C15 Competing for Favorite

For several days, Chu Nianhe had locked herself in her room, not coming out, except for her usual morning sickness. Other than Xiaochan and Xiaoling, who walked around occasionally, no one else knew what Chu Nianhe was doing.

Chu Leyan took advantage of this period of time to curry favor with the madame. The madame had slept much better these days, and as she looked at Chu Leyan's respectful and submissive appearance, she had more or less forgiven him. However, her expression was still occasionally cold, making Chu Leyan tremble in fear.

In the blink of an eye, the day when the royal family came to deliver the decree to the wives of the prefectures had arrived. Because the empress dowager had helped the Yongren Emperor fight off the invading Qi Jinguo, the court officials respected and relied heavily on her, giving her the right to participate in the affairs of state. Female Official had also come to the imperial court, and Female Official was the fourth rank, Female Official, Lu Qingzhu.

Because it was an order for the wives, there was no need for Chu Pingke to come and receive it. The Chu Mansion was given to the madams by Madam Chen, who led the young masters and mistresses to receive it together. After they knelt respectfully and kowtowed, Lu Qingzhen smiled at Madam Chen and said, "Old madam Chen, please wake up quickly. Since I'm here on Esteemed Empress Dowager's orders today, it's inconvenient for me to pay respects to old madam Chen."

Madam Chen stood up with Maid Xu supporting her. With a bright smile, she said, "Master Lu, you must be joking. I've troubled you the entire way. Please sit down and have a cup of tea."

Lu Qingzhen waved her hand and said, "There's still Shang Shu Manor waiting for my orders. Next time, come and drink some tea with Old Lady Chen!" He then waved his hand towards the palace maid at the side and said, "This is the banquet that the palace has prepared for Old Madam Chen. Old madam, have a look and are you satisfied?"

This treatment of making a palace uniform for the family members of the court officials was not something an ordinary person could receive. Old Madam Chen was naturally very happy, so Maid Xu respectfully received the cloth and exchanged a few words with Lu Qingzhen before sending her out of the residence.

When Madam Chen returned to the Jinglan Pavilion, she saw that the young masters and mistresses had surrounded the palace uniform and were looking at it with eyes filled with admiration and amazement. Madam Chen then said to Maid Xu with a smile, "Take off your clothes and show them to the children."

Maid Xu replied. Together with Maid, they picked up the clothes and spread them out in front of the crowd.

Underneath the luxurious jujube dress was a gold embroidered tasseled skirt with hundreds of folds. Maid Xu only shook it lightly, but the tasseled dress was already rippling with water ripples. It looked so beautiful with just a tug, not to mention wearing it.

"Grandmother." Chu Leyan was delighted to see Madam Chen, so she quickly flattered her. "This palace's dress is so gorgeous, if it was matched with Grandmother's noble temperament, the mistress of the palace would be willing to admit defeat."

Chu Leyan inherited Madam Su's charming mouth, and her words made the smile on Madam Chen's face surface a little more. Chu Nianhe coldly watched from the side without saying a word.

"Sofia," Madam Chen was in a good mood, and wasn't as angry as she was now. "You're the best at combing your hair into a bun, so you'll help me do it at the right time. Would you like to do that?"

Chu Leyan was immediately overjoyed. For the past few days, Madam Chen's attitude had been very cold. She had thought that Madam Chen had already decided to not bring her into the palace, but now, there was actually a chance for her to change her mind. She kowtowed to Madam Chen and said with fear and joy, "Thank you for your love for Leyan. Leyan is so happy to be able to comb her hair into a bun. How could I not?"

The reason why Madam Chen liked Chu Leyan was because she had a good sense of humour and spoke in accordance with Madam Chen's heart. Now that she was so humble, Madam Chen also felt that the punishment she received was sufficient. She waved at her and said with a smile, "Come to Grandmother's side."

When Chu Leyan heard Madam Chen's words, she was so excited that tears almost flowed out of her eyes. She was about to take a step forward when she heard Chu Nianhe say in a clear voice, "Grandmother, Nianhe knew you were going to enter the palace, so she specially made some spices for you. Now that she has seen these silk clothes, she thinks that Nianhe's spices are extremely compatible with them!"

Chu Leyan heard Chu Nianhe's crisp voice and froze on the spot.

"Oh?" Madam Chen smiled at Chu Nianhe and said, "You can make spices?"

Chu Nianhe then took out a beautifully carved gold box from her sleeve and handed it over with both hands. "Grandmother should first smell it before making her evaluation."

Maid Xu then walked over from Madam Chen's side, holding the box in Chu Nianhe's hand and holding it in front of Madam Chen.

Before she could open the box, Madam Chen could smell a delicate fragrance wafting out. It seemed somewhat sweet, but also seemed to have the fragrance of a pear.

"This spice is different from the usual fragrance of the powder. Eldest girl, you're too considerate." Madam Chen smiled appreciatively and opened the lid.

In the blink of an eye, Madam Chen smelled a refreshing fragrance that seemed to be both dense and faint, extremely special. She had only smelled this scent on the Empress Dowager a few years ago when she had entered the palace for a banquet to chat with her. She had tried to get someone to look for the spice, but had been told it was a palace secret, something that no amount of money could buy.

Chu Nianhe did not raise her head. She only stood there quietly, as if she had already made up her mind about the fragrance of the spice. In her impression, Chu Nianhe had always been a pure and noble direct daughter of Prime Minister's Mansion. Although she was talented, it had always been her reaching out her hand to ask for food, so when did she ever lower herself to make spices? It was too surprising.

"This taste …" Madam Chen said with a joyful expression on her face, "Is it Ruan Lingxiang?"

Chu Nianhe revealed a sweet smile, which matched the sweetness of the spice. "Old madam is truly knowledgeable. Nianhe knew that she would not be able to hide it from her."

Madam Chen was very pleased with Chu Nianhe's flattery, so she called her close to her and asked, "How did you get this Ruan Lingxiang? I heard that it's not easy to make spices like this! "

Madam Chen was holding Chu Nianhe's hand, but Chu Nianhe still had an innocent smile on her face: "Since my granddaughter has nothing better to do, she went to the library to study, and coincidentally saw a book that recorded the methods of this Ruan Lingxiang. "I just want to let it be like this, if it doesn't work out well, then I'll just treat it as a little gift from my granddaughter. It would be good if Grandmother could have some fun."

"You're really filial," Madam Chen said with a smile.

Neither of them noticed that Chu Leyan was so angry that her face turned red. The handkerchief in her hand had been twisted to the point that even her fingers had lost all color, and after hesitating for a while, she bit her captivating red lip and said, "Big sister is also becoming more and more fond of grandmother. Now that she has started to do the work of a incense maker, big sister is not even as dignified as this little sister of mine."

Chu Leyan clenched her fists tightly. Chu Nianhe had always been proud and arrogant. She bet that Chu Nianhe would be angry and lose her composure after hearing her words, forcing her to say something that would make the madame angry.

"Sister, where did you come from?" Chu Nianhe looked a little sad. "So what if they are incense makers? Don't tell me they are much lower than us? Furthermore, I am willing to do all of this for Grandmother's happiness. Could it be that for my own dignity, little sister is willing to go all out, to the point where she can't even be filial towards Grandmother? "