The second year of the Qianyuan calendar in the Dayue Dynasty
It is the time when spring is warm and flowers are blooming. It turns warm and cold, the breeze blows, the flower branches sway gently, and the light fragrance of flowers floats in the air.
The morning light dews slightly, and the east side is glowing with fish belly white.
The servants of Changning Bo Mansion have begun to be busy, shuttling back and forth in various courtyards, and the manor is gradually becoming lively.
A quiet and elegant courtyard on the west side was completely quiet, with no servants walking around in the huge courtyard.
On the large carved bed in the inner room, the sleeping Jiang Ningbao slowly opened her eyes. Her eyes were beautiful, her appearance was delicate and flawless, her temperament was weak and pure, and she looked pitiful and pitiful.
“It’s actually a book?”
Jiang Ningbao lifted up the thin quilt on her body and sat on the edge of the bed, her eyebrows slightly furrowed, her eyes flashed with shock and disbelief. After sitting quietly for a long time, she opened the gauze curtain and got out of bed wearing only a single piece of clothing. She put on embroidered shoes, casually The waist-length hair is **** with a hair tie.
At this time, the door creaked open, and a figure wearing crow-green armor appeared in the room softly. Seeing that the person in the inner room was awake, his voice was filled with surprise.
“Girl, are you awake?”
Jiang Ningbao glanced at the visitor, showed a faint smile, nodded slightly, stepped forward to take the toothbrush made of willow branches, dipped it in tooth powder made of medicinal materials and began to rinse his mouth.
After gargling, Jiang Ningbao started washing her face.
Looking at the delicate face reflected in the water in the copper basin, Jiang Ningbao was slightly startled. After watching it for more than ten years, she was still not used to this weak and beautiful face.
In her previous life, Jiang Ningbao had a bright appearance and a flamboyant temperament. Who would have thought that after the pregnancy, her appearance would go to the other extreme and she would turn into a frail beauty.
Even if she is angry, she looks like a beautiful woman.
Such an appearance is the easiest to gain pity from men and breed jealousy in women.
Jiang Ningbao sighed softly and stopped looking at his face reflected in the water. He washed his face skillfully and took the towel handed over by the maid to wipe it clean. The maid next to him showed a forced smile and whispered: “Girl, breakfast It’s your favorite shredded chicken porridge.”
After saying that, the maid lowered her head and quickly took out the shredded chicken porridge in the food box.
The shredded chicken porridge is very fragrant, and it can be seen that the chef is very good at making porridge.
As the eldest daughter of the second eldest son of the Changning House, Jiang Ningbao has worn silk and satin and eaten delicacies from the mountains and seas. But that was once, since three years ago, when her parents went to the clan to worship their ancestors, they were robbers and fell into the cliff. Her life and death were unknown. , her meal portions decreased day by day.
Especially in the past few days, breakfast has only been a bowl of porridge.
Fortunately, the porridge is still made by the chef who is best at making porridge in the house.
Thinking of the memory he received last night, Jiang Ningbao’s mouth felt cold. He sat at the table and slowly drank the shredded chicken porridge. After finishing the bowl of shredded chicken porridge, it was already bright outside.
“Girl, today is the fifteenth day. You should go to Shojin Hall to pay your respects to the old lady.” The maid glanced at the sky, cleared the table, and reminded in a low voice.
Jiang Ningbao nodded slightly when he heard the maid’s reminder. The first and fifteenth day of every month are the days to go to Shojin Hall to pay respects to the old lady.
“Chunxi, go get that lake blue dress.”
Jiang Ningbao put on a flying bun, put on a lake blue dress, and tied a delicate purse around her waist. The maid quickly took out several pieces of exquisite jewelry from the box and put them on the young lady.
The whole person looks delicate and beautiful.
“Let’s go to Shoujin Hall.”
The master and servant left the courtyard and walked through the corridor and garden. Groups of pretty maids in crow-green armor saluted Jiang Ningbao respectfully.
After Jiang Ningbao passed by, they started talking quietly.
“I heard that the fourth girl and the Crown Prince’s marriage is in doubt.”
“If the second master and the second young lady were still here, the fourth girl would not be reduced to this.”
“Actually, the fourth girl’s treatment is pretty good, but the portion of the meal has been reduced. The old lady is kind-hearted and has already given the second young lady’s dowry to the fourth girl.”
“After all, the four girls are all the fiancées of the Crown Prince’s son. The masters will not go too far. It’s just that the rumors outside are too ridiculous. The crown prince should not break off the engagement for the legitimate daughter of Marquis Anyuan.”
“It’s hard to say. The status of the fourth girl is not as good as that of the eldest daughter of the Anyuan Hou Mansion. The eldest lady will definitely not be inferior to the fourth girl.”
“That’s true. Now everyone in the capital is staring at our uncle’s house.”
“…”
Jiang Ningbao didn’t pay attention to the comments of the maids, and walked all the way towards Shojin Hall. When he arrived at the door of the main room of Shojin Hall, he met Jiang Mingyao, the only fifth daughter of the big house who had not been engaged.
Jiang Mingyao nodded slightly towards Jiang Ningbao with a cold voice.
“Fourth sister.”
The fifth girl, Jiang Mingyao, is a beauty with delicate eyebrows and cool temperament. She is only one month younger than Jiang Ningbao. She is surrounded by a group of glamorous servants. There is no trace of pride or arrogance in her eyebrows.
“Fifth sister.” Jiang Ningbao replied with a soft smile, looking delicate and timid, making people feel pitiful.
Two concubines met. One side had many maids and servants, shouting in front of them, and the other side had only two lonely masters and servants.
This obvious difference in treatment is depressing.
Jiang Ningbao didn’t care. She didn’t like to be served by too many people. Since her parents had an accident three years ago, most of the servants in the house have moved on to other places.
The only person left by her side was Chunxi, the maid.
The little maid at the door raised the curtain and said respectfully: “You two girls, please come in.”
Jiang Mingyao glanced at the timid and weak fourth sister, frowned almost imperceptibly, looked away, and waited for her to enter the house with a calm expression, then moved to follow her in.
Mrs. Jiang of Chang Ningbo has never been fond of concubines and concubines. The only ones who can go to Shojin Hall to pay respects are the legitimate granddaughters who have two wives. Except for the younger ones, all the legitimate children are studying in the academy or going to the government office on errands.
As early as a year ago, after Dafang’s eldest daughter got married, the only people who came to Shoujin Hall to pay their respects were Jiang Ningbao and Jiang Mingyao, as well as the eldest lady in the mansion.
In the main hall, sandalwood scent lingers.
Mrs. Jiang was sitting in the high hall, wearing a dark purple dress with scattered flowers. Her silver hair was meticulously combed back into a bun. She had a kind face. If it hadn’t been for the flash of light in her eyes, anyone would have thought she was a woman. A kind-hearted old lady.
Beside her stood a dignified and elegant middle-aged beautiful woman with shrewd features. She was Zhang, the eldest lady of the Changning House, Jiang Mingyao’s mother.
Jiang Ningbao held up the hem of her skirt and slowly walked forward to curtsy to Mrs. Jiang who was sitting in the seat.
“Ning Bao has met my grandmother, my aunt.”
Jiang Mingyao also stepped forward to say hello with a cold expression.
“Mingyao greets my grandmother and my mother.”
Mrs. Jiang looked at the two granddaughters with different temperaments below and smiled kindly. She especially valued Jiang Mingyao, the fifth girl in the eldest room.
With a smile on her face, Mrs. Jiang asked about Jiang Mingyao’s current situation, nodded with satisfaction, and then turned to Jiang Ningbao. Mrs. Jiang couldn’t help frowning at this delicate and flawless granddaughter who looked frail and fragile.
She actually doesn’t like this granddaughter very much. Every time she sees Jiang Ningbao, it reminds the old lady of the group of beautiful, weak and favored concubines in the old uncle’s backyard when she was young.
But this granddaughter is lucky and has made a good marriage since she was a child.
It has brought a lot of benefits to the Changning House. Now that her marriage has changed, it is difficult to say whether she can save it. Even if she can save it, the position of the head wife may be given up to others. Mrs. Jiang has a complicated expression. He glanced at Jiang Ningbao and spoke softly.
“Fourth girl, you don’t need to pay attention to the random rumors outside. Grandma will definitely make the decision for you. No one can bully the girls of our uncle’s house.”
“What mother said is that, fourth girl, please relax, your marriage will be fine.” The eldest lady Zhang on the side couldn’t help but comforted her.
If anyone in the house least hopes for an accident in Jiang Ningbao’s marriage, it is the eldest lady.
The Changning House is a declining noble family with empty titles but no real power.
The men in the family have low official positions.
In the early years, the eldest lady, the wife of the uncle’s house, was left out in the cold among a group of noble ladies. After Jiang Ningbao’s fiancé was adopted and given to Duke Ding, the noble ladies who had ostracized and neglected her in the past began to make friends with her.
As a result, the eldest daughter married into the Hou family.
The eldest lady, who has enjoyed the sweetness, certainly does not want her niece’s marriage to change, especially when her uncle is busy trying to find an official position for her legitimate second son.
In fact, the eldest lady, like Mrs. Jiang, did not like the delicate and charming Jiang Ningbao, who looked weak and fragile. Therefore, she acquiesced to the servants to reduce the treatment of her second wife and legitimate daughter, but she would not go too far.
Mrs. Jiang also knew about this, but turned a blind eye.
The frosty Jiang Mingyao next to Jiang Ningbao rarely showed a look of pity. It was not a good thing for the fourth sister’s marriage, which everyone envied, to be stared at by too many people.
The Anyuan Hou Mansion was powerful, but the Changning Bo Mansion declined.
Let’s see how Duke Dingguo decides.
In her opinion, the marriage between the fourth sister and the eldest son of Duke Dingguo might go wrong.
Jiang Ningbao smiled slightly and nodded meekly: “Thank you, grandma, aunt.” Her drooped eyelids concealed a flash of coldness. She did not believe that Mrs. Jiang and aunt would make the decision for her.
As soon as he woke up, he suddenly learned that he was a vicious female supporting character in a book. Jiang Ningbao has now recovered and naturally knows the follow-up development of the Peach Blossom Banquet. Duke Dingguo’s mansion will send someone to cancel the engagement until the old lady and the eldest lady know about it. With the attractive compensation offered by the Duke’s Mansion, he couldn’t wait to help her cancel the marriage.
At this time, there was a maid outside reporting.
“Old madam, eldest madam, Butler Zhao from Dingguo Palace wants to see you.”
As soon as these words came out, the atmosphere in the main room suddenly fell into an eerie silence.
Jiang Mingyao glanced at the fourth sister beside her, a rare hint of worry appeared on her cold and pretty face.
Dingguo Gongfu may have bad intentions.
Jiang Ningbao suddenly felt something in her heart. Thinking of the plot in the book, she secretly thought that it was a coincidence. It seemed that today was the day when Duke Dingguo came to cancel the engagement. She lowered her eyelids, and a dark light flashed under her eyes.