Duke Jing's younger sister

Chapter 141 Insult you?

"No, that's not what I meant."

Zou immediately shook her head to deny it, but a hint of disdain flashed across her eyes.

In other words, Zou felt that she had the ability to manage the Jiang family well.

She smiled faintly, "I still don't know how to address you now. Is it considered overstepping the boundaries for me to address you as Madam Zou?"

Zou shook her head. "Miss, you are now the daughter of the Shen family. You can call me whatever you want."

Is this a subtle criticism that she has no right to interfere in the Jiang family's affairs?

Shen Li pursed her lips, her smile was so light that it didn't reach her eyes.

"Excuse me, Madam Zou, after my father moves into the mansion given by His Majesty, what should we do if we want to hold a housewarming party?"

Zou thought for a moment and said, "I will write a letter and send it to the officials' residences in the city to invite them to come."

“When should the post be sent? How should the list be selected?”

"The list... is decided by the master, so the sooner the post is sent, the better."

Shen Li curled her lips lightly, "Okay, then if guests come, how will you entertain them?"

"How else can we entertain you? Just serve you good wine and delicious food."

Zou was dissatisfied, thinking that she was being underestimated. Taking care of people's food and drink was what she was best at.

Shen Li looked at Jiang Minzhi, "Father, did you hear that?"

There are many nobles in Jiangdu City, so naturally there are many rules.

If you want to invite guests to your home for a banquet, you need to send a total of three invitations.

The first invitation will be sent to the guest's house three days before the banquet. At the same time, the servant will bring back a reply to indicate whether he will attend the banquet that day.

If the guest agrees to attend the banquet, the second invitation will be delivered to the guest's home early in the morning of the banquet day.

The third dish will be delivered to the guest’s residence two hours before the banquet begins.

"Is it so troublesome just to send the invitation?" Zou's face changed slightly and she murmured in a low voice.

Although the voice was small, Shen Li heard every word clearly.

"Mrs. Zou is right. There is more trouble than that."

Shen Li raised the corner of her lips slightly and continued,

“When serving dishes, the salty ones should be served first, the light ones later; the thick ones should be served first, the thin ones later; the ones without soup should be served first, the ones with soup later.”

At a banquet, no matter which dish is served first or later, there are different rules and sayings for it.

For aristocratic families, having a good mistress is like a flock of sheep having a leader, which enables the flock to move more steadily and safely.

But if this leader is self-willed and ignorant, the consequences for the Jiang family can be imagined.

"It's not just about sending invitations, but also about serving good wine and delicious food as you said. There are many rules and regulations. If you are not careful, you will lose face for your father."

"So, do you still think that I am insulting you when I say that you are not worthy of being the mistress of the Jiang family?"

Shen Li's voice was clear, like the gurgling of a mountain stream in spring, mixed with a chill that penetrated into the bone marrow.

To be fair, she had no prejudice against Zou, and was even grateful to her for taking good care of her father in Liangzhou for six years.

However, the mistress of the Jiang family, Zou, is really not up to the task.

Jiang Minzhi looked a little unhappy, and felt a little dissatisfied with Shen Li. He whispered,

"These are all trivial matters. Just because she doesn't understand now doesn't mean she won't understand in the future. You should teach her more. As long as she is willing to make progress and work hard, there is nothing she can't learn."

Zou nodded immediately, "Master, rest assured, I will study hard."

Zou knew clearly that as long as Jiang Minzhi was determined to make her his wife, even Shen Li would be helpless.

Besides, what position does she have to object?

It seems that Jiang Minzhi has made up his mind.

Shen Li lowered her eyes. Having said this, there was no point in saying more.

Even among close relatives, there are always times when they disagree.

He is the father and she is the daughter. If her father insists on doing so, what can she do?

He only considered that the young girl in his arms could not become a concubine's daughter.

Have you ever considered that she and Jiang Cheng are both unmarried?

She compromised and said, "Father, I've said it before, you can make the decision yourself."

Shen Li's eyes fell on the little girl in his arms. The girl looked 50% similar to Jiang Minzhi.

She felt a little lost.

From the moment she entered the door until now, her father hadn't even touched her.

At this moment, the three of them were having a great time sitting opposite her, and she was like an outsider.

Several steady footsteps were heard in the courtyard, and after a moment, two people came in while talking, lifting the curtain.

The man leading the group was tall and thin with a handsome face. He was her elder brother Jiang Cheng.

Behind him followed a young man wearing a dark blue robe embroidered with silver patterns. He was very pretty, with a handsome face and a pair of beautiful peach blossom eyes.

Shen Beiqi was not surprised when he saw her in the room.

But he keenly noticed that there was a hint of gloom between her brows.

He suppressed his thoughts and bowed to Jiang Minzhi who was holding the child, "Junior Shen Hengzhi, greeting Uncle Jiang."

Shen Hengzhi?

A trace of panic flashed across Jiang Minzhi's face. He immediately stood up and pushed his daughter in his arms to Zou's side.

He took two steps forward and lifted Shen Beiqi up with both hands.

"You can't do that. The Duke is a high-ranking official in our dynasty. How can you perform a salute to Jiang?"

Jiang Cheng frowned slightly, opened his mouth, but said nothing.

Shen Beiqi paused for a moment and then said,

"You are my elder. I have known Brother Jiang for more than ten years, so I should call you uncle. You deserve this courtesy."

Facing his future father-in-law, Shen Beiqi rarely suppressed his coldness and was respectful in his attitude and sincere in his tone.

He glanced sideways, glancing vaguely at Shen Li beside him.

Seeing that she still had a frown on her face, I wondered what she was thinking about.

In fact, he had known that Jiang Minzhi had a daughter in Liangzhou several years ago.

It was because Jiang Cheng was afraid that she was sensitive and wanted to hide it that he did not tell Shen Li the truth.

At that time, the Jiang family was convicted and the situation in the court was unclear. It was still unknown whether the Jiang family would ever be rehabilitated, so it was understandable that they kept it from her.

He wanted to tell her the truth last night, but after thinking it over, he decided not to.

Because she had already cried last night, he really didn't want to cause her any more trouble.

Jiang Minzhi asked Shen Beiqi to sit down, and spoke to him carefully while keeping his waist slightly bent.

During his eight years in Liangzhou, he went from being arrogant and looking down on others to later treating even the small soldiers in the quarry with respect.

Looking at the hard stones of various sizes all over the field, he often wondered how such hard stones could be ground into powder.

Not to mention the human spine.

Over time, this submissive way of treating others has become a habit.

What's more, the person standing in front of him was Shen Beiqi, the Duke of Jingguo who was a powerful figure in Southern Wu.

During the conversation between the two, Zou spoke up at the right time.

"It is a great honor for Lord Shen to visit my humble abode. If you don't mind the bland food and wine, why don't you stay and have a simple meal?"