After dinner, it is the dinner, the most anticipated birthday greeting link.

The whole mansion of the Marquis of Wenxin, except for the old marquis, all came to kowtow to the old lady and give birthday gifts.

The flower hall connected to the birthday banquet hall is very festively decorated, with the red word longevity pasted in the center, and below is the throne carved in mahogany, and in front of the throne, there is a satin cushion that has been laid.

The old lady was helped to sit on the throne, and the guests who came to watch the ceremony were separated on both sides, sitting or standing, all waiting for the juniors to give the old lady birthday gifts.

First of all, the family, led by An Shiting and his wife, kowtowed in pairs and offered the prepared birthday gifts, and the five brothers kowtowed, and then the old lady's daughter and son-in-law, the daughter and son-in-law of the concubine kowtowed, and in the end, it was the grandchildren.

It is also from the grandmother to the concubine, from the eldest to the youngest, a brother and sister came forward to kowtow, and offered their own gifts, An Ruolan and his party The gifts are together, and they did not take out the gifts when they kowtowed, but only told the truth that everyone's gifts were together, and called everyone's names out, and said that they would wait for everyone to kowtow before taking it out, this mysterious posture attracted the curiosity of many guests.

Eleven of the twelve people said so, and only one person took out a gift when he kowtowed, and that was An Ruodan.

An Ruodan presented a picture of the empty valley orchid, and said: "Grandmother is noble and elegant, granddaughter thinks that only this dusty and noble bluegrass is worthy of grandmother's charm, so it is her granddaughter who painted this bluegrass and bravely dedicated it to her grandmother, wishing her grandmother a long life and good health." ”

Hearing this, the faces of the eleven people who were painting together changed.

This fart is a good shot!

She sent this blue sketch. After boasting about this again, wouldn't it seem vulgar when their kitten fluttered butterfly picture came out?

What's more. It can make people think that they don't know their grandmother, and that they are greedy for wealth.

What they painted was a splendid peony!

Peony is indeed not as temperamental and charming as bluegrass.

An Ruodan: This is obviously to step on them to show off and please her grandmother.

An Wenqi's face was the most ugly, he remembered that he had spoken for An Ruodan that day and reprimanded his own sister, and immediately regretted that his intestines were blue.

An Ruolan had a small face, annoyed by her miscalculation.

She still missed it, she only thought of the implication of preventing others from using kittens to flutter butterflies. didn't expect that someone would directly use them as stepping stones, An Ruodan actually planned such a thing quietly. It can be seen that the scheming is deep.

But fortunately, their paintings are not based on the theme of peonies, and with that subtle meaning, there is no need to worry about being compared.

Nevertheless. It's still very uncomfortable to be calculated.

An Ruojin also knew that she would not lose to An Ruodan, but she still couldn't help clenching her fists and gritting her teeth secretly, An Ruoyan couldn't help but be a little anxious, and her eyes were red.

The other eleven people who participated in the painting were all angry, but everyone had nothing to do but watch An Ruodan being praised by the guests.

In front of so many guests, they can't afford to be rude.

An Ruodan's painting skills are not outstanding, and the blue sketches he painted are also mediocre. But the advantage is that she can speak, the An family is a noble family, and the old lady is also from a scholarly family. Such people say that they don't like to be exaggerated and elegant? It can be said that An Ruodan's words were a coincidence, but this does not prevent people who want to take the opportunity to pat themselves on the back and praise them.

Many guests said that An Ruo Dan Hui was very filial.

An Ruodan smiled modestly and gently, full of everyone's ladylike style.

The old lady didn't say a word. He only smiled at the blue sketch, as if he was admiring it. It seems to be deep in thought.

After a long time, the old lady rolled up the blue sketch and put it into the long box, and then said with a smile: "Didn't you just hear that you worked with several brothers and sisters to prepare a birthday gift?" ”

Maybe the old lady's tone was too gentle, and the action of putting away the scroll was too cherished, because An Ruodan was fascinated and thought that her goal had succeeded.

She didn't notice the chill in the old lady's eyes, she suppressed the excitement and excitement in her heart, and said shyly and reservedly: "The granddaughter is thinking about everyone's brothers and sisters, and they should help each other, so they were invited to agree to help Brother Sheng and others paint, in fact, from composition to painting, the granddaughter did not express any opinions, but just helped wash the pen and change the pen. ”

In and out of the words, her friendship for her sisters and brothers is revealed, and at the same time, it implicitly reveals the domineering of the rest of the people.

One "failed to express any opinion" and the other "did not express any opinion", the difference between one word and the meaning is thousands of miles, and it is easy for anyone who listens to it to misunderstand.

said that they were preparing a birthday gift together, but after calling people over, they only let people wash their pens and change their pens, and they didn't even let people express any opinions and ideas, what kind of help and cooperation is this? This is simply calling people to slavery and sending!

After noticing the remaining eleven people, most of them were concubines, many guests couldn't help but imagine the picture of the delicate and humble concubines being oppressed by the arrogant and domineering concubines, and most people thought that the reason why An Wensheng and the others called the concubines to prepare the birthday gift together was to vote for the old lady's favor and also to gain a good reputation.

For a while, the expressions of the guests became very meaningful.

There were even more female guests who stood behind them, and they began to chew the root of their tongues.

The discussions of others, several masters and ladies could naturally hear them, and their faces became ugly, even Second Master An.

Although Second Master An loves An Ruodan, he is very modest, although he was a little biased in the treatment of his two daughters in the past, he would not do anything to lift his concubine to the front of his daughter-in-law.

An Ruodan's words and deeds in front of him made Second Master An frown, he felt that he was too good to this concubine before, so good that this girl forgot what is the dignity of the concubine, what is the peace and self-defence, so good that this girl put her own interests in front of the face of the Hou Mansion.

The concubines and daughters of the Hou Mansion were unjust, and in the end, it was not the face of the Hou Mansion that was damaged?

At any time, it is the sons and daughters who represent the face of the Hou Mansion, and the concubines only need to be honest and honest.

Second Master An made a decision in his heart.

Besides, Meng Shi, she was also anxious and worried, but her thoughts with Second Master An were completely opposite, and she thought it was An Ruolan's fault.

Meng Shi couldn't help but complain to An Shiyan in a low voice: "I persuaded Lan'er not to mess around, she didn't listen, she wanted to be opportunistic, and wanted to think of such crooked ideas, now it's okay, making such a joke during the birthday greeting is simply losing the face of the Hou Mansion, how can this be good?!" ”

An Shiyan did not take Meng's words to heart, nor did he open his mouth to respond.

He and Second Master An had the same thoughts, and they both felt that it was An Ruodan's fault. Coupled with the previous conversation with An Wenyan, he realized that he was negligent to his daughter, and now he only has guilt in his heart, where can he blame his daughter who has fallen into a disadvantageous situation?

However, his silence was mistaken by Meng Shi as a tacit acquiescence, so Meng Shi said: "Fifth Master, why don't you come forward to intercede?" Hopefully, my mother won't blame her. ”

Hearing this, An Shiyan frowned, with puzzlement and surprise, he turned his head to look at his wife beside him, and said in a deep voice: "I seem to understand Brother Yan's previous words, why do you always have a preconceived idea that Lan'er is wrong?" In my opinion, Lan'er is not wrong at all! ”

Speaking of the back, his tone became stern, and he almost couldn't stop whispering: "I believe in Lan'er, I also believe in Brother Sheng, Brother Yan, and Sister Jin!" ”

Meng Shi's face turned pale by his words, and his eyes instantly rose with mist.

An Ruoxian immediately quickly blocked in front of Meng Shi like a hen guarding her chicks, and glared at An Shiyan coldly.

Seeing this, An Shiyan was a little embarrassed and a little unbearable, but he didn't compromise this time, but turned his head and said: "You don't have to worry about this, my mother has her own conclusion." ”

There were guests around, and he didn't want any more scandals.

Being scolded by her husband who wanted to be considerate of her like this, Meng Shi was so sad that she couldn't speak, she covered her lips and bowed her head silently.

An Ruoxian glared at An Shiyan fiercely again, and then turned her head to stabilize the Meng family.

Fortunately, there was a lot of discussion in the flower hall, and it was very noisy, because no one found that the husband and wife were arguing, and everyone was still waiting for the old lady to make a statement.

The old lady's expression was still faint, she said: "The old woman is just a mortal, she thinks she doesn't have the integrity of the orchid, the orchid grass lives in the empty valley, and does not eat the fireworks in the world, the old woman is a layman who does not dare to compare with it." ”

As soon as these words came out, there was a moment of silence in the flower hall, and everyone knew very well that the old lady was turning a corner to express her opinion on the blue sketch.

An Ruodan fell from the clouds to hell in an instant.

The old lady continued: "But Sister Dan'er's heart is rare, although the old woman doesn't dare to compare with Lancao, she likes this painting, Sister Dan has a heart." ”

With the words of praise and comfort, An Ruodan felt better.

An Ruodan thought that although the birthday gift failed to please her grandmother, she could take the opportunity to discredit a few concubines, and she also earned it.

Thinking like this, she quickly cheered up again, waiting to see An Ruolan's jokes.

She didn't believe that her hollow valley orchid would not be as good as a child's play kitten fluttering butterfly!

As An Ruodan thought, although her fart slapped on the horse's leg, this did not prevent the guests from criticizing the sons and daughters in the mansion.

The birthday greetings continued, and soon it was An Ruoxian's turn.

Under Meng's encouraging eyes, An Ruoxian stepped forward to kowtow to the old lady in a regular manner, and then said crisply: "My granddaughter recently learned a tune, and I want to dedicate it to my grandmother, wishing my grandmother happiness like the East China Sea and longevity to the south!" ”

After she finished speaking, a maid brought up the piano stand and embroidery pier, and finally put a golden silk nanmu guqin.

Many people who are familiar with Meng's family recognize that it is Meng's habitual phoenix tail, which is a family heirloom treasure that Meng Guofu only passed on to his daughter-in-law.

Old Madam Meng's face sank, and the faces of the rest of the Meng family were also extremely ugly. (To be continued) R861