Chapter 430: Humming a Little Tune [Thank you! Thank you again! Owe 16,000 characters]

"Hmm!"

Chai Zhengzheng hummed, then looked down at her clothes.

Miss Yun Mu and Fuyi saw Chai Zhengzheng's action and hurriedly helped smooth out the wrinkles on her clothes.

Madam Chai, sitting on the Luo Han bed in the front hall, looked at her daughter beside her, then stood up and helped Chai Zhengzheng smooth the bangs on her forehead.

"We went to the Zhu family first to share in the joy, and only then dared to visit the Chai family!"

"Hahaha! The Imperial Son-in-law is joking."

The voices of the Chai family master and the Imperial Son-in-law Lu talking came from outside into the front hall.

"Please, inside."

The Chai family master's voice rang out at the door.

Madam Chai happened to sit back on the Luo Han bed at this time,

And seeing Xu Zaijing and Lu Zezong following the Imperial Son-in-law Lu into the room, Madam Chai stood up again.

The Imperial Son-in-law Lu just bowed and said a New Year's greeting.

Xu Zaijing and Lu Zezong, however, bowed and saluted, then said in unison: "Madam, greetings, Happy New Year! Miss/Sister Zhengzheng, greetings, Happy New Year."

Looking at Xu Zaijing's amazed eyes and Lu Zezong's slightly open mouth as if he were stunned, Chai Zhengzheng and the maidservants beside her all smiled and curtsied slightly in return.

After the two straightened up from their bows, Madam Chai, who had stood up from the Luo Han bed, had already walked to Xu Zaijing and Lu Zezong.

Holding Xu Zaijing and Lu Zezong by the hand, one in each, Madam Chai first smiled at Lu Zezong, then carefully looked at Xu Zaijing: "Jing Ge'er, I haven't seen you for a long time; how come I feel you've grown taller?"

Xu Zaijing smiled slightly: "Madam has a good eye; I have grown a bit in the past half year."

As he spoke, Xu Zaijing used his other hand to measure.

"I said so! Come, sit quickly!"

After Xu Zaijing and the others sat down.

There was a table between the chairs,

Madam Chai pointed to the porcelain plate on the table filled with dried fruits: "Jing Ge'er, Zong Ge'er, try the new melon seeds from the north! There are both sweet and salty ones."

Xu Zaijing looked at the dried fruits on the table, which were very similar to the watermelon seeds of later generations, and grabbed a handful with a smile.

Seeing Xu Zaijing's action, Madam Chai's smile deepened.

Xu Zaijing, relying on his strong hand strength, didn't crack the watermelon seeds with his mouth, but directly pried them open with his bare hands, eating every other one, and feeding the one in between to Lu Zezong.

After Madam Chai asked how Xie Shi and Anmei's child were, she looked at the Imperial Son-in-law Lu and smiled: "Imperial Son-in-law, how has the Princess's morning sickness been lately?"

The Imperial Son-in-law Lu nodded with a smile: "Much better than a few days ago."

After speaking, the Imperial Son-in-law Lu also looked down below, seemingly looking at his nephew Lu Zezong.

Everyone talked for a while,

Because everyone had to enter the palace in the morning,

They didn't stay too long, and the Imperial Son-in-law Lu led Xu Zaijing and the two of them to stand up and say goodbye.

The group walked out noisily.

Walking in the covered walkway of the Chai family's inner courtyard,

Lu Zezong was walking side by side with Chai Zhengzheng in the back. He looked at Chai Zhengzheng's face and said: "Sister Zhengzheng, is your makeup today a new creation? It's truly beautiful!"

The three maidservants following Chai Zhengzheng all laughed.

Chai Zhengzheng also smiled in confusion: "Zong Ge'er, why do you say that?"

Lu Zezong looked at Chai Zhengzheng, whose eyelids were slightly blue, but which made her skin look white and delicate, and said: "I haven't seen my cousins wear makeup that is blue here."

As he spoke, Lu Zezong pointed to his eyelid area.

Hearing Lu Zezong's words, Chai Zhengzheng touched her eyelids, smiled, and said in a low voice: "Zong Ge'er, this isn't makeup; it's from not sleeping during the New Year's vigil."

"Oh, oh!"

Lu Zezong looked at Chai Zhengzheng somewhat embarrassedly and nodded,

Then took a few quick steps to catch up with Xu Zaijing in front and held Xu Zaijing's hand.

Sending them to the second gate,

Xu Zaijing and his party left the Chai family.

Madam Chai looked at the figure of Xu Zaijing riding out of the gate, then looked at her very beautiful daughter, and the corners of her mouth rose unconsciously, her eyes full of pride.

Madam Chai had been in Bianjing for a long time, and because she had to find wives for her two sons, she had seen many noble young ladies of high families in the capital, but there were few who could compare with her daughter Chai Zhengzheng.

Family background, temperament, appearance, height, needlework—these few things...

Even Rong Feiyan, who was famous in Bianjing for her appearance, had some gaps with Chai Zhengzheng in family background and temperament.

After all, noble young ladies in the capital of the same age as Chai Zhengzheng mostly didn't have the opportunity to manage as many shops and industries as she did.

"Wear this outfit when entering the palace; it's beautiful."

Madam Chai said to Chai Zhengzheng with a smile.

Returning to Huihe Ward from the Chai family,

After some preparation,

Xu Zaijing followed the Lu family and rushed toward the palace.

Having entered the palace to pay New Year's greetings on the first day so many times,

Today was the first time Xu Zaijing didn't walk through the Xuande Gate on the south side of the palace, but walked through the Donghua Gate on the east side.

Entering the palace,

Before arriving at the front of the main hall where the princes and nobles waited in line in previous years, a little palace eunuch came to the Lu family's group and bowed.

Xu Zaijing smiled and bowed in return: "Lord Qingyun."

Qingyun, who was saluting, hurriedly waved his hand with a smile: "Fifth Young Master, this little one cannot bear this title of 'Lord' from you."

"Little Lord is too modest! What is this?"

Qingyun bowed to the Lu family on the side again and said: "His Highness invites the Fifth Young Master and Zong Ge'er to wait elsewhere."

The Old Duke of Lian smiled and waved: "You go ahead."

Xu Zaijing and Lu Zezong left the Lu family and followed Qingyun to the side.

Circling halfway around the main hall where they paid New Year's greetings, Xu Zaijing and Lu Zezong arrived at the door of a room behind the main hall.

Opening the door, Xu Zaijing discovered that perhaps there were many relatives of the concubines entering the palace to pay New Year's greetings on the first day,

And this room was separated by rows of door panels.

"Fifth Young Master, Zong Ge'er, please take a seat in the room; His Highness will be here in a moment." Qingyun said standing at the door of the room.

Xu Zaijing and Lu Zezong nodded and entered the room.

Not long after sitting down,

Zhao Fang, whom they had just seen, walked in wearing light golden clothes.

"Greetings, Your Highness."

The two stood up and bowed.

Zhao Fang was older than Lu Zezong. Looking at the two who stood up, Zhao Fang waved his hand with great momentum: "Jing Ge'er, Zong Ge'er, sit, both sit."

"Jing Ge'er, did you see the big fireworks last night?"

Zhao Fang said with a smile first.

Xu Zaijing nodded.

"Hehe, I personally lit two of them."

Looking at the surprised eyes of Xu Zaijing and Lu Zezong, Zhao Fang's face was full of pride.

"Your Highness is truly brave!"

Lu Zezong said, looking at Zhao Fang, who was only a few years older than him.

Zhao Fang touched his nose.

Actually, the fuse of last night's fireworks must have been seven or eight zhang long, and when lighting the fuse, four eunuchs like Qingyun were standing beside Zhao Fang.

Just before Zhao Fang spoke with Xu Zaijing,

In the room next door, separated from the room where Xu Zaijing and the others were by only one partition,

Rong Feiyan was sitting on a chair, holding the daughter of Consort Rong, the youngest princess of the current Emperor, in her arms.

The little princess was held by Rong Feiyan, and her little hand was holding one of Rong Feiyan's fingers, which were like tender green onions.

When the sound of talking came from next door, Rong Feiyan didn't take it seriously.

But after hearing Zhao Fang call someone, Rong Feiyan was stunned.

Because listening to the voice, it seemed that the "Jing Ge'er" in Zhao Fang's mouth was sitting on the other side of the partition behind her back.

Without the partition, the two would be back-to-back.

Listening intently to words like "Fan Lou, Western Army, Martial Official, Second Day" behind her back, Rong Feiyan understood that it seemed the princes had left the palace to eat with the soldiers of the Western Army a few days ago.

"Feiyan? What do you say?"

First Madam Rong, sitting in the room, asked.

Rong Feiyan was stunned, glanced at the little princess in her arms, and said: "Mother is right."

"Consort, look, Feiyan also thinks the Qi family is better than the Xu family!" First Madam Rong said.

Rong Feiyan: "..."

Consort Rong glanced at Rong Feiyan without exposing her distraction and said: "These long-standing nobles in the capital have always looked down on our family! The Duke of Qi's family is famous for being pure and noble in Bianjing. Mother, you should think more about it."

"Xian Ge'er can marry into the Duke of Consort Fu Guo's family; with Feiyan's outstanding appearance and demeanor, would the Princess Pingning still look down on her?" First Madam Rong blinked, somewhat lacking in confidence.

Consort Rong shook her head slightly: "Then what help can our family give to the Young Duke of Qi's official career in the future?"

First Madam Rong was speechless for a moment and hesitated: "The Lu family of the Duke of Ling? The third son of their eldest branch is older than Feiyan; although he is famous for having a bad reputation, a lean camel is bigger than a horse, and it is still a Duke's family that has been passed down for several generations..."

Consort Rong closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and said: "Mother, haven't you thought about the Second Young Master Gu of the Marquis of Ningyuan's residence?"

"Second Young Master Gu? His biological mother was from a salt merchant family, with a lower background than ours, and there is..." Looking at Consort Rong's serious eyes, First Madam Rong shut her mouth sheepishly.

"Mother, others have said that about our family! You shouldn't look down on yourself and wallow in the mire with them!"

After Consort Rong finished speaking,

The room was very quiet,

And the little princess seemed used to her mother's appearance, not paying much attention as she learned from Rong Feiyan to listen to the talking behind the door panel.

Listening to Zhao Fang on the other side saying "Jing Ge'er, you and Zong Ge'er sit for a while longer, I'll go to the Empress's side first. Don't leave the hall later..."

"Little Aunt, it's the Imperial Brother talking." The little princess whispered to Rong Feiyan.

Rong Feiyan looked down at the little girl in her arms and nodded.

"Consort Rong, the Empress says we can go over." An eunuch said at the door.

After Consort Rong took her daughter from Rong Feiyan's hands, she said: "Hmm! Then Mother, Sister, you sit for a while longer! Just go through the corridor in the hall."

"Yes, Consort."

The Rong mother and daughter stood up and replied.

In the corridor of the hall,

Zhao Fang, who had left the room, thought of how he had patted the shoulder of Lu Zezong, who was younger than him, when he left, and raised the corners of his mouth happily.

After walking a few steps, hearing the sound of the door opening in the room where Consort Rong was not far away, Zhao Fang was even happier.

After a while,

Rong Feiyan and her mother walked out of the room,

And happened to run into Xu Zaijing and the two who were walking over with Lu Zezong.

First Madam Rong had a smile on her face: "Yo! Two young masters, we meet again! Come, let's walk together!"

Thus,

First Madam Rong and Lu Zezong were in the middle, with Rong Feiyan and Xu Zaijing on both sides, and the four of them walked in the corridor of the hall like this.

Arriving near the front hall of the building,

A buzzing sound of talking came.

Behind the high platform where the dragon chair was located, the four people who came together tacitly separated and walked forward from each side of the high platform.

Rong Feiyan didn't look at Xu Zaijing's side at all along the way,

But when her line of sight was about to be blocked by the high platform, she still couldn't help but glance in Xu Zaijing's direction.

In the main hall,

Many nobles and official families had already entered the hall and were talking inside.

Xu Zaijing came out from behind the dragon chair high platform, attracting quite a few gazes.

The seat of the Zhang family of the Duke of Ying was very close to the dragon chair. Han Wulang Da Niangzi of the Zhang family, standing behind the Duchess of Ying, looked at Xu Zaijing and Lu Zezong walking in and said: "Jing Brother, so you went to the back hall; I thought you weren't coming."

Xu Zaijing smiled: "Fifth Da Niangzi, Happy New Year."

"Jing Brother and Zong Ge'er, Happy New Year." Fifth Da Niangzi said with a smile.

Xu Zaijing smiled, bowed to the Duchess of Ying, and walked toward his own family's seat.

Lu Zezong followed behind Xu Zaijing, paid his respects to Sun Shi and Hualan, and was then sent back to the Lu family's seat by Xu Zaijing.

Returning to the vicinity of the Xu family's seats,

Xu Zaijing stood on tiptoe and looked around the hall. This year, there were significantly more First Madams from martial official and noble families in the hall than before.

Several First Madams he hadn't seen before were dressed magnificently, but their expressions were somewhat cramped and nervous, obviously entering the palace to pay New Year's greetings for the first time.

Xu Zaijing thought about it and felt that eight-tenths of them were First Madams of the families of generals who had made great contributions when destroying Bai Gao previously.

When Xu Zaijing was looking at the situation inside the main hall, there were still noble officials' families entering the hall amidst the eunuchs' shouts.

Where the Gu family of the Marquis of Ningyuan was located,

Bai Shi was holding Gu Shixing on her lap, with Pingmei, Gu Tingye, and Gu Tingyi standing on the side.

Pingmei looked curiously at Gu Tingye, who kept turning his head: "Ye Ge'er, what's wrong?"

Gu Tingye shook his head in confusion and said: "Eldest Sister-in-law, I don't know why, but I keep feeling like someone is watching me."

Looking at Gu Tingyi, who was the youth version of Bai Shi and was secretly rolling her eyes, Pingmei smiled and smoothed the wrinkles on her clothes.

After smoothing the wrinkles, Pingmei, relying on her height, also looked around.

Subsequently, Pingmei lowered her head, covered her mouth with a handkerchief, leaned into Bai Shi's ear and said: "Mother-in-law, I see First Madam Rong looking toward our side."

Hearing this, Bai Shi looked toward the direction of Consort Rong and happened to see First Madam Rong talking to Consort Rong.

At Consort Rong's place,

First Madam Rong said in a low voice to Consort Rong: "I see, this Second Young Master Gu is growing up, how come he looks more and more like the Marquis of Ningyuan? I wouldn't say carved from the same mold, but these eyebrows and eyes..."

When the palace was very lively,

Jiying Lane,

Sheng family,

Jin'an Study,

The floor heating in the room was burning, making it very warm.

Beside the embroidery frame under the bright window, a woman with bright eyes was humming a little tune while embroidering flowers.

A little maidservant of eleven or twelve years old, about the same age as Minglan, lifted the cotton curtain and walked in.

Wei Shuyi, in front of the embroidery frame, turned her head and glanced: "Hmm? Qiujiang, didn't the Old Madam let Chen Ge'er come back?"

The little maidservant curtsied slightly and said: "Young Madam, no! This servant couldn't get to Shou'an Hall."

Wei Shuyi asked in confusion: "Ah? What's wrong with this, where is Xiaodie?"

"Sister Xiaodie said she was waiting at the intersection over there, and it seems that some men from outside were coming to Shou'an Hall, so the First Madam ordered the maidservants in the back courtyard to be blocked for the time being."

Wei Shuyi nodded.

"Young Madam, is it the young master from the family's study who has come?" The little maidservant whispered.

"No, those young masters don't need such measures at all."

As she spoke, Wei Shuyi turned around and continued to be busy in front of the embroidery frame.

Half a quarter of an hour later,

Xiaodie returned to Jin'an Study.

The little maidservant Qiujiang asked curiously: "Sister Xiaodie, where did the guests come from? Did you find out clearly?"

Wei Shuyi also looked over.

Xiaodie warmed her hands in front of the heater in the room, smiled at Wei Shuyi and Qiujiang, and said: "Listening to Mama Cui, it's those who were selected by the Old Madam from the southern manor to serve under the Marquis of Yongyi who have returned to the capital."

"Three or four tough warriors, I heard they all received rewards and were promoted. When I came back, they were kowtowing to the Old Madam in Shou'an Hall to pay New Year's greetings."

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 431 =====