Colorful

Chapter 16 The Feast of Hundred Flowers (1)
It wasn't until midnight that the manager who went to work on Yuntan Mountain didn't return home to reply. The reason was exactly as Ji Cheng had expected. The five dragons liked the cold, and now the people on the top of Yuntan Mountain were still wearing jackets, while the bottom of the mountain was already in thin silk. , Du Yushi managed to feed the five dragons that bloomed in April, so he naturally refused to take risks easily.

Ji Cheng listened to Shen Xian's words the next morning, lowered his head and thought for a while: "I have an idea, let's make an ice cover for the five dragons, and poke a few small holes for ventilation, so as to ensure the coldness and keep the air out." It does not prevent the chrysanthemums from shining the sun, and looking at the flowers in the fog has a special artistic conception.”

Shen Xian's eyes lit up when he heard this: "Good idea, why didn't I think of it?"

Shen Xian hurriedly reported to Huang, opened the ice cellar, took out two huge ice cubes, and asked the servants to quickly chisel out two ice covers, put one into a copper double-layer "refrigerator" and transport it to Yuntan Mountain. Du Yushi took a look and had another backup.

"I don't know if Du Yushi will let go this time." Shen Xian and the others could only resign themselves to their fate.

Fortunately, God was merciful, Du Yushi finally let go, the housekeeper sent by Shen's mansion transported the pot of five dragons down the mountain overnight, and agreed to send it back to Yuntan Mountain overnight after watching it.But even so, Du Yushi was not at ease, and finally followed him down the mountain to guard.

Shen Xian and the other girls breathed a sigh of relief when they saw the Five Dragons in the early morning of April 24th.Shen Xian finally had a smile on her face, she didn't say anything, she just shook Ji Cheng's hand quietly, all her gratitude was silent.

Even the pickiest girls who came to Shen's residence as guests on this day could not but be amazed when they saw the group of five dragons.

Du Yushi is indeed a person who knows how to grow flowers. The five dragons, one plant has five flowers, and the colors of the flowers are all different, namely dark green, dark green, grass green, light green, and light yellow. The petals are in the shape of dragon claws, like five flying clouds and fog. Tuanlong.Regardless of the color or the shape of the flower, even in autumn, the five dragons can be regarded as the king of chrysanthemums, not to mention that it is early summer and April.

The Hundred Flowers Banquet is an elegant gathering for ladies in the capital, for the name of the Shen residence, all the girls who got invitations came, even the Wang sisters came late, but they also arrived.

Wang Siniang really made a lot of effort to dress up today, presumably for the purpose of beautifying the crowd.He was wearing a plain light yellow short skirt and a silk skirt with swastika pattern and lotus pattern on the water green field, tied with a silk ribbon knotted with dark green grass flowers, and wearing a golden silk corolla that is not common in the outside world. Among the items, Wang Siniang is as gorgeous as the morning clouds and sunset.Along the way, every girl looked back at her.

Shen Xun actually didn't expect that Wang Siniang and Wang Yueniang would come, she had always had a good relationship with them, this time it was all Shen Xian's decision, so Shen Xun was a little embarrassed when he saw the Wang sisters.

When Shen Xian and others went up to meet her, Wang Siniang looked at Shen Xun who was obviously embarrassed to look at her, stepped forward and took Shen Xun's hand affectionately: "Why did sister Xun have a relationship with me?"

"I..." Shen Xun didn't know how to explain.

"Don't worry, your Si Niang sister is not so stingy, today's Hundred Flowers Banquet is the elegant gathering of sister Xun, how can I not come?" Wang Siniang patted the back of Shen Xun's hand, but refused to give even the slightest glance The two masters, Shen Xian and Shen Cui.

Shen Xun breathed a sigh of relief, and she really didn't want to hurt her relationship with Wang Siniang because of Ji Cheng. Seeing Wang Siniang smiling so much today, she immediately felt that her third sister was too mean, and she shouldn't be fighting against Wang Siniang at that time.

Wang Yueniang came up from behind with a smile and said: "I can't tell you today, sister Xun didn't come to our peony banquet last time, I'm still angry with you! But the fourth sister said that you didn't feel well last time." I came. I thought about it too, what kind of friendship do we two have? If you weren't really in poor health, why didn't you come? After all, it's still Fourth Sister who loves you. "

Wang Siniang and Wang Yueniang put on a red face and a white face, making Shen Xun blush with embarrassment, and said embarrassingly: "I know Fourth Sister loves me."

This side, the Wang sisters were talking with Shen Xun, Shen Xian and Shen Cui had no reason to stay where they were and be ignored, so they went to the side to greet other girls.

Wang Yueniang looked at the backs of the two, curled her lips, and stared fiercely.Although Wang Siniang's face was still kind, the sharpness in her eyes could hardly be concealed.She had already given Shen Xian a ladder, but she didn't expect that the other party not only didn't go downhill, but ignored her at all, so don't blame her for being ruthless in the future.

The conflicts between the girls' families came out of nowhere, and sometimes incomprehensible grievances were formed just because of a trivial matter.

Su Yun was not like Shen Yuan. She watched Sister Wang Siniang approaching, then nodded slightly to the girl next to her to express her temporary departure, and greeted Sister Wang with a smile: "Sister Si Niang, Sister Yue Niang, Si Niang My sister is so beautiful today, I have never seen this water green Luo, the weaving method looks like a tribute from our Jiangnan Manufacturing Bureau."

"Sister Yun has really good eyesight, isn't it Jiang Nan who paid homage to her before the Chinese New Year? Concubine Shu got three horses in total, and this water-green one was given to Fourth Sister." Wang Yueniang said, with a look of envy.After all, Wang Siniang and Concubine Shu are biological sisters of the same mother.

"The ruby ​​butterfly peony hairpin on sister Yun's head is also very unique. It looks like a handicraft made by a craftsman in the palace, but it seems that I have never seen it like this. The wings of this butterfly are as thin as the wings of a cicada. It's hard to achieve, alas, what a pity." Wang Siniang said.

Su Yun touched the butterfly hairpin on her head unnaturally: "It was given to my family by the first queen mother, and my grandmother gave it to me."

"No wonder I said I haven't seen it! This kind of style is no longer fashionable in the palace." Wang Yueniang said quickly.

Su Yun's face was suddenly filled with embarrassment, and her ears were blushing.Although the Su family is also an aristocratic family, and the broken boat has three catties of nails, after all, it is no longer as prosperous as it used to be. Although there are many fashionable styles in the south of the country in her jewelry, she still feels that she can't hold back her position today. The baby at the bottom of the box turned out.

Wang Siniang gave Wang Yueniang a hard look, if she can't speak, can she keep her mouth shut?However, Wang Siniang had to add to Wang Yueniang's description: "The things that the Empress Dowager bestowed, others can't ask for. It's not a matter of fashion or not. Those who can have such things must be those with deep foundations."

Su Yun straightened her ears and hair to cover up her gaffe, thinking that among the two sisters of the Wang family, it's no wonder everyone respects Wang Siniang alone.

Wang Yueniang came back to her senses when she heard the words, and hurriedly said: "Sister Yun, don't blame me for being fast-talking, I was ignorant just now." Although she said so, Wang Yueniang could no longer hide the contempt in her eyes. And his attitude towards Su Yun became more casual.

Like the hairpin on Su Yun's head, it was supposed to be kept at home to play with. How could it be possible to wear something that was bestowed by the Queen Mother decades ago?Even if the gold has been refurbished, it is not suitable for wearing now.Wang Yueniang originally thought that the Su family still had a bit of family background, but now it seems that they are holding on to their face, the outside is bright, but the inside has long been rotten.

How can Wang Siniang not understand Wang Yueniang's thoughts, but the enemy's fortress always disintegrates from the inside is the most satisfying, Wang Siniang doesn't mind drawing Su Yun to attack Shen Xian.

"Looking at sister Yun's face, she should be in good health, right? You didn't come to the peony banquet last time, which made me very worried." Wang Siniang said.

Everyone knew that what they were talking about was show talk, and Wang Siniang kept raising this issue in order to find out who was in the way, showing an attitude of only chasing the main culprit and not asking the accomplices.

Su Yun could only say embarrassingly: "I'm much better, thank you Si Niang for your concern." She refused to say the rest.Su Yun lived in Shen's house, so she turned her elbows out for no reason.

Seeing Su Yun's attitude, Wang Siniang's expression also turned slightly cold, and she looked towards Shen Xun, and said to Shen Xun and Su Yun: "Sister Yuan seems to be angry with me, I really don't know where to do it If it’s not good, it will make Sister Yuan annoy me.”

Su Yun didn't speak, and Shen Xun couldn't help explaining to Shen Yuan: "Sister Yuan didn't get angry with you, Sister Si Niang, but because of cousin Cheng's affairs, she just felt embarrassed for a while. Sister Si Niang knew about Sister Xian, She is the one who protects her weaknesses the most, and Sister Cheng is the one who pleases her the most."

In fact, Wang Siniang had long expected that it was because of Ji Cheng, but she just didn't expect that Ji Cheng could please Shen Xian so much. She looked at Ji Cheng from a distance, and saw that she was talking to several girls with a smile on her face. , couldn't help curling her lips: "It seems that you, Cousin Cheng, are quite good at things. Business women are like this. They think they are doing business in everything they do. They are used to nodding and bowing to cater to people. They will never be able to straighten their backs in their entire lives."

Wang Yueniang also smiled sarcastically.

Shen Xun frowned lightly when he heard this, she didn't like Wang Siniang talking about Ji Cheng like that.We are all relatives, and we got along in the school for a while. Although Shen Xun didn't like Ji Cheng's background, he didn't have a bad impression of her, and the Hundred Flowers Banquet this time was also thanks to her contribution.

Seeing this, Su Yun hurriedly said: "Sister Cheng is not that kind of person, I think her conduct is very good."

Wang Yueniang snorted: "Could it be that elder sister Yun has fallen to the point where she wants to befriend a business girl?"

Su Yun blushed when she heard this, and her fingertips began to tremble with anger.

Wang Siniang shot Wang Yueniang a look: "Yue Niang, don't say that, even the emperor has a few poor relatives, and this Cheng girl is not a poor relative. Although she was born as a merchant girl, the Ji family is well-known. You’re rich. Don’t you see that the third aunt of Sister Xun is the first one to donate sesame oil to Baoguo Temple every year?”

"That's right." Wang Yueniang smiled, "It's just that no matter how much money her family has, we don't care too much about associating with this kind of person, and we are not afraid of lowering our status. If we have been with her for a long time, it is inevitable that we will get a lot of money. taste."

"You think copper stinks, maybe someone likes it." Wang Siniang looked at Su Yun.I thought she was spiritually awakened, but I didn't know that she didn't know the truth at all, it's fine for Shen Xian, but now she dares to refute herself because of Ji Cheng, it's really shameless.

Su Yun knew that the Wang sisters were referring to Sang Huai, but she never expected that they would be so virtuous. It was simply the madness of "those who follow me prosper, and those who go against me perish". Seriously, she turned her head and said to Shen Xun, "Sister Xun, I'll go to see what I can do with Sister Xian."

As soon as Su Yun left, Wang Siniang took Shen Xun's hand and said, "Sister Xun, do you feel that what I said is a bit inhumane?"

Shen Xun didn't answer, which means he acquiesced.

Wang Siniang sighed softly: "I know you resent me in your heart, but Lu Yao knows the horsepower and sees people's hearts after a long time. That Cheng girl knows that her background is not good, so naturally she has to work hard to please you, but it's easy to pretend for a day. It’s hard to pretend for a lifetime. Just wait and see, a person of her background will show her true colors one day. Now I just advise you to listen to me and stay away from her, so that you won’t feel sad because you were cheated by her in the future. sad."

Although Shen Xun still didn't speak, he was obviously moved by Wang Siniang's earnest words, his brows and eyes finally relaxed, and he accompanied the Wang sisters all the way to Jupu to see the Five Dragons.

And if Ji Cheng could hear Wang Siniang's words at this moment, he would probably applaud her. In fact, pretending for a day has already made Ji Cheng feel very difficult.

A lot of girls from honorable families came here today, there may be twenty or thirty girls in total. Shen Xian worked hard to recommend all of them for Ji Cheng. Faces and names correspond to memorize, and they have to figure out their origins.

In the circle of these girls, the most important thing is status ranking. You can’t make mistakes in the slightest, otherwise you will offend others, and the little girl will inevitably be narrow-minded. If you make a mistake once, her impression of you will be greatly reduced .

Therefore, Ji Cheng must find out who the fathers of these girls are, what titles and official positions they are, and if their fathers have similar official positions, they must also know the identities of their mothers, which aristocratic family they came from, and even their grandfathers. , Grandmother came from Dumen Qinger.Not to mention the intricate relationship between them, is it cousin, cousin or in-law?Or is it the daughter of an old student?
Ji Cheng felt that even ancient wise men such as Yanzi and Zhuge Wuhou were reborn, they might not be able to memorize them all in such a short period of time.

Therefore, Ji Cheng can only talk as little as possible, listen more and read more, guess the other party's preferences from their words, and then insert a sentence at the right time, must hit the point, neither blindly follow their comments, nor It is very delicate to refute it without permission.

These things are naturally easy for Shen Xian, after all, she has more than ten years to remember these intricate relationships and the various preferences of those people.But Ji Cheng had only been in Beijing for a month or so, and after some entertainment, Ji Cheng only felt that his head was going dizzy, but at least nothing went wrong.

In Ji Cheng's eyes, who among these people might become her sister-in-law, sister-in-law, or sister-in-law in the future, and she didn't want to offend any of them, so she flattered them in a disguised form. very hard.

Seeing that Ji Cheng spoke well and was able to talk and laugh freely with others, Shen Xian simply stopped dragging Ji Cheng around. After all, some girls laughed with Ji Cheng for Shen Xian's sake, but in reality they were not very good. Willing to take care of her.

Ji Cheng didn't rush to please him, instead he would be reduced to lowliness, making people look down on him even more.

But there are only a few girls who look down on others and look down on others. Most of them are very friendly to Ji Cheng, and some of them are particularly enthusiastic.

At this moment, Miss Qi in front of Ji Cheng is looking at her enviously: "Miss Ji's clothes are made of snow and mist, right?"

Fog grain is an extremely thin gauze, and snow mist grain is the best among them, stacked up layer by layer, like the light clouds and mist surrounding the mountain peak in the morning, setting off people like a goddess of Wushan, wanting to go with the clouds .

Such a thin snow-mist grain, because the yarn is extremely thin, no more than one tenth of the thickness of a hair, it takes an ordinary woman a year to weave, and it can't be broken in the middle, once it breaks, it will be a defective product.

Its expensive can be imagined.

However, such things are not listed as tribute, and the subordinates are not fools.Xuewu grains are extremely difficult to make, and if the fingers are a little rough, they are easy to be broken. If it is listed as a tribute, then it must be paid every year, but what if there are not enough finished products this year?That's a head-off thing.

Therefore, the subordinates did not hesitate to spend a lot of money to get through the joints, and removed Xuewu Gu from the list of tributes.Although the reputation is not so obvious, its price has been rising year after year, and every inch is worth every inch.

Ji Cheng likes snow and mist very much, so it took a lot of hard work to get this ice blue horse on his body, just like the thin blue of white ice under the blue sky, it looks more like a moonlight mist.

Ji Cheng nodded, she chose this dress on purpose.Marriage is a good thing with two surnames. She has already shown her value, and she is waiting for the other party to show it.

Ji Cheng thinks very clearly, she doesn't mind that her future in-law's family values ​​Ji's money, this is what she relies on, and she doesn't even mind supporting the other's family, as long as they can provide the corresponding exchange.

And this Qi Hua in front of him is a girl from Yunyang Bofu.

Speaking of this Uncle Yunyang was also the title granted by the Taizu when he founded the country, and the title lasted for five generations.This generation of Uncle Yunyang happened to be the fifth generation, and after that, he was downgraded to the rank of nobility.After Uncle Yunyang left, not only their family's honor and salary decreased a lot, but even the appearance of the mansion had to be changed, so that it could no longer be called the uncle's mansion.

But at least Uncle Yunyang's body is quite strong now, it's just that he doesn't have much ability, and he is just relying on the shade of his ancestors to dawdle. As for the mansion, it has long been unable to make ends meet.

The Ji family's pawnshop has received many pawns from Uncle Yunyang's mansion, and they are all dead pawns.

As for Qi Hua, she is a bit older than Ji Cheng, but she still hasn't said anything about her marriage. She has a beautiful and dignified life, and she has no major problems. It's a pity that the dowry is too little, and the Uncle Yunyang's mansion is declining day by day, so No one cares about it.

(End of this chapter)