Princess Jingyang is the only remaining princess in the royal family. Her birth mother had no influence and passed away early.
Ji Qingshu is already eighteen this year, but the candidate for her husband has not been decided yet. Most women in the Jing Kingdom are slender, but Ji Qingshu is 1.78 meters tall and weighs over 75 kilograms. She is taller and stronger than many men. Her marriage is a headache even for ghosts.
Perhaps because she is the only direct - line and unmarried princess left in the royal family, the Grand Princess cares very much about her marriage. She looks for suitable candidates for her every year, but all these attempts end up in vain.
There's no other reason. When scholars see the princess's figure, their legs go weak. The sons of noble families mostly like slender and delicate women. A woman like Princess Jingyang is really not a good candidate for a wife.
Moreover, a princess's husband is not allowed to take concubines. Which man can sleep well when facing a wife stronger than himself every day?
Among the generals, there are few suitable ones either. They are either rough warriors from the countryside or old men. The Grand Princess is almost going gray with worry.
In her previous life, on the Qixi Festival, she didn't go out, so she didn't attend this Qiongfang Banquet. But she heard that Jiang Chan was liked by Princess Jingyang at the banquet. Princess Jingyang often invited her out for outings. She met Princess Jingyang because Jiang Chan told the princess that she had bullied her. Princess Jingyang called her over to support Jiang Chan.
However, in her previous life, she accidentally learned that Princess Jingyang wanted to learn martial arts, but the nanny beside her didn't allow it. Instead, she wanted to cultivate the princess into a docile nature and made her embroider all day long. Jiang Chan won the princess's favor because she accidentally found Ji Qingshu, who was struggling to complete the embroidery task assigned by the nanny. Jiang Chan helped her out.
In this life, she won't let this opportunity slip away to Jiang Chan again.
Anyway, she remembers that Ji Junye is quite fond of his only remaining younger sister. It's quite normal for her to curry favor with his sister, isn't it?
Shen Qing often attended such banquets when she was a young girl. She was very familiar with the process. The old lady just gave a few casual instructions and then dismissed everyone.
Then she gave Jiang Chan special coaching.
After leaving the room, Mrs. Ge couldn't help but sneer at Mrs. Xing, "It's a pity that we don't have a daughter or a promising daughter - in - law. Now that the opportunity is right in front of us, we can only watch others shine!"
Mrs. Xing smiled, "What are you talking about, Second Sister - in - law? I don't understand."
After saying that, she didn't want to entangle with Mrs. Ge and just walked away.
Mrs. Ge tossed her handkerchief and rolled her eyes, "She pretends to be stupid so well. She must understand what I'm saying."
Still angry, she ordered the little maid beside her, "Go and see what the Second Master has been doing these days. He only knows how to hang around with women all day long. I don't know who he takes after!"
The little maid grumbled to herself as she walked. Who else could he take after? It must be his own father!
Didn't she notice that since the Second Master returned to the capital, how many days has he stayed at home?
But this time, Mrs. Ge really wronged Xu Yanxing. Since he saw something he shouldn't have seen in Xu Yanchi's study that day, he hasn't dared to go out for several days. He's afraid of running into Xu Yanchi.
As for replying to Shen Qing, he has long forgotten about it.
Shen Qing didn't pin all her hopes on him anyway. But since that incident, the guards in Xu Yanchi's study have become even stricter. She is even more certain that there's something fishy going on inside.
On the day of the Qiongfang Banquet, Shen Qing got dressed early and left the mansion side by side with Jiang Chan.
Xu Yanchi was supposed to be on duty today, but the Qiongfang Banquet was a good opportunity for him to make friends with young talents. Naturally, he wouldn't miss it. He had asked for leave early.
As soon as Jiang Chan saw Xu Yanchi, she happily ran over and took his arm, "Cousin, Chan'er wants to ride in the same carriage with you."
Xu Yanchi looked at Shen Qing, who glanced at him and then looked away, and agreed, "Okay, let's go to the carriage in front."
"Okay!"
But just as Xu Yanchi was about to approach the carriage in front, Shen Qing stopped him.
Looking at the two of them being so intimate, Shen Qing tilted her chin towards the back, "This is my carriage. Concubine, your carriage is in the back."
"What about me? Can't I ride in your carriage?"
Xu Yanchi said unhappily. Shen Qing really didn't give him any face!
Shen Qing was puzzled, "Your Lordship can ride in any carriage you like. If you don't want to ride in a carriage, you can also ride a horse. But Your Lordship said you would ride in the same carriage with the concubine. In that case, I'd better help you fulfill your wish!"
"You!" Xu Yanchi was speechless, "I won't argue with you today!"
"Chan'er, let's go!"
Xu Yanchi pulled Jiang Chan to the carriage in the back.
Shen Qing didn't want Xu Yanchi to dirty her carriage. If she rode in the same carriage with him, she might throw up. That would be so uncomfortable.
She was quite pleased that Xu Yanchi was so obedient!
The carriage moved slowly. But this time, they were not going to the Grand Princess's mansion but to the Grand Princess's horse ranch on the outskirts.
The Grand Princess had invited mostly the sons of noble families this time. Since it was the Qixi Festival today, even if they couldn't find a suitable candidate for the princess's husband, it would be good if they could match up one or two couples.
Ji Qingshu had been brought here early by the Grand Princess's order and was dressing up in the inner room.
Watching layer after layer of powder being applied to her face and one hairpin after another being inserted into her hair, Ji Qingshu was really annoyed by all these trivialities.
Actually, Ji Qingshu was not bad - looking. With this dressing - up, she had a special charm. But in this era, thinness was considered beautiful, and men liked women with slender waists. Her type was not well - received.
"Ah, Aunt! Didn't you say you just wanted to see if there were any good young men? Why do you make me dress up so grandly? It's so heavy that my neck is about to break!"
The Grand Princess laughed behind her and scolded affectionately, "You! Since you're going to look for a husband, which girl doesn't dress up beautifully? How can there be a girl who doesn't like these jewelry? Look, these are all top - quality things. I have no children, and you're the only princess left in the royal family. In my opinion, it's appropriate to put even more things on your head!"
The Grand Princess had just celebrated her fortieth birthday this year. Thanks to her good maintenance, she looked only about thirty and was still very charming. After her husband passed away early, the Grand Princess observed her mourning for a year and then returned to the princess's mansion. She had raised a bunch of male favorites. Now she looked even younger.
"You just wear them. You will surely charm those young men today. If you take a fancy to someone, I'll go and talk to them for you. It doesn't matter if their status is not high enough. You can keep them in your house!"
"More likely they'll be scared stiff when they see me! I'm not a bandit. Keeping them in the house? Do you think it's like raising fish? Aunt, you don't know. Those men before were like they had seen a ghost when they saw me."
Ji Qingshu pretended to sigh. The Grand Princess thought she was sad and was about to say something to comfort her, but Ji Qingshu suddenly tore off the heavy jewelry on her head and ran away.
"The guests for the banquet should be here. I'll go and have a look first. I'll get to know some young talents. Aunt, don't send anyone to look for me!"