"Mommy, what is this?" a child asked, holding the box in a daze.
His mother glanced at the palm-sized silver lock in her child's hand and was overjoyed: "This is a longevity lock. The General's Mansion is truly generous, preparing such a valuable gift for the child!"
I never expected that the General's Mansion would give longevity locks to all the children. The General's Mansion is indeed very generous.
A man was looking through a money bag and exclaimed in disbelief, "Heavens, I think I have ten taels of silver in there."
“Mine too.” The men held their money bags, all with smiles on their faces.
Uncle Ping looked at everyone and said with a smile, "We came in a hurry and didn't have time to prepare many different gifts for you all, so the men will all receive ten taels of silver, the women will all receive a pair of gold earrings, and the children will receive longevity locks. I hope you all like them."
"I love it! I love it so much!"
The woman was overjoyed as she held the gold earrings. She had never owned any gold jewelry in her life, and this was her first. It was a gift from the General's Mansion, so it must be the most fashionable jewelry in the capital!
"We like it too!"
The children love it too.
Who doesn't love a longevity lock!
The men were even more shocked; that was ten taels of silver!
How could they not like the money they couldn't earn in a year?
The General's Mansion was filled with silver, gold earrings, and longevity locks—items worth a considerable sum of money—and every villager in Su Family Village received such gifts.
If there are many people in the family, the gifts they receive can be equivalent to several years' worth of harvest for everyone.
"Thank you very much, young master!"
"Young master, you are truly magnanimous!"
"Young master, please feel free to give us any instructions you may have during your stay in Su Family Village these next few days."
The villagers were very pleased with the gifts they received.
Seeing that they all liked the gifts, Su Yun'an was also happy. He picked out a few more gift boxes from the carriage and gave them to Su Xiaoli: "I went to visit Grandpa Su's house earlier and forgot to leave a gift. Here, I'll take it back for you."
"I'm flattered, I'll just accept the same gifts as them. I can't possibly accept any more." Su Xiaoli was somewhat overwhelmed and dared not accept the gifts.
Seeing that he refused to accept them, Su Yun'an directly stuffed the gift boxes into Su Xiaoli's arms: "Please take them. I originally prepared a set for Grandpa Su's family as well."
Holding the heavy gift, Su Xiaoli repeatedly expressed his gratitude: "Thank you very much, young master."
"There's something else I'd like to ask Grandpa Su for help with."
"Please, go ahead and speak."
Su Yun'an twitched the corner of his lips and said, "I also prepared a gift for the magistrate of Kaiyang County. Uncle Ping probably doesn't know where the Kaiyang County government office is. Could you please ask Grandpa Su to help find someone to guide Uncle Ping?"
"Of course, of course." Su Xiaoli hadn't expected Su Yun'an to be so considerate.
Logically speaking, it should be the magistrate of Kaiyang County who should be presenting gifts to the young master. However, the young master is presenting gifts first, which shows that his manners are absolutely impeccable.
He's either naturally intelligent and well-mannered, or he's been well-educated by his mother or sister. Judging from his appearance, he's probably quite clever.
Otherwise, the General's wife and that young lady wouldn't have felt comfortable letting him come all the way to Su Family Village, after all, he's not even ten years old!
It was indeed Su Yun'an who first sent gifts to the county magistrate.
Although he was the son of a general and didn't need to pay attention to county magistrates or prefects, since he had come to Kaiyang, it was always good to get along with the Kaiyang county magistrate; there would only be benefits, not harm.
They're just small gifts, nothing special!
Uncle Ping had been handing out gifts for quite some time, and each villager had their name registered after receiving their gift. Su Xiaoli had been watching from the side the whole time, afraid that these villagers would not follow the rules and would take more than their share, thus disgracing Su Family Village in front of Su Yun'an.
After all the villagers had received their gifts, Su Xiaoli was about to take Uncle Ping to the county.
The county magistrate was overwhelmed with gratitude when he learned that the young master of the General's Mansion had returned to his hometown to pay respects to his ancestors and had even come to the county office to present him with gifts. He immediately returned the favor by bringing gifts to see Su Yun'an.
The magistrate of Kaiyang County believed Su Yun'an's identity as soon as he saw him.
Although he had never met Su Yun'an, the young master's appearance was clearly extraordinary and could not be faked by an ordinary person.
Kaiyang County official bowed deeply to Su Yun'an and said, "This humble official, Ma Ming, greets the young master."
Su Yun'an quickly stepped forward to help Ma Ming up: "Magistrate, you are too kind. I have neither a title nor an official position. I am just a commoner. It should be me who pays my respects to you, sir."
As Su Yun'an spoke, he also bowed to Ma Ming.
Ma Ming was startled and quickly grabbed his arm to stop him from bowing: "You are joking. General Su is your father, the Holy Princess is your sister, the Holy Prince is your brother-in-law, and Consort Su is your aunt. How dare I accept your courtesy? Please don't make me feel uncomfortable."
The people of Sujia Village may not know the current status of the Su family in Kyoto, but his main family is in Kyoto and knows best the Su family's current status there.
This young master is absolutely a noble among nobles; he is a true member of the royal family.
A single word from him could not only affect his official position, but could easily take his life. How could he possibly accept a bow from him?
Seeing that Ma Ming respected Su Yun'an so much, Su Xiaoli felt even more awe and dared not be negligent in the slightest.
Su Yun'an smiled apologetically at Ma Ming: "We are guests here, and we should have invited you to have tea and a meal, but we have just returned to the old house and have not prepared anything yet. Please forgive us, Lord Ma."
Ma Ming, however, did not care at all: "What are you saying? Young master has come all the way to Kaiyang, so it is I who should host a banquet for you. There is nothing to eat here, so why don't you come with me to the government office for dinner?"
Su Yun'an didn't want to go through any more trouble and directly refused, saying, "No need to trouble yourself. Everyone has been traveling for several days and is tired. Just have some dry food to fill your stomach and we won't have to go through any more trouble."
Ma Ming actually wanted to have dinner with Su Yun'an, since he was a distinguished guest from Kyoto. If he could really get on good terms with this young master, it would definitely help his career.
Su Xiaoli saw through Ma Ming's thoughts and quickly smoothed things over, saying, "Please stop arguing, gentlemen. I have already asked my wife to go back and prepare dinner. Please, young master and magistrate, come to my house for dinner."
Su Yun'an glanced at Uncle Ping and You Yi. They hadn't eaten properly for the past few days while traveling, so he knew they must be hungry.
He glanced at the eager Su Xiaoli again and could only nod: "Alright, then thank you very much, Grandpa Su."
Su Yun'an then invited Ma Ming, "Lord Ma, please join us too."
Ma Ming quickly bowed and said, "Then I shall respectfully accept your offer!"
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