Chapter 661 The Best Gift
The Duke's Mansion.
The scent of sandalwood incense wafts through the quiet room of Duke Yun.
The Duke was twirling his Buddhist beads with his eyes closed. When he heard that his son had brought a "strange man" to see him, he opened his eyes in surprise.
"Come in."
Yun Ting brought Andre in.
The Duke was also surprised when he saw Andre's "strange appearance".
But he was the Duke after all, so he remained calm.
But when Yun Ting proudly showed Erya's portrait, he asked, "Who painted this? How could it be so lifelike?"
"Dad, this is Mr. Andre, the Western painter Zhuozhuo found especially for you. He's very skilled in this art." Yun Ting hurriedly explained, revealing Erya's intentions. "She thought she might be able to get him to paint a portrait like this for her mother..."
"Really?" Duke Yun looked at Andre with disbelief in his eyes, "Can you draw it?"
Although Andre was not very good at speaking, he roughly guessed what Duke Yun meant and nodded.
"Okay, okay, okay!" Duke Yun said "okay" three times in a row.
"Dad," Yun Ting continued, "we can't communicate. The interpreter Zhuozhuo found won't be here for a few days. She also said she's worried Andrei won't understand what you mean. You don't have anything else to do anyway, so why not just learn painting from Andrei and then paint for my mother yourself."
"Okay, that's fine too."
He didn't even care about his son. He eagerly pulled Andre and began to ask what needed to be prepared. He asked where his wife's portraits, clothes, and jewelry were kept. His eagerness and enthusiasm stunned Yun Ting.
Andre's Chinese was poor, but he had a good temper. He always had a smile on his face and listened patiently, but I didn't know how much he understood.
Yun Ting couldn't help but think that everything Zhuozhuo had arranged was indeed perfect.
From that day on, the Duke seemed to have found the meaning of life again.
I had less time to chant sutras and recite Buddhist scriptures, and most of my energy was devoted to learning this new painting method from Andre.
He rummaged through all the belongings left by his late wife, and recalled her voice, appearance and smile over and over again, trying to draw the most perfect image in his memory.
But that’s all in the past.
Yun Ting returned to his room and carefully hung Erya's portrait on the wall. He took a few steps back, looked left and right, and became more and more delighted.
There was no one around, and his heart moved slightly. He walked forward and quickly kissed the portrait on the cheek.
After doing this, his face felt hot at first, and he glanced at the door a little guiltily. Then he thought, no one saw it anyway, so he became bolder and leaned forward to kiss her twice.
Finally, he raised his hand to wipe his mouth, and the corners of his mouth couldn't help but rise.
"Sir, Nanny Shang requests to see you."
The servant's voice sounded in the corridor, startling Yun Ting who was immersed in sweetness.
"I understand. Let her in." Yun Ting cleared his throat and tried to appear calm.
Nanny Shang was the old lady's former maidservant who came with her as a dowry. She was later released, and some of her children and grandchildren became officials, so she was very respectable.
But this time, she was invited back by Yun Ting to speak for Erya.
But now it seems that Erya has handled everything by herself. When Yun Ting thought of this, he couldn't help feeling proud.
Nanny Shang should have finished her work and returned to report.
Sure enough, after Nanny Shang came in, after a brief greeting, she told the old lady everything she had said after Erya left.
"The old lady said that it's not that she's short-sighted. She's attracted by the second young lady's gifts. What's rare is the second young lady's thoughtfulness."
"The old lady also said that among the younger generation nowadays, it is rare to find someone who is as considerate of relatives as the second young lady."
Yun Ting was happy to hear this, knowing that his grandmother had completely passed this test.
"The old lady said that she is old and doesn't care about that anymore. She just hopes to see her great-grandson soon."
Yun Ting: “…”
No, he can't.
Arya has already made her judgment on him, so he can't just lie down and do nothing.
"Thank you so much for coming today, Madam Shang," Yun Ting said with a smile. "From now on, please come to the mansion more often and chat with Grandma. Oh, and tell Lin Feng to come play polo with me when he's free."
Lin Feng is Nanny Shang's grandson.
We are all smart people, so there is no need to say more.
Nanny Shang agreed and went back happily.
All she wanted was for her children and grandchildren to still be able to rely on the Duke's Mansion.
At her age, how many years can she live?
I’m afraid that people will leave and the tea will get cold.
Now that his grandson has boarded the prince's ship, his family can be rich and prosperous for at least three generations.
After Nanny Shang left, Yun Ting went out to look for Erya.
In fact, the Erya sisters are just like their abandoned mother, and they can't sit still for a moment.
When Yun Ting arrived, she was directing the servants to dismantle the boxes and crates brought back from various places, sorting and organizing the items inside one by one, and preparing to distribute them to relatives and friends.
Yun Ting didn't interrupt her, but just stood aside and listened to her clearly arranged things: who to give this to, and which family to send that to.
As he listened, Yun Ting began to murmur in his heart: Chang Hui must be involved in this.
When I think of this, I can't help but feel a sour taste rising up.
But he held it back, not wanting Erya to think he was stingy, so he could only hold it in silently.
After waiting for a long time, Erya indeed mentioned Chang Hui.
"Take these foods to the shopkeeper Chang and have him distribute them to the shop assistants. Oh, and the ones in the separate boxes are for him. They will be delivered directly to his house."
The servant took the order and left.
Yun Ting pricked up his ears, waiting for what would happen next - because he felt that the gift Erya gave to Chang Hui would not be so shabby.
But he didn't wait.
Erya has already started to say goodbye to people.
Yun Ting finally couldn't help but ask, "Zhuozhuo, isn't this a bit too little for Shopkeeper Chang?"
"I know." Erya waved her hand. "Don't stand here. I'll tell you later. My father has gone to the palace. If you have nothing to do, go pick up my mother and fourth sister. Why haven't they come back yet?"
She has her own rules for doing things.
Hui Niang knew about her past with Chang Hui.
Putting herself in Hui Niang's shoes, she felt it would be difficult for her not to care at all.
Business dealings must not be interrupted, but we must be more cautious in other aspects.
Erya made up her mind that there would only be two kinds of gifts for Chang Hui in the future.
——Food and money.
If you only give money as a gift, it will seem too distant; but if you give something useful to someone, they might feel uncomfortable just looking at it, so it is better to give them something edible, because it will be gone once they are eaten.
Chang Hui is not a prince or nobleman, so he doesn't have to be wary of food poisoning.
She also planned to talk about these things with Yun Ting frankly to prevent him from being petty.
But she was busy at the moment and there were so many people around, so she didn't say anything.
Yun Ting said, "Okay, is this the Western Suburbs Imperial Tomb? I'll go on horseback and be there in a moment."
"Um."
It turned out that Lu Qinniang took Qingfeng and Siya out of the city in a carriage early in the morning.
Logically speaking, since Qingfeng has just arrived, she should be allowed to rest for a few more days.
But Lu Qiniang later thought that she would only feel at ease if she could arrange for her to be with her as soon as possible.
So when the breeze blew this morning, she took her people with her and went to the western suburbs together.
Qingfeng was actually a little curious——
Who is there in the western suburbs?
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