Chapter 454: Gu Family
Chapter 454: Chapter 454: Gu Family
Several maidservants led them into the backyard. Perhaps because of the limited space and the large number of guests, most people were standing around or finding places to sit, conversing in hushed tones.
Yet, despite the crowd, an empty table remained. The guiding maidservants arranged for them to sit there, and a few familiar ladies immediately squeezed over.
"It certainly is bustling here today," Mrs. Qian said. Glancing at her three close friends and seeing their burning, curious gazes fixed on her, she grinned and turned to ask around for information.
Bai Suihe and the others pricked up their ears, incredibly curious about the situation.
"You don’t know?" Mrs. Wu asked, deliberately keeping them in suspense. "I heard that for this gathering, anyone whose family has even a bit of property was included on the guest list. It’s just that this place is too small to accommodate so many people."
Several other ladies nearby chimed in all at once. "Inviting so many people at once—not to mention the poor hospitality—what is even the point of this?"
"Exactly. Look, there aren’t even enough seats. Are they expecting us to stand here and listen to a lecture?"
"Even if they are the Empress’s maiden family, shouldn’t they still have some manners?"
"Aren’t they afraid of embarrassing the Empress if word gets out? What kind of event is this?"
Bai Suihe and her group listened quietly to the complaints. They weren’t the only ones; similar grumbles echoed all around them.
Bai Suihe blinked. She wondered, "What is the Gu Family trying to do?" She felt like she had already guessed the answer.
She thought, "If that’s the case, their greed is far too unsightly. The Empress is already having a difficult time in the palace. Are her maiden relatives trying to drag her down?"
But remembering that these people were merely from an illegitimate branch family, it made sense. They wanted to rely on the Empress’s remaining influence to make a massive fortune while she still held her position.
She concluded, "It seems this is a treacherous banquet. No wonder that clever little girl didn’t want to come out today. Did she know it would be like this?"
Gu Xingyang, however, would have cried foul at this grave injustice. She genuinely just hadn’t wanted to make the trip today; otherwise, she wouldn’t have let her mother come out here to suffer either.
Once the other ladies went back to chatting with the people around them, Bai Suihe quickly whispered a warning to Mrs. Qian and the rest. "Let’s try to find an inconspicuous spot. No matter what happens later, we must not stick our necks out."
These ladies had spent quite some time with Bai Suihe and had developed a genuine friendship with her. They knew she wouldn’t say such things without a good reason. Their own husbands had told them that Mrs. Gu was extremely intelligent and urged them to maintain good relations with her. Since she was warning them like this today, she had likely already sensed something amiss.
Exchanging glances, they tacitly began scanning the garden for the most unnoticeable corner.
"Our current spot isn’t too bad," one of them suggested. "There are so many people blocking us in the front. Why don’t we just stay here?"
"That won’t work. There’s an aisle right next to us. If we get targeted, it’ll be hard to slip away." The location was decent, but facing the main seat directly made them feel a bit creeped out.
"Then what should we do? Is it too late to find an excuse to leave?"
Of course, it was too late. More people were arriving one after another, making the entire garden appear even more congested.
Bai Suihe looked around and pointed toward the garden’s entrance. "I actually think that spot is quite good. Even though there are people standing and sitting everywhere, there’s a larger crowd standing over there. If we quietly shuffle our way over, the hosts will, at most, stay under the corridor. They definitely won’t squeeze their way to the entrance."
In the past, Bai Suihe never would have squeezed into a crowded area, but right now, she felt that being there would give her a sense of security.
"Let’s head over quietly, then," Mrs. Qian agreed, and the others raised no objections. They had acquaintances over there anyway, so they could pretend to be going over to say hello and slowly blend into the crowd.
The group moved swiftly, unaware that the spot they were so desperate to leave was exactly where others were fighting to get into. The moment they stood up, someone immediately snatched their seats.
This made Bai Suihe let out a long sigh of relief. She didn’t know if this table had been intentionally arranged for them or if it was just an unintentional act by those maidservants, but either way, it had nothing to do with them anymore.
Greeting people along the way, they slowly squeezed their way to the garden’s entrance. There, they ran into a few more familiar ladies who greeted them warmly and formed a tight circle around them.
The main topic of conversation was complaining about the banquet. The hosts had invited so many people without even considering the venue. Fortunately, the weather was quite cool right now; otherwise, no one would have been able to stand it.
The clamor outside didn’t seem to affect the hosts inside. It seemed they were waiting for all the guests to arrive before making their grand entrance. Sure enough, as they stood guard by the entrance, they slowly noticed that people had stopped squeezing inside. Finally, there was a commotion from the front courtyard.
"They’re certainly putting on quite the airs," Mrs. Jiang whispered her complaints to her friends. "If I didn’t know any better, I’d think we were here to pay our respects to the Empress."
"Watch that loose mouth of yours," the older Mrs. Qian said, quickly grabbing her hand. She pointed at the maidservants and old women standing by the entrance. Although they were a fair distance away, who knew if any of them had exceptionally good hearing?
Mrs. Jiang covered her mouth and lowered her voice. "Thank you for the reminder."
Bai Suihe glanced at the servants standing over there. She wondered whether they were stationed there to await the guests’ orders or to keep an eye on them.
Madam Gu finally made her appearance amidst everyone’s great anticipation. Bai Suihe and her friends were too far away, and with so many people blocking their view, they couldn’t see what was happening at all.
They could only faintly hear a haughty female voice coming from the front. "I truly made you all wait today. Please forgive me if our hospitality has been lacking."
Bai Suihe was left speechless. She thought, "How entirely insincere. If she knows her hospitality is lacking, why speak with such an attitude? It feels as if her merely showing up is an act of charity."
The venue fell silent for a moment. Even the sycophants didn’t know how to brazenly offer their praises at that moment.
Perhaps feeling a bit embarrassed by the awkward silence, the host let out a forced laugh. "My new manor hasn’t been fully organized yet, so I can only inconvenience everyone here.
"It’s also the fault of my subordinates for being incompetent. They failed to make preparations in advance, wronging you ladies and young misses.
"Once my new courtyard is properly cleaned up, I will definitely invite you all again, and we can have a proper get-together."
"You are too polite, Madam Gu." Wherever there was wealth, there would always be social climbers, and sure enough, someone stepped up to support her. "You must be exhausted from your long journey. It’s inevitable that your preparations would be somewhat insufficient. Everyone here understands that."
"That’s right, Madam Gu. We are incredibly fortunate just to receive your invitation. This tiny little flaw is something we can all easily overlook."
Hearing the chorus of flattery, Madam Gu’s tone became even more smug. "Then I thank you ladies for your understanding. As new arrivals, we simply want to establish our footing here as quickly as possible.
"After all, my sister, the Empress, is also hoping that we can build a successful enterprise here..."