After dinner, Chen Afu began to pack up Chu Lingxuan's things, and wrote a letter to Wang, Jiang, Zeng Shuang, Dabao, and Chu Hanyan. The letters to the two little ones were especially heartfelt, and he brought them many gifts. He didn't know how they would cry if he broke his promise and didn't go back earlier.
Chu Lingxuan didn't come back until midnight.
Chen Ahfu was sleeping soundly when she was awakened by Chu Lingxuan. She didn't know how long it would take for her to see him again, so she cooperated with him very well.
Chen Ahfu's mind once again showed the angry Jin Yanzi, who chirped and cursed, "Mommy is so bad. She knew that I was going to have this with Daddy Chu today, but she didn't bring a glass of water to help me cool down. I'm bleeding from the nose again. Mommy is so annoying...ah, ah, Beibei is also getting angry, and it's all red..."
Chen Ahfu was so embarrassed that he pushed Chu Lingxuan and said, "Hurry up, others will laugh at you."
Chu Lingxuan muttered, "Whoever laughs at me will have his monthly salary deducted... Focus on it. Why don't you try to please your husband like you did just now..."
Chen Afu didn't know when he finished, nor when she fell asleep. She felt that she had just fallen asleep when she heard the rustling sound. Chu Lingxuan had already gotten up. She also gritted her teeth and got up, served him breakfast, and then locked him out of the courtyard, watching him disappear in the vast night with wind and snow.
Chen Ahfu felt bad for riding more than 200 miles in this weather. It was warmer to ride in a carriage, but Chu Lingxuan said it was too slow and he wanted to get back earlier.
Today is the second day of the Chinese New Year. The poor families are sad, but the rich families who have no shortage of rice, grain and firewood should still live their lives. Today is the day to go back to the mother's home. Including Mrs. Chu San, almost all the women have returned to their mother's home with their men and children.
Chen Afu's parents' home was not here, so she had nowhere to go back to. Chu Hua was pregnant, so she didn't dare to go out in this weather. So in the huge Yong'an Marquis' Mansion, there were only Chen Afu and her son in the inner courtyard, and the old marquis in the outer courtyard.
Chen Afu fed the two little brothers, dressed them in little red silk cotton jackets and cotton pants, let them play on the warm kang, and sent someone to invite the old man to the bamboo pavilion.
The old man, who was feeling uncomfortable, was also thinking about his little great-grandson. The etiquette in the capital was stricter than in the countryside, and it was not appropriate for a grandfather to go to the courtyard of his grandson's wife. Seeing that Chen Afu had sent someone to invite him, the old man hurried over happily.
The two little brothers can already roll over and lift their heads, and can laugh out loud, often making the old man laugh out loud.
Chen Afu was making fish hotpot in the west room. Although blocked by a thick cotton door curtain, one could still faintly hear the old man's laughter.
In the afternoon, Lord Chu actually came and was invited directly to the Bamboo Pavilion.
It seemed that he had come specially to see his grandsons, and he brought them gifts, two small ebony arrows, saying that he had carved them when he had nothing else to do.
Chen Afu thought to himself, how bored he must be in the princess's mansion to carve these things himself.
When he arrived, the two little brothers had fallen asleep in a very uncivilized manner, but that did not affect his interest in watching. He sat quietly by the kang and watched them silently.
Chen Ahfu couldn't stay here, so he refilled his tea and went to the west room to read. The old man couldn't stand the loneliness and played with the birds in the living room.
After watching for an hour, Lord Chu stood up and said goodbye.
After that, he would come to Zhuxuan to see the child almost every day, and of course he would bring the old marquis with him. But the time was very short, sometimes two quarters of an hour, sometimes one quarter, and once only half a quarter. Moreover, every time he came, he would bring gifts for the child, toys, things to use, and things to watch, all kinds of things.
As the blizzard lasted longer and longer, more people and animals were affected, and countless people and animals died of freezing and starvation. The situation became worse as we headed north. The price of grain in the grain shops kept rising. Because of the inconvenience of transportation, the grain shipped from the south was limited, and many grain shops ran out of grain. After the sixth day of the first lunar month, local governments began to open their warehouses to release grain, but it still couldn't solve the problem.
In ancient times, when people encountered disasters, they would start to think about the gods. There were more memorials impeaching Princess Rong Zhao. Most of the memorials before the New Year were intentionally made by the Chu family in order to ban Rong Zhao. Now, the ministers in the court were panicking, and many people believed from the bottom of their hearts that Rong Zhao had offended the gods. Not only did they impeach Rong Zhao, but some people also began to impeach the Marquis of Chu and the Yong'an Marquisate who were related to Rong Zhao. Among those who impeached the Chu family, the second prince's party had the most people.
On the tenth day, the Fuyunlai Commercial Bank of Dingzhou Prefecture and its branch in Beijing donated a total of 60,000 kilograms of grain to the government, and distributed another 10,000 kilograms of grain to the people.
Because Fu Yunlai took the lead, many grain shops that still had stock also began to donate grain, which greatly alleviated the pressure on the court and saved countless lives.
These businesses and grain stores were all commended and rewarded by the emperor. In particular, the emperor personally presented a large plaque to the Fuyunlai Business, which read "righteousness and kindness are commendable". The empress dowager also issued an imperial decree to commend Chen Afu, saying that she was a role model for women in the world, and also gave her two jade ruyi.
Chen Afu's righteous act won back a lot of face for the Yong'an Marquis Mansion, and the number of memorials impeaching the Yong'an Marquis Mansion decreased a lot.
On the 15th, Mrs. Chu San, the wife of Huachang County Princess, launched the "Donate Warmth and Send Love Campaign", taking the lead in donating money and materials to repair houses for the victims and buy quilts and cotton-padded jackets.
Mrs. Chu San, as the leader, donated 500 taels of silver. The concubines and princesses in the palace and the ladies in the mansions also responded actively.
This idea was of course suggested by Chen Afu to the Third Lady. The Third Lady was very willing to do this good deed that would both attract attention and save lives. She took the "proposal" written by Chen Afu to the palace to meet the Emperor, and was highly praised by the Emperor and the Empress Dowager, and also set an example for the women in the royal family.
Queen Wang, Concubine Sun, and Concubine Ma were so angry that they thought to themselves why they hadn't thought of this good idea. Queen Wang and Concubine Sun wanted to win a good reputation for their sons, and Concubine Ma wanted to wash away the bad reputation of her daughter.
Moreover, the idea was proposed by the annoying Hua Chang. Even if he donated more, Hua Chang would still be the one to take the limelight. But he dared not not donate, nor did he dare to donate less. The Empress Dowager donated 500 taels of silver, Queen Wang could only donate 300 taels of silver, and Concubine Ma donated 200 taels of silver.
When Rong Zhao heard about it, she sent someone to the palace to ask the Queen Mother for permission. She wanted to go to the palace to donate silver. The Queen Mother then sent a maid to Princess Rong Zhao's mansion to collect the silver. Rong Zhao was so angry that her liver ached, and she had no choice but to give the maid a hundred taels of silver.
In the Chu family, Chen Afu was the first to respond to the initiative, donating 100 taels of silver himself and 20 taels of silver on behalf of Miss Chu. On the 16th, there was still no movement from the second house. Mrs. Chu San knew that it was Li who was causing trouble, so she sent her nanny to collect money from the courtyards of the second house's female relatives one by one.
Second Madam Song was the daughter-in-law of a concubine, and her family was not rich either. She donated 20 taels of silver, which was quite good. Third Madam Shen’s family was also not rich. Although her father was a fifth-rank official, he was in the Hanlin Academy. But Third Master Chu Ling’an was the only son of Li, so he should have some family background. She also donated 20 taels of silver, which was not bad. Several girls, Second Madam Chu Zhen donated 10 taels of silver, Third Madam Chu Lin and Fourth Madam Chu Bi each donated 2 taels of silver, which was also not bad.
But Li said that the "proposal" said to do their best and not "force donations". She had no money and would not donate a penny. She did not care about the dozens of taels of silver. She just did not want to add icing on the cake for the arrogant third wife.
Mrs. Chu San sneered twice and asked someone to hand the Chu family's "merit book" directly to the old marquis for review.
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