571 I’m not picky
Madam Tu could feel that the other madams were looking at her, but she didn’t know what to say.
It seemed that this village woman, Shi Qingluo, not only relied on her status to be arrogant and rude.
She wished to isolate Shi Qingluo from other madam by pushing her to the other side of the fence.
However, Shi Qingluo had used the matter of her bowing to push her to the opposite side away from the other madams.
At this moment, the madams who wanted to befriend Shi Qingluo all stood up and bowed to her and Xi Rong.
“Greetings, princess! Greetings, marquis!”
Whether the others were willing or not, they could only stand up and pay their respects.
Actually, this should have been done when they first met Shi Qingluo and Xi Rong.
After all, the two of them were of much higher status than them.
It was just that many people felt that they were superior because of their identity as a member of an aristocratic family.
They wanted to give Shi Qingluo a chance to show off, so they deliberately ignored her identity as a princess.
As for the Southern marquis, no one present had seen her before, so they didn’t recognize her.
Now that Madam Tu had done this, they could only pay their respects again.
Most of these madams were smart and understood that Shi Qingluo was showing them what she was capable of.
It had to be said that this was a good move.
Not only did she slap the arrogant Madam Zhu in the face, but she also used Madam Tu to establish her authority.
Was she really a village woman?
Shi Qingluo raised her hand with a gentle smile after all the ladies had finished bowing. “You can all rise.”
Madam Tu and the others stood up, feeling aggrieved.
Madam Tu suddenly didn’t want to sit down and drink tea anymore, so she suggested, “Since all the madams are here, why don’t we go and admire the flowers directly?”
Shi Qingluo and Xi Rong looked at each other and laughed, “Alright!”
Since the two people with the highest status had no objections, the other madams naturally had no objections.
Thus, they followed Madam Tu to the courtyard dedicated to admiring flowers.
The Tu residence was very large.
Because the Tu family’s old madam loved flowers, she built several courtyards where they could enjoy the flowers all year.
It was the end of March when the apricot flowers were in full bloom. The Tu family had a special apricot garden.
As a result, as soon as they entered, everyone saw the apricot flowers in full bloom in the garden.
There was a pavilion in the middle of the garden, and a maid was brewing tea inside.
Madam Tu brought everyone into the apricot garden and then led them into the pavilion.
It was obvious that the pavilion had been deliberately built to be very large.
There were several long tables, and the chairs were covered with wool mats.
There was a brazier under each long table and a clay stove for boiling tea on the table.
The pavilion was deliberately built at a place protected from the wind, so everyone felt a sense of warmth as soon as they entered.
It was obvious that this was a pavilion to admire the flowers and welcome guests.
The Tu family’s old madam was very thoughtful.
After sitting down, Madam Tu held an exquisite heater in her arms and looked at everyone with a kind smile.
“The flowers in the courtyard have bloomed just in time today. Why don’t we recite some poems or play the zither to liven things up?”
She had already decided that if she wanted to embarrass Shi Qingluo, she would start with the four ancient Chinese arts, namely the zither, weiqi, calligraphy and painting.
A farmer’s daughter probably didn’t even know how to read, let alone know this.
Most of the madams and young ladies of the aristocratic families agreed with a smile.
Therefore, Madam Tu composed a poem while looking at the apricot flowers in the garden for everyone to appreciate.
Those who thought they were talented not only appreciated Madam Tu’s poems but also composed their own.
As for the young ladies who wanted to show off, they could play with the zither that Madam Tu had prepared.
Shi Qingluo leaned lazily against the back of his chair, listening to the music and the poems of these people.
These madams and young ladies were indeed quite good.
Whether it was poetry or zither, they were all good.
A young lady had just finished playing a piece of music, and Madam Tu smiled and praised her.
“What do you think, princess?” he asked Shi Qingluo.
“Very good,” Shi Qingluo replied honestly.
Although she didn’t know how to play the zither, she could still tell whether it was good or bad.
Madam Tu laughed in her heart. This answer was really perfunctory.
She continued to press on.
“Then, princess, why don’t you give us a detailed evaluation?”
Shi Qingluo nodded and said, “When she played it, the melody was either soothing as a flowing spring, as rapid as a waterfall or as clear as pearls falling on a jade plate. She immersed her emotions in the piece, as if she’s in the middle of a mountain and a river. The atmosphere is good.”
Upon hearing Shi Qingluo’s evaluation, the madams present were all stunned, clearly very surprised.
When she said it was not bad, they thought she didn’t understand and just said it perfunctorily.
But now, her evaluation was all on point, explaining what mood the song was trying to express.
Madam Tu was also stunned.
She had not expected Shi Qingluo to know about this.
She chuckled. “It seems that the princess’s zither skills are not bad. Why don’t you play a song?”
Shi Qingluo looked at her and shrugged her shoulders.
She replied honestly, “I don’t know how to play the zither.”
She knew how to play the piano, but not the zither.
Madam Tu heaved a sigh of relief.
This farmer’s daughter really didn’t know how to play the zither.
She had a look of regret on her face, but her expression was clouded with a layer of superiority. “That’s really a pity. I would like to hear the princess play the zither.”
Many people also thought that she was indeed a farmer’s girl who didn’t even know how to play the zither.
They said, “Yeah, it’s such a pity.”
How could Shi Qingluo not understand their intentions?
She curled her lips. “I’m not good at zither. However, I can play the flute. Do you want to listen?”
The ancient flute was one of the top ten ancient musical instruments.
It was a popular and elegant instrument in ancient times.
“Madam Tu, have you prepared a bamboo flute?”
“Of course, a jade flute is fine if you have it. I’m not picky,” she added.
Madam Tu was speechless.
She had indeed not prepared a bamboo flute, and there was no jade flute at her home.
However, she guessed that Shi Qingluo might have changed the topic on purpose. Perhaps she didn’t know the bamboo flute and said she knew it on purpose because it wasn’t here.
“Since the princess wants to play the flute, I will not disappoint her,” she said with a smile.
She then instructed the maidservant to bring over a bamboo flute.
Shi Qingluo smiled. “It’s not that I want to play the flute. It’s just that you keep asking me to play a song. I can’t refuse your kindness, so I can only play along with the occasion.”
Madam Tu scoffed in her heart, but she smiled on the surface. “Then I’ll thank the princess for playing along.”
When the maidservant went to get the bamboo flute, Madam Tu suggested that everyone write down the poem they had just composed.
On the side of the pavilion was a table with paper, a brush, ink, an inkstone, and painting tools.
Madam Tu took the lead and wrote down her poem.
She quickly drew out a painting of apricot flowers, which seemed to echo the poem.
After the other madams saw this, they all praised her.
After that, everyone would take turns to write poems or draw.
After everyone had gone up one by one, Madam Tu smiled at Shi Qingluo and said, “Princess, you should also leave behind a piece of calligraphy.”
“That’s right,” a madam chimed in. “All the magistrates’ wives would leave behind their calligraphy at banquets. We would like to admire the princess’ calligraphy too.”
Shi Qingluo did not know how to compose poems, but she was quite good at drawing and writing.
These were all things in which she had been trained on while she was with her grandfather.
She naturally had memories of ancient poems about the apricot flowers blossoming, but she did not want to plagiarize other people’s work.
She looked at Madam Tu and said with a smile, “Madame Tu insists on showing everyone my calligraphy. You’re the host of the banquet, so I’ll still give you my support.
“But I’m too lazy to think of poems and draw by myself. I don’t know if Madam Tu would mind if I followed your drawing and writing.”