Rebirth of an Abandoned Woman

After a while, Mrs. Zhuang invited everyone to the garden to enjoy the flowers. At the beginning of May, the garden was in full bloom, and the garden was a splendid scene far and near. The fragrant fragrance came with the wind, and the garden was buzzing with bees and butterflies. There are many famous flowers in the banker, which are bright and enchanting. They linger among them, which is pleasing to the eye. Everyone talks and laughs, and is in a very good mood.

As soon as the tour was over, Mrs. Zhuang smiled and asked everyone to sit down again.

The maids and maids had already set up a high seat table under the tall purple locust tree. There were all kinds of exquisite tea, water, melons, fruits and snacks. Various flowers cultivated in blue and white porcelain pots were placed at random heights on the side.

It is most pleasant to sit down and have a rest, enjoying the scenery and drinking tea, while chatting and joking.

Of course, it would also be good to let the ladies from each family compete in poetry, painting, music and calligraphy.

Since then, Mrs. Zhuang has taken Tang Yuzhen with her, and she has introduced and praised her with a smile to everyone she met. Everyone knew that Mrs. Zhuang was most likely attracted to Miss Tang and wanted to marry her as her daughter-in-law, so she was showing off. He glanced at Shi's daughter-in-law again. After sitting down, you looked at me and I looked at you, smiling knowingly.

After a few words, Mrs. Zhuang actually laughed and said: "How can a famous flower do without good poems? Forget it for us old ladies. None of the ladies are full of poems and erudite. We have to write a few good poems to cheer up. That’s it! Let’s add some color to the famous flowers in the garden! Ladies, you can’t refuse! What do you think, sisters?”

All the ladies praised it. Every mother wants to compete with her daughter or daughter-in-law to outdo others. She thinks that her daughter was raised according to the standards of a lady, and she can admit defeat right from the start!

Mrs. Zhuang then smiled again and said, "I have another suggestion. There are so many famous flowers in the garden, and it would be boring to ask the ladies to do them all. How about picking up a dozen kinds of famous flowers and making flower bouquets, and each of them making one or two poems?" Of course, Wan Niang is a talented girl from a scholarly family, so she has to write a song for each of them! Wan Niang, do you think you can do it?"

He said and laughed: "I don't mean to make things difficult for you, I really want to take the opportunity to let you all know how it is different from the daughters of ordinary people like us!"

When Wang heard this, she remained calm and turned her head to look at Sang Wan.

Sang Wan felt relieved. Just writing poems in general did not trouble her. Besides, although the ladies here are not illiterate and their knowledge is limited, as long as they do it, you don't have to worry too much about whether it is good or bad.

Moreover, since Mrs. Zhuang has spoken out, she will definitely be unhappy if she refuses Wang.

Sang Wan nodded slightly towards Wang, expressing her relief.

Mrs. Wang straightened her spine and said with a smile: "All the girls in the banker's family have said so, so let's do it! Don't laugh at me if Wan Niang doesn't do well!" Then she said with a half-smile: "Guang Wan Niang has done so much alone. It’s a bit unreasonable, how about asking Miss Tang to accompany us?”

Tang Yuzhen stood up, gave everyone a smile, and smiled reservedly and implicitly, "In this case, Yuzhen is more respectful than obeying orders!" She agreed readily.

"Okay, okay! Miss Tang is such a cheerful person!" Mrs. Zhuang was eager for this, and clapped her hands in praise with a smile.

Seeing that there was fun to watch, everyone was also curious about who would lose and who would win, so they all said yes with a smile.

So Mrs. Zhuang said something to the maid next to her, and the maid took the order and left. Immediately, a servant woman brought up several long cases with pen, ink, paper and inkstones on them. Another person held a blue and white pen holder with twelve flower sticks inside.

Mrs. Zhuang then ordered someone to bring up a tray. On the tray was a brocade box half a foot square. Mrs. Zhuang opened the brocade box, took the contents in her hand and signaled to everyone, smiling and saying: "This is a perfume from the West. Son, it’s not an exaggeration to say that the price is comparable to gold. Let’s be the lucky draw today! Whoever does well will get this bottle of perfume!”

I saw that the bottle was about three inches long, made entirely of Western glass, with a gold wire spiral pagoda cover, gold wire hanging from the top, and a cherry-sized red coral stone hanging from the end. It shines brightly in the sun and is very beautiful.

Everyone was filled with admiration and laughed and praised Mrs. Zhuang for her generosity!

Regardless of the Western perfumes that are hard to buy even with money, such a beautifully made glass bottle is extremely rare. The coral stone on it is worth at least a thousand taels of silver when used as a ring.

"What's the point!" Mrs. Zhuang said with a smile: "Such exquisite and good things are just suitable for ladies to use. We old ladies, it's just a waste of natural resources if we leave them in our hands!"

Everyone laughed and said that only Mrs. Zhuang, who had a big family and a big business, could say such things.

Mrs. Wang's heart tightened subconsciously. Mrs. Zhuang was even willing to use such a rare Western perfume as a lottery. It was obvious that she was determined to win. I hope Wan Niang can live up to her success!

The ladies laughed and came forward to take the flower dices. Each one of them began to think hard in front of the long table, and from time to time they whispered and joked with the people around them.

Only Sang Wan and Tang Yuzhen did not draw lots. The ladies were wondering when Mrs. Zhuang smiled and said: "I have heard that there are twelve masters, twelve friends, and twelve maids among flowers. The ladies just drew The flower sign is the twelve masters among the flowers, Wan Niang, Miss Tang, you can make it with the theme of these twelve masters!"

"Yes, madam!" Tang Yuzhen and Sang Wan looked at each other, nodded and smiled.

The ladies started whispering. Most of them had never heard what these twelve masters and friends said before. They found it new and interesting, so they all laughed and asked about it.

Some people couldn't help but look at Sang Wan, and thought with schadenfreude: If Wan Niang didn't even know what the Twelfth Division was, that would be a joke!

Tang Yuzhen was a guest at the banker's house, and she was obviously suspected of cheating. Mrs. Wang secretly screamed, "Oh no!" She didn't expect Mrs. Zhuang to be so cunning. She hurriedly looked at Sang Wan, but saw that Sang Wan's expression was still calm, so she felt relieved.

Tang Yuzhen also knew that people would definitely accuse her of cheating, so she was secretly sizing up Sang Wan. She would never write it down first if Sang Wan didn't. Otherwise, everyone will increasingly say that she has prepared in advance.

The so-called twelve masters of flowers refer to twelve famous flowers including peony, orchid, plum blossom, chrysanthemum, osmanthus, lotus, peony, crabapple, narcissus, wintersweet, azalea, and magnolia. When in full bloom, it has a strong and far-reaching appearance, and a heavy and fragrant fragrance. Although it is only for viewing and admiring, it makes people dare not play with it. Every time they feel awe, they can't help but learn from it, so they are called "Twelve Masters" .

These twelve kinds of flowers are often seen in poetry. They have been used by literati throughout the ages. It is expected that it will not be difficult for Tang Yuzhen. If she wants to win, she can only make a fuss about the word "kuai" and the hands in her hands. A good word!

Sang Wan thought about it and decided, so she unfolded the Xuelang rice paper, pressed it with a white jade paperweight, picked up the wolf hair, dipped it in thick ink, raised her sleeves and started swaying.

When Tang Yuzhen saw this, she smiled slightly, started to write elegantly, and began to write.

Both of them were writing like flies, obviously having the same idea in mind. At this time, several ladies had already figured it out, and returned to their seats to watch her competition with smiles.

The two of them stopped writing almost at the same time. Seeing this, Mrs. Zhuang smiled and said: "You two are really smart, but I don't know who is better!" Then she ordered the maid to gather everyone to watch together.

Mrs. Zhuang looked at Sang Wan again and said with a smile: "I've been hearing your mother-in-law praise you for being outstanding all day long. It's really surprising when you give it a try today!" The implication is that Tang Yuzhen is full of confidence in her ability to speak freely and stroll around the courtyard. Not surprising either.

"Thank you, madam." Sang Wan smiled slightly.

But Mrs. Wang couldn't hear this and snorted coldly: "My Wan Niang has always been very good and keeps a low profile. It's no surprise that Mrs. Zhuang doesn't know about it!"

Mrs. Zhuang smiled and said nothing, and read the poems with everyone.

Together with seven or eight ladies, there were dozens of poems in total. The ladies really just watched the fun and praised each poem.

Those who have a peaceful temperament and pursue moderation will be praised by both sides and laugh at it; those who are on good terms with Mrs. Zhuang or jealous of the Shi family will support Tang Yuzhen, and there will also be those who like the mulberry temperament and deliberately sell to the Shi family. Praise Sang Wan. For a moment there was no distinction between them.

But even though everyone had different thoughts and different purposes, they all looked at Sang Wan with admiration and lost their contempt. Xianjun felt that the Sang family had taken advantage of the Shi family's marriage, but at this time he felt that the Sang family girl was indeed something special. Those girls who were waiting to be married had secretly selected Shi Fengju as their son-in-law. The ladies were also convinced.

"Mrs. Li is well-read in poetry and books, and she is the most fair. Why don't we listen to what Mrs. Li has to say!" An unknown lady said with a smile.

Mrs. Li is the wife of Li Zhizhou in Qingzhou, and she is the most fair judge. Everyone laughed and said yes, and looked at her together.

The Shi family and the banker are both big families, and their relationship with Li Zhizhou is equally close. Mrs. Li was suddenly embarrassed and said with a smile: "How can you say this! I think both of them are doing equally well! It's a coincidence. , the chrysanthemum poems written by both of them are among the best. Mrs. Shi's poems about lotuses and Miss Tang's poems about plum blossoms are relatively inferior. However, Mrs. Shi's hairpin flowers in small regular script are graceful, elegant and refined. , you must have practiced a lot, right?"

After hearing this, everyone looked at the handwritings of the two people, and sure enough, they immediately compared it. Sang Wan's handwriting was neat and delicate, and the font size on each poem manuscript was the same, which gave people a great visual experience. Tang Yuzhen, on the other hand, was not so particular about it. She started writing lightly and sometimes heavily. In some places, the ink stains were not dry. When she passed them from hand to hand, the ink flowed and formed conspicuous large black spots, which looked very dazzling.

All the ladies couldn't help but laugh and said: "Mrs. Li is really very discerning, and Mrs. Shi's calligraphy is really excellent!"

Sang Wan was busy being humble, but she felt a little astringent in her heart. This calligraphy was actually practiced in her previous life when she lived alone in a side courtyard and spent her days chatting in a deserted way to pass the time! Looking back from the present to the past is particularly melancholy, and it also secretly arouses her fighting spirit: In this life, she wants to change everything! Let nothing be the same again!