After leaving the kitchen, the two walked slowly along the path towards Chunfeng Garden. Xiangyun complained, "It never makes sense. Grandma is the wife of a prince, and she has lost her status by going to the kitchen to make snacks."
Su Nuannuan smiled bitterly and said, "Okay, I'm already constrained by the status of the prince's wife. Am I not allowed to do a few things I like? What's wrong with going to the kitchen to make some snacks? Everyone will be grateful to me when they eat snacks. Is there anyone who dares to ignore me because of something like this? This is called using kindness and force at the same time, do you understand?"
Xiangyun muttered, "I've never heard of such a way of using kindness and severity. But that's fine, as long as grandma is happy." Then she reminded Su Nuannuan, "Grandma, don't just focus on looking at the scenery, you also have to pay attention to your feet. Even though the snow is thick, it's still slippery. Falling is no joke." Then she complained, "Really? I wonder where the maids who are in charge of sweeping the ground are? The snow stopped yesterday evening, but they didn't clear the path all morning. Are they all lazy?"
"Don't wrongly accuse me. Who dares to be lazy? It must be the New Year and the mansion is short of staff, so they ignored the path here. After all, who else would go to the kitchen on purpose except me, the master?" Su Nuannuan said a word for the maids, then stood at the fork in the road and looked around, suddenly smiling: "Let's go to the garden. It must be quieter now. The white snow and red plums are just right for us to see."
"Grandma, you just remembered to appreciate the plum blossoms now?" Xiangyun did not know whether to laugh or cry, but saw Su Nuannuan smiling and said, "It's time like this to steal a little leisure time from my busy life. It would be nice to have some peace and quiet in the garden for a while." After that, she ignored Xiangyun and went straight to the garden. Xiangyun had no choice but to follow her.
Entering the garden, I saw the vast expanse of white snow, the pavilions and towers in the distance standing quietly, the old trees and cold clouds were silent, adding a few strands of winter's cold and bleakness.
Su Nuannuan didn't hold a hand warmer, but only wore a mink sleeve. When she took her hands out and brushed off the snow on the willow branches beside her, she felt a little cold. She quickly put her hands to her mouth and blew out air. Suddenly, she saw a woman wearing a dark green silk cotton jacket coming over from the side. When she saw her, she smiled and said, "Grandma, why are you in the garden now? It's very cold."
Su Nuannuan smiled and said, "Where did Mama Liu come from? How did she suddenly appear? She scared me."
Mother Liu smiled and said, "I was outside. Someone told me that someone had entered the garden and was breaking branches all over the ground, so I came to take a look. I didn't see anyone for a long time. I didn't expect to meet grandma when I came out. Grandma, do you want to appreciate the plum blossoms? Lengxiang Pavilion hasn't had any fire these days, so please wait a moment. I'll go get some charcoal basins and buy two hand and foot warmers."
"Don't bother. I'm not going to Lengxiang Pavilion. I'm just going to walk around in the plum forest. If there's a cushion, just bring one." Su Nuannuan stopped the woman, and she hurried out. After a while, she brought in a thick new cushion and said respectfully, "This has never been used. It's filled with the best duck down, so you won't feel cold even if you sit on the swing or stone bench."
Xiangyun took the cushion and said to the woman with a smile, "Madam Liu, my sister Honglian will marry into your family next year. Have you prepared the betrothal gifts? Although sister Honglian is a maid, she is the most capable person in front of our grandmother. You must not fool her."
Mother Liu laughed and said, "How dare I? Not to mention that I dare not, even if I dare, I can't do it, right? Miss Honglian was trained by Grandmother, she has a good appearance and temperament. It is a good marriage that our ancestors have prayed for for several lifetimes. We dare not neglect it. We are still looking for the betrothal gifts. Although our family is servants in the mansion, our ancestors have followed the old man through life and death. We have to take care of this face. How can we use it to make up for it if it is not the best? Grandma and Miss Xiangyun, don't worry, my son Sheng likes Miss Honglian very much, and he will never treat her badly in the future."
Su Nuannuan smiled and said, "It's good for me to watch him, otherwise even if Honglian liked him that day, I wouldn't agree. It's rare that the boy runs around all day but doesn't have any romantic habits. He is willing to grow old with Honglian and doesn't let anyone else in the house. This is rare. I hope you don't have any complaints in your heart and can help them live in harmony."
Mother Liu smiled and said, "Grandma, just rest assured. Why would we put a servant like Yangzi in the house? He would hurt Taocheng's health and make the house smell foul. We are not such ignorant people. When the two children become husband and wife, they will surely love each other and won't worry you."
Su Nuannuan nodded, knowing that it was the New Year, so she let Mama Liu go and get busy. Xiangyun went with her to the plum forest, muttering, "I don't understand Sister Honglian. She didn't want to marry Liu Sheng, the son of Aunt Lu, the general manager. What's so good about the Liu family? Although they are also well-known, Mama Liu is in charge of the garden, and her husband is in charge of collecting rent. They can't even be a manager. Why did Sister Honglian choose his family?"
"What's the use of power? If you can choose, you will naturally choose someone. It's easy to get a priceless treasure, but it's hard to get a lover. Liu Sheng is the one Honglian has chosen. I also said that the Liu family are all honest people. That Liu Sheng seems to like Honglian very much. He didn't let him put someone in the house, and he agreed without hesitation. It's good enough that the two are in love with each other. Status and position are not important. As long as I am here, who dares to treat Honglian badly?"
Su Nuannuan sighed, but Xiangyun was still upset for Honglian. Suddenly, she heard her grandmother say unhappily, "You don't have to worry about Honglian now. Let me ask you, it's impossible for Honglian to marry into the Lu family now, so are you willing to marry into his family? If you are willing, I'll let Grandpa talk to the Lu family. I think they won't be unwilling..."
Before she could finish, Xiangyun's face turned pale and she kept saying, "Grandma, I know I was wrong, please forgive me, I... I'm still young."
"Bah! You're still young? How do you know that you're having a hot relationship with Shuangxi? You're almost engaged, right? And you're still playing tricks in front of me, hum!" Su Nuannuan snorted coldly. When Xiangyun heard this, she realized that her master had known her little thoughts very well. Instead of denying it, she might as well beg grandma to make it a reality, so that there won't be any other people in the family who are targeting her. If she begs the wife and the wife comes to grandma to tell her, it will be bad to refuse. Although this will be risky, grandma has always been easy-going and doesn't take these old rules seriously. Maybe she will agree?
As soon as she thought of this, she knelt on the ground without hesitation and begged Su Nuannuan to make the decision for her. Su Nuannuan was so angry that she pulled her up and said unhappily, "I know what's going on. Why are you kneeling and bowing? Are your knees so weak? Let Shuangxi go and tell me about your relationship with him. It's unreasonable for a girl to stand up for him. If he doesn't even have the courage to take responsibility, tell him to give up as soon as possible."
Xiangyun stuck out her tongue and said with a giggle, "Granny is on my side, don't worry, I told him to go and tell him, he won't dare not tell me."
Su Nuannuan glared and was about to speak when she felt as if someone was looking at her from behind. She turned around quickly, but saw no one.
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