"Come here!" Chen Jue's brows were tightly furrowed, and his eyes were cold.
His fingers trembled with anger.
Who taught her this?
Momo Zhang?
He wanted to chop Momo Zhang in half.
Li Xiao's eyes widened.
She looked at Lord Chen with some fear.
It was as if she didn't know what was going on.
She blinked her eyes.
Her brain was racing. Why did she do something that angered Lord Chen instead of pleasing Lord Chen …
"Li Xiao!" Chen Jue said.
He was about to stand up.
The little girl immediately begged for mercy. "Sir …" She quickly stood up straight. Her facial features were twisted together as she leaned over aggrievedly.
Chen Jue patted the table.
Li Xiao quickly quickened her steps and leaned over to Lord Chen.
When she stood in front of Chen Jue,
Chen Jue grabbed her hand to prevent her from escaping.
Soft, tender, and soft little hands.
"Who taught you this?" Chen Jue pointed at his face.
It was as if he could still feel the little girl's soft and slightly cold lips.
Her hand was still quite warm.
Li Xiao lowered her head and stared at Lord Chen's large hand that was wrapped around her small hand.
Little by little, his face slowly turned red.
"That … no one taught me," Li Xiao lowered her head and said aggrievedly.
"Okay, then I'll ask Momo Zhang to come over. I want to –" Chen Jue said and was about to get up.
Li Xiao grabbed Chen Jue's large hand.
Her two small hands nervously gripped his fingers.
"Sir!"
"Tell me!" It was as if he was extorting a confession.
Li Xiao trembled at his shout.
Then she said, "In the book … it's said that Lord Chen finds it the hardest to accept a beauty's favor.
Tell me … "He saw that Chen Jue's expression was getting stranger and stranger.
Li Xiao had no choice but to grit his teeth and continue, "They say that Lord Chen can't stand the kisses and begging of beautiful women the most, and they also say that he will definitely get what he wants … They say that Lord Chen can solve cases like a god, but even heroes have a weakness for beautiful women …"
"Where's the book?" Chen Jue asked.
Li Xiao shrunk her neck. "In … in my room."
"Burn it!" Chen Jue was so angry that he closed his eyes. There was actually such a book on the streets!
"This kind of book can't be trusted.
Plus... did you learn everything that Momo Zhang taught you? "Chen Jue touched his face and finally let go of Li Xiao's hand.
"Milord." Li Xiao pulled back his hand and grabbed the hem of his shirt.
"Learn the rules from Momo Zhang."
After Chen Jue finished speaking, he remembered her behavior and said, "You don't need to read such strange books in the future. If you want to read any books, report to me first."
"Yes, Milord," Li Xiao said.
Chen Jue tapped the table and said, "Copy 'The Commandments for Women' once and present it to me tomorrow night. Also, don't delay learning the rules from Momo Zhang. Do you hear me?"
Li Xiao's face immediately turned bitter. She had come to plead for mercy, but not only did she not get what she wanted, she even went for wool and came home shorn.
Chen Jue looked at her bitter and pitiful expression and his heart softened a little. However, he remembered that this little girl didn't know a lot of things and didn't know a lot of things. If he spoiled her now, he was afraid that in two years, she would go astray.
He resisted the urge to let her go and said stubbornly, "Are you hungry?
Let's eat. "
As he spoke, he clapped his hands. A Liu heard Lord Chen's clapping and immediately went to the kitchen to start serving the food.
In the end, the dinner was very simple. Although Chen Jue was full, he was still a little dissatisfied.
Chen Jue put down his chopsticks and turned to look at A Liu in displeasure. "Why is the food so simple?"
A Liu quickly stepped forward and said, "Milord, we don't have enough people in the house. We've been busy preparing for the guests these past few days. The Cookmaid has also been assigned a lot of other chores, so the food … is a little worse than usual."
Chen Jue frowned. It was just a birthday banquet. Was it that busy?
A Liu looked at Chen Jue's disapproving expression and screamed in his heart, "Oh my god, Milord!
This is the first time the House of Chen is hosting a banquet!!!! "
… … …
The steward rearranged the furnishings of the entire house. All the places that were not bad before had to be renovated.
Steward Chen had never thought that there would be a day when the House of Chen would need to host a banquet to entertain so many distinguished guests.
Moreover, this banquet was Sister Li Xiao's birthday banquet. Milord had said that everything should be of the highest standard, just like Lord Chen's own daughter or Lord Chen's own sister.
Therefore, Steward Chen thought about it and decided that the House of Chen would do the same as the Minister's daughter's birthday banquet.
However, this decision was easy to make, but when it was really implemented, it was really a mess.
The so-called "in a terrible fix" could not describe the situation!
Lord Chen had to hire a courtyard of temporary workers and outsource many of the servants.
The renovation of the Chen Manor, starting from the entrance of the alley, to the cleanliness and beauty of the water vat in the kitchen, was all taken out for re-examination. Wherever there was room for improvement, it had to be readjusted.
It was also a big project to purchase items and rearrange the furnishings.
Steward Chen went back and forth to the storeroom about seven or eight times a day. If there was really nothing left, he had to buy more.
The steward in charge of purchasing spent money until his hands were tired and ran errands until his legs were short.
This pile of things suddenly made the House of Chen lively, but Lord Chen, who was busy in the yamen during the day, did not know.
… …
Then there were the maids and servants in the house who had always been lazy.
Lord Chen had always been lax and casual. As a man, he would not care if the house was not in a mess.
However, if he really wanted to hold a banquet, the entire noble circle in the capital had to send invitations and send letters. When the time came, the house would be full of distinguished guests. If there was something wrong with them, they would be lightly criticized, but it would be serious if they embarrassed Lord Chen. It was the first time Lord Chen held a banquet. If there was something embarrassing, he would probably be scolded in the noble circle in the capital for several years.
Moreover, if something happened to any of the distinguished guests who came to participate in the banquet … they could not afford to be blamed for not taking care of them.
If any of them had a stomachache, if any of them were offended by the maids or servants, if any of them felt neglected … It was scary to think about these endless troubles.
Therefore, Steward Chen hired a special female servant and began to control all the servants in the house, from himself to the people who fed the horses in the stable. From how to talk, how to salute, how to walk, to what must not be done, what must not be done, what must not be done, and what must be done properly … Everything was taught and learned from scratch.
If they could not learn and made mistakes, their monthly allowance would be deducted.
Zhang Tang's wife, Madam Sun, was a shrewish and impatient woman. She was taller than the average person. When the expression on her face was tense, all the servants had to avoid her.
As soon as she arrived at the House of Chen, she scolded many of the servants.
No manners!
Not sensible!
Gluttonous and lazy!
Stupid!
Clumsy!
Haven't eaten for a few years …
She did not relax at all and scolded them fiercely.
When Li Xiao saw Madam Zhang, she suddenly understood why Lord Zhang could work with Lord Chen for so long.
Perhaps … Lord Zhang liked this kind of shrewish and scolding people. Who knows …
…
Since Lord Chen's request, the House of Chen was full of complaints. The atmosphere was tense, and the servants walked with the wind, their faces solemn.
When Li Xiao and Momo Zhang were ready to go out to buy cloth, they passed through the cloister, worried that they would be bumped into by busy people.
She looked at the House of Chen in disbelief. Wow, it really … looks like the New Year is coming.
Are they going to hold my Coming of Age Ceremony?
Li Xiao sat in the carriage in a daze, still thinking about everything that had happened in the past few days.
It was as if she had suddenly become another person and entered another world.
How … did this happen?
Was Lord Chen … worried that she would be too sad to lose her brother, so he distracted her?
Or did he want to make her gradually happy through the Coming of Age Ceremony?
But … in addition to these, she and Lord Chen had become strange.
It was as if they could not get along like before.
However, there didn't seem to be anything wrong. Something just wasn't right …
She bit her lip and thought for a long time, but she could not figure out many things.
In her world, there were some feelings that were too strange.
She did not have loving parents to teach her what love was and how to get along with a man and a woman.
Her brother was not old enough to marry a wife, but he died …
Suddenly, today, Lord Chen came into her life. It was as if she had not come out of her childhood to face adult relationships.
Some things became beautiful, but also hazy. She seemed to be able to grasp some feelings, but it was as if she did not understand anything.
"Miss, we're here." Momo Zhang patted Li Xiao and raised her eyebrows at her.
Only then did Li Xiao realize that they had arrived.
When they got out of the carriage, they saw the largest cloth shop in the capital. Most of the madams and misses of the noble families often came here to shop.
Some manors directly ordered cloth from the shop on a long-term basis, and once they liked the cloth, they would send it to their manors.
Li Xiao mainly wanted to buy clothes for her Coming of Age Ceremony, so she simply came with Momo Zhang to buy clothes.
She could also compare the cloth, color, and style of the clothes herself.
The shop was very large. They had to go up three steps to enter the shop's main hall.
There were two shop assistants standing at the door. When they saw them, they cheerfully welcomed them inside. Although it was the first time they saw strangers, they were already smiling warmly.
Li Xiao followed Momo Zhang, followed by two young maidservants.
Now, Momo Zhang was teaching Li Xiao the rules. She had to bring her maidservants with her at all times and have them wait on her. Raising the style of a young miss was also part of her learning.
There were already several young misses and maidservants looking at cloth in the shop. In the shop, a small shopkeeper was standing among the piles of cloth and sorting out silk. When he saw Li Xiao and the others, he hurriedly came out and said with a smile, "Miss, this is your first time in our shop. Do you have any cloth that you like?"
He went straight to the point with one sentence, as if he was an acquaintance.
Momo Zhang raised her eyebrows and looked at the shopkeeper. She smiled and answered on behalf of Li Xiao, "Take us to see if there are any good materials. We'll also pick some."
The shopkeeper immediately clapped his hands and said with a smile, "Okay.
We just have a batch of good materials today. Miss, come this way. "
From Momo Zhang's expression, tone, and choice of words, he could immediately tell that this group of people didn't lack money. They were here to buy the best materials to equip themselves.
Since it was their first time here, he had to keep them.
Therefore, the shopkeeper used 120% of his energy and enthusiastically shook out a few types of cloth —
"Look, this is Sichuan brocade. Look at the embroidery here … look at the color … feel it …"
"This is soft smoke gauze. There are only six feet of it in our shop.
You can't buy it anywhere else … "
"Do you like this kind of cloth?
Look at this Heavenly Fragrance Silk … "
Li Xiao listened to the shopkeeper speak as if he was talking about his family's treasures. Her hands touched this one, then touched that one. She was dazzled by the dazzling line-up …