Time flies, and in the blink of an eye, little Duan Maozheng is one year old.
Early in the morning, before daybreak, Su Nuannuan got up and happened to see the young marquis already dressed up and ready to go to court. So the couple flirted with each other for a long time, making the maids waiting outside the room to comb the grandmother's hair so sick that they got goosebumps. Only then did the young marquis reluctantly go to court.
Su Nuannuan washed her face and sat on a chair, just about to ask Xiangyun to comb her hair, when she saw the door curtain opened. Then a familiar voice said, "Let me do it. Xiangyun, go and see if everything is done with the young master?" It was Honglian who came over.
Honglian was now dressed like a woman, with her face open and her hair tied up in a bun, looking even more charming and dignified. Su Nuannuan smiled and said, "You are still newlyweds, why do you have to get up so early? Your husband must be mad at me, right?"
Honglian smiled and said, "He dares." After that, she let go of Su Nuannuan's hair, picked up the comb and combed it, and said with a smile, "But grandma, don't blame him. I told you last night to come early today, saying that it was the young master's birthday banquet, which would be a big event. I was just afraid that grandma would be too busy, so she asked me to come early to help."
"It was such a big scene. Aunt Jing talked to me for a long time yesterday. I was so dizzy. I asked her why she was making such a fuss. She actually had the nerve to tell me that she had listened to me and tried to keep it simple. If simplicity is this, then what will happen if it becomes complicated? Do we have to work two people to death to show the grandeur of the Marquis of Anping's mansion? God, it's a good thing that she is handling these household chores now. I only take care of the big things. Otherwise, these small things would bother me every day. I'm afraid I won't be able to see Brother Zheng grow up."
Honglian smiled and said, "Grandma, don't be so blunt on such a good day. Eh? Is this the hairpin that I just brought back? It's obviously a fine product from the Ministry of Internal Affairs. The Fourth Prince has spent a lot of money to get some food from you."
The two were talking and laughing when Aunt Jing came in through the curtain and said to Su Nuannuan, "Grandma, wash up..."
Before she could finish, she saw the light outer garment on Su Nuannuan and exclaimed, "Why are you wearing this? No, no, I specifically asked the tailor to make two sets of bright palace dresses for grandma when we were making new clothes. They were for today. Where are they? Cong'er, go find them and change your grandma into them."
"No... no need, right? Aren't those two palace dresses for the New Year?" Su Nuannuan's face was almost wrinkled into a bun, but Aunt Jing said without question, "Of course not. Are you going to freeze to death wearing such light clothes for the New Year? Grandma, you don't have to argue with me. So many ladies will be here today. Your clothes are the face of our mansion. Even if you are tired, you have to wear them for a day."
"You are also the mistress of the house. Aren't you wearing light clothes?" Su Nuannuan pointed out, "Don't say anything like I am the legal wife or the eldest grandmother. You are also supposed to accompany me to entertain guests. Have you forgotten?" Humph! If we have to be tired, we should be tired together. The eldest grandmother thought with ulterior motives.
"I am so busy right now that it is hard for me to walk in those big clothes. I will put them aside for now and change them after these things are settled. Don't worry, I will accompany you to get tired." Aunt Jing is so smart. How could she not see Su Nuannuan's "bad intentions"? A slight smile shut her up.
"Aunt, what's the matter with you?"
Honglian reminded Aunt Jing and she immediately came to her senses. She handed a list to Su Nuannuan and said, "Grandma, look, these are Zheng'er's gifts for his first birthday. If you don't mind, I will personally select them and I will definitely select the best ones."
"Oh, okay, let me take a look." Su Nuannuan looked through it and frowned, "Why are there snacks and steamed buns? Why put so many kinds of food? Take them away and just put some writing brushes, inkstones, gold, silver and jade pendants."
"There are only two kinds of food, which is not much. How can there be no steamed buns for the first birthday banquet? Never mind, grandma doesn't like it. I'll let them put one kind of crystal osmanthus cake as a snack and one steamed bun. Put it in an inconspicuous corner, but it has to be there. This is the rule."
Aunt Jing saw what Su Nuannuan was thinking and made changes without hesitation. As expected, Su Nuannuan was satisfied and nodded, "That's great."
Aunt Jing then went about her business. Less than half an hour later, people from various noble houses came over one after another. Su Nuannuan wore a bright red brocade gown with a gold-thread phoenix embroidered on it, a bright red pleated skirt with colorful butterflies and flowers, and several exquisite pearl hairpins and step-shakes in her hair. In her words, she looked like a walking red envelope, and she came and went to receive the ladies of honor.
However, although she herself thought her makeup was tacky, it attracted unanimous praise from the ladies, who also asked which tailor and jewelry shop had made it.
The North Courtyard was full in a blink of an eye, but people still came in an endless stream. Aunt Jing and Shi Yurou also dressed up and helped Su Nuannuan welcome the guests. At the same time, they had to deal with various emergencies in the mansion. They were so busy that they were sweating profusely. Even Su Nuannuan couldn't stand it anymore and ordered Honglian, "Send someone to the Buddhist temple to see why Aunt Jiang hasn't come yet? Hurry up and ask her to come and help for a while, so that the Second Madam and Aunt Jing can have a rest. You can't order people around like this, Zhou Bapi."
Honglian agreed with a smile. Just as she was about to go out, she saw Aunt Jiang rushing over. The woman who had lived in the Buddhist temple for a long time was now dressed in new clothes. Her light makeup revealed a bit of gentleness and tranquility. When she saw Su Nuannuan, she came up to congratulate her first, and then smiled and whispered, "Earlier, Brother Fan and Brother Sen brought Brother Chuan to see Grandma Lan and the maid, and they were delayed for a while, so they rushed over just now."
"Where are they?"
Su Nuannuan asked hurriedly: These children are now raised under her name, but they do not live in Chunfengyuan on a daily basis, but still live in the original place. Su Nuannuan was afraid that they would have psychological problems again after losing their mother at a young age, so she usually paid attention to counseling when the children came over. Therefore, when she heard Aunt Jiang say this today, she was afraid that the little guys were emotionally disturbed by the scene, so it was really troublesome to have so many children, even if she didn't raise them.
"They have all gone to the front hall now, acting like little adults, saying they want to help the master and the old man receive guests. They are smart, and the old man likes to bring them along in front of the guests. As soon as we left the Buddhist hall, he sent someone to call them over."
"Are the children's emotions stable?" Su Nuannuan was relieved, but still couldn't help asking. Aunt Jiang nodded and said, "Grandma, don't worry. They are stable. They also made toys for Zheng Ge'er. I asked Rong'er to put the toys in the things for the first birthday. After all, it is the children's love."
"Ohhhh, that's good."
Su Nuannuan nodded, and after being busy with Aunt Jiang for a while, Aunt Jing and Shi Yurou also came back to their senses. With the help of the four of them, Madam Yang, Liu Min and others, they finally made it to noon.
The auspicious time has arrived, and the room for the one-year-old ceremony is filled with daughters of wealthy families and elegant ladies. Su Nuannuan looks at her chubby and beautiful son in her arms. The little guy keeps leaping forward, as if he can't wait to step onto his own stage.
"I'm telling you, little darling, today you have to make your parents proud no matter what you say. Did you hear me? You don't know, ever since you were born, those who have nothing to do in the capital have used their imagination to make predictions about today. They all say that your parents are foodies, and you must be a foodie too. The first thing you grab at the one-year-old feast must be steamed buns. Do you understand what this means? Contempt, this is their blatant contempt for your parents. To prove this, from the time you were born until now, your mother has never shown you what steamed buns and pastries look like. Of course, you can't eat them at your age, and you'll be greedy for nothing. But the most important thing is that you don't know those things, so you will definitely not be interested in them. How can those things compare to the silver locks, jade pendants, brushes, and illustrated books made by your father that you are used to seeing? Right?"
The fearless grandmother was giving Duan Xiaozheng instructions with unprecedented nervousness. Suddenly, she heard her husband say with a smile beside her: "The auspicious time has come, Nuannuan, let Zheng go catch something by himself and see what he can catch."
Su Nuannuan nodded and put her son down in her arms with a heroic look. Sure enough, the little guy steadied his body, swung his short legs, and walked to the table with a steadier gait than other children of the same age. He stretched out his little hands and grabbed in the air, as if he felt the distance was not enough, so he moved his short legs around the edge of the table to the end of the table. It was obvious that he was moving forward courageously with a clear goal in mind.
"No... no, I'm not buying cakes!"
Su Nuannuan's eyes widened in horror, and she covered her mouth with one hand, but she couldn't stop the wailing from the bottom of her heart. The next moment, Duan Xiaozheng grabbed the red carp steamed bun coated with cherry juice on the table, smiled "thank you for your support" at the crowd of people who were appreciating his performance, and then stuffed the fish head into his mouth.
“No…don’t…”
“Hahahahahaha…”
"Oh my God. Put it down, little ancestor."
The scene was in chaos. Amid the boisterous laughter, Su Nuannuan covered her eyes and cried to the young marquis, "I really didn't let him see the steamed buns. God knows how he recognized them? And he acted so quickly and accurately. Woo woo woo, I swear to God...
"Alright, alright. It's because you didn't let Zheng Ge'er see the steamed buns that he thought the big red buns were fresh, so he ran over and grabbed them. Don't be sad. It's not your fault, destiny has determined."
"That's right. It's none of my business. Who made this steamed fish so beautiful? Look... kids like brightly colored things, right? So it's not my fault. It's just that the people in the kitchen were so incompetent. You could just put two big white steamed buns on it. Why did you make it so fancy?"
The grandmother followed her husband's words and began to shirk the responsibility, but at this time Aunt Jing had already rushed forward and picked the steamed bun out of Duan Xiaozheng's mouth, and then used other things to lure him, hoping that he would quickly grab a pen or a book or something like that to help the grandmother save her lost face.
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