Bai Shan didn't take Man Bao to meet his two clan brothers, not to mention her, but he didn't know each other very well, and he belonged to the kind of people who wouldn't recognize each other when they saw each other on the street.
They didn't make Bai Shan very happy either, he didn't like his family members very much, so he went directly with Man Bao to the West First Courtyard to eat the late lunch prepared by Xiaoqian for Man Bao.
The whole family had eaten lunch, only Man Bao and Zhou Lijun and Zhou Liru hadn't eaten. She thought she would set up a small table for them in the kitchen and that would be enough.
Seeing that Bai Shan Bai Erlang was also coming, he simply let them sit in the dining room to eat.
She led Zhou Lijun and Zhou Liru to bring up the prepared meals. Seeing that Bai Shan and Bai Erlang had sat down, she pulled Man Bao out and asked in a low voice, "Did you offend your superior?"
Man Bao was surprised, "How did sister-in-law know?"
Xiaoqian nodded her forehead and said: "Can't you treat others as fools? How can there be someone who comes to pay New Year's greetings and doesn't keep guests for dinner?"
As soon as Man Bao heard this reason, he immediately argued: "Sister-in-law, you don't know, this is the official rule, subordinates can come to Shangguan's house to pay New Year's greetings, but whether Shangguan stays with subordinates for dinner depends on fate."
Xiaoqian expressed doubts, "How can anyone come to the door with a gift but not leave a meal?"
Man Bao said: "There are also people who come to the door with gifts and don't even see the owner's face. Let's not talk about those who are far away, but we will talk about Ji Xiang's family. He is the prime minister. Except for another prime minister, everyone in the civil and military courts of the Manchu Dynasty is under him. Under the circumstances, if you come to the door with a gift, you can meet him and have a meal with him, do you think the threshold of his house is about to be trampled down?"
Man Bao said confidently: "So, not everyone will leave food for me, but don't worry, I will see another Shangguan tomorrow, and he will definitely leave food for me."
"Is it Lord Yang?"
"yes."
Xiaoqian said: "I remember Master Yang likes to eat our family's chicken soup, why don't I cook a pot tomorrow and you take it for him to taste?"
How can anyone bring a pot of chicken soup when they come to pay New Year's greetings
But Man Bao nodded after swallowing, "Okay, okay."
Anyway, Brother Yang and Brother Tang are not outsiders, so it's okay to bring a pot of soup to the door.
Xiaoqian laughed and said, "Then I'll kill the chicken tonight and stew it in the morning."
Man Bao felt very hungry, she wanted to turn around and go back to eat, but was still caught by Xiao Qian and pulled back, continuing the original question, "So you still offended the Shangguan?"
Man Bao: "...Sister-in-law, Xiao Yuanzheng is getting old and forgetful. Don't worry, it will be fine in two days. If you don't believe me, ask Lijun if she and Liru have collected a lot of money from Xiao's house today." Red envelope?"
Little Qian: "..."
She didn't tell Man Bao that the fact that she offended Xiao Yuanzheng was guessed by Li Jun, and then she accidentally slipped his mouth when cooking for her just now, that's when she knew.
Xiaoqian looked at Man Bao carefully, and seeing that there was no trace of worry on her face, she knew that this matter should not be very important, so she was relieved.
But he still told me a few words, "Don't argue with Shangguan, you understand?"
Man Bao nodded repeatedly, touched his stomach and asked, "Sister-in-law, I'm hungry."
Only then did Little Qian let her go to eat.
The chicken soup stewed by Xiaoqian's was very delicious. Although it was packed in a jar and the lid was tightly closed, the three of Man Bao and the others who carried it in a basket and brought it to the car still felt the aroma wafting from their nostrils.
The three swallowed their saliva at the same time, then Bai Erlang touched his stomach after breakfast, and whispered: "I seem to be hungry again."
Man Bao stretched out his hand to hold down the bamboo basket, Bai Shan said: "Wait a little longer, you can eat it when you arrive at Xuexiong Tang's house."
Yang's family is now neglected, and the family atmosphere is not very good. Yang Heshu doesn't want his friends to go to his house to experience the unpleasantness, so he made an appointment with them early to meet at Tang's house.
When they arrived at the gate of the Tang family, it happened that Yang Heshu's carriage had also arrived at the side entrance.
Daji held the carriage and let the Yang family go in first, and then he drove the carriage to follow.
The servants of the Tang family knew that Yang Heshu and Bai Shan were coming to visit, so when they saw the carriages of the two families, they removed the threshold to let them in, and at the same time sent someone to inform the uncle.
Yang Heshu got out of the car in the side yard, turned around to help Mrs. Cui, and suddenly smelled something, and looked back at Bai Shan and his carriage.
Bai Erlang and Bai Shan jumped out of the car one after the other, one turned around to take a big bamboo basket, and the other turned around to support Zhou Man.
Yang Heshu's eyes fell on the bamboo basket that Bai Erlang was carrying, and he couldn't help but smile, and helped Cui Shi to come forward, "Is this a gift from you?"
Cui looked at Yang Heshu in surprise, how could he ask someone for a gift face to face
Bai Erlang already nodded, covered his mouth and whispered: "It's the chicken soup made by Mrs. Zhou, for us to drink at lunch."
Man Bao said: "Obviously it was boiled specially for Senior Brother Yang."
Yang Heshu laughed out loud, and said to Manbao, "I didn't expect Mrs. Zhou to remember this, let's go in."
Daji and the guards who followed the car took several boxes from the car, which were a yearly gift for the Tang family, and there was another box in the car, which was for Yang Heshu, but they had to wait until they came out as guests.
No, it should be a re-exchange, because Yang and Shu also prepared an annual gift for them.
The nanny came up with the child in her arms, and a servant girl stretched out her cloak to shield him from the wind.
Man Bao leaned over to take a look curiously, and met his dripping black eyes.
Man Bao let out a "Yeah" and said, "It's only been a hundred days, you look so smart."
Cui became happy, nodded immediately and said: "I also think he is smarter than other children, he seems to recognize people now."
A few people went in while talking, and after walking for a while, Tang He and Mrs. Tang came up to greet them.
Everyone greeted the ceremony with a smile and went to the backyard. After walking a few steps, Tang He couldn't help sniffing, and turned to Madam Tang, "Where is this soup being cooked, and the fragrance is still spreading to the front?"
Of course Mrs. Tang didn't know, so she casually replied, "Is it the kitchen?"
But Tang He stopped, frowned and said: "No, why do I feel that the smell hasn't changed much? Can the smell of the big kitchen float to the front?"
Man Bao simply ran behind Bai Erlang, pulled the cloak behind him and slapped the basket, and asked Tang He, "Brother Tang, do you think it smells better now?"
Tang He's eyes fell on the basket carried by Bai Erlang, he: "..."
The others looked at Man Bao and were speechless for a while.
Mrs. Tang came to her senses first, and asked with a smile: "Why are you still carrying soup when you come to the door? Why, I'm afraid I won't make it if I don't give you soup?"
Tang He was also lucky enough to drink the chicken soup made by Xiaoqian. After smelling it, he asked, "Did your sister-in-law make it?"
Man Bao nodded proudly.
Tang He smiled, and said with a haha: "Come here, why are you so polite?"
Yang Heshu said with a faint smile: "Probably because Mrs. Zhou knows that I like to drink her stewed chicken soup."
Man Bao nodded, and whispered: "My sister-in-law has always remembered."
Tang He: ...
He also praised Mrs. Zhou's soup well. Why did he remember Yang Heshu but not him