Shocked! The salty concubine was spoiled by the cold prince

Xu Qingwan held a banquet today but did not invite too many people, for she was afraid that the situation at the Chunhua Banquet would happen again.

The Wang Ziyue case sounded a wake-up call to the Xu family.

Gu Jiaorong, the favorite concubine, is somewhat unusual.

Even if you can't make friends with them, you can't offend them easily.

Xu Qingwan was even more cautious. After all, in the entire Xu family, she was the only one who had dealt with Gu Jiaorong.

Although it was she who pestered Gu Jiaorong.

"Qingwan, what are you thinking about? You didn't even hear me calling you."

Wang Sirou patted Xu Qingwan's shoulder gently, with a cute complaint in her tone.

They have been friends since childhood, have a very good relationship, and often speak without restraint.

"Nothing, it's just that all the guests I invited haven't arrived yet, and I'm worried that they might have been delayed on the way."

Although Xu Qingwan did not mention Gu Jiaorong's name, Wang Sirou knew that Xu Qingwan was thinking about her.

After all, Tan Yu, who was by her side, did not hide anything when he went to deliver something to Gu Jiaorong. Now everyone in the capital knows that the Xu family intends to get in touch with Prince Su's Mansion.

"I think there's something wrong. Let's just wait a little longer."

Wang Sirou had heard the anecdotes about Prince Su's Mansion early in the morning. Everyone was saying that the new favorite and the old love had a quarrel, and the old love was so upset that he jumped into the lake.

She came here early today just to watch the fun.

Xu Qingwan also knew what was going on, so she just nodded and said nothing more.

Just at this moment, the servant reported that Gu Jiaorong had arrived.

"Si Rou, I'll go greet the guests first, we can talk later."

Xu Qingwan did not dare to neglect Gu Jiaorong, even though there were rumors in the capital that she had fallen out of favor.

Although Wang Sirou was somewhat displeased with Gu Jiaorong, she did not completely ignore her, so she nodded and let her go.

Xu Qingwan walked over quickly, and her eyes lit up when she saw Gu Jiaorong.

"Sister Jiaorong, you're here!"

Although Xu Qingwan didn't say it, she was really worried that she couldn't come.

It would be fine if Gu Jiaorong really fell out of favor, but I'm afraid she would take the opportunity to distance herself from me.

After all, Prince Su never got close to court officials.

Gu Jiaorong probably didn't expect that she would call her so intimately, and her expression was a little stunned.

Xu Qingwan naturally saw it, so she said, "Sister Jiaorong, you are older than me. You should not mind if I call you sister, right?"

Xu Qingwan had already finished speaking, so what else did Gu Jiaorong have to say?

"If Miss Xu doesn't despise my humble background, I will be so generous as to call you sister."

Gu Jiaorong smiled softly and did not refuse.

It's just a name, it doesn't matter.

If Xu Qingwan tried to use a title to narrow the distance between herself and Prince Su's Mansion, it would be a pipe dream.

"Sister Jiaorong, I am just the daughter of a minor official. I am not from a noble family. There is not much difference between me and Sister Jiaorong."

Xu Qingwan smiled, as if there was really no class difference between her and Gu Jiaorong.

Gu Jiaorong did not argue with her any further. Even if she did, there would be no point. She walked into the house with her and asked Shaoyao to present the return gift.

"Thank you Miss Xu for inviting me to the banquet. This is just a small gift, not a token of respect."

This was carefully selected by her and Shaoyao, and it was no worse than the gift Xu Qingwan sent to the palace.

If she brought back the gift Xu Qingwan gave her unopened, it would be like slapping her in the face, but she didn't want to take advantage of Xu Qingwan either.

"Sister Jiaorong, I'm already very happy that you're willing to come. Why did you specially bring me a gift? That's really polite."

Xu Qingwan immediately let Tan Yu accept the gift, smiling happily. However, her smile did not reach her eyes, because she knew that although Gu Jiaorong had given her a gift as a gesture of reciprocity, it also meant that Gu Jiaorong had no intention of being friends with her.

"It's my duty. After all, when Miss Xu sent me the invitation, she also gave me a very thoughtful gift."

Gu Jiaorong did not change her address and still called her Miss Xu, which also proved Xu Qingwan's guess.

"Qingwan, the distinguished guest you've been waiting for has finally arrived. Who am I? It turns out to be Aunt Gu!"

Wang Sirou had been waiting for them to come over, and now with a shout, she drew everyone's attention to Gu Jiaorong.

Suddenly, there was a whisper of discussion among the crowd.

"Is Aunt Gu really here?"

"Didn't they say she's fallen out of favor? Why did she dare to come to Miss Xu's party?"

"It's just a rumor. Who knows whether it's true or not?"

When Wang Sirou heard this, a hint of teasing flashed in her eyes.

She wanted to see whether Gu Jiaorong had really fallen out of favor or was just putting on a show for them.

Although not everyone has the desire to be a concubine, Pei Xusheng is handsome and his harem is relatively clean. Moreover, he and Princess Xie Wanning have no feelings for each other. Therefore, many daughters of minor officials have their eyes on him.

Wang Sirou was one of them. Her family background was not as good as Xu Qingwan's, and she only had a childhood friendship, but this did not help her in finding a marriage. Her family had many daughters, and although her mother was the principal wife, she was not favored. She had to find a good marriage for herself. Whether she was the principal wife or the concubine, as long as she was favored, she would not be wronged.

Thinking of this, Wang Sirou looked at Xu Qingwan apologetically.

Although they were good friends, she had no other choice but to use Xu Qingwan.

"Si Rou, I almost forgot that you and Sister Jiao Rong also know each other."

Xu Qingwan smiled innocently, as if she didn't know what Wang Sirou had done. She waved at her and said, "Sister Jiaorong doesn't know anyone else here. Fortunately, you are here."

She seemed relieved when she said this.

Wang Sirou didn't expect Xu Qingwan to say that, but she still smiled and nodded.

"Yes, it's a good thing I'm here too, otherwise Aunt Gu would probably feel uncomfortable in this courtyard without anyone familiar to her."

She kept calling her Aunt Gu, fearing that others didn't know Gu Jiaorong's identity.

Gu Jiaorong didn't care. Although she rarely saw such things in the backyard, she had seen many green tea girls like Wang Sirou in her previous company.

"Miss Xu, don't worry about me. Just go about your business."

Gu Jiaorong spoke lightly, without looking at Wang Sirou.

She came this time, firstly to return a gift, and secondly to confirm the rumors that she had fallen out of favor, and she had no intention of causing trouble.

For Gu Jiaorong, falling out of favor is not a bad thing.

There are so many eyes staring at her in this capital, and they all have all kinds of plans. She is not a person who likes and is not good at solving problems.

As for Pei Xu's plan, she couldn't guess, nor did she want to guess.

At least it won't affect her life, and that's enough.

As the host of the banquet, Xu Qingwan invited friends with similar family backgrounds. It was impossible for her to only focus on Gu Jiaorong, as that would easily offend others. Therefore, after hearing what Gu Jiaorong said, she entrusted Gu Jiaorong to Wang Sirou and left temporarily.

Wang Sirou kept studying Gu Jiaorong. Today, she wore a long, aqua-colored brocade dress embroidered with pink butterflies. A velvet-flowered, tasseled hairpin swayed gently in the breeze. On her fair wrist, she wore only a single silver, double-buckle bracelet. While it was impeccable, it looked much more shabby than before.