Chapter 34 Birthday Celebration
Lu Yu suffered a misfortune and his little toe on his left foot was cut off. Mrs. Lu cried and wailed, cursing Jiang Ran and resenting Lu Weiqing for not saving her. She no longer had the heart to prepare Mrs. Lu's birthday party.
However, the invitations had already been distributed, and the guests were all prominent figures in Chang'an.
Lord Lu was busy handling government affairs and preparing for the banquet at the same time, and was extremely busy.
Concubine Liu helped to handle affairs under the pretext of feeling sorry for him and assigned many lucrative jobs to relatives from her mother's side. Madam Lu had no intention of competing with her and only focused on taking care of her precious son.
On the day of the birthday banquet, all the officials came together to congratulate, most of whom were former students of Mr. Lu, who came specially to wish his wife a happy birthday.
The most impressive thing was that Princess Le'an was invited to present a gift on behalf of the royal family. Everyone knew she was there for Lu Weiqing, but it was still a great honor for the Lu family.
Jiang Ran dressed simply and chose to arrive at the house at a time when there were few people around, not wanting to attract attention.
Old Madam Lu had always been very kind to her, just like her own grandmother. She hadn't seen her for a long time since she and Lu Yu broke up.
Jiang Ran prepared gifts carefully. Although he didn't go to the birthday party, he had to meet and talk to her privately, otherwise she would definitely be sad.
It is extremely cold today, with heavy snow falling since early morning.
As she got off the carriage and held up her oil-paper umbrella, she saw Prime Minister Lu had also arrived, reaching out to help a woman. Jiang Ran recognized the girl at a glance.
Lu Weiqing had never brought a female relative to a banquet before; this was his first time. Today was also Mrs. Lu's birthday banquet, which had a special meaning. It seemed like they were about to get married.
She felt a little bitter in her heart. Those perfunctory words she had said to Jiang Huan were indeed wishful thinking.
Jiang Ran dodged quickly, and when Lu Weiqing looked over, he only caught a glimpse of the corner of her clothes, but he still recognized her.
This little girl is sometimes very bold, but when she gets into trouble she becomes as timid as a rabbit. She is probably too shy to see him now.
He almost believed her lies that day, but after she slipped away, he realized that she was probably pretending to have amnesia.
Lu Weiqing touched her lips with the tip of her tongue. That spot had not healed yet. What a sharp-tongued girl.
"Miss Jiang is here! The old lady has been talking about her since the day before yesterday. The weather is exceptionally cold this year, so the old lady has moved to the warm room to rest. She was worried that Miss Jiang wouldn't be able to find a place, so she asked me to wait at the door early this morning."
As soon as Jiang Ran entered the house, the nanny beside the old lady came up to her and led her directly to the warm room.
Jiang Ran felt warm in his heart, "I miss the old lady too. I've been busy lately and haven't come to visit for a long time. I'm sorry to have made the old lady miss me. I'm really rude."
"Miss, you are too kind."
The nanny smiled kindly. In her opinion, Miss Jiang's character and personality were first-rate, and it was a pity that her marriage to the young master didn't take place.
After not seeing each other for a long time, Mrs. Lu's temples had turned much whiter. She came towards Jiang Ran tremblingly, took his hand, and patted it affectionately.
"Why are your hands so cold? Come in quickly."
"Hey, I'm wearing enough clothes, so I'm not cold. Be careful not to freeze you." Jiang Ran took off his coat, handed it to Tao Li, patted the snow off it and hung it up.
"It's okay, I'm in good health!"
The old lady's hand tightly wrapped around her slightly cold hand, and the warmth from her palm was transmitted, instantly warming her hand and her heart as well.
As soon as they sat down, Jiang Ran presented the gifts she had prepared for Madam Lu: a heater cover, a sachet, and a handkerchief. She had personally selected the best materials and spent a lot of effort to embroider them by herself.
She has never been able to sit still, and her embroidery skills are average, so she can only embroider small things. She took them apart and patched them up many times before she could finally make them presentable.
In addition, there were some soothing items that she had specially sent people to look for, such as the Polu incense tribute from the Western Regions, the berry tea produced in Dongji Island, and the dragon bone grass from the northern border. She took them out one by one and told the nanny how to use them. There were all kinds of things on the table.
The old lady's eyes were filled with tears. "My dear child, it's amazing that you are so thoughtful."
Jiang Ran patted the old lady's back gently, as if coaxing a child. "Old lady used to treat Ah Ran better. Now that Ah Ran has grown up, of course he has to respect you!"
The nanny also advised: "What a wonderful day it is today. Ah Ran is so filial. Madam should be happy."
"Happy, happy! How could I not be happy? Today A Ran came to see me, an old woman, and I am very happy." The old lady wiped her tears with a handkerchief and smiled again.
"You are not old at all. You are in such good health. You will surely live for thousands of years." Jiang Ran took the opportunity to say some auspicious words in a sweet voice.
The old lady laughed so hard that she couldn't stop. "Oh, that won't do. If I live for thousands of years, won't I become an old monster?"
"It's not a monster, it's a god. Ah Ran comes to celebrate your birthday every year. When I can't walk anymore, can I have my son and grandson come too? Okay?"
Jiang Ran leaned into the old lady's arms, greedily sniffing her warm scent that was like the sunshine.
The old lady was both happy and distressed, and couldn't help shedding tears.
"They all think I'm blind and deaf, and that they can hide the evil deeds done by that bastard Lu Yu from me."
"I know your character best. My old enemy passed away early, and when he left, he was still talking about how we were most looking forward to having you as our granddaughter-in-law! It was that boy who was not up to the task and was not worthy of you, and he made you suffer."
Jiang Ran originally thought that the old lady didn't know about these things, but she knew everything in her mind, and she didn't know how to explain it for a while.
The old lady couldn't bear her sadness, so she quickly wiped away her tears and comforted her: "It's okay, let's not talk about that bastard, we'll be fine. Ah Ran, from now on, just treat me as your own grandmother, okay? Call me Grandma and listen."
Jiang Ran felt a pang of pain in his heart, and he called out hoarsely, "Grandma."
"Hey, hey hey hey, my dear granddaughter." The old lady agreed repeatedly, and she produced a crystal clear, dazzling green jade bracelet from somewhere and put it on Jiang Ran.
Jiang Ran recognized that this was her most precious dowry and was about to refuse it.
"Don't refuse. I'm happy today. I originally left this for my granddaughter-in-law, and now I give it to my granddaughter." The old lady held her hand and stroked it gently.
The atmosphere in the room was harmonious when suddenly an uninvited guest broke in.
Lin Buqiu broke in without being informed, knelt on the ground holding up a nightgown, and said it was a birthday gift for the old lady.
The old lady's expression instantly turned cold. She disliked Lin Buqiu the most.
When she first came, the old lady took good care of her because of her pitiful life experience. However, she used all kinds of underhanded means to sow discord between Lu Yu and A Ran.
Lu Yu is stupid and A Ran is not the kind of kid who would complain, so he suffered a lot of grievances in vain.
"No one is allowed in without permission. Didn't your Wang family teach you this rule?"
"I am an old woman with little luck and cannot afford it. You take it."
"see a visitor out."
The old lady's words made Lin Buqiu's face turn pale. He kowtowed a few times and was then kicked out with his belongings.
Being interrupted like this, the old lady's face showed fatigue.
"Grandma, you must be tired after talking for so long, right? We have to go to the birthday party later, so take a break first."
Jiang Ran said goodbye politely. The old lady even stood up and saw her to the door, telling her to come often.
After saying goodbye to the old lady and about to put on the cloak, Jiang Ran discovered that it had been taken away at some point, leaving only the cape.
She winked at Taoli, suggesting that she should not make it public, as it was most likely done by Lin Buqiu, lest the old lady get angry if she knew about it.
At this time, Lin Buqiu had already put on his cloak and ran to the front yard.
She was filled with jealousy. Why was Jiang Ran so lucky? Everyone was so kind to her. The old man had given Jiang Ran such a beautiful jade bracelet, yet he spoke harshly to her.
Lin Buqiu cursed secretly: When today's matter is accomplished, I will marry into the Lu family in a grand ceremony, and then you will see how I torture you, you old fool!
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