Marrying a treacherous official

Yunji was going to host a banquet at Dongzhuang to entertain the wives of officials from the surrounding area.

What she was going to do was prepare a spring banquet. She sent Chunxuan to the neighboring village early on to deliver the invitations. After discussing the specific dishes with the cook, Ayu, she ordered Xikui to take two guards down the mountain to purchase the goods.

Besides the cook, Ayu, the only other person left in the west wing was a rough old woman.

When there weren't enough people, Yunji personally went down to the stove to help with cooking, and even called on the guards with swords to chop wood, start fires, and knead dough, using all sorts of skills.

As Aunt Du led her maid through the door, she was greeted by this bustling and lively scene.

"How could the First Madam cook herself?"

She moved to the stove, tied up the sleeves on both sides of her clothes with her shoulder straps, washed her hands with water, picked up the green rice dumplings made of wheatgrass juice, flattened them, and added fillings inside.

"They were too busy with the spring banquet and didn't even call me over to help."

"I know that my aunt will come looking for me herself, so I won't let the maid make this trip for nothing."

Yunji flattened the green rice dumpling, added a spoonful of osmanthus honey, and smiled warmly:

"The guards kneaded the dough, Aunt Yu prepared the filling for the green rice dumplings, and I just helped add the filling and roll them into balls. What's so difficult about that?"

Aunt Du looked at the green rice dumpling fillings laid out in a row on the long table and looked over with interest:

"There are six kinds of fillings for qingtuan alone: ​​red bean paste, mixed fruit, yam, osmanthus honey, walnut honey, and osmanthus pine nut filling. The cook is really skilled."

"This is just a green rice dumpling."

Yunji praised her cook generously, saying, "When the spring banquet is served, you'll know that Aunt Yu can stuff all the freshest food into your mouth in one bite."

Ayu was squatting on the ground roasting chili peppers. Hearing this, he poked his round head out from behind the stove, as if he wanted to say something, but then shut his mouth and pulled his head back behind the stove.

Yunji noticed her embarrassed and embarrassed appearance and compromised, saying, "Aunt Yu, I won't say anything more, lest some other official's wife take a fancy to your cooking skills and ask for you away."

Aunt Du covered her mouth and secretly laughed to herself.

"The second daughter has beautiful handwriting."

Yunji rubbed the green rice dumpling in her hand and said, "Later, set up a long table in the corridor and have the second young lady copy down the remaining auspicious poems and verses, then stick them on the Kongming lanterns for the official's wife to take back and release to pray for her wishes."

Aunt Du knew that the First Madam was praising Hua'er.

On the eve of the imperial examination, which official's wife who lives in a village near Lingshan Temple doesn't have a son who is going to take the exam? Hua'er can give the official's wife a Kongming lantern with auspicious poems and omens attached. This way, she can show off her talent and get to be seen in person. Where else can you find such a good thing?

"Hua'er is still sleepy in the room, taking a nap. I'll go and call her over so she can write poems for the Madam."

Yunji busied herself at the stove until Chunxuan and Xikui returned one after another. Only then did she change her clothes and go to the east room to invite the Lady of the Marquis to the banquet.

Granny Tong quietly closed the door and came out, her face full of sorrow, and said:

"I'm sorry to have troubled you, Madam, to make this trip for nothing. Last night, the Lady of the Marquis caught a chill and has had a headache all day. She just rested and I'm afraid she won't be able to attend the Madam's spring banquet."

"Has a doctor been called to examine you?"

Yunji asked with concern.

Granny Tong said with feigned seriousness, "The doctor came earlier and said that his headache had flared up and he couldn't stand the cold. He prescribed some Chinese medicine and then went home."

After exchanging a few pleasantries and expressing her filial piety, Yunji returned to her courtyard without any burden.

Unexpectedly, Lady Hou did not attend the banquet, but Cui Lizhu and Cui Gongchuo led their maids and servants to the west room.

After entering, Cui Lizhu greeted the ladies of the officials with a smile. She then noticed Cui Shuhua writing in the corridor and moved over, where she heard the ladies praising Cui Shuhua in unison.

"The poem written by the second young lady is auspicious, and her small regular script is like pearls. Didn't Madam Cui say she was going to give us a Kongming lantern with calligraphy on it? I'll order this calligraphy."

"Madam Luo, are you interested in this calligraphy or in Miss Cui herself? Don't even think about taking Miss Cui's calligraphy away until you make things clear."

"I've taken a liking to both this calligraphy and Miss Cui herself. Now I can only watch enviously as Miss Cui takes her calligraphy with a heart full of joy."

His words drew soft laughter from the women and girls around him.

"My second sister's calligraphy is superb, and her paintings are even more vivid and expressive."

Since learning that she admired General Pei, Cui Lizhu had been filled with hatred, wishing she could tear him apart, but she smiled brightly like a spring breeze. "Especially in figure painting, her skills are even higher."

Cui Shuhua clutched the wolf-hair brush tightly, making her already delicate face appear even whiter.

She remembered the words her elder sister-in-law had taught her: if she always endured and yielded, she and her mother would have no place in the Marquis's mansion.

"What does the older sister want me to draw?"

Cui Shuhua abandoned her timidity. Since her father had denied that she had painted General Pei's painting, why should she be afraid of being brought up again and again?

"Is it a painting for your mother or for your older sister?"

Choi Yeo-joo originally intended to use this incident to scare her and embarrass her in front of the ladies, but she did not expect that not only would she not panic, but she would also dare to refute her in this way.

"Why did my second sister draw me? Does she intend to paste my image on a Kongming lantern and release it? What is her purpose?"

The ladies gathered around the long table were choked by the sisters' anger when they heard this.

Cui Shuhua smiled gently at her.

"Elder sister misunderstands. My sister-in-law only allowed me to write the auspicious poems and verses obtained from Lingshan Temple on the Kongming lanterns to pray for the success of the scions of noble families in the imperial examinations. She did not allow me to paste portraits on the Kongming lanterns, as that would be too unlucky."

Choi Yeo-joo was so embarrassed by her retort that she wanted to tear her mouth apart, but with so many ladies and young women present, she couldn't retaliate in the slightest.

"I misunderstood my second sister this time."

Cui Gongchuo came to the West Room for the Spring Banquet purely to cause trouble and vent his mother's anger.

Although he is young and only half a meter tall, he is very cunning.

Knowing he couldn't make a scene in public and embarrass his mother, he went straight into the kitchen to cause trouble, trying to shift the blame onto the servants.

"This is the eldest sister-in-law's spring banquet."

Cui Gongchuo looked at the deep-fried peony flowers on the stove, picked up a piece of peony pastry, took a bite, and then threw it onto the crystal sashimi next to him.

"It tasted awful, I threw it all away."

The guards in the kitchen, who were busy lighting fires, chopping wood, arranging plates, and setting out chopsticks, all looked at him with stern expressions.

Cui Gongchuo pointed at the plate of deep-fried peony flowers and said arrogantly, "I said, throw it away."

None of the guards moved.

Enraged, Cui Gongchuo picked up the plate of peony pastries and smashed it hard against the long table where more than thirty dishes were laid out.

The guard who was setting out the chopsticks nimbly reached out his long arm and steadily scooped up the peony pastry and the plate together in his hand.