84_84041 Old Madam Feng, who had received the imperial decree, was immersed in this sudden joy the whole day, and Feng Chenyu was even better at pleasing her. She immediately picked out some good things from her own private storehouse and sent them to Shuya Garden, saying that the old lady was now an imperial decree, and the furnishings in the house must be worthy of her status.
Before the Shen family got into trouble, Shen Wanliang secretly gave Chen Yu a lot of money. Although most of it was handed over to Feng Yuheng by her, there were still tens of thousands of taels left.
Chenyu was willing to spend a lot of money. Not only did she give the old lady a lot of home furnishings, but she also gave the old lady a silver note of 10,000 taels that afternoon, saying it was to bring her good luck.
The old lady had not been very fond of Chenyu since she met with trouble in Fengtong County. Although she occasionally changed her mind afterwards, she always changed her mind. Chenyu grew up in front of her, so how could she not understand the old lady's temper? Whether she was good or bad depended on the amount of gifts she gave. For this old lady, money was sometimes more important than the future of the Feng family.
Sure enough, after a busy day, the old lady looked at the things piled up in the room and the silver bills in her hands, and smiled from ear to ear, and kept praising Chenyu for her filial piety.
But at the same time, she was also looking forward to other granddaughters expressing their gratitude to her, especially Feng Yuheng. You know, most of the things that could make a fish sink were left to her by the Shen family, or found by the Shen family. No matter how good they were, they were just folk items. But Feng Yuheng's things were all real gifts from the emperor! No matter if they were awarded by the palace or sent by the Prince's Palace, which one would not be several blocks away from this thing that could make a fish sink?
As a result, she waited from noon to after dinner, but Feng Yuheng didn't even show up. Not only did Feng Yuheng not show up, but even Fendai and Xiangrong didn't make any movement. The old lady couldn't sit still anymore, and urged Zhao Mama: "Send someone to each courtyard to see what they are doing?"
Madam Zhao was also helpless. If someone gave you a gift, it was out of their will. If they didn't give you one, would you still rush to ask for it? What's more, they were all juniors. The eldest daughter had money, but the third and fourth daughters didn't have any good things except their monthly allowance.
But since the old lady had spoken, she had no choice but to go, so she could only send a few groups of people to inquire, but they only dared to think about Rong Fendai and would never dare to approach Tongshengxuan.
Soon, the people who went to inquire came back, and the one who went to the Magnolia Courtyard said, "Madam Han is not feeling well, and the Fourth Miss is waiting on her, so she really can't leave. She said she will get up early tomorrow and come here to kowtow to the old lady."
The maid who was heading towards Xiangrong said, "The Third Miss said that she has saved some money from her monthly allowance in the past six months, and will send it to the old lady tomorrow morning to congratulate her on her appointment."
The old lady's face darkened when she heard this. "How much is the monthly allowance?"
The servants' faces darkened, their heads hung, and they stopped talking. The old lady grumbled for a while, but then she became annoyed and simply waved her hand to let everyone go.
Madam Zhao advised helplessly, "Miss Third and Miss Fourth have no maternal family to support them, so they will naturally be more financially constrained. But think about it, old lady, this is a good thing. Without a maternal family, it means that they can only rely on the Feng family. No matter which family they marry into in the future, they will do their best for the Feng family. Unlike Miss Eldest, I should say something that I shouldn't say, how much trouble did the Shen family cause to the mansion in the past!"
The old lady felt that her analysis was correct, and her face became even darker when she mentioned the Shen family. "They have tried to harm my grandson several times, and we must not tolerate it. Zirui is the legitimate son and the only descendant of the Feng family. He is so successful now, but we have to rely on him to bring honor to the family in the future."
"That's right!" Madam Zhao echoed, "Even if Princess Kangyi married and had a child with Master, that child would still be half foreign blood after all, so it would be hard for him to achieve anything in the future!"
The old lady sighed, "If you think so, the Feng family really only has Zirui as the last descendant, so we have to take good care of him." At this point, she became angry again, "As a junior, you didn't even come over to congratulate me. Do you really think you can ignore me just because you're a county lady? Now I'm a first-rank imperial official!"
Zhao Ma Ma didn't say anything, but she was thinking in her heart, what's the use of a first-rank imperial decree? She has no power or influence, while the second young lady has real achievements.
The old lady was complaining a lot, while Feng Yuheng was sitting in Yao's room at Tongshengxuan and talking. She asked Yao, "I plan to send Zirui back to Xiaozhou in the next few days. Do you want to live with Zirui there for a while?" After all, Yao was carried into the Feng Mansion in a sedan chair with eight bearers. Shen's concubine was carried as a wife, which missed this step. In addition, they were still in the northwest at the time and could not take care of this side. But now Kang Yi is about to marry. After all, she is the eldest princess of Qianzhou Kingdom. This happy event must be lively. She is afraid that Yao will be sad when she sees the scene.
Yao was a smart woman, so she understood her daughter's thoughts and said immediately, "I won't go. I've already given up on that mansion, and if I leave now, it'll seem like I'm hiding on purpose and being figured out for no reason. He can have a wedding if he wants to, but now that my daughter is successful and can let me have my own mansion to live in, this is the greatest joy for me. I just want to live my own life. Whether the Feng family lives or dies, prospers or declines, it has nothing to do with me anymore."
Feng Yuheng breathed a sigh of relief. She was very happy that Yao could say such words. She couldn't help but hold her hand and said, "Don't worry, mother. Our good days are not over yet. In the future, Ah Heng will also bring grandpa's family back to fulfill mother's filial piety and Ah Heng's longing for his grandfather."
When the Yao family was mentioned, Yao's tears were about to fall again. Feng Yuheng quickly changed the subject: "Mother still has to go to Prince Wenxuan's Mansion tomorrow. Zirui is going back to Xiaozhou. Mother, please ask Aunt Lan if there is anything she wants to bring."
"Yes." Yao nodded repeatedly, "Last time, your Aunt Lan told Zirui to say hello to her before he went back, so I will take Zirui with me tomorrow."
After Feng Yuheng came out from Yao's place, he began to think about bringing a gift to the imperial tutor Ye Rong. The gift couldn't be too heavy, as scholars didn't have such a strong concept of gold and silver, and they were afraid that if the gift was not given well, it would make people feel tacky.
She thought about it and remembered that there was a thick stack of unused A4 printing paper on the table where the printer was placed. Paper of that quality and specification could not be produced in this era. It was always inconvenient to use rice paper. Moreover, if you wanted to copy something when you were out and about, you couldn't carry the four treasures of the study with you.
She hurried back to the yard, said something to Wangchuan Huangquan, and went into the medicine room. After closing the door, she went directly into the space and found a few pencils and erasers in the drawer of her lounge.
These things are indispensable for copying and taking notes in the pharmacy. Before Zirui went to the academy, she had taught the child to write hard pen calligraphy. Feng Yuheng thought about it and simply packed up all the printing papers, took out a few pencils and erasers, and found a few throat lozenges on the counter outside before leaving the space.
She divided the things into two portions, one large and one small. The large portion was for Ye Rong as a gift, and the small portion was for Zi Rui. Then she left the medicine room and returned to her bedroom. She called the class and said, "The day after tomorrow, you go to Xiaozhou in person and send Zi Rui back. Be careful on the way. The Shen family is now a lost dog. There is no guarantee that they will not ambush and bite people along the way."
Ban Zou nodded, "Don't worry, Master."
Ban made her feel at ease, and she really felt at ease. She talked to Zirui for a while, and after giving him paper and pen, she went back to her room to rest.
After the old lady announced the marriage between Feng Jinyuan and Kang Yi, the Feng Mansion entered the full preparation stage. Under the leadership of the housekeeper He Zhong, the whole mansion began to busy itself with preparations. Kang Yi was arranged to live in the Tianxiang Courtyard, which was closest to the Song Garden, and the Jinfu Courtyard where she had lived before was given to Ru Jia by the old lady. She also promised Xiangrong and Fendai that they would also live in their own courtyards when they turned twelve next year, and would no longer be crowded with the concubines.
Feng Jinyuan was also busy these days. With the visit of the prince and princess of the ancient Shu Kingdom, the envoys of Gumo also came to the capital. Unlike the previous three kingdoms, the people sent by Gumo in the western border of Dashun to Dashun were just diplomatic officials like in previous years, not royal relatives, which was a relief.
As the prime minister, Feng Jinyuan was the busiest every year when the envoys from the four countries came to Beijing at the same time. The old lady knew this, so she didn't ask him too much about what he was busy with. What's more, she was also busy, busy accepting gifts.
As soon as the news spread that the Feng family was going to marry a foreign princess to be the mistress of the palace, the families of officials of all ranks in the capital began to make moves. No matter what, Feng Jinyuan was a first-rank official, and the people waiting in line behind him to curry favor with him could line up from the Feng Mansion to the city gate. I was worried that I had no chance to give gifts normally, so now that there was a wedding, I naturally had to show off my goodness.
As the left prime minister, Feng Jinyuan usually showed a frugal and strict attitude in front of others. People knew that gifts should not be given to Feng Jinyuan. Fortunately, the old lady had just been awarded the first-rank imperial decree, so everyone was eager to carry the good things to Shuya Garden.
The old lady has always been a polite person who is content with everything. There is no reason for her to give away such good things. So for several days in a row, she greeted guests with a smile from morning to night. Even though she was so tired that her back ached, she was still happy in her heart.
However, she also had a clear account. Every gift from each family and what kind of gift they gave were recorded by the accountant. Afterwards, she would naturally re-evaluate the gifts according to their importance. Of course, these favors also had to be reported to Feng Jinyuan so that he could deal with them in the former dynasty in the future.
The old lady received gifts for five days, and only stopped after the fifteenth day of the first lunar month. Generally speaking, after the fifteenth day, the New Year is over, and the joy in the capital city also decreases a bit, but the Feng family cannot reduce the joy in the slightest.
The old lady has been really happy these days, and she thought that the children of the Feng family must not be poor on the day Kang Yi comes to visit her house. She had previously instructed them to make clothes for them, and now she thinks it is a good opportunity to buy a set of head ornaments and jewelry for each of them!
She shared this idea with several children on the morning of the 16th day of the first lunar month. Except for Feng Yuheng, who was not surprised, the other children were very happy.
After all, whether it was Shen who was in charge of the household affairs before or the old lady who is in charge of the household affairs now, they are all stingy. They won’t make ordinary jewelry for them, let alone headwear. Even this New Year, the old lady only made new clothes for them, and didn’t even mention the jewelry. Unexpectedly, Feng Jinyuan let them get a set of headwear for his wedding. Several people quickly stood up and bowed to the old lady to thank her.
The old lady rolled her eyes at them, thinking that what a heartless bunch of people there were. Apart from Chenyu, no one had shown any appreciation for her. Xiangrong even sent her fifty taels of silver in a shabby and disgusting way, which was really a slap in her face.
However, she had been in a very good mood recently, so she did not care too much about it. She only told Madam Zhao to tell the account to pay the money first, and then quickly sent someone to make it overnight. She insisted that all four sets of headgear must be completed before the 28th day of the first lunar month.
Nanny Zhao agreed and went, but when she came back she had empty hands. She said to the old lady helplessly, "The account says... there is no money."
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