Ye Chen felt relieved only when Lu Chenyuan arrived at the designated location.
Time soon arrived on the day before New Year's Eve, which was the busiest time for every household.
On this day, the Ye Mansion will distribute new clothes for the New Year to everyone in the mansion, and also prepare breakfast and lunch for the next day. For dinner, they will go to the palace to participate in the New Year's Eve celebration.
The master also has to prepare red envelopes for the servants as New Year gifts. The most important thing is to prepare things for ancestor worship. First, they have to go to the ancestral hall to worship their ancestors, and then Ye Chen and Shen Qiu will go to Xiyuan to worship their parents.
Of course, the only ancestors are the old duke’s parents. The old duke himself does not know the other ancestors. His father is an orphan and does not know where he came from. So when the old duke’s generation built the ancestral hall, the ancestors were his parents.
This was Lan Yu’s first time celebrating the New Year in the Great Yin Kingdom. The New Year celebrations in the Ye Nan Kingdom were different from those in the Great Yin Kingdom.
In the Southern Kingdom, people mostly celebrate the New Year with priests, and there is no such thing as staying up all night to celebrate the New Year.
Ye Chen brought Chen Qiu to Rongwei Hall. Lan Yu and Xiao Hang were also there. The old Duke habitually touched the ring on his hand while playing chess with Ye Chen.
Madam Xiao, Shen Qiu and Lan Yu were wrapping red envelopes with the help of their maids.
The old Duke asked Ye Chen: "How is it? Are you sure?"
Ye Chen made a move while answering the question irrelevantly: "In fact, in terms of character, knowledge, and the way of being an official, Yan Qinglian is second to none. However, due to their different positions, it is destined to be a life-and-death struggle."
The old Duke sighed and said, "Back when the Three Kings Rebellion broke out, he stabilized the government while I fought outside. We had a tacit understanding. I never expected fate to play such a trick on us and end up like this."
Ye Chen also said with a heavy face: "No one wants to take this step. If he and the emperor are willing to give in, perhaps things will be different."
The old Duke shook his head and said, "Now that we've come this far, saying otherwise is meaningless. Once you've chosen your position, do everything you can to defend it. That's all you can do. We can only lament the impermanence of life at this point."
Ye Chen smiled and said: "Yes, Grandfather, it has come to this point. I am not that naive. Don't worry, Grandfather."
"You two, stop talking nonsense. We are busy here. Come and help!" Madam Xiao shouted.
The old Duke and Ye Chen smiled at each other, and then joined the team of giving out red envelopes.
The personal maids of the masters of each courtyard usually receive the highest monthly salary, and also receive the biggest red envelopes during the New Year.
Lan Yu said with a smile: "Your New Year celebrations are really interesting."
"But I heard that you guys value family reunion during the New Year and don't go out."
"Why do we have to go to the palace tomorrow?"
Xiao Taijun threw a wrapped red envelope into a basket beside her and said, "This is actually nothing, I just went to the palace to accompany the emperor to celebrate the New Year."
"People in the Central Plains value family and country. Family is country and country is family. As long as you are in the Great Yin Kingdom, you are considered home no matter where you celebrate the New Year."
"Tomorrow there will be singing and dancing in the palace all night long, and the young ladies and gentlemen from various families will also perform their talents."
"Tomorrow night, you can be disrespectful. If a young lady feels she is better than someone else, she can challenge them in front of everyone. The only rule is no swords or wounds."
Chen Qiu asked suspiciously, "Don't the ladies of the upper echelons of Kyoto learn such elegant arts as music, chess, calligraphy, and painting? How could this involve using swords and knives? And hurting people?"
Lady Xiao said with a smile, "This is your generation. When we first entered Kyoto, we were all veterans of the battlefield. How many of us knew these things? The only thing we can compare is martial arts. The late emperor established this rule."
Ye Chen continued, "Now the young masters of each mansion also compete in boxing and kicking, so this rule has always been there."
Lan Yu smiled and said, "That sounds quite interesting. Tomorrow I will also meet the ladies from your capital."
Then Lan Yu looked outside and said, "According to the rules, I still have to wear my own skirt, but it's so cold outside, I'm afraid I'll freeze to death."
Chen Qiu said: "Rules are dead, but people are alive. Can people be suffocated to death by rules?"
"Tomorrow you can just wear your hat and the new clothes we gave you for the New Year."
"I asked the embroiderer to embroider a circle on your dress according to the pattern on your skirt. It will be delivered this afternoon. I'll show it to you when I get home. I guarantee you'll like it."
"It would look good with your hat, too."
Lan Yu excitedly took Chen Qiu's hand and said, "Xiao Qiu, you are so nice. Why are you so nice?" Then he leaned his head on Chen Qiu's shoulder.
Ye Chen saw it, reached out and used one finger to lift up Lan Yu's head, and Lan Yu felt pain from the prick.
He cried out, "Ye Chen, what are you using to prick me? Why does it hurt so much?"
Ye Chen took back his finger, wiped it on Xiao Hang's clothes, and said: "I'll give your wife's sweat back to you."
Xiao Hang glared at Ye Chen. Lan Yu saw that Ye Chen looked like he wanted a beating, then hugged Chen Qiu and kissed him on the face.
Then he pointed at his own face and said, "If you have the guts, pay it back for Xiao Qiu. If you dare, I'll respect you as a man."
Ye Chen's face was full of black lines. He wiped the place on Chen Qiu's face where Lan Yu had kissed him, and then wiped it on Xiao Hang's body again, saying: "Your wife is so disgusting, I'll give it back to you!"
When Lan Yu saw Ye Chen, who hated himself but couldn't do anything about it, she laughed so hard that she fell backwards.
Ye Chen glared at Lan Yu, then said to Shen Qiu: "Qiu'er, stay away from Lan Yu, or she will lead you astray."
While filling the red envelope, Chen Qiu smiled and said to Ye Chen: "Okay, how old are you two?"
"Still like a child, so naive."
Lan Yu glanced at Ye Chen, then snorted and turned to talk to Xiao Hang.
Nanny Sun smiled and said to Madam Xiao, "That's great! The New Year celebrations in this mansion haven't been as lively as this year for several years!"
Madam Xiao smiled and said, "Yes, it has been deserted for several years."
"Ever since Xiaoqiu got married, the old man has been willing to go out to the fields. Chen'er has passed the imperial examination and has achieved academic success. I will soon have a great-grandson."
"Xiao Qiu is a lucky star, right?"
Nanny Sun smiled and said, "Yes, you are also very lucky. Otherwise, how could you have asked to marry such a lucky grandson's daughter-in-law?"
Madam Xiao pointed at Nanny Sun's nose and said, "You are the only one who can talk. I am so happy this year that I have given extra red envelopes to everyone in the mansion."
Nanny Sun said hurriedly: "Oh, your blessing, even a little bit of it is earned by our past lives."
After lunch at Rongwei Hall, Chen Qiu and the others returned to Qiuchen Courtyard. Nanny Hua came out to greet them and said, "Princess Lanyu's clothes were delivered this morning. Would you like to try them on now?"
Lan Yu said: "Try it now, you will have to wear it tomorrow!"
The fabric used the same color as Lan Yuye's dress, and the pattern on the skirt was the same as that on Lan Yu's dress, but it was slightly enlarged.
It was made into a small jacket, exactly the same as Lan Yu's top, except that cotton was added inside.
Lan Yu took out all her head ornaments and necklaces and put them on, and it didn't look out of place at all.
Lan Yu said happily: "Xiao Qiu, you are simply a treasure. How did you come up with this idea? I love it so much."
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