Chapter 184: Chrysanthemum Appreciation
After two days of rain, the sky cleared up.
Sunlight spilled through the carved windows and doors, landing on the floor.
It created beautiful paintings on the ground.
The sunlight was like a divine brush, tracing out images bit by bit.
Jiang Mianmian yawned and stretched.
This morning, Great-Aunt dressed and groomed her because Mother was taking her out today.
Over the past two days, there had been a lot of gossip in the Prefecture City.
“Commander Jiang’s youngest daughter has a strange fate and should become a nun; staying at home will surely bring misfortune to her family.”
Aunt Yin groomed her little mistress, making her look like a little princess.
She guaranteed that no one would look better than her.
A small red cloak and pearl hair accessories—specifically, a small headband densely adorned with two rows of pearls.
Jiang Mianmian had provided the idea, and Great-Aunt had had it made.
Great-Aunt said that a young girl should be raised like a precious gem, surrounded by the best things, so that she would naturally exude nobility.
What is nobility? It is confidence.
Wearing her beautiful little robe and pearl headpiece, with a face that looked much like Father’s, and stepping into her pretty embroidered shoes, Jiang Mianmian was ready to go out visiting with Mother.
Jiang Mianmian felt that Great-Aunt had dressed her very grandly.
But then she thought, she was a person of status now, much higher than that of a working-class family in the modern era.
Attending this banquet was like a second-generation official attending a provincial governor’s wife’s banquet; thinking of it that way, she realized how high the status was.
She had inexplicably leaped up the social ladder. The whole family was adapting to their new identities.
Today, Elder Sister had caught a cold and felt unwell, so she didn’t come along.
Jiang Mianmian remembered that before marriage, Elder Sister was as strong as an ox—even if a chicken ate her soup base and died, she would still be full of life. It was strange how she had become so weak after marriage.
Today, Brother-in-law hadn’t gone out either, staying behind to take care of Elder Sister.
Jiang Mianmian went out with Pang Ya, Mother, and Great-Aunt.
However, in the carriage, Jiang Mianmian heard Mother and Great-Aunt talking and realized that Elder Sister had started her period. She was suddenly startled.
There were no sanitary pads… Although it would be many years before she needed them, she knew that if a woman’s period wasn’t handled hygienically, it could easily lead to illness.
In ancient times, wealthy young ladies stayed indoors all day, partly because frail women would be on their periods for half the month; if hygiene wasn’t managed well, it was easy to develop gynecological diseases, which were difficult to speak of openly.
When watching dramas, it often seemed like noblewomen were made of tofu; they would miscarry without even a bump.
Farm women who worked hard aged quickly, partly because of frequent gynecological issues and a lack of conditions to maintain hygiene.
Thinking about this, Jiang Mianmian felt it was necessary to make sanitary napkins. She was impulsive, so she decided to start working on it as soon as she got home from the banquet.
The carriage swayed, and though they hadn’t traveled for too long, they had to wait in line for a long time.
If you don’t want to squeeze into the vanity fair, don’t go; but if you do, you will clearly feel the hierarchy.
Even the carriage positions were ranked. High-ranking ones were like high-level VIPs and got in first. Low-ranking ones had to wait in line outside.
Mother was not impatient. She sat in the carriage, listening to Aunt Yin introduce the other ladies.
Jiang Mianmian listened carefully too, but got bored after a while.
People are indeed different. At the very least, Jiang Mianmian felt she didn’t have Mother’s patience. If she were on the same starting line, knowing nothing and already a Mother of three children, she might not have the patience to learn and strive as Mother did.
Mother was truly the person in the family who had made the most progress.
Jiang Mianmian herself was wrapped in the shell of a young child; a little bit of effort and she was called a genius. Even if she farted loudly, someone would applaud.
But Mother was different—from the ordinary farm woman with a round face in Jiang Mianmian’s eyes, to the Madam Jiang who didn’t show any timidity before noble ladies and always stood with a straight back. Jiang Mianmian felt very proud looking at this transformation.
The spiritual spring water could change a person’s physique, but it couldn’t change their mind.
Like her, she was a lazy, homebody, slightly socially anxious person, and she remained so. Elder Sister was a foodie who spoke bluntly, and she remained so.
Jiang Mianmian looked at Mother with admiration and couldn’t help but flatter her slightly: “Mother, you are so amazing, you are the most amazing.”
Qin Luoxia smiled sweetly and gently pinched the little one’s cheeks.
When Jiang Mianmian first saw Mother, she had just given birth to her and was chubby and swollen. Now, she was heroic, sharp, and radiant. Jiang Mianmian felt that her life of relying on her parents was promising; Mother was too capable. She was proud.
Finally, it was their turn to get off the carriage. An old nanny came to welcome them and lead the way.
This chrysanthemum appreciation banquet indeed had many chrysanthemums and female guests.
Everyone’s gaze gathered, more or less, on Madam Jiang.
Those whose families had attended Commander Jiang’s eldest son’s twentieth birthday banquet were still thinking about it after returning home, saying the food was good and they wanted to go again next month. They even asked for generous gifts to be prepared. Surprisingly, no one found any fault.
It made the ladies who hadn’t gone feel as if they had slapped out, only for the blow to land on their own faces.
Moreover, the facial cleanser they had sent over was truly magical. A small square, slippery block actually whitened their hands, and when used on the face, they felt their complexion brighten and their skin become finer after washing.
Everyone looked at Madam Jiang with curiosity.
Amidst a patch of golden chrysanthemums, there was a woman dressed in red.
It wasn’t the kind of new clothing with creases. If one went out visiting, wearing clothes that had never been worn didn’t show respect; instead, it made one look awkward, as if they were taking it too seriously.
Besides, if clothes had never been worn, there might be sizing issues, which would be embarrassing. It was best to wear relatively new clothes.
Madam Jiang wore a red dress, and it was beautiful.
Madam Jiang was not the type to be clinging or petite; she was tall, with long legs. Surprisingly, she wasn’t even wearing embroidered shoes, but something that looked like men’s shoes, yet it didn’t look bad—it had a dashing and sharp air about it.
Madam Jiang was very beautiful, the kind of appearance that women would appreciate and like. It was grand and bright, not seductive. She looked like a first wife at a glance.
Looking at this Madam Jiang, and hearing that Commander Jiang had a stunningly beautiful appearance, it seemed that a man as enchantingly beautiful as him needed such a wife to keep him in check.
Then they looked at the little girl beside Madam Jiang. She was very small, walking slowly, step by step, but very dignified.
She didn’t look around, though occasionally when she saw something curious, she would say something to Madam Jiang, and then Madam Jiang would smile. The little girl would smile too. Her smile was breathtaking.
Even at such a young age, her beauty was already extraordinary, enough to make people dazed. The guests were all women, yet they were dazzled by the beauty of a little girl.
No wonder the rumors in the Prefecture City these past two days had been so bizarre, saying that the Jiang Family’s youngest daughter was originally from the Buddhist faith and should return to it. How could this secular world contain such beauty?
It made one’s heart itch, wishing to hold her in their arms and cuddle her, like a soft, fluffy kitten.
As Madam Jiang approached, the ladies didn’t know how to start a conversation.
In fact, they had all received invitations from the Jiang Family, but because they looked down on them, they hadn’t gone—this amounted to a collective snub.
At this moment, a woman who was also wearing a red dress stood out.
Wearing the same red, Madam Jiang was grand and dignified, while this person was seductive and revealing, as if she couldn’t wait to show off every part of her body.
This was Concubine Zhenger, the favored concubine married by Official Yu.
Official Yu was riding high in the Prefecture City’s officialdom, arresting people at every turn like a mad dog.
Concubine Zhenger’s status had risen accordingly, and she had come swaggering into the Prefecture Governor’s wife’s banquet.
She had even brought Official Yu’s three daughters. However, those three daughters were standing by like servants, waiting on her.
The ladies didn’t want to interact with her, but they still had to bite the bullet and do so.
This Concubine Zhenger was very vengeful. Last time a lady offended her, she went back and whispered in her husband’s ear, and the very next day, Official Yu found an excuse to torment that lady’s husband until she came to apologize in person.
It was said that this Concubine Zhenger was as close as sisters with Xiao Fengxian.
Although the ladies were unhappy with Concubine Zhenger, they didn’t want to cause trouble for their husbands. On the surface, they still had to flatter her.
Although Concubine Zhenger looked arrogant and despotic, she was actually a clever person; she wouldn’t torment the Prefecture Governor’s wife. The people she tormented were all those whom Official Yu could actually touch.
Seeing Madam Jiang from afar, also wearing red, Concubine Zhenger smiled playfully.
This legendary Madam Jiang, born a farm woman, was unexpectedly grand and beautiful. She had the exact look Concubine Zhenger hated: upright and open. It made her unhappy to see it.
However, she walked out confidently and blocked Madam Jiang’s path. She smiled and said, “Sister Qin, come sit over here.”
Seeing who it was, Qin Luoxia thought of the ladies Aunt Yin had introduced to her and felt confident. She asked, “Which lady are you?”
Everyone watched the show. Both were family members of surrendered Rebels, so they should sit together.
“My husband’s surname is Yu,” Concubine Zhenger said, leaning seductively against a pillar with a smile.
Jiang Mianmian looked at this person with some curiosity; she was truly striking. It was just like the type Great-Aunt described—someone who was unconventional in every way. Leaning against a door like that, it really did make one feel she was a woman of ill repute. She must pay attention to her own posture in the future. Head high, chest out, eyes straight. Jiang Mianmian corrected herself slightly.
Qin Luoxia saw the three girls of various ages standing beside her like servants, serving tea and water. The three girls’ faces were bright red, and they were at a loss, not knowing whether to bow or do something else, keeping their heads down and tugging at their clothes.
Qin Luoxia reached out and slapped Concubine Zhenger’s provocative, smiling face. A single slap sent her sprawling to the ground, crushing several pots of chrysanthemums.
“The last person who impersonated my family is already dead. You actually dare to impersonate Madam Yu? I saw her just the day before yesterday.”
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