flstandardbreds Chapter 181 Treating Guests to a Show
Chapter 181 Treating Guests to a Show
Pei Heng stayed in the Jingji camp for five days.
During these five days, Qin Chuan would return to the general's mansion every evening to deliver letters.
Pei Heng wrote in the letter that everything went smoothly. Fifty repeating crossbows had been secretly forged, and the military craftsmen had redesigned the arrowheads, doubling the lethality of the repeating crossbows.
At the end of the letter, he also said that he missed her very much after not seeing her for many days.
After reading the letter, Su Li put it away with a faint smile. After thinking for a moment, she picked up her pen and wrote a reply to Pei Heng. She sealed the letter and handed it to Qin Chuan, saying:
"Tell the general to take care of himself in the cold weather. And that everything is fine at home, so there's no need to worry."
"Yes!"
Qin Chuan took the letter and left. Song Zhi personally saw him off. When he returned, he was holding an invitation in his hand and said:
"Madam, it was sent from the Princess's Mansion. They said they would like you to come over for tea and listen to an opera."
"Listen to an opera? What good opera has Your Highness asked someone to write again?" Su Li joked with a smile.
I saw the post tomorrow.
Tomorrow is the day off for Huange'er's college, so it seems the princess has other intentions.
The next morning, Su Li went out with Huan Ge'er and Xi Jie'er.
The Princess's Mansion was majestic and noble. When Su Li arrived, many familiar faces had already arrived at the banquet area.
The chubby Princess Heng, Madam Xie, Old Madam Lin, the wife of Duke Qing, the wife of Duke Yong, even her mother Qin, Song Ci and Xu Jing were all there, in addition to many wives and daughters of dukes and marquises.
As soon as Qin saw her niece, her maternal love overflowed, and she hugged her and coaxed her into feeding her.
As soon as Princess Heng saw Su Li, she ran over, took her hand, and called her "sister."
"Greetings, Princess." Su Li quickly bowed.
Princess Heng waved her hand nonchalantly and said, "We're all family, why are we being so polite? Come, sit here quickly. I asked someone to buy a lot of delicious food from Su Ji. Let's eat together."
Su Li took a look and saw roast duck, roast whole lamb, braised pork elbow, wow, all meat dishes.
No wonder Princess Heng is so plump after eating so much.
Madam Xie on the side said with a smile: "Princess, you don't know, this Su Ji is Madam Pei's property!"
"Ah? It's yours?" Princess Heng wiped her greasy hands on the handkerchief, and pulled Su Li with her eyes shining. "Why didn't you tell me earlier? I was wondering why Su Ji's dishes are so to my taste. No wonder! These dishes are just like people, they're all my favorites! Hahahaha!"
Su Li smiled generously and said, "I didn't know that Princess Heng actually liked Su Ji's dishes. From now on, Princess, please tell me what you want to eat and just put it on my bill."
"That's not possible!"
Princess Heng danced with joy.
She has always loved delicious food. In the past, Prince Heng had great hopes of becoming the emperor, so she had to take care of her image and not eat this or that, and she gave up her appetite.
Now that Prince Heng is deposed, it is good news for her.
Now she no longer has to worry about what others think and can enjoy delicious food and be herself. This is a blessing in disguise.
"Is His Royal Highness Prince Heng feeling better?"
Su Li took the opportunity to ask about King Heng.
"My injuries have almost healed, but here..." Princess Heng tapped her chest with her fat, carrot-like fingers. "I can't get over it! I can't even stand up and I'm sighing all day long!"
Su Li said, "Princess, I happen to have some skills, so I might consider making a prosthetic limb for the prince. Although he won't be able to walk normally, he can still stand up and use a cane to look like a normal person."
"Prosthetic limbs? What are they? Can they really stand up?"
Princess Heng’s eyes widened.
"Mrs. Pei is very clever and the mechanisms she made are extremely ingenious. If she says it will work, it will definitely work!" Mrs. Xie added in support.
Su Li smiled modestly: "Thank you, Madam, for the compliment. Su Li doesn't deserve it. Princess, I will go to the palace another day to measure the prince's size."
"Good! Good!"
Princess Heng was so happy that she kept stuffing her fist-sized elbows into Su Li's hands.
"Eat it quickly! It won't taste good if it gets cold."
As they were chatting and laughing, they saw the wife of Marquis Jinyuan, the second aunt, and Gu walk in from the entrance, followed by Tuan'er and Bing'er.
Xie An, who was standing aside, had been unable to sit still for a long time. When he saw his old enemy, he gave Huan Ge'er a look and ran away with him.
The Marquis's family had been cooped up in the mansion for days, with excrement thrown at them daily and people from the Lin family beating them when they went outside. Today, the concubines unexpectedly received an invitation from the eldest princess, inviting them to come to watch a play. The princess's chief official was sent to personally welcome them out.
The Marquis twisted her waist, adjusted her hair bun, and said proudly:
"Even if it's the Princess, so what? She still has to lower herself to make amends for us for the sake of the Imperial Concubine. Let's be generous and not make a fuss about it."
Seeing Old Lady Lin glaring at them from a distance, Madam Hou said again:
"Look, even Madam Lin is here. The Princess is probably trying to give us a way out and reconcile our two families. After all, in Shengjing City, every family has been related for three generations! Forget it, forget it. They've already done this much. When they come to apologize later, we'll just turn a blind eye and let it go."
Second aunt and Mrs. Gu nodded in agreement.
As soon as the three of them entered, everyone present covered their mouths and noses and silently made way for them.
The Marquis's wife walked over arrogantly, thinking that everyone was afraid of her current status.
However, there were also a group of ladies who, like flies smelling stinky shit, swarmed towards the Marquis' wife when they saw her.
There is no doubt that these people's families are all members of Prince Jing's party.
"Why did the princess invite her here?"
"That's right. The Lin and Pei families have fallen out, and they're getting together again today. Nothing will happen, right?"
"Do you want to avoid it?"
"Why are you avoiding it? Isn't this better than the play on the stage?"
"I heard that the Lin family threatened to beat you up every time we see you!"
"After all, the Pei family has the Imperial Concubine and Prince Jing behind them, but what does the Lin family have behind them? I heard that Concubine Li is having a hard time in the palace right now. Alas, she didn't give birth to a prince. If Concubine Li had given birth to a prince with her favor, how could the Lin family be in such a predicament today?"
"That's not certain. Even if someone as noble as the Queen gave birth to a prince, wouldn't she still end up like that?"
"Shh! Are you trying to kill yourself? How dare you say such things!"
"Why wouldn't I be afraid? There's a play going on in Xichun Tower for days. Although the names and dynasties have been obscured, the concubine's surname is Wen, the murdered wife's surname is Lu, and the eldest son's surname is Li. Isn't the allusion obvious?"
"I've watched that play, and it's quite similar. Could it be that Empress Lu and the eldest prince were really harmed by Concubine Wen?"
"Well, I didn't say that!"
"..."
"Oh, right, they also said that the eldest son had a posthumous child! So, the eldest prince has another child?"
"Guess, keep guessing!"
A group of women gathered together, gossiping one after another, from the feud between Marquis Jinyuan and the Lin family to the feud between Empress Lu and Concubine Wen.
Su Li listened silently, and she finally understood why the eldest princess invited so many people here today.
It's really a show!
But what you are watching is not the play on the stage, but the play off the stage!