Hong Fang'er's face changed. She stared at Fu Lemei, her face flushed red. She pinched her fingers and said, "My cousin is not angry with me. He has always been good to me. As long as I like something, he will buy it for me." She glanced at Mingyu proudly and laughed, "Anyway, I think these pieces of jewelry are okay. Although they are not as good as the ones my cousin picked for me personally, forget it, I'll take them all."
Mingyu turned away and said nothing. What does it mean that rich people are stupid? Even the nouveau riche would not be so deceiving.
"They all suit me, don't they, Sister Mingyu?" Hong Fang'er said again, with a rather unyielding attitude.
Mingyu smiled, looked at Hong Fang'er who was trying the jewelry on her body one by one, and said with a smile: "I think they are not suitable."
The waiter took a bronze mirror and held it in front of Hong Fang'er, who was admiring it happily. When she heard Mingyu's words, she didn't react for a moment. She looked at Mingyu in disbelief and asked, "What did you say?"
Mingyu raised her voice, still with a warm smile on her face and a friendly tone, as if she was out shopping with her bestie, "I said none of these jewelry suits you!"
Hong Fang'er's face suddenly became unhappy, but she smiled smugly in the blink of an eye, "You said this only because you can't afford these high-quality goods. Do you mean to say that to me? You always think that I have done something wrong to you, although I don't think I have done anything wrong... Forget it, Sister Mingyu, which jewelry do you like here? Just put it on my account, and consider it my apology to you, okay?"
What a big tone... Mingyu took a step forward and smiled sincerely, "I really don't think it suits you. Your head is too big. With this golden hairpin, it looks like a copper handle on a cuju. Your shoulders are too slumped, not much better than a yellow-haired girl of about ten years old. If you wear this phoenix hairpin with pearls, people will think you are a maid who stole the mistress's jewelry when you walk on the street. Also, look at your hands and arms, they are so black and thick, one arm is as big as two others, like a sixty-year-old lady... Can this diamond bracelet fit into your arm?"
Fu Lemei was already bent over with laughter. Xu Mingye stood at the door and glanced into the store from a distance, then smiled and stood aside. It was not convenient for him to get involved in the war between girls.
"That's right." Fu Lemei finally stopped laughing, and looking at Hong Fang'er, whose face was ashen, she warmly advised: "Ms. Hong, don't waste the money. Although it's not your own money, you don't feel bad about it, but your cousin's money didn't come from the sky!"
Hong Fang'er's lips trembled with anger, but she kept Mingyu's words in mind and never wore the jewelry on the table again. She was indeed not good-looking, her arms were thick from working since she was a child, and her skin was not good from the wind and sun. Now that she had a good life, she wanted to wear nice jewelry and buy nice clothes more and more, and forget her hard life in the past.
"Who said that's not my money?" Hong Fang'er said angrily, staring at Fu Lemei and Mingyu, gritting her teeth and saying, "Who dares to say that's not my money? My cousin's money is mine! I spend it however I want, and it's none of your business. It's like a dog trying to catch a rat!"
Mingyu put away the smile on her face and said seriously, "I am just being kind. No matter what ridiculous things you did in the past, I am kindly reminding you because you called me Sister Chengyu. This is to prevent Lord Lu from getting married and his cousin's wife from settling accounts with you first after she comes home!"
Money is not easy to come by for anyone. Even if one is as rich as a first-rank duke, no other girl in his family is as generous as Hong Fanger, who only buys expensive things instead of choosing the right ones. When Madam Lu comes into the family in the future, Hong Fanger's good days may be over. Lu Hao is willing to support Hong Fanger for the sake of his mother and aunt, but it does not mean that Madam Lu will give Hong Fanger face in the future.
"What do you care!" Hong Fang'er disagreed. Even if her cousin married a wife, she was not afraid. In the future, she would be her cousin's concubine. With her aunt and cousin around, what could that woman do to her
However, Hong Fang'er acted very confident and did not want to show her weakness in front of Mingyu, but she never touched the most expensive and best pieces of jewelry she had just picked out. After hearing what Mingyu said, she felt that they were not suitable for her, as if her head was really that big, her shoulders were slumped, and her arms were dark and thick.
"Pack all these up," Hong Fang'er shouted at the waiter, acting like a wealthy person, "and send them to the Lu residence."
The waiter was afraid that Hong Fang'er would be embarrassed and not buy anything after being criticized by Mingyu. When he heard what Hong Fang'er said, he immediately smiled and said quickly, "Okay! Miss Hong has good taste. The things you chose are all made by the best chefs in our store. The ladies in the palace all like our chefs' craftsmanship!"
Hong Fang'er smiled reservedly and complacently, glanced at Mingyu, and walked away with her head held high.
Fu Lemei shook her head as she watched Hong Fang'er walking away. Although the Fu family had a simple structure and no concubines or illegitimate children, she grew up in this circle and had heard and seen countless stories about mistresses in wealthy families disciplining their cousins and concubines. Lu Hao was bound to marry a capable lady from a good family. For a person as stupid as Hong Fang'er, it would probably be a good ending if the future Mrs. Lu could tolerate her living and give her food to eat.
Seeing Hong Fang'er go out, she glared at Xu Mingye when she was at the door. Xu Mingye was too lazy to argue with her, so he went into the store and said with a smile: "What are you talking about? Why have you been talking for so long?"
As soon as she saw Xu Mingye, Fu Lemei couldn't help but smile sweetly, and said to Xu Mingye: "I used to worry that Mingyu would be bullied after marrying Sima Hong to the northwest, but now it seems that all my worries are in vain!" Her sister-in-law is very strong in fighting, much stronger than her. Looking at Hong Fanger, her face changed with anger, but she couldn't get angry, which was really refreshing.
Xu Mingye couldn't help but raise his eyebrows, looking quite complacent, "Of course, it doesn't matter whose sister she is!" She is his sister, who has been competing with him in wits and courage since childhood, how could she be bad
Mingyu couldn't help but protest. The couple sang the same tune, as if she was some shrew who was the best at quarreling.
"Okay, okay, let's stop talking. Don't forget the business." Fu Lemei pulled Mingyu to negotiate peace, and smiled at the shop assistant, "We want to ask Master Bai to make a phoenix crown for our daughter to marry. I wonder if Master Bai is free?"
The waiter said in embarrassment, "Madam, there are many people getting married recently, and they all specifically ask Master Bai to perform the ritual. The queues are already set before the New Year!"
Hearing that Master Bai's craftsmanship was so popular, Mingyu quickly said to Fu Lemei, "We don't have to buy his. Let's go to another store."
Fu Lemei pressed Mingyu's arm hard. Getting married is the most important thing in a woman's life. How can she just make do with it? As her best friend, she also wanted to prepare the best for Mingyu.
"We are not in a hurry anyway." Fu Lemei said with a smile, "It will be fine as long as we get it done before the first month of the year. It won't delay the wedding date."
When the waiter heard this, he readily agreed, "Okay, please come over here and choose the styles first."
The so-called style selection means that the store asks people to use fine brushwork to draw various styles of phoenix crowns, and makes them into the shape of a book. Customers flip through the book and decide which style they like and then they can measure the size and order the style.
Mingyu and Fu Lemei were flipping through the books slowly. Fu Lemei was chattering away, telling Mingyu which model her sister-in-law had worn and which model she was wearing. Xu Mingye was impatient to listen to the two women discussing this topic, so he hid aside and drank tea while waiting.
At this time, the lady who had been looking at jewelry at another counter quietly went out with her maid. The Xu family members did not consider others when they spoke, it was just that the speaker was unintentional but the listener was intentional.
As soon as the girl left the house, she didn't bother to go home, and went straight to the mansion of Duke Deng, handing in a card saying that she wanted to see Deng Zhenzhu. Deng Zhenzhu was quite familiar with her, and often played with them at banquets. The name card she handed in was written by Yu Wendong, the sixth-rank official of Zhaoxuan, and it was her father's card. Because Yu Wendong's official position was not high, Deng Zhenzhu didn't think much of this Miss Yu. At this moment, she heard the maid who came to report that Miss Yu had something important to tell her about Xu Mingyu from the Xu family. She couldn't help but be surprised, and hurriedly asked someone to invite Miss Yu in.
After Miss Yu came in, she asked Deng Zhenzhu to dismiss the waiters in the room and said to Deng Zhenzhu carefully, "I was buying jewelry at Baiji Silver Shop today and ran into Xu Mingyu and Fu Lemei. They first had a big fight with Mr. Lu's cousin... the one named Hong Fanger, saying that Hong Fanger was ugly and didn't match the jewelry. Hong Fanger was very angry..."
Deng Zhenzhu was getting impatient. Hong Fang'er was originally a joke for the upper class to use when they were bored. If she made another joke like drinking handwashing water, she would be happy to listen to it, but forget about the rest. "Get to the point!"
Miss Yu said quickly: "After Hong Fang'er left, I heard what they said, so I asked Master Bai to make a phoenix crown for Xu Mingyu to wear when she got married!" She had laid so much groundwork in the beginning because she was afraid that Deng Zhenzhu would not be able to accept what happened next. She was really difficult to please and would not appreciate her good intentions.
Deng Zhenzhu curled her lips and said disdainfully: "That's it? She's getting married? Who's going to marry her?" Then she rolled her eyes and said with a sardonic smile: "That's right, she finally got married and found a man who is willing to marry her, so she has to celebrate. No wonder she went to Baiji to make a phoenix crown!"
"It's not just that." Miss Yu was anxious. "From what I heard from them, Xu Mingyu wants to marry to the northwest, to the Marquis of Anxi!"
Deng Zhenzhu's mind went blank for a moment, then she reacted and frowned, saying, "Maybe I heard it wrong. They are so far away. The Xu family must want to marry Xu Mingyu off far away. Who in the capital is willing to marry her?"
"I heard it clearly!" Miss Yu saw that Deng Zhenzhu didn't believe her, so she quickly emphasized, "Unless Lord Anxi is not called Sima Hong!"