Yutai Bi

Chapter 102
When Du Ruhui served as Minister of the Ministry of War and was named Cai Guogong, the mansion was expanded, and the Du family allocated two adjacent courtyards to him.The uncle of the Du family favored the princess, and demolished two houses to build the princess mansion, which is only separated from the Duke's mansion by a wall.

More than half of the area of ​​Pingkang Fang is the residence of the Jingzhao Du family, and the Duke's Mansion and Princess Mansion occupy another half.The princess mansion was sealed.The gate of the Guogong Mansion facing Dongshi Street has been closed for several years, and all the staff have been dispersed, forming a sharp contrast with the bustling Dongshi just across the street.

The mansion of Nuoda in the Duke's Mansion lived in Mrs. Du, Du Yansui's mother, and the four masters of Du Yansui's brother and sister, which seemed very empty.

In the Zhengqi Hall of the Duke's Mansion, the three hostesses of the Du family were watching the gift from the Li family.

The old lady is full of silver hair, hale and hearty, with a string of agarwood beads around her wrists.

Mrs. Du Er is a thin woman in her early forties, her hair is mostly gray, and her face is always covered with a layer of sadness that cannot be dissipated.Leaning halfway on the Arhat's couch, he let out a few clear coughs from time to time.

Du Yanwan changed out of the fancy clothes she went out and wore a half-worn Ruyi, looking through it happily: "Grandmother, this purple satin material with the word "Fu" just happens to be a new dress for you to wear during the New Year."

Putting down the cloth, he happily picked up the autumn-scented one and gesticulated on his mother.

Second Madam Du looked at her daughter dotingly, thinking about the gift from her future daughter-in-law's family, and quickly thought that her daughter would soon be dying, and felt worried again.

The gifts sent by the Li family conform to the etiquette system, neither thick nor thin.

Du Yanwan picked up a bright red Hu suit, and exclaimed happily: "Wow, this dress is so beautiful!"

She made gestures on her body, but it was cut according to her figure.Bright red brocade with makeup, good material for 20 taels of silver.What suits Du Yanwan most is the circle of black raccoon fur on the neckline and hem.Just right for her winter outings.

Looking at it again, it was a men's long robe in the color of a rainy day, obviously made for Du Yansui.There are also two brocade wipes in the package.A piece of deep red material, embroidered with the Chinese character "Fu", with a ruby ​​in the middle.This is for the old lady.The other forehead is bright blue, decorated with pink pearls and beads.It's for Mrs. Du.In addition, there are a dozen white thin cotton socks, some with bats embroidered on the top of the socks, and some with treasure-faced flowers embroidered on the top of the socks.It was also for Du Yansui.

Mrs. Du smiled and said: "It seems that my future granddaughter-in-law has a coincidence."

Generally speaking, it is not necessary for Cen Sanniang to do all the gifts like this.All the handmaids and mothers around me help to do it together.

Du Yanwan thought of Cen Sanniang who she had heard about from Du Jingshu, and laughed, "I'm afraid grandma will be disappointed. I heard that my sister-in-law can't do fancy embroidery."

She held up the men's robe and sent it to Mrs. Du and her mother. She laughed and said, "This must be made by Sanniang herself. Did you see that there are so many needle holes on the side, I don't know how many times I took it apart before sewing it together." .”

Mrs. Du took a closer look and laughed, "I'm afraid it's not as good as Yan Sui's craftsmanship. I don't know who will make it for whom in the future."

After saying a word, even the servant girl who was waiting in the hall couldn't help laughing.

"What's so happy about it?" Du Yansui walked in with a laugh.

Everyone looked at him and laughed even harder.

Du Yanwan took the robe in her hands and handed it to her maid Zaozi: "The stitches of this dress are rough, please take it apart and rework it, lest my brother slip and lose face."

She raised her hands, deliberately shaking the robe, and looked at Du Yansui provocatively.

Did Sanniang make it for him herself?Du Yansui's eyes lit up, but she said with a straight face: "Nonsense, you underestimate the wishes of your future sister-in-law so much. Wouldn't it be embarrassing for her to know?"

"Okay, I'm going to teach my sister a lesson after protecting my wife. Mother!" Du Yanwan stuffed the clothes into Zaozi's hands, and flung herself into the arms of Mrs. Du Er, acting coquettishly.

Only then did Du Yansui straighten her clothes to greet her grandmother and mother.

The family re-arranged the banquet and celebrated the Lantern Festival in peace.

Second Madam Du couldn't bear it anymore and went to sleep.Mrs. Du was also a little tired.Seeing that Du Yanwan's eyes were so bright, she finally reached out and knocked: "Girl, go to bed quickly. Grandma still has something to say to your brother."

Du Yanwan went obediently.Before leaving, he gave Zaozi a hand, motioned her to leave with the clothes in his hands, and winked narrowly at Du Yansui.

Du Yansui was anxious and stared straight at Du Yanwan: "I went out today and bought a few lanterns..."

Du Yanwan was overjoyed.She is lively and wants to watch the lanterns, but she is reluctant to leave her mother and grandmother behind.Hearing that my brother bought a lantern for me, I stopped teasing him: "Zaozi, you can just take the clothes that my future sister-in-law gave me, why did you even take my brother's?"

Zaozi patted his forehead, quickly put down the robe, and saluted Du Yansui.Follow Du Yanwan.

"I heard that Sanniang is not good at embroidery, but she is careful. The etiquette prepared is quite in line with grandmother's wishes." Mrs. Du said with a smile, and took a box from the side of the couch and put it on the low table. The Chinese New Year is just around the corner. Your mother is not in good health, and Yan Wan is careless. This matter has to be left to you. Send these to the silver house, where the gold and silver are melted, the precious stones are dismantled, and two sets of heads are made again. Seeing the ceremony, you can't lose the girl. The rest is pawned. Grandmother has invited your aunt to come to the house to arrange the marriage. Repairing the mansion, setting up banquets, inviting theater troupes, and red envelopes from the servants all require money."

"Grandmother!" Du Yansui called her, shaking her head slowly, "The family's 24 dowry gifts have already wiped out the family's wealth. Yan Wan is almost eighteen, and she hasn't settled yet..."

He lowered his head, too sad to speak.

In addition to the title, the Du family has no annual salary.The Princess Mansion was confiscated.There are three women and children left in the family, not to mention doing business, and they only rely on their savings from the past and the modest future of the farm to maintain the expenses of Nuo Da's mansion.Every year, Mrs. Du's medicine money is a large expenditure.The Du family has long been empty, bearing the false name of the Duke's mansion and struggling to support it.

These years, Du Yansui followed King Teng's side, without worrying about food and clothing. Most of the salary and rewards from King Teng were sent back to the mansion one after another, and he didn't have much savings.

After returning to Beijing for a year, just making friends with people, not to mention the salary.

A penny beats a hero.As the only man in the Du family, he got a marriage from the emperor and was granted the post of general, but he was too shy to make his elderly grandmother worry about him. Du Yansui only felt that his face was hot.

"Don't worry, Yan Wan's grandmother has reserved for her." Mrs. Du caressed the jewelry box lightly, "If the emperor hasn't withdrawn from the Duke's Mansion for a day, the Du family has to keep the dignity of the Duke's Mansion. Marriage is the dignity given to you by the emperor, and we have to support the rest. Grandma knows that you want to say that Sanniang is not a woman who loves vanity. But which girl in the world does not want to marry in a beautiful way? How much do you love her today? , She will be more considerate of you in the future. The door of the Duke's Mansion has been closed for so many years, and it is finally about to open. You need to know how white-eyed the world is. This wedding is not just for you. "

Mrs. Du became excited when she said this: "The men of the Du family are not dead yet! Now that you have returned, do you think that the Du family will always be like this?"

Du Yansui suddenly came to his senses, and said solemnly: "Grandmother, don't worry."

"It's good that you understand." Mrs. Du looked at him lovingly, and put a box of jewelry into his hands, with a deep tiredness on her face.

Du Yansui left holding the jewelry box.

Mother Yin, standing behind her, stepped forward to wait for her to wash and lie down, and said softly: "The son of the slave has returned from Longzhou. Nothing else, but... I heard that I was engaged to the Fang family, the richest man in Longzhou. Later, he went to Hongzhou and got seriously ill, the young master of the Fang family is nearly twenty years old, seven years apart, fearing that he couldn't wait, so he withdrew his marriage."

Mrs. Du hummed.

Mother Yin hesitated for a while and then said: "I heard that the former Princess Teng was very kind to her, and she was accompanied by Bieyuan. Later, she drowned, and I heard that Young Master Sun saved her. No one was found in the Teng Palace, and it was rumored that she had a relationship with her." The news of Young Master Sun's death. Later, Young Master Sun sent her to Chang'an, but she didn't return to Longzhou for some reason, and the reason is not very clear."

Mrs. Du didn't speak for a long time, she seemed to be asleep.Mother Yin carefully tucked her quilt and was about to leave.Hearing Mrs. Du sigh: "So I wanted to give him the daughter of the Wei family. The Yuchi Mansion also intended to marry the third girl of his family. I never thought that Yan Sui would go the way of the emperor and marry him. I hope His vision of choosing people is not wrong. The future mistress of the Du family can't tolerate wrong choices."

Mrs. Li was full of enthusiasm at first to win credit and get a title.Once lost, the mind will fade.

Big Webster put all his thoughts on his two sons.The son lived up to expectations and had two lively and lovely grandsons.The mother won the third-rank imperial seal because of her son's price, but she is also satisfied.To her, her husband's honor is just icing on the cake.

The former stepdaughter died before her, the thorn in her heart disappeared, and she gradually didn't care much about the identity of the stepmother.Instead, he persuaded Mrs. Li to love Cen Sanniang more.In the future, many in-laws will help and accumulate blessings for future generations.

After much persuasion, Mrs. Li wondered if the Du family could regain Cai Guogong's title because of Du Yansui.There is a grandson and son-in-law of a country, and his face is also bright.His attitude towards Cen Sanniang and this marriage gradually changed.

It just so happened that the two village heads who were originally placed in Longzhou, Uncle Liu and Uncle Chen, wrote to say that Cen Sanniang asked them to sell the farm and come to Chang'an.Mrs. Li simply gave Cen Sanniang the family members of Uncle Liu and Uncle Chen as companions.Let them recognize Cen Sanniang as their master from now on.

Upon receiving the news, Cen Sanniang was overjoyed.Money can be earned again, but capable people are hard to find.I used to think that Liu Bo and Chen Bo were loyal to their mother, and their grandfather did not force them to stay.Now that he has obtained the deed of sale from the Erfang family, he really has his own people.Her attitude of being grateful to Mrs. Li also made Mrs. Li feel that she was doing the right thing.

(End of this chapter)