The next day, before dawn, the people in the Gu Mansion were busy. Minglan got up earlier than Gu Tingye for the first time. Before getting up, she kissed his straight nose and said softly, "It's a rare day off. You still have to entertain the guests later. You should sleep a little longer now."
Gu Tingye refused, and put his arms around her slender waist, turned over and pressed her down, one hand dishonestly reaching into her clothes, his technique was very familiar. He understood that Minglan had worked hard to prepare in the past few days, and called off the battle at night, but after all the rubbing and biting, they almost got into trouble several times, so he had to teach his wife "hand in hand" to find another way.
Unexpectedly, Minglan was very intelligent and could draw inferences from one instance to another, which made him extremely fascinated.
Minglan was breathless under the pressure of the man's huge body. She twisted his waist rudely, but he bit her earlobe instead. He rushed over with heat all over his body. After struggling for a long time, she finally managed to cover her ears and break free from the bed, asking someone to help her get dressed.
She never liked heavy formal clothes, and considering the workload today, she tried to dress lightly. She wore a brand new light purple satin jacket with wide slanting collar and two-finger-wide magnolia flowers, which made her look slim and graceful. She wore a crimson and purple pleated skirt with moon-colored patterns. Her hair was tied in a graceful bun, and a pair of red gold filigree phoenixes were inlaid with thumb-sized emeralds. Her hairpins sparkled in the sun.
If it was a move into a new house, it would inevitably involve offering sacrifices to the gods in the middle of the night and raising the beams at dawn, but Chengyuan was an old house being renovated, so there was no need to perform all these tasks. They simply chose an auspicious time when the sky was bright, opened the sixteen vermilion doors of Chaohui Hall, and placed a whole pig, fish, chicken, and duck on a red lacquer sacrificial plate, as well as twelve pots of fresh and dried fruits from the north and south, and twenty-four famous meat and vegetable dishes.
Just as he finished all the arrangements, Gu Tingye came out leisurely. He was wearing an indigo silk robe with dark gold pine patterns, which made him look even more handsome. He had a slender figure with arms and waist, and he was tall and slender. He looked quite elegant and noble as he walked slowly.
Red incense and candles were lit in the main hall. Gu Tingye took the lead in burning incense and offering sacrifices. Only his wife was kneeling beside him. There were no relatives around him, only servants standing on both sides. Minglan had suggested that Rong Jie'er move in early so that the worship would not be so lonely. However, Gu Tingye shook his head and said nothing. Seeing his gloomy and melancholy expression, Minglan did not say much.
Who would have thought that after a moment, he suddenly became excited again. Standing in the spacious and lofty Chaohui Hall, he said with a smile, "In ten or eight years, this hall will be filled with my, Gu Tingye's, descendants!"
Then, he looked at Minglan with an extremely encouraging and eager gaze. Minglan shuddered and almost said, "I will definitely live up to the leadership's expectations of my cultivation," but then she looked at the Chaohui Hall, which was as big as half a basketball court, and she felt that she had a long way to go and urgently needed to apply for division of labor and cooperation.
After the worship, Gu Tingye led the group to the outer courtyard, while Minglan was entangled in the requests and reports of a group of maids: tea, fruit, tables and chairs were arranged, string music was ready, and servants were lined up at the door to welcome guests... At this time, the sound of firecrackers crackled at the front door, and then Wang Gui's wife from the second gate came to report: "The fourth old master, the fifth old master and several other masters of the Marquis' Mansion have arrived and are already talking in the front hall."
As the Ningyuan Marquis's family, they should naturally be the first to arrive. In this respect, they are quite reliable, so Minglan also put in a little more effort when entertaining the female members of the Marquis's family.
They were ushered into the hall, served tea, cakes, and a variety of fresh snacks. They began to chat. Minglan, while directing the maids to entertain the guests, carefully counted them. She realized that, with the exception of Madam Shao from the main house, almost all the wives and grandmothers from the other houses had arrived. For a moment, the room was ablaze with jewels and filled with laughter and chatter. In reality, Minglan had only met these sisters-in-law a few times, and beyond "Everyone, enjoy yourselves," she didn't know what to say. So she resorted to her thousandth trick—playing dumb.
The fourth old lady praised her "grand mansion and elegant scenery", and Minglan doubled the praise and returned it to the architecture of Ningyuan Marquis' Mansion; Zhu praised her "harmonious family management and strict family rules", and Minglan humbly said "it is the elders who set a good example for the younger ones", and praised the three old ladies for their good housekeeping; Mrs. Di from the fifth room joked about her newlywed life, saying that they were as sweet as honey, and Minglan lowered her head and blushed, acting embarrassed.
"Brother Ye has made a name for himself now. The Emperor has personally gifted servants and silver to help him set up his own household. What a great favor!" Mrs. Bing, from the fourth room, laughed loudly. Her voice, like a copper bell (note, not a silver bell), hurt Minglan's eardrums. She held Minglan's arm, her slender eyebrows fluttering. "In the future, you must teach your brothers some lessons so that we can also benefit from it."
This remark spoke to the thoughts of many of the women present. Everyone turned to look at Minglan, who lowered her head and whispered softly, "Second sister-in-law is right."
Is that all? The women were speechless.
Mrs. Bing refused to give up. She pulled Minglan and said with a smile, "I take your words seriously. I will come to you later and you are not allowed to refuse!" Although Gu Tingbing was born out of wedlock, the Fourth Old Master loved him more than his eldest son Gu Tingxuan. Moreover, his biological mother was still alive. She was an old concubine named Liu who was quite favored by the Fourth Old Master. She gave birth to two sons and two daughters, but unfortunately half of them died young.
Minglan felt slightly unhappy and only uttered a soft "hmm." Then she glanced around at the other women, her eyes revealing both embarrassment and a plea for help. Mrs. Bing II was dissatisfied with Minglan's answer and was about to say more when the Fourth Old Lady coughed lightly and said unhappily, "Are you here to drink or to collect a debt? You're never going to stop."
Mrs. Bing II blushed, closed her mouth unwillingly, and glanced at the fourth old lady with contempt, but still sat back; Gu Tingyan looked over, and then pulled a group of cousins to chat and laugh behind the Treasure Pavilion.
Minglan looked across the crowd, smiling in thanks at the Fourth Old Lady, who nodded slowly. Minglan had long known that the Ningyuan Marquisate was not a monolithic entity. With Gu Tingye now in power, some would naturally come to her aid. It all depended on who was smart enough to step up when Minglan needed them most.
The fourth old lady was one, and her eldest daughter-in-law was also one. Ever since their first meeting, Mrs. Xuan had clearly shown her good will, and during their conversation, she even stood up to help Minglan block many of the teasings, some justified and some unjustified.
"Oh! Your sister-in-law hasn't said anything yet, but you're defending her. Sister-in-law Xuan is such a good person!" Mrs. Di covered her mouth and laughed, her eyes deliberately sweeping over Zhu and Gu Tingcan.
Mrs. Xuan put one hand on her waist and scolded with a smile: "You are such a naughty monkey! Don't you remember when you first came into the house? Wasn't it because I was too old and shameless to protect you? At that time, the Gong brothers from the rear family wanted to make trouble in your bridal chamber, and I stopped them at all costs! Now you are playing tricks!" The female relatives laughed and made a fuss.
Minglan's big eyes, with distinct black and white, were as clear as a shallow stream. She smiled at Madam Xuan, which was a token of her gratitude and affection. Madam Xuan understood and also took her hand with a smile on her face.
The lady-in-waiting smiled kindly, and seeing how excited everyone was, she pulled Minglan to her side and said, "Your eldest brother hasn't been feeling well these past few days, so please don't be offended that your eldest sister-in-law won't be here."
Minglan looked worried: "Why are you joking? I've been so busy lately that I didn't even go to visit my elder brother when he wasn't feeling well. How inappropriate!"
The lady sighed deeply, "Alas, it's all right to keep him, but your eldest brother is too worried. He's always worrying about the family, and he's exhausted from all the hard work."
Minglan became alert. Gu Tingyu's health had been poor for a long time. He had been ill since his mother's womb. Almost half of the capital knew that he was counting the days to live. Two years ago, the director of the Imperial Hospital, Zhang Jingsong, had hinted to the Gu family that they should be mentally prepared.
She smiled and agreed with the Madam, but in her heart she sneered: When Gu Tingye was still in decline, you wanted to cry out to the world that Gu Tingyu was 'terminally ill'. Now that Gu Tingye has made it, you say that Gu Tingyu is just 'too worried and can be taken care of', or that his illness is caused by 'overwork and exhaustion' for the family. Humph, what's the point?!
Minglan glanced at Zhu, who was sitting quietly beside her, and after a moment's thought, she said, "I want to trouble you, my sister-in-law, with something." Although Zhu was much older than she was, she still had to call her 'sister-in-law'. Upon hearing this, Zhu stood up and said, "Second sister-in-law, please speak."
"After this is done, I will go and pick up Sister Rong and the others. My sister-in-law has to take care of my brother, so I'll trouble my sister-in-law to take care of everything when the time comes." Minglan said politely.
Zhu's face blossomed with a smile, and she pursed her lips and smiled. "It's nothing serious, just a small favor. I'll just ask Second Sister-in-law later. I've already told Sister Rong that the new house needs to be spruced up before it's ready for living. Then she'll have a neat and beautiful courtyard all to herself. Sister Rong has been looking forward to it for a long time."
Minglan said with a smile on her face, "Thank you, sister-in-law." She was also very generous.
Not long after, Minglan's family arrived. The old lady disliked noise and had said she couldn't come. Hualan and Hai weren't even two months old yet, so it wasn't appropriate for them to be around. So only Wang, Rulan, and Molan came. Minglan hurried to welcome them in, smiling and greeting them as she walked in.
As Wang walked in, she saw the garden's small bridges, flowing water, pavilions, and towers, which were magnificent and spacious, and decorated elegantly and beautifully. She couldn't help feeling sad. She glanced at Rulan who was chatting and laughing with Minglan, and sighed secretly. Molan pretended to be indifferent, her eyes were gloomy, and she swept across the scenery in front of her. She thought of her own small courtyard in the Yongchang Marquis' Mansion, and felt sour and bitter.
"What a pity..." Wang said, "Hua'er has always been thinking about you, but unfortunately she can't come to your good day."
Minglan chuckled and consoled him, "I've already told you, big sister, that today we're just setting up a few tables of wine for the sake of prestige. Actually, most of the flowers and trees in the garden are still bare, so there's nothing much to see. When big sister and sister-in-law are well again, the flowers will be in full bloom, and everyone will be here. Then, we can drag grandma and my nephews and nieces over too. Then we can all gather as a family to enjoy the garden. Wouldn't that be even better?"
Wang felt relieved: "Finally, your elder sister has loved you so much since you were little."
Hearing this, Rulan pouted and said, "Elder sister loves sixth sister much more than she loves me!" Minglan didn't blush at all, and boasted proudly, "There's nothing I can do. It's my fault that I'm so loved." Rulan glared at her and was about to pinch her.
Wang couldn't help but smile, and cursed: "You are already grown up, and you are still making trouble!"
After entering the main hall, Minglan arranged Wang in the seat at the head, sitting side by side with the lady-in-law. After the two mothers-in-law exchanged greetings, the women from the Gu and Sheng families started chatting. At about three quarters past nine, the guests arrived one after another.
The male guests went directly to the front yard to meet Gu Tingye, while the female guests went to the inner courtyard. Minglan stood up and apologized to her relatives. Madam Yangxuan and Zhu helped to entertain them, while she went to the front to greet the guests.
For a moment, the three unpartitioned tall and wide flower halls were filled with laughter and joy, and people were dressed in elegant clothes and bustling about. The women from the noble families were born with the ability to socialize, and they could talk to everyone they knew, whether they knew each other or not.
One of the highlights of the women's social gatherings was naturally the encounters between the old ladies and the young girls. A prophet once said that women possess two innate instincts: to be mothers and to be matchmakers; when these two roles are combined, their power is astonishing. The previously quiet and gentle Tai Madam, the Fourth Old Madam, the Fifth Old Madam, now glowed with vigor and energy. They joined Tingyan, Tingying, and Tingling in conversation among the other noble ladies. Second Madam Bing, along with her sister-in-law, Tingwen, joined them.
In fact, Minglan did not know most of the female guests, but fortunately Gu Tingye asked Lord Zheng Xiao for help in advance, so Xiao Shen stood beside Minglan very responsibly and introduced her to them in detail; in a short while, Minglan got to know two wives of dukes, two wives of marquises, four wives of earls, three wives of generals, five wives of commanders-in-chief, two wives of cabinet ministers and one wife of a Hanlin - as well as the family groups brought by these ladies.
Minglan's cheeks ached with laughter. Little Shen's introduction flowed fluently, and she would occasionally whisper in Minglan's ear a few gossips, such as 'This Madam Geng once went to Hongdeng Hutong with two kitchen knives and beat Master Geng to the ground, making him scream "mother". ', 'These two are the wives of the Duan brothers, and the sisters-in-law are actually cousins. ', and even 'How dare she come here? The Zhennan Marquis's Mansion has to carry out several pregnant corpses every year. '... Little Shen had only been in the capital for a short time, and she had acquired such professional qualities in such a short time. Minglan felt deeply sorry for her. It was a pity that she didn't apply for the position of Queen Prada's assistant.
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