On the Difficulties of Escape in Ancient Times

Chapter 446 Full Moon
As the days passed, after the New Year, the one-month-old baby had changed from wrinkled and red to white, plump and cute.

The full moon day was the eighth day of the first lunar month. The Shangshu Mansion was decorated with lights and was very lively.

Not only were there colleagues of Minister Li, but also colleagues of the three sons of the Li family, as well as relatives and friends, so there were nearly a hundred tables.

What made the Shangshu Mansion even more excited was that there were gifts from the Emperor and the Empress.

There are particularly exquisite rattles, diabolos, pottery balls, spinning tops, nine-ring linkages, tangrams, Luban locks, etc. made by the palace construction department.

Anyway, there are several boxes of toys, so I guess they won’t have to buy their own toys from now until they are ten years old.

There are also longevity locks, fabrics, etc., which make one know at a glance that a lot of thought has been put into the design.

This also let the guests who came to congratulate know that the emperor was still very satisfied with Lord Li, who was in charge of the Ministry of War.

Xiao Xiao carried the child out to receive the reward, then walked around the seats for the female members of the family, said hello, and went back to the backyard to rest.

The child is one month old, but both she and Xiao Zhou need to stay in confinement for two months.

Nowadays, there is no such thing as confinement for three months or even a hundred days.

Double confinement period is the highest treatment for a new mother.

Of course, Xiao Xiao is young, eats nutritious food, and has mother Hao's help with massage and weight loss. Now she feels that she has almost recovered.

When she returned to the room, she fed her daughter first, held her and coaxed her for a while, and when the child fell asleep, she put her daughter in the warm bed, then returned to her own couch and asked Mother Hu beside her: "I only saw the eldest grandmother of the Gu family earlier. Madam Gu and the third grandmother didn't come?"

Even she admired the Gu Mansion. Even though she and Li Yan knew that there was something wrong with the Gu Mansion and they had found out about the cloth shop and embroidery shop, it was only in the past two years that they gradually became the dowries of Madam Gu and Grandma Gu San.

However, no important information that could be used as evidence was found.

But nowadays, even if the noble families are fighting each other to the death in secret, they still have to maintain harmony on the surface.

As long as there is no open quarrel, like at the full moon banquet at the Li residence today, Madam Gu should show up.

Mother Hu was instructed by her master yesterday to go to the outer courtyard today to get some information from the old women and maids of the Gu family.

Upon hearing this, he immediately said, "Master, I heard that Madam Gu caught a cold, and Third Madam Gu also caught a cold while serving her mother-in-law, so they couldn't come out to congratulate her, so they only asked First Madam Gu to come."

After hearing this, Xiao Xiao suspected that this was an excuse.

Mainly people nowadays use this universal excuse when they are invited to a banquet that they don't want to go but are embarrassed to refuse.

"Any other news?"

"No, that's all I have found out." Mother Hu said with some regret: "The eldest lady of the Gu Mansion only brought a maid and a woman with her. They are very tight-lipped, so it's hard to find out."

Before, she pretended to be the housekeeper outside, and when arranging meals for them, she flattered them first, and then asked a few more questions intentionally or unintentionally.

Is this information that I found out after she persuaded me to drink a few glasses of wine?
Xiao Xiao was not in a hurry: "It's okay, you have done a good job, let's go eat first?"

"Yes, I'll take my leave." Mother Hu felt that her greatest luck was to have met a master who had a good temper and who would comfort her.

Maybe it’s because the New Year has just begun and the officials have not yet attended court, so there are so many distinguished guests at the full moon banquet in the Shangshu Mansion today.

Even though the father and sons of the Li family had a good alcohol tolerance, they all drank a little too much. After finally seeing the guests off, Li Yan came back and fell asleep.

Xiao Xiao disliked the smell of alcohol on him, and even the room was filled with the smell of alcohol, so she asked someone to prepare sobering soup and went to the side room to sleep with her daughter.

She was half asleep when she heard crying. She opened her eyes immediately and looked at her daughter. Seeing that her daughter was still sleeping soundly and crying had stopped, she got up and asked in a low voice with a little displeasure: "Who is making trouble?"

The maidservant who was watching over her quickly helped her up and said, "I have been watching over you the whole time and have never left the house. I don't know which sister is crying."

Xiao Xiao also found it strange. After all, nothing fatal had happened, and the maids didn't dare to cry, and couldn't cry.

She returned to her room and as soon as she stepped into the room, she saw a maid with a handkerchief stuffed in her mouth and messy clothes being walked out by Mother Hu and Meng Hui with her hands handcuffed behind her back.

The maidservant who was being held had a handkerchief stuffed in her mouth, and she struggled desperately when she saw her.

However, Mother Hu and Meng Hui looked at her nervously, as if they were feeling guilty and scared after having done something wrong behind her back.

Xiao Xiao's face also changed, and she only said one sentence: "Come in."

Looking at their expressions, Xiao Xiao knew what had happened.

At this moment, the thought of killing someone came to her mind.

When Xiao Xiao walked in, she saw Li Yan, who was also unable to hide his murderous intent.

When Li Yan saw Xiao Xiao coming in with a gloomy face, his face turned pale, he swallowed, and stammered nervously: "Xiao, Xiao Xiao, I, I, no..."

Xiao Xiao was not a little girl anymore. When she came in and smelled only the smell of alcohol, she secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

She sat on the official hat chair beside her, ignoring Li Yan and looking coldly at the three people who came in: "Tell me, what's going on?"

Li Yan drank too much, and even though she went next door, she asked Mother Hu to wait outside.

Ordinarily, such an accident should not happen.

Xiao Xiao had been wondering in her heart whether Li Yan had his own thoughts.

Mother Hu also knew that she had failed in her duty, and immediately knelt down and said, "It is my fault. Mother Sun from the Madam's room came over and asked me something, so I went out with her."

After saying that, he glared at the girl fiercely and said with gritted teeth: "I didn't expect Lu He to come here and still dream..."

Menghui and Yiqing both knew that their master would not tolerate any grain of sand in his eyes, so when the master was resting alone in the master bedroom, they would not go over.

Especially like today, when the old man has drunk some wine, no one would get close to him.

Unexpectedly, the maidservant beside the Second Mistress was so bold that she took the opportunity to try to become the concubine while delivering the hangover tea.

Meng Hui also said: "When I came in, I saw the master kicking Lu He down."

Li Yan also quickly explained: "I was still sleeping soundly, and she shamelessly got into my arms. I realized something was wrong, so I kicked her off the bed."

"I'll let them take the man back and let my second brother discipline him."

He was very glad that it was daytime and he stopped immediately when he saw that the person was wrong.

It was late at night and I had been drinking. And because Xiao Xiao was pregnant with a daughter, they hadn't been together for a long time.

She chose to throw herself into his arms at this moment, and he was afraid that he would not be able to react in time, so he accepted her.

After hearing this, Xiao Xiao could only be thankful that she arrived in time. If she had really taken Lu He to the second house to be questioned, that would have been offensive.