Chapter 148: Da Da Niangzi! Be Careful! [Many Thanks for Everyone's Support! Bowing Again!]

After listening to Mama Fang's words, Wang Shi blinked her eyes innocently, pondered for a while, looked at the embarrassed expressions of everyone in the room, and let her thoughts drift toward the worst possibilities.

Suddenly, realization dawned in her eyes; she grinned, then furrowed her brows, her face filled with disgust, and she couldn't help but exclaim: "Ah!?"

After sighing over Wang Shi, Mama Liu glanced back fearfully.

Once the lingering fear in her heart subsided, Wang Shi smiled and said to the Old Lady: "In that case, let those official families in Yang Zhou fight over it! Hmph! Look at how they behaved yesterday! They really treated it like a treasure."

The Old Lady looked at Wang Shi's expression, smiled, and tapped her gently: "You, oh you... There is one more thing I must tell you in advance. The Da Da Niangzi of the Hou Fu of Marquis Marquis Yongyi in Bianjing has had Jing-ge'er bring something for you."

"Mother, that is merely a tribute from your sister-in-law in Bianjing! Why are you telling me this..." Wang Shi said, her mood greatly improved.

"Ai~" The Old Lady shook her head, looking at Wang Shi with such seriousness that Wang Shi immediately wiped the smile from her face.

"What Jing-ge'er brought is the birth date and hour of Xu Xu Zaizhang, the legitimate second son of the Marquis Marquis Yongyi's household," the Old Lady said, then looked at Wang Shi.

"Oh! Could it be that sister-in-law heard about the powerful Real Person on the mountains near our Yang Zhou..."

Upon hearing this, Mama Fang and Mama Cui exchanged a glance.

Before Wang Shi could finish her sentence, Mama Liu poked her from behind.

Wang Shi cut off her words, frowned at Mama Liu, and following the hint in Mama Liu's eyes, she turned her head with an expression of utter disbelief: "Mother, could it be that the Hou Fu intends to..."

The Old Lady smiled and nodded.

Seeing the Old Lady's confirmation, Wang Shi jumped up at once, clutching her handkerchief as she stammered: "This, this, this, Mother, you aren't teasing your daughter-in-law, are you! The Hou Fu... such a high-ranking family! Oh Heaven!"

"Sit down! You are such a grown person, yet still so unable to keep your composure," the Old Lady said. Hearing this, Wang Shi obediently sat on the chair, took a deep breath, and blinked her eyes cutely at the Old Lady, implying she wanted to hear more.

"The Hou Fu in Bianjing learned of the Yuan family matter long ago. They feared the news would reach Yang Zhou and cause this old woman to lose face, which is why they had Jing-ge'er bring this birth date and hour."

Wang Shi nodded repeatedly without pause, continuing to grin broadly.

"Jing-ge'er also told me about matters in Bianjing. With the Yuan family incident preceding this, if we suddenly found a high-ranking match regardless of the truth, it would not sound good when spoken of," the Old Lady continued.

Upon hearing mention of the Yuan family, Wang Wang Ruofu still felt anger in her heart and snorted disdainfully through her nose.

The Old Lady continued speaking: "However, now that the official families of Yang Zhou have spoken so ill of our family's girl over this Gao family matter, we shall no longer hide or conceal anything; let us speak of it openly and squarely! Our family's girl is not worried about finding a husband!"

"Mother speaks the truth!" Wang Shi agreed with high spirits.

"Then, Mother, when the eldest daughter of the Xu family visited our home before, was there any..." Wang Shi asked curiously.

The Old Lady nodded and said: "It was discussed. Currently, the eldest son of the Xu family is serving in the military under my nephew, and he married the daughter of a powerful general from the south; she has an open-minded character. As for Xu Xu Zaizhang, he is studying; Jing-ge'er originally intended to take the exams this year alongside his elder brother, but this matter concerning this old woman caused a delay."

"Wonderful, wonderful! Truly good relatives!" Wang Shi said happily, patting the clothes on her thighs, and especially upon hearing he was a scholar, she couldn't help but sigh in admiration repeatedly.

If they were military officials or nobles, the Wang family would struggle to exert influence, but for scholars becoming officials, the Wang family could still contribute some effort.

"Mother, then I shall quickly call Hua'er over; after hearing so many infuriating words at the Bai family, let her come and be happy too..." Wang Shi said, looking around at everyone in Shou'an Hall, before slowly stopping her speech.

It turned out she was the last one to know.

"Then, Mother, how should our family spread this news?" Wang Wang Ruofu asked.

The Old Lady slowly reined in her smile and said indifferently: "We shall use this old woman's birthday as an opportunity and invite all the official families of Yang Zhou to come and celebrate."

Hearing this, both Wang Shi and Mama Liu wore expressions of shock, and Mama Liu even looked deeply at the Old Lady, her eyes filled with respect for this elderly lady.

"In that case, your daughter-in-law will go make preparations."

"Go ahead."

The Old Lady seemed suddenly exhausted and waved her handkerchief.

Wang Shi bowed deeply, turned, and departed; although she tried her hardest to suppress the corners of her mouth, she could not hold them back.

On the way back to Weirui Pavilion,

Her happy steps grew faster and faster, and upon reaching the entrance of Weirui Pavilion, she turned back to Mama Liu and said: "The Hou Fu in Bianjing! Such a high-ranking family! Such a good household, I never dared to imagine it! And the Xu family still has that business with white cotton wool..."

"Da Da Niangzi, it is called 'cotton' now; do mind the door of our courtyard—"

"Yes, yes, yes, with this business continuing, our Hua'er in the future..."

"Ah!!!"

"Da Da Niangzi!"

Whoosh—

The mamas and maidservants following behind Wang Shi hurriedly rushed forward to help the fallen Wang Wang Ruofu to her feet.

"Hiss— It's nothing, it's nothing! Excellent! Quick, I must write a letter to Mother and a letter to sister-in-law, to let them be happy too."

After Wang Wang Ruofu left in high spirits, Xu Xu Zaijing, having finished his afternoon nap, came to Shou'an Hall.

Lady Sheng was tending to the incense burner in her hands with a somewhat dazed expression.

"Great-aunt."

"Jing-ge'er has arrived; come and sit."

"Great-aunt, what were you just thinking about? Mama Cui said that when I arrived, you didn't even lift your head."

"Just some old stories," the Old Lady said, forcing a smile and waving her hand.

Xu Xu Zaijing also noticed the Old Lady's low spirits and found a topic to ask: "Great-aunt, since I can remember, I have rarely heard of you celebrating your birthday."

The Old Lady glanced at Mama Fang, stopping Mama Fang who was about to speak; she looked into Xu Xu Zaijing's eyes, lowered her head slightly, and said: "The death anniversary of your legitimate uncle falls just after that day."

Xu Xu Zaijing cut off his words and looked at the Old Lady in surprise, saying nothing.

"Great-aunt, I should not have asked this..." Xu Xu Zaijing said self-reproachfully.

The Old Lady revealed a faint smile, patted Xu Xu Zaijing's hand, shook her head, and said: "That was several decades ago; Jing'er should not keep it in your heart."

Mama Fang and Mama Cui in the room lowered their heads; indeed, it was a matter from several decades ago, yet every year when that time came, the Old Lady would silently shed tears.

Xu Xu Zaijing knew that at this moment, he needed to distract the elder's thoughts.

So he hurriedly said: "Great-aunt, let your grandson perform a trick for you."

Although there was still some melancholy in the Old Lady's eyes, she pretended to be very interested and asked: "What tricks does Jing-ge'er know?"

Xu Xu Zaijing stood up, moved to the center of the main hall in Shou'an Hall, and said: "Great-aunt, you must not move randomly!"

After speaking, he stretched his muscles and bones, tucked the hem of his clothes into his belt, and with quite the Jianghu flair of Bianjing, bowed to the Old Lady and to Mamas Fang and Cui.

"This humble one is performing here; I beg those with money to support the show with coin, and those without to support it with their presence. This small one thanks you all."

The two mothers also hurriedly laughed a few times, hoping to disperse the somewhat sorrowful atmosphere.

"Heh!"

Xu Xu Zaijing exhaled and let out a shout, then fell straight forward, startling the Old Lady into hurriedly reaching out to catch him, while the two nannies in the room were even more shocked.

"Slap!"

Everyone saw Xu Xu Zaijing prop himself up directly on both elbows, after which Xu Xu Zaijing lifted his head and smiled at the Old Lady.

The Old Lady exhaled the breath she had been holding and said, "You child!"

"Great-Grandmother, watch closely!" Xu Xu Zaijing said, exerting slight force to lift his body into the air, assuming the standard posture for a push-up.

"Heh!"

"Heh!"

Years of exercise had given Xu Xu Zaijing extremely precise control over his own body.

Borrowing the strength of his four limbs, Xu Xu Zaijing, while lying prone, flew straight up to more than half a person's height, then clapped his hands before him, landed, clapped, landed, bouncing back and forth inside the main hall.

"Great-Grandmother, do I look like a table that has become a spirit?"

Seeing Qingcao, who attended him, was long accustomed to this, but upon hearing her Young Master's words, she could not help but reveal a smile.

Everyone else looked at Xu Xu Zaijing with faces full of surprise.

Hearing Xu Xu Zaijing's words, Nanny Fang and the others in the main hall all covered their mouths and burst into laughter.

After jumping for a while, Xu Xu Zaijing stopped.

Subsequently, he rose into a handstand, spread his legs apart, and supported himself on the ground with only one hand.

"Great-Grandmother, what I am performing next is the One-Finger Zen!" Saying this, Xu Xu Zaijing changed from one hand to five fingers, then to a single finger.

"Good, good, good, come down quickly, you child; you are making my heart race," Lady Sheng said, rising from her seat.

Xu Xu Zaijing, while upside down, looked at the Old Lady; seeing that much of the loneliness had vanished from the elder's expression, he then rose up.

Outside the main hall of Shou'an Hall,

Because she had learned from her own mother that her grandmother intended to use the occasion of her birthday to legitimize her status, Sheng Hualan naturally understood the depression weighing on Lady Sheng's heart, so she had come specifically to comfort her; just as she arrived outside Shou'an Hall, she heard Xu Xu Zaijing's remark about being 'a table that has become a spirit'.

After watching Xu Xu Zaijing's performance at the doorway just now, Sheng Hualan waited a moment, then a smile appeared on her face as she lifted the curtain and entered the main hall: "Grandmother."

At this moment, Seeing Qingcao stood beside Nanny Fang, watching Nanny Fang's hands, which were somewhat rough yet incredibly dexterous, combing Xu Xu Zaijing's messy hair, her eyes full of surprise and admiration.

"Sister Sheng Hualan," Xu Xu Zaijing said, nodding to Sheng Hualan, who was seated and performing a crouching salute.

"Grandmother." After completing her bow, Sheng Hualan went to Lady Sheng's side; seeing that the depression had vanished from the elder's eyes, Sheng Hualan looked at Xu Xu Zaijing with gratitude.

Xu Xu Zaijing nodded again.

"All good children."

The Old Lady sat on the couch and patted Sheng Hualan's hand; she felt her eldest granddaughter's concern for her.

Some affections, once given, ultimately receive a return.

Unlike that fine son of the Old Lady.

After leaving the office,

Sheng Hong, with a serious expression, came to Shou'an Hall.

Since hearing Xu Xu Zaijing's words yesterday, he had observed carefully throughout the entire day at the government office, yet he felt that his colleagues still showed no sense of urgency whatsoever.

Topics discussed rarely concerned the salt administration; instead, there was much talk about the several couples of official families who got engaged after the Bai family's thank-you banquet and received gifts from the Bai family.

And also

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(End of Chapter)