Zheng Xiu married Xue Zhi as the daughter of a nobleman, which meant she married into the mansion of the Duke of Qing. Whether in the mansion or when she went out for social events, her background was indeed a bit embarrassing. When the imperial edict was issued, everyone would know that it was the prince who personally asked for it before the emperor's death, so her status would naturally be much higher than before.
Xue Zhi was really afraid that she would suffer a loss, so he was sincerely happy at the moment.
"Okay, go change your clothes quickly, and tell me in detail after you change your clothes." Zheng Xiu smiled and drove him into the inner room.
Xue Zhi changed into the dark red hairpin with auspicious gold thread patterns prepared for the New Year in a short while, and came out, shouting that she was hungry and asked Zheng Xiu to prepare food for her.
Zheng Xiu was surprised and amused: "Didn't you have a feast in the palace? How come you feel hungry again in such a short time?"
Xue Zhi said: "The kitchen has to prepare so much food, and it's so cold. They all make big bowls of dishes and steam them in the pot. When the time comes, they are served on the table. They are all soggy and tasteless. I just ate a few bites and that's it."
Zheng Xiu asked Bai Zhu to go to the kitchen to get some more food. Xue Zhi got up early because he was really hungry. He ate four dishes, one soup and two bowls of rice in no time.
Not long after Princess Guihe came back, she saw that Xue Mian was not there. She asked about it and found out that he had been in Haoye Hall for the whole morning. She quickly sent someone to call him back.
Xue Shao had no playmates, so he took his father to set off firecrackers.
Zheng Xiu had nothing to do in the afternoon, so she asked Bai Zhu to get dumpling wrappers and stuffing from the kitchen to make dumplings.
Xue Shao had been playing outside for most of the day and there was nothing else to do. He thought making dumplings was interesting, so he washed his hands and asked to help.
The dumpling wrappers were all rolled out by the chef, and the stuffing was also prepared, so it was not troublesome to make dumplings.
Zheng Xiu taught him how to make dumplings, and together with three maids, they made about 200 dumplings in the afternoon.
Xue Zhi saw how enthusiastically they were making dumplings and said with a smile, "Stop making dumplings. There is only so much space in our small kitchen. Putting so many dumplings here really takes up a lot of space, and we can't finish them, right?"
Zheng Xiu really hadn't done any work on the stove for a long time. It seemed like she couldn't stop once she started. After hearing what he said, she realized that she had made too many dumplings and asked Bai Zhu to return the extra dumpling skins and stuffing. Then she went into the kitchen to cook the dumplings herself.
Because she made too many dumplings, she simply cooked most of them. According to the amount of rice, Xue Zhi could eat 20 to 30 dumplings in one meal, Xue Shao could eat 13 or 14 dumplings, and Zheng Xiu herself could eat 10 dumplings. The rest was rewarded to other people in Hao Yetang.
Although the dumplings were ordinary dumplings, they were made by Zheng Xiu herself, which was a great honor for the servants, so everyone in Haoye Hall enjoyed them very much.
The dinner was eaten like this.
When it got dark, Zheng Xiu suddenly felt a little sad. She didn't know who would prepare the New Year's Eve dinner for the family since she was not at home this year. She didn't count on the second aunt, but only hoped that the transformed Zheng Xian could help. Compared with the previous years at home, this year's New Year in the mansion of the Duke of Qing was still a little lonely.
Xue Zhi saw something, but didn't know how to persuade her, so he asked Minghui and others to play leaf cards with her.
Zheng Xiu had never played this game before, so Minghui explained the rules to her.
Zheng Xiu understood it immediately. It turns out that the algorithm and rules of this card are almost the same as those of mahjong. She knows how to play mahjong, so playing leaf cards is naturally a piece of cake for her.
Minghui, Fen Ge and Bai Zhu wanted to give her some leeway at first, so as not to let her lose too badly. But later they found that their wives were incredibly perceptive. After only three or four rounds, they had already figured out the trick. They didn't dare to slack off and cheered up to play against her.
Zheng Xiu didn't play with them for money, but she would stick a piece of paper on her face when she lost.
After playing for more than an hour, Zheng Xiu had five pieces of paper on her face, while Minghui and the others had almost all of them on their faces.
Minghui frowned and said, "Madam is too good at playing cards. If she used money as chips, we servants would not be able to keep our annual salary."
Xue Zhi had been playing with her, and now he also laughed, "That's right, our Ah Xiu is really good. If it was money, she would definitely become a wealthy woman if she played more times."
Zheng Xiu also laughed. She knew her own strengths and weaknesses, but she just used some basic probabilities to calculate this. It was okay to play with people like Minghui who had little time to play all year round, but if she really played with a good person, she would only lose money. They sang the same tune just to make her happy. Although she knew that it was mostly flattery, her mood also improved.
The first month of the lunar year is the most leisurely time. When people get together, they just say hello, eat, drink and have fun.
Zheng Xiu didn't have to preside over the banquet, and she didn't have to worry about the social etiquette, so she naturally had a lot of leisure time. Princess Guihe lost a lot of weight in the first month of the lunar year. Before the fifteenth day of the first lunar month, it snowed heavily for several days in a row, and the weather became colder. Princess Guihe caught a cold, and she drank several soups prescribed by the deputy doctor, but she didn't get better. Later, she had a high fever and couldn't even get out of bed.
Zheng Xiu went to see Princess Guihe several times with Xue Zhi, and found that Princess Guihe's face was indeed frighteningly ugly.
After a few greetings, Princess Guihe drank the medicine and went to sleep.
Qiu Rui sent Xue Zhi and Xue Zhi out of Changfeng Garden.
Xue Zhi told her, "You must let your sister-in-law have a good rest and never overwork herself."
Qiu Rui frowned and said, "The New Year is a busy time in the mansion, and there are many ladies coming to pay New Year's greetings. The princess has to go to bed very late every day. Even now that she is sick, the princess has never rested."
"In this case, you should also help to share some of the burden. Don't let your sister
-in-law continue like this." Qiu Rui sighed. How could she not want to share the worries for Princess Guihe. But their princess has been through so many ups and downs alone for so many years. She couldn't feel at ease if she didn't do the dirty things herself.
Princess Guihe's illness didn't get better until the end of the first month of the year.
Zheng Xiu was also counting the days all day long, because as soon as the first month of the year came, her father and brother would go to the capital.
In March, the weather turns warmer, and the grass grows and the warblers fly.
Zheng Xiu's birthday was this month, and Zheng Ren had written a letter in advance, saying that he would definitely arrive before her birthday.
Zheng Xiu was so excited that she didn't sleep well for several days, and she was looking forward to their early arrival in Beijing.
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