October arrived in the blink of an eye. With the groundwork laid by Zhu Jiayu, Yuchaifeng successfully opened a branch shop in Fu'an.
Gu Heguang specially ordered someone to send Zhu Jiayu several sets of clothes, some for Xiao Wan and some for Madam Xiao.
"Miss, shall I go and deliver this to Madam Ning's residence?"
As the weather turned cooler, gusts of autumn wind blew by, and the chill accumulated layer by layer. Now that the Beginning of Winter was approaching, Zhu Jiayu didn't like to go out unless she had something to do. Lüzheng didn't want her young lady to catch a cold, so she volunteered.
Zhu Jiayu shook her head: "I haven't visited my aunt in a long time, so I'll deliver it to her myself."
Liu Heng has already been executed, but his aunt doesn't know yet. Ning Han said he hasn't told her either, and he hasn't come up with a good excuse. More importantly, they have been married for many years, and if he were to lie, his aunt would be able to tell easily.
So Zhu Jiayu has to clean up the mess.
“Then this servant will accompany you,” Green Kite said with a smile, her eyes crinkling.
...
When the two arrived at the Ning residence, Xiao Wan immediately told Qin Luo and Qin Fang to bring Zhu Jiayu some hot tea and snacks. She preferred sweets, so the Ning residence always kept soft and sweet pastries and cakes on hand so that she could eat them whenever she came.
Auntie still treats her like a child, Zhu Jiayu thought to herself, and snuggled up to Xiao Wan affectionately, showing her the dress.
When she had nothing to do, she would embroider some new patterns and send them to Gu Heguang. When she did embroidery, she used bold colors and had unique needlework. She could embroider ordinary flowers and trees with great vividness and liveliness. She never kept anything to herself and often taught her experience to the embroiderers in the workshop.
With her meticulous guidance and the generous treatment offered by Gu Heguang, the embroiderers naturally worked even harder for the embroidery workshop, and the embroidered garments became increasingly beautiful and exquisite, even in the capital.
This can be seen from Xiao Wan's delighted reaction.
She ordered someone to carefully collect the clothes, then looked at Zhu Jiayu and said, "Speaking of which, Ziyu hasn't come for quite some time. You have a conscience, still remembering your aunt."
Zhu Jiayu paused for a moment, then smiled and massaged her shoulders: "Of course I have a conscience, and I often think of my aunt. That's why I came to see you as soon as I had some free time. But Young Master Liu..."
She hesitated, as if she wanted to say something but then stopped.
Seeing her strange expression, Xiao Wan frowned: "What's wrong with him? Did he do something wrong?"
Zhu Jiayu sighed, "When I came here just now, I saw Chang Rui, who was by my uncle's side. He was also coming to your place, so I couldn't help but ask him if there was anything wrong. I just happened to come to see you too, so I can pass on his message, can't I?"
"That's how I learned that Young Master Liu's mother had passed away and he had gone back to his hometown for the funeral. He is a filial son and didn't have time to say goodbye to you in person before he set off from Yujing. Your uncle thought that you didn't know yet, so he sent Chang Rui to inform you."
Xiao Wan pondered for a moment before saying, "Is that so? Now that you mention it, I do recall that Ziyu is indeed very filial to his mother."
“He once told me that he lost his father at a young age, and it was only through his mother’s hard work for more than ten years that he was able to study and take the imperial examinations. After he passed the imperial examinations, he wanted to bring his mother to Yujing, but his mother said that rice was expensive in Yujing and she did not want to be a burden to him, so she refused his offer.”
“She is truly an admirable mother,” Xiao Wan exclaimed. “Liu Heng is also filial to her. She did not want to come to the capital, so most of his salary over the years has been sent back to his mother.”
Zhu Jiayu followed her words and said, "Yes."
Lady Liu is indeed admirable. Otherwise, Liu Heng would not have married Pan Luxiu just because his mother liked her, and even after climbing the social ladder by marrying a young lady from the Ning family, he would not have abandoned his wife who had shared his hardships.
But does that make him worthy of praise? As a son, he should naturally be filial, but that cannot be used as a cover for his fraudulent marriage and murder.
Zhu Jiayu didn't want to talk about Liu Heng with Xiao Wan anymore. She looked at the pastries on the blue and white porcelain plate with gold trim and awkwardly changed the subject: "I've never seen this pastry before."
Xiao Wan didn't see through her thoughts and smiled, "It was made by the pastry chef that the princess sent today. I thought you like pastries, so I asked him to make a few for you to try and see if they suit your taste. If you like them, you can ask him to make more for you next time you come."
The pastries on the blue and white porcelain plate are made by wrapping fillings in dough and steaming them into the shape of flower petals. Six pastries placed together form a flower, with fresh flowers in the center and syrup on top. Each pastry also has a chrysanthemum petal in the center, making it look exquisite, delicious, and somewhat luxurious.
However, Zhu Jiayu only glanced at it before her attention was drawn to Xiao Wan's words: "Princess?"
Xiao Wan nodded: "It's Princess Yuanhui from the Prince Cheng's Mansion. She studied painting with my father at the Xiao family when she was young, and we have some acquaintance. She came to see me today. You've come at the perfect time. This Princess Yuanhui is a gentle and virtuous person. She just told me that she really wants to get to know you. She's painting at Ruihe Garden right now. I'll have Qinluo take you to meet her."
Recently, Ning Han won the Emperor's favor in court, so the Emperor bestowed upon her a pair of cranes. Ning Han then kept them in the garden and renamed the original Tinghe Pavilion to Ruihe Garden.
As for Princess Yuanhui, Zhu Jiayu thought for a long time but still couldn't remember who she was. But since she was in Yujing, she had to meet her eventually.
So she nodded to Xiao Wan and said okay, then turned to Qin Luo and said, "Then I'll have to trouble you, Sister Qin Luo."
Qinluo curtsied and said, "You're too kind, Miss. I don't deserve it."
She led Zhu Jiayu away from the main courtyard, through a long covered walkway, past a pond filled with clear water, and through a garden that is evergreen and blooms in all seasons, and then they arrived at Ruihe Garden.
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