Chapter 466: Banquet
Editor: Atlas Studios
Fan Zijin had just successfully provoked his step-brother, Fan Zixiao, until his face turned pale. He was holding a cup of tea and drinking it when he saw Qi Haoran. With a wave of his hand, he said, “I was about to tell you this. Chen Qian complained to me that he couldn’t get any real news from you, and said that you’re not a good pal. Coincidentally, the rankings are going to be released in two days. When the time comes, we’ll go to Fortune Restaurant to celebrate. You can take the chance to explain things to them.”
Qi Haoran pursed his lips and said, “What? I already told them that Sister-in-law and nephew are fine, but they refused to believe me.”
Fan Zijin smiled nonchalantly. “Even if he doesn’t believe you, he bet on sister-in-law and nephew being healthy just like you did. Isn’t that enough?” A cold glint flashed across his eyes. He was not just angry at the casino’s actions. However, he was focused on the Imperial Examination now and decided not to be calculative with them for the time being. It wouldn’t be too late for him to take revenge later on.
Not knowing what Fan Zijin was thinking, Qi Haoran told him about the 100-day banquet. Fan Zijin agreed to attend. After thinking for a while, he rolled his eyes and said, “Since Madam Wu wants to host the 100-day banquet, let her take over. However, the banquet has to be booked at Fortune Restaurant, and it has to be a first-class banquet.”
Qi Haoran gaped and asked, “How much would this cost?”
Fan Zijin glared at him and said, “You’re not the one forking out the money. Moreover, we’ll be the ones earning the money anyway. Why are you feeling heartache? How can we not make Madam Wu pay the price since she will be receiving so many gifts?”
The two of them immediately finalized this deal. In a great mood, Fan Zijin asked Yanmo to send the order to Steward Qian. He also asked him to provide good service and to take advantage of this great opportunity to promote the banquet at Fortune Restaurant.
Steward Qian agreed with great ambition.
When Qi Haoran returned home, he couldn’t be bothered to look for Madam Wu. He called Steward Zhao over and instructed him to book a first-class banquet at Fortune Restaurant. He told him to send the money to Fortune Restaurant later.
Madam Wu, who had originally decided to invite a chef into the Qi Residence to hold the banquet herself, almost fainted when she saw the list handed in by Steward Zhao. Little Madam Wu said sourly, “This expense is too much. A 100-day banquet is actually more expensive than our two marriages added together.”
Madam Wu gritted her teeth and said, “Go and return the list. I’ll speak to Master when he comes back.”
As soon as she finished speaking, Yu Xing came in and reported, “Madam, Mama Wang from Zhaohua Courtyard is here.”
Madam Wu suppressed her temper and said expressionlessly, “Let her in.”
Mama Wang came in with a smile and bowed to Madam Wu. Smiling, she said, “Madam, this is the guest list drawn up by Eldest Madam and Fourth Madam. You’ll have to include these guests when the time comes.”
Madam Xu’s heart skipped a beat and she gave Yu Xing a look. Yu Xing quickly took it and handed it to Madam Wu, who unfolded it with a dark expression. After reading a page, her expression softened slightly.
When Mama Wang saw this, she smiled and said, “Madam, our Eldest Madam said that her body is still a little weak, and Fourth Madam has to help take care of the children, so we can only leave the banquet to Madam, Second Madam, and Third Madam. Please forgive us if we have to trouble you.”
Madam Wu looked down at the list in her hand and said, “Some of these people might not come even if we invite them.”
“Eldest Madam said that you can just go ahead and send out the invitation. Whether they come or not is up to them.” Although Mama Wang said that, she was very confident, as if she was sure that they would definitely show up.
Madam Wu recalled that Qi Xiuyuan was already a Grade 2B official, so the people he invited were of similar status.
Thinking about it, Madam Wu nodded in agreement.
After Mama Wang left, Madam Wu no longer pursued the matter of the banquet. Instead, she took a key and asked Nanny Wu and Steward Zhao to open the storeroom and retrieve the silver to pay for the banquet.
Little Madam Wu was unconvinced. She did not know what was written on the list, but she knew that the first-class banquet in Fortune Restaurant was not cheap. It was equivalent to almost five years of the Wu residence’s expenses.
“Mother, why did you agree?”
Madam Wu waited for Nanny Wu and Steward Zhao to leave before glancing at her daughter-in-law and saying, “What do you know? Other than Minister Qin and a few first-grade officials, this guest list includes officials from first-grade to third-grade. If they come, they will definitely bring a lot of gifts. Most importantly, in the past, our Wu family could only invite third-grade officials. When did we ever have the chance to invite first and second-grade officials? This is an opportunity, understand? Call Second and Third Son back later and tidy them up. Then, we’ll familiarize them with the names of the lords and young masters in the capital. When the time comes, the two brothers will follow Old Master out to greet them.”
Madam Xu’s eyes were as bright as stars. When she heard this, she agreed happily. Only Little Madam Wu was still pouting and feeling sorry for the money.
Seeing this, Madam Wu sighed. Back then, she insisted on marrying Qi Feng, and Qi Feng insisted on taking her in as a noble concubine. As for the Wu family, they had just fled to Lin’an and were living a hard life. They were all counting on the Qi family to help them.
This inevitably angered the Zhu family. Although Zhu Wan said that she didn’t mind and accepted her generously on the surface, in private, the Zhu family had often targeted the Wu family. In the few years that Zhu Wan was alive, no one in the Wu family had been able to stand out in the officialdom. After Zhu Wan died, she took care of Qi Xiuyuan and Qi Haoran in a lowly manner, only to realize that Qi Xiuyuan’s malice towards her hadn’t decreased. Xia Tong also took over the task of raising Qi Haoran. The Zhu family spared no effort in suppressing the Wu family. Although she felt vehement hatred towards them, she had no choice but to suppress her temper and seek peace.
Fortunately, the heavens took pity on them. Not long after Zhu Wan’s death, the Zhu family was transferred out of the capital.
Because they were now far away from the capital, although the Wu family was still suppressed, with Qi Feng’s help, they found some hope and slowly stood out. She no longer had to suppress her sons’ grievances and curry favor with Qi Xiuyuan and Qi Haoran.
However, after a few years of hardship in the Wu family, Little Madam Wu’s stingy personality had already developed. After she married into the family, she wanted to turn over a new leaf, but it was useless.
Madam Wu didn’t mind that she loved money. After all, who didn’t love money?
However, she had to know her priorities. For example, wasn’t Madam Xu also jealous of Madam Li and Madam Mu’s things? However, at this moment, she knew that the connections brought by this 100-day banquet far exceeded the money spent. Moreover, the people on the guest list wouldn’t make them lose money at all. They would definitely receive a lot of gifts in the end.
Didn’t Qi Haoran reserve a first-class banquet at Fortune Restaurant because he didn’t want them to receive the gift money for nothing?
So be it. In any case, it was fine as long as they made a profit in the end.
However, there were some things that she could tell Little Madam Wu, who was both her daughter-in-law and niece, but not Madam Xu. Hence, Madam Wu found an excuse to send Madam Xu away before holding Little Madam Wu’s arm and teaching her in a low voice.
When Little Madam Wu came out of the main room, there was no longer any indignation on her face. In fact, there was even a hint of joy in the corners of her eyes.
Madam Xu’s servant girl had been staring at her the entire time. Seeing this, she returned to report to her mistress. Madam Xu pursed her lips in disdain and said, “She actually needs her mother-in-law to teach her something so simple and understandable. I wonder how the Wu family raised her.”
Madam Xu put away a set of children’s gold jewelry and waved her hand. “Send it to Zhaode Hall personally. Tell them that this is a greeting gift to my nephew from me, his second aunt.”
Yu Ju asked, “Second Madam, aren’t you going over to take a look? Speaking of which, you haven’t seen Second Young Master since he was born.”
Madam Xu leaned back against the pillow nonchalantly and said, “We’ll go over after the 100-day banquet. Do you think the West Manor wants us to go and visit? Back then, when she had a difficult delivery and had a xisan ceremony, we were all blocked outside. Even the grandmother wasn’t allowed to enter the house to see her grandson. They’re guarding against us.”