Lord Gu: "..."
Qin Jijiu wasn't this drunk yet.
Qin Siyuan chuckled softly.
Qin Heng said, "Yes, sister, brother-in-law is worried. I'm afraid he won't be in the mood to ride horses with me later."
"All you ever think about is riding horses. You have no sense of propriety. Can't you see your brother-in-law is in trouble?"
Qin Jijiu began to scold his youngest son.
Qin Siyuan said, "Cousin, give me some ideas, otherwise Uncle will scold my little cousin until he cries."
"Big sister, save me!" Qin Heng said under a fake name.
Lord Gu: "..."
Qin Yuan laughed and said, "What ideas do I have? I was thinking that the Emperor might be using our Marquis to put pressure on someone he doesn't like, all for the sake of choosing the Crown Princess. As the saying goes, a great reward will surely bring forth brave men. As long as the Emperor is sincere, there will be plenty of people willing to be the Crown Princess. Our Marquis is a military general, and no matter what he does, there will be people complaining. It would be better to just ask the Ministry of Personnel for a few people and the Censorate for a few people, put them together, and let them argue about it."
Upon hearing this, Qin Jijiu immediately sobered up.
"What a brilliant plan! My son is even better than Zhuge Liang. What a wonderful son-in-law! You are truly blessed to have my daughter as your wife."
Gu Jinghui immediately said, "Father-in-law is absolutely right. It is indeed a great blessing for me to marry Yuan'er."
Qin Jijiu was quite excited, and even took a few steps away from his seat. He turned around and said, "My son-in-law is already a war god. There is no need for him to take another step forward."
Qin Yuan smiled, poured herself a glass of wine, and offered it to Qin Jijiu, saying, "Father, your daughter toasts you."
Qin Jijiu accepted the drink, finished it, and continued to praise him.
"She truly is my daughter."
Qin Yuan smiled and instructed, "I'm going back over there. Don't eat too much, as the Marquis will be going to the palace to express his gratitude later."
Qin Heng sighed, "Is it really that hard to hang out with my brother-in-law?"
Sixth Master Gu hurriedly said, "I can ride a horse too, but Third Brother's precious horse can only be ridden by outsiders when Third Brother is present. If you don't mind, you can ride a horse with me later."
Qin Heng was immediately pleased again.
Remembering that Lord Gu still needed to go to the palace to express his gratitude, the group quickly drank a few cups and then dispersed.
After saying goodbye to Madam Gu, Qin Yuan saw Cui Shi out of the mansion. Cui Shi said, "Your mother-in-law treats you very well, so you must take good care of her. It would be even better if you had a son or daughter in the future, and then I would be at ease. Your sister and Lin Ziqi's crybaby mother are always causing a ruckus, and I've even gotten a few gray hairs from all the stress."
Qin Yuan thought for a moment and said, "Perhaps things will be better if Scholar Lin passes the imperial examination."
Madam Cui sighed and said, "I hope so, but I'm afraid Lin Juren's mother is even more stubborn and difficult to deal with. Your sister is a simpleton, only good at bullying her own family. She's easily fooled in the Lin family. I'd rather die than see her again."
Qin Yuan didn't know what to say to comfort herself.
Madam Cui continued, "You don't know, do you? Lin's mother is spending her dowry and complaining that she comes home for meals too often. She's also insisting on bringing her cousin from her hometown over. Your sister is incredibly generous and agreed immediately. I wonder if that cousin is a good person or a bad person. I'm afraid she'll be on the same side as Lin's mother when she arrives."
Qin Yuan thought to herself that Qin Wan's life was much more comfortable than her previous life. In her previous life, Lin's mother had tormented her a lot, spending her money and causing all sorts of trouble every day.
Qin Wan had a large dowry and was the eldest daughter of the Qin family, so Lin's mother didn't dare to go too far.
But if it goes on for too long, you'll inevitably be taken advantage of.
Qin Yuan comforted her, "Mother, there's no use in getting angry here. You can only have someone keep an eye on my sister so that you can lend a hand if anything happens."
Madam Cui stamped her foot and said, "I'm so angry! I really owe her something for giving birth to her. Why is she so troublesome?"
Looking at Qin Jijiu and the others standing and talking not far away, Cui changed the subject and talked about the scenery of the Marquis's mansion. Qin Yuan then said that there were some good fruits on the table, so she specially packed some, and added some pastries, tea, good ink and other items, and ordered people to put them on the carriage.
Cui thanked him and got into the carriage.
The Imperial Scholar Qin left Qin Siyuan and Qin Heng at the Marquis's residence. Before parting, emboldened by alcohol, he admonished Gu Jinghui: "My dear son-in-law, you should study more."
Lord Gu, with his hands hanging at his sides, respectfully replied, "Yes."
Qin Jijiu became increasingly smug. He stood in front of the carriage door with his hands behind his back, wanting to say a few more words, but Cui pulled him into silence. He was half-pushed and half-pulled into the carriage.
Even after the carriage had gone far away, Lord Gu could still hear Madam Cui inside saying, "It's one thing to act like this at the Imperial Academy, but to put on airs in front of your son-in-law, does he think he's your student?"
"Hey, what do you know..."
Watching the Qin family carriage disappear into the distance, Qin Yuan turned to the group and smiled, "The elders have all rested, let's all go about our business."
Master Gu led the two young masters of the Qin family to go boating, and also brought his two younger sons along to absorb some of the scholarly atmosphere.
Qin Yuan was happy to have Sixth Master Gu help with the hospitality.
He specifically instructed, "Brother Siyuan, come to Wutong Garden to talk to me when you get back."
Qin Siyuan also had something to tell her, so he said, "Okay."
Qin Heng felt a little jealous and said, "Don't you have anything to say to me?"
Qin Yuan rolled her eyes at him and said, "Do you think my cousin Siyuan wouldn't bring you along?"
Qin Heng was finally pleased.
Qin Yuan wandered around for half a day, drank some wine, and was a little tired, so she took a nap.
When she woke up, she learned that Lord Gu had already bathed, changed clothes, washed and perfumed himself in the outer study before going to the palace to express his gratitude.
Cuiming said, "When the Marquis saw that you were tired, he went to the outer study and had Sixteen serve you."
Qin Yuan responded, saying, "The Marquis often meets with the Emperor, and Sixteen is used to serving him. It might be faster if he serves you."
Hongye brought in the list and asked, "Miss, would you like to see the list that I and the head housekeepers prepared?"
Qin Yuan said, "Of course I'll watch it. This is the highlight of my two days. I'll put everything else aside for now."
The three of them huddled together to look at the banquet invitation, which listed the guests, the rules of the banquet, the number of seats, the cost of the ingredients, the decorations, the types of cups, bowls, plates and dishes, the supplies and regulations, as well as the lodging and temporary accommodations for the guests, and so on.
It is extremely complicated.
Hongye sighed, "A wealthy family is indeed a wealthy family. There are special people in charge of everything, from the parking of carriages and horses to their guard. There can be no mistakes."
Cui Ming said, "More than that, the sewing room also needs to prepare the fabric curtains and embroidered curtains needed that day. Some are frequently used and have been stored away, while others are seasonal and need to be made on the spot."
Qin Yuan said, "In order to avoid mistakes, we need to rehearse once first, so that we won't be short of manpower, tea and water, or have our plates and dishes broken. It would be embarrassing if we had no one and nothing to use."
Who can hold a banquet without any mishaps or mistakes?
Hongye sighed.
Qin Yuan said, "That's why I told you to look after more people. With their help, and with the managers and matriarchs in charge, it will be easier. Otherwise, do you expect me and everyone around me to be exhausted just to handle all this?"
When Madam Gu heard her two children mention that her third aunt was going to hold a banquet to ward off bad luck, she couldn't help but sneer and privately mocked Zhao Mama.
"You've only been in the manor for a short time, yet you dare to take on this job. You really don't know your place."
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