"By the way, Miss, the Qiqiao Festival is just a few days away. According to custom, the Consort should be hosting a banquet in the palace.
I heard that Aunt Lan invited Madam Qin yesterday to take measurements for the second young lady! m..oΓg
But she didn't even inform you. Do you think Aunt Lan doesn't plan for you to attend the Qixi Palace Banquet?"
Yue'er, though young, worried like an old mother.
Lu Qingwan found it amusing, "Is this Qixi Palace Banquet held every year?"
"Yes!
Miss, have you forgotten? You and Prince Chen met at the Qixi Palace Banquet!"
As she finished speaking, Yue'er suddenly slapped herself lightly, "Tsk tsk tsk, look at me, why am I talking about such unlucky things?"
While muttering, she stole glances at Lu Qingwan's expression.
Seeing that her expression was as usual, and she didn't overreact because of Prince Chen, Yue'er breathed a sigh of relief.
Prince Chen was a scumbag, not worth for her young lady to entrust her life to. It was great that Miss didn't like Prince Chen!
Lu Qingwan pretended not to see the maidservant's furtive movements and picked up her brush and ink to sketch. "The Consort is hosting a banquet, does Aunt Lan have the power to stop me from going just because she doesn't want me to?"
"Of course not."
Yue'er shook her head like a rattle drum. "The consorts of officials of the fourth rank and above must attend.
I was just too flustered. How could Aunt Lan possibly stop you?
But Miss, what about our clothes?"
Yue'er's face was as sour as a bitter gourd. "The Qixi Palace Banquet is a place where young ladies from aristocratic families compete in beauty and splendor. Even with careful dressing, one might still fall behind.
If you don't have any clothes, won't you be laughed at by everyone?"
"Don't worry, there will be clothes."
Lu Qingwan's brushstrokes did not stop, and a cold glint flashed in her eyes.
In her memory, every Qixi Festival, Consort Ye would host a banquet.
Although called a palace banquet, it was actually a disguised matchmaking event, providing opportunities for young men and women in the capital to interact.
Therefore, at every Qixi Palace Banquet, scholars and beauties would do their utmost to present their best selves.
Lu Siwan would also spare no expense in dressing herself up every year, earning herself the title of one of the "Twin Beauties of the Capital," with the honorable moniker of the most beautiful woman in the capital.
However, as Lu Siwan's elder sister, Lu Qingwan had become a regular feature at the annual Qixi Palace Banquets.
Not for any other reason, but because of her peculiar and bizarre makeup and hairstyles, which were innovatively ugly every year, providing people with different reasons to mock her.
But no one knew that these makeup and hairstyles were all orchestrated by Aunt Lan and her daughter, who had also deceived Lu Qingwan in various ways.
Once Lu Qingwan expressed any dissent, she would inevitably face sarcastic remarks and a beating.
Because of this, Feng Qingheng, who stopped everyone from laughing and came to her rescue when she was first mocked, became Lu Qingwan's irremovable salvation.
The innocent girl probably never imagined that the person she once considered her salvation would become one of the culprits who caused her death.
Now, with the Qixi Palace Banquet approaching, Aunt Lan had been silent, and Lu Qingwan wondered what she was plotting.
"Lan Yurou, Lu Siwan, you'd best behave yourselves, or you'll have only yourselves to blame for your misfortune!"
As it turned out, those who court disaster can never learn how to write the words "behave themselves."
Lu Qingwan waited until the sixth day of the seventh lunar month. Aunt Lan and her daughter Lu Siwan had made no move, and she thought Lu Siwan was satisfied with her position as Prince Chen's secondary consort.
Who would have thought that by evening, Lu Siwan would arrive.
As soon as she entered, she said enthusiastically, "Sister, I've brought you clothes for the Qixi Palace Banquet.
This is a hundred-pleated Ruyi moon skirt personally embroidered by Madam Qin. Come and see, do you like it?"
Lu Qingwan was digging in the courtyard and feigned surprise upon hearing this, "Why are this year's clothes sent so late? Has Madam Qin's skill in making clothes declined?"
She was squatting in the courtyard, holding a small trowel, and her clothes were even stained with mud.
But her bright eyes still made Lu Siwan's teeth itch.
Forcing down her jealousy, Lu Siwan smiled and replied, "What are you saying, sister? It's the Qiqiao Festival, and many people are looking for Madam Qin to make clothes, aren't they?
This is because my mother used the title of the Vice Minister's residence to cut the line and begged Madam Qin to make it.
Otherwise, you and I would have to wear old clothes to the palace banquet, wouldn't that make people laugh at our Zhaolie Marquis Manor for being poor and shabby?"
She did not forget to praise her maternal family while coming to harm someone.
Lu Qingwan sneered inwardly but showed no outward reaction. "I'm busy here. You can leave the clothes there for now."
Saying this, she turned back to digging, for fear that if she looked at Lu Siwan's hypocritical "green tea" face any longer, she would be unable to resist throwing the trowel at her face.
Lu Siwan, however, was uneasy. " Sister, aren't you going to look at the clothes?"
"I'm not looking."
Lu Qingwan deliberately sounded dejected. "Anyway, no matter how I dress up, I'll only be mocked by others. It doesn't matter whether I look or not."
So, you have some self-awareness!
A trace of mockery appeared in Lu Siwan's eyes, but she pretended to be worried and said, "Sister, don't say such disheartening things. Prince Chen will also be attending the palace banquet tomorrow.
Have you forgotten? It was Prince Chen who helped you when they laughed at you back then.
As long as Prince Chen is here, those people will not dare to laugh at you."
"My engagement with Prince Chen has been broken off. I am now the Regent King's fiancée, and Prince Chen will no longer help me!"
Lu Qingwan lowered her head, her body trembling slightly, as if heartbroken and weeping uncontrollably.
"Sister, don't overthink. Prince Chen is the most righteous. Even if you can't be husband and wife, he won't abandon you."
Lu Siwan, having had her fill of admiring Lu Qingwan's heartbroken state, uttered a perfunctory word of comfort and gracefully left.
Lu Qingwan dropped the trowel and, ignoring the mud on her hands, went to the stone table and took out the clothes.
Whether it was Ruyi or not, it was hard to tell, but the pleated skirt was indeed pleated, layered like a large lantern, pure white with no impurities, looking like a meticulously crafted mourning outfit.
"Miss, Aunt Lan and the second young lady are too much!
They are only sending you clothes now because they know you won't have time to change.
If you wear these clothes to the palace banquet, you will surely be mocked by those people again!"
Yue'er looked at the clothes, gnashing her teeth in anger.
"What are you afraid of? I'm not really going to wear these clothes to the palace banquet."
Lu Qingwan threw the clothes into a box. "Put this away. Have you prepared everything I asked you to?"
Yue'er nodded repeatedly. "I have. The shop assistants from Qingcheng Pavilion have already delivered the items.
But Miss, we need to prepare clothes and accessories. Why did you ask me to prepare a carriage?
Don't we have carriages in our manor? Why do we need to buy one from outside?"
It cost her over a hundred taels of silver, which made her heart ache just thinking about it!
"You'll know tomorrow morning."
Lu Qingwan kept Yue'er in suspense, leaving the little maid utterly bewildered.
But soon, she would understand the meaning of Lu Qingwan's words.