Qu Huan only stayed in Fucheng for two days and then left.
Liu'er was kept by Shen Xiu. When asked about it, she would say that Liu'er was her distant cousin.
The affairs of the inner house are now taken care of by Rou Niang. She heard that the left child was Shen Xiu's distant cousin, so she specially arranged for him to be in a side courtyard not far from the main courtyard.
As for the food, clothing and daily necessities of the child, Rou Niang also ordered the two servants to take care of them carefully.
Rou Niang took care of the affairs at home, while Shen Xiu focused on her embroidery workshop.
Ever since Shen Xiu went there, there hasn't been any trouble at Lianniang's side. On the other hand, the businessman named Qin invited Fan Guangzu to drink from time to time, but he seldom talked about serious business and only chatted casually.
The days just slipped by to the day of the hearth-warming party.
Every time around the winter solstice in Fucheng, wealthy families like to sit around and hold a winter solstice banquet.
This fire party is similar to the Winter Solstice Banquet, except that it takes place earlier than the Winter Solstice Banquet.
The winter solstice is not yet approaching, but the temperature has already dropped.
For several days, the sky was very gloomy. Shen Xiu was afraid that it would snow when he went to the banquet, so after getting dressed, he took out a cloak.
When she put on her cloak and prepared to go to the banquet, there were indeed scattered snowflakes floating in the sky.
When the carriage arrived at the government office, a thin layer of snow had already accumulated on the ground.
There is nothing more pleasant than having a stove on a snowy day.
When Shen Xiu was welcomed into the large flower hall where guests were received by the maids of the government office, she saw that the female relatives invited by Mrs. Gu were all chatting around the charcoal basin, and the atmosphere was very warm.
The maid took the cloak that Shen Xiu took off, and Mrs. Gu, who was sitting at the top, waved to Shen Xiu, "Mrs. Shen, come and sit here." She then said to Mrs. Zhou next to her, "Didn't you ask about it just now?
Who embroidered the double-sided embroidered screen? It is Mrs. Shen."
Mrs. Zhou glanced at Shen Xiu, with a smile on her face and said: "It's better to meet each other than to be famous. I have long heard that a lady Shen has come to Fucheng. Not to mention her outstanding embroidery skills, and she is also well-born." Then she pulled Shen Xiu.
He sat down next to him and said, "Look, she is such a beautiful woman."
The husbands of the female relatives invited by Mrs. Gu this time are all people with official positions, and they are either co-consultants or co-judges.
These official wives are different from ladies from aristocratic families. What they say and do is generally determined by the status of their husbands.
Mrs. Gu's husband is the magistrate of the fourth rank, and Mrs. Zhou's husband is the magistrate of the fifth rank, so the female relatives are implicitly led by the two of them.
Seeing that both of them were praising Shen Xiu, the other female relatives also followed suit.
Before Shen Xiu came, although she knew that she would not meet the people she wanted to see at the fire party, she did not expect that all Mrs. Gu would invite were official wives.
She didn't know any of these people. In order to avoid making mistakes, she just smiled or said a few polite words when faced with the compliments from everyone.
Mrs. Zhou was very interested in her ability to embroider double-sided embroidery and asked her to ask questions.
Shen Xiu remembered what Luo Gong had said. Being an official was not as easy as imagined, especially for local officials. If they did not have a good relationship with their superiors, they would not be promoted.
She guessed that Mrs. Zhou asked about double-sided embroidery, probably because she wanted to give a gift to someone above her, so she patiently replied: "A good double-sided embroidery will take a month or more to embroider. If Mrs. Zhou
If you want to customize double-sided embroidery, you can come to our Jinxin Embroidery Workshop to discuss it in detail. If Madam doesn’t have time, we can come to your door to discuss it, too.”
Mrs. Zhou then said: "I'd better go to your embroidery workshop. I don't want to go out this month. Let's wait until next month!"
Of course there was no problem with Shen Xiu. As soon as she agreed, she saw a maid coming over and said to Mrs. Gu: "The young lady is here."
Mrs. Gu's eyes flashed, but her expression did not change. She said very gently: "I don't need her to serve here. Just tell her and let her go back to take care of the children!"
Shen Xiu didn't know who the young lady was talking about, so Mrs. Zhou next to her whispered: "Mrs. Gu is the stepmother of Magistrate Qin, and the husband of this young lady is the only son of Magistrate Qin."
Two simple sentences directly explained the relationship between Mrs. Gu and this young lady.
It turns out that Mrs. Gu is continuing her marriage, so no wonder she doesn’t want her daughter-in-law to serve her.
Shen Xiu held her forehead and said, "I don't know if the room is too hot, but I always feel a little dizzy."
"There are a lot of charcoal pots in this house." Mrs. Zhou said with a smile, "You young people are naturally not afraid of the cold. Since you feel hot, then go out for a walk!"
Shen Xiu then apologized to Mrs. Gu and slowly walked out of the flower hall.
Not long after she walked out of the flower hall, she saw a young woman leaving the place holding a servant's hand.
"Young Madam, you shouldn't have come. Madam has always been considerate of you."
There was already a thick layer of snow on the ground, and the master and servant were only looking at the road, not even noticing anyone behind them.
The young lady sneered: "Be considerate of me? What you said is wrong. My mother-in-law is very smart and cautious. She knows that she is a stepmother. If she uses her mother-in-law's money, not only will her husband feel uncomfortable, but also her father-in-law will feel uncomfortable.
He will criticize her quite a bit."
"So she never asked me to set rules, and she always followed me in everything, and she behaved well in front of others. Others thought she was a rare and good mother-in-law. My father-in-law also thought she knew the general situation.
."
"But as for me, if I really follow her wishes and don't come to greet her or set the rules, I will become the person who doesn't know etiquette. I won't be fooled by her. She wants to be a good mother-in-law. With her reputation,
I don’t want the reputation of being a good wife.”
The servant woman said: "Young Madam said this, my servant understands. It's just that the road is slippery in the snow, so Young Madam should be careful of the wind and cold when you go out."
The young lady said: "I'm not that delicate. By the way, I was listening to the fire-warming party today, but I didn't hear the old woman's voice. My mother-in-law doesn't have to invite her cousin every time she holds a banquet.
Well, why didn’t you see her cousin aunt today?”
"My servant doesn't know either. These days, Madam seldom calls people from the Nishang Embroidery Workshop to visit her. Even for this furnace-warming party, the clothes Madam wants to wear were made by Manfang Embroidery Workshop."
The young lady said: "Okay, why did she change her embroidery studio? Or she had a rift with her cousin."
Before she could finish her sentence, the young lady suddenly felt someone behind her, so she turned around and looked back.
Shen Xiuzheng was listening intently when he saw the young lady in front of him turning around and staring at him with a wary look on his face.
"Who are you and why are you following us?"
Shen Xiu smiled and explained: "I am a guest invited by Mrs. Gu. Because the room is hot, I came out for a walk."
Mrs. Gu's guest, the young lady stared at her, wondering how much she had heard. But what she said, it didn't matter even if Mrs. Gu knew it.
The young lady gave Shen Xiu a cold look, "Since you feel hot, then you should take a walk in the garden, but don't go too far, so as not to get lost."
Shen Xiu had already listened to everything she wanted to hear and said with a smile: "Young Madam reminds me that I have been out for a while and it is time to go back."
She smiled apologetically at the young lady and walked towards the flower hall.
Her trip was not in vain, at least she learned about Mrs. Gu's relationship with the Nichang Embroidery Workshop from the young lady's mouth.
Nishang Embroidery Workshop, her guess was right, it was indeed behind the scenes.