Chapter 1862 A Close Call (1)
After the arrival of the Queen, everyone entered the Lixiang Courtyard, which is a special place for entertaining guests in the Duke of Liguo's mansion. A spacious hall can accommodate hundreds of people for dining and sitting.
Because today is the second wife's birthday, there are many female guests. Mo Qingshan is not an official and has no colleagues, so the male guests are only relatives at home, and there are no outsiders. Therefore, the few male guests were arranged in the Ouxiang Pavilion, and the most spacious Lixiang Courtyard in the mansion was given to the female guests.
Entering the Lixiang Courtyard, Caiwei was invited to sit in the main seat, and the old lady Liu sat on her left. Everyone persuaded Bai to sit on the right side to accompany the table. Bai refused again and again. Later, Caiwei said that the birthday star is the oldest, so she reluctantly asked for a seat and sat on the right side of Caiwei to accompany the table.
The rest of the ladies sat down in order of rank. The young ladies sat in the left side room, and the right side was prepared for the servants with face, such as the eight palace maids and eunuchs brought by Caiwei from the palace. Except for Huanqiu and Xiaozhi who served Caiwei, the rest were all invited to the right side room. Several big maids around the old lady, the first lady, the second lady, and the first-class maids around the ladies and young ladies who came were also invited to sit in the right side room.
When sitting down, Juhua was embarrassed. She came with Miss Ning, but Miss Ning sat in the left side room. But she was no longer a lady but a married woman, so she naturally couldn't sit with Ning Huaixiu. But there was no place for her on the side of the lady, and there was nowhere to sit.
Just when she was embarrassed, Caiwei found Juhua. She was very surprised why Juhua was here. Since she was married, it meant that she and Mo Zili were impossible. Logically, the Duke's Mansion should not invite her, but why was she here?
Sensing her awkward situation, Caiwei quietly called Fei'er, who was arranging things on the ground, and asked her to place Chrysanthemum next to Du Shi, so that she would not be pointed at by others.
It was not time to start the banquet yet, and the families who came to pay their respects came forward one after another, presented birthday gifts, and said a few auspicious words of blessing. Second Madam Bai sat on her seat, smiling and responding to everyone's greetings. She had been married to the Duke of Liguo's Mansion for more than 20 years. Although she was the daughter-in-law of the Duke of Liguo's Mansion, she had never been so respectable because her husband was a commoner.
The first person to give a gift was naturally the Queen.
Caiwei gave Bai Shi a fine guqin, which was three feet six inches and five centimeters long, symbolizing the three hundred and sixty-five days of a year, about six inches wide and two inches thick. The lower part of the qin was flat, and the upper part was arc-shaped and convex, symbolizing heaven and earth respectively, corresponding to the saying that the sky is round and the earth is square. The body of the zither is made of the interrupted paulownia wood in the space. The upper end of the paulownia wood is the zither, and the sound is light, while the lower end is the zither, and the sound is turbid, so only the interrupted part is just right for the zither.
The strings are made of silk from Jiangnan, and with the paulownia wood body, the sound is loud and exciting, melodious, and lingering, which is wonderful.
Bai played a few times and immediately won the applause of the whole audience. Some people praised the good sound of the zither, and some praised Bai's good playing of the zither. Caiwei smiled and said, "I heard that my aunt and uncle both like music. I hope this birthday gift from me can satisfy them."
Bai stood up and thanked her, saying, "The zither given by the queen is of excellent quality and beautiful tone. Even the 'Hao Zhong' and 'Rao Liang' are not as good as this!"
Then, the old lady also gave her daughter-in-law a gift, which turned out to be a huge manor outside the capital. The size of the gift was jaw-dropping!
What Madam Wu gave to my younger brother and sister-in-law was a set of jade head-wear with excellent water content. Although it was a bit tacky, it was extremely valuable. If it was placed in the Craftsman's Building, it would definitely not be bought without four or five thousand silver coins. What Fei'er gave was a double-sided embroidered screen that she had embroidered herself. The front side was embroidered with blessings, wealth, longevity and happiness, and the back side was embroidered with bamboo, orchid, plum and chrysanthemum. After several years of unremitting practice, Fei'er's embroidery skills have become more and more advanced. Now there are few people in the entire Great Jin State who can match her embroidery skills. If her double-sided embroidered screen were to be sold outside, the price would definitely not be lower than the set of jade head-wear jewelry given by her mother-in-law...