Chapter 324 - 324 Birthday Banquet
324 Birthday Banquet
The birthday banquet of Old Madam Beining was a big deal in the entire northern region, let alone in Cloud Mountain City.
Early in the morning, the road outside Marquis Beining’s ministry was already filled with carriages from various families. Fortunately, Marquis Beining’s ministry was already experienced in dealing with such matters. They arranged for the servants and some guards to handle it. Although there were many people and carriages, it was still quite orderly.
Lin Suisui arrived early.
However, among the group of carriages, General Wei Bei’s carriage was still very eye-catching.
The servants in charge of welcoming guests in Marquis Beining’s ministry probably received instructions from their masters inside. As soon as they saw this black-gold dual carriage that many people in Cloud Mountain City were extremely familiar with, they came forward to clear the way for it. Then, they followed the carriage escorted by a group of mounted guards to the entrance of Marquis Beining’s ministry.
Lin Suisui held Yuan Niang’s hand as she slowly walked out of the carriage. She ignored the gazes on her and walked into the residence under the guidance of the servants.
Before she reached the reception hall, Lin Suisui could already hear laughter coming from inside. As she entered the reception hall, it fell silent.
Because of her previous entanglement with Marquis Beining’s ministry, Lin Suisui was clearly one of the people Marquis Beining’s ministry hated the most. However, none of the women dared to do anything to her.
Not only couldn’t they do anything to her, but they also had to smile at her.
“I wish you a long life, Madam.” Lin Suisui went forward and bowed to the old lady, who was sitting at the head of the table with a straight face, as she congratulated her.
The old lady stared at Lin Suisui with hatred in her eyes. If she could materialize her hatred, she probably would have stabbed Lin Suisui into a hornet’s nest.
Everyone’s attention was focused on Lin Suisui, so the old lady’s actions naturally attracted their attention as well.
For a moment, the old lady and Lin Suisui’s every move became the focus of attention.
If it were anyone else, they would more or less feel embarrassed and angry that they had been humiliated after giving blessings. However, Lin Suisui didn’t seem to sense the old lady’s hostility at all. She slowly stood up straight and looked up to meet the old lady’s sharp gaze. Her voice was gentle, but her tone was cold as she said, “Do you not welcome me? If that’s the case, why did you send me an invitation?”
“Madam, you’ve misunderstood. She was just distracted for a moment. How can she not welcome you?” Madam Beining, who was standing beside the old madam, quickly tried to smooth things over with a smile. She just wanted to appease Lin Suisui and send her to the side quickly.
She didn’t want anything else to go wrong.
The old lady wanted to say something, but the silver-haired old lady beside her said, “That’s right. It’s a great honor for the general’s wife to come personally! Speaking of which, you have to thank her.
“I heard that if it weren’t for the general’s wife, your child would have been in danger. In that case, what would have become of your precious great-grandson?”
With this old lady’s interjection and the other women agreeing, the originally tense atmosphere in the hall immediately eased up.
Lin Suisui didn’t intend to cause trouble.
Therefore, she didn’t say anything else. She just followed the host’s arrangements and sat in a small hall separated by a screen.
The first one to welcome her was naturally Zhou Ningqian, who was greeting guests. She smiled as she came over to greet Lin Suisui. Then, she introduced Lin Suisui to a few young women who looked to be about her age.
After the greetings, the atmosphere became more harmonious.
Because everyone was about the same age, it was very easy for them to find a topic to talk about. Lin Suisui didn’t interrupt. Instead, she listened to the surrounding women talk about the latest news in Cloud Mountain City.
“I heard that they’re from the south. They’re quite good-looking and their acting methods are quite novel.” The person who spoke was from the family of a general surnamed Tan. Probably because the Song family had hired an opera troupe to celebrate the old lady’s birthday, she told everyone present about the opera troupe that was going to perform today.
“How can there be butterflies at this time of the year?” She spoke animatedly, but Mrs. Wang, who was sitting beside Lin Suisui, was clearly unconvinced.
She frowned as she raised her hand to point at the snow outside the window and questioned with a chuckle, “Could it be that a spirit monster has possessed it?”
“How could I lie to you about such a thing? In order to celebrate Old Madam’s birthday, Marquis Beining’s ministry invited this troupe over!
“Just watch later. See if they can make hundreds of flowers bloom and butterflies fly!”
The woman who was questioned didn’t seem angry. She only told Madam Wang and Madam Zhang to see for themselves later.
As the saying went, a casual remark might reveal much to an attentive listener.
Lin Suisui had been paying attention since she began to talk about this troupe. When she heard this, she couldn’t help but frown slightly.
These things that seemed like magic tricks to others actually were not impressive to her. Previously, when she traveled with her mentor, she had also seen people who were good at voodoo at the southern border.
Usually, she wouldn’t find hearing such news strange. After all, actors could go anywhere.
But now, she had just discovered the child Gu, then such a troupe had appeared in Cloud Mountain City…
Although Lin Suisui also hoped that she was overthinking things, she would rather be safe than sorry.
She decided to see what was going on later.
It had not been quiet for long when the outer room, which was separated from Lin Suisui by a screen, was filled with commotion again. Hearing the warm greetings outside, Lin Suisui couldn’t help but feel surprised. She didn’t expect the old consort to be so close to the Old Madam of the Song family.
At this moment, Lin Suisui was wondering about what was happening on the other side when she smelled a fragrance. Soon after, Princess Ning Fu stopped in front of her with a smile.
“I haven’t seen you in a long time. How have you been these past few days?” Princess Ning Fu looked down at Lin Suisui and spoke in a sweet tone.