Xie Chengxiao sneered from the sidelines.
Pei Yu was just about to speak.
Then he heard his cousin say in a very pretentious manner:
"As bright as the moon among the clouds, as fragrant as the orchid in the wind."
Pei Yu fell silent. "..."
Fine, fine, fine!
You are educated, you are amazing!
The commotion of the three talking drew the attention of quite a few people. Everyone knew that Young Marshal Pei had recently come to the Northwest.
They just did not expect him to appear at this moment.
And that he would be hovering around the Second Miss of the Bai family.
Bai Liuyue felt the gazes directed at her but did not feel much about it. However, she did not want to steal the Second Concubine's thunder.
She quickly walked forward.
"I need to go give the Second Concubine her birthday gift first. Let's go."
The two men followed closely behind her.
Lan Yingniang had long noticed the two Young Marshals and the Bai family's Second Miss, but with Bai Baozhu standing beside her looking deathly pale, it was not appropriate for her to say anything.
She could only maintain a faint, proper, and polite smile.
"Second Concubine, happy birthday to you. This is a handkerchief I embroidered myself."
Bai Liuyue handed over the prepared embroidered handkerchief.
The stitches were fine and dense, the colors were evenly matched, and it featured a beautiful cluster of blooming flowers.
Seeing it from the side, Xie Manyu could not help but praise, "Wow, this is what you call embroidery. Looking at this, what I used to embroider can only be considered a mess of tangled lines at best."
Lan Yingniang took it and smiled as she thanked her.
Suddenly, she flipped the handkerchief over and exclaimed in surprise, "This... is this actually double-sided embroidery?"
The front featured large, blooming flowers, while the back surprisingly showed a cute, snow-white rabbit.
Lan Yingniang was born in the Year of the Rabbit, exactly matching her zodiac sign.
This time, her gratitude held a bit more genuine sincerity.
"Thank you, Second Miss Bai. I like it very much."
The Chief of Staff's wife and the Quartermaster's wife had been watching for a long time. They knew that although this Second Miss Bai was a guest.
Judging by the reactions of the people around her, they could not treat her with any disrespect.
They repeatedly praised:
"Second Miss Bai has such skillful hands. This embroidery looks even more real than a painting."
"Indeed, such craftsmanship is rare among girls nowadays."
Xie Manyu also liked rabbits. One look and she genuinely loved it, unable to resist saying:
"Ah! It is so cute, I love it too. Liuyue, could you embroider one for me next time?"
Bai Liuyue: "Sure, wait until your birthday."
Xie Manyu said in frustration, "But my birthday is still more than half a year away, boohoo."
Seeing that everyone's attention had been drawn away by Bai Liuyue, Bai Baozhu could not hold back anymore.
She took a big step forward and said:
"Second Concubine, I have also prepared a gift for you. You will be able to see it very soon."
"Is that so? Thank you." Lan Yingniang smiled politely but distantly.
She wondered what this mysterious gift could be.
Xie Manyu was a bit curious, but she did not voice her questions.
Xie Chengxiao and Pei Yu also presented their gifts, but theirs were much more practical. The former gave gold, while the latter gave Western jewelry.
Lan Yingniang accepted them all with a smile.
As for the gift Bai Baozhu mentioned, no one knew what it was yet.
She said to wait a moment, but even after everyone else had finished giving their gifts, hers still had not arrived.
Footsteps sounded from outside the banquet hall, followed by Bai Baocheng appearing with a stack of newspapers, distributing them as he walked in.
Everyone found it strange.
It was not until Bai Baocheng walked up to them and handed one of the newspapers to Lan Yingniang.
"Second Concubine, this is the birthday gift my sister got for you."
It was the New Nation News.
One of the three largest newspaper publishers in the new Republic.
Xie Manyu was also handed a copy. Bai Liuyue leaned over curiously, and Xie Manyu proactively spread the newspaper out between them.
Only then did they see that the front-page headline, taking up the largest section, was an article by Bai Baozhu.
The title was: The Unique Elegance of Women in the New Republic.
The entire piece used a third-person narrative to recount Lan Yingniang's childhood environment, her upbringing, and some of her later deeds.
It described how she was the daughter of a scholar from the previous dynasty. Later, her family fell into decline, and she became a dowry maid for the Miss of the Pei family, following her into marriage at the Northwest Marshal's mansion.
Later, when the Pei family's Miss became the primary wife, she was naturally taken in as the Second Concubine.
Over the years, she had been diligent and hardworking, sparing no effort in taking care of the children.
Moreover, after the Third Concubine passed away during childbirth, she treated the daughter born to the Third Concubine as her own.
The core of the article revolved around the idea that whether they were modern women pursuing freedom and careers, or traditional women seemingly dependent on men, they all stubbornly left their own mark on this world with their strong vitality.
At the end of the text, it praised the thousands of women who were just like Lan Yingniang.
They were the epitome of the era.
And the witnesses of the era.
After many people at the banquet finished reading Bai Baozhu's article, thunderous applause erupted spontaneously.
They cheered in unison.
"The Young Marshal's wife is truly a talented woman!"
"Exactly, this writing style, this depth of thought, it brought me to tears."
"Our Northwest is truly blessed to have married such a talented woman."
The Second Concubine, Lan Yingniang, was even more tearful as she read it, unable to resist picking up her handkerchief to wipe the corners of her eyes.
For all these years, she had silently cared for the family and the children, and it seemed no one had ever praised her for everything she had given.
She also felt that she was just ordinary.
As if this was just what she was supposed to do.
But now, Bai Baozhu's article praised her with genuine sincerity, elevating the ideological meaning to another level entirely.
Even Xie Chengxiao, who intensely disliked Bai Baozhu, had to admit after reading the article that perhaps his prejudiced filter against her was too strong.
Although her actions were sometimes erratic, her literary talent was indeed undeniable.
Only two people at the scene exchanged a glance and fell into silence.
That was Bai Liuyue and Xie Manyu.
They both knew very well.
The content written in Bai Baozhu's article was exactly a topic they had casually chatted about the other day.
And Bai Baozhu had not only listened.
She had even thoroughly integrated it, added a bit of her own cleverness, inserted Lan Yingniang as the protagonist, and praised her anew.
They really did not know whether to say she was open to new ideas and adaptable?
Or that she did not mind practicing appropriation in the slightest, directly taking other people's ideas and adding some of her own content.
Turning it into her, Bai Baozhu's, own article published in the New Nation News.
"Second Concubine, do you like it? I spent several days preparing this gift."
With a confident smile on her lips, Bai Baozhu looked over expectantly.
Lan Yingniang wiped the tear stains from the corners of her eyes again.
With a slight sob in her voice, she said:
"I love it, I love it. This is the most meaningful gift I have received in all these years."
"Baozhu, thank you."
Bai Baozhu smiled gently and generously, saying:
"There is no need to thank me. We are all family, and this is what I should do as a daughter-in-law."
