Suddenly, faint sobbing sounds were heard.
Mother Tao, who was walking in front, paused.
Wu Niang had come back to her senses and stood in front of the curtain with a smile: "Mom, this mutton-fat jade Buddha's hand is so beautiful, but is it carved from a whole piece of mutton-fat jade?"
Mother Tao turned around and looked at Wu Niang with undisguised surprise and admiration in her eyes: "This Buddha's hand is indeed carved from a whole piece of mutton-fat jade! It turns out that Miss Wu is interested in these things." As she spoke, she led the two to the treasure cabinet in the west room, "There are also some jade artifacts on display here, Miss Wu can appreciate them."
Intentionally let them avoid it.
Wu Niang smiled and said, "Thank you, mother. It just happened to broaden my horizons."
Eleventh Lady smiled slightly.
The more active Wu Niang is, the safer she will be!
She and Wu Niang stood in front of the treasure chest admiring the various jade ornaments and porcelains displayed inside, while Mother Tao pricked up her ears to listen to the movements in the east room.
All three of them seemed a little absent-minded.
Fortunately, this situation did not last long, and a little girl dressed like a maid in a red silk jacket and a blue-green vest came out from the west room and said, "Mother Tao, the mistress asked the two young ladies to come in and sit down."
They are about to meet Luo Yuanniang, the one who can control their future... Although Wu Niang and Shiyi Niang did not show the slightest expression on their faces, their hearts skipped a beat at the same time.
Mother Tao immediately responded "yes" and smiled as she invited the two of them into the west room.
With her eyelids lowered, Eleventh Lady followed Mother Tao around the screen and into Yuanniang's bedroom, then glanced quickly to the right as per the usual bedroom furnishings.
The red curtains of the black lacquered bed were lifted by Man Chijiao's silver spoon. A woman of about 25 or 26 leaned tiredly on the large pillow embroidered with ginger and green scallion flowers at the head of the bed. She wore a stone blue satin jacket embroidered with white magnolia flowers, her dark blue hair was neatly combed into a bun, and a red gold and beeswax water drop hairpin was inserted in her temples. Her pale face was frighteningly thin, and her black eyes were sparkling as she looked at the eldest wife sitting on the bed, her eyes still red, her face full of joy of mother-daughter reunion.
This kind of Luo Yuanniang...
Eleventh Lady was a little surprised.
She had guessed countless times...she thought she would see a cold and arrogant girl, or a strict and dignified woman, or a woman with a sad expression but sharp eyes...unexpectedly, she would meet such a gentle, even childish Luo Yuanniang!
"So many years have passed in the blink of an eye." A strange but smiling voice sounded in her ears, "It turns out that the little girl who always followed me has grown into a graceful young lady!"
"Big sister!" Wu Niang, who was walking in front of Shiyi Niang, suddenly knelt down with sobs, "I, I miss you so much... I still remember the sweets you brought back for me from Hangzhou!" By the end of her words, she was already sobbing.
Upon seeing this, Eleventh Lady immediately knelt down, lowered her head and hung her hands, looking very docile.
"Hurry up and get up, the ground is cold!" There was a hint of coquettishness in her gentle voice, "You are already so old, why are you still the same as before, crying and kneeling at the slightest provocation..."
Immediately a maid came to help them.
Eleventh Lady did not move. She glanced at Fifth Lady out of the corner of her eye. When she saw her stand up, she stood up too.
"Come, sit with us for a while, so we can talk to each other."
As soon as he finished speaking, a maid brought a brocade stool and placed it beside the bed.
Wu Niang and Shiyi Niang stood up to express their gratitude, and then kowtowed to Yuan Niang to formally perform the sisterly ceremony. Immediately, a smart maid took a brocade cushion and placed it on their knees before they knelt down. After they kowtowed, another maid came forward and helped the two of them up.
The maid's movements were silent and her reactions were quick.
While Eleventh Lady was secretly surprised at how well-trained the maids in Yuanniang's room were, she and Fifth Lady sat on the brocade stool in front of the bed, one in front of the other.
Maids served tea and fruit.
Yuanniang looked at her two younger sisters with a smile: "Fifth sister has been beautiful since she was young, and she looks just like what I imagined her to be. This is the first time I've seen eleventh sister. Look at her pointed chin, she looks quite similar to Fifth Aunt. But her hair is like mine, thick and black."
When Eleventh Lady heard someone mention her, her face turned slightly red, she lowered her head and muttered for a long time, no one knew what she said, and she seemed very shy and uneasy.
"What do you mean by that?" The eldest wife laughed, "I inherited it from your grandmother."
Yuanniang's lips curled up slightly, and everyone started laughing, adding a lively atmosphere to the room.
Yuanniang ordered the maid beside her: "Come, take out the two carved red lacquer boxes under my pillow."
The maid squatted down in response and took out two palm-sized round boxes from under Yuanniang's pillow.
"I don't know what you like, but I thought I had two jade pendants that I could show off, so I asked someone to find them." She motioned for the little maid to give the carved red lacquer box to Wu Niang and Shiyi Niang, "Take one each, and wear them for fun!"
Yuanniang was being polite, but the two men didn't really think that the two jade pendants were just "presentable", so they stood up, thanked her, and solemnly took the box.
"Open it and take a look," Yuanniang said with a smile, "see if you like it?"
Wu Niang and Shiyi Niang were both stunned.
There is no reason to open a gift in front of the person who gave it...
The eldest wife also said, "Open it and take a look. It's a little gift from your eldest sister." The two of them did not hesitate and opened the box in their hands.
It is warm, translucent, pure white, and just like solidified fat, you can tell at first glance that it is top-quality mutton-fat jade.
Both pieces of jade are one inch square, but one is carved with a few plum blossoms blooming on a branch, symbolizing "joy", while the other is carved with a bat holding a pomegranate in its mouth, symbolizing "many children and good fortune".
What does this mean?
Can't we just draw lots?
Is it "joy on the eyebrows" or "many children, many blessings"?
Eleventh Lady looked at the jade pendant in her hand that read "Many Children and Good Fortunes" and felt somewhat amused, while Fifth Lady, like the jade pendant in her hand, was delighted.
"Thank you, big sister!" Her smile reached all the way to her eyes, "I like it very much."
Eleventh Lady nodded, agreeing with Fifth Lady: "It's really beautiful."
Yuan Niang smiled and nodded after hearing this: "As long as you like it!"
As soon as she finished speaking, a maid said respectfully through the screen: "Madam, Master Zhun is here!"
Yuanniang's face immediately lit up: "Come in!"
Immediately, a tall and plump woman came in holding a little boy in a scarlet silk cloak, followed by two maids with bright eyes and white teeth. But everyone's eyes fell on the child.
He had fair skin, delicate features, and looked like a doll. He was only two or three years old, and his eyes were timid, which showed that he was deficient.
"Zhun brother!" The eldest wife came forward with tears in her eyes and reached out to hug him.
But he turned his head and hid in the arms of the woman who was holding him, and the bells hanging on the small gold bracelet on his hand tinkled loudly.
The eldest wife's expression froze slightly.
Yuanniang explained apologetically: "He is a little shy!"
The eldest wife pulled Zhun Ge's clothes awkwardly and said, "It's my fault that I don't visit him often."
The woman holding Zhun Ge smiled and said, "It's all because our brother is young." Then, she held Zhun Ge and knelt down to pay her respects, "Zhun Ge pays respects to grandma!"
The maids all called Zhun Ge "Zhun Ye", but this woman was called "Zhun Ge", so it seemed that she must be Zhun Ge's wet nurse.
As Eleventh Lady was thinking, she saw the eldest wife smiled without any grudge, then took a red lacquer and gold-painted box from Mother Xu and handed it to Zhun Ge: "This is a gift from my grandmother. A Duan inkstone. You can use it when you grow up."
The maid who came in with Zhun Ge stepped forward, knelt down, bowed, and thanked the eldest lady, then accepted the gift for Zhun Ge.
Yuan Niang pointed at Wu Niang and Shiyi Niang and said, "Zhun Ge, this is your Fifth Aunt, and this is your Eleventh Aunt!"
When Zhun Ge heard his mother's voice, he immediately raised his head, glanced at Wu Niang and Shiyi Niang, and then buried his head in the woman's arms. Wu Niang and Shiyi Niang did not dare to neglect and stood up quickly.
The woman held Zhun Ge in her arms and said, "Zhun Ge pays her respects to the Fifth Aunt," and "Zhun Ge pays his respects to the Eleventh Aunt," and she squatted to greet the Fifth Aunt and the Eleventh Aunt respectively.
Both of them said "I don't deserve it" and took it sideways.
Wu Niang took out a peach wood blessing amulet from her sleeve and said, "This is the one that was blessed by Master Huizhen of Ci'an Temple when I copied the blood sutra and offered it there. Let me give it to Brother Zhun as a gift!"
The Eleventh Lady gave a set of bright red clothes with gold embroidery and emerald green bamboo, as well as shoes and socks: "I made them myself, a token of my love."
The maid who came with Zhun Ge stepped forward with a smile, thanked him on his behalf, and took it.
Everyone sat down again and the maids changed the tea.
The woman carried Zhun Ge to Yuan Niang's bed, bent her knees and leaned forward to greet him. Zhun Ge suddenly raised his head, looked at Yuan Niang eagerly and called out "Mom".
Yuanniang's face softened immediately: "Put him next to me!"
The woman hesitated for a moment and placed Zhun Ge next to Yuan Niang.
Zhun Ge rolled a few times and then crawled into his mother's arms.
"Zhun Ge, please be gentle!" The woman holding Zhun Ge looked at the child tremblingly, but Yuan Niang smiled and touched her son's soft hair: "It's okay."
The woman was about to say something, but Yuanniang turned around and started talking to the eldest wife: "Why don't you invite your younger sister-in-law and Brother Xiu as well? Brother Zhun just likes to play with Brother Xiu!"
The eldest wife smiled and said, "I sent a gift to your second and third uncle's house early in the morning. I was afraid that they would have to send someone to return the gift, so I asked her to help take care of it at home."
Yuanniang said angrily, "Mother, you are such a fool. If that's the case, why don't you come back another day? Dad has to go out to visit friends, and my brother has to go to the Imperial Academy to study. If you bring your sisters out, it won't be good for them to stay home alone with me."
"I know you want to be a lovable lady, but you can't exclude me." The eldest wife laughed, "I asked her, she said you are weak, Zhun brother caught a cold a few days ago and just recovered, she was afraid that if we all come, it will disturb you and your son, so she said she will bring Xiu brother to see you after Zhun brother is better."
Yuanniang smiled and said, "Don't blame me, mother - except for a daughter like me who can speak so frankly about you, who else can say such things about you?"
When the eldest wife heard this, her eyes turned red.
Seeing this, Yuanniang said hurriedly, "It's a rare trip for you to Yanjing. I'll let Daddy accompany you to see the scenery of Yanjing tomorrow. Please bring me some strings of candied haws."
The eldest wife blushed when she heard this, then she made a "tsk" sound as if she was trying to hide something, and said with a smile: "Look at this, how can she be a mother? She is still thinking about the candied haws on the street. I'll talk to your mother-in-law later and ask her to make you ten or eight skewers of them, so that you will be sick of eating them."
Yuanniang covered her mouth and smiled: "The candied haws made by grandma are delicious, and the ones you bought for me are also delicious."
The veins on the back of her hand, which was covering her mouth, were bulging like those of an eighty-year-old woman.
The eldest wife felt sad when she saw this.
After waiting so long for this wealth and splendor, she didn't expect her daughter to... She thought of the luxurious life in the Xu family, and how could her daughter be lacking in food. She said this just to act like a spoiled child in front of her. Her daughter, who was more precious than the apple of her eye at home, became the daughter-in-law of someone else's family. She wanted to say good things about her own mother, but she had to include her mother-in-law in it... She was filled with grief, and her tears could no longer stop falling!
Yuanniang's eyes also turned slightly red when she saw this.
No matter how I try to make my mother happy, my illness is like a thorn stuck in her throat. It hurts even if I don't move, let alone stirring that thorn...
(This is the original text, so I corrected the typos...)