PFC Chapter 334 A Unique Gift [2 Chapters in 1! ]
Chapter 334 A Unique Gift [2 Chapters in 1! ]
Old Kang naturally didn't like this picture of a hundred years of longevity, but other guests praised it, especially Madam Han, who looked at the picture and said:
"It's obvious that this gift was made with great care. There are one hundred longevity characters, and each one is written differently. If you make a mistake in writing one, you have to rewrite the whole thing. The two gentlemen are very thoughtful."
Mrs. Han's words naturally attracted many voices of agreement, but these people came to the Marquis' Mansion for Su Zhiru's sake.
After all, I didn't have much in common with Mr. Kang, and the gift I sent was just something to show for my appearance.
Old Kang was holding her breath and wanted to ask Aunt Xu to tear up the Hundred Longevity Picture, but she couldn't do such an unseemly thing, so she said:
"That's thoughtful! Madam Xu, please put away the Hundred-Year-Old Longevity Picture."
I'll put it in the bottom of the warehouse when I get back!
After all, the third wife was not her own child, so she was reluctant to spend some money to honor herself. Old Mrs. Kang held her anger and cursed the people in the third wife in her heart.
Su Lihan pursed her lips secretly. This birthday gift was probably the least liked one by the old lady among all the gifts today.
Seeing that Old Kang seemed to be suppressing the storm, Su Wen panicked. She kept pulling at her sleeves with both hands. Should she give the gift or not?
"Seventh sister, you are the concubine of our eldest wife. Now is the time for grandma's birthday party. You should take out the gift you carefully prepared and let it be seen."
Su Yunrou glanced at Su Wen and immediately said with a smile.
Hearing Su Yunrou's words, Su Wen sighed. She knew that she couldn't escape after all, so she knelt down and saluted, saying, "My granddaughter has shown me a picture of the three stars of fortune, wealth and longevity. It's just a girl's toy, so please don't despise it. I wish you good health, a long life, and endless blessings in the future!"
As Su Wen was speaking, the maid beside her hurriedly unfolded the picture.
"Ah! I've heard that Seventh Sister's embroidery is superb. Look at the three stars of Fortune, Longevity and Happiness, they are so lifelike and ingenious, especially the peach in the birthday star's hand, it's so vivid that I can almost smell the fragrance of the peach."
Su Qingwan immediately stepped forward to help.
"Yes, this gift is valuable because it was thoughtful. How much money can a bastard girl have? It is rare to have such a thoughtful gift."
"Such a large embroidery must have been done several months in advance. This girl is very thoughtful."
Hearing Su Qingwan say this, the two noble ladies on the side immediately praised her.
"Get up, Seventh Girl, you are thoughtful."
The smile on old Mrs. Kang's face changed again and again. Hearing everyone say this, she couldn't get angry at all. She just smiled and raised her hand dryly.
"Yes, Grandma!"
Su Wen stood up immediately and gave Su Qingwan a grateful look.
"Madam, today is your birthday, and the young master specially asked me to bring you a red coral statue of the Dragon Guanyin."
The servant beside Su Yueqi came forward with a flattering look on his face and said, then waved his hand, and two servants carefully lifted up an ornament.
This dragon-shaped coral is rosy all over, and the Guanyin statue is carved from chicken blood jade. Although they are inlaid together, they are not abrupt at all, but complement each other and appear natural.
"It is rumored that red coral is the incarnation of Tathagata Buddha. Young Master knows that you, Madam, are devout in worshipping Buddha, so he specially ordered me to prepare this item early."
The servant smiled so hard that his teeth were exposed. Seeing the joy on Mrs. Kang's face and the golden light in her eyes, the servant immediately knelt down and said, "Master Yueqi is already ill, and he was afraid that he would pass on his illness to the old lady, so he was unable to come in person to celebrate your birthday. Master Yueqi wishes you a healthy life, a long life, and good health!"
"Hurry up, get up! My grandson is still thinking about me! Haha, when you have time, Madam Xu will go to Yue Qi and tell him that I like the gift he gave me very much."
Old Kang's gloom disappeared, and he stared at the dragon and Guanyin coral ornament. This thing should be worth at least a few thousand taels.
"Yes!"
While replying to Old Mrs. Kang, Madam Xu asked the two servants to carry the ornaments into the storeroom.
Then one or two concubines' daughters presented their gifts, but they were just some girlish toys, and old Mrs. Kang just responded with a dry remark or two.
"Madam, this is part of the gift list."
At this moment, a maid was holding a gift list. According to the rules of some noble families, when someone came to fill out a gift list, she would read out what each family had given.
However, Jiang reported to Old Kang in advance, thinking that such an act was too vulgar and even symptomatic of competition, so he waived this etiquette, but the gift list still had to be reviewed by Old Kang.
"Well, Jiang's and Kang's did a great job."
Old Kang waved his hand, holding the gift list in both hands, ready to enjoy the joy of victory.
Let’s take a look at which families gave expensive gifts.
The gift list clearly stated:
The residence of Han Daxueshi presented four hundred and thirty-eight taels of silver.
This was the first line she saw, and old Kang's face lit up with joy. She didn't understand what the four hundred and thirty-eight taels meant, but considering Han Daxueshi's current status, he was able to send a gift of four hundred taels, which seemed to indicate that he was very optimistic about Yue Qi. If Yue Qi really had a good chance of passing the imperial examination, even Han Daxueshi would rush to curry favor with him.
The Minister of Rites presented twenty taels of silver.
The doctor of the Ministry of Revenue presented twenty taels of silver.
"You are so stingy. You can afford twenty taels?"
Old Kang sneered in his heart, not knowing that these adults basically came for Su Zhiru's face, and they all gave him money, but no one came to the banquet.
Old Kang glanced at the gift list, and when he saw the bottom of the list, his lips began to tremble instantly.
Prince Yi's palace presented forty-four taels of silver, plus a broken bronze chime!
Not to mention that the number four is extremely unlucky, a bell as a gift? Or a broken bronze bell? When seeing this, Mrs. Kang's face was instantly filled with a storm. Was this old princess cursing her?
The old princess, that old bitch, is exactly the same as Su Qingwan, she will make trouble even if she is rude, and she won't let go even when she is right. An old bitch, a young bitch, they are good at talking, sooner or later, I will sew their mouths shut, and see how they can still show off.
In her heart, Old Kang dragged out all the people of Prince Yi and scolded them one by one! She even scolded the people from the third room.
The Earl of Yongkang presented one hundred and forty taels of silver, plus a basket of large sweet golden pears as a tribute from Persia!
Seeing this, Old Kang's eyes turned colder. Everyone knew that giving pears on birthdays meant separation. Could it be that the old bitch in the Yongkang Earl's Mansion was still blaming Liu? She even blamed her for instigating Xiao Kang to go to the elder Liu's mansion to ask for 30,000 taels of silver? This bunch of filthy people in the Earl's Mansion, Zhang Jueping himself did the ugly thing of seducing Prince Rui, defiled her small manor, and even defiled Yingxue's mourning hall. Is it too much to give 30,000 taels of silver?
It's not too much! I've done my best to not bankrupt your Earl's family.
You deserve to have your loved ones die before you, you vicious old bitch!
Now the Zhang family and the eldest Liu have been exiled, and their lives or deaths are unknown. Thinking of this, old Kang felt a little relieved.
The Kang family gave two hundred and forty-four taels of silver, plus a pair of Shu brocade shoes!
This made Old Kang confused. The Kang family was her mother's family, and Little Kang's parents. Could it be that the Kang family didn't understand this? It was forbidden to give shoes as a present at a birthday party.
Giving shoes means sending away evil, and what does two hundred and forty-four taels mean?
When old Mrs. Kang saw this, she felt extremely suffocated. She was afraid that she would not be able to breathe and faint at her own birthday banquet. There were so many guests at the moment, so she had to act with the dignity and grace of an old lady from the Marquis's Mansion.
Suppressing the rage in her heart, she took a few deep breaths, and finally managed a dry smile on her face and said, "Alright, more and more people are coming, and no one is busy. Your intentions are very good, so let's all go outside and have some tea."
After saying this, the group of people dispersed immediately, and old Kang's face fell instantly. She hurriedly touched her chest, and even with her eyes closed she could see her eyelids trembling.
They are all a bunch of wronged people!
Su Qingwan and Han Yue hadn't seen each other for a long time. When they met today, they naturally had a lot to talk about.
"Qingwan, what birthday gift have you prepared for Madam Kang? Why do we have to wait?" Han Yue asked curiously.
After all, Su Yunrou and Su Lihan couldn't wait to show their gifts in public!
"It's not that surprising actually. I invited a famous opera troupe from the capital to our mansion and asked them to perform for a few days to please Grandmother Kang.
Han Yue opened her mouth slightly in surprise, but she also felt that this gift was indeed something that Su Qingwan could come up with.
"Your birthday gift is quite unique. I'm sure Madam Kang will like it." Han Yue said with a smile.
"Hehe, Sister Yue'er, I think so too. This gift is different from others. She will definitely like it."
Su Qingwan smiled with her eyes curved, hoping that Mrs. Kang would be even happier after seeing the ridiculous thing her son had done!
Old Mrs. Kang and a group of ladies were invited to Fenghe Courtyard. The courtyard was spacious with tables and chairs placed under the corridor. In front was a Huiwan pool, which just happened to cover a stage.
Seeing this, everyone knew that there was a play to listen to. The banquet hadn't started yet, so it would be good to listen to the short play to relieve boredom.
Old Mrs. Kang was very satisfied with this arrangement. When the Marquis' Mansion was at its peak, it also had an opera troupe. Unfortunately, they were all sold out later.
Come to think of it, she herself hadn't listened to a play for a long time.
After a while, someone started singing on the stage. The singing was very beautiful. Halfway through the song, Su Zhiwen came over.
He only went to Old Kang's house in the morning today, and after celebrating his mother's birthday with Young Kang, he went back to rest.
It was not until this time that he came out again. After hearing the servants say that the old lady was in Fengheyuan, he followed to take a look.
As soon as I walked into the yard, I heard someone singing. The voice sounded very familiar. When I walked over to take a look, I found that it was the opera troupe from the Peony Garden. I was immediately surprised.
Why are they here?
The people who were performing on the stage also saw Su Zhiwen at a glance and were filled with joy.
Their troupe had agreed to perform at the Marquis' Mansion, but they didn't tell Su Zhiwen because they wanted to give him a surprise.
Seeing Su Zhiwen's expression now, I think he must be happy too.
Su Qingwan and Han Yue were sitting together. Seeing Su Zhiwen obviously stunned, they immediately raised the corners of their lips and smiled lightly.
She specifically asked someone to tell the troupe not to tell anyone, and it seems that she managed to keep Su Zhiwen in the dark as well.
"Grandma Kang, what do you think of their singing?"
Su Qingwan looked at Old Kang and asked with a smile.
Old Kang nodded, "The singing is good, and the opera is well chosen, very good!"
Su Qingwan's smile became even wider.
"As long as Grandmother Kang is satisfied, this is the birthday gift I prepared for you. I was just afraid you wouldn't like it. Now that you said the troupe is good, I feel relieved. It means the money was not wasted. Moreover, I will have them perform for a month in a row to ensure that Grandmother Kang can hear the opera every day and be in a good mood every day!"
She spoke with great joy, with an air of filial piety as she tried to please her elders, but she paid no attention to old Mrs. Kang's face, which was about to crack with anger.
Han Yue sat next to Su Qingwan, listened to her words, and immediately agreed:
"Qingwan, you are so filial! It costs a lot of money to hire a troupe to perform for a month, but it is enough to make Madam Kang happy for a month! This birthday gift is thoughtful and unique. How did you come up with it? It's amazing."
Han Yue's words drew approval from the people around her, especially those ladies who wanted to make friends with Jiang and Madam Han, who all praised them.
"Miss Fourth is a kind-hearted lady. This gift is very creative."
"I heard earlier that the fourth young lady is an extremely intelligent girl. After meeting her today, I found that it is indeed the case."
"When my old lady celebrates her birthday, I will hire a troupe for her for a month. As long as the old lady is happy, it will be a blessing for us, the younger generation."
"That's true, but I'm afraid the good opera troupes in our capital are not divided among the mansions."
"Hehehe..."
Everyone was chatting and laughing with each other, all their words were praising Su Qingwan, and no one noticed that old Kang's face had turned black.
Old Kang was so angry! His whole face fell, the corners of his mouth turned down, and he looked at Su Qingwan with great dissatisfaction.
At this moment, the humming lyrics on the stage and the voices of the ladies praising Su Qingwan mixed together, sounding particularly harsh and extremely unpleasant!
That bitch Su Qingwan sent a very vague gift, not even as good as Su Yuewen and Su Yuewu’s centenary pictures!
The Hundred Longevity Painting was something she had seen, at least, but what about the opera troupe she hired?
It takes a month to hire one, so I might as well exchange the spare money into a gold ruyi as a gift for myself.
When she first saw the opera singers, she thought they were invited by Jiang and was quite satisfied with her arrangement. But now she realized that it was clearly the mother and daughter from the third room who had teamed up to disgust her!
"Jiang, you really raised a good daughter, but you shouldn't spend money like this. It's a waste of our mansion's money."
Old Kang looked at Jiang and scolded her with a stern face.
Su Qingwan would not let Old Kang cause trouble for her mother. She said seriously, "Don't worry, Grandma. The money I paid for the opera troupe was not paid by the Marquis' Mansion."
"Humph! It wasn't from the Marquis' Mansion? You belong to the Marquis' Mansion, and your last name is Su. Which of the copper coins you spent didn't come from the Marquis' Mansion? I was just reminding your mother to teach you more in the future, so that you won't waste money so lavishly in the future. You actually called me for a fight, how audacious!"