After the marriage, my husband's family listened to my voice and turned the tide

Shang Tingli looked towards the neighboring seat.

The person who just spoke was a middle-aged woman, about the same age as Wenhui, and looked like an elegant and easy-going lady.

This is Prince Rong’s wife.

[It's really surprising that this Auntie Rong can actually speak. ]

When Wenhui turned around and saw Princess Rong, she was also stunned for a moment. She had the same idea as the monk listening to etiquette, and she never thought that Princess Rong, who had always been aloof from others, would actually suggest such a thing.

But no matter what, she was thinking the same thing as she was thinking, so Wenhui suppressed her temper.

Zhou Jingyu realized that the person who had just spoken was the Princess of Rong. Before she could express her opinion, she heard the Princess of Rong say, "I thought, since we are here to appreciate the chrysanthemums, how about painting a picture?"

Zhou Jingyu's face changed slightly, and she couldn't smile for a moment. In her plan, painting was the second part.

However, when things developed to this point, she no longer had the final say, or rather, she had no decision-making power at all.

"Of course it's possible." Pan Qinghuan responded to Princess Rong, then looked at Zhou Jingyu, "If it's a painting, may I ask Miss Zhou San, is this jade bracelet still acceptable as a prize?"

In the past, when people mentioned the most talented woman in the capital, the first person they thought of was Pan Qinghuan. But in the past two years, her fame was gradually being overshadowed by another person.

She was really unwilling to give up, so she would never miss any game that could make her famous. To her, it made no difference whether it was writing poetry or painting.

Zhou Jingyu's fingernails were about to pierce her flesh, but she had to put on a perfect smile. "Although Princess Rong changed the way we play, since I have already put the bracelet up, there is no reason for me to take it back."

She pretended to be relaxed and said, "This jade bracelet is still a lucky charm."

She was actually a little annoyed. She really didn't know what the Princess of Rong was up to. Wasn't this just a bad guy doing good for nothing? Fortunately, she had prepared for this scene of painting, so she wasn't caught off guard.

Pan Qinghuan smiled slightly: "Ms. Zhou San is really open-minded."

Zhou Jingyu smiled with her lips but not her eyes.

In order to embarrass the orphan girl, she naturally spent a huge amount of money.

"I haven't seen such fun for a long time, so I'll give you some extra credit." Princess Rong looked very happy, with an especially friendly smile on her face.

She raised her hand and took a hairpin from her hair and handed it to the nanny behind her. It was a red bird blue-burnt tassel gold hairpin. The wings and tail of the red bird were both gorgeous transparent silver-blue, and the tail was hung with white pearls and red agate. The tassels in the bird's mouth were five strings of white pearls, red agate, green glass, and gold ornaments. The bottom was decorated with jadeite in the shape of pomegranate seeds but round. The whole hairpin has the gorgeousness of gold, the beauty of blue-burnt craftsmanship, the elegance and freshness of glass, the crystal and moistness of jade, and the exquisiteness of pearls and agates. It can be said to be beautiful and charming, and it is breathtaking.

Princess Rong's nanny held up the hairpin and showed it to everyone, and as expected, received a lot of praise.

A group of young girls were very excited, and even many ladies were itching to get it. This was not just a bonus at all, it was even better than Miss Zhou San's prize.

[Wow, what a beautiful hairpin, I want it! ]

Shang Tingli was also stunned for a moment, but soon came to his senses.

[It is known that Zhou Jingyu wants to embarrass me. I can only say that this is absolutely impossible! Don’t ask me why I know her thoughts. It’s just a woman’s intuition! ]

[It's impossible to make a fool of yourself, but it's also impossible to get the prize. Oh, what a pity.]

Ke Yishang: “…”

She wanted to say something to comfort him, but she didn't know where to start.

Wenhui stared at the hairpin of Princess Rong and made a secret decision in her heart. It was just a hairpin. If her daughter-in-law wanted it, she would just give it to her.

Princess Rong's gift and Zhou Jingyu's prize were placed on the table on the high platform. Princess Rong said, "Young people, you can get ready. The time limit is three quarters of an hour."

As soon as she finished speaking, Mrs. Zhou ordered someone to bring the tools needed for painting.

Because the Zhou family had made preparations in advance, the servants moved things very smoothly. Soon, eight desks and chairs were placed on the high platform, and the desks were all covered with paper, brushes and ink used for painting.

Everything was ready. Zhou Jingyu looked up at Shang Tingli and smiled, "Young people present, according to their status, the Crown Princess of Prince Ren should be the first to go on stage. Please welcome the Crown Princess of Prince Ren."

With a time limit of three quarters of an hour to complete a painting, she expected the orphan girl to lose face.

Now, because of the words "limited to three quarters of an hour", Zhou Jingyu's dissatisfaction with Princess Rong for disrupting her plans disappeared, and she was left with only secret joy.

Under the watchful eyes of the crowd, Shang Tingli stood up calmly, walked calmly toward the stage, and sat down in the first seat on the left facing the audience.

The next person to come on stage was Ke Yishang, who sat to the left of Shang Tingli. The princess of Prince Rong's mansion and the county princess of Prince Jinyang's mansion did not attend the banquet, and the ladies of Prince Ren's mansion, including Ke Nanjia, did not intend to participate, so no one came on stage. The next to come on stage were Xu Jinshu of the Duke of Huguo's mansion, Pan Qinghuan of the Duke of Zhongguo's mansion, He Zhiqian of the Grand Tutor's mansion, and the ladies of the left and right prime ministers' mansions and the lady of the general's mansion.

The first round of competition starts with the eight people on the stage.

Although Princess Rong did not say what the painting was about, everyone knew that the chrysanthemum viewing banquet was naturally related to "chrysanthemum".

Shang Tingli sat in her seat with empty eyes, thinking silently in her heart.

[It’s so fun. If it was just one round of competition, I would have jumped off the stage. The people in the same round with me are all famous and talented women.]

[Haha, not to mention Sister He and Pan Qinghuan, who are both famous as the two talented ladies in the capital, even Sister Jin Shu and Ling Yun are also famous talented ladies.]

[What's the matter with me being mixed in? Am I at the bottom? ]

Ke Yichang next door paused and almost made a failed stroke uncontrollably. She couldn't help but smile, thinking that her sister-in-law might have underestimated her.

She had seen her sister-in-law's paintings, and if she said that hers could compare to those of Sister He and Miss Pan, then that was indeed her selfishness. But if she said that hers were inferior to hers, that was not necessarily the case.

Shang Tingli just sighed in her heart. After checking the paper, brush and ink and finding no problems, she began to write.

The people in the audience did not just watch them paint, as that would be too constraining and boring. Some of them went to the front to admire the chrysanthemums without making any noise, leaving silence for the people painting on the stage, which did not disturb others.

Yu Lanxi sat in her seat and looked at Shang Tingli on the stage. A curve appeared on her lips and her smile seemed a little weird.

In the past, she had never seen the orphan girl paint at home. She had never seen her stand out in the banquets she had taken her to. She would just quietly hide behind her. She thought it was because she couldn't paint. Even if Zhou Jingyu didn't do anything, the orphan girl would be embarrassed. What's more, Zhou Jingyu was determined to make the orphan girl look bad. If she did something, the orphan girl would lose face even more.

As the saying goes, a daughter who is married off is like spilled water. Besides, this is just an orphan adopted by their Yu family. Now she has married into Prince Ren's Mansion. The shame is a disgrace to Prince Ren's Mansion, and it has nothing to do with their Yu family.

Thinking of this, Yu Lanxi smiled even more happily.

A hand patted her shoulder, and someone said, "Don't be too happy too soon."

Yu Lanxi's good mood was disturbed. She tilted her head and frowned: "Mom?"

It was impossible for a small person like Ji Mu to receive an invitation to such a banquet. Yu Lanxi married Ji Zhang, and logically, many people would forget about her intentionally or unintentionally, just like the last lotus viewing banquet at the Huguogong Mansion, so Xu Jinshu did not send her an invitation. But she and Zhou Jingyu were close friends, so Zhou Jingyu sent her an invitation.

Those who have invitations can bring others to the banquet, but Yu Lanxi would never bring Ji's mother here to embarrass herself.

The person sitting next to her was naturally Pan Yaying.

Pan Yaying had learned a little bit about the situation from Yu Lanxi when she first agreed with Zhou Jingyu. She only said to her daughter: "You can see that she has been pretending for so many years. How do you know whether she couldn't paint before or not?"

Yu Lanxi was a little unconvinced: "There's no way she can paint!"

Pan Yaying just glanced at her lightly, and Yu Lanxi stopped talking.

At this time, someone came over and said with a smile: "Madam Hou."

Pan Yaying looked at the person who came and smiled, "It's Madam Liang. I wonder why Madam Liang is here?"

The visitor was none other than General Xuanwu's wife, Liang Yu's mother, Madam Liang.

Mrs. Liang's seat was at the back of the table, a little far from here. Pan Yaying knew why she came, but she just greeted her superficially.

Mrs. Liang glanced at the girl next to Pan Yaying. The girl was wearing a pretty, light diamond-colored dress, sitting there very obediently, with a fresh and jade-like appearance, and looked like a well-behaved girl.

Mrs. Liang nodded with some satisfaction. Pan Yaying just smiled when she saw this scene. Yu Lanxi saw some clues and couldn't help feeling a little gloating.

Only Yu Lingling was disgusted by Mrs. Liang's eyes.

Yu Lingling knew why Pan Yaying, who seldom took her out in the past, was so proactive this time. The Mrs. Liang in front of her was the answer.

She knew that her suffering was about to come.

Yu Lingling suddenly couldn't help but look up at the platform. Her eyes fell on the hibiscus-colored figure in the first position, and she felt dazed for a rare time.

She pursed her lips, and couldn't help but think again of how she had watched someone die and how she had taken advantage of his misfortune.

She was thinking, if she had helped that person back then, what would the situation be like now?

"Lingling."

Yu Lingling came back to her senses: "Mother?"

Pan Yaying frowned almost imperceptibly. She was so dull. What if Mrs. Liang didn't like her?

She suppressed her anger and said, "This is General Xuanwu's wife, Madam Liang. Come and meet Madam Liang."

Yu Lingling suppressed her nausea, stood up, bowed to Madam Liang, and said with a fake smile, "Greetings to Madam Liang."

Madam Liang stepped forward and took her hand. She looked her up and down as if she were looking at a commodity, and nodded with satisfaction again. She was happy in her heart and smiled on her face. She said with a smile, "Second Miss is such a good child."

Yu Lingling almost turned pale on the spot. This look was really annoying.

Seeing that Madam Liang was really satisfied, Pan Yaying couldn't help but curl her lips and said, "As long as Madam Liang likes it."

"Haha, I like it!" Mrs. Liang laughed, "I like it very much!"

She added: "I am finally relieved from the worry in my heart. Thank you, Madam Hou!"

Pan Yaying smiled but said nothing.

Mrs. Liang said goodbye with satisfaction.

As soon as she left, Yu Lingling immediately retched, as if she was feeling very nauseous.

Seeing this, Yu Lanxi smiled playfully: "Sister is a lucky one. I think most mothers-in-law in the world are not kind, and it is rare to see such a kind one."

Yu Lingling sneered, "Sister, you are joking. How can this be considered a blessing? Not everyone is like you, who likes to pick up rotten sesame seeds." As she spoke, she sneered, "Although you have never liked me as your younger sister, this concerns my reputation, so you must not harm me. I am an unmarried girl, why are you talking to me about mother-in-law?"

Pan Yaying intended to arrange a marriage between her and Liang Yu, but the two families had not yet exchanged tokens, so the engagement could not be considered complete.

"How dare you mock me?" Yu Lanxi was very angry. "I will..."

"All right!"

Pan Yaying spoke out in anger, and Yu Lanxi shut up in dismay.

"You two sisters quarreled at someone else's party. If this gets out, will you two sisters still have a good reputation?"

Pan Yaying cursed.

Yu Lingling said in a slightly aggressive tone: "Mother, that's what I said. It's not like I want to quarrel with my sister."

Pan Yaying looked at her deeply and said, "Lingling has become even more eloquent now."

Yu Lingling lowered her eyes and said, "I don't deserve it."

Everyone was either paying attention to the person on the platform or the precious chrysanthemums under the platform, and no one noticed the joke here.

Time passed by little by little, and three quarters of an hour had arrived.

Zhou Jingyu raised her voice and said loudly: "Time is up, please stop writing!"

Shang Tingli and the others stopped writing and heard Zhou Jingyu say, "Now please take your paintings and come down from the stage and sit down over there."

She pointed to the empty table next to the stage, and waited for the people on the stage to sit down there. She then said, "Next, please invite the next batch of distinguished guests to the stage!"

Shang Tingli came down from the stage with the painting and came to the new table, then sat down at random. Ke Yishang still sat next to her, Xu Jinshu sat next to Ke Yishang, and He Zhiqiang sat on the other side of Shang Tingli.

Pan Qinghuan sat in the empty seat next to Xu Jinshu, and happened to be facing He Zhiqiang.

"Sister He, can I see your paintings?" Shang Tingli turned his head and spoke to He Zhiying, asking for her opinion.

He Zhixing nodded: "Of course."

Seeing this, Pan Qinghuan directly suggested: "Why don't we all come together to comment on each other's paintings?"

At once, everyone who was painting in the same round looked at her.

Ke Yishang couldn't help but glance at Shang Tingli, but saw that she happened to be looking at her, and the two sisters-in-law looked at each other tacitly.

[What is this for? It sounds so boring. Chrysanthemum cake is more delicious and substantial. ]

Shang Tingli chose to wait for everyone to speak, while she silently picked up a piece of chrysanthemum cake and stuffed it into her mouth.