The peasant girl has a private space, and her husband is handsome.

The Shen family went to Baima Temple to burn incense in three carriages.

The ladies of the Shen family sat in the first carriage, Gu Ying and Madam Xu, mother and daughter-in-law, sat in the second carriage, and the maids and servants sat in the third carriage.

The carriage got stuck in traffic when it was almost at the foot of Baima Temple Mountain.

Today is the first day of the lunar month, and there are a lot of people burning incense. There is also a temple fair at the foot of the mountain, so people are stuck in traffic on the temple fair street, and the horse-drawn carriages are moving very slowly.

The temple fair was very lively, with performances such as breaking large stones on one's chest, ring toss, and monkey shows.

The things sold on the street are also diverse.

"Selling candied hawthorns, candied hawthorns that are both sour and sweet—"

"Clay figurines, one coin each."

The cries of vendors were incessant.

There are especially many stalls selling hairpins and ornaments for women's use. They are diverse and inexpensive, making them very suitable for ordinary people and servants in various households.

With their masters' permission, many maids and servants got out of their carriages to visit the temple fair.

Madam Lu, the second wife of Shen, looked out the car window at the crowd and quickly recognized Fan Mama, the head housekeeper of the Luo family.

Lu's father was a sixth-rank official in the Ministry of Works, and a direct subordinate of Vice Minister Luo.

During festivals, Lu's family would send generous gifts to Luo, a third-rank official, and they would also fawn over Luo's family members whenever they encountered them.

So Madam Lu quickly sent her maid to inquire about the location of the Luo family's carriages. The information she received was that the Luo family's carriages were lined up behind the Shen family's carriages.

Madam Lu suggested, "Sister-in-law, let the four carriages from the Luo family follow behind us. Once the road is clear, let them go first."

"Okay, we'll do it your way."

Madam Shen had no objection. Civil officials were of higher status than military officers, not to mention that the mansion of a third-rank official was behind her. The Shen family could not afford to offend him.

Fan's mother picked up a novel pink silk flower from a roadside stall, only to hear the stall owner say, "The customer has excellent taste. This is a high-quality silk flower from Qinghe County. It's very popular and has sold out quickly. There are only two left."

Startled, Mrs. Fan quickly put the silk flowers down.

It's strange. Ever since I learned that the old lady's biological son was farming in Qinghe County, I keep hearing the name Qinghe County.

Like Madam Luo, she was most afraid of hearing the words "Qinghe County".

The old lady would fall ill at the mere mention of Qinghe County, causing her favorite attendant to scramble to get medical help and perform various remedies, such as calling for doctors and pinching her philtrum. It was extremely troublesome.

So Mrs. Fan walked away without even having the courage to turn back.

When Madam Fan returned to the carriage, she saw that Madam Luo's expression was relatively normal, so she sent the maidservant who was serving in the carriage away.

She had a bold guess that she wanted to share with the old lady.

"Madam, I'd like to ask, if, hypothetically, what if the person you had in Qinghe County wasn't a peasant, but a very capable person, or if his children were very capable, would you consider bringing him back?"

Recently, Mama Fan has heard that the people in Qinghe County are all very impressive, so she can't help but have some strange thoughts.

Upon hearing the words "Qinghe County," Madam Luo instantly felt short of breath again, her chest tight and she gasped for air.

Mrs. Fan quickly stepped forward to massage the old lady's back and soothe her.

"Madam, please hold on! It's all my fault. I shouldn't have mentioned those three words."

After regaining her composure, Madam Luo emphasized sternly, "There are no ifs, no 'what ifs.' A peasant will always be a peasant, and the children they give birth to will also be peasants. There is no way they can ever turn their lives around."

The name Qinghe County is the biggest taboo for the old lady. Now, whenever she hears those three words, she has difficulty breathing and feels worse than death.

The old lady now only wants to treat her successful adopted grandson well. Although they are not related by blood, he has at least passed the imperial examination and become a Juren (a successful candidate in the provincial-level imperial examinations), which makes him more promising than the other descendants of the Luo family.

"Aunt Fan, remember this: never mention the name Qinghe County again."

"Yes, yes, yes," Madam Fan dared not let the old lady hear those three words again, for fear it would cost the old lady her life.

Gu Ying looked out the window curiously; it was the first time she had ever seen such a large temple fair.

As expected of a prosperous place under the emperor's nose, the temple fair was more than ten times larger than that in Qinghe County.

Madam Xu was a good mother-in-law. Seeing Gu Ying's eyes light up, she thought that since it was her daughter-in-law's first time in the capital and she had never been to a temple fair, it would be nice for her to go out and have a look.

"The carriage will probably be stuck in traffic for quite a while. If you like, Yingzi, please take your maid and get out of the carriage to go for a stroll."

It's a pity my son is too busy; otherwise, he should accompany his wife shopping.

After all, she is Miss Su's cousin, and Pengcheng still needs to rely on Miss Su.

"Thank you, Mother. I'll get off the bus and wander around a bit."

Gu Ying happily got off the carriage with her maid Lianxiang, but didn't dare to go far. She just casually looked around at the stalls selling hairpins and small ornaments.

She pointed excitedly to the apricot-yellow silk flowers on the stall and said, "Lianxiang, look! I have silk flowers like these too. My cousin gave them to me."

My cousin's silk flowers are different from ordinary silk flowers; they are layered and look particularly intricate.

Being able to see things from your hometown thousands of miles away evokes complex emotions that are hard to describe.

Gu Ying suddenly missed her family, her parents, brother, and cousin.

When the old woman selling silk flowers saw that a customer had arrived, she quickly went forward to greet him.

"Sir, these silk flowers are from Guose Tianxiang in Qinghe County. Guose Tianxiang's ornaments are selling extremely well in the capital right now. I managed to snatch some from the merchants, and only these two are left. If you don't buy them now, they'll be gone."

Gu Ying just smiled but didn't buy anything.

I never imagined that these silk flowers would be sold all the way from Qinghe County to the capital. My cousin is really amazing!

She knew that Guose Tianxiang was a business jointly owned by her cousin and Manager Zuo. Manager Zuo listened to her cousin in everything and would go to Gu Ji to ask her cousin for help whenever he encountered a problem.

The two silk flowers were novel in design and attracted the attention of many people. They were eventually bought by Granny Fang from the Changning Marquis's residence.

Granny Fang had accompanied the Lady of Changning to burn incense, but since the carriage was stuck here, she got off and strolled around the temple fair.

Seeing that the silk flowers were pretty, he decided to buy them for his daughter.

Granny Fang glanced at the long dress Gu Ying was wearing. The style was very novel, just like the dress her mistress had bought in Qinghe County, only the color was different.

The man in front of me was wearing a light green dress, which is more suitable for young people, while the aunt's dress was crimson, which made her look more dignified.

Granny Fang looked her over carefully and realized that the woman in front of her must have been married, as her hairstyle was that of a married woman.

"Young Madam, your clothes are so beautiful. Where did you buy them?"

Gu Ying, with her gentle and soft-spoken nature, replied, "This was a gift from my cousin; it was made in her own shop."

The clothing brand "Guose Tianxiang" has a unique feature: when it's sold, it comes with a free skirt-pressing cloth, which is engraved with the four characters "Guose Tianxiang".

Granny Fang clearly saw the four characters "National Beauty and Heavenly Fragrance" on the forbidden area in front of her.

So the cousin this girl mentioned is the owner of the stunningly beautiful woman!

Good heavens! Madam Bo has always wanted to meet the owner of this stunningly beautiful shop. Last time she went to the clothing store in Qinghe County to buy clothes, only the shop assistant was there, and she was unable to meet the shopkeeper and the owner. Madam Bo has always felt very regretful about this.

Granny Fang tentatively said, "When my wife passed through Qinghe County, she happened to witness the wedding of Gu's Restaurant. The scene was truly unforgettable."

Lianxiang explained with a smile, "My mistress is the married daughter of the Gu family in Qinghe County."

Granny Fang dared not underestimate the mistress and servant in front of her even more. When the woman got married, she brought with her a rare ancient book from three hundred years ago, which was more generous than the dowry of noble ladies from prominent families in the capital.

Granny Fang remembered what Lady Changning had said: last time she bought dozens of clothes in Qinghe County to give to relatives and friends, but it still wasn't enough. The same clothes were selling for several times the price in the capital. She wished she had bought more.

If the person in front of her really is the cousin of the owner of the "National Beauty and Heavenly Fragrance" restaurant, then it should be much easier for Madam to buy clothes from "National Beauty and Heavenly Fragrance".

Granny Fang whispered a few words to the maid beside her, and the maid brought over the Lady of Changning.

Madam Lu, the second wife of Shen, saw through the window that the wife of the Marquis of Changning got off the carriage in front and chatted very intimately with Gu Ying.

Madam Lu gripped the carriage window tightly with both hands, gritting her teeth as she said, "No wonder a commoner like her could marry the prefect's son, who is eight years younger than her. She's really good at flattery. With just a few words, she managed to get on the good side of an old and prestigious family like the Marquis of Changning. She seems honest on the surface, but she's actually a master of flattery and sycophancy."

Madam Shen sensed the jealousy in Madam Lu's words. She glanced several times in the direction of the Marquis of Changning and also felt that Ruofeng's wife was no ordinary woman.

In the short time it took to get stuck in traffic, he actually managed to get in touch with the Lady of Changning, a family of even higher social standing than the Luo family.

Just then, the old woman from the manor returned and repeated to Madam Shen the conversation between Ruofeng's wife and the wife of the Marquis of Changning.

Only then did the First Madam realize that Ruofeng's wife had gotten together with the Marquis of Changning so quickly because of Ruofeng's wife's cousin.

Ruofeng's wife's cousin is really capable!

The First Madam suddenly felt that perhaps the gift she had given to Ruofeng's wife a couple of days ago was a bit meager.

Since Ruofeng's wife's cousin is so capable, we must give Ruofeng's wife a presentable gift when we meet her.