Both of them knew that now was not the time to talk. After a round of greetings, Yu Jiao could not remember the identities of many people. She had a photographic memory for medicinal herbs, but she was a little weak in recognizing people, especially when the room was full of women dressed in red and green.
"Go to the ancestral hall with your elder brother first, and grandma will be here soon." The old lady patted Yu Jiao's hand and said with a smile.
Liu Ziqi had been looking at Yu Jiao gently. After hearing what the old lady said, he stepped forward, took Yu Jiao's hand, and bowed to everyone in the room and left.
Yu Jiao noticed that some of the young ladies present had been secretly looking at the older brother with shy eyes.
Liu Ziqi was wearing a light blue robe, with a smile on his lips, gentle as jade, dignified and elegant. Yu Jiao thought to herself that the modest gentleman described in the Book of Songs was probably like this.
After Yu Jiao followed Liu Ziqi away, the old lady asked the young ladies in the house to go for a walk in the garden, and left Liu Yaozhen, who was married to the Minister of the Secretariat, to entertain the female family members.
It should have been Madam Liu who entertained the guests, but because Yu Jiao was registered under Madam Liu's name, she also had to go to the ancestral hall to receive gifts. Fortunately, although Liu Yaozhen was already married, she was the daughter of the Liu family, so it was not impolite for her to entertain the guests.
Liu Yu was entertaining male guests in the front hall when the steward came over and reminded him, "Master, it's time to open the ancestral hall."
Liu Yu responded, exchanged a few polite words with the guests, then stood up and went to the ancestral hall on the south side of the hall. People from his in-laws' families were standing outside the hall to pay their respects, and when they saw Liu Yu coming, they all bowed and greeted him.
Seeing Liu Ziqi holding Yu Jiao's hand and coming over, Liu Yu smiled, touched the girl's head and said, "Daddy will be here in a while, don't be afraid."
There were many seats in the ancestral hall, and it never saw sunlight all year round. Even though candles were lit, it was still dark and scary. Girls were always afraid of the dark, and even when Yaozhen and Yaoyu made mistakes, Liu Yu never punished them by making them kneel in the ancestral hall.
Liu Ziqi took Yu Jiao's hand and led her into the ancestral hall. After leading Yu Jiao to kneel and worship the ancestral tablets one by one, he served tea to Old Madam Liu. Yu Jiao's name was added to the Liu family tree. Liu Yu took a stick of incense, lit it and handed it to Yu Jiao. Yu Jiao knelt and worshipped the tablets again. Only then was the ceremony completed.
After Liu Yu led Yu Jiao out of the ancestral hall, he said to the people standing outside, "This is Yu Jiao, the youngest girl in my Liu family. I have been looking for her for many years before I finally found her. She just returned to the capital and is not familiar with the people and things in the capital."
Liu Yu showed great joy without disguising his face. He held Yu Jiao's hand and accepted a bunch of gifts. Yu Jiao knew that his action was to tell outsiders that although she had been raised outside and was only found by the Liu family now, he loved and valued this daughter very much, and they should not look down on her just because she was not a proper lady raised in the Liu Mansion.
The guests who came to Liu's mansion were either Liu Yu's disciples or ministers who were on good terms with Liu Yu. Seeing Liu Yu's attitude, they naturally did not dare to ignore Yu Jiao's identity.
When he got to Gu Yun, Liu Yu said, "This is Young Marquis Gu from the Annan Marquisate. He is a playmate of your elder brother and often comes to our house."
Gu Yun was wearing a black lotus-shaped suit, a jade belt around his waist, and a green jade pendant. He looked at Yu Jiao, his eyebrows raised, his eyes flamboyant, his smile uninhibited, and a mischievous look in his eyes, "Hello, sister Yu Jiao."
Many eyes gathered around her. Yu Jiao raised her head and looked at Gu Yun, bowing calmly, "Young Marquis Gu, how are you?"
"Ziqi and I are as close as brothers. Since you are Ziqi's sister, you should call me brother." Gu Yun said with a smile.
Liu Ziqi glanced at Gu Yun from the side, with a hint of warning in his clear eyes, intending to prevent Gu Yun from teasing Yu Jiao.
Gu Yun pretended not to see it. The smile on his handsome and flamboyant face became more and more wanton. He stuffed an enameled and gold-carved rosewood box into Yu Jiao's hand. The box was filled with South Pearls, each of which was the size of a bird's egg, smooth and round, gorgeous and colorful, with a delicate luster.
"This is a gift from my brother. Take it and play with it."
The young ladies from wealthy families who came here to watch the fun all had envious eyes. Not only is such a box of South Pearls worth a fortune, it is also very rare to find so many evenly-proportioned and uniformly-sized ones. If they were strung together to make beads and worn outside, they would be the envy of others.
Yu Jiao did not take it, although the first thing she thought of when she saw the box of South Pearls was that if they were ground into powder and used as medicine, they would have the effects of calming the mind, clearing away heat and benefiting the spleen, resolving phlegm and curing pharyngitis. Even if she did not know how much they were worth, judging from the looks of the people around her, this gift should be far more valuable to her.
Seeing that she would not take it, Gu Yun stuffed it into Yu Jiao's arms and said, "Why are you meeting with Brother Gu? Your elder brother is a weak scholar. I will protect you in the capital from now on. If anyone bullies you, just tell me and I will beat him so hard that he can't get out of bed!"
When Gu Yun said this, his brows were full of arrogance, and he really brought out his dandy and arrogant spirit to the extreme. Although he said this to Yu Jiao, his words were aimed at everyone present. Through the mouths of these people, Gu Yun's words would surely reach the ears of everyone in the capital. He wanted everyone in the capital to know that no one could bully little Yu Jiao. Anyone who dared to bully Yu Jiao would be making things difficult for him, Gu Yun.
"What? Don't you like this gift from me?" Seeing Yu Jiao holding the box stiffly without saying anything, Gu Yun thought for a moment, then pulled off the green jade pendant tied around his waist and stuffed it into Yu Jiao's hand. "This is for you too. I don't understand girls' minds, nor do I know what you like. You can keep this jade pendant first. When you have something you want in the future, just bring it to me to exchange. Even if you want the snow wolf skin from the Arctic glacier, I can hunt it for you."
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