Xu Lanyin gave Qin Hongyu's gift to Li Luo again.
Li Luo blushed and clasped his fists in thanks. He smiled and said, "Go back to your rooms and wash up. The wine and food are ready."
Zhao Wu and Xu Lanyin's family still lived in the third courtyard. After washing up, they went to the second courtyard for dinner. Li Luo lived here, and the living room, study, and guest room were also in this courtyard.
After dinner, Xu Lanyin took the child back to her room to rest, while Zhao Wu and Li Luo had a secret discussion. Serving them were He Dong and He Xi, who had been helping them.
Soon, Yu Bo, the martial arts student Zhao Wu had learned from when he was a child, also arrived. Li Luo had already told him his and Zhao Wu's true identities, and Yu Bo helped them handle things privately.
When Yu Bo saw Zhao Wu, he knelt down and cried again, "May the spirits of the eldest master and the eldest lady in heaven bless the eldest master and the fourth master to survive and become so successful..."
Zhao Wu stood up and helped him up, saying, "Thank you, Uncle Yu. When we brothers were in the most difficult time, it was thanks to you that we helped..."
After breakfast the next day, Xu Lanyin and her family went to Xu's house.
The Xu family bought a new large house. Half of the money came from the sale of Xu Qingyan's original house, and the other half came from Chai's dowry. Xu Qingyan was embarrassed to ask Chai to pay for it, but his family background was too shallow and he was short of money.
Xu Qingyan's family had received the news last night that Xu Lanyin had returned to Beijing, and they had been waiting for it. This morning, Xu Lanting didn't want to go to school, but Xu Qingyan glared at him, and he had no choice but to go with a pout.
Ding Gu, the chief steward of the Xu residence, was waiting at the gatehouse. When he saw Zhao Wusan and his family, he stepped forward, bowed, and said with a smile, "Finally, the eldest aunt, the uncle, and the young master have arrived. Madam has been waiting for them. The second young lady has been waiting at the second gate for a long time."
Xu Lanyin smiled and said, "Uncle Ding, you have worked hard." She then asked Baoqi to reunite with her parents for two days and then return to the Zhao family after two days.
Xu Lanyue and her little girl Du Juan were standing at the second gate. When they saw their elder sister, they ran over like the wind, hugged Xu Lanyin's waist, and said with a smile, "I think about you every day, even in my dreams."
Xu Lanyin pinched her little face and said with a smile, "Big sister misses you too." She compared her height and smiled, "You've grown taller again."
Xu Lanyue led them towards the main courtyard.
Along the way, pavilions, green trees, and red flowers filled the beautiful scenery. Xu Lanyue gestured, indicating where the main courtyard was, where her yard was, where Xu Lanyin's yard was, where the garden and pond were, and so on. Finally, she whispered, "I still prefer our home in Ningzhou Prefecture. It's not this big. As soon as I go out, I can see my sister's door, and I can go to the alley entrance to buy food anytime. It's not just me, Jiajia and Xiaoxingxing also say the same..."
When they arrived at the main courtyard, Chai came out to greet them. She took Zhao Mingxi from Mama Qian's hands and said with a smile, "Little Mingxi, do you miss your grandmother?"
Zhao Mingxi didn't cry when she fell into a stranger's arms. She just pouted and stretched out her hands for her mother to hold her.
Chai leaned down and kissed him, then smiled and said, "You have to accompany your grandmother today. Your grandmother has been looking forward to seeing you for several months."
Everyone went into the house and chatted for a while, then Zhao Wu stood up and said goodbye.
Chai knew he was busy with his own business and said with a smile, "Go ahead. Come back for dinner tonight. Your father-in-law, Lan Zhou, and Lan Ting all want to see you."
Soon, a servant came to report that Mrs. Chai and Miss Chai from Lianhua Hutong had arrived.
Xu Lanyin knew that the third branch of the Chai family lived in Lianhua Hutong. The third branch's grandfather, Chai Zhengling, was forty-nine years old and a third-rank lieutenant commander in the army. His sons all served in the army, though none held high positions.
Xu Lanyin smiled and said, "The third branch is so close to our family."
Chai sighed, "That's right. People always have a pair of eyes that look up to wealth and status. When I was a child, the Third Old Lady would hardly even speak to me, but now she sends her descendants to visit our house every now and then. What she's trying to gain is the favor of the Princess, the Prince Consort, and my eldest brother."
Mrs. Gui, the eldest wife of the Chai family, was thirty-one years old, a few years younger than Chai, and of average appearance, but looked older than Chai. Miss Chai, the eldest daughter, was in her early teens, with bright eyes and white teeth, like a member of the Chai family.
Gui hadn't expected Xu Lanyin to return to the capital, so she generously took off a golden hairpin the size of a wine cup from her hair and gave it to Xu Lanyin as a meeting gift. She then said, with a smile, that she didn't have a suitable gift for Xiao Mingxi, but would bring it to her some other day.
Xu Lanyin knew that the second and third branches of the Chai family were illegitimate children and were not considered wealthy. The second branch's grandfather, Chai Zhengguan, was known for his wealth, and the second branch had always lived a prosperous life, but the third branch was far behind.
Regardless of her purpose, Mrs. Chai is quite generous and magnanimous.
Xu Lanyin took the golden hairpin, thanked her, and took off a pair of mutton-fat jade bracelets from her wrist to give to Chai Rongrong as a gift.
The bracelet was pure milky white, delicate and transparent, and it was obvious that it was an extraordinary product. Gui's smile deepened.
He kept Gui's mother and daughter for lunch before sending them away.
Chai personally accompanied Xu Lanyin and her son to the courtyard prepared for her, and gave it a nice and meaningful name, called Languoxuan.
It seems that Chai was still worried that the beautiful cause would not produce a beautiful result, and she regretted giving her daughter this name. She also told Xu Lanyin that if Xu Lanyin gave birth to a daughter, she must name her Zhao Mingguo to make up for the shortcomings of her mother's name...
Although the courtyard is not big, it is very beautiful with its clusters of flowers, green trees and bamboos.
Xu Lanyin smiled and said, "It's too luxurious, too good. I don't live here often, what a pity."
Chai shook her head and said, "I'm sorry for you. I made you suffer so much when you were little. Now that you can enjoy life, you're married. No matter how long you stay, I will give you the best."
Chai left, but Xu Lanyue refused to leave and wanted to sleep with her elder sister. Xu Lanyin missed her too, and since Zhao Wu was not around, he asked her to sleep in the same bed with him.
After a break, Zhao Mingxi was still sleeping, so Xu Lanyue took Xu Lanyin to the garden for a walk.
It was March, and the garden was in full bloom, filled with birdsong and fragrant flowers. It was a truly beautiful sight. Beside the garden stood a turquoise pond, its waters bubbling with lotuses and koi carp. The pond curved back to the main courtyard's back door.
Xu Lanyin thought of the same old saying again: It’s great to have money.
She also had money, but she had to wait until Zhao Wu's background was revealed to the world before she could buy a large house in the capital. Of course, if Zhao Wu's background was clear and he brought Wen Yan down, he wouldn't need to use her money to buy a house.
A few people went back, took Zhao Mingxi, who had already woken up, and went to the main courtyard together.
In the evening, Xu Lanting, Xu Lanzhou and Xu Qingyan came back one after another.
The person many people had not seen before had changed the most, Xu Lanzhou. He was now half a head taller than Xu Lanyin.
A few of them talked about their farewells and waited until Zhao Wu came back before going to the flower hall to eat.
After dinner, Xu Qingyan and Zhao Wu went to the front study to have a secret talk. At the beginning of the evening, Zhao Wu sent someone to invite Xu Lanyin home.
Xu Lanting and Xu Lanyue insisted on staying at Zhao's house with Xu Lanyin for one night. Tomorrow morning, Xu Lanting would go directly to the private school, while Xu Lanyue, Xu Lanyin and Chai would go to the Princess Nanyang's Mansion.
Chai had no choice. The two children were basically taken care of by Xu Lanyin, so she had to let them go.
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