Chapter 37: 37

The Gilded Cage Chapter 37

The Autumn Crab Banquet (1)

Everyone looked out of the pavilion and saw two eunuchs leading a woman and a child at the Golden Riverside.

The woman, who looked to be around forty years old, was the Duchess of Lu, Xu Shi.

Although she wore opulent clothes and had her hair done beautifully, it was obvious that her skin was darker and more weathered than noble women of her age. Furthermore, she also seemed nervous and uncomfortable.

Meanwhile, the girl looked to be around ten to twelve years old. She was thin and small. Her complexion is unremarkable, and her skin tone darker than noble girls. However, her eyes were lively and on closer look, they bore slight resemblance to the Emperor.

This was the Duke and Duchess of Lu’s daughter.

Initially, the girl was holding her mother’s hand and talking excitedly to her. However, when she saw people looking at her from Ningyun Pavilion, her smile disappeared, and she became nervous.

The eunuchs led them into the pavilion, and they curtsied nervously to the Empress Dowager.

The Empress Dowager did not move from her seat at the main table. She looked at the mother and daughter for a moment before smiling and raised her hand. “Please stand. We are family, so there’s no need for such formalities.”

After that, the maids brought two chairs for them to sit on.

Madam Xu Shi and her daughter were like a fish out of water. They sat close to each other and felt out of place among the nobles that they had never met before.

The Empress Dowager ignored them after the initial greetings. The other guests were all nobles close to the Qi clan, so they ignored the Duchess and her daughter too. The mood in the pavilion was a little awkward.

Chu Ning saw that none of the nobles bothered to speak to them and were only talking among themselves. As such, she turned to the Duchess and her daughter with a smile.

‘The weather’s a little cold today. It must be cold walking here. Please have some hot tea to warm up,” Chu Ning said and offered her a cup of tea.

Xu Shi was surprised and quickly accepted the tea. After thanking her profusely, she took a careful sip.

Chu Ning looked at the girl beside her and asked, “Is this lovely girl your daughter?”

Xu Shi quickly put her cup down and pulled her daughter to stand before Chu Ning and said, “You are very kind. She is my daughter, Guo Er. She is ten years old.”

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Guo Er stood nervously and did not dare to speak. But when she saw Chu Ning’s gentle and sincere smile, she immediately grinned and said, “I’m Guo Er. My mother named me Guo Er because she craved fruit while having me.”

Xu Shi’s face reddened immediately. “Madam, my daughter is still immature. Please excuse her impudence.” She was afraid what her daughter said would seem uncultured and turned her into a laughing stock among the nobles.

Chu Ning shook her head with a smile and offered Guo Er a plate of pastries. “Are you hungry? Would you like to have a little something while waiting for the crab to be served?”

Guo Er looked longingly at the pastries. She resisted the urge to grab one and turned to Xu Shi for permission. When Xu Shi nodded, Guo Er took a pastry and began to eat.

Xu Shi smiled embarrassedly at Chu Ning and asked, “May I ask, how should I address you?”

After sitting in the pavilion for a while, she was able to guess the names of a few of the nobles from the conversation around them. She also noticed that the other nobles also seemed unwilling to approach this woman.

Chu Ning used a handkerchief to wipe Guo Er’s powder stained hands and answered naturally, “Guo Er is above me in terms of generational seniority. My husband, the current crown prince, is the Emperor’s nephew.”

Xu Shi was shocked, and her expression turned to panic.

Although she came from the countryside, she had heard rumors before coming to Chang’an. It was said that the Crown Prince and the Emperor had a precarious relationship. Now, she finally understood why the other nobles did not speak to her. She was the Crown Princess!

Meanwhile, Guo Er remained oblivious and said to Chu Ning happily, “Thank you.”

Chu Ning noticed that Xu Shi was now behaving differently, so she drank her tea calmly and remained quiet so as not to frighten her further.

Soon, everyone took their seat as the servants came in and served the freshly steamed large crabs.

The Empress Dowager loved eating crabs, so there was a crab banquet almost every year. As such, the noble women had all learned the proper etiquette to eat it.

However, Xu Shi and her daughter were at loss when they saw a row of mallet, pincers, spade, spoon, fork, scraper, and pick on the table. They face reddened with shame as they did not know what to do.

Chu Ning sat beside them with her gaze down. She placed her cup on the saucer to make a crisp noise.

Guo Er turned to look at her when she heard the noise. She saw Chu Ning raise the small mallet slowly and hit the edges of the crab shell gently.

She moved slowly and carefully to demonstrate to them.

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