Because of this, Sister Yuan had managed to get Second Madam's permission to come along with her sisters.

Sister-in-law Rong had wanted to come as well, but something had cropped up in the residence. As the mistress of the household, she had been held up and had to give up.

Sister-in-law Rong personally sent the three sisters to the entrance of the residence and instructed the eldest, Sister Su, to take care of her younger sisters. Only then did she watch as the carriage drove out of the Ying residence.

The three sisters had arrived late. It was already noon. The servants and maids who had been welcoming the guests had already left. Chu Lian thought that no one from the Ying residence would come at this time.

Without a guide, the two carriages from the Ying residence arrived directly at the main entrance of Guilin Restaurant.

Before they could alight from the carriage, a servant outside whispered to them, "Ladies, the entrance of Guilin Restaurant has been blocked."

Sister Yuan 'er's face, which had been full of mockery just a moment ago, darkened. She lifted the curtain of the carriage slightly and looked towards the inconspicuous entrance of Guilin Restaurant.

The entrance of the tiny Guilin Restaurant was filled with people. There was a long queue outside, filling up the already narrow alley.

How was this possible?

How could there be so many customers in such a remote restaurant?!

Sister Su was also puzzled. She instructed the servant to inquire at the entrance of Guilin Restaurant.

After a while, the servant returned.

The servant's face was full of confusion. "Fifth Miss, those people are here to eat at Guilin Restaurant."

"What!"

Sister Yuan couldn't help but exclaim. Sister Su glared at her for making a fuss over nothing.

Sister Su thought for a moment, then took out two exquisite invitation cards from her sleeves and handed them to the servant. "Take these two invitation cards to the shopkeeper of Guilin Residence. Tell him that we're here to look for Lord Yi Xiang."

The servant immediately left to carry out the order.

Before long, the servant brought Steward Qin and a shrewd servant to the side of the carriage.

Steward Qin personally ordered someone to lead the carriage from the Ying residence to the back door. After entering the rear courtyard where female guests were received, Servant Zhong led them to a small courtyard.

Servant Zhong had the maids in the courtyard serve the young ladies of the Ying residence to their seats. She stood to the side and said respectfully, "Ladies, please wait for a moment. Our Third Mistress will be here shortly."

Sister Fu looked at Nanny Zhong, rolled her eyes, and didn't say anything.

Sister Su thanked him.

Sister Yuan snorted. "What? We're the guests today, and you want us to wait?"

As soon as she said this, Sister Su frowned. Granny Zhong was startled. She pursed her lips and apologized, "The young ladies are honored guests of our Third Young Mistress. This old servant was negligent and didn't invite Third Young Mistress over earlier."

Sister Yuan's expression changed, and she glared fiercely at Nanny Zhong. She didn't expect that this old woman not only had no sense of propriety, but also dared to defend Chu Lian at this time. She thought, "How dare a lowly servant girl talk back to me?"

Sister Yuan was used to being unreasonable in the Duke of Ying's Mansion. She was about to scold Nanny Zhong, but before she could say anything, she was stopped by Sister Su and Sister Fu.

This time, Sister Fu, who liked to sit on the mountain and watch the tigers fight, actually stopped her. She immediately glared at her sisters angrily.

Granny Zhong didn't fall for Sister Yuan's trick. She slightly bowed to the three young ladies and said, "This old servant will personally prepare tea and snacks for the young ladies. Please help yourselves."

Sister Yuan stared at Granny Zhong's disappearing figure at the courtyard gate, and her face turned red with anger. "Fifth Sister, Ninth Sister, look!

Is this how Sixth Sister treats her guests? You won't let me get angry? "

Sister Su and Sister Fu weren't stupid. They wouldn't admit Chu Lian's fault.

Sister Su's face turned serious, and she frowned. "Seventh Sister, that's enough!

This isn't the courtyard of the second branch of the Duke of Ying's Mansion. You should stop! "

Sister Fu curled her lips. "That's right. Otherwise, we'll also lose face!"

Sister Yuan entered Guilin Restaurant and was already in a bad mood when she saw the new decorations. Now that she was being scolded by her two sisters, her face immediately turned red. But now, there was no one to back her up. After the incident at Jinshi Pavilion, she had learned to be clever. She held her handkerchief and didn't talk back.

But today, she was here to watch Chu Lian make a fool of herself. Wouldn't it make Chu Lian proud if she gave up just like that?

She swept a glance at the head maidservant who had followed behind her. The maidservant hurriedly brought out a food box from behind her.

Not long after, maidservants serving in the small courtyard brought over freshly brewed tea.

The tea was steamy and had a unique sweet and bitter taste. Although the Duke of Ying's Mansion was declining, a starving camel was still bigger than a horse. They had been served since they were young, so they could recognize the loose tea from the Northern Fujian Province with a single sniff.

Although the Great Wu Dynasty was popular with brewed tea, there were many types of tea sources. Loose tea from the Northern Fujian Province was one of the major branches. Loose tea could be divided into ordinary and supreme quality, but it was difficult to distinguish the quality if one wasn't a tea lover.

The three maidservants of the Duke of Ying's Mansion could only identify the types of brewed tea. Few of them were proficient in it. If it had been the Chu Lian of the past, she might have been able to tell.

Sister Yuan sniffled and rolled her eyes. "Sixth Sister has already opened a restaurant. Why are you so stingy as to serve us sisters with loose tea from the Northern Fujian Province?"

The maidservant who brought the tea immediately blushed in embarrassment. She lowered her head and didn't dare to talk back.

Sister Yuan looked at the maidservant's trembling fingers and felt a little better. She turned to her chief maidservant behind her and said, "Go and boil the tea."

The maidservant beside her immediately had a smug look on her face. She slowly took out an exquisite ceramic jar from her bag and deliberately showed it off in front of Sister Su and Sister Fu.

Sister Su frowned. She recognized at a glance that it was a jar of Zhengshan Small Tea Cake. It was a top-grade brewed tea. Every year, the old Duke of Ying could only get two jars through his connections. Last year, the Old Mistress rewarded the second branch with a jar. She didn't expect this tea to fall into Sister Yuan's hands.

Sister Su had no idea that Sister Yuan had prepared more than this to embarrass Chu Lian today. She hadn't begged for this jar of tea, but had stolen it from her father's study.

Sister Fu was also surprised. She pursed her lips and didn't say anything.

"Sister Yuan, you …" Sister Su opened her mouth, but before she could finish her words, she was interrupted by Sister Yuan.

"What's wrong, Fifth Sister? They didn't treat me well. Don't tell me I didn't prepare it myself?"

'It's not that they didn't treat me well. You're obviously nitpicking!'

The chief maidservant twisted her body and went to find the maidservants in the courtyard to look for a tea set. The other maidservant opened the food box. Before Nanny Zhong came back, she carefully took out the delicately arranged pastries and placed them on the table.

This time, not only Sister Su, but even Sister Fu looked at Sister Yuan with a strange look.

The pastries were obviously from De 'an Restaurant. They were decorated with lotus flowers and were the most popular pastries in Shengjing's upper-class society. Of course, they were not cheap. A small box cost more than ten taels of silver.

They didn't even have ten taels of silver a month in the mansion!

This time, Sister Yuan really went all out.

Sister Yuan met Sister Su's and Sister Fu's strange looks. She raised the corner of her mouth and smiled happily.

"What are you standing there for? Eat it. These pastries are from De 'an Restaurant. We don't get to eat them often in the mansion."

Sister Su's expression turned serious. She warned Sister Yuan, "Seventh Sister, remember, we're here to congratulate you. We have no other motives."

Sister Yuan reached out and picked up a piece of osmanthus cake. "Fifth Sister, what are you thinking? I didn't do anything, did I?"

Chu Lian was accompanying Lady Yang and Princess Duanjia in Kun Jia's courtyard when Steward Qin sent someone to inform her that her maiden sisters had arrived.

Princess Duanjia immediately rolled her eyes. "What are they doing here?"

Chu Lian smiled and didn't say anything. She knew that Princess Duanjia didn't like the girls from the Ying family and that Lady Yang didn't like to socialize. She asked Princess Duanjia to take care of Lady Yang while she went to visit her maiden sisters.

Chu Lian met Nanny Zhong on her way to Sister Su's courtyard.

Nanny Zhong paused and told Chu Lian about the situation in the courtyard.

Chu Lian looked at the servant girl behind Nanny Zhong who was carrying a box of pastries. She smiled. "Although others don't care, we still have to be polite. Nanny, bring some people to serve the pastries."

Although Nanny Zhong felt disdain for the girls from the Ying family, she couldn't disobey Chu Lian's orders.

She bowed to Chu Lian and followed behind Chu Lian with the two servant girls.

Chu Lian was very satisfied. Although He Sanlang had left three servants to look after her, all three of them were useful.

When Chu Lian entered the courtyard, a servant girl went in to report to her.

As soon as she entered the parlor of the small courtyard, she saw that several sisters of her maiden family had stood up to welcome her. However, Sister Yuan deliberately stood back a little, deliberately exposing the situation on the table for her to see.

Chu Lian glanced at it and curled her lips. She knew that Sister Yuan was up to something again.

If it wasn't for the reputation of their in-laws, she really wouldn't want to send an invitation to the Ying family.

Before Sister Su could speak, Sister Yuan smirked and said sarcastically, "Sixth Older Sister is so busy. You can even leave your maiden sisters aside. What kind of distinguished guest was Sixth Older Sister receiving just now?

Why didn't you introduce him to us? "

They more or less knew about Chu Lian's relationship with the Wei family. In Sister Yuan's eyes, Chu Lian's title of Country Princess was due to her close relationship with Princess Duanjia.

How could she not be jealous?

Before she got married, Chu Lian was always suppressed by her. However, after marrying into Count Jing 'an's household, she was doing well.

She was so angry that she almost crushed her teeth.

Chu Lian gestured for her sisters to sit down. She smiled warmly and said, "I was accompanying Lady Yang and Princess Duanjia just now and neglected Fifth Older Sister, Seventh Younger Sister, and Ninth Younger Sister. However, Lady Yang doesn't like to interact with strangers. I'm afraid I can't help Seventh Younger Sister with your request."

When Chu Lian said this, Sister Yuan's face immediately darkened.

She didn't expect Chu Lian to reject her so directly.

However, she couldn't force Chu Lian to meet Lady Yang and Princess Duanjia at this time. She could only endure it. She looked down at the snacks on the table and snorted coldly in her heart. The corners of her lips curled up in an evil manner.