Duan Mingqing could still understand that someone from the prefect's residence sent the post here because it was for his mother and not for him.
Qiao Lan opened the post and took a look. It was a polite invitation. The post said that the lady in the house would be celebrating her birthday next month, and she invited Qiao Lan to bring her whole family there as a guest.
Speaking of banquets, Qiao Lan has attended many business cocktail parties.
But the banquets in this era are different from those in their place. The host does not greet the guests to a meal in a lively manner, and the guests bring gifts.
She has this level in her body, and the person who invited her is the prefect's wife, which further illustrates the troublesomeness of this banquet.
It turns out that Mrs. Qiao has maids around her. Since she has the maids who grew up with her, there are also young maids who change every few years, plus her own mother-in-law, cook, and groom, there are about twenty people.
Most of the people attending the prefect's wife's banquet were high-profile people, and there must have been a large number of people waiting around. Wouldn't it be dazzling if the Duan family went there?
Although Qiao Lan's title is not low, Qiao Lan does not regard herself as a noble. She feels that she is similar to the old lady who works in the fields in the village. At most, she can be called an agriculturist.
Even if the whole family is brought here this time, the Duan family has no servants around to wait on them, so it would be unreasonable to buy them temporarily. They will definitely be out of place at the banquet.
Qiao Lan thought it was better not to go. Even if she and her family were invited alone, she didn't want to go.
"It's better not to go to this banquet. I'll write a letter and send it tomorrow, saying that my family is busy with next year's spring plowing." Qiao Lan thought for a moment and said.
Duan Mingqing stood aside and nodded lightly. His mother had not attended banquets in the past, so this decision was expected by him.
After talking about the banquet, as a parent, Qiao Lan was inevitably concerned about Duan Mingqing's test scores.
"How did you do in this exam?"
"Can you pass the exam?"
Duan Mingqing's tone was calm: "My son thinks that the questions this time are not difficult. I have written them all. The candidates will be admitted according to the quota. If you are lucky, you should be able to be admitted."
Even though the questions are very simple, everyone knows it, and Duan Mingqing is also confident, but whether he can pass the exam is another question.
Qiao Lan kindly reassured Duan Mingqing: "It's okay, you're still young, just take the exam slowly. Okay, go to bed early."
"Yes, mother."
Qiao Lan wrote a reply, expressing her regret that she couldn't attend the banquet very tactfully, and that her family still had to prepare for next year's spring plowing, so she probably didn't have enough time.
After writing the letter, Qiao Lan also asked Duan Mingqing to take a look at it and polish it. In addition to writing the letter, Qiao Lan also had to prepare some gifts.
When people in the countryside host banquets, the folks in the countryside will more or less give away some things, and some also give money, but giving money when dealing with wealthy people is tacky!
The Duan family does not have calligraphy, painting, gold, silver, and jade, and the only valuable thing is in silver. The things your Majesty gave you a few days ago are quite valuable, but if you don't keep the things given by your Majesty well, you will be beheaded.
Even if Qiao Lan dared to give it away, the prefect would not dare to take it.
After thinking for a long time, Qiao Lan decided to send twenty kilograms of onions.
There are no onions in Dajin. The onions in Qiao Lan's hand are the seeds of system rewards, and they are unique to Dajin.
The Duan family harvested several hundred kilograms of onions from the fields this year, which is not too much. They are all stored in a cool place, ready to be eaten later. I only cook them every few days. Just stir-fry and add salt. Stir-fry them and take them out.
It has a sweet taste and is loved by adults and children in the family.
Onions are not only delicious, but they also look festive and purple-red. The prefect’s wife will probably like them!
Although it looks a bit rustic!
So Qiao Lan asked her family to help peel off all the dry and broken onion skins on the outside, wipe them all shiny with a wet handkerchief, then carefully find the box, and put it in the box with dried straw!
A man relies on his clothes and a horse relies on his saddle. Once the onions are put into the wooden box, they suddenly don’t look like the price of two cents per pound in the vegetable market!
That’s it!
-
Tongzhou, in the prefect's mansion.
A beautiful woman with red hairpins on her hair was sitting on the terrace of the waterside pavilion, looking at the garden full of maids and servants moving the flowers and plants in the yard.
A man who looked like a butler came over hastily, followed by a boy holding a box.
"Madam, a person came to the back door just now. He said he was here to deliver letters and gifts to the Duan family in Lantian County!" The steward said respectfully.
He made another gesture, indicating to the boy next to him to bring the things up.
The boy came forward with the wooden box, and the steward gently opened the lid of the box.
I saw a letter resting on a group of purple and white balls.
The woman glanced at the ball, and her eyes were filled with freshness. It was something she had never seen before.
The steward respectfully handed the letter to the maid next to him, who then handed it to the beautiful woman next to him.
After the woman finished reading the letter, her eyes moved to the ball again.
He stood up from the soft stone bench covered with brocade, raised his slender jade fingers, and touched the white-purple ball in the box.
The eldest maid who was following the woman smiled and joked: "This thing sent by Lady Huitian is really rare! I have never seen such a beautiful fruit in my whole life."
"This ball is so bright purple, it looks so festive." Other maids followed and cheered.
Although I don’t know what this thing is, it’s always right to praise it.
There were seven or eight balls in the box. The woman nodded and grabbed one of the balls. It was quite heavy.
"This is not a ball, it is a red onion, like a green onion, used for cooking and stir-frying." The prefect's wife said, this is what she saw in the letter.
Hearing this, the maid standing next to the beautiful woman had a look of confusion on her face, and the woman herself was also confused.
Onions grow like this?
The maid who spoke first had the most flexible mind. She turned her beautiful eyes and said something pleasing, "I heard that Lady Huitian can increase grain production several times. Even these green onions can be harvested by Lady Huitian."
Planting it so big shows that the queen is very capable."
The confusion on the beautiful woman's face still remained, but she nodded, feeling that this was extremely reasonable.
-
A few days later, the banquet in the prefect's mansion was held as usual.
But today’s banquet is different from those in the past!
On the seat at the front, there was an open fire and a large stone slab for searing meat.
The guests coming and going in the backyard were all guessing that the prefect's wife Xu had recently obtained some rare food such as tiger meat, and was ready to show it to everyone.
The owner of this wealthy family who is good at cooking often grills meat in front of the guests. If the owner is a good cook, it can be a good talk.
The guests who came here naturally thought about it and had more expectations in their hearts.
When the prefect's wife came out to entertain the guests and greeted them, she pretended to be in front of the guests and said, "...I got some fresh food a few days ago, and it happened to be a coincidence, so I invited everyone to come and taste this fresh food..."
In full view of everyone, the maid in the prefect's house brought out a fresh onion.