The ceremony of the new daughter-in-law serving tea was disrupted by Xu Jia's opening remarks, leaving the whole room awkward.
Tang Yuan's stiff face had not yet relaxed.
What Mrs. Qiao thought as she sized up Xu Jia was unknown.
Tang Wenji, seeing no one else speaking, handed the prepared red envelope to his daughter-in-law and made some perfunctory remarks.
Mrs. Qiao, coming back to her senses, also handed her red envelope to the maid accompanying her to give it to Xu Jia.
Amidst the awkwardness, the father-in-law Tang Wenji stood up and left under the excuse of having something to do.
However, Mrs. Qiao couldn't abandon the situation as men could; she coughed into her silk handkerchief, about to speak, but was preempted by her son.
Tang Yuan, predicting that Xu Jia wouldn't leave without an explanation, called the steward in with a sullen face, "Bring in the servants spreading rumors, each is to be punished with thirty strokes."
