"Why bother? It's New Year's Day, why not make everyone happier? You should also visit Aunt Jiang, Grandma Yun, and Grandma Lan more often." Su Nuannuan saw the suppressed desire in her husband's eyes, and could feel his sadness. She felt a little sad, but she couldn't get over this hurdle in her heart no matter what, so she had to settle for the second best. Since she couldn't give Duan Tingxuan the joy of love, there was no reason for her to let others live an ascetic life like a monk for her, even if she used love as an excuse.
The next day was New Year's Eve. Although Su Nuannuan wanted to sleep a little longer, she couldn't resist the yearning for the ancient Spring Festival with a strong flavor of the New Year. She still got up early in the morning and went to pay her respects to Old Lady Fang. Outside the door, she saw the two little girls who were pulling the curtains were a little flustered, and the sound of the announcement was a little too loud. Su Nuannuan walked in puzzled, and sure enough, she saw Old Lady Fang's mouth still moving. She couldn't help but feel angry and amused, and shook her head and said, "Old lady, I don't allow you to eat more snacks because eating too much of this thing is not good for you. Now you are secretly eating it behind my back. What's the point? If I can't see it, there will be no harm in eating it?"
Old Lady Fang complained, "Isn't it because you can't resist? The snacks made during the Chinese New Year in previous years were beautiful, but they were mostly for show. They didn't taste that good. Only the lotus crisps and osmanthus crystal cakes you made this year look beautiful and taste even better. I heard that you have several sets of freshly made molds in your kitchen, all in the shape of flowers. No wonder the snacks you make are so beautiful. The more I look at them, the more I love them. If I'm not careful, I can't help eating them. If you just look at me, it's fine. You can't stay here with me every day. But now you have even taken Qiu Ling, a maid I can't leave for a moment. She has become your spy. Isn't my life going to be hard? I finally sent her away. I thought I would just eat two or three pieces, but you came. Did you two discuss it? But my teeth are not good enough. If I had good teeth when I was young, I would have swallowed eight or nine pieces, not to mention two or three..."
Before Lady Fang could finish, the maids in the room could no longer bear it and turned their heads away, their faces reddened and their necks thickened as they tried to hold back their laughter. They almost got internal injuries from holding it back.
After a while, Madam Yang, Liu Min and others also arrived. Old Lady Fang saw that Shi Yurou's eyes were dark, so she smiled and said, "What's wrong with Ye'er's wife? Your sister-in-law was busy all day yesterday. She wasn't as listless as you, but she played cards until late last night?"
Shi Yurou stepped forward and said with a smile, "My dear ancestor. The New Year is not over yet, how could your granddaughter-in-law start the card table so early? You only know that your sister-in-law is working hard, but you don't know that I have been dealing with New Year's affairs in the morning these two days, and I have to go to Chunfengyuan kitchen to help in the afternoon. I am so tired that my waist and back ache."
Su Nuannuan smiled and said, "My sister-in-law is showing off for me, Grandpa, did you hear that? My second sister-in-law only came to help for half a day. She still has backaches, and I am even more exhausted. Now I am just holding on."
Shi Yurou was indeed busy in the small kitchen of Chunfeng Garden for two afternoons, but she was not really helping. She just wanted to see the variety of these new snacks and supervise Xue's wife and others. If it was leaked in the future, she could quickly find the "traitor". But who was Su Nuannuan? Could the laborer who took the initiative to deliver himself be let go? Poor Second Mistress had always been well-dressed, but now she was caught because she followed her husband and got into the money trap. She was exhausted for two afternoons and her waist was almost unable to lift up.
Then he smiled bitterly and said, "Sister-in-law, so what if I just let you work hard? Your contributions and hard work are all in everyone's eyes. If you don't tell me, can the old lady erase your contributions? You still want to argue with me now, can't you leave me a way out? After all, I have been busy for you for two days."
Everyone in the room laughed again and discussed the menu for the reunion dinner and what kind of dumplings to make. Then they dispersed around noon.
This year was so full and busy that Su Nuannuan was really excited. But after a few days, she was a little overwhelmed, not for anything else, but because there were too many guests during the New Year. The various snacks prepared for the New Year disappeared like water. Unfamiliar guests were still reserved, taking some snacks while talking, and leaving after a few compliments. But there were also some people who had a good relationship with the Anping Marquis's Mansion, such as the royal family's nest of princes, the Changping Marquis's Mansion, the Rongguo Mansion, etc., who not only wanted to eat when they came, but also shamelessly asked for some after eating. In order to entertain the guests, even the young marquis was finally ordered to keep his mouth shut, not to mention others, which made the masters and servants in the Marquis's Mansion very depressed.
On the night of the Lantern Festival, Duan Tingxuan took his wives and concubines to stroll on the street. The colorful lanterns were as bright as the Milky Way in the sky. Su Nuannuan didn't expect that there would be so many exquisite and dazzling lanterns in the ancient Lantern Festival. She was so excited that she even saw ice lanterns on a street. Because she was afraid of the cold, she had never been to Harbin in modern times. Now she made up for the regret. Standing on that street, although it was freezing, she didn't feel very cold with a hand warmer and mink fur. Looking around, the colorful lights and crystal ice cubes complemented each other, as if she was in a crystal kingdom.
In the blink of an eye, it was the second day of the second lunar month. The custom on this day was to eat pancakes. Su Nuannuan was ingenious. She fried leeks, pork shreds, vermicelli and bean sprouts together in a large pan, and then made golden and crispy spring pancakes. Although it looked thicker than a pancake, it was two layers that fit together and could be peeled off with a little effort. The thin pancake was crispy on the outside and tender on the inside, and it was filled with stir-fried vegetables. No matter the texture or taste, it was an unparalleled enjoyment, and everyone was very satisfied.
In a blink of an eye, it was the end of February again. On this day, Honglian Xiangyun and Su Nuannuan were looking at the grass that had just emerged in the backyard. Cong'er pulled the still bare willow branches and said with a smile: "This will sprout in a few days. When the time comes, break it off, remove the wooden core, and use the skin to blow out tunes for your listening." Before she finished speaking, someone in the front yard was heard calling Su Nuannuan. It was Duan Tingxuan's voice.
"What's the matter? You seem to be in a hurry."
Everyone hurried into the house and saw Duan Tingxuan in the room. When he saw Su Nuannuan coming in, he sent all the maids out, then took his wife to the warm room and sat down. He said in a deep voice, "The date has been set. We will leave in three days. Just tell your family that you are going to Niutou Mountain to visit your parents."
Su Nuannuan was stunned for a moment before she realized that her husband was talking about going to the south of the Yangtze River. She couldn't help but asked excitedly, "Have you asked for leave?"
"Well, it's been arranged. For this secret visit, we both have to dress up and can't bring any maids with us. I decided to take only Siping with me and let him pretend to be our brother and go to Jiangnan together." Duan Tingxuan has already arranged everything and now he just came to inform his wife to get ready.
"Since we have announced to the public that we are going to Niutou Mountain, should we go over there to confuse those who are interested?" Su Nuannuan was also very excited and felt that this was really exciting, so she quickly came up with a plan.
"No need. We just need to leave the capital, find an inn to stay in, and then dress up and head south. No matter if there are people following us, we won't be discovered. Even if the King of Xiangyang suspects something, there's nothing he can do if he can't find us."
"Hey! Jiangnan is his home turf, how can we keep it a secret? Once we are discovered, he will mobilize troops from all prefectures and counties to guard all the important transportation routes. Wouldn't we be trapped in a jar? Or we will be like a hornet's nest."
Su Nuannuan looked at Duan Tingxuan suspiciously, always feeling that her husband was not very reliable for being so careless, but she saw him smile proudly and said, "What do you think those officials in Jiangnan are? They are officials of my Great Yin Dynasty, how dare they be so close to King Xiangyang and want to mobilize officials from various prefectures and counties to arrest us, that is unless King Xiangyang raises the banner of rebellion. What's more, even if he raises the banner of rebellion, Jiangnan is so big that he can't occupy it just by saying so. Besides, I have a secret force, which will ensure that everything is safe. Don't worry, Nuannuan, if there is any danger, how can I take you there?"
Secret forces? Su Nuannuan smelled gossip, but then she remembered the Mingyu Tower that Duan Tingxuan had mentioned before, and she understood where her husband's confidence came from.
"Okay, then I'll follow your arrangements. I'll ask Honglian Xiangyun to prepare things right away." Su Nuannuan nodded. The couple then took advantage of these three days to do ideological work on Old Lady Fang and Madam Yang, bid farewell to the elders of each family, and finally set off as scheduled three days later.
Only Siping followed them along the way. After leaving the capital, they walked less than a hundred miles and stayed in an inn in a small town. Siping had probably made arrangements long ago. After the two of them moved in, they quickly exchanged rooms with a young couple in Room No. 2. There was another set of luggage already prepared in this room, which was just three or four bundles and saddle bags. It looked like the necessary luggage for a young couple going out to make a living. It was very simple.
Su Nuannuan's eyes lit up as she watched Duan Tingxuan prepare to "change his appearance", expecting him to take out a thin human skin mask or something like that. Human skin masks, high-end things that only exist in martial arts novels, with it, you have the capital to change your identity in seconds, how can you not be excited? Thinking of this, Su Nuannuan couldn't help but think of Chu Liuxiang. Didn't Chu Xiangshuai rely on Su Ronger's mask to travel around the world?
Just as he was thinking about it, he saw Siping opening one of the packages and then skillfully putting on makeup for Duan Tingxuan. There was no human skin mask, but some simple pieces of leather. The largest was only slightly bigger than a copper coin, and the smallest was only as big as a grain of rice. However, it was these pieces of leather that were stuck on Duan Tingxuan's face by Siping's hands, and finally a tuft of goatee was glued on. In the blink of an eye, the handsome young marquis turned into a middle-aged man with a slightly yellow complexion and a shrewd demeanor.
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