Aunt Wu grew up in the south and was very good at smoking cured meat. Occasionally, when she was feeling well, she would prepare a few pieces and hang them on the beam in the kitchen.
Everyone here is a native northerner and isn't really used to the taste, but it's good to try something new...
As they chatted and laughed, the group entered the courtyard.
Wan'er, Wenjuan, and Madam Wen all led their children out to greet them.
Jiayi was a natural leader among children, and he quickly became familiar with Xingxing and Yueya'er.
Then, I hoisted them onto my shoulders, one on each side, and ran all over the yard, occasionally jumping over the wall, which made the two children scream and laugh.
Once inside, the two children became Jiayi's little followers, going wherever he went...
As for Yuanyuan, she was spitting bubbles and protesting wildly while lying in her mother's arms.
But his Uncle Jiayi, let alone taking him flying or diving, wouldn't even dare to hug him.
Because babies a few months old are like they have no bones, it feels like they could be hurt with the slightest force...
Grandma Li was being polite; in fact, the kitchen had already started preparing lunch before everyone left.
Now, the dishes are served, featuring chicken, fish, meat, and eggs, prepared in various ways, with a perfect combination of color, aroma, and taste.
Jiayi likes to eat a lot of meat, such as braised pork ribs, roasted lamb chops, cumin lamb, and so on.
Jiayi didn't stand on ceremony and ate his fill.
Finally, he followed his brothers to the hot spring pool at the Marquis's mansion, washed himself thoroughly, changed into the jacket and trousers made by his grandmother, and then lay down on the kang (heated brick bed), quickly falling into a deep sleep with loud snoring.
Although Lao Huang helped him keep watch at night in the cell, he still didn't dare to sleep soundly.
After all, that was someone else's territory. Even the jailer who was being polite to him might be plotting how to kill him...
Now he's finally home, no more worries, and can finally get a good night's sleep!
Some are happy while others are sad; some are joyful while others are frowning.
The middle-aged official was escorted to the Jingzhao Yin by the veterans.
The prefect issued a token fine of some silver and then released the man.
The Prefect of the Capital had no authority to punish officials in the capital. The princess ordered the person to be sent over, but she didn't intend to really do anything to him; she just wanted to teach him a lesson.
The middle-aged official escaped a disaster but felt humiliated.
After leaving the Jingzhao Yin's office, they went straight to a courtyard in the south of the city.
After he left, the owner of the courtyard went straight to the Wang family's house...
In the Wang family study, Wang Lao Er frowned, slammed down his teacup, and blamed his elder brother.
“I told you from the beginning that this wouldn’t work, but you wouldn’t listen and insisted on getting those people to submit memorials!”
"Now look what's happened, the Li family boy is fine, but we've been put on the spot."
Wang Zechen was also annoyed and retorted with a dark face: "I originally thought that when Li Laosi returned from the northern expedition, Li Jiayi would also come back to present the captives and ask for credit. If a few words of gossip were spread, it would be enough to make the emperor wary of the Li family."
"Who would have thought that Li Jiayi would be so bold as to kick Wu Yan to death!"
"If Wu Yan were still the emperor's brother-in-law, Li Jiayi would not have been able to escape punishment no matter what."
"But unfortunately, the Wu family was imprisoned by the Emperor, and Wu Yan became a fugitive..."
"You should have stopped then. Why did you still send people to submit memorials?" Wang Lao Er poured himself a cup of tea and drank it down in one gulp, but it did nothing to extinguish the anger in his heart.
Wang Zechen got up and paced around, saying, "I was thinking of pressing my advantage, but I never expected the Emperor to trust the Li family so much that he actually gave the memorial to them..."
As he spoke, he grew impatient and turned to ask, "There's no use saying all this now. Just tell me, is there any good way to shut these people up?"
Wang Lao Er snorted coldly, and after a long silence, said, "Those people probably won't be able to keep their official positions, but it's also because they have dirty hands, which gave others a handle to use against them."
“We’ll pull some strings and make sure they don’t sentence you too harshly. We can also give you some extra gold and silver compensation, and that should be about right.”
Wang Zechen's eyes twitched with heartache, as the third son had always been in charge of managing the household affairs and businesses.
Ever since the third brother went mad, the business's profits have been declining year by year.
Now, to come up with a large sum of gold and silver again, it would probably have to touch up the family's savings...
Thinking back to their former glory, how did the Wang family fall into such a state of decline?!
As night fell, the heavy snow finally began to fall.
It adds another layer of thick clothing to the mountain forests and villages in winter.
A carriage followed by a hundred or so guards emerged from the city, its hooves and wheels crunching through the fluffy, fresh snow as it made its way to the new village.
As soon as the people in the carriage got off, a sharp-eyed servant immediately announced it to them.
"The Marquis is back! Mr. Wen is back!"
Just then, Old Lady Li came out of the kitchen and cheerfully went out to greet the two of them.
"Go home and wash up first, change into something comfortable, then come over for dinner. We're having dumplings tonight!"
The Marquis and Mr. Wen bowed and responded with smiles.
When they came back, a table had already been set up in the main room.
The steaming dumplings, resembling plump little pigs, lay lazily on the plate, looking incredibly tempting.
The entire Li family, young and old, were present, along with Dayong, Huiniang, and Madam Wen holding Yueya'er.
When Crescent Moon saw her father, she reached out for a hug.
Mr. Wen quickly stepped forward, picked up his precious daughter, and said to Mrs. Wen, "I heard you came over this afternoon to help make dumplings?"
“Yes, I had nothing to do at home, so I came over to lend a hand. Your aunt specially prepared three-delicacy filling for you, as well as the Marquis’s favorite pork and scallion filling.” Madam Wen smiled and rolled up her husband’s sleeves.
On the other side, Jiayin had already pulled the Marquis to a seat, and said with a grin, "Godfather, the dumplings with lotus leaf edges on the plate were all made by me!"
The Marquis ruffled her hair and said, "Alright, Godfather will eat a few more later."
Grandma Li urges everyone to sit down, "Hurry up and sit down and eat your dumplings, they'll get cold. We're all family, do you expect an old lady like me to hand you chopsticks?!"
Everyone sat down with smiles on their faces. As usual, the men were in the main room, while the women and children were in the east room.
Of course, Jiayin was an exception; the seat between the Marquis and her father was her reserved seat.
The Li family's life now is worlds apart from what it used to be.
But the young and old women of the Li family still like to do some chores, such as making dumplings for family reunions, which they must do themselves.
That afternoon, the maids and servants looked after the children, while the old lady, along with Tao Hongying, Zhao Yuru, Wan'er, Wenjuan, Madam Wen, and Huiniang, took care of everything from chopping the filling to making dumplings.
Amidst laughter and chatter, the dumplings they made were not only delicious and fragrant, but also carried an added flavor of happiness.
Jiayin ate all kinds of dumplings, seven or eight in total, and her little face beamed with joy.
For northerners, there's nothing a meal of dumplings can't solve.
If so, then two meals!
Eating steaming hot dumplings, surrounded by close family members, this is definitely the most heartwarming moment!
Grandma Li was already eight-tenths full when she saw her children and grandchildren eating so heartily.
She took a plate and kept adding dumplings to everyone's plate, saying with a smile, "It's rare for our family to all be together like this; it's even more lively than during the Spring Festival."
"If only Xige'er and Ange'er were home too..."
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