I dress up as a poor noblewoman, and I bring my whole family home with my literary talent.

Chapter 9: Summer Banquet

Zhao Xiaoniang lay on the table, her voice trembling: "You...you are not my daughter...you are a ghost!"

The words "reincarnation of an evil spirit" and "rebirth of an evil star" made Song Lingyi's ears drip with oil. She frowned and said in annoyance, "Yes, I am the reincarnation of an evil spirit. I am destined to be entangled with this little girl in this life."

She loosened Zhao Xiaoniang's hands that were tightly shackled, and said in a clear and crisp voice: "Xiaoniang, you should not resent me. You are just too cowardly and dare not resent the person who really wronged you. The days of the Song Mansion are still long, why should we mother and daughter make such a fuss."

The door opens again
Song Lingwan, who was standing outside the house with an uneasy look on her face, saw her fifth sister coming out with a wound on her forehead. Her heart tightened: "Fifth sister, what happened? Why are you injured?" In the past, when her little sister caused trouble, she would just make a few verbal sarcastic remarks. Why would she resort to violence this time?

Song Lingyi showed the broken white jade hairpin to Song Lingwan: "Fourth sister, the hairpin is broken..."

Song Lingwan hugged her distressedly and comforted her, "Why bother with that? I'll give you a new one later."

Song Lingwan ignored Zhao Xiaoniang in the house and took Song Lingyi to ask the cook Azhu for ointment.

At the end of this incident, no one except the people from the third room knew why Song Lingyi had an injury on her forehead.

Fortunately, this body is young and strong. After applying the ointment for a few days, the scabs fell off and no ugly scars were left.

……

The Summer Banquet is scheduled for May 24th

Before this, Mrs. Song specially made a new Suzhou embroidery dress for Song Xianglan and bought two sets of jewelry, for fear that her daughter would be looked down upon if she dressed simply at the banquet.

The carriage of the Song Mansion sent the four girls to the outside of Changchun Garden
There were also several carriages from Beppu parked nearby, and the ladies who dismounted were all dignified and beautiful, wearing gorgeous crowns and clothes. Most of them knew each other and entered Changchun Garden together.

The four sisters of the Song family had just arrived at Changchun Garden and were unfamiliar with the place. They followed those noble ladies and were led by them into the Square Pavilion on the water.

It is said that Changchun Garden adopts a layout of "negative shade and positive sun", with its back to the mountain and facing the water, incorporating vast waters and streams into the garden. The coolness in summer is most suitable for summer heat relief.

This square pavilion has good air circulation, is surrounded by water on three sides, and has flowers blooming on both sides, making it the most suitable place for holding banquets.

After reading Song Xianglan's invitation, the maid waiting in the Sifang Pavilion led the four of them to the table.

The main seat in the center is reserved for Princess Qi Yang. The first row of seats on both sides are for people of noble status, and the closer you are to the main seat, the more it represents your status.

The maid arranged the four of them in order, sitting at the end of the second row on the right.

From this position, you can’t even see the princess’ face, let alone enjoy the scenery.

Song Lingyi sat at the back, next to the aisle leading to the pavilion. It didn't matter that she was in a bad position, as she was just there to run with the others.

It’s a pity that I can’t see the fairy-like beauty of Princess Daliang.

Thinking of Princess Taiping in the film and television dramas of my previous life, her mother was an emperor, her father was an emperor, her grandfather was an emperor, and her entire family had been emperors, so the image of Princess Taiping in film and television dramas is always ambitious, wanting to be the second empress of the Tang Dynasty.

I don't know if it is the same for Princess Qi Yang. After all, her mother set a precedent, and she is the only legitimate bloodline of the Daliang royal family. With this configuration, it would be a pity if she doesn't want to be the emperor.

The three sisters next to her sat upright, their words and actions cautious, Song Lingyi couldn't whisper with them, so she could only play with the teacup on the table out of boredom.

As luck would have it, the teacup in his hand lost its balance and rolled into the middle of the aisle.

The noise was neither big nor small, but fortunately it did not attract the attention of Fourth Sister, otherwise she would definitely nag her.

Song Lingyi stretched out her hand and kept moving her body to reach the cup. Just as she was about to reach it, the cup was kicked away by someone.

"..." She slowly raised her head and looked at the owner of the purple skirt. This girl was pretty, but the look of contempt she gave her was too much like the character in a TV show who was upset with the heroine and tried to trip her up.

It was clearly she who kicked away someone else's teacup, yet she acted superior and looked down on others.

"Where are you from? Why have I never seen you before?" asked the girl.

Song Lingyi thought that this was her first time in Changchun Garden, and it was also the princess's party, so it would be better to keep a low profile and not argue with others.

"I'm from the Song Mansion in the west of the city. Hello, sister."

Song Mansion in the west of the city?

I haven't heard of it. Besides, there was a great victory at the border recently, and no one with the surname Song was promoted among the officials.
Although Princess Qi Yang was known to be gentle and kind, it was unexpected that she would hold a summer banquet and send invitations to people from humble backgrounds.

Song Lingwan noticed the commotion here and stood up and walked over: "Fifth sister, what's wrong?"

Song Lingwan looked at Xiao Xuan inconspicuously. All the people present today were daughters of officials. This girl must be rich or noble, so she must not make enemies with her.

Without waiting for Song Lingyi to answer, she bowed and apologized: "My sister is still young and naughty. If I have offended you, please forgive me."

It wasn't a big deal, and since they had already apologized, Xiao Xuan didn't want to make things difficult for them. He snorted coldly and walked into the table.

After the others walked away, Song Lingwan squatted down and said softly: "Fifth sister, today is the princess's banquet, we can't cause trouble..."

Song Lingyi nodded

After comforting her sister, Song Lingwan returned to her seat
Song Changling was sitting on Song Lingyi's right hand side, so she naturally noticed the movement over there, but she didn't have the time to care about Song Lingyi.

"Alas, some people just can't show up in public. Fourth sister, you have to keep a close eye on them." Song Changling sneered.

Song Lingwan turned her head to stare at Song Changling, and she felt angry. "Yes, some people are just not presentable. It's ok that they can't learn to be smooth like her mother, but they even speak in sarcastic ways to their own sisters. They are really not up to the standard."

When Song Changling heard this, his face turned green. He didn't expect that his fourth sister, who was usually kind-hearted and gentle, would suddenly speak so harshly. He snorted twice and couldn't find the words to fight back.

The ladies are seated.

Soon, a woman dressed elegantly and behaved gracefully came in.

"Please wait a moment, Her Royal Highness the Princess will be here soon."

After saying that, she clapped her hands, and the three maids beside her nodded and lowered their eyebrows and immediately unfolded the rice paper in their hands.

"These are poems written by the young men across the lake. Her Royal Highness the Princess has specially selected a few good ones for everyone to enjoy."

The noble ladies stood up and walked forward to admire the scene. There was a lot of hustle and bustle, and Song Changling also followed to join in the fun.

Three pieces of rice paper, three poems, but most of the ladies only praised one of them.

"I play the zither in vain to pay my respects to tomorrow, but I talk about the wind and cypress entering the forest"

"Thank you, young marquis, for your brilliant literary talent. The poem you wrote is really great!"

"This calligraphy has the style of Mr. Fan, a great writer today. Young Lord Xie has grasped the key points at such a young age. With time, he will surely surpass Mr. Fan."

(End of this chapter)