Chapter 3
After Feng Er sent Lan Yingde and his daughter back to their house on the back street of the Tusi Mansion, he bowed and said goodbye.
Lan Yingde invited him to have tea, but he politely declined: "I should accept Mr. Lan's kindness, but the chieftain and Yintai (1) are still waiting for my reply."
Lan Yingde was just asking politely out of courtesy, and didn't take it seriously when he heard Feng Er's refusal. He asked his disciple Changsheng, who went out to greet him, to give Feng Er a red envelope to thank him for his care along the way.
This time, Feng Er didn't hesitate. He took the money and weighed it in his hand. It felt heavy. It must have been filled with silver dollars. Judging from the sound, there were quite a few. Even if it was half-open (2), there should have been about twenty. He knew this was a good job. Lan Caishen was Lan Caishen. He never used paper money like flag money to fool people. Feng Er felt embarrassed to leave after taking the money. He exchanged pleasantries with Lan Yingde at the door.
Yueming had been riding in a carriage for several days and felt dizzy, tired, and incredibly sticky. She wanted to shower, eat, and get a good night's sleep, but Feng Er, the second housekeeper, kept nagging her father. Even the setting sun from Yun Xiang made her dizzy. She quietly moved to Lan Yingde's back and tugged at his shirt, signaling him to stop talking.
Although Lan Yingde had no intention of raising his daughter to be a lady from a wealthy family, he would not allow her to behave so unruly in front of guests. He turned his head and gave her a disapproving look. Yueming pouted and turned her head away from him.
Feng Er finally got on his horse with satisfaction and called his followers and horse slaves to return to the chieftain's mansion.
Changsheng hadn't seen Yueming for almost a year, and he was very happy to see this little junior sister. When he took the box from Yueming's hand, he scratched her nose and said, "You have an oil bottle hanging from your mouth. What's the matter? Did the master scold you on the way?"
Yueming ignored everyone and walked through the gate with a pout, then skirted the screen wall and into the courtyard. Lan Yingde's new house in Yunxiang was a quadrangular courtyard with five patios. It was significantly larger than the three-sided courtyard house in Kunming, which had a main hall, two side rooms, and a screen wall. It was both spacious and bright. The overlapping brackets and the flying eaves and corners were magnificent.
The usually good-tempered junior sister suddenly lost her temper. Changsheng thought he had just teased her and offended her. The girl was grown up and shouldn't scratch her nose like she did when she was little. He looked at his master awkwardly. Lan Yingde winked at Yueming's back and whispered, "Go and comfort her."
It seemed like it had nothing to do with him. Changsheng breathed a sigh of relief, picked up the suitcase and quickly caught up with Yueming. He nudged her with his shoulder and said, "Why, aren't you happy living in a big house?"
Yueming turned around abruptly and frowned: "Is there an electric fan in the big house?"
Changsheng shook his head.
Yueming took a step towards Changsheng: "Do you have popsicles?"
Changsheng was forced to take a step back and continued to shake his head.
Yueming took another step forward: "Is there a light? Is there a radio? Is there a toilet?"
Changsheng, a 1.8-meter-tall man, was forced by Yueming, who was 1.5 meters tall, to retreat step by step while holding a small suitcase in front of his chest.
Seeing his senior brother leaning against the screen wall, speechless, Yueming put his hands on his hips and snorted coldly, "There's nothing here, it's useless."
Lan Yingde sighed. When his daughter got stubborn, she was unstoppable. He walked over, took Yueming's hand and said, "Don't be angry with your senior brother. Daddy will show you your room."
Changsheng stared in astonishment as the father and daughter walked away affectionately, feeling confused: it was the master who provoked the junior sister, it was the master who wanted to build the house, and it was the master's decision to move here, so why did the junior sister get angry with him in the end?
Feng Er returned to the Tusi Mansion to report. After entering the main gate and passing through the meeting hall, he walked to the corridor leading to the flower hall and met the steward Tao Da coming from the other side. Tao Da was in a hurry to complete the task that the Tusi had just instructed him to do, but when he saw Feng Er coming towards him, he stopped and looked at Feng Er with a half-smile at the corridor exit: "Hey, Feng Er is back?"
Feng Er bowed to him and said with a smile, "Yes! Send Mr. Lan and Miss home and quickly report to Master and Mrs. Yin. Where are you going?"
Tao Da patted him on the shoulder and said, "Tomorrow is the Water Splashing Festival. I have to go and greet the leaders of each clan, so that they don't get confused about the appropriate time for worship and annoy the masters and young masters by running around here and there.
What's the point of this? The time is fixed, and it's not his first time to pay homage. He just wants to show off his ability to interact with the leaders of various factions. Feng Er secretly complained, but he still smiled with envy and spoke sincerely, "You are the most popular person in the eyes of the master. The master entrusts you with all important matters."
Hearing this, Tao Da was very proud, but pretended to be distressed and said, "I really envy you! The work is easy, and people look younger when they worry less. When we stand next to each other, anyone with eyes will think you are younger than me."
Feng Er almost couldn't help but spit in Tao Da's face. What do you mean by "feel"? Grandfather is just five years younger than you. Their Feng family has always been the only choice for the chief steward of the Tusi Mansion. If his father hadn't given birth to him late, it would have been his turn for the surname Tao to be so arrogant in front of him.
Feng Er tried hard to suppress the smile that was about to fall off his face and said, "I don't have your experience, so I can't accomplish anything big. I can only do the small things that slipped through your fingers."
Tao Da was in high spirits after stepping on Feng Er, humming a little tune as he walked away happily. Feng Er looked at his cheerful figure and spat silently: "Bah, you have no sense of taste."
Entering the flower hall, he saw the chieftain holding a small bamboo pipe inlaid with silver and sitting side by side with Yin Tai. On either side sat the eldest and second young masters. He knelt down and kowtowed to the chieftain and Yin Tai before standing up and replying, "Master and Madam, Mr. Lan and Miss have been brought back."
Han Tusi took a puff of his water pipe, blew out smoke rings and asked, "Did you have a safe journey?"
Feng Er clasped his hands together and replied, "Thanks to the master, the journey has been very peaceful."
Han Tusi handed the pipe to the serving maid, picked up the tea bowl on the table and asked with interest: "He only brought his daughter with him, but there is not even a woman to serve him?"
Feng Er replied, "I'll just take Miss Lan with me. The servants will stay in Kunming. I'll ask Prime Minister Yun to find any maids who will serve Miss in the future."
Han Tusi took a sip of tea and said with satisfaction: "No matter whether there was any in the past, as long as it is cleared up, I can marry Yuyan to him without worry."
Feng Er lowered his head, pretending he hadn't heard. Chief Yin Taiqihan was being outspoken, bringing up something that hadn't even been discussed yet, and in front of his servants. He swallowed his anger and changed the subject: "The little girl from the Lan family has grown up, right?"
Feng Er finally looked up and said, "That's right! Thirteen is old enough to get married."
Yin Tai asked again, "What does your personality look like?"
Feng Er accepted the benefits from Lan Yingde and of course spared no effort to praise this family: "They are very dignified, and they studied in a foreign school. They have the style of a lady from a wealthy family."
Han Yunkai found this question and answer amusing. He skimmed the foam from the tea bowl with the lid and asked nonchalantly, "Are you looking for a son-in-law or a daughter-in-law? I feel like you don't want to let either of these father and daughter go."
The eldest young master, Han Liyang, was drinking tea when he heard this. He laughed so hard that the tea in his mouth sprayed out. He wiped his mouth and added, "In Chinese, it's called catching them all in one net."
Yin Tai was almost pissed off by this father and son, so he waved his hand and let Feng Er go.
Feng Er bowed and retreated out the door, then straightened up proudly. It seemed that both father and daughter were destined to become either a son-in-law or a young mistress. What was the point of Tao Da cultivating friendships with the leaders of various factions? Even if a servant could seize power, how could he climb over his master? If he ever offended the eldest or second young master, he would be thrown into the water dungeon in the chieftain's mansion, crawling with water rats.
It’s different when you get along with Lan Yingde. For this God of Wealth, making money is as easy as picking leaves. Only with endless money can you have endless blessings.
He decided to give his son a few more instructions, asking him to teach the little girl from Boguangzhai Chinese seriously and to take good care of the young lady from the Lan family.
In the flower hall, Mrs. Yin patted her chest and lectured the three men inside: "You three, father and son, are indeed descended from the same ancestor. You're all the same. Yuyan is a widow, and you're speaking so bluntly and without any sense of propriety. You've shouted so loudly that even the Prime Minister knows about the two families' disagreement, especially you." Mrs. Yin extended her hand, her finger stained with cockscomb flowers, pointing directly at Han Yunkai's head: "What nonsense are you talking about? It's a mess."
Han Yunkai turned his head to avoid Yin Tai's finger and said innocently, "Why do you want Lan Yingde to be your son-in-law? What's the point of hiding it? As long as Lan Yingde is willing to marry, and my third sister is willing to marry, who in Yunxiang's territory can gossip about it? Who dares to gossip about it?
Tusi Han nodded in agreement, but received another cold stare from Yin Tai. He angrily pulled out the silver lime box from his waist and took out some betel nut to eat.
Han Liyang had the maid bring him a water pipe. As he filled it with tobacco, he said, "Madam, you're worrying too much. Even if Second Sister's eldest uncle Fang Tusi knew about this, let alone these few close servants, he wouldn't be able to say anything. His short-lived brother died before Third Sister could even give birth to a boy or a girl. Does he really want Third Sister to be a widow for the rest of her life?"
This man's heart is thicker than the banana tree outside the house. Yin Tai feels that she gave birth to two cows instead of sons. No matter how well she plays the sanxian, they can't understand her.
Too impatient to argue with her two sons, she spoke directly to Tusi Han: "Although Yuyan is a widow, now that we've brought her back, she's still the precious Miss Xiangkan. Our ancient custom is not to marry commoners. Lan Yingde is not only a commoner, but also a Han Chinese. Have you asked the third brother about this? Yuyan was born from her belly. You have to ask her if she wants such a son-in-law. You also have to ask Lan Yingde if he's willing. If he is, we'll tell Yuyan. If not, just pretend it never happened and no one is allowed to mention it again."
Han Tusi felt that he didn't like the last few words. He raised his thumb with the jade ring to his nose and said, "My daughter is a golden branch and jade leaf. It's such a great blessing for me to marry her to a widower with no family and a burden. How dare he refuse?"
Yin Tai's forehead veins popped out when he heard this. "His wife's been dead for over ten years, and he still hasn't remarried. Is he waiting specifically for your daughter? He has so many connections, isn't there anyone who has acted as a matchmaker for him? You're forcing a cow to drink water. Do you want to make a marriage or an enemy?"
Seeing his parents' voices getting louder and louder, Han Yunkai quickly stepped forward to smooth things over. He put his arm around Yin Tai's shoulders and said, "Alright, alright, what's there to argue about? If Lan Yingde really doesn't want to be the son-in-law of the Tusi Mansion, Madam, you can just adopt his daughter as your goddaughter. That way, you can still tie him down with us. As for me, I can either be his uncle or his brother, so I won't suffer any loss."
The beginning of this statement seemed to make some sense, but with the last sentence, it became a bachelor and a scoundrel. Yin Tai was angry and amused when she heard it, and pointed the finger at him: "Why are you pretending to be good? You are not a worry-free person either. You are almost 21 and you run away when I say I will propose to you."
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