Seeing that Zheng Yunyun was not in a good mood, Madam Chen waved her away. After Zheng Yunyun left, Madam Chen said to Du Mama, who was serving her, "Look at what I've done! They all just know how to go against me."
After offering a few words of comfort, and seeing that Madam Chen was not in good spirits, Granny Du helped her to rest before leaving Madam Chen's room.
Granny Du looked down on Madam Chen. Zheng Yunyun's words made a lot of sense. Even if the family were to separate again, in the eyes of outsiders, the Pingxi Marquis's Mansion and the Zheng family over there would still be one family. While the other side was in prison, the other side was celebrating the festival with lanterns and decorations. No one would have a good word to say about Madam Chen.
But what could Granny Du do with such a master? She could only shake her head and let out a deep sigh.
Madam Zheng had naturally heard about Zheng Boyuan's situation. She was so anxious that she felt dizzy and had been bedridden for several days. Today, when she heard the commotion in the courtyard, she asked the servants around her what was going on.
The servants who were attending to her went out to take a look and came back to tell Madam Zheng that lanterns were being hung under the eaves of the house and colorful ribbons were being tied to the flowering trees in preparation for the Lantern Festival.
Hearing this, Madam Zheng became even angrier. She sent someone to invite Marquis Pingxi over and said angrily, "My lord, Yuan-ge'er is still suffering in prison, yet the mansion is all decorated and preparing for the festival. What will the people of the capital think of our Zheng family?"
These past few days, the Marquis of Pingxi had been living in fear and anxiety because of Zheng Boyuan's matter, fearing that he and even the Marquis of Pingxi's mansion would be implicated by Zheng Boyuan. When his mother questioned him, he said irritably, "What do you think? He was adopted out. What does he have to do with our mansion? Mother, you've passed away. You should just stay at home and enjoy your retirement. I'll take care of things outside."
Watching the Marquis of Pingxi's retreating figure, Old Madam Zheng was so angry that she nearly fell backward. After catching her breath for a while, she thought that she absolutely could not have any accidents happen to her. In this family, the only one who could support him was herself, an old woman.
After carefully inquiring about Xu Zhi's current location, Madam Zheng sent someone to deliver some snacks and hot tea to her. Thinking that Xu Zhi was a young girl and quite pitiful, she had her trusted servant take some silver notes to her.
Xu Zhi accepted the old lady's things with gratitude. She kept the snacks and hot tea, but returned the silver notes as they were. Not to mention that the old lady was now Zheng Boyuan's great-aunt, even if she hadn't been adopted yet, it wouldn't be appropriate to accept the old lady's things like that. The old lady was currently living off the Pingxi Marquis's family. If she gave the things away like this and let Xiao Chenshi know, it would only cause some unnecessary trouble.
On the fourteenth day of the first lunar month, Xu Tao, whose husband lived in a small county town in the south, returned home after a long and tiring journey. After paying her respects to her husband's family, she went directly to the Zheng residence.
Seeing Xu Yao standing with Xu Zhi to greet her, Xu Tao asked in surprise, "When did Fourth Sister arrive?"
Xu Yao smiled and gave Xu Tao a curtsy, saying, "Second sister, I came here yesterday. I really didn't expect you to come all this way."
Xu Tao nodded, took Xu Zhi's hand, and said, "After receiving the letter, I packed up and rushed back. But the child is still young and can't be separated from me, so I didn't dare to walk too fast on the road. Ninth Sister, don't worry, we sisters will accompany you."
With tears in her eyes, Xu Zhi nodded vigorously. Xu Tao continued, "Fifth Sister is still in her postpartum period, so she probably can't come even if she wanted to."
Xu Tong lived in the capital and, after learning that Zheng Boyuan had been imprisoned in the Ministry of War's jail, he would send someone over every day to inquire about the situation.
The three sisters sat down, and Xu Tao said, "Before I came, your second brother-in-law told me that your ninth brother-in-law had made great contributions in the past few years. The current emperor is a wise ruler and will not kill innocent people indiscriminately. Your ninth brother-in-law will definitely not have any problems."
Xu Zhi nodded and said, "Second sister, thank you for coming."
Xu Tao smiled slightly and said nothing more.
Knowing that tomorrow was the Lantern Festival, Xu Zhi had the steward of the mansion purchase lanterns and ribbons to decorate the mansion, and also gave the servants an extra month's wages.
Xu Yao and Xu Tao stayed with Xu Zhi at the Zheng residence. Xu Tao's child was already two years old, a boy, and because he was born in the dead of winter, his nickname was Bing Ge'er.
Two-year-old Bingge is at a very active age. Wearing thick cotton clothes, he is never still when he is awake, always wanting to run around in the yard outside.
It was terribly cold outside, and Xu Tao dared not let him wander around outside. If he caught a cold, the child would really suffer.
Bing Ge'er was confined to the room. He saw a sky-blue brush washer on the antique shelf and grabbed Xu Tao's hand, insisting on taking a look.
Zheng Yuanyuan liked Bing Ge'er very much. She followed him to the antique shelf and was about to take down the brush washer when Xu Tao quickly stopped her, saying, "Oh dear, you can't give it to him. He likes to throw things on the ground now. When he was at home, he threw his father's paperweight on the ground and broke it, and he also threw away the bowls and plates if he couldn't see them."
Xu Yao said with a smile, "I've heard people say that there's a phase in which children like to throw things. Some are interested in the sound of things falling to the ground. Different things make different noises when they fall to the ground."
Upon hearing this, Zheng Yuanyuan laughed and said, "What's so difficult about that? I still have some rattan balls that I used to play with when I was little. They have little bells inside, and when you throw them on the ground, they make a really different sound. Bing-ge, wait here, Auntie will go get them for you right away."
Zheng Yuanyuan's rattan balls were all the same, but the little bells inside were made of different materials: gold, silver, copper, iron, and tin. The little bells were carried by the rattan balls and fell to the ground, making sounds that were either crisp or melodious. Bing Ge'er played with them all afternoon without getting tired of them.
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