After Master Chu Er became disabled, his temperament changed drastically and he became moody. The old marquis and the old lady who had passed away loved him, and his elder and younger brothers indulged him, which led to his bad habits of eating, drinking, having fun, and sleeping with prostitutes.

Men in the Chu family did not take concubines, but in order to make the second master Chu settle down, the old lady had to give him two maids. One of the maids was very scheming and poured contraceptive soup, and gave birth to a son for the second master, and was promoted to concubine.

Being disabled and having a son out of wedlock, it was even harder for Mr. Chu to find a wife.

When he was 19 years old, his family finally found him a wife, Mrs. Chu Er. Mrs. Chu Er's father was originally an eighth-rank official. Lord Chu used his connections to promote him two levels and found him a more lucrative position, so he gave up his daughter.

Mrs. Chu was pretty, fair-skinned and delicate, and she was born in an official family. At first, Mr. Chu liked her very much and agreed to donate a small official position to her, hoping that she would turn over a new leaf, take care of the household affairs, and provide a good life for his wife and children. But as time went by, he saw that Mrs. Chu was narrow-minded, had no rules in her words and deeds, and was greedy for money. Once these flaws were exposed, she was often laughed at.

Master Chu Er was sad again, and his old illness came back.

Although he was not good at other things, he was good at having children. Master Chu Da and Master Chu San each had only two children, but he had five, two sons and three daughters.

They are: Second Master Chu Lingqi, 19 years old, the eldest son of a concubine. Third Master Chu Lingan, 17 years old, the legitimate son. Second Miss Chu Zhen, 14 years old, the legitimate daughter. Third Miss Chu Lin and Fourth Miss Chu Bi are both 9 years old, both concubines.

Chen Ahfu suppressed his thoughts and came to the second master Chu. Even with his eyes lowered, he could still see that the second master Chu's eyebrows and eyes were somewhat similar to Chu Lingxuan, but his temperament was completely different, more gloomy, weak, and his left sleeve was empty.

Chen Ahfu knelt down and bowed to him, saying, "Meet Second Uncle."

Master Chu nodded, not wanting to say anything, and handed her a red envelope.

Then he saw Mr. Chu San, Mrs. Chu Er, and Mrs. Chu San. Chen Ahfu had already met all three of them. Mr. Chu San and Mrs. Chu San smiled and said a few auspicious words for the couple to have many children soon. Mrs. Chu Er just said "hmm" and gave her a red envelope.

She was the eldest sister-in-law, and besides the elders, the other uncles, aunts, sisters-in-law, and nephews all had to come to pay their respects to her. She prepared a jade pendant for the men and a jade hairpin for the women.

The last person to come and pay respect to her was the second master Chu Lingan's son, the one-year-old Chu Siwen. He was held in the arms of his wet nurse and kowtowed, a very cute little boy.

After the ceremony, they went to the ancestral hall to worship the tablets.

It was already noon when Chen Afu returned to Zhuxuan. He saw that Nanny Li, Qingfeng and several other maids had come to the upper room to serve.

After the two of them washed up in the bathroom and had lunch, Chu Lingxuan went to the front yard. He said he had something to discuss with Master Chu San.

Chen Afu sat down at the eight-immortals table in the living room and asked the people in the yard to kowtow to her.

Zhuxuan had six maids and four old women before, and Xia Yue gave each of them a purse filled with silver ingots. Because Yuzhu and Hongfei were the oldest maids, their purses contained six silver ingots each.

Chen Ahfu appointed Li Mama as her housekeeper. Xia Yue, Qing Feng, Yu Zhuo and Hong Fei were the big maids. Xiao Hong, Xiao Lu and Zhu Xuan's two maids, whom she renamed Xiao Huang and Xiao Mo, were second-class maids. Xiao Zi and several other maids were third-class maids. The other four maids still had their own duties. Hua Mama was in charge of the small kitchen, responsible for cooking or boiling water, and the other three maids were rough maids.

Yuzhu was engaged when she was in Dingzhou Prefecture, and this time she brought her fiancé Yu Yongshun with her. They got married two months later, and Yuzhu was the housekeeper of Zhuxuan, and would look after Zhuxuan for a long time. Yu Yongshun was in charge of Chen Afu's shop in the capital, directly under the leadership of Zeng Shuang, and sold the crops provided by Fuyunlai.

After the distribution, Chen Afu asked Hua Po to prepare some flour, eggs, milk and other ingredients. She would make some snacks later to honor the elders.

When only Nanny Li and Xia Yue were left in the room, Xia Yue took out the red envelope.

The red envelopes were filled with silver bills. The old marquis gave 800 taels of silver, Mr. Chu San and Mrs. Chu San each gave 400 taels of silver, Mr. Chu Er also gave 400 taels of silver, and Mrs. Chu Er gave 20 taels of silver.

Xia Yue said disdainfully, "Second Madam is really something. You have the nerve to give twenty taels of silver to an elder."

Chen Afu pulled the corner of her mouth and said nothing. Not only was she short-sighted, she didn't even have the slightest bit of dignity.

She was leaning on the kang with her eyes closed, resting. The servant came to report that the Fourth and Fifth Masters had arrived.

The fifth master was of course Chu Lingzhi, and the fourth master was Chu Lingwei, the eldest son of Mrs. Chu San. Chen Ahfu didn't see him clearly in the morning, but he thought Chu Lingwei was very tall. He was only eleven years old this year, but he was half a head taller than the twelve-year-old A Lu and Chen Yulan.

Chen Ahfu stood up and said with a smile, "Please come in."

Chu Lingzhi ran in and said with a smile, "Sister-in-law, you finally married into my family. I've been away from Tangyuan for so long, and I miss the snacks that you made the most."

Chen Ahfu smiled and said, "Just want some snacks?"

Chu Lingzhi said quickly, "Oh, I also miss my sister-in-law, Yan'er, Dabao, Zhuifeng, Sasa, Wangcai, Qiqi, and Huihui. Why doesn't my sister-in-law bring them all?"

Chen Afu smiled and asked Chu Lingwei to sit down on the chair. Chu Lingwei inherited the good looks of the Chu family, and was a little shy and blushing, perhaps because he was embarrassed to beg for food.

She knew that the Chu family, headed by the old marquis, had a sweet tooth among the men, especially snacks. The two boys must have been craving for snacks.

She smiled and said, "I have asked the kitchen to prepare the ingredients and will cook it right away. You guys sit down and have some tea, it will be ready in a moment."

She took Xia Yue to the kitchen in the backyard, where Mrs. Hua had already prepared the dough.

There was no oven here, so many snacks could not be made. So she made golden cakes and secretly put some crushed agarwood powder into the flour.

It was ready in half an hour. The elders were given eight pieces each, the other masters were given four pieces each, and a few respectable servants were given two pieces each. The maids were asked to deliver them to them respectively.

Of course, everyone in the bamboo pavilion has a share.

She brought a plate of golden cakes to the main courtyard. Chu Lingwei and Chu Lingzhi were feeding the fish in the yard. When they saw Chen Afu coming with snacks, they quickly wiped their hands with a handkerchief and came over to greet him.

Chu Lingwei said, "Sister-in-law, my cook can also make this golden cake, but it's not as delicious as yours."

Chen Ahfu smiled and said, "If you like to eat, come and play often. Sister-in-law can also cook other things."

She likes Mr. Chu San and his wife, and also likes the two children.

The brothers finished eating all the golden cakes on the plate, and Chen Afu even asked them to take back the four pieces he had prepared for each of them.