574 Do you want me to lie or tell the truth
Previously, because Madam Tu was on good terms with Prince Jin’s ex-princess consort and had pillow talks with her, Master Tu had already completely submitted to Prince Jin.
If Madam Tu didn’t take the initiative to provoke Shi Qingluo, didn’t have the intention to embarrass or even deal with her, she couldn’t be bothered with the Tu family.
However, since someone was about to slap her in the face, of course she had to slap her back ten times.
Therefore, if Madam Tu insisted on sending herself to her door, she could only reluctantly use her poisonous tongue.
Besides, she was just telling the truth.
“The meal was really not delicious.”
When Shi Qingluo said this, the expressions of Madam Tu and the other madams present changed.
These words were really straightforward and unpleasant to hear.
The madams and young ladies who were originally eating with relish suddenly lost their appetites.
Madam Tu was furious, “It seems that the princess’s requirements are really high. Even our Tu family can’t afford to host her.”
Her words were a little harsh.
Even if she hosted a banquet casually, she would have garnered positive comments, but Shi Qingluo had deliberately belittled her, so she really couldn’t hold it in anymore.
Shi Qingluo chuckled. “Madam Tu, you surely have a bad temper. You were the one who asked for my opinion just now. I told you the truth, but you’re not happy.
“The dishes at your banquet are indeed barely satisfactory.
“I absolutely didn’t have any intention of belittling you.
“I’m only saying this to suggest to Madam Tu that your family’s chef should improve his cooking skills. Is that wrong?”
“That’s right,” Xi Rong said, laughing awkwardly. “It’s obviously so bad, and you can’t let people comment on it?
“Madam Tu, you’re a little narrow-minded!
“Since you’re not happy, why do you have to keep asking my Luoluo?
“Does she have to go against her conscience and say that this banquet is delicious like the others to make you happy and satisfied?”
The others were speechless. No, they hadn’t.
Madam Tu was so angry that her hand that was holding the chopsticks trembled.
These two people were really too much.
However, she had indeed asked Shi Qingluo that question on purpose.
If she said it wasn’t delicious, was she supposed to force her to say it was delicious?
She felt that Shi Qingluo and Xi Rong were deliberately looking for trouble, but she could not refute their words.
She was aggrieved yet angry.
She was really uncomfortable.
Everyone found that Princess Fubao and the Southern Marquis were too sharp-tongued.
However, they were telling the truth.
They couldn’t say that the two of them were lying, right?
The atmosphere suddenly became awkward.
A Madam who belonged to the Tu family smiled and offered Madam Tu a way out.
“Madam, I’ve been looking forward to the flower wine you brewed for a long time. I can’t wait to try it.”
She had really miscalculated today.
Who would have thought that this Shi Qingluo would be so arrogant and unbridled just because of her status? Her words were not tactful at all and were unpleasant and vicious.
She had even brought a noble marquis with her, and her words were equally unpleasant.
They couldn’t refute him due to their status, so they felt very aggrieved.
They initially planned to let Shi Qingluo experience that it was not easy to integrate into rich ladies’ social circles in Northern City.
But first, Madam Zhu had been slapped in the face, and now, Madam Tu had also been embarrassed by Shi Qingluo’s words and was left in the spotlight.
What a failed plan!
Since someone was giving her a way out, Madam Tu naturally had to step down.
Otherwise, she would really be choked by Shi Qingluo’s argument and wouldn’t know what to say.
She forced out a smile. “Sure, everyone should give it a shot.”
At this time, the servant maids also carried the apricot wine up and opened it, pouring a cup for everyone.
As soon as the seal was opened, a fragrant scent wafted out, and Madam Tu’s expression eased.
She picked up a glass of wine and said to everyone with a smile, “Here’s the batch of apricot blossom wine that I’m most satisfied with from last year. Let me give all of you a toast!”
After she finished speaking, she picked up the cup and took a sip.
The others also raised their wine cups and took a sip. The madams who liked flower wine even revealed a somewhat intoxicated expression.
“This wine is really good. It has the smell of apricot but doesn’t taste bitter.
“Madam’s flower wine is indeed deserving of its reputation, it even has a hint of sweetness aftertaste.”
The others also started to praise her.
Although it was a little exaggerated, Madam Tu’s apricot wine was indeed much better than the flower wine they had drunk before.
Shi Qingluo and the other two took a sip of wine out of politeness while everyone else was drinking.
After that, she didn’t want to take a second sip.
Shi Qingluo looked at the wine in the glass.
The pale yellow wine was slightly turbid.
It wasn’t that Madam Tu had brewed something wrong, which was why the wine was cloudy.
It was because the wine was fermented and the alcohol content was not higher than 20%.
Most of the wine was rice wine with less than 10% alcohol content, also known as turbid wine.
The brewing process for sake was complicated and had yet to appear, let alone distilled wine.
It was also because of this that Shi Qingluo felt that the apricot wine that the other madams found tasty was too ordinary.
It was far inferior to the relatively cheap flower wine and fruit wine of the modern era, let alone the truly sweet and pure wine.
Hence, she took a sip and did not touch her glass again.
Xi Rong and Xiao Baili had both tasted a jar of Osmanthus wine that Shi Qingluo had taken out not long ago, so after taking a sip of this so-called top apricot wine, they only felt very disappointed.
Therefore, the two of them put down their glasses at the same time.
Madam Tu, who had been paying attention to the three of them, couldn’t help but look a little worse when she saw this.
What did these three people mean?
Were they deliberately trying to embarrass her?
Not only did the women like the apricot-flower wine she brewed, but many men also praised it after tasting it.
As a result, she didn’t believe her wine was bad, but rather that Shi Qingluo and the other two had done it on purpose.
Madam Tu had organized this banquet today to mess with Shi Qingluo.
In addition, she had been humiliated by her again and again, so she had already accumulated a lot of anger.
“What’s wrong?” She looked at Shi Qingluo and asked with a smile, “Is this apricot wine not good enough for you, princess?”
She had asked this question to let all the madams and young ladies present see that Shi Qingluo was a small-minded village woman.
It was clearly good wine, but she was deliberately picking a fight.
It was just like the banquet just now.
As soon as this question was asked, everyone present turned to look at Shi Qingluo, waiting to hear her answer.
In their opinion, this apricot wine was much better than the flower wine from other families.
Shi Qingluo raised her head and looked at Madam Tu.
She immediately knew what she was thinking.
“Madam Tu, do you want me to lie or tell the truth?” She asked with a smile, not knowing whether to laugh or cry.
This woman was really trying to dig a hole for her at all times.
They clearly didn’t know each other.
Those who didn’t know would think that they had a huge grudge in the past.
If she had done it unintentionally, Shi Qingluo would not have minded.
However, now that Madam Tu had taken the initiative to come to her, if she didn’t retaliate, she would be disrespecting her.
When Madam Tu heard this, she sneered in her heart.
As expected, this village woman was just looking for trouble.
She didn’t say it out loud, but asked tactfully with a smile, “What’s the truth? And what’s the lie?”
She expected Shi Qingluo to lie that the wine was good, and the truth was that it wasn’t.
The others had the same guess.
If Shi Qingluo really said that, she should have swapped her truth and lies.