To Be A Virtuous Wife

32

The Imperial banquets of Da Long Dynasty were always set in Zhao Yang [1] Great Hall. Therefore, the entire hall was very large. Even the decorations were full of grandeur, carrying the intimidation and prestige of the Imperial Family.

In the very front of the hall there was a gold-inlayed dragon and phoenix sandalwood table. Underneath that on the right and left was a row of eight-person square tables. When Qu Qing Ju walked into the Great Hall, she found that everyone sitting on the left side was male and the right side was filled with women. On the first table on the right, there were already people seated. Qu Qing Ju examined them. Both Wei Qing E and Qin Bai Lu were each accompanying a beautiful woman. These two must be Shu guifei and Wen guipin. The pretty woman sitting beside them in plainer attire must be Cheng Wang's birth mother An guipin.

Jing guifei carried a smile as she walked forward and allowed Qu Qing Ju to hold her to sit down on the seat beside Shu guifei. She pointed to the spot next to her, "Erxifu, sit down too."

Qu Qing Ju smiled and bowed to the others. She addressed the others present: "Greetings to Shu guifei, An guipin, Wen guipin." An guipin was Cheng Wang's birth mother and looked like a very gentle woman. She looked similar to her neighbour, Wen guipin but Qu Qing Ju found that An guipin had a very warm visage overall, unlike the warm exterior of Wen guipin.

"Lao er's wife doesn't have to be so courteous, sit down," Shu guifeismiled, "you became sick not long after you married so ben gong hadn't seen you close up before. Now that I've seen you, I understand. Such a good erxifu. No wonder jiejie has hidden you all this time and not let you out."

When Jing guifei hear this, her eyebrow twitch and she gave a thin smile. She divulged sarcastically: "Ben gong's erxifu doesn't like going out all the time. Ben gong can't do anything about it. She's just dull, not like your lao san's. Meimei, don't tease her." She had an erxifu that like fluttering about and joins in everything. She dared to criticize her erxifu, she should look at herself first.

Wanting to pick at the relationship between her and erxifu wasn't that easy!

The smile on Shu guifei's face became uglier by a few fractions. She glanced at Qin Bai Lu who was sitting beside her and, with a mirthless smile, she replied: "Jiejie is too funny. They all come from noble families, they are all virtuous and intelligent."

"That's true," Jing guifei allowed a palace maid to top up her tea. She turned and continued, "Lao san's wife comes from a well-educated family, she must be one of those rare talented girls.

"I don't dare lay claim to talented," Qing Bai Lu stood and bowed, "Jing guifei niangniang is overestimating erxi."

Jing guifei looked at the pale white dress she was wearing and looked at the complicated red tight girdled wide-sleeved dress embroidered with a luan. Even if it was a bit wasteful, for the end of the year, the red did look more celebratory.

An guipin silently watched and occasionally sipped tea. Her own erxifu hadn't married in yet, she wasn't as high in status as these two so she didn't have any desire to compete. But lao er's wife, she was truly good looking, too good looking. Before this girl had married, she had seen her in the palace but she hadn't been this attractive.

"The Emperor has arrived, the Empress has arrived!"

The two guifeiniangniang that had been throwing verbal darts simultaneously stopped talking and respectfully stood, then slowly knelt down. Qu Qing Ju, who was watching on the side, sighed in amazement. Look at how familiar they were with their duties, they could change at the blink of an eye.