Chapter 27 Gifts

The sixth sister's eyes were full of hatred, greeted the maid Luoyu, and asked Luoyu to give her the box.

She held the box and stood up and trotted to the third sister. "Third sister, this is a gift I personally prepared for you. Let's see if you like it."

With that, she opened the box, blinked playfully, and looked at the third sister expectantly. At this time, the eyes of the whole room gathered in the small box in the hands of the sixth sister.

There is a white and flawless jade hairpin in the box, and there are no complicated lines on it. A lifelike butterfly is carved on the jade hairpin, like spreading its wings and flying into the sky. Although this hairpin looks simple, its workmanship is exquisite and valuable at a glance.

The second wife's face became embarrassed and asked, "Where did this hairpin come from?" She tried to calm her words.

The sixth sister did not hear the blame in the second wife's words. On the contrary, she was a little complacent. It seems that today's gift was the right choice.

"The pocket money and New Year's money given by mothers and elders have been accumulated. A few days ago, Liu'er went out of the house and specially set such a hairpin in the Jinfeng Building. Liu'er knew that the third sister liked white jade, so he asked the craftsman to choose such a small object as this pure white jade and white carving.

The sixth sister raised her head and is now very satisfied with this hairpin. She carefully picked up the hairpin, which was crystal clear and dazzling.

But now even the old lady's face changed. She took a look at Mrs. An Guohou and saw Mrs. An Guohou buried her head drinking tea. She looked at the sixth sister more sharply, but it was not easy to attack.

The third sister took the hairpin with a smile and said, "The sixth sister is very careful. I am very happy and like it very much. This small object must have taken you to continue over the years, but I can't have such a valuable object. Your skin is fair, and this hairpin suits you very well.

She took the sixth sister's hand, asked the sixth sister to approach her, and then inserted the butterfly jade hairpin into the sheep horn bun on the left of the sixth sister. The sixth sister showed a blush on her face and said shyly, "This is a gift from the sixth sister. What should I do..."

The corners of the third sister's lips rose slightly, "It's enough to take care of it. This hairpin really matches you."

The old lady and the second wife's faces eased a lot. They were afraid that the third sister's matter would not be handled well and leave a bad impression on Mrs. Anguo. And Mrs. An Guohou had a faint smile on her face from beginning to end without any dissatisfaction.

If you send such a precious white jade on the ordinary birthday, it will certainly look luxurious and not flamboyant, but today is the day of the third sister and the emperor, and more importantly, Mrs. Anguo can tell the third sister and the son of Anguo to marry today. Don't take white things out as gifts.

The sixth sister didn't know this subtle rule. She only felt that the third sister was her own sister, and now she is so good to her. She nodded and looked at Sister Jiu proudly. The dimples on her cheeks were sweet. She said, "Sister Jiu must have also prepared a gift. Hurry up and take it out for everyone to see."

Sister Jiu had already prepared the gift, but Mrs. An Guohou was here and didn't want to take out the gift at this time.

Seeing the hesitation of the ninth sister, the sixth sister couldn't help sarcasing, "Did you prepare a gift for the third sister?"

Nine sister frowned slightly. She didn't like the sixth sister's tone very much. Her face looked a little embarrassed. "Jiu'er is ready, but this thing is too shabby compared with yours sixth sister. Jiu'er wants to give it to the third sister in private."

"Sneer!" The sixth sister seemed to have forgotten that Mrs. An Guohou was here for a long time and said scornly, "You have more money in your hand than all the sisters in the house, and you can't take out any gifts. I'm afraid you don't want to take them out."

The ninth sister's eyebrows deepened a little. She really didn't like the aggressive tone of the sixth sister, and the afterglow from the corners of her eyes glanced at the smiling Mrs. Anguo. The folds in her eyebrows suddenly loosened. She stood up and walked to the third sister and took out a purse from her sleeve. Then she said shyly, "It's just a small purse. Jiu'er really doesn't know what to send. Please don't go out."

Although this purse is ordinary, the peonies on it are all tied with gold thread, while the back is embroidered with mandarin ducks playing in water, which is obviously very suitable for today's occasion. That golden thread doesn't look shabby.

"Jiu's female workers are not good. When they first came to the house, Jiu'er heard that the third sister's birthday was on the Lantern Festival. Seeing that there was no time to prepare gifts, I asked Yao's mother to embroider this purse since the New Year.

The third sister's eyes lit up a little. This purse is exquisitely embroidered. Even in the Jinxiu Pavilion, it can't make such a small and exquisite purse. The pins on it are dense, and the thread can't be seen. She looked carefully for a while, looked inside again, and suddenly exclaimed.

"Ah, there are flowers in it!" The third sister quickly turned over the purse and saw that the two cloths inside were embroidered with the words "hundred years of harmony" and a long life.

"I didn't expect to see such an embroiderer after so many years!" Mrs. An Guohou suddenly spoke.

"It's worthy of the person brought out by the eldest wife." The old lady echoed, "It's a pity that only the ninth sister was left."

Mrs. An Guohou said lightly, "There is this mother Yao beside Sister Jiu, and she also walks at ease. What's more, she is still raised by your side, and she is comforted by the spirit of heaven."

There was no emotion in this sentence. The ninth sister was a little suspicious. Just now, she called herself aunt, and her eyes were as spoiled as the elders looking at the younger generation. I thought it was because of her mother, but now it doesn't seem so.

"If aunt likes it, just let Yao make another one." The childish voice of the ninth sister came to the ears of the Marquis of Anguo.

Mrs. Anguohou patted the ninth sister's head dotingly and said with a smile, "I'll wait for the ninth sister to make one for me in person!"

The old lady was flattered and quickly asked the ninth sister, Mrs. Xie Anguo. Mrs. An Guohou chatted with the third sister for a while, and no longer paid attention to the ninth sister or talked to the ninth sister.

The sixth sister stared at the ninth sister fiercely. This ninth sister was obviously against her. Now it's good. The white jade hairpin she bought at such a large price was compared with such a small purse. How could she not be angry?

The atmosphere in the room was very harmonious. The second wife repeatedly hinted at Mrs. Anguo about the marriage of the third sister, but Mrs. Anguo turned a deaf ear, but her eyes fell on the sixth sister several times. The second wife never mentioned it again.

Today, many young talents came to participate in the third sister's ceremony, and the ceremony began to be held. The third sister officially appeared in front of outsiders for the first time. Although she occasionally goes to some poetry fairs of young ladies and meets some talents in the capital, those are rare. For the first time, she was a little nervous, not to mention the people she admired.

After the ceremony, the three young brothers gathered together to talk about the third sister's wisdom.

"Prince Xia, the third sister of Xue's family is really talented and beautiful. I don't know what an honor it would be if she could marry."

Xiahouchen smiled and took a bite of food and sent it to his mouth.

"The son of Xiahou, you are the second uncle of Xuefu. I think you are also familiar with the third sister. Tell everyone what are the preferences of the third sister?" Another prince surrounded Xiahouchen.

Xia Houchen smiled faintly, "She is still a girl who hasn't come out of the cabinet. Aren't you afraid of ruining her reputation by inquiing like this?"

As soon as this came out, the young men who were about to open their mouths all shut up. Even if they wanted to inquire, they had to ask secretly and slowly. If a lady was put on the table to talk about by a group of men, she didn't know what would be said to be unruly.

After the banquet, Xiahouchen went into the inner courtyard to pick up Mrs. Anguohou. Mrs. Anguohou did not want to stay in Xuefu and got into the carriage with Xiahouchen.

Mrs. Anguo looked at her son and said kindly, "Do you think this family still needs to be married?"

"I don't like that third sister very much." Xia Houchen spoke faintly.

Mrs. An Guohou looked at Xia Houchen in surprise, knowing her son Mo Ruo's mother. She knew that Xia Houchen did not like Xue's daughter, but at the beginning, she also married the second sister home, which was not full at all. This time, she clearly showed her disgust for the third sister, which made her a little unable to see through.

"Lord Zhou's daughter is good. Why don't I invite Mrs. Zhou to come out and get together tomorrow?" Mrs. An Guohou smiled lightly.

Xia Houchen turned his head and didn't have much expression on his face except for a faint smile. "No, I just don't like the third sister."

At this time, Mrs. An Guohou didn't understand, and heard Xia Houchen explain, "Maybe the sixth sister is good, maybe the ninth sister..."

"The ninth sister was given by Prince Yi's family before she was born. Don't think too much about it. As for the sixth sister..." Mrs. Anguohou frowned and said with a smile, "It's a true temperament. If you have her in the mansion, you can suffer, but our Anguohou Mansion is very simple, and it's good to come to our house."

Xia Houchen smiled and didn't say much, but there was a faint smile in his eyes.

Mrs. An Guohou became more and more worried. Xia Houchen's reputation in Chang'an was not very good, and there were rumors of Longyang's prosperity, but some news were not empty. Once she really saw Xia Houchen pulling with a man. After the death of her second sister, she was even more anxious. That's why I want to find another daughter-in-law quickly.

"If my mother agrees to the Xue family to let me marry the third sister, she will leave this door as if it is dishonest." Xiahouchen said helplessly.

"Puff!" Looking at Xiahouchen's melancholy appearance, Mrs. An Guohou laughed out, "Today, I didn't promise that if you really want to marry other ladies in Xue's mansion, I will show you."

"Thank you, mother!" Xiahouchen saluted Mrs. Anguo with his fists in his hands, which made Mrs. Anguo smile.

However, the atmosphere in Xue's house is not very good.