Chapter 5
The ladies who were selected this time entered the palace and lived in the palace rooms assigned to them and were not allowed to return home.
When sending her daughter to board the carriage to the capital, Mrs. Jiang had already prepared herself mentally for separation from her daughter.
But after hearing the imperial edict that her daughter was selected as a talented person, Mrs. Jiang still felt empty in her heart, and even felt a little absent-minded for several days.
Zhang Xihua also noticed that Mrs. Jiang was in a low mood, so he tried to find ways to cheer her up.
For example, she showed amazing talent in learning to walk.
First, Xue's mother held her hand and asked her to use it to walk upright. In the process, she slowly figured out the trick to stabilize her body's center of gravity.
Learning to walk starts in the morning.
Before the sun set that day, Zhang Xihua was able to let go of Mother Xue's hand and walk slowly on her own. Although she walked slowly, she walked steadily.
Mother Xue and the old maids all praised Xi'er to Madam Jiang, saying, "He's only a few days old, and he's already learned to walk on his own. He's a child prodigy."
Mrs. Jiang looked at her youngest daughter who was slowly walking towards her, and she seemed to see the childhood appearance of Shun Jie'er in her youngest daughter. Although she still felt a sense of loss, she understood more clearly the value of cherishing the people in front of her.
Zhang Xihua threw herself into Mrs. Jiang's arms and uttered a few words in her childish voice.
"Mother...mother...mother..."
Mrs. Jiang cried with joy. Although she had experienced the time when Shunjie and Shijie just learned to call "mother", this sudden feeling of being moved was still difficult to describe in words.
Mrs. Jiang picked up her little daughter and kissed her smooth, white forehead.
"My little darling, my sweetheart, I am so lucky to have you and your two sisters in my life. I am the happiest person in the world."
The mother and daughter looked up at the beautiful sunset in the sky together.
Madam Jiang misses Zhang Shunning in the palace.
Zhang Xihua also misses her family who lived more than 600 years later.
Think about it, her chance of traveling back to the modern era is extremely slim, so it is better for her to live well in the Ming Dynasty. Maybe her brother who is obsessed with studying Ming history can find traces of her existence in history.
*
The Spring Festival is here in a blink of an eye.
Mrs. Jiang was busy preparing holiday gifts for relatives and friends.
The school gave the young ladies at home a fifteen-day holiday, from the first day of the Lunar New Year to the Lantern Festival, so the free little Zhang Shining was asked to look after Zhang Xihua.
Zhang Xihua can now walk on her own, so her space for movement is not limited to the bed and the cradle.
Zhang Shining looked at Zhang Xihua, who walked slower than a turtle, with disgust.
Zhang Shining asked the two maids who served her to follow Zhang Xihua to prevent Zhang Xihua from getting hurt, and she secretly ran to the second room to play with Zhang Yining.
Zhang Xihua took a look around the room and felt that she had done enough exercise today. She felt a little thirsty, so she said to the two maids following her, "Water...water..."
One maidservant hurried to pour tea, while another maidservant followed closely behind Zhang Xihua, always on guard against her falling.
When the little maid brought the teacup, she was also careless and directly pushed the boiling tea to Zhang Xihua's lips.
Zhang Xihua quickly stepped back, fearing that the boiling tea would burn his mouth. He stepped back too quickly and lost his balance, and fell to the ground.
This scene happened to be seen by Xue's mother who came into the house to check.
Mother Xue glanced at the teacup in the little maid's hand and frowned.
"You two little girls were supposed to be playing with the Third Young Miss, not serving tea. If Xi'er wants some tea, why don't you ask Cuiping and Baozhu, who are serving the Second Young Miss? If you really burn Xi'er's mouth, you'll all be sent back home. Your parents will be too ashamed to serve in this mansion anymore."
No one curses during the first month of the lunar year. Mother Xue just deliberately speaks in a heavier tone.
The little maid holding the teacup was named Qiao'er, and she also had a clever tongue.
"Mother Xue, Sister Cuiping's mother is ill, and she's taken leave to go home today. Sister Baozhu went with our third daughter to visit the fourth daughter of the second house. Sisters Meixiang and Lanyun took the maids to collect charcoal and monthly wages. The rest of the sisters are doing errands outside the house, and they don't dare to come in and do things that are not their responsibility. A few respectable old maids are strolling around the garden, drinking and gambling. Even if those old maids were in this room just now, Xuetu and I couldn't make them do anything."
Another little maid named Xuetu nodded.
Even Zhang Xihua, who was helped up by Mother Xue, nodded, thinking that what Qiao'er said made sense.
Mother Xue picked up Zhang Xihua and said to Qiao'er and Xuetu, "Go to the Fourth Young Lady's courtyard to look for the Third Young Lady. Send the other two young ladies to Yangrongzhai. We have guests."
Qiao'er and Xuetu agreed and ran out hand in hand.
Mother Xue fed Zhang Xihua a cup of tea and took her to Yangrongzhai.
When entering the main room, Zhang Xihua saw Old Lady Zhang hugging a young woman in plain clothes and crying.
Madam Jiang, Madam Li, and the second young lady Zhang Songning and others all wiped their tears with the handkerchiefs in their hands.
Old Madam Zhang said to the young woman, "I shouldn't have agreed to this marriage proposal from the General's Mansion. I thought you would be the mistress of the mansion if you married in, and you wouldn't have to worry about relationships with mothers-in-law, sisters-in-law, or sisters-in-law. But I didn't expect that swords are merciless. General Cui and General Cui both died on the battlefield. It's hard for you to guard the empty mansion with a daughter. It's good that you're back home now. Your father, brother, and sister-in-law and I can take care of you and your widow."
Zhang Xihua understood that the young woman should be Zhang Mingzhu, the eldest aunt of the Zhang family. She looked carefully at Zhang Mingzhu's face. Zhang Mingzhu had the same oval face as Old Lady Zhang, and her eyebrows and eyes were very similar to Old Lady Zhang's, but she looked a little fragile, like a paper beauty that would run away at the wind's touch.
Old Mrs. Zhang asked Mother Xue to bring Zhang Xihua to show Zhang Mingzhu.
"This is your eldest brother's posthumous child, Zixi."
Zhang Mingzhu praised her and ordered the maid to give the prepared gift to the maid behind Madam Jiang.
After Zhang Shining and Zhang Yining came in, Old Mrs. Zhang introduced her two granddaughters to Zhang Mingzhu.
Zhang Shining asked, "Where is Sister Susu?"
Zhang Mingzhu said softly, "Your sister Susu is young and afraid of strangers. She's playing on the bed in the warm room. She'll definitely be happy to see a beautiful sister your age. Sister Shun, take your fourth sister to go play with sister Susu."
Zhang Mingzhu called a nanny to take Zhang Shining and Zhang Yining to the warm room.
Zhang Xihua was carried by Mother Xue to Madam Jiang, and the mother and daughter sat together on the armchair at the bottom.
Old Lady Zhang looked at Madam Jiang and said, "The Jinxiu Pavilion where Mingzhu lived before she got married has always been cleaned and maintained in its original state. Tell the servants to put all the boxes and belongings Mingzhu brought with her into Jinxiu Pavilion. They will live there from now on. When Susu is older, let her live in her own courtyard like the other girls at home."
Mrs. Jiang and Zhang Mingzhu were both widowed at a young age, so they naturally felt a sense of sympathy for each other.
"Aunt, if you need anything at home, just send your maid to me to ask for it."
Zhang Mingzhu stood up and thanked Madam Jiang, then said to Old Lady Zhang, "Mother, I'm a married woman, and I came home to live because I'm afraid outsiders would bully us, an orphan and a widow. After my father-in-law and husband passed away, the property they left to Susu and me was quite substantial. I'll give you thirty taels of silver every month to cover our expenses in the mansion."
"We are all family, why make such clear distinctions?" Old Mrs. Zhang winked at Mrs. Jiang.
Madam Jiang immediately said, "Susu is still young, and there will be plenty of places to spend money in the future. Aunt, just take Susu home and live there peacefully. You don't have to worry about anything else."
Everyone started chatting about some family matters, and before they knew it, it was dinner time. They had dinner together at Yangrongzhai before leaving.
The next morning, a maid came to Chonghua Courtyard to report to Madam Jiang, "Master Xu, the prefect of Taiping Prefecture, is visiting with his wife, young master, and daughter. The old lady said they are guests from your mother's family, and she would like you to meet them."
It turned out that Mrs. Jiang's sister, Xiao Jiang, had married the newly-minted Jinshi Xu Yourong. Xu Yourong's parents had died early, and Xiao Jiang became the head of the Xu family after marrying in. The Xu family was just an ordinary scholarly family, not as prominent as the Zhang family, a marquisate, but Xiao Jiang lived a much happier life than Mrs. Jiang.
Moreover, Xu Yourong's official career has been smooth sailing. He was promoted to the fourth-rank prefect this year and took office in Taiping Prefecture. He specially bought a house on the same street as Zhang Mansion so that his wife Xiao Jiang and Madam Jiang could visit each other.
Old Master Zhang was drinking tea and chatting with Xu Yourong in the main hall of the front yard.
In the main room of Yangrongzhai, Xiao Jiang brought her eldest son Xu Minyan, second son Xu Minde and youngest daughter Xu Baoyin to pay their respects to Old Lady Zhang.
Old Lady Zhang liked little Jiang's straightforward and sweet personality, and she also liked the good looks of the Xu children, especially the one-year-old Xu Baoyin, who looked like a doll in a New Year picture.
Before Mrs. Jiang came, Old Lady Zhang had praised Xu Baoyin more than ten times.
After Mrs. Jiang arrived, Zhang Xihua was first recognized by everyone in the Xu family, and then they had tea and chatted.
Zhang Xihua sat in Madam Jiang's arms and listened quietly. Somehow, little Jiang started talking to Old Lady Zhang and Madam Jiang about the marriage of her eldest son, Xu Minyan.
Xu Minyan is sixteen years old this year and has already become a juren. He is the son of Xu Yourong and his concubine, so he is considered the eldest son of the Xu family.
However, Xu Minyan's biological mother died of complications during childbirth, and his daily life was taken care of by his stepmother, Xiao Jiang, from childhood to adulthood.
Therefore, Xiao Jiang treated this eldest son from a concubine as her own son.
Originally, it was easy for Xu Minyan to find a good marriage. With his handsome appearance and the fame he had achieved at such a young age, many officials were willing to marry their daughters to him.
As luck would have it, Xu Minyan arrived in Taiping Prefecture a month earlier than his family in order to attend Zhang's family school.
That day, after school, Xu Minyan happened to meet Zhang Songning, who was wearing a veiled hat, at the school gate. Zhang Songning picked up the purse that Xu Minyan had dropped on the ground and returned it to him.
Xu Minyan thanked Zhang Songning and casually said that the purse was a relic of his biological mother.
Seeing that the embroidery thread on the old purse was a little loose, Zhang Songning re-sewed it for Xu Minyan.
Xu Minyan also heard Zhang Songning's good conversation and liked her elegant and kind heart, so he fell in love with her.
When Old Lady Zhang heard that little Jiang was interested in getting married, she thought that her second granddaughter was a concubine's daughter and it would be difficult for her to find such a good marriage, so she asked Madam Jiang and Madam Li for their opinions.
Madam Jiang said, "I'm afraid we'll have to ask the Second Master to come home and make a decision."
Mrs. Li was weak by nature, but she showed her strength this time.
"It's naturally better to have a closer relationship. I will accept this marriage on behalf of my sister Song."
Zhang Jianren was a man who wanted to sell his daughter for money, so she was not willing to wait for him to come back and ruin Song Jie'er's good marriage.
While the adults were talking, the little Zhang Xihua stared intently at the handsome and gentle Xu Minyan.
He is truly a delightful young man.
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