After everyone had adorned their hair with flowers, servants of the Marquis Estate brought out freshly baked Fresh Flower Cakes for the tables.
At Yu Shi’s signal, Yang Xiao played a piece titled “Flower Shadow” on the zither.
Viewing flowers, smelling their fragrance, savoring floral delicacies, and listening to flower-inspired music—for a moment, the Flower Viewing Banquet was filled with poetic charm.
When the music ended, Yang Xiao received enthusiastic applause.
“Xiao Xiao, you’ve truly gone above and beyond. I heard you’ve been tirelessly caring for your mother these past few days, barely resting. And now you’ve still taken the effort to play for us…” said The Third Madam Yu Shi of the Marquis Estate, taking Yang Xiao’s hand and patting it gently.
“Oh? Is the Madam of the Hou Estate unwell?” Madam Xia of the Quan Bo Estate quickly inquired.
“It’s just her old Head-wind condition, but it’s been hard on Xiao Xiao, Chen’er, and that Miss Jiao Jiao,” Yu Shi said, gesturing toward Lin Jiaojiao. “They’ve all been attending to me these past few days.”
Following her gaze, behind Yang Xiao stood a delicate and beautiful young woman.
Noticing Yu Shi mentioning her, she blushed shyly.
“The Young Lord and Xiao Xiao show great respect for elders and filial piety, well-versed in propriety—they truly deserve praise. And this Miss Lin is also quite commendable.”
The guests nodded in agreement.
Yu Shi smiled.
She thought to herself: since she couldn’t undermine Lin Tangtang during the flower ceremony, highlighting Yang Xiao’s filial devotion to boost her reputation was a good alternative.
The two women exchanged praises, lifting Yang Xiao to the skies.
“And what about Lin Tangtang?” Madam Xia of the Quan Bo Estate deliberately asked.
“Tangtang… her constitution is too delicate to care for an old woman like me,” Yu Shi sighed lightly.
She thought: it was true that Lin Tangtang hadn’t attended to her illness—there was no way to deny it.
“How can that be? The Madam of the Hou Estate is an elder. As long as one is breathing, one should serve their elders!”
Madam Xia of the Quan Bo Estate said indignantly, “True filial piety is shown in daily life, not through flashy displays meant to attract attention.”
This was a direct criticism of Lin Tangtang’s Flower Dew incident.
Having been rebutted by Lin Tangtang earlier, she seized this chance to vent her frustration.
Lin Tangtang sat upright, slowly finishing the last small piece of Fresh Flower Cake, as if completely oblivious to Madam Xia’s words.
Yu Shi said, “Tangtang, Madam Xia is speaking to you. Why aren’t you responding?”
“It’s not that I won’t respond—I’m afraid if I do, you might not like what you hear…” Lin Tangtang replied calmly.
“Are we really that narrow-minded? Lin Tangtang, don’t judge others by your own standards,” Madam Xia said coldly.
“Then I’ll speak. Giant Ginseng, Jadeite, Gold and Silver…” Lin Tangtang listed over a dozen precious items in one breath.
Yu Shi was startled—wasn’t this…?
“Tangtang, you…” Yu Shi began, but before she could finish.
Lin Tangtang pretended not to hear, interrupting her, and continued, “Since my engagement to Yang Chen, I have presented the Madam of the Hou Estate with dozens of rare treasures—enough to cover the expenses of hundreds of Flower Viewing Banquets, and enough to hire countless servants for nursing care. Is this level of filial devotion sufficient?”
“As for Madam Xia’s remark that filial piety should be shown in daily life, may I ask: before you married into the Bo Estate, did you show such filial devotion to your mother-in-law? Or did your daughter, before marrying into her husband’s family, show such devotion to her future mother-in-law?”
Lin Tangtang’s words caused an uproar among the guests.
They hadn’t expected the Lin family to be so generous to the Bo Estate.
With such lavish spending, who could still claim that Lin Tangtang was unfilial?
“How can that be the same? Your mother is a merchant’s daughter—she lacks no silver. Spending extravagantly is only expected of her,” Madam Xia retorted, though her tone wavered.
The Madam of the Hou Estate had never mentioned any of this to her before!
“Is that so? Who says having money means you must spend it? The Lin family’s wealth wasn’t blown in by the wind—it was earned through hard work! According to Great Feng Dynasty Law, the husband’s family cannot use the wife’s personal funds or dowry, especially since I haven’t even married into the family yet.”
Lin Tangtang let out a light scoff, her smile not reaching her eyes. “Madam Xia of Quan Bo Fu, isn’t that the truth? And your Quan Bo Fu, being a centuries-old noble family, certainly isn’t short on funds. Perhaps you should learn a thing or two from my filial piety.”
Madam Xia of Quan Bo Fu had been publicly embarrassed once again.
Her face turned deathly pale as she looked toward the Madam of the Hou Estate.
If she had known Lin Tangtang would be so difficult to deal with, she never would have agreed to the Madam’s request to trouble her!
“Lin Tangtang, Madam Xia is your elder. Do not be so aggressive,” Yu Shi finally snapped, speaking through gritted teeth.
Lin Tangtang feigned innocence. “See? I speak the truth, and you don’t like hearing it, Madam.”
“If you regret it, you can take back the gifts you gave,” Yang Chen interjected, disliking how Lin Tangtang always sought credit in front of others.
She made it sound as though the Marquis Estate owed something to the Lin family.
“Chen’er…” Yu Shi signaled to Yang Chen with her eyes.
She had no intention of returning the treasures Lin Tangtang had gifted.
“Fine by me,” Lin Tangtang immediately responded. “But what about the three years of military merits in the Northern Territory? Shall we return those as well?”
She despised the Jingbei Hou Mansion’s hypocrisy—reaping benefits while pretending to be righteous.
If they were going to return things, they might as well return everything.
Yang Chen’s face instantly turned to ice.
“What merits?” The guests immediately sensed there was more to the story between the Jingbei Hou Mansion and the General’s Mansion.
“Why bring up such matters at a lovely Flower Viewing Banquet? Chen’er’s merits were earned through genuine battle achievements. What is there to return?” Yu Shi quickly brushed it off. “Now, everyone, please enjoy the flowers and compose some poetry.”
Yu Shi successfully diverted the crowd’s attention.
She couldn’t understand how her carefully planned Flower Viewing Banquet had become Lin Tangtang’s stage.
Lin Tangtang was far more formidable than she had anticipated. She wasn’t like this before…
Yang Chen lowered his head, drank his wine, and fell silent.
The banquet resumed its harmonious atmosphere as guests left their seats to stroll along the flower-lined paths.
Zhou Furen approached Lin Tangtang and called out softly, “Tang’er…”
Lin Tangtang gave a slight bow. “Auntie, it’s been a while. I hope you’ve been well?”
Zhou Zhuo was from the Northern Territory. Years ago, Zhou Furen had returned to her hometown with him to visit family when they accidentally fell into icy waters. Lin Yulang and his wife happened to witness the incident and rescued the two when they were on the brink of death.
Since then, the two families had become life-and-death friends.
After returning to the Marquis Estate, Lin Tangtang wrote letters to some of her father’s old acquaintances, one of which was addressed to Zhou Furen.
“Thanks to the Lin family, all is well.” Zhou Furen wiped tears from her eyes. “You’ve traveled all the way from the Northern Territory—it must have been difficult, hasn’t it?”
Accustomed to the cold words and veiled criticisms in the Marquis Estate, Lin Tangtang felt her nose sting at the warmth of this elder’s concern.
“As long as my father and brother can be saved, no hardship is too great.”
“Good child, there are too many eyes and ears here. Why don’t we go to your room so we can talk properly?” Zhou Furen took Lin Tangtang’s hand.
Lin Tangtang hesitated for a moment but eventually led Zhou Furen to the West Garden.
As soon as they arrived at the West Garden,
Zhou Furen was shocked by the dilapidated courtyard and exclaimed angrily, “The Madam actually made you live here? This is an outright insult! I’m going to confront them about this!”
“Auntie, don’t be upset. I already have a plan. Later, why don’t you…” Lin Tangtang whispered, and Zhou Furen nodded with a smile after listening.
“Ah Tang has finally grown up, full of clever ideas now!”
Lin Tangtang also smiled.
It was the first time since returning to the Marquis Estate that she had laughed so heartily in front of an elder.
After chatting for a while, the two returned to the banquet venue as planned.
Lin Tangtang signaled to Xiangxue.
Soon, the gatekeeper came to report that a certain Boss Wang from the pharmacy had arrived with several assistants to collect a debt.
Upon hearing this, Yu Shi immediately ordered the gatekeeper to drive them out without a second thought.
However.
Boss Wang took advantage of the commotion and rushed in through the side gate, directly arriving at the Flower Viewing Banquet.
“Madam of the Hou Estate, your Jingbei Hou Mansion is so high and mighty! Not only do you refuse to repay your debt, but you even resort to violence!”