Hidden golden branches

The sun was shining brightly in the morning, but now it was completely obscured by clouds. The clouds had gathered, and it was probably going to snow again.

The carriage rumbled towards Yun Mansion.

Along the way there were carriages going north and south, probably all going back to their parents' homes to pay New Year's greetings.

The Yun family was relatively far away from the Chen family, and it took nearly half an hour for the carriage to arrive in front of the Yun family.

Uncle Yun, the old housekeeper in front of the Yun family mansion, was wearing a navy blue double-breasted robe. His face could not hide his age, but his eyes were still bright. He had been waiting for a long time with several servants. When he saw the carriage with the Chen family logo stopped in front of the mansion, he hurriedly walked He went forward and bowed to Chen Youyu, who got off the carriage first, and said, "I have met my eldest uncle, my uncle Jin An."

Chen Youyu was about to turn around and stretch out his arms to help Yun Man down. He turned to Uncle Yun and smiled slightly and said, "Hey, Uncle Yun, please come and pick us up." After saying that, he stretched out his arms to help Yun Man out of the carriage. .

"That's right." "Old slave, please give my regards to the eldest lady." Uncle Yun said politely. When he saw Yun Man getting off the carriage, the wrinkles on his face blossomed into a smile. He bowed and greeted Yun Man.

"Uncle Yun, happy New Year, are you feeling well?" Yun Man asked as if addressing an old man at home.

Grandma Sun delivered a box of supplements to Uncle Yun. Uncle Yun did not hesitate, and his beard trembled with joy: "You're welcome, I thank you."

In the past few years, Yun Man saw that Uncle Yun was getting older, so she would bring supplements to him every time he came.

The number of times has increased, and Yun Bo is not as embarrassed as he was the first few times to accept it, but now he accepts it with peace of mind.

Chen Rong was so frightened that the carriage came over and greeted Uncle Yun: "Happy New Year to Uncle Yun!"

"Okay, okay, I've met the county master." Uncle Yun laughed happily when he saw Chen Rongle.

Yun Bo sighed with emotion. The little lady turned from a little dumpling into a big girl in the blink of an eye. It won't be long before she becomes the eldest concubine of Duke Anguo.

Then he turned sideways and invited Chen Youyu and his family to enter the mansion. The main entrance of the mansion was usually closed at all times and would only be opened when important matters occurred.

Today is a New Year's greeting for my married daughter, so the door of the mansion is wide open.

The Yun family's mansion is well-proportioned and has an elegant layout. It is a place that Chen Rong is familiar with.

I don't know how many doors I passed, and how many verandas I walked through, and finally arrived at the Qingshu Hall of the principal uncle Yun Yanyun.

In the house, the uncle and aunt were sitting in the lobby. The couple were both wearing lotus-colored embroidered tunic that was festive but not dignified.

Yun Yanyun was wearing a lotus-colored embroidered brocade robe, and Wen was wearing a lotus-colored embroidered tunic.

On the left below the couple's head are the second uncle Yun Yanshu and the second aunt Gao, and on the right are two cousins ​​and aunts.

There were children under ten years old standing there in the lobby, making noisy noises.

In the past, when my grandfather was still alive, Yun Man would not meet his elder brother and younger brothers every time he came to pay New Year's greetings. They would always follow their wives to their in-laws' house to pay New Year's greetings.

Now that their parents are gone, they will naturally stay at home, and their sisters and daughters who are waiting to get married will come to pay New Year greetings.

Yun Yanyun just returned to Beijing at the end of last year to report on his work, and he has not yet arranged for an official position.

However, with brother-in-law Chen Youyu here, why should I worry about staying at home and waiting for a vacancy?

Yun Yanyun raised his eyes and saw Chen Youyu coming with his wife and daughter. He stood up and greeted him: "Brother Zhengyuan, everything goes well in the new year!"

Chen Youyu hurriedly raised his hands to say hello: "Brother Anji, all the best for the New Year." Then Yun Man and Chen Rong came forward to pay New Year greetings. The relatives in the room came and went with auspicious blessings.

Chen Rong was happy to receive a lot of big red envelopes.

It was almost an hour until everyone finished greeting each other.

Seeing that it was getting late, Mrs. Wen quickly called the Yunman family to have a meal in the dining hall.

Chen Youyu wanted to leave, but his uncle asked him to have a talk after dinner. He gave up the idea of ​​leaving. No matter how many official duties there were, family ties were not as important as anything else, so he followed everyone to the dining hall to have a meal.

The dining table of the Yun family is a large round table that can seat twelve people. The table is made of thick golden nanmu. It is not decorated with any colors or jade. It only has one year's carvings on the lower edge of the table. Four sections of flower and grass patterns.

There were a lot of people today, so we opened three additional tables. There was no distinction between men and women. Everyone chose people who were close to them to sit together.

The dishes on the dinner table today are all the seafood that Yun Man and her daughter love to buy from Xiegang, four hundred miles away. Yun Yanyun is thinking about going to Beijing to report on his work, but he doesn't have a position yet. It's better to go to Xiegang to buy seafood to entertain my sister and her family who came to pay New Year's greetings on the second day of the new year.

Yun Yanyun and his wife Wen only had two sons, so he doted on Chen Rong, his niece.

That’s why I went all the way to Xiegang to buy back the seafood my granddaughter loved to eat.

Chen Rong looked at the dazzling array of "sea delicacies" on the table in front of her, including abalone, sea cucumbers, shark's fins, etc., as well as shrimps and lake crabs weighing a full kilogram, which made her salivate.

After the meal, Chen Youyu was invited by Yun Yanyun to go to the study to discuss matters.

Chen Rong didn't want to play with her younger cousins, and the two cousins ​​she was familiar with were not at home. The eldest cousin Yun Sheng took his wife back to her parents' home to pay New Year greetings, while the younger cousin Yun Sheng Chen Rong felt bored when he went to his maternal grandfather's house to pay New Year's greetings, so he told Yun Man to go to the garden.

Yun Man was talking about herself to Mrs. Wen and the others, and could not pay attention to Chen Rong for the moment. After all, Chen Rong of the Yun family was very familiar with her, so there was no need to worry about her getting lost.

Chen Rong led Cuizhu through a path filled with tall luan trees. There was a small lake in front of him, and the lake had already frozen. The waterside pavilion winds around it, and there is a Paulownia pavilion on it.

Walking into the pavilion, there was a charcoal basin placed in the corner. It was very warm inside, and the two stoves were burning brightly.
Standing in the pavilion and looking from a distance, there are several wintersweet trees outside the pavilion. The leaves have fallen, and the branches are covered with light green and yellow buds, which are not in bloom much. Further away are willow trees and banyan trees. It snowed just a few years ago, so everything looks white. There's nothing interesting to see anyway.

Further away, the pavilions, rockery fossils, small bridges and flowing water all look much duller because it is winter.

Coming down from the Paulownia Pavilion, you can walk through the bamboo forest to the green brick corridor. There are pine oil lamps on both sides, making it easy to explore the path at night.

Generally speaking, there are many things to enjoy in Yunjia Garden. Although the plum blossoms have already begun to bloom, in February and March, there are beautiful peaches and plums, crabapples, hostas, orchids, and all kinds of flowers are vying to bloom. The scenery will be breathtaking when the time comes.
At this time, a little maid from the Yun family came over quickly and greeted Chen Rong: "County Master, Lord Ji from Dali Temple is here to find you."

"Uh? Brother Ji?"

Chen Rong was confused, Ji Yuxian won't go to his grandfather's house to pay New Year's greetings today?
Then he felt relieved that his mother was gone, so he probably wouldn't necessarily go back to his maternal grandfather's house to pay New Year greetings.

Maybe he came here to pick her up after visiting his grandma’s house for New Year greetings!

Forget it, don't make random guesses. Go see him quickly.

Since ancient times, the custom of returning to one's parents' home to pay New Year greetings on the second day of the Lunar New Year continues to this day.

It is a custom unique to the Chinese clan.