Chapter 378: Book Shower
In the blink of an eye, another month passed.
Chen Tang's belly grew bigger again.
She is less than six months pregnant, but her belly is bigger than that of other women who are eight months pregnant. She has obviously controlled her food intake, but her belly just keeps growing. The princess is terrified to see it. It will take another three months to give birth. If it continues to grow, her belly will be extremely big by the time she gives birth.
The princess also suspected that it was twins, but twins are difficult to conceive and are more likely to be born prematurely, with a higher chance of difficult labor.
The princess suffered a lot when she gave birth to Xie Guimo and almost lost her life. She still feels scared when she thinks about it now.
Chen Tang seemed to be fine, not experiencing any pain from morning sickness, and he ate everything with relish and slept well... In Xie Guimo's words, he was heartless and fell asleep as soon as he touched the bed.
But her belly was so big that it was inconvenient for her to do anything. She even went to pay her respects to the princess less often, often only once every two or three days. She also went to the garden less often. Either Xie Guimo accompanied her, or several maids followed her, for fear that she would have an accident. With such a big belly, if she fell, it was simply unimaginable.
Chen Tang was leaning on the small couch reading a book. Now that her belly was big, she couldn't sit cross-legged anymore, and she couldn't maintain one posture for long before having to change.
Flipping the page casually, Mother Zhou came in with the account book. Chen Tang handed over all the affairs of Chenxiangxuan to Mother Zhou. Chen Tang was relieved that Mother Zhou was in charge of Chenxiangxuan, but Mother Zhou did not let Chen Tang be a hands-off boss. He still had to look at the account books, especially the account books of the dowry farm. He could ignore them, but he had to know what was going on.
But Chen Tang really didn't like looking at the account books. He touched his bulging belly and said, "Your belly is so big now. Can't you wait a few months and wait until I give birth?"
Mother Zhou didn't say anything, she just looked at the book in Shen Tang's hand, and Shen Tang put the book down silently.
Mother Zhou said, "It's just a quick look. It won't take much effort. Also, Chen Qi and Ginkgo's marriage was decided a long time ago. When will the Crown Prince's Consort hold a wedding banquet for them?"
Chen Tang's belly is getting heavier day by day. If she doesn't do anything now, she will have to wait until the baby is born and she finishes the confinement period, which will take at least four or five months.
When Ginkgo heard that they were going to hold a wedding banquet for her, her face turned red. "Why is Mother Zhou in such a hurry to marry me off?"
Mother Zhou laughed, "Why get married? Even if you get married, won't you still stay in Chenxiangxuan?"
ginkgo,"……"
No rebuttal.
But even if she didn't get married, she didn't want to get married so early. If she got married, she wouldn't be able to live with Qiu Tong.
But Ginkgo didn't dare say this, it was too embarrassing.
Chen Tang said, "Mother Zhou is really thoughtful. It's time to start organizing a wedding banquet for them."
It will take several days to prepare the dowry, choose a date, and prepare the banquet. It will take at least half a month at the fastest. If it is delayed any further, she will have to wait until she has given birth.
Chen Tang got down from the small couch and went to the study to find Xie Guimo. Xie Guimo asked, "Why are you here?"
Chen Tang said, "I'm here to discuss with you about holding a wedding banquet for Chen Qi and Ginkgo."
Xie Guimo said, "You decide."
This is not her decision.
Chen Tang asked, "Aren't you going to help Chen Qi propose marriage?"
Chen Tang said with a look on his face, "My maid is not that easy to marry. There is no need for a sedan chair, but there must be a betrothal gift, and it cannot be less."
Xie Guimo, "..."
He really didn't even think about proposing a marriage proposal.
Chen Qi has followed him for several years and is loyal to him. As his master, he should indeed give him a dowry.
Xie Guimo and Shen Tang discussed and decided to buy a small courtyard for Chen Qi behind the Jingyang Palace and give her a betrothal gift of 200 taels. Shen Tang gave Ginkgo a dowry of 20 acres of fertile land, two sets of silver jewelry, a pair of gold bracelets, 16 pieces of cloth, and some miscellaneous items. The dowry was almost the same as the betrothal gift.
Ginkgo was originally resisting getting married, but when she knew there were so many betrothal gifts and dowries, she no longer resisted. Even a beautiful girl might not have as much dowry as her.
Qiu Tong was envious, and Yin Xing said, "You and I are both maids of the Crown Prince's Consort. When you get married in the future, the Crown Prince's Consort will definitely need you as a concubine."
Qiu Tong blushed, "I, I don't want to get married..."
Gingko said, "How about I talk to the Crown Prince's wife and arrange a marriage for you, and we can get married together?"
Qiu Tong shook her head like a rattle.
After the discussion here, Chen Qi came in and said, "Master, Old Master An and his family will go to Beijing tomorrow."
Since Old Master An went to Beijing on New Year's Eve, he has never returned to Qizhou. He was exhausted from traveling so much, and he suffered from acclimatization, so he was sick for several days and stayed in Kyoto. When Old Master An's condition got a little better, Master An left Master An to take care of Old Master An, and went back to Qizhou to pick up his family.
Although only Madam An, the princess, and An Nuan are left in the lineage of the Duke of Zhenguo, the order of seniority and hierarchy means that the ones who will recognize their ancestry must be the other members of the An family, not the Duke of Zhenguo.
In addition, Madam An wants to choose an heir, so every younger member of the An family must go to Beijing for Madam An to choose. The children are young, so their parents must accompany them. It is like a trip to Beijing to broaden their horizons. Everyone always yearns to be at the feet of the emperor.
This was a big deal for the Duke of Zhenguo's Mansion. In the past half month, the princess returned to the Duke of Zhenguo's Mansion every few days to work on this matter with Madam An.
Xie Guimo asked Chen Tang, "Tomorrow the Duke of Zhenguo's Mansion will host a banquet to welcome them. Do you want to go?"
If Chen Tang wasn't pregnant, she would definitely go.
Now that Chen Tang is pregnant, she doesn’t have to go if she doesn’t want to.
Chen Tang touched his bulging belly and said, "I'll go with you. After the banquet, I'll go to the street to buy Ginkgo's dowry."
Since she is getting married, she must prepare wedding clothes. She can ask the embroidery room in the palace to make them, but the palace is not just about the main house after all. The princess will definitely not say anything. If she knows, she will probably send some to Ginkgo as an extra dowry. But there are other people in the palace, some of whom like to meddle in other people's affairs. Chen Tang doesn't want to be criticized for such a thing, so it's better to just buy something ready-made.
Chen Tang went out alone, and Xie Guimo was very worried, so he accompanied her wherever she went.
The next morning, the princess went to the Duke Zhenguo's Mansion to help. After all, there was only one Madam An in the Duke Zhenguo's Mansion. Although An Nuan was also there, she was pregnant, so the princess did not dare to let her work hard. The princess would rather work harder herself and was happy with it.
After breakfast, Chen Tang and Xie Guimo left the house and took a carriage to the Duke of Zhenguo's Mansion.
The princess thought Shen Tang would not come, and did not dare to call him, but when Shen Tang went, the princess was happier than anyone else, especially Mrs. An.
The princess said, "It will probably take a while for Old Master An and the others to arrive, so let Mo'er take you around."
Xie Guimo smiled and said, "I'll take you to see the courtyard where your mother lived before she got married."
Twenty years have passed since the princess got married, but the courtyard where she lived before her marriage is still preserved, and it still looks the same as when she was a boudoir dweller.
Chen Tang was actually quite interested, so Xie Guimo took her there.
There is a bamboo forest outside the yard, and the wind makes a rustling sound. However, the weather is warmer, and the wind blowing on the body is not cold, but rather somewhat comfortable.
The gate of the courtyard is open, and there is usually a maid in charge of it. Otherwise, a courtyard that has been uninhabited for twenty years would have become dilapidated. The courtyard is well maintained and there is no sense of desolation.
But there were not many people in the yard, only two maids who were busy drying books. When they heard footsteps, they looked towards the gate of the yard and saw that it was Xie Guimo and Shen Tang, so they hurried over to greet them.
Chen Tang asked, "Are you drying books?"
The maid replied, "Madam said that books are easily affected by moisture, so take them out and dry them in the sun when the sun is bright."
There are quite a lot of books, several hundred in total, as well as calligraphy and paintings.
The small courtyard was elegant. Xie Guimo took Chen Tang around and then took him into the house. The house was clean inside and out. When the princess came back, she would often come to check on her. No one knew when the princess would come back, so the two maids didn't dare to be lazy.
After walking around and going out, Chen Tang looked at the books that were drying in the sun, walked over, and the maid took out a box and took out the letters inside to dry in the sun.
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