Rebirth of a Concubine's Daughter

Although the autumn wind is chilly, fortunately today is sunny. Carriages from various families stop in front of the Duke of Wei's Mansion one after another. Handsome young men and charming young ladies step into the gate of the Duke's Mansion one after another. Servants and maids are already inside the gate leading everyone into the Dendrobium Banquet Garden in the backyard. The scenery along the way is picturesque and dazzling.

The Shen family's carriage didn't arrive early, not because the Shen family's status was so high, but because Shen Lingxi had to put on makeup several times and changed many sets of clothes, but she was never satisfied, which delayed them for some time.

This was naturally Shen Nanyan's first time to the Duke's Mansion, but Shen Lingxi and Shen Rongying had been there several times, so after entering, the two of them greeted the young ladies from various families like butterflies. Shen Nanyan had no choice but to follow them quietly. She was not interested in these things anyway, it was just a formality.

Everyone gathered in a place filled with red dendrobiums to drink tea and chat, with a cool autumn breeze blowing in their faces, melodious zither music in their ears, and all kinds of beauties in front of them. It was truly a feast.

"Miss Shen, I haven't seen you out and about for a long time. I thought you were unwell and lying in bed."

The speaker was Chu Xue, the daughter of the Chu family, the Central Secretary. As her name suggests, her skin was whiter than snow, like a porcelain doll. She and Shen Lingxi had never gotten along, and they would fight whenever they met.

"My Shen family has very strict upbringing. We can't be like Miss Chu's family, where ladies from wealthy families can go out as they please."

Although the Chu family was a second-rank minister, Shen Lingxi did not give Chu Xue face and directly retorted.

"If Miss Shen hadn't told us, we wouldn't have known that the Shen family had such strict upbringing. But my maid said she saw Miss Shen with a man several times in the Seven Stars Tower..."

"Miss Chu, be careful with your words!"

"I don't know if it's because my maid is short-sighted and misjudged me, or...Miss Shen, what do you think?"

"That's not true, Miss Chu, please don't make assumptions."

"You can only catch shadows when there's wind, right? Forget it, forget it. Since Miss Shen won't admit it, there's nothing I can do about her."

Although Chu Xue said this, the people present did not think so, and some people had already started whispering.

But it's not Chu Xue's fault. Shen Lingxi did meet with the third grandson privately many times. Shen Nanyan had already received the news of these things because they all went to Shen Nanyan's shop. However, Shen Nanyan was always busy and had no time to pay attention to these things.

Shen Lingxi didn't say anything else. Everyone had their own thoughts on whether this matter was true or false. If Shen Lingxi explained further, it would only make things worse. She could only maintain her dignity and a fake smile on her face.

But Chu Xue didn't seem to intend to let her go. She lowered her eyes slightly and glanced at Chen Luozhu from the Censor Chen's mansion next to her.

"I wonder which family the female musician Miss Wei invited today is from?"

Chen Luozhu has a pair of charming almond-shaped eyes, and her voice is lively and pleasant when she speaks.

"We haven't invited any female musicians from outside. These are the musicians from the mansion. They play normally."

Wei Xinyue is pretty, with a little baby fat on her face and bright eyes. She looks like a very lively woman.

"Miss Wei is too modest. This playing is very pleasant to the ears."

"Speaking of playing, Miss Shen's piano skills are among the best in Shangjing City. I'm afraid Miss Chen has never heard of it."

Chu Xue raised her almond-shaped eyes and looked straight at Shen Lingxi. Everyone followed her gaze and turned their heads to look at Shen Lingxi.

"How can I be so lucky?"

"Today is a great opportunity. Miss Shen, would you be willing to play a piece for us to learn from? What do you think, Miss Wei?"

Chu Xue seems to be calculating Shen Lingxi all the time.

"If Miss Shen is willing, we will be lucky enough to hear it, Miss Shen?"

Anyway, she was bored at the moment, and Wei Xinyue also wanted to hear how beautiful Shen Lingxi's piano sounded, so she threw the question directly to Shen Lingxi.

Shen Lingxi was naturally good at playing the piano, but this was proposed by Chu Xue. If she agreed to it, wouldn't she be like a female musician, playing a little song for Chu Xue? This always made Shen Lingxi feel inferior.

"Miss Wei has asked, so of course there's nothing wrong with that. However, with so many young ladies here today, it would be too ostentatious for me to play alone. Why not have all the sisters come and sing to liven up Miss Wei's Dendrobium Feast?"

"That's a good suggestion!"

A male voice sounded, and everyone turned around to see several men standing on the stone bridge at the entrance of the garden. The women from each family blushed and lowered their heads slightly.

"Brother, why are you here?"

The man who was speaking was Wei Xinyue's elder brother Wei Huaifeng. The male and female guests were originally separated today, but they were not far away. When Wei Huaifeng was passing by with his friends, he suddenly heard a little tune being played, so he listened to a few sentences.

"I'm attracted by your piano music. If everyone is willing to contribute a piece, I'll offer the Scorched Tail Phoenix's Cry as a prize. How do you think?"

As soon as the name of Jiaowei Fengming was heard, the garden instantly became restless. This was a rare and unique guzheng in the world. It was said that the sound of the guzheng could suppress evil and calm the mind, and it was not something that could be bought with money.

"This bet...are you serious about it, brother?"

"Of course, it depends on whether you dare to come."

"Sisters, are you willing to give it a try?"

Wei Xinyue turned around and asked the many noble ladies. After all, if this happened, the men would also have to get involved, so naturally they had to get their opinions.

"If the prize is the Scorched Tail Phoenix, then I'm going to give it my all. Master Wei, don't regret it later!"

Chu Xue was the most daring and took the lead first. Shen Lingxi naturally did not want to lag behind, not to mention that she was very confident in her piano skills.

"Young Master Wei is so sincere, we should accompany him."

"Brother, did you hear that? You can't keep your zither today."

"Just come and get it without worry."

As a result, the servants of the Wei family expanded the venue three times. Tall screens divided the garden into two parts, with men and women on each side. Through the screens, one could only vaguely see people walking on the opposite side, but it was not real.

In just half an hour, everything was ready. Shen Nanyan had been sitting in the corner, watching the games of these noble ladies, feeling bored. But when she looked up, she saw Caifu watching with great interest, so she reached out and took the snack in front of her and stuffed it into Caifu's hand.

"Taste it."

"Thank you, my lady. This is the first time I've seen so many ladies from wealthy families. Although they are all beautiful, none of them are as pretty as you."

"You call this..."

"Mmmm...Pah...Miss, this snack isn't tasty. It's not as good as the ones in Piaoxiang Pavilion."

"You've been spoiled. This is a snack from the Duke's Mansion."

"No matter how noble his mansion is, the food here won't be as delicious as the food in Piaoxiang Pavilion. By the way, Miss, I just saw a patch of wild chrysanthemums blooming by the lake. I had a few in front of my house when I was a child. Don't worry about them. They will bloom again in winter, even if it snows, they won't be afraid."

"Want to go and see it?"

"Can...is it okay?"

"Walk."

The master and servant slipped out quietly while no one was paying attention, and followed the path to look for the wild chrysanthemums that Caifu had mentioned. Although they had not seen the wild chrysanthemums yet, they could already smell the faint fragrance of chrysanthemums along the way.