lcionline Chapter 239: Flower Viewing Banquet Incident
Chapter 239: Flower Viewing Banquet Incident
"That's good. By the way, Lady, in addition to the dress and headgear, I'm afraid you will also need a set of forbidden steps." Nanny Gui thought for a while and said.
Noble ladies in the capital would wear a jinbu to restrain their steps and prevent their skirts from being blown away when the wind blew. Gradually, the jinbu became a popular accessory.
"Forbidden steps?" Shen Wanning thought about it and it seemed that there was such a thing, but she really didn't have it.
"Forget it, I will wear the forbidden step tomorrow. Baizhi will go to the banquet with me tomorrow, and I'll have to trouble Madam Gui to take care of the shop." Shen Wanning said, tapping the table with her index finger.
"These are all my duties. Please rest assured, my lady, I will take good care of the shop." Nanny Gui asked someone to take the clothes away and replied.
Speaking of Jinbu, some Hanfu enthusiasts began to send her Jinbu frantically, but they were all relatively cheap and not suitable for this occasion.
Fortunately, in the evening, the quiet evening breeze had someone make a purple-pink jade crabapple forbidden step and sent it to her, which just matched her pink crabapple flower.
Originally, she planned to wear her ancestral lotus jade pendant if she couldn't find a suitable forbidden step. But since there was the Begonia forbidden step, her lotus jade pendant would be useless.
It was just after six in the morning when Bai Wei and Bai Su came to help her dress up. Bai Wei was very good at combing her hair.
She has pretty good skin, so she doesn't need to wear foundation. She just draws her eyebrows and adds a little blush and lipstick.
When she stood up, she was wearing a peach-pink and willow-green skirt, a cross bun and a pink crabapple flower headpiece. She looked elegant and otherworldly.
Even Bai Wei and Bai Su, who had seen her many times before, were stunned and praised her repeatedly, "The county lady doesn't usually like to wear those pretty dresses, but this one looks so good on her! I've never seen a woman more beautiful than the county lady!"
Shen Wanning smiled gently, "I have a lot to do every day. The ruqun is too cumbersome and inconvenient to do anything. Combing my hair also takes time. I might as well sleep a little longer in the morning."
Bai Wei became more lively and said with a smile, "The women that the county lady and I have seen are quite different! But the county lady is still beautiful even without makeup."
Shen Wanning smiled and took out the Begonia Flower Forbidden Steps. "Hang it up for me!"
After saying that, Bai Su hung the Begonia Blossom Pendant on her chest and applied some rose essential oil on the ends of her hair.
After breakfast, Nanny Gui tied Shen Wanning's cloak and sent her and Baizhi to the carriage.
The flower-viewing banquet was held in the prefect's courtyard. After Bai Zhi showed the invitation to the gatekeeper, servants came and respectfully welcomed Shen Wanning in.
She arrived neither too early nor too late. When she arrived, many noble ladies and ladies had already arrived, and they were all talking and chatting with people they knew.
When Madam Li saw her come in, she hurried over with a smile, "The county lady is here! I almost didn't recognize you in the way you look today. I was just wondering who this angel-like person was!"
Shen Wanning smiled faintly, "Madam Li, you are too kind. Madam Li is dignified, beautiful, graceful and elegant. Wanning can't even compare to her."
"You are too modest. Today is your first time attending a banquet. Come, let me introduce you. This is Mrs. Huang, the wife of the governor." Madam Li led her to meet the governor's wife.
The wife of the governor wore a sapphire headband on her head, a maroon dress with a peony pattern and a forged pipa collar, and a navy blue and gold-woven horse-faced dress. She looked very wealthy, as expected of a merchant family.
Madam Huang looked Shen Wanning up and down, fanning her nose with a handkerchief in disdain and rolling her eyes in disdain. "This is the country girl the Emperor personally appointed! She's really from the countryside and wears tacky clothes."
Madam Li knew that there was a feud between the two families, but she didn't expect Madam Huang to be so disrespectful and say it directly. She was about to open her mouth to refute, but Shen Wanning was quicker than her.
Shen Wanning smiled slightly. "Mrs. Huang, what do you think is not tacky? Is it not tacky to dress like Mrs. Huang?"
Madam Huang scoffed, "The county lady comes from the countryside and has never attended a banquet like this before, so it's normal for her to be dressed tacky. Unlike the other noble ladies present, who are dressed elegantly and appropriately."
Everyone present stopped talking and looked at the two of them. They were quite curious about Shen Wanning, the newly promoted county lord, and wanted to see what kind of person she was.
Shen Wanning tilted her head, revealing an innocent look, and repeated her question, "Madam Huang, do you mean that the clothes you wear are better than my clothes?"
Madam Huang choked. She was too embarrassed to say such words in public. After thinking for a moment, she replied, "My clothes are naturally more generous and decent, suitable for a banquet."
Shen Wanning nodded, as if she suddenly realized, "Oh~ So Madam Huang thinks her clothes are better than mine! This is what Madam Huang said, everyone heard it. Madam Huang, is that so?" At the end, Shen Wanning still asked a question.
Madam Huang looked around for a few times, seeing both of them looking at the two of them. Then she raised her head like a proud peacock and said, "Of course, my clothes are naturally better than the county lady's."
Shen Wanning smiled softly, deliberately letting everyone hear, and she said loudly, "Mrs. Huang's clothes are indeed better than mine. My cloak was given by the Emperor. It turns out that Mrs. Huang's clothes are better than those of the royal family. Today I finally know."
Madam Huang was horrified and quickly tried to make amends, "I never said such a thing. The gift from the Emperor is naturally excellent."
The people in the audience were in an uproar and quickly echoed Shen Wanning's words.
"When I saw the clothes the county lady was wearing, they looked extraordinary. It turned out to be a gift from the emperor."
"The clothes the emperor gave me are so beautiful. I am ashamed to be inferior to them."
"Yes, who among those present can dress better than the county lady? Look at how she is dressed today, like a fairy, so beautiful!"
Mrs. Li standing by was about to laugh out loud, but her good upbringing in an aristocratic family made her hold back her smile.
As the host of the banquet, she followed up with a loud voice, "Madam Huang just said with her own mouth that her clothes were better than the county lady's. Why are you denying it now? This is not our family's style. No one dares to do something and not take responsibility for it. Right? Everyone just heard clearly that Madam Huang said with her own mouth that her clothes were better than the ones given by the emperor."
Madam Huang became even more panicked and waved her hands repeatedly, "No, I didn't, I didn't say that. The emperor's things are the best in the world. Who can surpass the emperor?"
A lady who was on good terms with Madam Huang said, "Madam Huang, it was just a joke. Why is the county magistrate so unreasonable?"