"The fire shop is here!"
A deafening cheer echoed throughout the street. The officers and soldiers from the fire shop finally arrived belatedly and worked together with the yamen runners to put out the fire.
Gu Yanfei doesn't care about these.
After finishing her business, she went straight back to Gu's residence on Hua'an Street.
Juanbi was waiting for her at the back door. She was relieved to see her come back and hurriedly welcomed her into the house.
Now the house was completely under Gu Yanfei's control, and the servants dared not say anything. Therefore, whether she left or came back, she did not alarm anyone else.
There was silence in the Gu residence, and no one in the house knew anything about the fire in the Danyang government office.
For some people, this night is very long and torturous, but for others, it is fleeting and just a matter of sleep.
The next morning, all kinds of rumors bombarded the Gu residence: for example, the South Vietnamese openly poisoned the eldest prince and set fire to the Danyang government office; for example, the eldest prince was blessed by heaven and was safe and sound;
For example, although most of the Danyang Prefecture Office was burned down, the fire did not spread to other nearby houses. For example, the group of Nanyue people who set the fire were instigated by a Nanyue official, and the government has captured most of them, but it is not certain whether the Nanyue official has been captured.
The news was so shocking that everyone in the Gu family was stunned.
For the next few days, the people in the city were discussing the matter enthusiastically. Every time they saw the Danyang Prefecture Office which was mostly burned down, they were all frightened and could not imagine that if the fire spread to the whole city, they would not be able to escape.
The Yue people are so despicable and shameless! On October 15th, the emperor sent hundreds of Jinyiwei and imperial guards to Danyang City to escort the eldest prince back to the capital with great fanfare.
It was not until October 16 that Mrs. Gu received the news and the city gate was finally opened again.
Madam Gu was forced to stay in Danyang City for six more days. She no longer wanted to stay there and immediately ordered to set off that day, fearing that something might happen if she was late.
As a result, all the servants in Gu's house took action, arranging carriages, packing boxes and cages, and handling favors.
After half of the Si hour, four carriages of the Gu family drove out of the north gate of Danyang City one after another, and set out on the journey back to Beijing in a mighty manner.
Gu Yanfei and Gu Yunzhen sat in the second carriage together, and the little kitten naturally accompanied them. The two of them and the cat talked and laughed happily, having a great time.
Along the way, Gu Yunzhen and Gu Yanfei talked a lot about the Marquis' Mansion, talking about the layout of the mansion, the fact that there were five families living in the mansion, several important stewards and maids in the mansion, and also mentioned some of the in-laws in the Gu family... all in bits and pieces, but in great detail and thoughtfulness.
Gu Yanfei naturally knew all of this, but she still listened patiently. She knew that Gu Yunzhen meant well, and many distant memories gradually became clearer because of Gu Yunzhen's narration.
Madam Gu had something on her mind and could not wait to return to the capital, so she changed her leisurely manner when she came and ordered the coachman to speed up. They hurried all the way, and finally arrived in the capital a day earlier than they had left.
Mrs. Gu was in her early fifties and quite old. The long journey made her exhausted.
Even so, the first thing she did when she returned to the Marquis' Mansion was not to rest, but to take Gu Yanfei and Gu Yunzhen to Cihe Hall.
"Grandma, you're back!"
A girl in a scarlet dress walked out lightly to greet Madam Gu.
The girl has bright eyes and white teeth, her smile is as bright as the rising sun, and her eyes are as bright as lotus leaves emerging from the vast ocean.
Gu Yanfei recognized Gu Yunyan at a glance. That familiar face seemed to have spanned two hundred years in an instant...
For a moment, Gu Yanfei felt that the two hundred years in the Yaoling Realm seemed to be just a dream of hers, just like Zhuang Zhou's dream of being a butterfly.
The entire Cihe Hall became lively with the return of the lady.
The maids were busy serving tea, fruits and snacks, and they even lit Madam Gu's favorite incense, which had a hint of herbal fragrance.
"Grandma, are you tired from this trip to Danyang City?" Gu Yunyan held Madam Gu's arm affectionately and coaxed her with a smile, "I see that you have lost weight. I will cook for you tonight..."
She smiled brightly, revealing a pair of dimples on her lips, looking smart and amiable.
To Madam Gu, Gu Yunyan was her sweetheart. After hearing these caring words, Madam Gu's expression eased a little and she said with a smile, "Then Grandmother will be waiting to taste your cooking skills."
In fact, her little sister should be only one or two months older than that wild girl, but she is so much more considerate and sensible.
Alas, the old marquis arranged for Fang Mingfeng to be engaged to the eldest daughter of the eldest house, so now Gu Yunyan has to be the younger sister.
After everyone was seated, Gu Yunyan looked around and nodded to Gu Yunzhen, "Big sister, thank you for accompanying grandma this time."
Then, she looked at Gu Yanfei who was sitting next to Gu Yunzhen, and said with a smile: "This is the second sister, I am Yunzhen."
She seemed to be born with the ability to socialize and get along well with everyone.
Gu Yanfei said nothing, and casually stroked the kitten's smooth back with one hand. The kitten was sleeping soundly in her arms, with its round head buried in it, not moving at all.
I don't know the etiquette! Madam Gu glanced at Gu Yanfei with a bit of displeasure in her eyes.
This girl has high ambitions but a fragile life. She has been acting like a spoiled brat recently, probably just to compete for attention with her little sister.
Seeing the atmosphere was a little awkward, Aunt Li from Cihetang laughed, her eyes narrowed into slits, and she tried to smooth things over with Gu Yunyan: "Third Miss, from now on you will have another sister to love you."
"That's great!" Gu Yun'er's smile deepened, and she looked bright and sunny.
Madam Gu took a sip of tea from the teacup, then said to Gu Yanfei indifferently, "Second girl, since you have arrived in the capital, you must abide by the rules of the Marquis' Mansion."
"Don't go out if you don't have anything to do in the future. Just stay at home and do some needlework."
"In a few days, the Duke of Ying will come to place an order. I'll have someone give you Master Fang's measurements so you can make a set of clothes and shoes."
Madam Gu used a commanding tone, appearing calm on the surface, but in fact she was extremely anxious.
Now that the eldest prince has arrived in Beijing, the situation in the capital will inevitably change. For the sake of so-called orthodoxy, some court officials will probably stand on the side of the eldest prince. Then, Prince Kang's position will not be so stable.
The Queen Mother will definitely try to gain all the power she can for Prince Kang, and marriage is one of the most effective ways.
But now the Dingyuan Marquis Mansion is not worthy of the Empress Dowager's attention.
Mrs. Gu still has this self-awareness.
For the Marquis' Mansion, the most important thing now is to arrange the marriage of the two as soon as possible while Prince Kang is deeply in love with Gu Yunmeng, so she has to settle the marriage between the Gu and Fang families first.
(End of this chapter)
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