Hua Zhi was unaware of the excitement in the court and calculated the time before leaving the house.
It was as if she was going to a very ordinary date. She was still wearing a half-new white dress, with only a small white flower as decoration on her hair. Since others knew that she was in mourning but still sent invitations, no one would have any objection to her dressing like this.
She only brought Nianqiu and a maid named Su with her, and when Shaoyao wanted to go, she coaxed her back.
In the carriage, Hua Zhi told Su Mama: "Since those people dared to do this, they have no intention of cherishing the old friendship. You don't need to use the old lady as a scapegoat. I can handle them. There is no need to drag my grandmother into this matter."
Nanny Su was stunned for a moment before she responded. She thought that this was the reason why the young lady brought her along...
"If they really had any regard for me, I wouldn't have to go through this trouble today. Why would I disturb my grandmother for some insignificant people?"
"yes."
Hua Zhi closed her eyes and rested, thinking about the situation she would have to deal with soon, without saying anything else.
When the carriage stopped, a voice from outside came in at the same time, "Is this the carriage of the eldest daughter of the Hua family?"
The Hua family's servant replied, "That's right."
Hua Zhi held Nian Qiu's hand and walked out of the carriage. They stood on the frame and looked down at the person who was obviously here to welcome them, a man who was no more than seventeen or eighteen years old.
The man straightened his back unconsciously when she looked at him like that, and introduced himself, "I am Wu Chunsheng, the eldest son of the Wu family, and I have come to welcome the young lady into the mansion."
The men from the Xu family came to welcome her. This was really interesting. If they were family members, it would be fine. But she and the Wu family could not be considered family members. Even before, they were only relatives by marriage. They could not be considered as relatives. Did they think that she would be shy when a man came
Or maybe, you just want to say something unpleasant to her
Such an obvious calculation, haha.
Hua Zhi turned back to the carriage, and a voice came from inside, "It's better not to go to the Wu family, let's go back."
Wu Chunsheng was young and unwilling to let him go. "Why do you say that, young lady?"
"Could it be that the girls of the Wu family are always received by young masters when they go out? This is quite new, but the Hua family has strict rules and will not tolerate my daughter being so presumptuous. Please tell the old lady that my daughter will break the appointment today."
"How can a young lady from the Wu family be received by a young master? What the eldest lady said is a bit harsh."
"Oh? The girls of the Wu family wouldn't be treated like this, but the girls of the Hua family should be treated like this? How can this be justified?" Hua Zhi walked out and looked down upon Wu Chunsheng again, her eyes and expression cold. "Does the Wu family think that our Hua family should be treated so contemptuously?"
So this is the legendary cold and proud beauty. Wu Chunsheng's heart was moved. Hua Zhi was really different from those weak and tender girls. She looked so charming. If he could...
Wu Chunsheng suppressed his thoughts and softened his expression to coax her: "How could the Wu family look down on the eldest lady? It's just because I am the eldest grandson of the Wu family and you are the eldest granddaughter of the Hua family, so it's most polite for me to come to greet you. I didn't think that you thought too much, it's really..."
"If that's the case, the old lady should come to welcome her personally. Although my daughter is young, she is also the head of the Hua family. Mr. Wu thinks too highly of himself by comparing himself to her." Hua Zhi turned around and was about to go inside. "Please tell the old lady."
"Wait." An old woman walked out of the small door on the east side with two maids. Nanny Su pointed out her identity in a low voice, "Nanny Zhu, the head of Old Madam Wu's household."
Nanny Zhu came up and bowed profusely, saying with an apologetic smile: "I am sorry for making a fool of myself, young lady. Please forgive me. I will definitely discipline the young master properly in the future."
Hua Zhiruo still wanted to argue, then of course she could argue to the end, and no one could accuse her of being ignorant of etiquette if she turned around and left. However, her purpose of coming here today was not to have a quarrel with the young master of the Wu family at the door and cause others to laugh at her.
So she went down the stairs and let Nanny Su help her get off the carriage. She looked at the Nanny calmly without saying a word, her unhappiness clearly showing. She had already decided to throw a straight punch today, which was also what she was best at.
But Madam Zhu still had to apologize with a smile. The Wu family was in the wrong. It would have been fine if the eldest daughter of the Hua family hadn't seen through the twists and turns, but since she had seen through it, she had to be the scapegoat.
But no matter what she said, Nanny Su understood it perfectly, and she didn't even look at her again until they entered the inner courtyard and arrived at the Wu family's garden.
The Wu family's garden is not in the inner courtyard, but on the side of the entire mansion. It is quite famous in Beijing.
Lord Wu Zhen's grandmother loved flowers and plants very much, and she persisted in her love for them for decades. She collected countless rare flowers. Wu Zhen's father was filial and would bring back new varieties to honor his old mother whenever he heard about them. All the men in the house were like this, so everyone in the mansion naturally took it very seriously. Later, when the ancestor of the Wu family passed away, the garden was handed over to his daughter-in-law, and then passed on to Wu Zhen's current wife.
The family is very proud of this garden. It is the place where the younger generation holds poetry, wine and singing parties, as well as small gatherings among young ladies.
It is indeed beautiful. When the cold has gone away, the flowers are in full bloom. Even those that have not yet bloomed do not look withered, which shows that the Wu family takes good care of them.
In such an environment, Hua Zhi's pretended anger was almost dissipated at the right time. Zheng, the eldest daughter-in-law of the Wu family, also came over at this point. "I heard from the nanny that my ignorant boy bumped into the eldest lady. It was my fault as a mother. Don't be angry, eldest lady."
Hua Zhi bowed lightly, not being servile or saying anything, "I thought the Wu family had the custom of having the men welcome the female guests."
Zheng's expression changed slightly, but she immediately smiled again, "How could it be? This kind of thing never happens in any family. Isn't it breaking the rules?"
"That's right." Aren't you the Wu family that's breaking the rules? Hua Zhi chuckled.
Zheng was no fool, as she was chosen by Old Lady Wu as the eldest daughter-in-law. How could she not understand the meaning of her words? Now she could only pretend not to understand. In her heart, she was secretly annoyed that her mother-in-law would allow Chunsheng to do such a thing. If this got out, how would Chunsheng's reputation be affected
As the garden is often used as a gathering place, several pavilions of different styles were built. One pavilion with fluttering white curtains was the most eye-catching. It was used for gatherings of unmarried girls, but it was not used today. Zheng led them to another pavilion with carved railings and jade bricks not far away, and an air of wealth and luxury filled the air.
Hua Zhi, however, seemed somewhat out of place in this environment.
Taking a closer look at the outside of the pavilion, she found that the marks on the outside were still very new, so she guessed that it must have been built not long ago. She felt that with the vision of the two generations of wives in charge of the Wu family, they would not have built such a pavilion that would destroy the overall layout.
Hua Zhi suppressed her thoughts. She was just like that. When she liked someone, she was willing to treat him well in any way. When she hated someone, she felt that even her breathing was wrong.