Zi'an said calmly, "Aunt Lanyu doesn't need to go. She can't be invited even if she goes. I have already told Aunt Yang that Madam will not go anywhere today. She just needs to rest in her room."
In the past, no one would care whether my mother attended such occasions or not. But today they insisted on having her come. Was it nothing more than that there would be a good show waiting for her later
This good show needs to be performed, but the director cannot be the old lady, it must be her.
The old lady narrowed her eyes and stared at Zi'an, "So, are you here to irritate me today?"
Zi'an smiled, "Zi'an came to celebrate the old lady's birthday according to her request, didn't he? Just now, Zi'an also wished the old lady a long life."
"As the mistress of the house, with so many guests present today, how could she not show up?" the old lady said angrily.
Zi'an looked at Liu, "Aren't the children from my second uncle's family here either? Even my second uncle's wives didn't come."
"How dare you," Liu's eyes widened when she heard this, "They are concubines, and their children are all illegitimate, how can they be compared with your mother? Are you trying to say that your mother is actually just a concubine? That's right, if she doesn't come out now, she is even worse than a concubine, and it's her own fault."
She thought that humiliating Zi'an in this way would make him feel embarrassed. After all, it was a great shame for a lady and a legitimate daughter to be humiliated as a concubine and a daughter of a concubine.
But Zi'an just smiled indifferently, "My mother's status in the mansion, is it a concubine? No, even lower than a concubine, the servants can bully her at will, this is the deformed prime minister's mansion, haven't you guys gotten used to it a long time ago? Why are you making a fuss?"
"You are such a slut!" Liu said with contempt.
Zi'an stood aside with a blank expression and said nothing more.
The old lady took a deep breath and said calmly, "Have some longevity noodles first, and then go out to greet today's guests."
Seeing that the old lady remained silent, Liu glared at Zi'an fiercely, as if to temporarily forgive her.
After eating the longevity noodles, guests began to arrive.
A banquet is prepared for noon today, in the garden.
The servants were busy all day yesterday, decorating the garden beautifully. The trees were decorated with lights and lanterns, and the lanterns were all pasted with longevity characters, making it very festive.
In Zi'an's eyes, this seemed like a huge joke. Just as Xiao Tuo said, the Prime Minister's Mansion had become more and more shameless, holding this birthday banquet in a serious manner with ulterior motives.
Guests began to arrive one after another, and Zi'an, Xia Wan'er and Xia Fang'er were the ones who greeted these young ladies from wealthy families. However, almost no one paid any attention to Zi'an because her reputation in the capital had become bad. The noble ladies in the capital looked at Zi'an with disgust.
And these young ladies from noble families also felt that if they formed an alliance to exclude her, it would be a blow to her.
The joke about Xia Zian spread among these young ladies from noble families.
A few of them sat together, said some disgusting words, and then covered their mouths and laughed at Zi'an.
Zi'an sat in the pavilion, drinking tea leisurely.
The ladies were afraid that she couldn't hear them, so they spoke loudly on purpose to see her embarrassed expression.
"I heard that she often flirts with the servants in the mansion. Is that true? I also heard that one time, she hid in the toilet and specifically told the servants that she had no toilet paper and asked them to bring it to her. When the servants came, she came out without even pulling up her pants. Is she a nymphomaniac? Hahahaha!"
"Yes, Wan'er, is there such a thing? I also heard that once, she deliberately jumped into the lake in the middle of the night without wearing any clothes. When she saw the guards patrolling over, she pretended to be drowning and asked them to rescue her. Doesn't the regent know about such a shameless person?"
"Also, what happened to her regretting the engagement? I heard that you were supposed to marry His Royal Highness Prince Liang, but later I heard that she begged you to let Prince Liang give her the bride, right? But if she was the one begging, why did you regret the engagement in the end?"
"Don't you know? In the end, she fell in love with the Crown Prince and wanted to marry him, so she broke off the engagement with King Liang."
These voices kept chattering into Zi'an's ears, accompanied by malicious and sharp laughter. It was fine if they were just talking and laughing, but they also pointed their fingers at Zi'an.
Xia Wan'er and Xia Fang'er looked at each other and laughed. They looked at Zi'an viciously. People's words were scary. They didn't believe that she could really remain calm.
Zi'an held a cup of tea and looked at the lake surrounded by willow trees. Spots of sunlight floated on the water like golden scales.
Just as she was gradually shutting out these voices, she suddenly heard a cold and harsh voice, "Have you all eaten shit? Your mouths are so stinky, and you are all sores on your heads and pus on your feet, and you still have the nerve to laugh at others here? What's wrong with Xia Zian breaking off the engagement? How does it affect your family? You are laughing at others here without caring about your status, and you think you are so noble? I'm looking at you here, and I think you are just a bunch of stinky dog shit, and you don't even know that you are stinking others!"
Zi'an was slightly stunned and looked back.
I saw a woman in red clothes with her hands on her hips, pointing at the group of young ladies and cursing loudly. She looked very heroic, her eyebrows were even thicker and darker than those of the men, and her bright and clear eyes were filled with anger. She continued to curse after a while.
"You just said that someone deliberately put a hook in the lake to lure the guards. Did you see it with your own eyes? If you didn't see it with your own eyes, what nonsense are you talking about? I also heard that you and the peddler were flirting with each other. Did I take it seriously? Can I go out and tell them too?"
Xia Wan'er frowned, "Miss Chen, please don't go too far. We didn't say anything to you. Why did you come here to join in the fun?"
The girl called Miss Chen turned her head and looked at Xia Wan'er, and said, "You are Xia Wan'er, right? Xia Zi'an is your sister, right? So many people gathered together to make rumors and hurt your sister's reputation, and you didn't say a word to defend her. I just said one word to others, and you started to defend her. You can't tell the difference between relatives and strangers. You don't even defend your relatives, but defend an outsider. You are worse than a dog."
"You..." Xia Wan'er had never been scolded so harshly in her life, and the voice of this Miss Chen was particularly loud, attracting the attention of everyone around. "Shut up, you are not welcome in the Prime Minister's Mansion, go away!"
"Are you the one who makes the decision? If you make the decision at the Xiangfu, I won't bother coming here. What kind of person are you? You join them in gossiping about your sister. In my eyes, you are just like them, gossiping, making random comments, and stirring up trouble!"
Zi'an had never heard someone swear so beautifully in her life, and she couldn't help but stand up and clap her hands.
She looked at Miss Chen. Her face turned red from scolding, her thick black eyebrows were twisted, and her little face was still full of anger. She was wearing a red dress and her face was flushed. She kept scolding like a firecracker without stopping, and she looked like a red pepper.
"Someone come, kick her out!" Xia Wan'er was so angry that she kicked people out in front of many guests.
(End of this chapter)