It’s Better to be the Empress Dowager - Chapter 8

After Grandma Feng sent Tang Shishi to the Jing Prince’s Mansion, she will set off back to Beijing within a few days.

Madam Feng, a deep palace woman is not a character, but what matters is that she is the person next to the queen mother. Even if Grandma Feng is just a slave, she represents the queen mother when she is out of the palace.

Therefore, Zhao Chengjun personally hosted a banquet to see off Mother Feng and the accompanying officials. In addition, all the officials and ministers of Xiping Mansion, the elder son Zhao Zixun, would also attend.

On the day of the banquet, the palace was busy early on, especially the ten beauties such as Tang Shishi, each dressed up carefully, and one by one was full of energy.

Today, I will bid farewell to Grandma Feng. After Grandma Feng returns to Beijing, they will stay in the Jing Palace. In the future, the rise and fall of honor and disgrace, the ups and downs of grace, all depend on one’s own good fortune.

At the banquet, Master Tang also dressed up to attend. Their ten beauties said they were sent to serve King Jing, but no one could really let them do the work of serving others. Just like today’s banquet, the maids of the palace were busy, and Tang Shishi stood in a line in the hall and put on a pose, even if the merits were fulfilled.

Tang Shishi is naturally the well-deserved chief. She stood at the forefront with her waist straight and her chin tucked slightly, revealing her slender neck and beautiful face just right. She accepted the scrutiny from all directions, and there was no evasive or cowardly expression in her expression. From childhood to adulthood, she had long been accustomed to others’ attention to her appearance.

Instead, Teacher Tang was thinking about another thing. “Ren Yujun made a mistake in poisoning, Zhou Shunhua solved the puzzle cleverly”, what does this mean?

Master Tang has been guessing for several nights, and still can’t understand what the “puzzle” is, but at least she can be sure that the next story is related to Ren Yujun and Zhou Shunhua. She made up her mind early this morning that no matter what happens next, she will follow Ren Yujun and Zhou Shunhua firmly.

With Tang Shishi’s literary level, it would be impossible to quote the scriptures and solve mysteries in front of Zhou Shunhua, so she had to be rougher and cut off from the source. Today, no matter what Zhou Shunhua does, she will take it away, and she will not let the heroine appear in front of the crowd.

Halfway through the banquet, the wine was in full swing, many people stood up to sober up, and the people waiting in the hall became messy, not as orderly as they were at the beginning. Master Tang was called out to speak, and after she left, the other nine people gathered in groups and whispered, and the formation dispersed within a short time.

Anyway, they are just showing up, and there will be no business for them, so they can move around freely.

The beauties are scattered in twos and threes. No one is willing to go back in this kind of situation, but if you don’t do anything, just stand here and look very stupid. Ji Xinxian changed into a light red dress, with a whole set of red jade heads on her head, which made her face like a peach blossom, looking radiant. Ji Xinxian listened to the flattery of the girls around her with satisfaction, she quietly raised her eyes and looked at the banquet not far away.

A screen separated the line of sight from inside and outside. From the inside, only the figures on the screen could be seen walking up and down, coveted and brightly lit. King Jing left the scene after showing his face, and Zhao Zixun was the well-deserved focus of the audience. From the gap between the screens, one could see the son Zhao Zixun sitting in the position, talking and laughing loudly with the people around him. The youth is full of spirits, handsome eyes, and noble status, which naturally attracts the attention of these girls.

Ji Xinxian seemed to be talking to her companion, but the corner of her eyes had been paying attention to Zhao Zixun’s movements. She deliberately pretended not to care, occupying a corner like a proud swan, just trying to attract Zhao Zixun’s attention. However, Ji Xinxian said for a long time, but Zhao Zixun didn’t even look back.

Ji Xinxian was a little disappointed, she turned to comfort herself actively, it didn’t matter, time was short, the elder son didn’t know them yet. After a long time, the eldest son will know that her is better.

Just after Ji Xinxian thought about it, he heard movement behind the screen. Many people turned around, and even Zhao Zixun glanced across the screen. Ji Xinxian looked forward and found that it was Master Tang who had come in.

Master Tang attracted a lot of attention along the way, but she didn’t care about it. She stopped in the side hall, seemingly looking for someone but couldn’t find it. Everyone inside and outside is thinking, who is she looking for?

Who has this honor and is so worried about her?

Teacher Tang listened to Mother Feng’s training, and when he came back, he found that the team was gone. She walked around in the side hall, but did not see Zhou Shunhua and Ren Yujun.

Master Tang frowned, a little anxious. She stopped in the middle of the hall, and the eyes around her stopped following her.

The woman next to Ji Xinxian whispered: “What is she doing?”

“Seems to be looking for someone.”

“Who does she want to find…”

Before the women finished speaking, their voices suddenly lowered. Master Tang found Ji Xinxian and walked straight to Ji Xinxian. The women couldn’t help but fell silent, and watched Master Tang approaching, stopped two steps away, and asked, “Where are Zhou Shunhua and Ren Yujun?”

Master Tang came to talk to Ji Xinxian, and their place suddenly became the focus of attention, and even Zhao Zixun glanced at it seemingly.

Ji Xinxian’s heart is sour and astringent, hard to describe. She had been standing here for so long, and the son didn’t look back. She thought that the son hadn’t noticed someone behind him. As a result, as soon as Master Tang walked over, the son had noticed.

Ji Xinxian was in a bad mood, and her tone was hard: “I don’t know. The two of them are the daughters of Gongqing, Jiao Buli Meng, where do I know their whereabouts.”

Master Tang raised her eyebrows secretly, and she knew that she could not have expectations of Ji Xinxian. A woman next to Master Tang looked at Master Tang and said weakly: “Sister Ren seems to have gone out just now.”

Master Tang looked at the talking woman and asked, “Which direction did you go?”

The woman timidly pointed in a direction, and Master Tang thanked him, and quickly chased it outside.

After Master Tang left, the invisible focus in the side hall also disappeared, and everyone resumed talking casually. The woman guiding the way looked at Tang Shishi’s back, and when she turned her head, Ji Xinxian’s face was gloomy.

The woman asked cautiously: “Sister Ji, what’s wrong with you?”

Ji Xinxian said with a cold face, “It’s okay.”

After being chased out from the banquet hall, Master Tang didn’t go long before he ran into Ren Yujun and Zhou Shunhua on the corridor. Today, Ren Yujun is wearing a jade-colored long coat and a purple pleated skirt with a pink wooden hibiscus embroidered on the placket. Looking at the flowers from a distance, he looks rich and bright. Zhou Shunhua, next to Ren Yujun, wore a light blue jacket and skirt, which was much lighter in comparison.

With a tray in his hand, Ren Yujun was originally talking intimately with Zhou Shunhua. When he saw Master Tang, the two of them slowed down one after another.

Ren Yujun stared at Master Tang warily, and asked, “What are you here for?”

Master Tang quietly swept through the clothes of these two people, and smiled inwardly. But they are really “good sisters”, everyone has put their thoughts on clothes, and Zhou Shunhua highlights his elegance and cleanliness when Ren Yujun wears noble air.

Worthy of being the sister flower of Yijie Jinlan.

Master Tang glanced at the things in their hands and asked, “What is this?”

“Sister Shaoyao has a sudden stomachache, let us help her bring the wine in.”

Give wine? Master Tang’s eyes rolled and he smelled something unusual. The wine delivery must of course be delivered to the front banquet, which is an opportunity to show up. Seeing that the banquet is about to end, the hostess’s blockbuster opportunity may be now.

She would rather kill a thousand by mistake than miss one. Master Tang made up her mind instantly, whether this time or not, she would cut off all the scenes of Zhou Shunhua’s face, and would never give the heroine a chance to come forward. Master Tang smiled cordially and said: “You have worked so hard all the way to bring such a heavy thing over. Give me the thing.”

How could Ren Yujun believe the nonsense of Master Tang? She sneered, avoiding Master Tang’s hand, and said coldly: “Don’t bother Miss Tang. Miss Tang is now a big hit. Who dares to bother you with such rough work?”

Zhou Shunhua tugged Ren Yujun’s clothes calmly, and whispered: “Let’s go quickly, the wine is going to be cold.”

Ren Yujun glanced at Master Tang coldly, bypassed Master Tang, and walked quickly towards the banquet hall. Master Tang’s hand was still in the air. She retracted her hand casually, turned and walked two steps quickly. When she passed by Ren Yujun, her shoulder swayed slightly, just hitting Ren Yujun’s arm.

Ren Yujun was unprepared, and the jug fell over immediately. Even if Ren Yujun immediately stabilized the jug, he still poured a lot of wine out.

Ren Yujun’s body was covered with drinks, and the new dress she prepared meticulously was ruined in an instant. Ren Yujun was stunned for a moment, then furious: “Master Tang, you…”

Master Tang smiled and said, “Oh, your skirt is dirty and you can’t see guests. It would be too rude to go to the front to deliver wine if you wear it like this.”

Ren Yujun was so angry that he couldn’t wait to step forward and tear up Master Tang: “You did it on purpose, and I will never end with you!”

“Sister Ren!” Zhou Shunhua abruptly increased her tone. She pulled Ren Yujun and quietly shook her head at Ren Yujun. Later, Zhou Shunhua took the tray from Ren Yujun and said: “Sister Ren is inconvenient, then let me do my sister’s work.”

Ren Yujun was slightly relaxed, yes, why did she forget that she still has Zhou Shunhua. Ren Yujun raised his head and looked at Master Tang triumphantly and provocatively.

Master Tang quietly watched the two sisters affectionately, and didn’t say anything, as if there was nothing he could do about it. At this time, a little maid came out, holding a tray in her hand. Without warning, Master Tang took a teacup from the little maid’s plate, and directly poured it on Zhou Shunhua’s dress without looking at what was inside.

Zhou Shunhua hurried back to hide, but was still splashed. Inside is the cold cold tea of ​​residual tea that has been replaced, and there are still tea leaves that have been brewed. The color is yellow and brown, and it instantly dips into a big stall on the clothes.

Zhou Shunhua’s body was originally extremely elegant, but now it is stained with residual tea, which is like an eye-catching spot on the white porcelain embryo. Zhou Shunhua was dumbfounded. Master Tang smiled slightly, put the teacup back into the hands of the little maid, and said unhurriedly: “Now, it can’t be done.”

Ren Yujun was sluggish for a moment, and after reacting, he suddenly stopped getting angry: “Master Tang, you are deceiving too much!”

Sure enough, she was a pretty lady, Tang Shishi thought that Ren Yujun would scold her as a slut. Their disputes here are not small, and they have attracted a lot of attention. Especially in the scene of Master Tang pouring tea, there was a sudden gasp.

The movement outside quickly alarmed the people inside. Mother Feng drove out first. She saw Master Tang, Zhou Shunhua, and Ren Yujun standing in the corridor, standing visibly facing each other, and there were suspicious stains on the other two. Madam Feng sullen her face and scolded, “What are you doing?”

When Ren Yujun saw Grandma Feng, he immediately shouted aggrieved: “Grandma, you have to be the master for us. I was entrusted by Peony to go in and give wine to the world’s son. We were walking along, but Master Tang was there without saying anything. I splashed alcohol on my clothes. Sister Zhou wanted to help me, and she was splashed all over. Mother, please be fair!”

Madam Feng glanced at the three of them suspiciously, and couldn’t believe that they would do such a mentally handicapped fighting method. Sister Feng said with a cold face, “Master Tang, what is going on?”

Master Tang tilted her head, her neck was long and slender, like a white swan who was proud and should: “I just taught them the rules.”

Before Grandma Feng asked why she came, people came out again. Tongxiu walked out quickly and asked, “Why are you so noisy?”

Madam Feng heard Tongxiu’s voice and glared at the three of them vigorously, then turned her head to greet Tongxiu with a smile: “It’s no hindrance, it’s the three little girls playing around.”

Ren Yujun was not convinced, gritted his teeth and said: “It is clear that she is picking things on purpose!”

Zhou Shunhua quickly went to pull Ren Yujun. Ren Yujun felt the sister’s reminder, but still couldn’t get angry. Grandma Feng obviously wanted to calm down things. This is not Tang Sisi’s palace. Could there be no axioms in the world?

Ren Yujun spoke, drawing everyone’s attention. Grandma Feng kept winking at them and asked them to come forward to round the stage. Tongxiu stared at Ren Yujun’s clothes and suddenly said: “This clothes…”

Everyone was shocked, Ren Yujun immediately looked down at his clothes, and Master Tang also looked at Ren Yujun.

The jade-colored long coat is embroidered with rich wood hibiscus. No matter the color or the pattern, there is nothing special. Is there a problem with the clothes?

Mother Feng had no idea before, but now following Tongxiu’s gaze, she saw Ren Yujun embroidered with wood lotus, her face changed suddenly.

Mu Furong! Where did Ren Yujun dare to wear clothes embroidered with wood hibiscus in the Jing Palace!

Madam Feng suddenly changed her face and shouted sharply, “Bold! Don’t go back and change clothes!”

Ren Yujun didn’t know why, but the expressions of Mother Feng and Aunt Tongxiu were obviously wrong, she didn’t dare to delay, and she was about to go back soon. However, she had just walked two steps, and a voice came from behind.

“What are you doing here?”

Everyone turned their heads and found that outside the corridor, Zhao Chengjun was standing in the courtyard with a group of entourages, looking at them unclearly. Zhao Chengjun showed his face during the banquet, then went out, and didn’t come back until now. Unexpectedly, he just happened to hit this scene when he came back.

Tongxiu’s expression was also wrong. She stepped forward and saluted deeply, trying to block Zhao Chengjun’s sight: “The prince. It is the servant’s ineffective discipline, which disturbs the prince. The crime of the servant is worth a thousand deaths.”

However, it was too late, and Zhao Chengjun saw the flowers on Ren Yujun’s body at a glance.

Zhao Chengjun’s eyebrows moved lightly, his eyes visibly cold. For a moment, no one inside or outside dared to speak, and even the guards and staff behind Zhao Chengjun were silent.

Ren Yujun knew that he was causing trouble. Although he didn’t know why, it was obvious that Mu Furong was a taboo in the Jing Palace. Ren Yujun was suddenly blessed to his heart and remembered what happened a few days ago.

At that time, Ren Yujun was preparing the clothes for the banquet, and if there was no such thing as Shaoyao, she told her that she was rich and luxurious, and she looked best in clothes like Mu Furong. Shaoyao is a member of the palace, so Ren Yujun believed it if he wanted to make a good bond in the palace.

Unexpectedly, Peony was lying to her! So today Shaoyao deliberately said that her stomach hurts and asked her to deliver the wine, which is also intentional to harm her?

Ren Yujun knelt down in panic, was cold all over, his lips trembled, and he couldn’t speak. Master Tang didn’t know what was going on, so she stepped back secretly, clearly drawing a line with Ren Yujun.

She didn’t know them, all this had nothing to do with her Master Tang.

Zhao Zixun heard the sound and came out. He looked at the people on both sides, and saluted Zhao Chengjun: “Father. This woman is really bold, so my son will let her drag her down and blame her for thirty.”

Ren Yujun panicked as soon as she heard it. She is a deep-bowed lady who can only embroider and write on weekdays. Wouldn’t it be her life if she was responsible for thirty! How could Zhou Shunhua abandon her sister? She knelt beside Ren Yujun and said, “His Royal Highness Huijing, you have misunderstood, this is not Mu Furong. This is Hibiscus!”

Zhao Chengjun looked at Zhou Shunhua condescendingly, not discerning his joy or anger. Zhou Shunhua didn’t know whether he was saving or harming people, so he bit the bullet and said: “It’s true that Sister Ren and the youngest sister became sisters Jinlan. The youngest girl’s name is Shunhua, and Shunhua is Hibiscus, and Ren’s elder sister is only because of her daughter. Embroider hibiscus flowers on your clothes.”

As if he had caught some life-saving straw, Ren Yujun quickly said, “Yes, this is hibiscus. It is all due to the poor embroidery of the little girl, who did not embroider the godlike hibiscus flower, which caused the misunderstanding. The prince calmed down and the little girl never did. I dare not.”

Tongxiu seemed to be relieved and persuaded: “Master, they are young, they are still pretty girls. Since it’s a misunderstanding, just let it go. You don’t want to get angry with them.”

Zhao Chengjun’s eyes were deep, he glanced coldly at Ren Yujun and Zhou Shunhua, did not say whether he believed it or did not believe it, and strode inward. Master Tang obviously felt that everyone was relieved, and everyone was huddling King Jing into the hall.

Shishi Tang quietly mixed in the crowd, moving with them. She felt choked and misguided, but Zhou Shunhua succeeded.

It turned out that Zhou Shunhua cleverly solved the riddles, that’s what it meant.

Then Master Tang really couldn’t grab it. How did she know that “Shunhua” could still be used in this way.

Master Tang lowered his head to think, didn’t pay attention to the front, and accidentally bumped into someone. She quickly stood still, only to realize that everyone did not know when she stopped.

Master Tang obediently lowered his head and docilely exposed his neck, almost writing “I am innocent” on his face: “Master.”

Zhao Chengjun stopped in front of the door and glanced at Master Tang for unknown reasons: “Don’t be smart.”

Immediately, he strode away.

Master Tang should be obedient, but she is wondering, she is smart? Where is she smart?