"Little Imperial Uncle!" The Crown Prince's slightly cool voice suddenly rang out, interrupting the young prince's action of taking Fang Ruotang to the Ministry of Revenue to complete the marriage certificate.
He looked at the crown prince in surprise and asked in bewilderment, "Why are you here?"
"You'll have to ask the young prince, why didn't you spend the festival in the palace? Why did you come to the Prime Minister's residence?" The Crown Prince stared coldly at the young prince.
The young prince said confidently, "A wife should follow her husband's lead. From now on, wherever Xiao Ruoruo spends the New Year, I will spend the New Year there. I am a good man who adheres to the three obediences and four virtues."
Fang Ruotang covered her face, thinking of the godlike Three Obediences and Four Virtues.
"You should hurry back to the palace with your brother, the Crown Prince, for the New Year!"
Fang Ruotang hurriedly spoke up, the most important thing being to stop tormenting her. It was a perfectly good New Year's Eve, and even though she was standing at home, she felt like she had run up a mountain carrying a heavy load.
"You're kicking me out! You've disappointed me so much. You peeked at me but didn't look at me, you let me stay overnight but didn't let me stay, and now you won't even let me have a bite of the New Year's Eve dinner? Am I some kind of lowly person? How could you treat me like this?"
Fang Ruotang was dumbfounded. Seeing the young prince looking heartbroken, she immediately explained, "No, I just thought that since the Crown Prince came out of the palace to call you, it must be the Emperor who wants you to go back. That's why he didn't keep you. As long as we're all together, we don't need to be so particular about one New Year's meal."
The palace has a fixed routine for celebrating the New Year. They are busy from the Laba Festival onwards. These are all rules passed down from their ancestors. Even the emperor returns to the palace on the Little New Year and diligently writes and bestows blessings.
The Prime Minister's residence received a huge pile of them, and the "Fu" characters pasted in her courtyard were all handwritten by the Emperor.
Today is Lunar New Year's Eve. A banquet is being held in the palace. Every year, the young prince will enter the palace to spend the New Year with the emperor, stay overnight to keep vigil, and then go with the emperor to pay New Year's respects to the empress dowager early the next morning.
"Young Imperial Uncle, is it that I can't persuade you, and I have to have the Empress Dowager come to call you personally?" The Crown Prince, impatient with the pretense, directly revealed his trump card.
The young prince fell silent instantly.
Seeing that he was behaving himself, the Crown Prince said to Fang Ruotang, "There are many things to do in the palace, so I can't accompany you to celebrate the New Year. This is money for you to ward off evil spirits. Tomorrow is the first day of the new year, and court officials will be coming to the palace to pay their respects. If you can't get up, then don't come. Just stay home."
"Okay!" Fang Ruotang accepted the red envelope with a smile.
The Crown Prince somewhat understood the Emperor's eagerness to shed his burdens; he too was extremely annoyed by these trivial matters.
"There will be fireworks at the Star-Picking Tower tonight for everyone to enjoy. Would you like to go?"
"OK!"
"Okay, I'll pick you up tonight."
In previous years, it was the Emperor and Empress's responsibility to set off fireworks on New Year's Eve and ascend the Star-Picking Tower to celebrate with the people. This year, the Emperor was shirking his responsibilities, saying that his current prestige was not as high as that of the Grand Preceptor, and suggested that the Crown Prince and the Grand Preceptor ascend the tower instead.
The Crown Prince didn't really want to agree, since it was freezing cold and he didn't really want Fang Ruotang to go up the tower. But he knew that the Star-Picking Tower was the best place to watch the fireworks, so he decided to ask for her opinion.
"Aren't you leaving yet!"
The crown prince glanced at the young prince and then went out.
The young prince was dissatisfied, but had no choice but to hastily stuff the red envelope he had prepared into Fang Ruotang's hand.
"This is the money I prepared for you to ward off evil spirits. Happy New Year's Eve! May every year be like today, and may my presence accompany you in all your future joys."
At this moment, Ye Wuxia took out a red envelope, her eyes full of smiles: "Little Six, Happy New Year's Eve. I wish to spend many years with you and laugh at the world's prosperity."
The young prince rolled his eyes at Ye Wuxia, sensing that the boy had ill intentions.
"Robbery, robbery, why don't you just rob someone?"
Ye Wuxia chuckled softly, reminding the young prince.
"Your Highness, you've been waiting for so long. Are you sure you want to delay any longer?"
The young prince glared angrily at Ye Wuxia, then gave Fang Ruotang a smug smile.
"Once things in the palace are settled, the Crown Prince and I will go out together tonight to watch the fireworks."
"Okay! Go ahead and get busy! Happy New Year's Eve."
"good."
The young prince took a deep look at Fang Ruotang, then left reluctantly, as if it were a parting that would last for several years before they met again.
Fang Ruotang opened the money used to ward off evil spirits and said greedily, "Have you all discussed this beforehand? How come each of you is getting ten thousand taels of silver? You're all so rich!"
"No discussion," Ye Wuxia and Rong Shizi replied one after the other.
As the three were talking, they went to the dining hall.
The Crown Prince had just come over to pay New Year's respects to Prime Minister Fang and Second Master Fang, so he knew about the young prince being summoned away. Therefore, no one asked anything, and simply invited the three of them to take their seats quickly.
Firecrackers go off, and then it's time for the New Year's Eve dinner.
The screen in the dining hall was removed, and three tables were set up.
The male members of the Fang family sat at a table with the old prince, and the young master Rong and Ye Wuxia also sat together. Although the two of them preferred to sit to the left or right of Fang Ruotang, they were not members of the family and had little say.
Madam Fang led a table of female relatives from the household, including Madam Cui and Madam Shu, as well as two concubines who had borne children.
The Fang sisters sat together, the fewest in number, but the loudest in laughter. Because they didn't have maids or servants to serve them, Fang Shengtang and Fang Wantang each took care of their eighth and ninth sisters.
Fang Ruotang and Shen Zhixia sat on either side of Lei Pingting, taking care of her as her pregnancy made it difficult for her to pick up food.
"This is the first time my third sister is not at home for the New Year. I wonder how she is doing at the Xie family's house, and whether she misses us?" Fang Ruotang thought of Fang Shutang as she ate.
"I'm afraid she doesn't have time to think about it; she has such a large family to manage." Fang Shengtang has been managing her house lately, keeping her extremely busy.
This only covers managing her courtyard, dowry, and shops. Fang Shutang has much more to do with the Xie family, as well as the various social obligations she has to fulfill before the Lunar New Year.
After all, it's a century-old family clan with many branches and leaves, and there are many things that need to be taken care of.
However, this is not a bad thing. It is a good thing that many newlyweds have been hoping for, and some may even grow up before they receive it.
“That’s true.” Fang Ruotang also understood the advantages of a woman managing the household affairs.
Mrs. Xie deliberately feigned illness and created a ruse to bring forward the wedding date because the Xie family wanted to bypass her and hand the keys to Fang Wantang.
Although Mrs. Xie has such a short-sighted view that she might not care about this matter, there will be other things to worry about when they live in the same mansion.
But this is the thing she values most.
"Is Second Brother trying to get Brother-in-law drunk?" Fang Ruotang had almost finished eating, and her eyes started darting around, glancing at this table and then that table.
Fang Shengtang didn't even lift her beautiful eyes.
"no!"
"Hmm? But I saw my second brother and brother-in-law drinking the whole time."
"The one who was forced to drink was Prince Rong!"
Fang Shengtang looked at Fang Ruotang meaningfully, wondering how she could see things with those two eyes.
Fang Ruotang's eyes widened, and she asked in surprise, "Even a high-and-mighty prince like Rong Shizi can be forced to drink? I can't even imagine what to say to him so that he'll give me the courtesy of drinking."
Fang Shengtang was utterly speechless. The person was already sitting right there; why did he need to speak?
When his brother-in-law and second brother-in-law offered him a toast, he could only drink.
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