The Liu family’s banquet was scheduled for early October, and early that day, the group from Cui Wei Academy went to attend.

Master Liu was now a high-ranking official, but he didn’t show any airs of authority.

Since the guests that day were all close to the Liu family, he stood outside the house to personally greet them.

After Shen Cui and the others arrived, Master Liu had a maid lead Shen Cui to the guest hall for women, saying with a smile, “Yueyue has been talking about you for a long time.”

As for the others, they went straight to the main hall.

However, Master Liu asked Mu Er Pang to stay behind and accompany him to greet the guests.

Mu Er Pang had been a student under him when he was the magistrate, and the two families had been in frequent contact recently, showing signs of developing a close relationship. It was normal for Mu Er Pang to help greet the guests.

But Shen Cui couldn’t help but chuckle when she saw this.

Both Mu Er Pang and Mei Ruochu were students brought out by Master Liu when he was the magistrate.

Why didn’t he stay Mei Ruochu and the others like this?

Because Master Liu regarded Mu Er Pang as a potential son-in-law, this was the test of a future son-in-law by his prospective father-in-law!

The guests at the door gradually increased, so Shen Cui didn’t say much there.

She just gave Mu Er Pang an encouraging look, telling him to perform well!

She followed the maid into the Liu residence.

The house was much smaller than the women’s school, with only two courtyards, and the interior was simple in decoration.

Just past the second gate, Shen Cui saw Liu Muyue.

She was dressed in a goose-yellow double-breasted jacket and skirt, her thick black hair styled into twin buns, with several delicate pearl and silver hairpins inserted into the buns.

“You look really beautiful today, Muyue!”

As Shen Cui spoke, Liu Muyue had already approached and linked arms with her familiarly, smiling playfully, “Are you saying that I don’t look good on other days?”

“You always look good, but today…”

“Today, do I look like Chang’e flying to the moon?” Liu Muyue said as she struck a pose as if flying to the moon.

Shen Cui burst into laughter at her antics. “Chang’e? That’s not quite it.”

“Then I must be missing a rabbit! Too bad, all the rabbits are in the kitchen. If I had known, I would have held one in my hand so the chefs wouldn’t turn them all into dishes.”

Shen Cui quickly waved her hands, pleading, “I dressed up too. Please don’t make me laugh uncontrollably in front of everyone!”

As they chatted, the two arrived at the flower hall.

Shen Cui hardly recognized any of the female guests who had come to the banquet.

Seeing this, Liu Muyue, afraid that she might feel uncomfortable, was considerate and wanted to accompany her.

Shen Cui didn’t refuse.

After all, this was the Liu family’s grand banquet, and no guest could be neglected. Liu Muyue should go and help Chu Shanlong with some affairs.

Moreover, her son’s matter was still up in the air, and there were too many astute people in the capital, especially women who were most observant in such matters.

If she and Liu Muyue appeared too close in public, many people might be able to see through it.

Her son wasn’t afraid of anything, but she was afraid of affecting Liu Muyue’s reputation.

In case she and Mu Er Pang didn’t develop their relationship further after this, she would still have to propose marriage.

So when they entered the flower hall, Shen Cui, using the gesture of adjusting her hairpin, let Liu Muyue’s hand slip off her arm.

Liu Muyue was also clever and noticed Shen Cui’s intention.

She lowered her voice and said, “Then I’ll have the maid escort you to your seat.”

Shen Cui nodded, and as they were about to part ways, she saw Liu Muyue stop again.

Shen Cui thought she had something urgent to say, but she only heard Liu Muyue remind her in a low voice, “There will be spicy rabbit legs at the table later. We specially invited a Sichuan and Chongqing chef to make them. You must have a few bites!”

Shen Cui nodded with a smile and followed the maid to her seat.

At this early hour, before the banquet began, there weren’t many people at the table yet.

After sitting down, Shen Cui was approached by a female guest for a chat.

After the introduction, she learned that the people sitting here were all relatives of the Chu family.

The Chu family had been in the capital for some years, so they naturally had many relatives.

Chu Zhongling had now been betrothed to Wei Shu, so she was also somewhat related to Shen Cui.

They were very enthusiastic towards her, and after some pleasantries, they began discussing child-rearing methods.

For a scholarly family like the Chu family, educating their descendants was of utmost importance. Like Chu Shanlong, they were also very interested in the affairs of Cui Wei.

After chatting with them for a while, more guests arrived, making the atmosphere even livelier.

Before the banquet started, Chu Zhongling finished helping her aunt with the affairs and came over.

She could now sit next to Shen Cui without any reservations. She lowered her voice and said to Shen Cui, “Yueyue is very worried about you, afraid that you’ll be bored or neglected, so she urged me to come over and accompany you.”

She said this to let Shen Cui know about Liu Muyue’s concern for her behind her back.

Shen Cui already liked Liu Muyue, so she felt very grateful.

Although she couldn’t say much in public, she couldn’t help but think to herself that her son had been a steward for a few years, and if these two children really got together, wouldn’t that mean they had a little stewardess added to the family?

The two of them together did indeed give people a sense of harmony.

“It’s okay, your relatives are very nice. I haven’t been bored or neglected.”

When Chu Zhongling came over, those relatives who had been talking to Shen Cui for a while didn’t ask her any more questions, but turned their attention to Chu Zhongling, asking her when the wedding would be and how the preparations were going.

Chu Zhongling blushed and answered one by one.

Obviously, as a scholarly woman, she wasn’t good at handling such matters.

She had avoided coming to the banquet to avoid being bombarded with questions by her aunts and uncles.

Helpless, these were all relatives of the Chu family, and in terms of kinship, Shen Cui was an outsider and couldn’t help. So she got up and said she was going outside to get some fresh air—Chu Zhongling had come to take care of Shen Cui at the request of her cousin, and since Shen Cui wasn’t here, she didn’t need to stay either. She could also use an excuse to avoid the situation like before.

The maid who had led Shen Cui to her seat guided her to the garden.

Since it was still some time before the banquet began, there were also some people in the garden.

The garden was not large, and Shen Cui saw that others were chatting and laughing in groups, so she found a quiet corner to sit in.

However, that peace and quiet didn’t last long. Soon, someone came near her to chat.

“Did you see that girl just now? The one who’s exceptionally beautiful, that’s the one I mentioned to you, the daughter from the Xu family.”

“Which Xu family?”

“Which other Xu family could it be? The Xu family that has been in charge of the imperial kitchen for generations.”

“Ah, I see. When a family in the capital hosts a banquet, who wouldn’t invite the Xu family? If the banquet can win their praise, it proves that the dishes are exceptionally good and adds to the host’s prestige! I know the girl you’re talking about, she was raised by Mr. Xu. It’s a pity that after Mr. Xu passed away, she was driven out of the Xu family…”

The two women were speaking with their backs to Shen Cui, gossiping shamelessly.

Shen Cui had been planning to quietly leave, but she heard the woman who started the conversation speak more and more maliciously.

“What do you mean, ‘driven out of the Xu family’? You’re making it sound like the Xu family couldn’t tolerate her, like she’s Xu Shan’er or something… It’s her own bad luck that she caused the death of her fiancé and became a tragic figure, ruining her chances for a good marriage. She’s still picky about her marriage, tarnishing the reputation of other girls in the Xu family… If you ask me, the Xu family has been lenient. A girl like her should be sent to a temple to become a nun, why let her run wild outside?”

This woman knew the details of the Xu family’s affairs very well, and her biased remarks were clear.

It was obvious that she wasn’t unaware of Shen Cui standing not far away, but was deliberately saying these things here. It would be better for people to hear it first-hand, and then it would spread like wildfire.

The woman accompanying her was not stupid either.

She sensed something amiss in the conversation and just smiled, not continuing the conversation.

But the woman in front couldn’t stop herself, and continued with a sneer, “I heard she opened a pastry shop outside, with long lines every day. Who knows if she’s selling pastries or something else?”

This was too harsh. Shen Cui stopped in her tracks, beckoning her maid over to inquire.

After all, this was within the jurisdiction of the capital, and it was a joyous occasion for Lord Liu promotion.

She had to find out the identities of these two women.

The maid looked embarrassed and was about to speak when Shen Cui felt someone tug at her sleeve from behind.

Turning around, she saw that Liu Muyue had come over.

Liu Muyue knew much more than the maid did, so there was no need for the maid to answer.

Shen Cui first asked her why she had come over.

“Zhongling big sister went to help my mother, and I found out when I met her. I realized I made a mistake in being kind. I made her deal with overly enthusiastic relatives for a while and forced you away from the table. I just wanted to come and check on you. I knew you were kind to me earlier, but there weren’t many people in the garden, so it didn’t matter here.” Liu Muyue explained in a low voice and then told Shen Cui the identities of the two women.

Both women looked about fifteen or sixteen years old and were dressed elegantly.

The shorter one, who didn’t continue the conversation, was a relative of a branch of the Chu family.

The taller one, who was the most enthusiastic in spreading rumors, was also a relative of the Chu family, but she was already in mourning clothes, as far away from the main family as possible.

“This cousin’s family is especially disagreeable. My grandfather says their whole family… is not very good, so we don’t interact with them much in daily life. But for an occasion like today, it wouldn’t be right to only exclude their whole family. It would seem like we’re looking down on them, like what you just said about your family…”

Liu Muyue blushed as she spoke, revealing the true nature of her relatives to Shen Cui.

She really wished she could dig a hole and bury herself after seeing the behavior of her own relatives.

“I’ll go talk to my mother and ask her to drive them away.”

“It’s not good to invite people and then drive them away. It would seem like your family is looking down on them.”

“In that case…” Liu Muyue was at a loss for words.

She was just a fifteen or sixteen-year-old girl after all, and for a moment she didn’t know what to do.

She couldn’t really let that distant relative arrange the whole banquet against her elder sister, Xu.

It was fine for Shen Cui to hear it now, but if others heard about it and exaggerated, she didn’t know what it would turn into.

“It’s a matter between guests. Your family should stay out of it.”

Shen Cui blinked at Liu Muyue and then whispered something to her.