The round-faced Miss giggled slightly, speaking with a hint of pride. "My eyes are very discerning. I can easily identify which silver building produced the jewelry and which embroidery shop made the clothes anyone wears with a single glance. I’m never wrong!"
After speaking, she pointed at Cai Wei’s clothing and said, "The Beizi your are wearing was made by Fourth Aunt Liu, the best embroiderer in the Shu Embroidery Workshop. The embroidery on it alone is worth three hundred taels of silver. The skirt is also from Shu Embroidery Workshop, but it is not made by Fourth Aunt Liu. By looking at the quality, it seems to be the work of Aunt An. And your embroidered shoes..."
Miss Round-Face was very talkative, incessantly carrying on, quickly striking up a familiarity with Cai Wei.
Through their conversation, Cai Wei learned that she was the legitimate eldest daughter of the Marquis of Jian’an, named Wu Xiangyun. Sixteen years old and this year marked her third attendance at the Empress’ Feast of the Shangsi Festival.
Cai Wei straightforwardly informed her about her own humble background. Xiang Yun was very kind, she didn’t despise Cai Wei because of her low status. Instead, she found Cai Wei’s experience very interesting.
"Cai Wei, so you’re saying that your grilled skewers are delicious?"
"You could say that!" s
"Oh, I’ll definitely have to try them in person someday. No, I’ll do it tonight."
Wu Xiangyun nodded her head, "Alright, let’s settle on that!"
Cai Wei liked Xiang Yun’s personality very much. She was cheerful and straightforward, without any pretentiousness, and was very sincere. This contrasted greatly with Du Wanqiu who was by her side.
From the moment Du Wanqiu sat down, she practically didn’t open her mouth at all. She carried herself like a reserved Miss from a well-established family, but her eyes kept glancing around, occasionally sweeping toward the male guest seats on the left. Who had caught her eye?
Cai Wei didn’t bother to understand her actions, focusing purely on meeting the respected Empress Dowager. At this time, it was getting late and although everyone had arrived, the Empress Dowager had yet to make an appearance. Only a few young princes and some lower-ranked future concubines had arrived from the royal line, without a single top-ranking individual present.
Cai Wei had never attended a royal banquet and was unfamiliar with the rules of a royal feast, but she privately thought that the host avoiding making any appearance after the guests had arrived was not proper, and everyone else probably felt the same way but didn’t dare to verbalize it.
Just as she was thinking, a Chief Eunuch with a duster appeared, raising his voice to declare: "The Empress Dowager will arrive later. Her Majesty has decreed for all you young masters and misses to entertain yourselves freely. Please do not restrain yourselves."
Since the Empress Dowager had not yet come, and didn’t seem to be arriving soon, many visitors left their seats and gathered in small groups to enjoy themselves in the Imperial Garden.
However, everyone tactfully kept clear of the Waterside Pavilion in the center. Most of them were strolling along the corridor surrounding the lake, sitting on the benches underneath, enjoying the warm wind and the distant view, feeling very comfortable.
Some of the young masters from noble families even hop onto a painted boat, having the young eunuchs navigate them into the lake to have some fun.
Du Wanqiu, pretending to be Cai Wei’s servant girl, was trailing behind her. Like Du Wanqiu, her beautiful eyes frequently darted to the male seats. Seeing several young aristocrats leaving their seats and strolling along the curved corridor by the lake, she eagerly suggested that Cai Wei also go out for a walk to relax.
Cai Wei was preoccupied with how to face the Empress Dowager later and had no mood to stroll, so she flatly refused.
However, Wu Xiangyun, whom she had just met, was a lively girl. Seeing Cai Wei’s maid persuasively suggesting this, she couldn’t help but be moved. After all, the Empress Dowager will not come for a while, so why not take this chance to roam around? They don’t get to visit the Imperial Garden every day!