Allure of a Country Maiden
Chapter 484 - 482

Chapter 484: 482

Seeing that Li Mingfang showed none signs of drunkenness, Mrs. Li breathed a sigh of relief.

Getting drunk in front of so many people would be really disgraceful, especially considering this was the Imperial Palace.

She looked at the expressions of the Empress Dowager and Empress, when she noticed there were no peculiarities, she felt relieved.

Even though she disliked this engagement, in the end her daughter was still going to marry into this family. If she was disliked by her in-laws before she even entered the house, then her future would truly be difficult.

The Empress Dowager’s face remained calm, though in her heart she was somewhat disappointed with Li Mingfang.

How come she hadn’t inherited even a bit of her grandmother’s resourcefulness and tactfulness?

Three large bowls of strong wine, she’s been provoked by someone and fell for that, such a temperament was too impulsive.

The "picking vegetables" activity continued, and no one paid attention to Li Mingfang’s state.

At the beginning, when the flower landed in her hand, she could instinctively pass it to the next person, but in the second round, she just held the flower without any reaction.

"Mingfang?" the Chu Die sitting next to her quietly pulled her sleeve.

Li Mingfang moved her head from side to side before finding the direction of the voice. She was clearly drunk, and pointed at Chu Die with a finger, her voice significantly louder than usual due to the effect of the alcohol: "Were you calling me?"

Everyone heard this and turned to look, and at this moment, the drum music stopped.

Chu Die smiled awkwardly: "It’s your turn, Mingfang."

"My turn? What’s my turn?" Li Mingfang was bewildered.

"It’s your turn to pick vegetables." Chu Die was inwardly anxious.

"Pick vegetables? Pick what vegetables? I don’t pick, if I pick something, it would be a precious sword!"

Everyone: "..."

Mrs. Li quickly stood up and bowed to the Empress Dowager and the Empress: "Empress Dowager, Empress, Mingfang seems to be drunk, I will take her to leave early."

The Empress Dowager nodded without a change in her expression: "Let the maid take her to the guest house to rest for a while, and leave after drinking some hangover soup!"

She really didn’t like overestimating people.

The distance from the Imperial Garden to the palace gate was long. There was an Imperial Guard stationed every three steps and a sentinel every five steps along the way.

Mrs. Li thought of her daughter’s drunk state. They would need to walk this entire way under the gazes of these Imperial Guards - it wouldn’t look good. So she nodded.

The Empress then signaled a maid to accompany the two of them to the guest house.

After Li Mingfang left, the "picking vegetables" activity continued. As for the remaining participants, no one could guess who was next. When the silk flower landed on Xiao’er’s hand again, Fu Ranhui, like finding a lifesaver, said: "Ladies, let’s have Rui’an County’s Miss guess the remaining dishes for us, okay?"

What’s the reason to refuse! That’s great!

"Okay!" Everyone said in unison.

After Li Mingfang left, the Fifth Princess somehow brought out a pot of smelly tofu, saying that whoever guessed wrong would have to eat a piece of smelly tofu. The girls present had already eaten two pieces consequtively, feeling like the smell was radiating from their entire person.

Xiao’er pitifully looked at Fu Ranhui: she had originally planned to guess wrong on purpose and eat stinky tofu, because the smell of stinky tofu was too authentic, she couldn’t even tell where the Fifth Princess got it from.

Xiao’er loved to eat stinky tofu, just like the Fifth Princess.

"Empress Dowager, Empress, can we do this?" Fu Ranhui asked.

"It’s your own activity, if Rui’an County’s Princess agrees, I have no objections. However, all the jewelry in this box will be awarded to the Rui’an County’s Princess!" The Empress Dowager also hoped to quickly end this activity because she couldn’t stand the smell.

"This box of jewelry is also from me." The Empress also thanked her for her quick thinking. Someone came to save them, it simply couldn’t be better.

"Go ahead and reward her! As long as no one forces me to eat stinky tofu! After all, the jewelry isn’t mine to give and I don’t lose anything!" Fu Ranhui generously said.

Empress Dowager and the Empress both laughed at this.

When the Empress finished laughing, she said: "I would like to go back on my word. This was the princess’s idea, so it should be the princess who rewards her."

Fu Ranhui quickly ran forward to pick up the wooden box that was next to the Empress, she tossed down a phrase and ran off: "Empress, you’re the mother of a country, how can you go back on your word!"

The eldest princess shook her head: "This child is getting more and more willful."

"It’s innocence and openness from my cousin!" said the Fifth Princess.

"I love girls with this kind of personality, they look lively." The Empress smiled and said.

"Don’t restrain Ranhui too much. After she gets married, you’ll find it hard to see her this lively!" The Empress Dowager also said.

The eldest princess was also innocent and lively when she was around, but after marriage, her words and deeds can’t leave the rules and rites alone.

A girl is better when she’s young and not yet married! Thought the Empress Dowager.

The Fifth Princess saw Fu Ranhui giving the jewelry box to Xiao’er, and she promptly said, "Rui’an County’s Miss, if you guess everything correctly, I’ll give you this pot of stinky tofu!"

Oh no! The other girls thought Rui’an County’s Princess would refuse after hearing this, and they all felt despair.

But upon hearing this, Xiao’er decided to nod her head firmly: "Okay!"

There’s both food and jewelry to be obtained, why wouldn’t she do it.

All of the girls present breathed a sigh of relief, they didn’t expect Rui’an County’s Princess to have such a sense of self-sacrifice.

Xiao’er walked over to the front of the flower rack, she pointed with her finger and talked, and within a couple of breaths, she named all the leftover vegetables, she didn’t get a single one wrong.

Everyone clapped and voices of praise were heard from everywhere.

Xiao’er gracefully said: "These are things that really grew up with me, even now there is a piece of land in my family’s backyard that’s full of different vegetables! My father goes down to look at it every day."

"Marquis Shengping is indeed dedicated to his role as the Minister of Agriculture." The Empress Dowager smiled and said.

The Empress also nodded, she was even more satisfied with Xiao’er’s candidness about her background, not feeling shameful about it.

Nobody disagreed on this! Speaking on behalf of the agricultural officials, they had never seen anyone doing as good a job!

On the men’s side, they also finished guessing, with all of the vegetables being guessed correctly by Jingrui.

Today’s "picking vegetables" banquet can be said that the two siblings took all the limelight.

After the activity ended, the Emperor hosted a banquet. After dining, there were grand operas to watch.

There are not many entertainment programs in this dynasty, and watching operas was still something many people enjoyed, just like how many modern people enjoy watching TV dramas and movies.

Mrs. Liu loved to watch operas, but due to her being a high-risk pregnant woman, she did not come to the palace this time, otherwise watching half a day of opera with her big belly would have been no problem.

Xiao’er didn’t care for it that much.

Ming Jingya had been sitting for half a day and was already feeling sore in the lower back. She said to her mother-in-law, "Mother, I need to go to the restroom and then I’ll move around a bit."

Upon hearing this, the General’s wife quickly nodded: "Go, be careful.\" She knew that pregnant women would suffer back pain if they sat for a long time. "I’ll let Junya accompany you."

"It’s not necessary, let my sister watch the opera. I can have a maid take me there." Ming Jingya said as she got up, supporting her waist.

Seeing this, Xiao’er spoke up: "I also need to go to the restroom, I’ll accompany my sister-in-law."

Xiao’er was Di Shaowei’s adopted sister, in front of the elder, she always called Ming Jingya "sister-in-law." Even though she thought "Sister Ming" would sound better and not make people feel older.

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