The Lucky Farmgirl
Chapter 863 - 841 Equality

Chapter 863: Chapter 841 Equality

Daji eventually went to buy some vegetables and meat, and the cook prepared a lavish dinner.

After dinner, County Magistrate Tang smiled, went to the study with Mr. Zhuang to talk, and left Madam Tang in the courtyard to play with Manbao and the others.

Manbao felt quite curious because County Magistrate Tang hadn’t mentioned any serious matter since he had arrived. Therefore, when Madam Tang was playing with them in the courtyard, Manbao couldn’t help but ask, "Madam, how come you and County Magistrate Tang had time to visit us today?"

Madam Tang glanced at her and said, "Manbao, I just saw a pot of particularly beautiful champak in the study; it looked even better than the lemongrass I bought."

Manbao coughed lightly and said, "Madam must have seen it wrong; that pot of champak has always been grown in a pot and is not better than those grown in a garden."

"But I just like champak."

Manbao then said disappointingly, "Unfortunately, I only have one pot, and I’ve already given it to sir. If you really want it, you have to wait another two years. By then, I can divide the plant and give you one."

"Will you sell it for two hundred taels?"

Now that Manbao was not short of money, money was just a number to her, and she firmly shook her head.

Madam Tang looked at her, and after a long pause, she smiled and said, "All right, it seems I’m fated not to have this pot of flowers."

She paused and then looked at Manbao, saying, "You might not know, but the steward of Wang Family, whom you said had a destiny with your first pot of white peony, was beaten with twenty large boards yesterday and was sent to work in the manor."

Manbao was slightly surprised, then smiled and said, "Is that so? That’s really unfortunate."

Madam Tang then stretched out her hand and tapped her forehead, saying, "You really are bold and temperamental. People say to endure momentarily for peace, but you, on the other hand, have stirred up such huge waves, involving so many people."

Manbao was somewhat puzzled and tilted her head, saying, "But Madam Tang, I feel that you all don’t seem to like her behind her back; I thought you wouldn’t mind."

Madam Tang, "...Who told you that?"

"You all," Manbao said. "When Ji Hao fell off his horse last year, I didn’t notice any of you were afraid of the Princess Consort of Yizhou."

Far from being afraid, they simply looked down on her; at that time, when Ying Wenhai was taken away by County Magistrate Tang, the Ying Family went into action, and Madam Tang directly hid in the temple.

Since Jishi Hall was right there, Manbao, being in the pharmacy, had often heard about these matters, and after all, wasn’t she always sought after by the Ying Family?

She had heard that the Princess Consort of Yizhou had specifically gone to the temple once, but Madam Tang firmly closed her doors, of course, her excuse being that she was in retreat practicing rites.

But Manbao thought that a wife of a sixth-rank county magistrate daring not to meet a princess consort who exceeded her in rank showed contempt for that princess.

Manbao used to not care about these matters, so she wouldn’t ponder on them, but once she started paying attention, these affairs weren’t difficult for her to grasp; she simply regarded them as characters in a book, contemplating the meaning behind each of their words and actions.

Madam Tang looked at Manbao and was speechless for a long while.

She didn’t particularly respect the Princess Consort of Yizhou, but hadn’t displayed it so obviously, had she?

Madam Tang was somewhat dazed even until she got into the carriage.

County Magistrate Tang had been watching her sideways, and seeing that she ignored him, he coughed lightly and asked, "Didn’t you say you were going to settle accounts with her? I haven’t seen you do so."

Madam Tang glanced at him and said, "I always thought she was just a little girl who had learned some medicine."

County Magistrate Tang raised his eyebrows and asked, "And now?"

"Now I realize that she’s also incredibly good at studying," Madam Tang straightened her sleeves and said, "Today, I saw notes from The Spring and Autumn and Heshu on her desk. I remember at the beginning of the year when I corresponded with my family, my mother mentioned that my younger brother had just started reading The Spring and Autumn, and they plan to send him to the Imperial Academy this year."

The children of the Wang family naturally do not need to take exams to enter the Imperial Academy; they are granted direct entry.

Madam Tang said, "My younger brother is sixteen this year, and although he’s an average student at home, he’s quite impressive when compared to others. Zhou Man is just twelve this year, right?"

County Magistrate Tang laughed and said, "Bai Shan’s scholarly achievements are slightly better than hers."

"That’s different. Not to mention Bai Shan is a year older than her, he studies at the prefectural school. Moreover, she is also learning medicine," Madam Tang remarked that learning medicine was not something she either feared or respected, for in her opinion, a doctor was merely a craftsman. Being good at studying was different.

The Wang family was a family of scholars; she knew too well how important and difficult it was to be good at studying.

And today, the Manbao she saw was entirely different from the Manbao she knew before.

County Magistrate Tang: "So, you’re not going to settle accounts with her?"

Madam Tang waved her hand dismissively, "Forget it, forget it. It’s no big deal anyway."

County Magistrate Tang smiled, withdrew his gaze, and before leaving the small courtyard, he secretly found Bai Shan and warned, "You better stay away from the Prince of Yizhou’s residence. Don’t engage in anything too dangerous while you’re still young."

Initially, Madam Tang clearly did not consider Manbao to be on the same level as her, but after a visit to the study, she silently placed Manbao on the same level for conversation.

However, others didn’t have the same change of heart as Madam Tang. Both Madam Huang and Madam Wei were beneficiaries of the current circumstances. Lord Huang held a high and influential position, and Madam Huang didn’t care much about offending the Princess Consort of Yizhou and even enjoyed a good show.

Madam Wei felt quite upset, but couldn’t voice her complaints to her mother-in-law, so she could only secretly complain to Lord Wei, "What was Ting’er’s classmate thinking, selling such a precious pot of white peonies to the Princess Consort of Yizhou, but then selling so many more outside? You didn’t see it—when the fabric was pulled away, the Princess Consort’s face just fell."

Lord Wei frowned slightly and asked, "How much money did the Princess Consort spend on that pot of white peonies?"

Madam Wei paused and then said, "As soon as she entered, the Princess Consort exclaimed that she had acquired a pure-colored, rare good peony, but she didn’t specify how much she paid for it."

Lord Wei said, "You’d better find out the details before discussing it. There were so many ladies present, and the Princess Consort won’t remember you."

"But," Madam Wei agonized, "During the flower appreciation just yesterday, the flowers that both Madam Huang and I brought out were the most spectacular. The white peonies ended up in many people’s hands, and I’m afraid the Princess Consort didn’t remember anyone but me."

Lord Wei: ...

Madam Wei did not have the confidence of Madam Huang and Madam Tang, and Lord Wei was not like Lord Huang or the County Magistrate Tang. He had to get out of bed and inquire carefully about this flower appreciation event.

The more he heard, the more Lord Wei felt that something was amiss.

Madam Wei quickly said, "You also think there’s something wrong, don’t you? Such a rare pot of white peonies, and how could Ting’er’s classmate just come up with twenty-one pots all of a sudden? And how so coincidentally, most of them were sold to us, with two pots to each family, yet the only single pot went to the Princess Consort?"