Tianliangyuan

Chapter 225 Laurel Fragrance

If you don't go out and explore, how can you let others see you?

Xu Zhaozhao naturally knew what the old lady was planning, but she was very curious whether Chen Xiangxiang knew about it or not.

If Chen Xiangxiang knew this, would it mean that she also agreed with the old lady's approach, that she wanted to be treated like a commodity by the old lady and then sold at a higher price?

Xu Zhaozhao didn't want to say much to Chen Xiangxiang for the time being. After all, Chen Xiangxiang was a member of the Chen family, not the Xu family, and her future should not be in the hands of the Xu family.

So, it's fine for her to take you out to meet people, but it's impossible for you to actually fawn over her.

Xu Zhaozhao directly arranged a garden party at Baiguoyuan.

Just as the old lady said, it is the perfect time of year when spring is in full bloom. Imagine a group of young ladies enjoying the flowers, drinking tea, and chatting together – it sounds so pleasant.

To avoid any trouble, Xu Zhaozhao decided to only invite female guests this time and not allow any young men to enter the Hundred Fruit Garden.

Princess Leyang would naturally be present at this garden party.

Princess Leyang's marriage was arranged last year. Her fiancé is Cui Shu, the eldest son of the Duke of Yue's family and the heir of the Duke's mansion.

Duke Cui Xuanqing of Yue was the elder brother of Marquis Cui Xuanzheng of Xinning.

Cui Shu was not only the heir of the Duke's mansion, but also a young military general who was highly valued by the emperor.

This time, Cui Shu was not sent directly to the battlefield for the northern expedition. Instead, he was assigned to escort supplies. One of the reasons for this was very likely for the sake of Princess Leyang.

Moreover, escorting grain supplies can also earn merit.

Besides, given Cui Shu's current status, he doesn't need to fight tooth and nail to gain merit. As long as he's safe and can return alive to get married, that would be the best arrangement.

Moreover, the grain transport officers are not necessarily absolutely not allowed to participate in the war. If they continue to go north to replenish supplies, there is a possibility that they will fight the enemy.

However, the possibility and danger are somewhat smaller than those of playing as a forward.

Besides Princess Leyang, Princess Ningshuo also came.

Xu Zhaozhao knew that even if the cooperation didn't work out last time, Princess Ning Shuo wouldn't really turn against her.

After all, the Emperor was standing behind him, the greatest backer of Daxing.

Furthermore, given the relationship between Princess Ning Shuo and Prince An, if she wanted to help Prince An ascend to the throne, why would she think of offending the Xu Marquis's Mansion and the Duke of Huguo's Mansion?

Chen Xiangxiang was indeed surprised by the distinguished guests today.

She thought that Xu Zhaozhao being granted the title of county princess must be a sign of the emperor's high regard for the Xu family, but she never expected that even the legitimate princess would come to attend the banquet that Xu Zhaozhao had organized.

Moreover, she noticed that when Princess Ning Shuo spoke with Xu Zhaozhao, not only was her attitude good, but Xu Zhaozhao's eyes were also very natural, without the slightest fear.

Chen Xiangxiang's envy and admiration for Xu Zhaozhao grew even stronger. Who wouldn't want to live like her, unafraid even in the face of a royal princess?

If she knew that Xu Zhaozhao had indirectly rejected the princess's offer of cooperation, she would be even more agitated.

Last year's garden party introduced the "Top Scholar Wine," but this year's garden party, which was attended mainly by women, only featured various fruit wines.

Xu Zhaozhao specially sought out Xu Junting to name the fruit wine, and each name was pleasant to hear and had an extraordinary meaning. It would be difficult for anyone to guess the ingredients used to make the wine.

It should be said that they could guess one or two of them, but not all of them.

For example, plum wine. It doesn't have a special name, but anyone who drinks it knows that in addition to plums, there must be other fruits used as ingredients, otherwise it wouldn't have such a taste and texture.

All the guests were noble ladies, and none of them would be foolish enough to ask about someone else's brewing recipe. This was their means of making a living. If they revealed it all to you, what would they eat and drink with all their servants and servants?

"Princess, please try the laurel fragrance. If you find it acceptable, bring a few jars for Her Majesty the Empress to try later."

Princess Ning Shuo took a small sip; it was fragrant and sweet, with a subtle aroma of wine, and the overall wine aroma was rich. A few breaths later, the fragrance of osmanthus lingered in her mouth.

"This wine is wonderful. It has the fragrance of osmanthus, but it's more than just that. Wonderful! Absolutely wonderful! Anle, you must prepare more of this wine for me. Not only should I send some to the Empress Dowager, but I also need to keep a few jars for myself."

Xu Zhaozhao smiled and said, "Princess, please don't be offended. This wine is indeed very fragrant and the aroma lingers for a long time. However, not much of this wine has been produced so far. I have only managed to get twenty jars at most. Today, at the garden party, I will take out two jars for everyone to taste. Of the remaining eighteen jars, I kept eight for my family, so now there are only ten jars left."

"Ten jars are fine, load them all onto the truck."

“That won’t do!” Princess Leyang interrupted, “I want it too! Zhaozhao, you promised me you wouldn’t go back on your word.”

"I promised the princess, so I will keep my word. Here's what I'll do: I'll pack two jars for you in a bit, six jars for the princess's carriage, and I'll have the remaining two sent to the emperor. If the princess returns to the palace early, she can ask the emperor for some wine."

Princess Ning Shuo was dissatisfied: "Why did you only keep eight jars for yourself? There are only a few people in your family, where would you need so many?"

Xu Zhaozhao's eyes widened: "I think these eight jars are not enough. I should send two jars to my maternal grandmother, right? I can't skimp on the filial piety of my own grandmother either, and there's also the gift for my mother, aunt, and two sisters-in-law. This isn't enough to go around."

Princess Leyang was disappointed; if you calculate it that way, it seems she really didn't have enough.

However, Princess Leyang still understood Xu Zhaozhao.

"Tell me the truth, when can we open the remaining wine?"

"It should take about another half month before we can fill the jars. The next few large urns will be able to hold at least seventy or eighty jars, and I'll deliver them to you then."

Princess Leyang waved her hand dismissively: "Why do I need you to deliver it? I'll have you pay the deposit first, and then have it delivered directly to my residence. I'll order fifty jars first."

Before he could finish speaking, he was met with a chorus of boos.

Jiang Yuan pouted and said, "How can you be so domineering? There are only seventy or eighty jars in total, and you want to take fifty jars yourself. What are we supposed to do?"

"That's right, that's right, the princess has gone too far!"

"Even a princess can't drink that much wine. I think you should order at most ten jars."

For a moment, everyone was so excited they almost started arguing.

Xu Zhaozhao raised her hand to signal everyone not to rush.

"Today is a garden party, why are all you ladies only thinking about buying wine? Do you think I, Xu Zhaozhao, am just here to trick you into buying wine? Although I, Xu Zhaozhao, am short of money to develop my fiefdom, it's not like this!"

After she finished speaking, everyone looked at each other, not knowing what Xu Zhaozhao meant.

"We invited everyone here today not only to tour the garden, but also to be among the first to taste the new wine. If you find anything lacking, please give us your feedback so we can improve. If you like it, I'll invite you all back to taste the new wine again in the autumn, how about that?"