Chapter 444: Princess Wei’s Birthday Banquet (1)
Having the best ideas in the world alone is not enough. One needs to have the resolution to give up something in order to make ideas a long-term reality.
Manager Qin admired his mistress a lot for this quality of hers. If he had been the one to come up with this idea, he wouldn’t have the generosity to give away forty percent of the profits just like that.
Manager Qin noted down all of Chu Lian’s instructions for him.
“Also, I want to be there for the opening day.”
Manager Qin was happy about that, of course. It was going to be a very important day; the culmination of all of his efforts over the past few days. If he were to get Chu Lian’s approval from this, that would make him even prouder and more satisfied compared to getting ten percent of the profits.
Before all these events, there had been something else important happening in the capital: Princess Wei’s birthday. It was on the the day right before the eve of the New Year.
Although Prince Wei’s Estate had always been favoured by the Emperor, both Prince and Princess Wei remained as low-key and humble as possible. It was also precisely because they didn’t go around flaunting or boasting of their favour that they were able to remain in the good graces of the Emperor.
Princess Wei usually kept it quiet for her birthday and would only hold a small family banquet in their estate. Her birthday was so close to the end of the year anyway, so she didn’t want to disrupt the New Year celebrations of the other noble houses. However, this year was different, because it was Princess Wei’s fortieth birthday.
Even before her birthday had come, even the Empress Dowager in the palace had instructed her to host a large celebration this year, let alone her husband.
Royal Princess Duanjia was in her mother’s room right now, writing invitations together with her.
“Mother, Chu Liu isn’t around now. What are you doing, inviting those people from House Jing’an!” Royal Princess Duanjia pouted, showing her displeasure on her face. She didn’t like a single person from that house except for Chu Liu and He Erlang.
Princess Wei petted her daughter’s hair helplessly, “You’re already fifteen. If not for your father and I wanting to keep you with us for two more years, you’d be married by now. How are you still so rash when it comes to these social matters?”
Royal Princess Duanjia continued pouting, “Mother, you’re still nagging at me! It’s not that I don’t understand what you mean, but I just can’t see eye to eye with that Madam Jing’an! Did you forget what happened at the mid-autumn banquet?”
“Alright, that’s enough. We’re just inviting them for a meal. Even if you don’t like them, they’re Jinyi’s in-laws. Since you like Jinyi so much, you’ll have to get along with House Jing’an if you want to keep associating with her.”
Royal Princess Duanjia rolled her eyes, “Fine! Mother knows best!”
Thus, House Jing’an received an invite from Prince Wei’s Estate the next day.
Even though Princess Wei was hosting a large celebration this year, it was still very low-key compared to other members of the imperial clan. There were only ten or so noble houses who received invites, so these invites were extremely precious. They were a mark of association with Prince Wei’s Estate.
House Jing’an wouldn’t receive an invite normally, since their house didn’t have any connections with Prince Wei’s Estate. However, thanks to Chu Lian, Princess Wei had sent House Jing’an an invite this time.
Those who didn’t know about Princess Wei’s connection with Chu Lian would think that it was House Jing’an’s prestige that had earned them an invite. He Ying was one of them.
Matriarch He was extremely happy about receiving an invite and took it very seriously. She immediately ordered Senior Servant Liu to prepare the gifts. He Ying pleaded with her mother for half a day before the matriarch finally agreed to bring her and her daughter to Princess Wei’s birthday banquet.
If not for the lack of other female family members to accompany her, since her daughter-in-law was still bedridden and her granddaughters-in-law weren’t present, Matriarch He wouldn’t have agreed to bringing He Ying and Miss Pan so easily.
On the morning of Princess Wei’s birthday, He Ying and her daughter got up early to prepare.
The two of them were staying in a side room in Qingxi Hall now. Matriarch He had given them some of her maidservants to serve them and all of the maidservants had been trained well, so their standard of living was much better than before.
Eldest Madam and her daughter, Miss Pan, had brought a maidservant each back from Siyang. The one serving He Ying was called Qiuyun and the other serving Miss Pan was called Pinglu.
Pinglu was older than Qiuyan by a year and was already sixteen this year. She was small and frail-looking. Apparently, she had been trained as a female escort before entering the estate as a maidservant.
Once mother and daughter were both dressed up, they went to Matriarch He’s bedroom in Qingxi Hall together. Matriarch He inspected their dressing and accessories personally and made sure that there was nothing offensive about them before leading them to the carriage that would take them to Prince Wei’s Estate.
The entrance at Prince Wei’s Estate was currently filled with arriving guests. The young royal princes were standing at the door to welcome their guests, along with Princess Wei’s trusted senior servant and court ladies.
It was Pan Nianzhen’s first time attending such a grand banquet, so she was a little timid. Once she was helped out of the carriage by a maidservant, she kept her head low and followed right behind her mother and grandmother, imitating their every step.
When Princess Wei’s trusted senior servant, Senior Servant Lan, noticed that House Jing’an’s matriarch had arrived, she walked towards their party with a welcoming smile.
“This old servant greets the matriarch. It’s already the end of the year, but our house has troubled Matriarch He to make the trip all the way here. Princess Wei was still telling this old servant last night that she feels guilty for it!”
Senior Servant Lan had a rank as a court lady in the palace, as she acted as Princess Wei’s subordinate. With her rank, she didn’t actually have to bow towards the madams of the various noble houses. She was treating House Jing’an’s party with respect purely due to Princess Wei’s affection for Chu Lian.