Although the two manors were right next to each other, the Jin manor did not have the layout of the neighboring manor's central axis running through and the left and right areas beside it, even the central axis couldn’t be determined. Only the wedding, funeral, and imperial decree halls in the manor were bright and spacious. The rest of the buildings were built within the remaining space and were either built smaller in size or slightly distorted in shape.
The main hall where the prince and his wife lived was also this way, and the garden wasn’t extravagant at all. The garden in Prince Jin’s Manor is said to be a garden, but in fact, it was just a small yard that can be sweeped through at one go.
As soon as Jiang Mingwei looked up, she could see the plants and flowers from next door, and the running water could be heard from their garden. She gritted her teeth with hatred in her heart. She tried her best to decorate the venue this time. However, as the saying goes, “You can’t make bricks without straw”, no matter how much money she spent and how exquisite the decorations were, the space still seemed really limited.
When the guests arrived, they were in awe of Jiang Mingwei's classy taste and her effort. It wasn’t as obvious when there weren’t many guests. However, later, when the wives brought their respective maids along, the number of people in the garden rapidly increased, trying to even walk around was quite a hassle. At this time, the exquisite decorations were not intricate, but it made the scene rather chaotic.
However, no one dared to disrespect Princess Jin, everyone just dealt with it and praised her. When the banquet was at its peak, suddenly a group of maids came in, upon seeing the way they walked, they should be from the palace.
The garden suddenly fell silent, and the maids, with their hands over each other, walked to Jiang Mingwei's side, and greeted her: "Greetings to Princess Jin."
Jiang Mingwei recognized that they were under Mu Mingtang. On such a happening day, Mu Mingtang sent someone over. Jiang Mingwei intuitively felt that this wasn’t a good thing. She didn't welcome them in her heart, and her expression couldn't help but show: "So you guys came on behalf of the second sister-in-law. She sent you guys here, what's the matter?"
The leading maid took a step forward and motioned to the entourage behind to present the wooden box: "To answer Princess Jin, the Princess recently heard that Princess Jin wanted to buy the golden brocade and would be willing to spend any amount to get it, she was very surprised. The Princess said that since you two are a family, you two didn’t have to be so distant. Since Princess Jin likes it, you should have just asked the princess for it, why would you spread the news? Therefore, the princess ordered us to send over four golden brocades to you."
The maid opened the wooden box as she said this, and there was a dark green brocade inside. The other three boxes were of the sort. The maid didn't step aside to say these in private, and the four wooden boxes were eye-catching enough that even if the maid didn't say this, it captured everyone’s attention.
At the banquet, the atmosphere stagnated. Finally, one of the ladies, who was also at the table with Jiang Mingwei, smiled and said, "Princess An and Princess Jin are both loving and respectful towards each other, this is so touching. This should be set as a model for us women. What a valuable lesson."
Jiang Mingwei could only smile reluctantly when she heard the compliment, but there was no joy shown on her face: "A man of noble character doesn't seize things which another treasures, this is my sister-in-law’s prized possession, how dare I take it from her? I’ve received her kind intentions, but I can’t accept this. Please take it back and let my sister-in-law use it."
"Princess Jin is overthinking this. The princess said, this is her intention as the elder sister-in-law. Princess Jin does not have to refuse her offer, just accept it. If Princess Jin insists on refusing it, then it’ll mean that she’s looking down on her possessions.
How could Jiang Mingwei respond to this, but Mu Mingtang was being so forceful. Before this, she embarrassed her in front of her childhood playmate, and now she deliberately chose the day of her banquet, and came to ruin it. Jiang Mingwei always wanted the first of everything, and Mu Mingtang deliberately bought it out, and then gave it to her in such a fake manner, what does she want?
Does she think this is a donation?