I Am the Wife of the Marquis of Pingnan
Besides the Princess of Zhennan and Grand Princess Shangde, several noblewomen were also sitting in the room. Upon seeing this scene, they all solemnly examined Zhao Ruxi once again.
Although the Earl of Suiping's Residence had fallen into decline and was no longer of interest to them, the young girl Zhao Ruxi was quite capable.
Not only was she taken in as a disciple by Mister Kumu, but she was also granted a very good position by imperial decree, which brought her both fame and fortune. Not to mention the tuition fee of 1,500 taels of silver per person, even though those who followed her to learn painting would not call her "master," the bond between them would be genuine, and there would be a sense of kinship between them. This was comparable to that of Lord Peng of the Imperial Academy.
Whether Lord Peng's students can become officials is still unknown. Zhao Ruxi, on the other hand, teaches officials. In comparison, she is far more capable than Lord Peng.
Not to mention that Zhao Ruxi received the old princess's blessing today, and also received a string of Buddhist prayer beads from her.
The old princess was truly the luckiest person in the world—the Empress Dowager and the Empress held higher positions than her, but alas, they were short-lived and passed away at a young age. The old princess is now seventy years old and still in good health.
Despite her ever-present smile and seemingly kind demeanor, it seems that only Grand Princess Shangde could catch her eye, receive her praise, or even gift her Buddhist prayer beads.
It's clear that this Miss Zhao is very fortunate.
These ladies instantly switched modes and began to consider in their minds which children and grandchildren would be suitable for Zhao Ruxi's marriage.
Seeing that Zhao Ruxi had exchanged a few pleasantries with the old princess and was about to take her leave, a lady sitting below her stood up and smiled, echoing the old princess. "The old princess has a sharp eye; she can tell at a glance who is blessed. With the old princess's blessing, Miss Zhao will surely have a smooth and healthy future."
After coming to offer their birthday wishes, they lingered here, saying that many people were keeping the old princess company. Princess of Zhennan naturally wouldn't introduce them to everyone who came to offer their birthday wishes and pay their respects, so as not to waste time, and more importantly, to prevent people from thinking that this place was a place to meet and make connections, thus lingering even longer, increasing the congestion here, and also annoying the old princess.
Seeing this lady come out to make her presence known, she simply pretended not to see her and turned to talk to Grand Princess Shangde.
Zhao Ruxi had no intention of befriending these ladies; her visit to the old princess was merely a formality. Therefore, she nodded to the lady and said, "Thank you for your kind words, old princess," before preparing to leave.
The lady grew anxious and quickly introduced herself, "Miss Zhao, you haven't seen me before, have you? I am the Wife of the Marquis of Pingnan. I've heard of you before, but seeing you today, I realize how outstanding you are."
As she spoke, she stood there smiling, waiting for Zhao Ruxi to fawn over her.
Because the Marquis of Pingnan was favored by the emperor, a group of low-ranking military wives fawned over her all day long. The Earl of Suiping's Residence were of military origin, and they were also categorized into this group by the Wife of the Marquis of Pingnan.
Furthermore, why is her son so insistent on marrying this Fifth Miss Zhao? It must be because this girl seduced him. Since she wants to marry into their family, then she should come and fawn over them!
Just now, seeing how well the old princess and the Princess of Zhennan treated her, if she could be flattered properly, it wouldn't be impossible to consider marrying her to her eldest son. This girl is capable, knows how to make money, and has a low social status, so no one dares to put on airs in front of her. It seems she really is quite suitable for her eldest son.
When Zhao Ruxi heard the words "Wife of the Marquis of Pingnan," she did pause and stare at her intently. But it was only for a moment before she turned and followed the maid Xiaoru out.
They went out, left, went... and didn't say a word to me the whole time!
Wife of the Marquis of Pingnan stood there, watching Zhao Ruxi's departing figure, her face flushing red and then turning pale, wishing she could disappear into the ground.
The hall was completely silent.
Few of the ladies present thought highly of the Wife of the Marquis of Pingnan. She came from a humble background, and her words and actions were crude and superficial. Yet, like a nouveau riche, she loved to show off and was self-important. However, out of respect for the Marquis of Pingnan and Fu Yunkai's illustrious military achievements, everyone maintained a polite distance from her and did not embarrass her.
Everyone was secretly pleased to see Zhao Ruxi directly humiliate her.
Princess of Zhennan had always disliked the Wife of the Marquis of Pingnan, but Prince of Zhennan had led troops in battle when he was a prince and was still serving in the Ministry of War. Marquis of Pingnan was a newly promoted nobleman supported by the current emperor. It would be inappropriate not to invite the Wife of the Marquis of Pingnan to the old princess's birthday banquet, so she sent out an invitation.
But she had been lingering here and wouldn't leave, and now she was jumping out to make her presence known, Princess of Zhennan couldn't tolerate.
She spoke up, "Wife of the Marquis of Pingnan, you must be feeling bored here, right? Why don't you go to the back and chat with the other ladies? It'll be more lively there." Without waiting for Wife of the Marquis of Pingnan to reply, she turned to her maid and instructed, "Take Wife of the Marquis of Pingnan to the back garden."
The maidservant stepped forward and gestured to the Wife of the Marquis of Pingnan: "Please, Madam."
Wife of the Marquis of Pingnan had lost face and didn't want to stay there any longer. She also wanted to see what gave that Miss Zhao the audacity to treat her so coldly and disrespect her.
She smiled at the Princess of Zhennan, said a few kind words to the old princess, and then followed the maid to the garden in the backyard.
But no matter how hard they looked, they couldn't find Zhao Ruxi. Instead, they saw the old lady of the Earl of Suiping's Residence and her wife, Lady Zhu, sitting under a corridor, talking with the lady of the Duke of Wei's Residence and the Lady of the Peng Family.
Her eyes darted around, and she walked over, smiling at Lady Zhu, "Madam Zhao, where is your daughter? I just saw her at the old princess's place. I wanted to say a few words to her, but she ignored me and turned away. I haven't seen her here either."
It turned out that because Zhao Ruyu was entangled with Fu Yunlang, the Wife of the Marquis of Pingnan had met Lady Zhu at another banquet. She implied that Zhao Ruyu was not good enough for her son and wanted Lady Zhu to flatter and please her. Lady Zhu would not bow down to the Wife of the Marquis of Pingnan for Zhao Ruyu, and usually did not like to pay attention to her, and would take a detour when she saw her.
Recently, because Fu Yunkai had been frequently inviting her husband to dinner and treating him with great courtesy, she had originally intended to take this opportunity to express her gratitude to the Wife of the Marquis of Pingnan. However, upon hearing the implication in the Wife of the Marquis of Pingnan's words, the smile that had just appeared on Lady Zhu's face vanished.
There were over a dozen people seated from the three families alone, and many more were standing or sitting in the courtyard. The Wife of the Marquis of Pingnan had a loud voice; it could be heard throughout the entire courtyard. Wasn't this ruining her daughter's reputation?
Many maids from Prince of Zhennan Town stood under the eaves, there to handle any emergencies.
Just then, a Daya, worried that the two sides might start arguing and spoil the atmosphere of the old princess's birthday banquet, quickly smiled and said, "My County Princess of Qingyang, is on good terms with Fifth Miss Zhao. She sent her Daya Xiaoru, to wait for Miss Zhao at the door early this morning. Miss Zhao is probably being led to the backyard by Xiaoru right now, so she's not here."