After going out for a walk, Xu Yixing felt much better and no longer felt irritated. He studied the meatballs he brought every day and wondered whether he should find someone to test them on.
But with so many people in the mansion, all of them good masters and servants who lived together day and night, using them for experiments was somewhat inhumane. So Siqin would often see her young lady staring blankly at the live chickens scattered on the kitchen floor.
"Miss, do you want some chicken soup?"
"Oh, no, I don't want to. I just want to take a look."
Forget it, drugging a chicken and then eating it yourself is not a good idea. Anyway, there will be plenty of opportunities in the future, so for now, I will just believe that Ying Si didn't introduce me to something random.
The New Year passed quickly, and Dad resumed his daily routine of attending court. Gu's status in the mansion remained intact, and after what happened with Nanny Gu, she didn't dare to relinquish power to the same person.
Therefore, besides Huixiang, the head maids in the front yard also had Huiting and Huizhi to share power. Huixiang was very upset. She had thought that once Gu Mama died, she would be able to take over the power alone. Now it seems that her life is not as good as when Mama Gu was around. How miserable!
However, the theft was still done by Huixiang, and Gu probably did not tell the other two maids.
The pests outside were eliminated, and the gold and silver in the warehouse inside the mansion were sold as collateral. In this way, the Gu family quickly accumulated a large amount of money, and their life was even more comfortable than when Nanny Gu was there. They restored the guest reception day on the 20th of each month in the Xu Mansion, and people became much more easy-going.
Not only did she restore Xu Yiwen's regular salary, but she also, as a gesture of goodwill, increased Xu Yixing's salary from two taels to five. Xu Yixing rolled his eyes. Giving Yiwen fifty taels and himself five taels, and expecting him to be grateful? You're such a jerk!
After the winter, old trees sprouted and new branches turned green. Xu Yixing finally changed into lighter clothes. She grew a little taller and finally looked like a grown-up girl.
Spring has arrived, and naturally, the ways of the world have come with it. The palace has issued an order that the Empress Dowager and Lu Anyuan's nominal mothers all want to see Miss Xu Er and see what the seventh prince's future princess looks like.
When Xu Yixing was young, he often went to the palace to play with the princesses. I remember that he even went to the study where the princes were studying and made trouble. After returning home, he was punished by his father to do 100 squats.
But when she grew up, she was no longer a royal relative, so naturally she had no chance to enter the palace again.
Although she didn't want to see those resentful women in the palace this time, she also missed the exquisite buildings and delicious food in the palace. The two emotions offset each other and she didn't feel disgusted.
The day before entering the palace, Old Man Xu finally had time to pay attention to his daughter.
"Yan'er, are you ready for your visit to the palace?"
"Everything is ready. The maids have already explained the rules. The clothes and jewelry I need to wear when entering the palace are also ready. As for the gifts I need to bring to the ladies in the palace, my mother has already arranged them for me."
Neither the father nor the daughter looked at the gifts. Even if Gu Shi was dissatisfied with her second daughter's marriage, she would never be so foolish as to tamper with the gifts of the nobleman. This was the dignity of a legitimate mother. No matter how disliked it was at home, it still represented the Xu family outside.
"Well, the Seventh Prince will be with you tomorrow, and Dad is relieved."
"Hey, is he coming with me too?" Why didn't anyone tell me?
"Yeah, if he doesn't take you, how will you know the way?"
Can't you ask a palace maid to lead the way...
Seeing the two girls being shy, Old Man Xu was amused himself and joked, "Perform well. Leave a good impression on the ladies in the palace when you return, and your marriage will be secure!"
Haha, the imperial edict has been issued, what does it have to do with those ladies?
"Yes, daughter understands, Dad is relieved."
March 3rd, Shangsi Festival, is supposed to be the day for young ladies from all families to go out to enjoy the flowers and eat flower cakes. Every prominent family in Beijing would send their young ladies and young masters to go for an outing in the suburbs of Beijing.
Unlike the direction they headed out of the city, the Xu family's carriage headed straight into the imperial city and met up with the seventh prince's carriage at the palace gate.
Xu Yixing got out of the car and saw Lu Anyuan, who looked like he had been waiting for a while. His cloak was covered in the annoying spring dust and ash. The black leather made him look more majestic, but it also made the ash more obvious.
Lu Anyuan's eyes lit up when he saw Xu Yixing: she had dressed up carefully today, wearing a golden branch headdress in the shape of a winter jasmine, a goose yellow skirt, a light green thin cloak, and a pair of light-colored cloud-stepping shoes, each with a small pearl embellished on the tip.
She was elegant and pleasant, with a faint smile and eager eyes. She was more lively than Yiyan, and slightly overshadowed Yixing's former flamboyance. She was indescribably beautiful and radiant.
"You're here? Come on, I'll take you to see the Queen Mother first."
Lu Anyuan originally wanted to help Yixing walk together, but since Yixing didn't seem to want to get close to him, he gave up. The two of them walked side by side, following the young eunuch into the palace.
"There's dust on your cloak."
"Really?" Lu Anyuan looked down and saw some dust marks near his collar. "I stood at the palace gate for a while when I came here this morning. Who knew it would get on me?"
After saying that, he patted away the dust with his hand. As soon as he put his hand down, he saw Yixing took out a handkerchief from his arms, as if he was going to wipe it for him.
Tsk! Fuck you!
Seeing Xu Yixing take back the handkerchief, Lu Anyuan hurriedly tugged at the hem of his cloak: "It seems there is dust underneath too."
Xu Yixing looked over and saw that there was indeed some below the calf. But do you mean to let me wipe it for you?
"Ah Da, how are you serving? Hurry up and clean up for your master. The Queen Mother will blame you when you see her later!"
Xu Yixing put on a condescending smile of victory, and saw Ada squatting and brushing off Lu Anyuan, who looked "happy".
The Queen Mother's palace was located at the westernmost part of the Imperial Palace, the quietest and most peaceful. She preferred quietness and only attended the New Year's Eve banquet once a year, rarely appearing in public. Therefore, Xu Yixing was unfamiliar with her. As they walked, he listened to Lu Anyuan introduce this most distinguished woman of the Great Xia Dynasty.
"Grandmother is already sixty this year. Father held a birthday banquet for her during the New Year, and everyone was very happy."
Well, Xu Yixing knew this, but in order to avoid his grandson You from checking his fingernails, Xu Yixing pretended to be sick for a long time, so he did not attend the birthday party.
"I didn't go, she won't be angry, right?"
"Of course not. Besides, you and I haven't gotten married yet, so you don't have the right to attend the birthday party."
Yes, I overthought it.
Lu Anyuan continued, "Grandmother is not my father's biological mother, but she was very kind to him. I heard that she said a lot of good things to him and helped him a lot in the succession process."
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