Ren Yaoqi did not decline further and accepted the Xu family's gift.
On the day before the Thousand Gold Banquet, First Madam and Fifth Madam Lin of the Ren Family arrived in Yunyang City with their daughters.
This year, all the young ladies of the Ren Family, whether legitimate or illegitimate, had received invitations to the Thousand Gold Banquet, which was considered an expression of gratitude from the Yun Family for the Ren Family's previous care of Yun Wenfang.
Old Madam Ren did not arrive a day early for some unknown reason. However, First Madam Wang Shi, worried about her daughter Ren Yaoyin, came ahead of time, bringing along the attire prepared by the Ren Family for the young ladies.
Ren Shijia took Ren Yaoqi and Ren Yaoyin to the Ren Family Villa. All five young ladies from the eldest branch of the Ren Family had gathered. Ren Yaoting from the second branch did not come, so First Madam ordered someone to deliver her share to the Su Family.
The women gathered in the main room of the villa to select clothing and accessories, creating a lively atmosphere. Among them, Fifth Madam Lin was the most enthusiastic. Holding up a grass-green jacket and skirt embroidered with gold-wrapped floral patterns, she repeatedly compared it against her daughter Ren Yaoyu, her expression somewhat dissatisfied.
"This color doesn't suit our Yu'er's complexion."
Madam Lin then glanced at the clothing in the hands of the other young ladies. When she saw the deep pink jacket and skirt in Ren Yaoyin's hands, adorned with peony flowers as large as bowls—dignified yet charming—her eyes lit up.
"The set in Yin'er's hands is quite nice. Sister-in-law, why not let Yin'er and Yu'er swap? I think Yin'er's fair complexion would look even better in green."
Ren Yaoyin's brows furrowed almost imperceptibly before quickly relaxing. She pursed her lips into a faint smile at Madam Lin, saying nothing, and merely glanced at her mother.
First Madam Wang Shi had always been accommodating toward Fifth Madam Lin, but this time she was not so easily persuaded. She spoke slowly, "Sister-in-law, I recall you personally selected the fabric for Yu'er? Both the grass-green gold-wrapped fabric and that bolt of bright red gold-wrapped fabric were obtained through the Jiangnan Weaving Gu Family, said to be woven in the style of tribute goods. Chi'er only managed to acquire these two bolts in total. Old Madam Ren took the bright red one for Hua'er, while the grass-green one was originally intended for Yin'er. It was you who insisted that Yu'er looks better in green and eagerly begged me for it. Now that the clothes are already made, you say you don't want them anymore? Their figures differ, so even if swapped, they wouldn't fit properly."
First Madam understood the importance of the Thousand Gold Banquet for her daughter. Those two precious fabrics had been specially requested by her in a letter to her eldest daughter, Ren Yaochi, who was married into the Jiangnan Weaving Gu Family, hoping to help her younger daughter shine at the banquet.
Later, when Old Madam Ren asked for the bright red fabric for Ren Yaohua, as red suited Ren Yaohua better than Ren Yaoyin, Wang Shi readily gave it up.
Fifth Madam Lin, having heard about it from somewhere, insisted on taking the grass-green fabric for Ren Yaoyu. Since Ren Yaochi had also sent along an exceptionally skilled embroideress with the fabric, and Ren Yaoyin did not particularly favor wearing green, First Madam still gave the fabric to Fifth Madam.
Unexpectedly, the embroideress's peony flowers turned out to be remarkably lifelike, transforming the originally unremarkable deep pink fabric into an exceptionally dignified and luxurious dress, perfectly suited to Ren Yaoyin's temperament.
Now, Fifth Madam wanted to swap again upon seeing it.
Even with her gentle disposition, First Madam could not help but feel displeased.Fifth Aunt also knew she was in the wrong and coughed lightly, saying, "If it doesn’t fit, we can just alter it. It’s not like we don’t have people who can sew. I just really like the embroidery."
First Madam smiled. "The embroidery is indeed excellent. The embroiderer was specially sought out by Chi'er, and it took nearly half a month to finish just this one piece. If you like it, I can lend her to you when we return."
Hearing this, Fifth Aunt understood that First Madam had no intention of exchanging the clothes and couldn’t help but remark sourly, "Chi'er is also thoughtless. If she was going to find an embroiderer, why didn’t she bring back a few more? Yaoyin is her sister, but isn’t our Yu'er also her sister?"
Even though First Madam had long grown accustomed to Fifth Aunt’s unreasonable behavior over the years, she couldn’t help but feel annoyed at this moment and frowned slightly.
Ren Yaoyin chuckled softly and said gently, "Fifth Aunt, you may not know this, but while ordinary embroiderers are easy to find, the one Eldest Sister found is no ordinary one—she retired from the Jiangnan Weaving Office."
Ren Yaoyin’s maid, Hanlu, chimed in, "I heard she once embroidered dragon robes for His Majesty."
Upon hearing this, Madam Lin’s tone turned somewhat sour. "Oh, she must be quite a treasure. Speaking of which, among the young ladies of the Ren Family, Chi'er married the best. The Gu Family of Jiangnan—what kind of family is that? They deal with the nobility in the palace all year round. Sister-in-law, you are truly blessed."
First Madam had no desire to discuss such matters further with Madam Lin. She simply smiled, offered a few perfunctory words, and then quietly spoke with Ren Yaoyin about whether the clothes needed alterations.
Ren Yaoying, who had remained silent until now, suddenly said, "I heard the Yun Family prepared clothes for Fifth Sister early on? Fourth Sister often visits Yun Mansion and is close with the Yun Family Eldest Miss, so she must have some too, right?"
Ren Yaoyin paused briefly, then smiled gently. "I actually don’t have any. When I visit Yun Mansion, I usually just discuss poetry with Miss Yun."
Ren Yaoqi waved for Sangshen to put away her two sets of clothes and said calmly, "Ninth Sister hasn’t been in Yunyang City for long, but you’re quite well-informed. When I visited the Yun Family, I happened to run into Old Madam Yun preparing new clothes for Miss Yun and the Commandery Princess. The Commandery Princess insisted on giving me two sets, and I couldn’t refuse."
Hearing this, Madam Lin eyed the clothes in Sangshen’s hands. "Oh, the Yun Family’s preparations must be better than ours. Why don’t you show them to us, Yaoqi? But since you have better ones, I suppose you don’t need these two sets anymore?"
The more Madam Lin looked at the grass-green jacket and skirt in her hands, the more she found it tacky and wanted to exchange it for her daughter. Ren Yaoqi had received a ginger-yellow set and a lake-green set, and Madam Lin wanted to try them on Ren Yaoyu.
Ren Yaoqi was no stranger to Madam Lin’s constant attempts to take advantage. She smiled good-naturedly and said, "I heard the fabrics and styles were personally chosen by Grandmother, Aunt, and Sister-in-law. How could I not treasure such thoughtful gifts from my elders? But if Eighth Sister doesn’t have enough clothes, I wouldn’t mind lending her a set or two. After all, we’re all family."Upon hearing this, Madam Lin revealed a smile that seemed to say, "You know your place," and was about to pull Ren Yaoyu over when Ren Yaohua frowned and scolded Ren Yaoqi, "What nonsense are you talking! Our Ren Family is not some impoverished household—how could a Ren Family young lady lack a few sets of clothes? Eighth Sister is Fifth Aunt’s treasured pearl, far more precious than you! If she wore your clothes, wouldn’t she be mocked for being shabby and our Ren Family for being petty?"
Madam Lin abruptly halted her steps, glaring at Ren Yaohua with a face twisted in anger.
Ren Yaoqi sighed softly and nodded, readily conceding, "I misspoke." After that, she fell silent.
Just then, someone entered from outside to report that the Yun Family had sent someone to request an audience.
Everyone couldn’t help but feel surprised and turned their gaze toward Ren Yaoyin. Recently, among the Ren Family, only Ren Yaoyin had frequent contact with the Yun Family Eldest Miss, but Ren Yaoyin also appeared unaware.
When the visitor entered, it turned out to be Nanzhu, the chief maid by Yun Qiuchen’s side.
"Did your young lady send you to find me?" Ren Yaoyin asked gently.
Nanzhu nodded with a smile. "Tomorrow is the Thousand Gold Banquet. Our Eldest Miss has been busy with Madam these past few days and hasn’t had time to entertain Fourth Miss Ren. Today, she remembered there were still some matters regarding tomorrow’s banquet she wanted to discuss with you and invites you to the residence for a chat."
First Madam Ren was very pleased to see her daughter on such good terms with Yun Qiuchen.
Ren Yaoyin had previously mentioned that this was her first time attending the Thousand Gold Banquet and hoped Yun Qiuchen could spare some time to advise her on the etiquette. However, Yun Qiuchen had been unavailable these past few days, and unexpectedly, she had sent an invitation today.
Though inwardly delighted by Yun Qiuchen’s closeness, Ren Yaoyin maintained her usual graceful and dignified demeanor, neither humble nor arrogant. "Since she’s calling me over at this time, it must be something important. I’m currently selecting the clothes and jewelry to wear tomorrow. Miss Nanzhu, please wait a moment."
Madam Lin, never one to know her place, interjected again, "Did Eldest Miss Yun only invite our Yaoyin? Our Yu’er also admires Eldest Miss Yun greatly."
Nanzhu was a maid who had seen the world. Without missing a beat, she immediately smiled and said, "This servant originally thought Fourth Miss Ren was still at the Lin Family and rushed over only to find her gone. My young lady also considered that several of the Ren Family young ladies are attending the Thousand Gold Banquet for the first time. Since Fourth Miss Ren has been invited, how could we show favoritism? If the young ladies don’t mind, why not come along?"
Fifth Madam Ren hadn’t expected her casual remark to actually result in an invitation from the Yun Family and couldn’t help but feel overjoyed.
"Oh, that’s wonderful. I was just planning to take Yu’er to pay a visit. I thought, with Eldest Miss Yun’s celestial grace and beauty, my foolish daughter might also catch a bit of that divine aura."
On previous occasions when Ren Yaoyin visited the Yun Family, Yun Qiuchen had also suggested inviting Ren Yaoqi to join. For reasons unknown, Ren Yaoyin was not enthusiastic about her sister becoming familiar with Yun Qiuchen, and Ren Yaoqi, because of Yun Wenfang, had no desire to visit the Yun Family at all. Unexpectedly, today was such a coincidence—when the Yun Family came to invite Yun Qiuchen, they encountered Fifth Madam Ren.
Ren Yaoqi could only feel utterly helpless.
However, most of those present wanted to go to the Yun Family. After all, tomorrow’s Thousand Gold Banquet was hosted by the Yun Family, and whatever etiquette Eldest Miss Yun wanted to share with Ren Yaoyin would surely be beneficial for the following day.In the end, it was First Madam Ren who made the final decision. The young ladies of the Ren Family rode in three carriages to the Yun Family.
The five young ladies of the Ren Family originally intended to first pay their respects to Old Madam Yun. Unfortunately, today happened to be the day when the Yun Family’s married daughter, Madam Su, returned to her maiden home. Old Madam Yun and her daughter had closed the door for a rare private conversation, with guards stationed outside the courtyard to prevent any disturbances.
Thus, Yun Qiuchen led everyone to her own courtyard.
Thank you to miss1101979, Su Su, hougenn88,
cardcat, cmesmi, Let’s Cultivate Together&&&, Light Mist, Wasted Time, Distant Sail,
and other dear readers like Warm Warm, 19780122, for the pink tickets ｀（∩_∩）′
Thank you to Mi Pu and Night Charm for the fragrant sachets as rewards.
^^~.
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