Qin Yining smiled politely. "Many thanks. Countess of Anping, please take a seat. "
"I don't dare. Wang Fei, please."
Countess of Anping and Qin Yining greeted each other courteously before sitting side by side.
Ji Yun and Bing Tang served refreshments and then quietly retreated to a corner.
Qin Yining handed a teacup to Countess of Anping. "Please have a taste. This is black tea that just came in. The weather is cold. Black tea is good for the body. "
Countess of Anping saw that Qin Yining was so easygoing and relaxed. In the past, she had heard that the Qin Clan was greatly favored by Prince Zhongshun. She was also a daughter of noble birth and was so beautiful. Based on her experience, she assumed that this was a woman with a slightly arrogant temper.
Even though the Count of Anping had a noble title, he had not been in power for a long time and had left the center of power for many years. They naturally could not compare to the only prince of this dynasty with a different surname.
Therefore, Countess of Anping wanted to make friends and politely chatted with Qin Yining. A moment later, she found that Qin Yining was as easy to get along with as she appeared to be. She did not continue to be careful and spoke more freely.
After chatting for a while, Countess of Anping saw that the atmosphere was good and said with a smile, "I came to disturb Wang Fei today to invite Wang Fei on behalf of Zhong Yibo and the Bian Family."
"Oh?" Qin Yining did not change her expression. "Is it about the wedding banquet? You also saw that it is not convenient for me and Wang Ye to attend the banquet. One, we are afraid of offending the newlyweds. Two, we are in the mourning period and cannot have fun. "
"Wang Fei is right. This is the same as our fu," Countess of Anping said. "Look at me and you know. However, Zhong Yibo, Zhuang Pin, and the Bian Family discussed and felt that it would not be good to neglect us like this.
"For Zhong Yibo's wedding this time, many of the noble families in court are in the mourning period and can only send gifts but cannot attend the banquet. Thus, Count Zhongyi booked a private room in a restaurant not far from Count Zhongyi's mansion. There was no singing or dancing inside, nor was there any musical instruments. Only two tables were arranged for a simple meal. Those of us who couldn't attend the wedding banquet could just gather together and have a simple meal. Count Zhong Yi also knows about the matter of your fu, but I ask that Wang Fei and Wang Ye do me the honor of going. Otherwise, Count Zhong Yi will feel very apologetic. "
Qin Yining was a little hesitant.
Actually, it was very common to hold another banquet in a quiet place to thank the guests who could not attend the wedding banquet. If the rest of the guests who could not attend the wedding banquet personally nodded their heads, and she and Pang Xiao did not agree, it would be a source of gossip. Not only would it offend people, it would also leave a lot of room for people to talk nonsense behind their backs.
Qin Yining did not want to be too unsociable with Pang Xiao.
Countess of Anping saw Qin Yining's hesitation and said with a smile: "Wang Fei is worried that there will be no familiar people going? The two of us hit it off so well. When the time comes, we can sit next to each other and I can introduce you. Most of the madams and misses in the city are very easy-going. In the future, you will naturally become familiar with them. "
This was one of the reasons why Qin Yining wanted to go.
She was not familiar with the upper-class women in court. When she returned to Jing and settled down, the first thing she needed to do was to understand the interactions between the women. With this opportunity, she could enter the circle of upper-class women early and not have to find another opportunity.
Qin Yining guessed that Pang Xiao would be jealous. However, they both knew the importance of the matter. Pang Xiao was a reasonable person and should agree with her decision.
Thinking of this, Qin Yining did not hesitate. She nodded and said: "Countess of Anping is right. When will it be?"
Hearing her agree, the Countess of Anping smiled and said, "On the eighth day of the New Year, on the day of their wedding, there is a restaurant called Shun Fu near the Count's estate. Don't worry, we are just looking for another place to have a meal. We won't break the rules."
Qin Yining nodded and said with a smile: "I will definitely keep the appointment. However, my Wang Ye has not been well recently and is bedridden. Perhaps he won't be able to come along."
Since Qin Yining agreed, Countess of Anping already had something to say to the Count of Anping. Moreover, what was Pang Xiao's status? How could he allow outsiders to interfere with what he wanted to do?
Countess of Anping agreed and stood up with a smile to bid farewell.
Qin Yining personally saw her to the door before returning to the inner residence.
Pang Xiao asked for the reason in detail. Qin Yining explained in detail. Finally, she said, "When we returned to Jing, only Duke Ding and a few of your former subordinates dared to visit you while you were bedridden. At this time, there is a lot of danger. We should also find a suitable way to expand our network. "
Pang Xiao thought for a moment and said: "What you said makes sense. Since that's the case, you should take Ji Yun and Bing Tang with you on the eighth day of the New Year. One of them is skilled in martial arts, and the other is good at using medicine. With them by your side, I can feel more at ease. I will also arrange for a few people to secretly protect you. I won't let anything happen to you. "
Qin Yining was a little surprised by Pang Xiao's attitude.
Didn't he not like her to have anything to do with Lu Heng?
She admired Pang Xiao for being so reasonable. If a woman who had coveted Pang Xiao for a long time was about to get married and didn't forget to invite Pang Xiao before the wedding, she would more or less feel uncomfortable in her heart.
Qin Yining was only thinking about Pang Xiao's magnanimity, but he didn't know that Pang Xiao was cursing Lu Heng's eighteen generations of ancestors in her heart. Regardless of who Lu Heng was going to marry or who he was attracted to, he had always coveted his Sister Yi in the past. When he couldn't get her, he would even do something behind her back!
If it wasn't for his trust in Qin Yining's character and knowing that Lu Heng was only good to Concubine Zhuang's cousin in order to curry favor with Li Qitian and didn't dare to do anything else, he would have directly gone to Zhong Yibo's residence to grab this person's collar and kick him to vent his anger.
Although her thoughts were complicated, Pang Xiao appeared to be very magnanimous on the surface. She didn't want Qin Yining to look down on her and think that she was a narrow-minded person.
On the eighth day of the New Year, Qin Yining got up early in the morning. Ji Yun brought over a crescent-white brocade robe with dark cloud patterns that had been prepared beforehand and helped her wash and change her clothes.
Bing Tang skillfully flipped her hands and tied Qin Yining's long black hair into a bun and decorated it with a plain silver phoenix hairpin.
Pang Xiao leaned against the big pillow next to the window and read a book.
Out of the corner of his eye, he kept looking in Qin Yining's direction. He saw that she was wearing light-colored clothes and there were no gold or gems on her hair. She didn't even wear bright makeup, but her beauty and charm came from the inside out. He didn't even want to blink when he looked at her.
Qin Yining finished tidying up. When she turned around, she met Pang Xiao's scorching gaze that was full of admiration. She couldn't help laughing and said, "Wang Ye, what are you looking at?"
"I'm looking at how beautiful my Sister Yi is." Pang Xiao got up and walked over to Qin Yining. He put his big hands around her and said, "Sister Yi, why don't we not go today?"
Qin Yining laughed and said, "We're already prepared. Why not go?"
Pang Xiao snorted and said, "Our Sister Yi is so beautiful. Why should we let them look at her for nothing?"
Qin Yining burst into laughter. "Domineering."
"Still domineering." Pang Xiao acted shamelessly.
Ji Yun and Bing Tang saw that Pang Xiao and Qin Yining were together again. They suppressed their laughter and quietly retreated.
"Wang Ye and Wang Fei are so affectionate. Does Wang Ye hate that Wang Fei can't cover her face wherever she goes? "Bing Tang joked with a smile.
Ji Yun giggled. "You still dare to say that? Aren't you and your family's Huzi like this?"
Bing Tang's face immediately turned red. She stomped her feet and glared at Ji Yun. "You bad wench. You only know how to make things up. Don't tell me that you and Imperial Bodyguard Tang haven't …"
"Aiya! You still dare to say that! "Ji Yun's face also turned red.
The two servant girls glared at each other. Their cheeks were rosy and their eyes were watery. Qin Yining came out of the room. Seeing them like this, he asked curiously, "What's going on? Are they fighting over sweets? "
Ji Yun and Bing Tang couldn't help but laugh.
Qin Yining brought the two out. Pang Xiao called Tang Xiu over and whispered a few words to her.
The driver and bodyguard of Qin Yining's carriage had been replaced with Jinghu Wei. Their safety was completely guaranteed.
When the carriage arrived at Shun Fu Restaurant, the steward guarding the street saw that it was the imperial carriage from Duke of Qin's Fu and quickly came forward to respectfully welcome them.
Qin Yining followed the steward into the restaurant and went directly to a private room at the end of the corridor on the second floor.
"Wang Fei, the womenfolk are all here. Please come in."
Qin Yining nodded and entered the room after the steward announced his arrival.
When he looked from outside the door, he thought that this was just a normal room that could fit one or two square tables. But when he entered, he found that this private room was very spacious. It could fit eight or ten tables without a problem.
Many womenfolk had already arrived. Just as the Countess of Anping had said yesterday, the womenfolk that came here were all unable to attend for some reason.
Everyone attending the wedding banquet was wearing plain clothing. Qin Yining's white robe did not seem out of place among the plain white, ivory white, and sapphire blue of the furen.
The Countess of Anping's sharp eyes noticed that Qin Yining had arrived and hurriedly came forward with a smile. "Prince Zhongshun's Consort has come? Come quickly. "
As she spoke, she affectionately took Qin Yining's hand and walked towards the square table that the womenfolk were sitting around. She smiled and said, "This is Prince Zhongshun's Consort.
”
Some of the womenfolk present looked familiar to Qin Yining, but some were unfamiliar.
Qin Yining nodded in greeting without batting an eyelid. Then he followed the enthusiastic Countess of Anping to recognize everyone present.
These furen were different from the other madams of officials that Qin Yining had seen before. These womenfolk were in similar situations. Most of the men in their families had already left the core of power. They all had a bit of a calm and peaceful aura. Perhaps it was because they had not been involved in matters of the imperial court for too long.
Each of them seemed to be very peaceful. Even the speed at which they spoke was slower. Each of them was neither fast nor slow and had their own bearing.
Qin Yining had a good memory. After recognizing a circle of people, he remembered everyone and analyzed each of their personalities.
These furen were also very familiar with Qin Yining. This woman's life was too legendary. More importantly, the groom of today's wedding had once had some relationship with this woman in front of them.
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