Flowery Hair: A Maidservant

Chapter 132 The Main Guest

Aunt Liu was overjoyed when her thoughts were exposed, and she burst into tears, wiping them away with her handkerchief.

"I thank you for remembering Shuang'er, Madam. In two out of every three letters Shuang'er writes, she always mentions that the marriage that Master and Madam arranged for her was very good."

Although the Song family isn't particularly wealthy or influential, at least the son-in-law is considerate, the mother-in-law isn't pretentious or arrogant, and the sisters-in-law get along well. Our Shuang'er has truly found a good match.

The old lady couldn't stand the crying and wailing. "Alright, you can cry when Shuang'er comes. Take these next few days to tidy up your yard and let Shuang'er enjoy a few days of leisure in her room."

After getting married, no matter what, life is never as comfortable and pleasant as it is at one's parents' home. This shows that the old lady truly loves her granddaughters.

When Aunt Lu interrupted like that, the old lady thought of her two troublesome daughters and couldn't help but sigh.

Seeing this, Madam Yun knew exactly what the old lady was thinking. She said softly, "We've been in the capital for a few months now. It would be a good time for the ladies to come and celebrate Mother's birthday."

"That's enough." The old lady didn't hesitate for a moment, and her hand, which was holding the Buddhist prayer beads, paused.

"Send a letter to Lin'an, saying that they only came to the capital this year and are busy with affairs at home, so there's no need for them to come in person for the birthday celebration; they can come next year."

Hua Yan lowered her eyes, staring at the scarlet wool carpet that had become a wooden stake, thinking that the old lady must be heartbroken.

More than half a month ago, the old lady had already arranged to send a lot of things to the two aunts in Lin'an. At that time, the second young lady prepared the gift list according to the old lady's instructions. Tea, silk, jade, antiques, medicinal herbs, pastries, and fashionable jewelry and fabrics from the capital were all included, for fear that the two aunts would suffer because they did not have their maternal family to take care of them.

Fortunately, the eldest aunt sent festival gifts to the capital early on. These included clothes for all four seasons, a forehead band and a sachet for the old lady, as well as pastries and fruit wine from Lin'an that could be stored for a long time. Whether they were expensive or not was secondary; the sentiment was what mattered.

My second aunt's side, however, has not sent a single letter, let alone any holiday gifts.

Even with Madam Yun's keen intellect, she was somewhat speechless at her second aunt's utter stupidity, probably not expecting her to be so utterly foolish. Therefore, she also paid special attention to her second young lady; it wasn't unreasonable for the two families to differentiate the value of their gifts for the festival. The second young lady understood this perfectly, sending only some medicinal herbs to her second aunt...

Hua Yan knew it was inappropriate to send several boxes of medicinal herbs during a festive occasion, but she didn't try to dissuade her...

Suwen Guangbai left with the maids in the flower hall, leaving only Huaying to serve the old lady. Therefore, only the old lady, Madam Yun, the second young lady, and Huayan Mengzhu remained in the flower hall.

Seeing that Su Wen and Hua Yan left without any hesitation, it seemed that Hua Ying's future at Fu An Ju had already been decided.

Mengzhu stood ramrod straight, her spirits high. Seeing this, she nudged Huayan with the hem of her clothes, wondering if they should avoid her. Huayan gave her a reassuring look; since it concerned the Second Miss, they tacitly agreed that there was no need to avoid her.

A faint fragrance filled the flower hall. Madam Yun took a sip of tea and slowly said:

"News has come from the General's Mansion that the late patriarch of the Lu family had arranged a marriage for his granddaughter before his death..."

The old lady couldn't control her expression for a moment. The old master of the Lu family had been dead for more than ten years, and this excuse was really... outrageous. "The Lu family has no intention of offending the Seventh Prince and Consort Min. On the contrary, this is to show our true feelings to the Emperor."

The second young lady's hand holding the teacup had distinct knuckles. Hua Yan subtly stroked the second young lady's arm. The second young lady turned her head, her smile forced.

The fact that the General's Mansion acted so quickly in less than two days clearly shows that they had no intention of marrying their daughter to the royal family.

Hua Yan had privately considered and anticipated this: the Lu family was prominent in the capital but not arrogant, and the family members were extremely disciplined, single-mindedly devoted to being loyal subjects and only loyal to the emperor. Moreover, given the Lu family's high position and power, they would not easily get involved in the struggle for the throne.

Madam Yun turned to look at the Second Miss and Hua Yan, seemingly oblivious to the Second Miss's unusual behavior, and said calmly:

"Last time, Donggua may have misjudged. According to Mingwu's investigation, someone did sneak in that day to deliberately approach Miss Lu, but it should have been to hand over something. The specifics are still unknown."

Hua Yan looked embarrassed. She didn't blame Dong Gua; ever since she started receiving all sorts of information from the capital at Di Si Ge, she'd become overly cautious. But such an overreaction was harmless; it was better to make a mistake than to take everything to heart.

Madam Yun's tone did not show any blame. Instead, she changed the subject and said, "Mother, Wan'er's coming-of-age ceremony was originally scheduled for her birthday by Second Uncle. I was thinking, why don't we invite Wanwan's grandmother to be the 'principal guest'?"

The old lady pondered for a moment before saying, "Excellent. Old Madam Su comes from a distinguished family and is highly respected. The Grand Secretary's Mansion has a century of noble character and is related to our family by marriage. It is the perfect match."

"How about we invite the eldest daughter of the Marquis's family to be the 'appreciator'?" The old lady clapped her hands. "What do you think, Wan'er? Our Tang family and the Marquis's family are closely related. Yu'er and you are of similar temperament. It would be suitable for your cousin to be the appreciator."

The second young lady had no objection to this and nodded gently.

Madam Hua Yan Guanyun's expression remained unchanged, clearly indicating her tacit approval. As for why the old lady made this suggestion, it was probably to make amends for not inviting any elders from the Marquis's household as the chief guest. After all, according to the closeness of the relationship, it would be more appropriate for the head wife or the old lady of the Marquis's household to serve as the chief guest.

Hua Yan had already keenly noticed that since the head of the family and Madam Yun came to the capital, they had relied less and less on the Marquis's mansion. After the eldest young master passed the imperial examination, the two families seemed to have switched places. Madam Yun herself was only superficially warm towards the Marquis's wife, who was of the same generation.

Even the behavior of the Marquis's wife and daughter at the manor the other day left Hua Yan somewhat speechless. As the matriarch of the Marquis of Huai'an's manor, it was quite strange in the capital that she was less noticeable than Madam Yun and Madam Sun among the other ladies.

At the Nine-Bend Pavilion poetry gathering, Tang Yu'er and her sister kept a low profile. The eldest daughter of the Marquis's mansion had always been like this, but Tang Ling'er, the spoiled second daughter of the Marquis's mansion, was practically a quail in front of the noble ladies.

It was the second young lady who mentioned it after she returned:

This story begins two generations back in the Marquis's household. After abandoning military pursuits for civil service, the family faced a dilemma: military officers looked down on them, while civil officials despised them, their attitudes ambiguous. Furthermore, the men of the Marquis's household had no talent for studying, and for the past two generations, they had only obtained insignificant official positions through ancestral inheritance. The incompetence of the men in a family who were out in the public eye also affected the women in the inner quarters. As a result, the ladies of the Marquis's household were always marginalized in circles of power and wealth.

Otherwise, as the legitimate daughter of a marquis, Tang Yu'er wouldn't need to fawn over the daughter of the Minister of Rites.

As a result, Madam Yun was naturally unwilling to invite the elders of the Marquis's Mansion to be the main guests at the Second Miss's coming-of-age ceremony. However, the old lady was mindful of her relationship with the Marquis's Mansion. When their branch of the family split up, the old lady and her son from the Marquis's Mansion had helped them fight for it. Otherwise, they would not have been able to arrive in Lin'an smoothly.

These entanglements of the previous generation were unknown to the Second Miss and Hua Yan.

The coming-of-age ceremony was quite elaborate. Madam Yun and the old lady mentioned the wedding dress for the ceremony, which was to be hastily made by embroiderers from the Gongzhong Embroidery Workshop in conjunction with Yongxiu Cloth Shop. They also gave a brief introduction to the guests attending the ceremony, the arrangement of the items, and the procedures of the ceremony to the second young lady.

More specific details will be explained to the Second Miss in person by Aunt Mei later.

Finally, Madam Yun looked at the second young lady, her expression a mixture of relief and rare sadness.

At that time, the second young lady did not know that once the ninth prince returned to the capital, the marriage would be arranged.