Jiu Zhang Ji: The Daily Life of the Reborn Daughter

Chapter 2: Skirt-Tent Banquet ()

Qiao Lili and Bai Rouer met, and Bai Rouer was beaten for provoking her, all in a very short period of time. Bai Rouer was still waiting for her sisters to come and protect her, but when she turned around and looked around, she saw that the sisters she had reconnected with had all retreated far away, pretending not to see her being beaten.

No one came to help her. The tears that she had been holding back from the pain suddenly flowed down.

The maids and servants in the Third Princess's mansion quickly pulled her away. She was blocking the second door and crying. People knew that she had been wronged, but those who didn't knew would have thought that the princess's mansion was not holding a banquet but a funeral.

The noble ladies present also thought that Bai Rouer was stupid. When her father was alive, it was just a ruined marquis's mansion, which was incomparable to the powerful Duke Dingguo's mansion. Her father had been dead for more than four years, and what was she now? A family member of an eighth-rank city gate captain, living in a rented courtyard in the north city.

In theory, she had no right to come to the so-called "Princess's Banquet". Everyone knew that she got this opportunity because she flattered the Third Princess every day.

So what if her brother follows the third princess? He is not a prince consort. Even if he is a prince consort, does he have a chance of winning against the legitimate daughter of the Duke's Mansion, the future consort of the Sixth Prince, and the daughter-in-law of Concubine Yun?

Absolutely not.

Since she had the opportunity to come to the banquet, she should just stay there, eat, drink and watch the fun. If she could meet a short-sighted young man and get a chance, it would be even better. But she just couldn't recognize the situation and didn't understand the situation, and ran to Qiao Lili to show her presence.

Is Qiao Lili someone she can provoke, ridicule, or insult?

In this life, I couldn’t do it before, I can’t do it now, and I will definitely not be able to do it in the future.

Those who don't know their place are seeking death. Who wants to be with someone seeking death? Isn't that like a birthday star hanging himself because he thinks his life is too long?

After Bai Rouer was pulled away, Qiao Lili continued to walk forward, with a faint smile on the corners of her lips, rippling on her faint dimples. Her mood was not affected at all. Her words and actions showed that Bai Rouer was like a dog, which ran up to her and barked a few times, and was pulled away by its owner. Then the incident passed without leaving any trace.

"Lili, come and sit here." Qiao Lili looked in the direction the voice came from. The person calling her was Chen Ruxin, the granddaughter of Lord Chen. Sitting with her was Su Shiyun, the youngest daughter of Su Daxueshi of the Hanlin Academy, who also gave her a friendly smile.

Qiao Lili walked over and greeted them, "You two are here early."

Qiao Lili felt that these two people were both familiar and unfamiliar. They were familiar because they always ran into each other at various banquets before and could chat with each other, but they were unfamiliar because seven years had passed between two lifetimes.

For Chen Ruxin and Su Shiyun, they are very familiar with Qiao Lili. The last time they met was at the Lantern Festival.

Disasters occurred frequently in Dayan, and the court originally had no money to hold the Lantern Festival, so the emperor planned to celebrate the New Year without eating anything. However, Concubine Yun said that the more severe the year, the more people wanted to pray for blessings and peace. As long as the court did not prohibit it, the people could hold it however they wanted. It would also increase the income of small vendors and add some color to the lives of ordinary people.

The capital city has received too many disaster victims this year, and the people really need some liveliness to dispel the gloom in their hearts.

The emperor had no choice but to follow Concubine Yun's words. So, Concubine Yun took the lead and made a large lantern with her own money and wrote the name of her shop on it, which was also a form of publicity. Unexpectedly, many merchants followed suit. Some wealthy businessmen also paid for lanterns to promote their own shops or products. It became a fashion for a while.

The result was that this year's Lantern Festival, which did not involve the imperial court, was more grand than any other festival organized with money funded by the imperial court in previous years.

Qiao Lili brought Qiao Zhen that day and ran into Chen Ruxin and Su Shiyun. They traveled together and had fun all night, guessing lantern riddles, winning lanterns, buying snacks, and watching fireworks. The fireworks were set off with money from Concubine Yun, praying for good weather and peace in the new year for Dayan.

When I saw Qiao Lili today, I remembered the happy moment that day, so both of us had smiles on our faces.

"It's been a long time since we last met." Chen Ruxin said while holding Qiao Lili's hand, "No one is holding a banquet on Shangsi Festival." After saying that, she realized that she was wrong. If a banquet was held on Shangsi Festival, it would be called a skirt-tent banquet. She hurriedly stuck out her tongue.

Qiao Lili also smiled and winked at her.

"I was sick at that time, so why not ask you to go for an outing?" Su Shiyun held Qiao Lili's other hand. Qiao Lili felt her hand was a little cold, although she was wearing a lot of clothes.

"Are you not fully recovered yet?" Qiao Lili asked, squeezing her hand.

Su Shiyun blushed when she thought of her illness, and said perfunctorily, "It's okay," and then changed the subject, "Were there a lot of carriages on the road when you came?"

Qiao Lili had a hunch that she might not be able to talk about her illness in front of others, so she stopped worrying and said, "We've been waiting in line for 25 minutes. Did you come together?"

She looked at Chen Ruxin and Su Shiyun, and they nodded: "Yeah, we waited for almost half an hour." The tone of their conversation was just chatting, but they were complaining in their hearts that they didn't arrange the procedures properly for holding a banquet, making so many people wait in the carriage. It was said that they had waited the shortest time.

You are really careless.

"I heard that Zhen'er got into Fengqiao Academy." Su Shiyun was the youngest of the three and had not yet reached marriageable age. He had met Qiao Zhen during the Lantern Festival and liked him very much. "She is so capable at such a young age. She actually got in."

Talking about the academy, Chen Ruxin asked Qiao Lili: "When did you learn how to make snacks? My cousin said that the snacks you sent to the academy were delicious." He and Qiao Zhen were not in the same class, but they learned about it by exchanging snacks with other young masters who knew each other.

Qiao Lili coughed politely but awkwardly, and said hesitantly, "Well, I just learned it, so it doesn't look very good."

The two thought she was just being modest. How could such a pretty person not make good snacks? They didn't believe it. "When you have time, teach us too." So the three of them made a date to make snacks. Qiao Lili thought that maybe she could ask Zhao Luxi to come along that day, as she should be a good snack maker.

A group of noble ladies were chatting together in twos and threes. Although their voices were not loud, it was still very noisy. For some reason, they suddenly became quiet.

The three of them also felt the changes in their surroundings and looked around to see what was happening.

A group of people came over, surrounding a beautiful woman.

The woman was wearing a bright red palace dress, with an intricate bun on her head, her hair covered with pearls and jade, a peony flower on her forehead, and a five-tailed phoenix hairpin in her hair. She looked extremely luxurious and gorgeous.

The person who came was the third princess, Yu Xinyao. She had not yet been given a title, and the Five-tailed Phoenix Hairpin represented her rank.

As the host of the banquet, she should have given an opening speech, something like welcoming everyone to the banquet, but she actually walked straight up to Qiao Lili.

"Miss Qiao is really from a military family. She is very imposing. She beat my guest as soon as she entered the door."