The daily struggles of divorced women in ancient times

On the day of the banquet, Xia Mianwan got up early and dressed up. Xiyang is different from the capital. If you dress too gorgeously, you may arouse jealousy, and if you dress too simply, people may look down on you. Therefore, you must be careful about your makeup and appearance.

After receiving the invitations, the officials' wives from Xiyang arrived early one by one. Chai'er led them into the flower hall and served the first cup of tea.

Xia Mianwan smiled and invited the women to drink tea. "This is the new tea this year. I brought it from Beijing. Come and have a taste."

"Yes, thank you Madam Pei." Everyone picked up their tea bowls. From the action of picking up the tea bowls, Xia Mianwan remembered Madam Ruan, the wife of the Tongzhi, and Madam Li, the Tongpan's family.

These two people had specially learned the tea-drinking gestures from Jiangnan.

"After all, it's from Beijing. It's really good tea." Mrs. Li praised.

Xia Mianwan put down the teacup and said with a smile: "Mrs. Li is obviously knowledgeable about tea. Is she from Jiangnan?"

Madam Li was surprised and said, "It's amazing! I am indeed from Jiangnan. How did you know that?"

Xia Mianwan smiled and said, "Your tea drinking gesture is the traditional way in Jiangnan. I have lived in Jiangnan for several years."

Mrs. Li smiled and joked, "Madam, you are amazing!"

After drinking tea, Xia Mianwan roughly went over the names and appearances of these ladies in her mind. Among them, there were a few who were dressed very simply and remained silent. Xia Mianwan smiled and said to the wives of the county magistrates, "Today, my husband will go to the counties under his jurisdiction to visit and inspect. Your masters will have to take care of him."

The wives of the county magistrates did not expect Xia Mianwan to be so polite, and said a little embarrassedly: "Madam, you are too polite. This is what our masters should do."

Xia Mianwan looked at these ladies and saw that although they were not good at speaking, they looked simple and honest, so he had some plans in mind.

"Madam Pei, you don't have to be so polite. It is our duty to share your worries." The wife of the county magistrate of Qingyue County said with a smile.

Xia Mianwan had heard from Pei Yanxu that Qingyue County was a relatively poor county among those under the jurisdiction of Xiyang, but judging from the way the wife of the county magistrate was dressed... she didn't seem that way.

The silk that Madam Cen was wearing came from Xu's Company in Yanzhou. Satin of this grade could only be produced at a rate of 100 pieces a month. Yanzhou was a thousand miles away from here, and the price of this satin would have to increase several times by the time it reached Xiyang. That's how much silver is a county magistrate's monthly salary? Thinking of this, Xia Mianwan glanced at Ruzhu and motioned for Ruzhu to make a note of it.

Yesterday, Xia Mianwan made an agreement with Ruzhu that if she gave a look, Ruzhu would remember the person who said that. After Xia Mianwan gave birth to Shi Ge'er and Yuan Jie'er, she felt that her memory had deteriorated a lot, so she asked Ruzhu to remember things.

After chatting for a while, Xia Mianwan had some understanding of the ladies present.

"Since we have just arrived in Xiyang, I have prepared some small toys. They are not worth mentioning, so you can keep them for your sisters at home to play with." Xia Mianwan nodded, and Chai'er and Huan'er came out with two plates of brocade boxes.

The officials' wives were looking at the glittering bracelet and found it somewhat strange. County Magistrate Liu's wife was the daughter of a scholar, and their family was not very wealthy. The county magistrate was just an assistant to the county magistrate, and he rarely even went to the gatherings of the prefect's wives. When they saw such a beautiful bracelet, they couldn't help but exclaimed.

"Mrs. Pei, this is so beautiful!" Mrs. Liu simply couldn't let it go.

Mrs. Cen looked down on Mrs. Liu because she looked like she had never seen the world.

The prefect's wife, Zhuang, snorted coldly and said, "This is really rude. How can Lord Cen trust you to manage the household affairs if you are so unpresentable?"

Mrs. Liu saw Mrs. Cen's look of disdain, but she didn't feel ashamed at all. However, when the prefect's wife said this, Mrs. Liu's face turned red for a moment.

Xia Mianwan glanced at Zhuang and said with a smile, "It's not a big deal. We are just doing it for fun. Madam Liu, don't worry about it."

Zhuang said sarcastically, "Madam Pei, a bumpkin is a bumpkin, don't give him face. Others don't know that Lord Pei came to Xiyang because he was demoted, but don't I know that? Lord Pei may have to stay in Xiyang for the rest of his life, so Madam Pei doesn't have to pretend in front of us."

Zhuang... Xia Mianwan had heard from Pei Yanxu that the governor Tong was a real man, but the wife he married was hard to describe. Zhuang was the concubine of the Rong'an Earl of the capital, a proper noble lady, and she usually lived a very arrogant life. However, the Rong'an Earl's Mansion and Zhuang rarely interacted with each other now.

It is said that something similar happened to Pei Yanqi. The Rong'an Earl caught Tong, who was a Jinshi, and married him off to Zhuang at an early age.

"Oh? I thought the rules of the Earl's Mansion were very strict, and that all the ladies educated here were well-behaved ladies. But now it seems... that's not entirely true. It turns out that the rumors among the noble ladies in the capital are all true." Xia Mianwan acted shocked, then covered her mouth and laughed out loud.

Madam Liu is not good at dealing with people, but that doesn't mean other ladies are incapable of dealing with people. Relying on the fact that she comes from a noble family, Zhuang has often given these female relatives a hard time at banquets over the years. The wives of previous governors were of low birth and seldom bothered with Zhuang. Those of them with lower official positions dared not offend Zhuang, even more. However, the new governor's wife dared to fight back against Zhuang's show of power on the first day, so naturally some smart people would follow her and stand on her side.

Zhuang received a letter from her eldest sister early in the morning. Her eldest sister told her about Pei Yanxu's appointment as governor and some situations in the capital. She also knew about Xia Mianwan's background. She didn't expect that a girl from a merchant family, whose husband had been demoted, could still be so stubborn.

"The rumors among the ladies are indeed true and false, but I did hear my sister talk about Madam Pei. Wow, it's so exciting. I wonder if it's true or false?" Zhuang looked at Xia Mianwan with a smile, her eyes full of malice.

"Oh? Tell me what you mean?" Xia Mianwan looked at Zhuang with a smile, without even a trace of annoyance.

"It's just some gossip, like that before marrying Lord Pei, Mrs. Pei was a divorced woman, or that Mrs. Pei's family was a merchant family." Zhuang glanced at him and said all these things.

The women present were all shocked and looked at each other.

Xia Mianwan smiled and said indifferently: "I don't think it's a big deal, so you're talking about background? These are of course true, a hero should not be asked about his origin. If she is a capable person, she can struggle forward in any mud. If she is useless, even if she is given a perfect hand of cards, she can play it badly.

I thought Madam Tong knew this best. After all, you are the one who is angry in Xiyang now, aren't you?"

Zhuang stood up with an angry look on his face, "You!"

Xia Mianwan smiled brightly, "Why are you still angry? It seems... Madam Tong really has been hit in the sore spot by me."