She loses if she divorces, the reborn mistress only divorces her husband

At one o'clock in the afternoon, the birthday banquet officially began.

The servants and maids in the marquis's mansion brought trays and served the dishes.

When holding a birthday banquet, the dishes are what directly reflect the host's reputation.

The appetizers consist of eight cold dishes, four meat and four vegetable. They should be served on plates of the same color, with the meat and vegetables separated.

As a result, when they were put on display, the discs were of different colors and specifications, which looked very disorderly.

The smile on Madam Qin's face disappeared immediately. This was a slap in the face right from the start.

The customer looked a little disgusted, but still picked up his chopsticks to save face.

As a result, as soon as the dish entered their mouths, the expressions on their faces showed the same evaluation: it was difficult to swallow.

Qin Changzhou looked at the reactions of the people around him and felt a little nervous. He picked up a piece of shredded chicken with chopsticks and almost choked on it because it was too salty.

I took another bite of the vegetarian white mushrooms, and the taste was terrible, like leftovers from the previous night.

He swallowed it with difficulty, his face gloomy. Just as he was about to ask Li Jingwan, a hot dish of steamed fish was served.

People in the capital love to eat fish, and every banquet will have several fish-related dishes.

Among them, steaming is the best way to reflect the quality of the fish, because steaming mainly brings out the freshness of the fish, the method is simple, and less seasoning is used.

As soon as he saw the fish, Qin Changzhou's face turned even worse.

The fish was only slightly bigger than his palm and looked particularly shabby when placed on the large plate. He could smell a pungent earthy odor without even moving his chopsticks.

"What's wrong with these dishes?" Qin Changzhou gritted his teeth and asked Li Jingwan in a low voice, "How did you prepare them?"

Li Jingwan said with a smile, "My Lord, I am responsible for selecting the dishes, but I am not responsible for cooking. The ingredients and the cooks are all decided by the old lady, and Mother Zhang is fully responsible."

Every time there was a banquet in the Marquis' Mansion, Old Madam Qin would arrange for Mother Zhang to assist.

Mother Zhang always took advantage of the opportunity to gain benefits, but Li Jingwan was always watching her, so she didn't dare to go too far.

Moreover, once Li Jingwan found something wrong, she would immediately remedy it. With her personal involvement, every banquet was a success without any mistakes.

This time, she didn't want to worry anymore and let Zhang's mother do whatever she wanted.

Sure enough, without her supervision, Mother Zhang became greedy and made a lot of money. She took kickbacks on the ingredients and did not hire the famous chefs she used to. So naturally the dishes were a mess.

Mother Zhang originally thought that Li Jingwan would cover for her as usual, but when she saw the dark faces of Old Madam Qin and Qin Changzhou, she realized that she had gotten into big trouble.

She subconsciously wanted to put the blame on Li Jingwan, but Li Jingwan spoke first.

"Mother Zhang, is this what you do? You always tell me it's okay, but the money keeps flowing out. Where does it go?"

Mother Zhang turned pale with fear. Qin Changzhou was about to scold her, but Old Madam Qin said, "If you have anything to say, let's talk about it in private. Outsiders are watching."

"My Lord, it's time to toast." Li Jingwan reminded.

Qin Changzhou was helpless. He glared at Mother Zhang fiercely before standing up.

As the two men toasted each table, the dishes were served one after another, and the dissatisfaction and disgust on the guests' faces became more and more intense.

Some guests simply put down their chopsticks and didn't want to eat a single bite.

Qin Changzhou pretended not to see it, smiled dryly and toasted, thanking everyone for coming and asking for forgiveness for the poor hospitality.

He hated Mother Zhang in his heart and also blamed Li Jingwan for her incompetence.

Li Jingwan's face was calm. When she passed by Yao's table, Yao pulled her aside and asked quietly what was wrong with the dishes and if she needed help.

She could ask the restaurant to send some good food over.

"No need, mother." Li Jingwan shook her head slightly, "Don't worry about it. I don't care about this anyway."

Yao was already unhappy with the Marquis's decision to adopt Li Jingwan, and when she heard her daughter say this, she was even more certain that she was hurt, and she looked even worse at Qin Changzhou who came to toast her.

When others saw this, they all guessed that the general's mansion was not satisfied with this son-in-law.

After toasting with gritted teeth, Qin Changzhou gave Butler He a look, asking him to proceed to the next step.

Butler He understood and had two chairs carried and placed in front of the yard. All the guests looked over and talked in low voices.

"This is going to be adopted."

"Really? Doesn't Qin Changzhou already have a son? Why did he adopt eldest brother's son as the eldest son?"

"I think the Li family is not satisfied. Madam Li doesn't look happy."

"That's troublesome. If the Li family doesn't use their connections to get the eldest son out of the family, the clan office won't make him the crown prince."

"It's too early to adopt a child now. What if Li Jingwan gives birth to a son in the future?"

"It is said that they were born out of wedlock and adopted by Li Jingwan. It was really a step to heaven."

......

Amid the murmurs of the crowd, an elder from the Qin family came up to the stage. His hair and beard were all white, but his voice was loud and clear.

"Thank you all for attending the birthday banquet of Marquis Wu'an. As the elder of the Qin family, I have been entrusted to make an announcement."

"The wife of Marquis Wu'an has been childless for many years, and she loves the children of the late Crown Prince Qin Chongxiao very much. Therefore, she chose to double the happiness on Marquis Wu'an's birthday and adopted the children of the first wife under her name."

"So next, I will preside over the adoption ceremony, and all the distinguished guests will serve as witnesses."

After he finished speaking, he took the lead in applauding, and sparse applause broke out from below, mainly from the Qin family.

The distinguished guests of the Yao and Li families did not move. They just looked at the stage expressionlessly. Their attitudes were very clear, so naturally the other guests did not dare to applaud.

Li Jingwan walked forward with a smile and sat in the main seat with Qin Changzhou.

Then, Qin Guangyao and Qin Lingyun also went up and stood on both sides of the main seat, one on the left and one on the right, with happy faces.

Looking at this scene, Tang Qiaoyin felt extremely sad.

It was clearly her turn to sit there, but Li Jingwan took her seat.

According to the adoption process, the clan elders began to introduce Qin Lingyun and her siblings.

"Qin Lingyun, the daughter of the late prince Qin Chongxiao of Wu'an Marquis's mansion, is fourteen years old and virtuous. Her son Qin Guangyao is eleven years old..."

As he was speaking, a loud male voice suddenly rang out.

"That's not right. Qin Guangyao and Qin Lingyun are his children. Why do they need to be adopted?"

This voice broke the silence of the adoption ceremony and everyone looked over.

I saw a man and a woman standing on one side of the yard. Judging from their attire, they should be civilians and both of them had dark skin.

The man had a rough appearance and spoke with a distinct northwestern accent.

When Qin Changzhou saw the two men, he was stunned at first, and then his whole body was shocked.

Qin Guangyao and his sister, as well as Tang Qiaoyin, all had expressions of panic on their faces.