Chapter 404: Let King Jin attract others’ hatred and take the blame
When they reached the back garden, the senior maidservant arranged for Shi Qingluo and Xi Rong to sit at the front.
When the other madams and young ladies came in and saw it, they were all stunned.
The sitting arrangement in a flower banquet was still very particular.
The closer someone was to the main seat, the more it meant that the person’s identity was not simple, or that the host valued the person very much.
No one had any objections to Xi Rong sitting in the front.
However, the wife of a county magistrate was sitting in front, which made some people a little uncomfortable.
However, no matter what they thought, no one raised any doubts.
King Jin was like a local emperor in the northern territory.
The more favored Secondary Consort Hua was almost equivalent to the more favored imperial consort in the harem.
Therefore, no one would be stupid enough to question and offend Secondary Consort Hua.
After about the time it took for an incense stick to burn, a luxuriously dressed woman walked in.
The madams and young ladies present all stood up and greeted her with a smile. “Greetings, Secondary Consort Hua!”
Shi Qingluo and Xi Rong followed the crowd and stood up to greet him.
Secondary Consort Hua smiled and asked everyone to sit down.
When she passed by some madams, she would stop and say a few words.
Shi Qingluo saw that Secondary Consort Hua’s appearance was indeed quite similar to the empress’.
However, the two of them gave off completely different vibes.
The empress gave people a feeling of grace, luxury, and dignity.
Secondary Consort Hua’s appearance was bright and exquisite, somewhat like Wang Xifeng in A Dream of Red Mansions, one of the four great classic Chinese novels.
Seeing that Secondary Consort Hua was getting along well with the other madams, Shi Qingluo felt that the reason why King Jin was so kind to her was not only because he wanted to make things difficult for the empress and the crown prince in the capital, but also because of Secondary Consort Hua’s social skills.
After all, a madam’s social skills were actually quite important.
Secondary Consort Hua walked up from behind and stopped when she reached where Shi Qingluo and the other woman were.
She looked at Xi Rong with a smile.
“Miss Marquis, it’s an honor to have you at my flower banquet today!”
It was Xi Rong’s first time meeting Secondary Consort Hua.
Because of Shi Qingluo’s warning before she came, she did not lose her composure.
She had grown up in the palace, and the empress had treated her very well, almost as if she was her daughter.
Therefore, she felt a little uncomfortable when she faced Secondary Consort Hua, who looked like the empress.
She secretly scolded King Jin for being such a jerk.
“You’re too kind, Secondary Consort Hua,” she said with a faint smile.
Secondary Consort Hua did not care about Xi Rong’s attitude.
She had always known that she looked like the empress and Xi Rong was raised by the empress dowager and the empress.
It was normal for her to feel uncomfortable when she saw her.
Therefore, she was just being polite and did her best to be a good host to Xi Rong.
After all, her target wasn’t Xi Rong.
Secondary Consort Hua’s gaze landed on Shi Qingluo, and she was surprised.
Didn’t they say that Shi Qingluo was a village woman?
Her appearance and temperament were completely different.
Standing beside Nanshan Marquis who grew up in the palace, not only was given less attention, but she also stood out.
“This must be Mdm Shi,” she said with a smile.
Shi Qingluo smiled. “I am.”
Secondary Consort Hua reached out and held Shi Qingluo’s hand affectionately. “I heard that you offered high-yield seeds and came up with so many good things. You even have an old immortal master. I thought you must be a fairy-like figure.
“It’s just as I expected. I feel close to you and the moment I see you, I took a liking to you. ”
Shi Qingluo realized that not only was Secondary Consort Hua very sociable, but she would also lower her status to win people over.
After all, who didn’t like to hear nice words?
Of course, Shi Qingluo did not let her guard down.
“You are flattering me, Secondary Consort Hua,” she said with a smile.
“You deserve it,” Secondary Consort Hua chuckled.
Shi Qingluo thought to herself ,as expected of King Jin’s woman. King Jin had said the same thing that day.
She smiled and did not reply.
Secondary Consort Hua chatted affectionately with Shi Qingluo for a while, then let go of her hand and sat on the main seat.
Everyone knew Shi Qingluo’s identity by now.
It turned out that she wasn’t just a county magistrate’s wife, but also the village woman who had offered the seeds.
However, she really didn’t look like a village woman. Those who didn’t know would think that she was a madam or young lady from some aristocratic family.
The smarter ones also knew why Secondary Consort Hua was so friendly and polite to Shi Qingluo.
After all, they heard that she was the disciple of some old immortal and had many ways to make money.
It seemed like she was someone King Jin wanted to rope in.
No wonder they felt that this flower banquet was a little strange.
Why did Secondary Consort Hua send invitations to the county magistrate’s wives of each county?
So it was for Shi Qingluo.
Now, they viewed Shi Qingluo differently.
Although they still looked down on her status, they would not offend her.
Some of the madams and young ladies who did not know the ins and outs of this matter were looking down on Shi Qingluo’s status while envying her for being able to catch the eyes of Secondary Consort Hua.
Especially the other few county magistrate’s wives who were attending this kind of flower banquet for the first time, they couldn’t stop themselves from being more jealous.
After everyone had some tea, Secondary Consort Hua stood up and called everyone to go admire the flowers.
She even walked to Shi Qingluo’s side and started chatting.
At first, she introduced Northern City to Shi Qingluo and Xi Rong, as well as some of the local customs.
From time to time, she would ask about the capital and Nanxi County.
She was very good at chatting, and the topics she mentioned were easy for others to participate in.
As they chatted, Secondary Consort Hua smiled at Shi Qingluo and said, “I’ve always heard that you have a lot of ideas. I’ve been thinking of making some money recently. Can you help me think of an idea?”
Shi Qingluo sighed once more. No wonder Secondary Consort Hua was able to gain King Jin’s favor. She was completely following King Jin’s style of doing things.
Shi Qingluo didn’t reject him, but asked, “What do you want to do, Secondary Consort Hua?”
Secondary Consort Hua shook her head. “I don’t know about this either.”
“Do you have any shops under your name now?” Shi Qingluo asked.
“An embroidery workshop, a paper workshop, and a restaurant,” Secondary Consort Hua replied with a smile.
Her family background wasn’t good, and she was brought back by King Jin from a small town.
At that time, she was penniless.
These few shops were the ones she had saved up and got her people to operate them for the past few years.
King Jin’s manor’s true lady of the house was King Jin’s main consort.
Although she was favored and looked good, and she was almost always the one who attended the social events of King Jin’s manor, she also spent a lot of money and often had to use the income from her own shops.
His Highness had asked her to test Shi Qingluo the moment they met, and that was exactly what she wanted.
If Shi Qingluo could really come up with some money-making ideas for her, she would be very happy to do so.
She was a young lady from a small merchant’s family.
She had also seen all kinds of people around King Jin over the years, so she did not look down on Shi Qingluo just because she was a village woman.
On the contrary, because his highness valued her, she would also value her.
Shi Qingluo laughed. “I’m not good at embroidery. However, I do have a recipe for improving paper and a recipe. Perhaps I can help you, Secondary Consort Hua.”
The reason why she had never opened her own workshop to manufacture and sell paper products was because it would harm the interests and profits of the royal families.
Her young husband was previously a scholar, but he was only a county magistrate now.
His status had not yet reached that level yet, and if he attracted too much hatred, he would be targeted by the aristocratic families.
It was easy for him to fail.
Previously, she had thought of what to use to express her goodwill to King Jin. After thinking about it, she decided to try out with the improved paper making recipe first.
When King Jin reduced the cost of the paper, the selling price would naturally drop as well.
By then, the price of paper in Daliang would be affected, and the interests of the aristocratic families behind the expensive paper would be affected.
King Jin would be the one to attract the hatred of the aristocratic families.
For the sake of money, King Jin would naturally not mind being targeted.
He might even retaliate, which was probably what the emperor would be happy to see.
Therefore, King Jin would be the one to attract others’ hatred and take the blame.
She would just follow behind King Jin and enjoy the fruits of his doings.