On the day of the Cold Food Festival, someone came from our hometown of Qizhou. It was the sister-in-law of the old lady Hou, and the old Marquis's younger brother.
He's just a half-brother, and I heard he was neither good at literature nor martial arts when he was young.
Later, it was Old Master Hou who spoke up and sent him to his ancestral home in Qizhou to help the clan chief manage clan affairs.
They were gone for decades. In previous years, this family never returned to the capital, but they still sent gifts on time for all four seasons.
This time, Gao wondered why he had suddenly returned to the Marquis's residence. She pondered for a moment but could not guess his intentions.
They summoned Steward Rong to make arrangements. This time, only the elderly couple, their granddaughter, and their grandson came to the capital.
Grandson Gu Chang is seventeen this year, and granddaughter Gu Yun is fourteen. Steward Rong prepared a guest courtyard for them in the outer yard.
It's really inappropriate for Gu Yun to live in the same courtyard as her grandparents and brother, given that she is only fourteen years old.
Steward Rong then prepared a small attic courtyard for Gu Yun in the inner courtyard, where she would live next to the Third Miss.
Today is the Cold Food Festival. The whole family has traveled a long way to get to your house and settled in, but we haven't been able to have a hot meal.
However, the meals delivered from the main kitchen were also carefully prepared.
Cold food porridge, jujube-stuffed swallows, ginger and fermented black beans, various kinds of braised meat, and pickled vegetables were all served in one serving.
Although Hanshi porridge is cold porridge, it is a truly nourishing porridge. Almonds, Inula japonica, and Coltsfoot flowers are simmered in water in a pot for 15 minutes.
Filter the residue through cheesecloth, add glutinous rice to the broth and simmer for 25 minutes. After turning off the heat, sprinkle a handful of coltsfoot flowers on top of the porridge.
This porridge has the effects of strengthening the spleen and replenishing qi, soothing the liver and harmonizing the stomach. Every household will cook a pot of this porridge in advance today.
Ginger and fermented black beans is the modern version of pork skin jelly. It is made by simmering pork with skin in water until it solidifies, then cutting it into pieces, arranging it on a plate, and drizzling it with spicy garlic and fermented black bean sauce. It has a smooth and slightly bouncy texture.
Zao Gu Fei Yan is a type of pastry shaped like a swallow. After being steamed, it is strung on willow branches and hung in front of the door.
Wang Yan and a group of young girls followed Granny Sun to hang willow branches in front of the garden gate.
After hanging up, go back to have some porridge and dinner. Today's porridge was also delivered from the main kitchen, and the servant who delivered it was an assistant to the head of the water kitchen.
So Wang Yan ended up with a bag of maltose, which was sold around the time of the Cold Food Festival, as people at that time had a custom of eating maltose.
Wang Yan picked it up and distributed it to everyone in the courtyard. Grandma Sun took the thick maltose that Wang Yan distributed.
Then he slapped his forehead and realized he had forgotten to prepare some things.
"I've been so busy these past few days that I forgot to buy some thick maltose. Luckily, you still have a pack to share."
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After resting for a while, the second master's family went to see Madam Hou on the second day after the Cold Food Festival.
Only then did Gao realize what had happened. It turned out that the family's annual ancestral worship and several estates in the clan had all fallen under the jurisdiction of the second patriarch's branch of the family.
But before we went to the ancestral shrine this year, a rockfall occurred on the mountain, smashing all the stone tablets carved on our family's ancestral shrine.
The second old man sensed something was wrong, so he sent the rest of his family to make repairs while he himself brought his grandson and granddaughter to the capital.
Gao still felt something was wrong. Why not just write a letter explaining the whole story?
Is it really necessary to travel for ten days or half a month to come to the Marquis's residence just to talk about this one thing?
Sure enough, after informing her elder brother and sister-in-law, Madam Hou allowed them to stay at the mansion for a while longer.
The two old masters and their family did not refuse and readily agreed to stay.
He even asked the Marquis to find a good academy for Gu Chang to study, which seemed to indicate that he planned to stay there for a long time.
Since yesterday was the Cold Food Festival, the welcoming banquet was held today.
Grandma Sun was also transferred to the front to make soup, and when she came back, she brought back a basket of delicious food.
There was tripe slices, which Wang Yan liked, and Sichuan peppercorn and plum chicken; stewed bean buns, which Chun Ye liked; and quail soup, which Chun Chao and Chun Lu loved to drink. Chun Que also requested crispy walnuts (candied walnut kernels).
Qingqian and Qingping love Dongpo pork, and Zhiliu and Zhixu also brought a plate of carved candied fruit.
Everyone was overjoyed and gathered around, watching as Granny Sun magically pulled things out of the basket one by one.
This is why it's so much easier to get things done when someone's in the kitchen. All the dishes Aunt Sun brought back today were extra prepared in advance; not a single one was leftover.
The Lady of the Marquis hosted a grand banquet in the front, while they held a smaller banquet in the kitchen in the backyard.
After several rounds of drinks, Lady Hou returned.
Qingqian came to deliver a message, asking Aunt Sun to make a portion of each of the following and send them to the Second Master and Gu Yun: crispy rice crust, spicy strips, pork jerky, and apple daifuku.
It turns out that egg rolls were also served as dessert at the banquet, and it was learned that it was Grandma Sun's idea to make them and send them to the main kitchen.
This reminded the old lady of a cook in the Hou's courtyard who knew how to make snacks, and she instructed her to send any novel foods to her cousins to try.
Gao readily agreed with a smile; it wasn't a big deal.
She then called over Miss Gu Yun to examine her closely, showering her with compliments such as "beautiful as jade flowers" and "elegant and well-behaved." Madam Gao also sent Qingmei to deliver a pearl headdress.
After receiving the gift, Gu Yun sincerely thanked the Lady Hou. Then she instructed her maid to carefully place it in the trunk and put it away properly.
Her maid, Dongmei, was overjoyed. "Miss, I think Madam Hou is a kind person."
In this way, the old man and woman's plans might go much more smoothly.
Gu Yunwei was slightly displeased. "Dongmei, shut up! You mustn't speak ill of your elders behind their backs!"
Dongmei's face stiffened, and she curtsied, "Yes, Miss!"
The family settled down at the Marquis's residence. Gu Chang went to the academy to study every day on time, and he seemed to be a diligent student.
His scholarship was also quite good; after examining him, the Marquis praised him as a well-read man.
Gu Yun also visited all the elders and cousins with gifts. Everyone else responded politely.
Gu Xiao's other two concubines accepted the gifts with trepidation and gratitude, and each returned a piece of their own needlework.
Only Aunt Yang, after receiving it, merely grinned and nonchalantly told the maid to put it away.
Deep down, he did look down on Gu Yun, thinking she was just a distant relative with no real connection, only offering a polite compliment.
Dongmei, who had come along, couldn't help but close her mouth upon seeing this. How could the second wife's concubine be so uncouth?
It was only after the second wife heard about it that she personally made two more gemstone bracelets with floral designs.
After returning home, they punished Aunt Yang by confining her to the courtyard.
Aunt Yang went to inform Gu Xiao, but the Second Master ignored her. He himself was still resting in bed with a broken leg.
Yang was dumbfounded. This was just a relative from the countryside; how could he have been punished? What was going on?
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“Master, if the rumors about us looking down on our uncle get out, it would be a terrible injustice. I wonder what Father and Second Uncle will think of us.”
Rumors are spreading throughout the manor these days, but fortunately Zijing is quick-witted.
These words had barely begun to surface when they were immediately addressed and dealt with.
The second wife subtly sowed discord, and Gu Xiao laughed in anger after hearing it. She was still the concubine of a concubine's son, yet she had the nerve to look down on her elder who was also a concubine's son!
In a fit of anger, he smashed a teacup. Zheng Jin instructed Zijuan to deliver a message that Aunt Yang's confinement would be extended by another half month.
Ever since Gu Ting became an official, when had Aunt Yang ever suffered such humiliation? In no time, she became the talk of the town's servants again, a fool being talked about by word of mouth.
Everyone who mentions Aunt Yang shakes their head and sighs, saying she's a complete idiot. Otherwise, how could she have been confined to her quarters for half a month after guests arrived?
Even Gu Ting was somewhat affected, and couldn't help but resent his aunt for making him lose face last time.
Aside from Xu Shaoqing delivering food and drinks, the father and son turned their heads away and didn't even look at it!
Despite her efforts to conceal the rumors, Zheng Jin was still unable to keep them from the old lady. After Lu Mama learned of them, the news reached the ears of the old lady Hou.
The old lady had Kouqi summon Zheng Jin and gave her a dressing down, scolding her for not being able to control her servants.
He was scolded by the second wife until his face turned red with shame. He said it was his own negligence and promised to discipline him strictly when he got back.
But she felt aggrieved and had nowhere to vent her anger. Aunt Yang and the Second Master were like madmen, having tantrums every now and then.
Moreover, his family was just like the two old masters who came to visit; they weren't much better off than the two old masters' family.
Of all the servants in the mansion, not everyone was willing to obey her orders. Even she had to bow down to the head steward of the mansion.
The rumors were truly suppressed with all our might. But who knew that someone would still deliberately spread them to Granny Lu.
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