Although the Prime Minister's Mansion has been involved in a lot of trouble and has been at the center of public attention recently, many people still attended the old lady's birthday banquet.
It is unknown whether they came to discuss something or just to see the fun.
Prime Minister Xia invited Prince Qi, the envoy from Northern Desert, and the old lady invited Concubine Cui. The guest list for today's birthday banquet was even more extensive than the guest list when Xia Zian married Prince Liang.
According to the rules, on the day of the birthday banquet, before the guests arrived, Zi'an and Yuan would go to congratulate the old lady and the whole family would eat some birthday noodles. This was the custom in previous years.
Aunt Lan Yu from the old lady's room came early this morning and asked Zi'an and Yuan to go and pay their respects and celebrate her birthday first.
"My mother has eyesight problems, so I can go." Zi'an said.
Aunt Lan Yu said, "Miss, the old lady originally said that Madam should go with her."
"I told her that she had eye problems and didn't want to go over. Can't you hear me?" Zi'an said sternly.
Aunt Lan Yu was not afraid at all, and said coldly: "What's the point of losing your temper with us servants? If you have the guts, just vent it on the old lady. This is the old lady's order. I hope you will remember that even if you will become the regent princess one day, you are still the eldest lady of the prime minister's mansion now, and you still have to kneel in front of the old lady and respectfully call her grandmother."
Upon hearing this, Madam Yang snapped back coldly, "Do you still know that she is the eldest lady? How can a servant speak to an eldest lady like this? Only in the prime minister's mansion, if it were in the palace, an old aunt like you would be so ignorant of the rules, and you should have been thrown out and beaten with thirty sticks long ago."
Aunt Lan Yu was not afraid of Nanny Yang at all. "Yes, Nanny Yang also knows that we are in the palace, but now we are in the Prime Minister's Mansion. In this Prime Minister's Mansion, the old lady is the sky. If anyone is disobedient, he is not even as good as a servant."
After saying that, he looked at Zi'an with contempt and turned away.
Madam Yang was so angry that she was shaking. "This Xiangfu is really lawless."
Before she came, she knew that Zi'an's situation in the Prime Minister's Mansion was not optimistic. She didn't expect it to be so terrible that he could even scold a servant at will.
However, when she thought about when she left the palace to pick up Zi'an, the situation was probably similar.
She looked at Zi'an and saw that she didn't look angry at all, so she couldn't help but ask, "Miss, aren't you angry?"
Zi'an raised his eyes calmly, "Mammy, are you angry now? You can't keep your temper!"
Madam Yang was slightly surprised. Yes, she had made all the mental preparations. She lost her temper after being stabbed by the servant. She couldn't help but feel a little disappointed in herself, "I am too impetuous."
Zi'an knew that she was used to giving orders in the Queen's Palace. As someone close to her in this mansion, he had to endure her anger and read her face, so naturally he felt a little uncomfortable.
"It's okay. People who talk too much always die faster than others!" Zi'an turned and went in. "Madam, please dress me up nicely and put on more powder so that people won't see the scars on my face."
"Yes!" Nanny Yang followed in.
After entering, Zi'an said loudly to Madam Yang: "Madam, my mother's eyesight is not good, so she may not be able to attend the banquet tonight. But it's not good for her to stay in this room all the time. When you are free, take her out for a walk by the lake, which will help relieve her boredom."
"Yes, I understand." said Nanny Yang.
She turned around and saw Shuyu standing by the side, so she scolded him, "Why don't you go to the Madam's room and serve her? What are you standing here for? You don't know anything."
Shuyu glanced at Nanny Yang resentfully and said, "Yes!"
Ever since the last incident with Chen Er, the eldest lady has been on guard against her. She has told housekeeper Xia Quan several times that she wants to be transferred out, but the housekeeper has always ignored her.
She could no longer stay here. The old lady disliked the eldest lady more and more. She would never be able to make a name for herself in Xiazhi Garden.
When Zi'an brought Xiaosun to the old lady's yard, he saw that several children from his second uncle's family had also come. His second aunt Liu brought them to pay their respects to the old lady.
The old lady was still in the house dressing up, and those who came to pay their respects were in the yard. Second Uncle Xia and Prime Minister Xia were talking over there under the banana tree, both with their backs to everyone.
When Zi'an saw Liu, he remembered what Nanny Yang said. Was Liu really having an affair with Chen Er
Liu was dressed very strikingly today. Although she was already in her thirties, she still had her charm.
She was wearing a pomegranate red satin dress that wrapped around her slightly plump body, which made her chest look particularly huge. There were no wrinkles on her well-maintained face. She was talking to Madam Linglong. When they stood together, she was obviously more beautiful than Madam Linglong.
Naturally, Madam Linglong was injured now and her face was pale. No amount of makeup could cover up her bloodless skin. She was also short in stature, not from a wealthy family, and had not cultivated her temperament over the years. So even though her hair was covered with jewels and jade, she still couldn't hide her nouveau riche temperament.
Liu and Madam Linglong got along very well, and Liu especially liked to interact with Madam Linglong because Madam Linglong came from a poor family and she had a special sense of superiority.
Liu came from a prominent family and was a lady of a famous family. Naturally, she would not deliberately show her superiority in front of Madam Linglong. However, whenever she attended various occasions with her, she would deliberately walk together with Madam Linglong and overwhelm her with her appearance and temperament.
This substitute mentality comes from the fact that her husband is only a vice minister of the Ministry of Justice, unlike Madam Linglong's husband who is the prime minister of the dynasty.
She also didn't like Yuan, and she disliked Zi'an even more. It wasn't because of jealousy, but because the old lady didn't like them. In order to please her, she could only follow the old lady and dislike Yuan and Zi'an.
Her sense of superiority and rejection of Xia Zian and her daughter were also passed on to her daughter Xia Fanger.
Liu's daughter Xia Fang'er, who used to bully the original owner Xia Zi'an together with Xia Wan'er, was a very vicious and barbaric person. When Zi'an broke off the engagement, she happened to follow Liu back to her parents' home and did not see the scene of the breakup.
Seeing Zi'an coming, she immediately raised her mocking face, "Hey, isn't this our Xiangfu's eldest daughter? She's so majestic!"
However, Zi'an didn't even look at her and just walked past her.
Xia Fang'er had never been treated with such disrespect before, and she was furious. "Xia Zian, stop!"
Zi'an turned around and looked at her, his eyes cold, "What's the matter?"
Xia Wan'er came up and said to Xia Fang'er, "Sister, don't mess with her. Be careful or she might hurt someone with a knife again."
Xia Fanger snorted, "She dares? Even if I give her a water jar as courage, she wouldn't dare to do anything to me."
Xia Zian had been bullied many times in the past. Every time she was beaten and bullied, she would hide in the corner and wipe her tears like a turtle, not even daring to cry out loud.
Xia Wan'er has already provoked Xia Fang'er a lot today. Xia Fang'er is already full of anger towards Zi'an and has no intention of letting her go today.
Seeing that Zi'an didn't respond, she stepped forward and pushed his shoulder, saying viciously: "Are you mute? Speak up, aren't you very impressive? Where's your knife? Take it out and hurt me, and see how many heads you can lose."
(End of this chapter)