Old Lady Zheng stood up and said, "Where is the kitchen? Tell grandma what you want to eat and she will cook it for you."
Zheng Xiu smiled and held her back, "Grandma, you just came. Why are you in such a hurry to do your work? We haven't seen each other for a long time. I just want you to talk to me."
Seeing that her granddaughter was still as affectionate to her even though she was wearing silk and satin and expensive jewelry, Old Lady Zheng was not so nervous anymore and smiled and said, "Okay, then when you are hungry, you must let me know and I will make you something delicious."
Old Man Zheng and Zheng Xian were sitting on the side. Seeing them talking to each other with their arms around each other, they all laughed. After
Zheng Xiu finished talking to Old Lady Zheng, she went to see Old Man Zheng and Zheng Xian again.
Old man Zheng's appearance hadn't changed much, and he looked energetic. Zheng Xian had almond eyes and rosy cheeks, and she was much taller. She sat there gracefully, looking like a grown-up girl, completely different from the little girl who used to follow Zhu.
Old man Zheng didn't talk much. When Zheng Xiu asked a few questions, he simply answered them with a loving smile on his face.
Zheng Xian was even quieter, just listening to them quietly. When Zheng Xiu glanced at her, she smiled back.
They hadn't seen each other for a long time, so naturally they had a lot to talk about. They talked until it was dark, and Xue Shao came back from school. He had known Old Man Zheng and Old Lady Zheng for nearly a year, so he called them right away.
Seeing Xue Shao had grown into a teenager, Old Man Zheng and Old Lady Zheng were very happy. They took his hand and asked him what book he was reading. Xue Shao did not hesitate and told them everything.
Not long after, Xue Zhi came back from his duty. When
the two elders saw Xue Zhi again, his status had changed from a small hunter to the second master of the Duke of Qing's mansion, and he was also a third-rank general who was deeply favored by the emperor. When the two elders saw him, they stood up and saluted him.
Xue Zhi hurriedly supported them and said with a smile, "Grandma
, you are too polite. It should be the same in the future as it was at home before. There is no need to be bound by these false formalities." Zheng Xiu also said, "Grandma, don't be polite to Azhi. We supported him when he had no food to eat in the past. He wouldn't dare to show off his power in front of you now that he is rich."
Old Mrs. Zheng quickly pulled Zheng Xiu.
Xue Zhi smiled indifferently, "That's right, treat me the way grandma treated me in the past."
Old Mrs. Zheng smiled and said, "Axiu is almost a mother, but she still speaks without any regard for the consequences. You should not take her seriously."
"How could that be?" Xue Zhi said as he sat down next to Zheng Xiu, "I just like to hear Axiu talk like that. We are a family, and we are the closest to each other. There is no need for those roundabout ways."
The two looked at each other and smiled. Although they did not say anything, they had a tacit understanding.
Before coming, Old Lady Zheng was a little worried. Although Xue Zhi used to be honest and kind, and treated Zheng Xiu very well, this man could be different when he was poor and powerless or when he was rich and powerful. She was afraid that Zheng Xiu would be wronged in the mansion of Duke Qing. Now that she saw that the relationship between the young couple was still so good, she finally stopped worrying about it.
Xue Zhi saw that they were talking lively, so he said, "Why not ask someone to invite my father-in-law and Aunt Yu to come over, and we can have a warm and lively dinner together as a family."
Zheng Xiu naturally agreed, and asked someone to hire a carriage to go to Shangkan Hutong.
Zheng Ren and Zheng Yu arrived at the mansion of Duke Qing soon. The family gathered together for dinner.
Princess Guihe of Changfeng Garden heard about Zheng Xiu's grandma, so she specially asked the small kitchen to send a dish of eight-treasure pig's trotter and a dish of ginseng black chicken soup.
Hearing that the dishes were appreciated by Princess Guihe, Old Lady Zheng couldn't help but smacked her lips and said, "I have lived a lifetime, but I never thought that I could enjoy the honor of my granddaughter
and eat the dishes appreciated by the princess." Zheng Xiu couldn't help but laugh and said, "Grandma, the princess is not arrogant in the mansion. If you come often in the future, you can often eat the dishes sent there."
Hearing this, Old Lady Zheng knew that Zheng Xiu and Princess Guihe got along well, and the smile on her face became even brighter.
Except for the two dishes sent by Princess Guihe, the other dishes on the table were Zheng Xiu's hometown dishes, which were cooked for her by Old Lady Zheng who insisted on going to the kitchen. Zheng Xiu was so happy that she didn't bother her. She just asked Bai Shu to help her and told her not to make Old Lady Zheng tired. With
the help of Bai Shu and other maids in the kitchen, Old Lady Zheng prepared a table of dishes without much effort.
Zheng Xiu usually couldn't eat much meat, but today's ingredients were brought by Old Lady Zheng from thousands of miles away and cooked with great effort, so she used more of them to give her face.
Su Qingru was also at the table. Seeing that their family was so happy, she missed her family a little. However, seeing Zheng Xiu talking and laughing happily with her family, she began to count the days until she could go home.
After dinner, Zheng Xiu went into the inner room to talk with Old Lady Zheng and Zheng Xian. Zheng Ren, Old Man Zheng, and Xue Zhi sat outside drinking tea and chatting. Zheng Yu and Xue Shao had already gone back to the room to play.
Zheng Xiu saw that Old Lady Zheng and Zheng Xian were dressed very simply, so she asked Minghui to open her box and dressing table, hoping to find some decent fabrics and jewelry for them.
When Old Lady Zheng saw the maid busying herself, she guessed what Zheng Xiu was thinking and said hurriedly, "Grandma is half buried in the earth, so don't bother preparing anything for me. But your sister is still as old as a flower, so she should dress up." She didn't even want to wear the soft silk clothes that Zheng Ren prepared for her, so naturally she wouldn't want Zheng Xiu's things.
Zheng Xiu didn't have anything suitable for Old Lady Zheng at the moment, but there must be something in the warehouse, so she asked Minghui to open the warehouse to look for it.
Old Lady Zheng got anxious when she saw this, and said, "Grandma said, why don't you listen? Grandma has everything she needs!"
Seeing that she was so persistent, Zheng Xiu had to stop Minghui and only dressed up Zheng Xian.
Zheng Xian also declined, saying, "Big sister, my uncle has already prepared new clothes for me. I counted them and there are several sets. They are definitely enough for me. How can I ask for your things?"
One by one, Zheng Xiu refused, but she insisted on giving them to them, saying, "Grandma is right. You are grown up now, so you should dress up. I will take you out to socialize in the future, so that you can handle the occasion."
When old lady Zheng heard this, her eyes were smiling like crescents. Before she even opened her mouth, her eldest granddaughter knew why they brought Zheng Xian here, and it was naturally better.
Fen Ge was in charge of Zheng Xiu's clothes and jewelry. After a while, she found two pieces of material, one piece of ice blue flying warblers rolling snow gauze, and one piece of lotus green layered gauze pink brocade, both of which were suitable for little girls to wear. Zheng Xiu thought that if she gave them to Zheng Xian, she would not be able to make clothes for herself in a short time, so she simply asked Fen Ge to measure Zheng Xian's size. Anyway, there was a needlework lady in the mansion, so it was very convenient to make two sets of clothes.
After measuring the size, Zheng Xiu asked Fen Ge to open her dressing box and let Zheng Xian choose what she liked to wear.
Her dressing box had three layers in total, and when it was opened, it was full of jewels and precious things.
When Zheng Xian came, she only wore a thin silver hairpin in the shape of a plum blossom on her head and a pair of silver cloves on her ears. It was because Old Lady Zheng felt sorry for her granddaughter who didn't have any decent jewelry at such a big age, so she used her private money to subsidize her to buy them. If it were up to Zhu, she would never be willing to buy her daughter any decent jewelry.
When Old Lady Zheng bought these two pieces of jewelry for Zheng Xian, Zheng Xian had already refused to accept them. It was only after Old Lady Zheng persuaded her that she had to dress decently when going to the capital and not embarrass Zheng Ren and Zheng Xiu that Zheng Xian agreed to accept them. Now that she saw the good things in Zheng Xiu's dressing box, Zheng Xian was even more unwilling to accept them.
Zheng Xiu insisted that she choose, saying that she would get angry if she refused again. Zheng Xiu had no choice but to choose a pair of silver bracelets, a hollow butterfly silver swing, and a pair of gold lantern earrings.
It looked like she had picked three things, but they were actually inconspicuous little things in Zheng Xiu's dressing table.
Zheng Xiu couldn't just give her so few things, so she also picked a royal blue peacock pendant with green jade and a royal blue beaded hairpin for her.
Zheng Xiu wanted to refuse again, but she smiled and said, "My sister has been filial to grandpa on my behalf, so these are what she deserves. Could it be that you think that my sister is stingy and the things she gave are not what she wants?" Although she had only met her grandpa and grandma not long ago, after observing her grandpa's attitude towards Zheng Xian for half a day, she knew that Zheng Xian served the two old people very well at home. Fortunately, there was Zheng Xian who had opened her mind, otherwise how could she and her father live in Beijing without worrying about the future? If they only relied on Zhu, the two old people's life would be very miserable.
Zheng Xian hurriedly said, "The things that elder sister gave me are indeed too expensive. It is my duty to serve grandma. How can I accept so many things?" Then she looked at old lady Zheng again. Old
lady Zheng was a little embarrassed for a moment. Zheng Xiu was indeed too generous. She was dazzled by the gems on the hairpins, and she didn't know how much they were worth. But if she didn't accept them, she would be offending her kindness...
Zheng Xiu didn't care about their quarrels, and directly put the two hairpins into Zheng Xian's hair, saying, "Sister Xian looks good in them. You see, I have so much stuff here, and I can't wear it all at once. Just think of it as helping me share my worries." She even held her hand and didn't let her take it off.
Zheng Xian smiled and accepted it.
Zheng Xiu then asked about the current situation of her second uncle, second aunt and Rong Ge'er. Zheng
Xiu told her one by one that her father was now at home doing farm work, her mother was doing needlework with the village lady to earn money, and her younger brother was still studying in the school...
These were all trivial matters, but Zheng Xiu didn't feel annoyed when she heard them.
In her memory, the quarrels with Zhu seemed to be just yesterday, but if you count the days, it has been several years. She used to think Zhu was hateful, but now when she heard about Zhu from Zheng Xiu, she could hardly remember her face. The previous grievances and hatreds seemed to be things of the previous life, and she had no emotions at all.
The three grandparents chattered endlessly, but it was getting late.
Outside, the tea in front of Old Man Zheng, Zheng Ren, and Xue Zhi had been changed several times.
Zheng Ren and Xue Zhi thought it was rare for Zheng Xiu to be so happy, so they didn't send anyone in to urge them, and let them talk in private.
It was almost curfew time, and Old Man Zheng felt sleepy and couldn't sit still, so Xue Zhi sent a maid to talk to him.
Not long after, Zheng Xiu, Old Lady Zheng, and Zheng Xian came out together.
It was getting late, and there was no time to delay any longer. Zheng Ren had someone call Zheng Yu over, and Xue Zhi asked Zheng Xiu to stay. She personally sent Old Man Zheng and Old Lady Zheng to the gate of the Duke of Qing's Mansion, and watched them get on the carriage before turning back.
Zheng Xiu sat and talked with her family for the whole afternoon. She didn't feel anything at first, but when everyone left, she felt very weak. When Xue Zhi came back, she had taken off her hairpins, changed into casual clothes, and sat on the kang, letting Minghui massage her sore calves. When
Xue Zhi came back, she was still smiling. When she looked at him, her eyebrows and eyes were full of smiles. Her eyes were surprisingly bright, as if she had returned to the appearance of a young girl. Xue Zhi's heart softened, and he smiled too. Then he waved Minghui away, sat down next to Zheng Xiu, and took over the massage of her legs.
Zheng Xiu was so happy that she didn't know what to say. She hooked her finger at Xue Zhi. Xue Zhi thought she had something to say, so he leaned over.
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