Zhou Tongyun's insult of calling the young lady of the Marquis of Liyang Mansion, the future Fourth Prince's consort, a "pauper" shocked the noble ladies around them.
The ladies turned their gazes towards the two sisters of the Chu family.
Today, Chu Tianjiao was wearing a deep red waist-cinching pomegranate skirt with twelve panels, fully embroidered with butterfly patterns.
This skirt alone would cost at least 100 taels of silver at the Elegant Embroidery Hall.
How was that poor?
Oh, right, the Elegant Embroidery Hall was her sister-in-law's dowry shop, and she said the clothes were from her family.
That doesn't count.
Looking at Chu Tianjiao's head, a simple phoenix hairpin was adorned with several oriental pearls, its value no less than Ye Tinglan's peacock hairpin.
Is this a pauper? Then what are we?
Oh, wait, the phoenix hairpin on Chu Tianjiao's head was clearly a palace style. She said it was bestowed by the palace.
We'd love to be such "paupers" too!
While the onlookers were assessing themselves, Chu Tianjiao took out a handkerchief and rubbed her eyes hard, actually making them turn red.
Who can't cry? Is that so special?
"Wuwuwu, our Chu family is indeed poor!" Chu Tianjiao wailed without any transition, her performance quite stiff.
Fortunately, her voice was loud enough to have an impact!
The entire flower hall fell silent, and even the ladies who were originally chatting with Lady Sun came over to see what was happening.
The Marquis of Liyang Mansion, a century-old noble family, and their eldest daughter was crying poor in public. This was quite the shocking news!
Chu Tianjiao began her enthusiastic performance. Although her acting skills were questionable, her emotions seemed genuine:
"My father is fighting the Western Rong at the frontlines, and all the money from home has been sent to the front to supplement the soldiers' rations and fodder."
"If my father knew that while he was shedding blood on the battlefield, his daughter was being called a pauper back home, how heartbroken would he be?"
The Duke of Wuning's daughter-in-law, who had just arrived and learned of the situation, embraced Chu Tianjiao and comforted her:
"Jiao'er, don't be sad. Do those who call you a pauper understand the greater good for the country? Do they comprehend the noble character of the Marquis of Liyang who sacrifices his small family for the greater good of all?"
Chu Tianjiao buried her face in the daughter-in-law's embrace, her shoulders shaking as if sobbing uncontrollably.
After a while, she raised her head and spoke to the daughter-in-law as if chatting about family matters:
"Aunt, you don't know, but to save money, our family hasn't allowed us sisters to eat meat for a long time."
"We practice martial arts, how can our bodies withstand not eating meat?"
"Grandmother then asked the kitchen to buy large amounts of pig brains that others don't want, and stew them for us to eat every day."
"Ask my younger sister how she feels about pig brains now?"
Chu Yun'er, who had been confused all along, suddenly heard her elder sister mention pig brains. It triggered the sadness she had felt recently, and her eyes immediately reddened.
In this situation, the surrounding ladies and young misses had no more doubts.
One of the ladies, who happened to be a relative of the Third Madam, Madam Li, exclaimed loudly: "I can testify that the Marquis of Liyang Mansion indeed eats pig brains every day!"
In truth, the nobles of the Capital City rarely ate pig brains, finding them too gamey and unappealingly soft.
The ladies and young misses all cast sympathetic looks at the Chu sisters.
Those who had just been sympathizing with Ye Tinglan now distanced themselves from her and Zhou Tongyun, as if wanting to draw a clear line between them.
Zhou Tongyun was stunned, her mouth agape, her face flushed with embarrassment as she stammered: "I... I... I didn't mean it that way..."
Unfortunately, her "pauper" comment had left too deep an impression, and all the ladies and young misses in the hall were now looking at her with contempt.
Ye Tinglan, who had been holding hands with Zhou Tongyun all along, wanted to pull away but ultimately resisted.
What a pig of a teammate!
Ye Tinglan couldn't distance herself from Zhou Tongyun yet, so she had to find a way to make amends herself.
She had already put the peacock hairpin back in her sleeve, but to salvage her reputation, she gritted her teeth and took it out again.
Ye Tinglan forcefully handed the peacock hairpin to Chu Tianjiao, saying:
"Elder Sister Chu, Zhou sister didn't know about the Marquis of Liyang Mansion's noble character earlier and spoke rashly. Please forgive her."
"This peacock hairpin is a small token from both of us for the soldiers at the front. Please pass it on to the Marquis of Liyang on our behalf."
When Chu Tianjiao didn't accept it, she pushed it to Chu Yun'er instead.
Zhou Tongyun hurriedly took off her own hairpin and handed it to Chu Yun'er as well.
Ye Tinglan's move was quite brilliant.
Even the other ladies and young misses around were inspired and began to generously donate for the frontline soldiers.
Chu Yun'er, looking bewildered, received a large pile of jewelry and bank notes, while her maid brought a tea tray to help collect them.
Is elder sister robbing people?
In fact, this outcome was unexpected even for Chu Tianjiao herself.
However, she was pleased with the result.
After all, the rations allocated by the court for the frontline were always insufficient.
Not only did she make Ye Tinglan pay a price, but she also gained the moral high ground. Chu Tianjiao was very satisfied.
Ye Tinglan's face darkened with pain.
A five-thousand-tael silver peacock hairpin!
If it wasn't for trying to shame Chu Tianjiao that day, she wouldn't have bought such an expensive hairpin!
The Ye family might be wealthy, but that doesn't mean she and her mother were!
Although these five thousand taels weren't from her mother's dowry, they were saved by her mother through frugal living, taken from their household's daily expenses.
The reason for giving it to her was to let her buy some jewelry she liked to add to her dowry.
To avoid her dowry looking too meager when she gets married.
Now that it's been donated, she doesn't know how much her mother will nag her when she gets home.
Fortunately, everyone was busy donating, and no one pursued the matter of the Ye family's wealth anymore. Ye Tinglan breathed a sigh of relief.
Chu Tianjiao, however, was secretly delighted. With this fundraising event, there would surely be court officials submitting memorials to praise these ladies and young misses.
When the emperor inquires about the cause, the matter of the Ye family's wealth will surely leave an impression in the emperor's mind.
Moreover, the shopkeeper of that rare treasure shop had already been sent to the Dark Night Bureau.
The Duke's daughter-in-law invited everyone to be seated.
During the banquet, people kept offering delicacies to the Chu sisters. Chu Tianjiao wanted to say: it's really not necessary.
Not wanting to ruin her newly established "pauper" image, Chu Tianjiao could only eat with her head down.
What she couldn't finish, she passed to Chu Yun'er beside her.
Under her intimidation, Chu Yun'er didn't dare to openly refuse.
After all, her elder sister seemed to have just done something significant, raising a large sum of military funds for their uncle.
Although she didn't understand if their family was truly poor, as a member of the Chu family, she dared not ruin such an important matter.
As a result, even though the sisters had quite an appetite, they ended up stuffed to the brim.
During the meal, everyone took turns toasting Lady Sun.
Chu Tianjiao also had to follow custom and bring Chu Yun'er to the main table to go through the motions.
After saying the toast, Chu Tianjiao was about to leave with Chu Yun'er when Lady Sun grabbed her hand.
"Jiao'er, you must visit the mansion more often in the future. Once you're married, it won't be easy for the Duke to see you."
Lady Sun's mention of Chu Tianjiao's marriage reminded the ladies at the table that the wedding between this eldest daughter of the Chu family and the Fourth Prince had been delayed for quite some time.
Chu Tianjiao felt a bit nauseated by Lady Sun holding her hand and tried to pull away, but found that Lady Sun's grip was quite strong.
"Jiao'er, the Fourth Prince is a dragon among men. After you marry him, you must be careful in serving him. Don't be as unrestrained as you are in your maiden home, resorting to violence at the slightest disagreement. The rules of the royal family are not like... outside."
Lady Sun's words successfully painted Chu Tianjiao as a fierce tigress.
Her final pause made everyone guess that she was mocking the Marquis of Liyang Mansion for raising Chu Tianjiao without proper manners.
This was also due to Chu Tianjiao's previously poor reputation. Among the ladies present, whose sons hadn't been beaten by her when they were young?
Hearing Chu Tianjiao's own grandmother mock her, the ladies' eyes showed a hint of schadenfreude.
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