Chapter 433 Invitation
When Mrs. Xu saw her daughter running away, she hurriedly ordered her maid to catch up, "Watch the girl carefully and don't let her do anything. If anything happens to the girl, I will only ask you two."
Xia Ziying trotted all the way, but in the end, she found that except her own small yard, she had nowhere to go, no one to cry to, and no one to make decisions for her.
She thought of Chu Jingqi.
It would be great if she could snuggle into Chu Jingqi's arms right now, cry to him, and let him make the decision for her and reprimand her second sister.
She is prettier and younger than the second sister. She has also worked hard to study piano, chess, calligraphy and painting in the past few years, and is good at everything. Except that she does not have as much money as the second sister, and does not have the title of princess, she has everything. Better than the second sister.
The money from the second sister and the title of the princess are all external conditions. A man like Chu Shizi, who is not a man of the world, should not care about those external conditions. What he cares about should be a woman's true talent and learning.
She is confident that her talents and learning will not be worse than those of her second sister.
If she had the opportunity to chat more with Crown Prince Chu, maybe Crown Prince Chu would be able to discover her goodness and maybe fall in love with her.
When Prince Chu falls in love with her, she will return all the injustice she suffered today to Xia Zihan.
She wanted to let Xia Zihan enjoy the enjoyment and the shame of being blocked outside the gate.
Xia Ziying was filled with resentment and huddled behind a rockery, covering her mouth with a ferocious look on her face.
Two days later, Xia Ziying heard that Duke Anguo was going to hold a banquet, and Xia Shiming received an invitation.
The invitation was given to Xia Shiming by Chu Xuanyu, and Xia Shiming's name was on it, but no female family member of the Xia family received the invitation.
This was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. Xia Ziying was so excited that she hurriedly went to Xia Shiming and asked with a smile, "Dad, I heard that my second sister-in-law's family is going to hold a banquet. Did you receive the invitation?"
Xia Ziying deliberately emphasized the words "second sister's mother-in-law's family". She was telling Xia Shiming that the Chu family is the second sister's mother-in-law's family and is related to the Xia family by marriage. They are closely related. It is natural for the Xia family to leave. I need to go to a few more.
It's a pity that Xia Shiming is a second-rate boy. He doesn't understand the rules of the family, and he didn't hear the underlying meaning of Xia Ziying's words.
He smiled lightly and said, in a good mood, "The Duke gave it to my father." It seemed that it was such an honor to receive the invitation from Chu Xuanyu.
"The Duke of Guo has invited all the officials of the third rank and above. Even the emperor, queen and several princes will be there that day. It must be very lively. Dad can go because of your second sister's face."
Xia Shiming said this casually without any other meaning, but in Xia Ziying's ears, she thought that Xia Shiming was showing off to her that he had such a noble daughter as Xia Zihan, and that he had trusted Xia Zihan It was only Zi Han's good fortune that he could go to the banquet at Duke Anguo's mansion.
Otherwise, how could he, as a Hanlin scholar, be able to fawn over such a popular Duke of China who had made great achievements like Chu Xuanyu?
Not noticing that Xia Ziying's face turned gloomy and dark, Xia Shiming asked her, "Are you here just to ask about the invitation?"
Xia Ziying took a deep breath to hold back all the anger in her stomach before letting it out. She twitched the corners of her lips, showed a stiff smile, and said, "The Chu family is holding a banquet. If the Xia family doesn't go to a few female relatives, I'm afraid... She will be picked on, the second sister Although she was raised in the Chu family, her surname is Xia, and she is the legitimate daughter of the Xia family. The Xia family and the Chu family are also related by marriage, and her relationship with the Chu family is closer than others. We who go to the Xia family It can’t be left out.”
What Xia Ziying said makes sense.
Xia Shiming listened and nodded frequently, thinking it made sense. He didn't ask her at all whether the female family member had received the invitation.
Xia Shiming has rarely interacted with people since he became an official. The Xia family does not support him, and he never accepts bribes. With his small salary, it is only enough to support Aunt Zhang and a few servants, and then give him some money. Get yourself some pens, ink, paper, inkstones, clothes, shoes and socks.
Apart from giving Shangfeng a New Year gift during the Chinese New Year, he basically doesn't interact with anyone. Otherwise, as the son-in-law of Mr. Chuge, he wouldn't be stuck in the position of a sixth-grade Chief Secretary. , sitting on it for several years.
After coming to the capital, with Xia Zihan's funding and Yu Yin, he gradually started to interact with his colleagues. However, an invitation from a noble family like the Chu family was still not something Xia Shiming could accept. First time received.
Therefore, he didn't know that the invitations to the distinguished family were actually sent separately by the male and female family members.
If the male family members receive the invitation, if the female family members do not receive it, it means that the head of the family does not want to invite the female family members of his family.
In this way, although he is a little embarrassed, it is better than forcing the women to go and make the host family unhappy.
Xia Shiming didn't understand these rules, so on August 16th, he asked Xu and Xia Ziying to pack up and go with him.
Xu is Xia Zihan's nominal mother, and Xia Ziying is Xia Zihan's nominal sister. Although they have done many wrong things before, Xia Shiming is the only one who can take them out.
As for Aunt Guo and Aunt Zhang, Xia Shiming was stunned again. He also knew that the aunt had a low status and could never be taken as his legitimate wife. Otherwise, even if the master's family was not unhappy, the censor would take the opportunity to impeach them. he.
Mrs. Liu is the wife of the Xia family and the mistress of the family, so she naturally wants to go with her.
Mrs. Xu's face immediately fell, not wanting her to go. Mrs. Liu wanted to see the excitement, so she pretended not to see Mrs. Xu's embarrassed face and got on the carriage without changing her expression.
Xu was so angry that she was trembling all over, but there was nothing she could do. Who said she was the wife of a clan and was in charge of her food, drink, toilet, and sleep? If she made Mrs. Liu unhappy, one day she would find a reason to deduct her monthly money, and what would she spend it on?
Thinking of her own situation, Mrs. Xu became more and more motivated to find a decent in-law for Xia Ziying. Otherwise, in the Xia family, she would always be oppressed and trampled by Mrs. Liu.
The group of people arrived at the gate of Duke Anguo's Mansion.
Anguo Gong's Mansion arranged for two nuns to greet the guests at the gate, one was Aunt Qi, the sister of Aunt Ren, and Aunt Han who was next to Zhuo.
Aunt Qi has always been taking care of Mr. Chu and has never met anyone from the Xia family. However, Aunt Han, who is always with Zhuo, has met Xia Shiming, Xu and others.
Knowing that Xia Zihan didn't like anyone else in the Xia family except Xia Shiming, Grandma Han dropped her face when she saw the other female family members following Xia Shiming, and looked at the Xu family with a sinister look.
Aunt Qi didn't know why, so she stepped forward and took the invitation from Xia Shiming.
After opening it and looking at it, Nanny Qi bowed out of the way and ordered a boy to lead and invite Xia Shiming in.
The Xu family wanted to follow them in, but they were stopped by Nanny Qi. She looked at the Xu family and said, "Please take out the invitations from the ladies and let me have a look at them."
Invitation?
Where do they have any invitations?
They just wanted to take advantage of the invitation card in Xia Shiming's hand, thinking they could sneak in, but unexpectedly... it made them embarrassed.
Realizing that the people getting off the carriage around them were staring at them curiously, Ms. Liu's face turned red and she was so embarrassed that she wanted to hide in the cracks of the ground.
She would come because she knew that neither Zhuo nor Xia Zihan liked the Xu mother and daughter. If the Xu mother and daughter shamelessly followed Xia Shiming to Chu's house, wouldn't they be humiliating them?
She came just to see the excitement of the Xu family and her daughter, nothing else.
But she didn't expect that it would be time for others to watch her show.
Mrs. Liu blushed and hid behind Mrs. Xu calmly.
Xu and Xia Ziying were also embarrassed, especially Xia Ziying. She almost hated Xia Zihan in her heart. She thought in her heart that Xia Zihan must have persuaded the Chu family not to send her an invitation because she thought she was prettier and better than her. She is young and has more capital than her. Are you afraid that Chu Jingqi will fall in love with her?
Otherwise, the Xia family is the in-laws of the Chu family, why wouldn't the Chu family send them an invitation?
Xia Ziying trampled Xia Zihan hard under her feet in her heart, trampling her into a ball of mud, and her face looked better now.
Being stared at by many curious eyes, Xia Ziying felt humiliated to the extreme. She said with difficulty, "Our invitation is posted at my second sister's place. Grandma can just ask my second sister directly."
"Who is your second sister?" Nanny Qi seemed not to know and asked deliberately.
This made Xia Ziying feel even more embarrassed. She bit half of her lip and gritted her teeth and said, "My second sister is Princess Chu Yu, and I am Princess Chu Yu's biological sister."
Aunt Qi was stunned for a moment, then she called over a little maid and whispered a few words in her ear.
The maid said yes and trotted into the gate of Chu's house.
Aunt Qi said to Xia Ziying and the Xu family, "Please wait a moment, Mrs. Xia and Miss Xia. The old slave has sent someone in to ask the princess."
Then, go to receive other distinguished guests.
It was really embarrassing for the Xu family to be left out, but there was nothing they could do about it. Xia Shiming had already been led to the Chu family hall by the servant. He didn't know the Xu family at all, and they were even taken to the Chu family hall by Aunt Qi. Stopped and refused to let in.
If Xia Shiming were here, he would drag a few people back in embarrassment, so as not to continue to be embarrassed.
"Hey, aren't these the second wife and third girl of the Xia family? Why, if you don't go in, what are you doing standing outside?"
Mrs. Liao got off a carriage and saw the three women of the Xia family at a glance. Mrs. Liao kindly came over to ask, but it made the Xu family even more embarrassed and uncomfortable.
Liao Fangyi stood next to Mrs. Liao. She looked at the faces of the three of them. This time, she guessed very smartly, "Don't you have an invitation?"
Otherwise, why are you standing outside without going in? It’s not a big tree, but it’s still for people to admire?
Xia Zihan glanced hard at Liao Fangyi, but said with a smile, "My second sister is the future daughter-in-law of the Chu family. We and the Chu family are direct in-laws. How come there is no invitation card? I just let the second sister go first." Take it in, no, let’s wait for the second sister to come out to pick it up.”
(End of chapter)