. I didn't expect the Tao family would invite him to perform."

"He is just an actor. The Tao family invited him to perform. That's a great honor for him."

"He is not an ordinary actor, he is..." The lady lowered her voice and Zhao Wangshu didn't hear clearly.

It is very uncomfortable not to hear all the gossip. Zhao Wangshu glanced at Lan Fen from the side.

Lan Fen understood and slowly stepped back to inquire.

After a while, she leaned close to Zhao Wangshu's ear and said, "She is the concubine of Prince Rong."

Zhao Wangshu was slightly surprised. She remembered that there were no women singing operas at that time. Jiang Chun was a man, and he and Prince Rong were in a homosexual relationship.

You can hear a lot of gossip at the banquet.

After talking about Jiang Chun, the ladies started talking about something else. "Why didn't Madam Xie come today?"

"Why do you think of her now?"

"This fried gizzard liver is her favorite. When I see this dish, I think of her." "You must know about the fight between the two sisters of the Xie family for a son-in-law, right?"

"I heard about it, and I thought it was fake."

"Really, Third Miss Xie fell into the water, and Master Shen jumped into the water, fished her out, and carried her across most of the Xie mansion, causing a huge commotion."

"Oh my god."

Zhao Wangshu had heard about this from Qiao Ni. Young Master Shen and Second Miss Xie were engaged. When they went to the Xie family for a small ceremony, they happened to see Third Miss Xie fall into the water.

Even though the maids were there, no one knew what Master Shen was thinking, he had to jump into the water to save them.

Clothes were thin in summer, and Miss Xie San, who had fallen into the water, was like she had no clothes on. She was hugged and embraced by Young Master Shen, which ruined her reputation.

If the Third Miss Xie was born out of wedlock, the worst that could happen to the Xie family would be to give up two girls to the Shen family. But the Third Miss Xie was born out of wedlock, and the second daughter of the Xie family's eldest wife. It was absolutely impossible for her to become the concubine of her cousin's husband.

"How is this going to end?"

"I think that Third Miss Xie will marry into the Shen family, and Second Miss Xie will marry someone else."

"Hey, do you think this will happen?" The voice lowered again, and the gongs and drums on the stage sounded, so Zhao Wangshu could no longer hear them.

Zhao Wangshu pouted in frustration and picked up a piece of braised pork with chopsticks and stuffed it into his mouth.

Overall, Zhao Wangshu was satisfied with the birthday banquet. He would have been even more satisfied if he had stayed away from the table of rotten food.

On the way home, Zhao Wangshu complained to Yun Hao about this matter, "You knew I wouldn't eat it, but you still gave me a reward. It's such a hot day, what a waste of food."

After a pause, he said, "It is shameful to waste food."

"The banquet in the palace is an honor. We cannot eat it, we can only be provided with it," said Yun Hao.

"Wouldn't it be nice to just give some gold, silver, jewels, silks and satins as a reward? This means a banquet." Zhao Wangshu curled his lips and said with disgust.

Yun Hao looked at her disgusted expression and said with a smile: "The palace rules have always been like this."

"By the way, did you know that Prince Zuo came to the Shangshu Mansion in person yesterday to congratulate the Shangshu's wife on her birthday and gave her gifts?" Zhao Wangshu asked.

"I know." Yun Hao chuckled. "Among the four regents, Minister Tao has the most ambiguous attitude. Prince Zuo thinks he can win him over."

"Then, do you think Prince Zuo can successfully win over Minister Tao?" Zhao Wangshu asked curiously.

"Minister Tao is an old fox. He won't express his opinion easily." Yun Hao was right, but something unexpected happened.

A few days later, Cui Yunru made an appointment with an old friend to go out for tea.

As the carriage passed the front west gate, a sudden commotion broke the tranquility of the street.

Cui Yunru's carriage was forced to stop, and the driver turned back in horror and shouted, "Girl, it's bad, a mad horse is coming!"

Cui Yunru was horrified and pulled open the curtain. She saw a horse galloping towards her carriage, its hooves thundering and raising dust.

She suddenly felt a chill and instinctively wanted to retreat back into the car. At this critical moment, a figure suddenly jumped out from the crowd, as agile as a cheetah, and landed steadily on the back of the crazy horse.

Cui Yunru widened her eyes. The man was wearing a green robe, with an upright posture, handsome face and firm eyes.

He held on to the reins tightly, trying to control the runaway horse.

However, the horse seemed to be extremely frightened. Not only did it not stop, but it rushed forward even more frantically.

The pedestrians on the street had already fled in panic, and the coachman was so frightened that the carriage just stopped in the middle of the street.