In the afternoon, Jiang Changning finished learning the rules and came back to take a bath.
She took a shower and sat in front of the dressing table to put on her makeup, feeling refreshed.
Fangju walked in, mumbling something.
"What's wrong? Who made you angry?" Jiang Changning asked with concern.
"No one made me angry, young lady, I heard something." Fangju took the jade comb from the little maid and helped Jiang Changning comb her hair.
Jiang Changning smiled, "No wonder I didn't see you all afternoon. You must have been listening to gossip."
Fangju giggled and whispered, "The fifth lady has taken a fancy to the guest living in the mansion."
"Lü Pingxu." Jiang Changning picked out a jade hairpin with an orchid head from the jewelry box and handed it to her.
Fangju's eyes widened, "Girl, you've heard of it."
"No, I just guessed." Jiang Changning said with a smile.
"Miss, your guess is always right." Fang Ju inserted the magnolia hairpin into Jiang Changning's bun, "I thought she would like Master Xie, but I didn't expect that she would like Master Lu instead."
"How do you know she doesn't like it?" Jiang Changning asked with a sneer.
Fang Ju was stunned, and thought for a moment, "She likes both of them, but Master Xie doesn't like her, but Master Lu likes her."
"Puchi" Jiang Changning was amused by her, "A girl has masculine appearance, and a boy has feminine appearance. They are a good match, but Lu Pingxu doesn't like her."
Although Lü Pingxu was also born out of wedlock, General Lü had no legitimate son.
Furthermore, his stepmother allowed him to escort her daughter to Beijing for the selection, which shows that she trusts him very much. In the Lu family, Lu Pingxu should be like a legitimate son.
Fangju seemed to understand, but Jiang Changning didn't explain much.
Early in the morning, Jiang Changning went to pay his respects to Old Mrs. Zhuang. Passing by the garden, he met Zhuang Jike.
Zhuang Jike was holding a pot of flowers in his hand, a pot of marigolds with orange-yellow flowers.
"Sister Ning, do you think this flower is beautiful?" Zhuang Jike asked.
"It looks good." Jiang Changning smiled. "Brother Ke, are you going to send the flowers to the old lady?"
This road obviously does not lead to Old Lady Zhuang's yard. Jiang Changning asked this deliberately because she was very disgusted with Zhuang Jike's frequent visits to the inner house.
"The flowers are for sister Jie. This is the first time sister Jie has been away from home for such a long time. She has been depressed all day. Giving her flowers will make her happy." Zhuang Jike said.
"Brother Ke Si has thought of everything. Send it over quickly." Jiang Changning said with a smile.
It’s great that Zhuang Zico made a substitution to offer his courtesy.
On the fourth day of June, the Weaving Office sent someone to deliver the girls' costumes, one set in light blue and one set in light pink.
Along with the dress came a box of colorful palace flowers.
No longer needing to learn etiquette from Aunt Peng, Jiang Changning prepared a valuable gift for Aunt Peng, "I'm sorry for the trouble these days."
"Miss, you are too polite. It is my honor to serve you. You are a blessed person and will surely have peace and success in the future." Aunt Peng gave her sincere blessings.
Although Jiang Changning was not very close to her these days, she knew that it was Jiang Changning who paid for the kitchen to prepare delicious meals for her, as well as her favorite silver leaf tea.
"I hope I can see my aunt again one day." Jiang Changning has a good impression of Aunt Peng and is willing to give her some trust.
"I think that day will come." Aunt Peng said with a smile.
That afternoon, Aunt Peng left the Zhuang family, and Old Mrs. Zhuang tentatively asked her if she could stay.
Aunt Peng declined politely, and Mrs. Zhuang said a few polite words and rewarded her with one hundred taels of silver.
After leaving the village, Aunt Peng went to report to her master.
Her master was not the Queen Mother, nor the Queen Mother of Runan Prince, but the Prince of Jin.
Chang Youzhong saw her and said, "You're back."
"Yes, please inform them for me." Aunt Peng said with a smile.
King Jin put down the military book in his hand and said, "Let her in."
Although Aunt Peng had sent him a lot of news in the past month, he still wanted to hear her talk in detail.
"Your Highness." Aunt Peng greeted the King of Jin, "Miss Jiang is extremely intelligent, kind-hearted, gentle on the outside, and strong on the inside..."
He used a lot of nice words to praise Jiang Changning, and then talked about some things in the banker's house.
"Zhuang Jike, the fourth young master of the Zhuang family, used to like to get close to Miss Jiang, but Miss Jiang didn't respond to him. After Miss Lu came, Zhuang Jike started to show his courtesy to her and he no longer bothered Miss Jiang."
"He's quite courageous." Prince Jin sneered. Even after receiving the decree of the selection, he didn't dare to approach Jiang Changning openly.
"Master Zhuang is interested in letting him marry Princess Yan'an, the daughter of Duke Dai Jian."
King Jin sneered, "The ignorant are fearless."
Zhuang Shenmao held the third-rank official rank and had a good family background, so he was a good match for the Duke of Dai Jian's mansion.
But Zhuang Jike was of no rank and status, and his dream of marrying a county lady was undoubtedly like a toad wishing to eat swan flesh.
"Zhuang Jike will take part in the imperial examination next year, and the Zhuang family believes that he will pass it."
"Oh, then we'll have to wait and see." When King Jin heard that Zhuang Jike liked to get close to Jiang Changning, he started to dislike this man.
At the beginning of the morning hour the next day, Jiang Changning changed into a light blue palace dress, tied up her hair in the simplest double buns, and wore two green-calyx plum blossoms as she left the yard.
This dynasty selects beauties every three years. In addition to enriching the harem, it also arranges marriages for the children of royal family within three generations and the children of meritorious families.
Jiang Changning was in a state of confusion. She didn't want to stay in the harem and compete with a bunch of women for a public toilet, nor did she want to be randomly assigned to a stranger as her wife.
But it just so happened that the marriage came first and the beauty pageant came later.
It was as if a raging torrent swept her forward, and she could not swim ashore no matter how hard she tried.
This feeling of powerlessness was extremely bad, and made Jiang Changning feel as if everything she had done was in vain.
When we arrived at Old Lady Zhuang's yard, Zhuang Qingyan and Zhuang Qingchan were already there. After waiting for a while, Xie Baoyin and Lu Xiujie also came.
Old Madam Zhuang said to the five people, "Today is just the preliminary round. Don't be nervous. It will be over soon."
"Yes." The five people bowed and responded.
"Fourth sister, I'll take you out." Zhuang Qingmei took Zhuang Qingchan's arm with a smile on her face.
Zhuang Qingchan was stunned by Zhuang Qingmei's sudden enthusiasm, "No..."
"Let's go, Fourth Sister." Zhuang Qingmei didn't allow her to refuse.
When I arrived outside the second gate, I saw Xie Zhang and Lu Pingxu standing there.
A hint of understanding flashed across Jiang Changning's eyes, and Zhuang Qingmei smiled and said, "Xie Gege, Lu Gege, you are here to see the sisters off, right? That's great."
As she spoke, she threw a coquettish glance at Lu Pingxu.
But she was not good-looking, and there was no charm in her eyes.
Zhuang Qingyan frowned. This concubine sister was embarrassing herself here again.
She was too busy to take care of it now. When she came back from the primary election, she would definitely tell her mother to keep Zhuang Qingmei under control to prevent her from doing anything that would bring shame to the family.
Zhuang Qingmei didn't know that her elder sister wanted to tie her up with a rope and stuff a towel into her mouth, but she was still trying to get close to Lu Pingxu.
Fortunately, after a few words, Master Zhuang Er arrived and everyone got on the car or the horse.
The primary election is tomorrow.
(End of this chapter)