The fourth branch of the Cheng family arrived in the capital in early October.
They happened to encounter the first snow in the capital.
Cheng Mian was better off, as she had been to the capital before. Although Old Madam Guan and Madam Mian had fur coats to keep warm, the biting cold wind still made them feel as if their hands and feet were soaked in snow and they were extremely cold.
Liao Shaotang, who came to greet them, said hurriedly, "It will be fine once we get inside. Knowing that everyone will arrive in Beijing, the underground heating system was lit in Yuqian Hutong a few days ago."
Cheng Mian felt the cold wind rushing into his mouth. He exchanged a few simple words with Liao Shaotang, then mounted his horse and went into the city with his family and Liao Shaotang in the wind and snow.
After a while, we arrived at Yuqian Hutong.
Zhou Shaojin and Zhou Chujin received the news, and came out to greet them with Guan Ge in their arms, accompanied by maids holding oil-paper umbrellas.
As soon as Mrs. Guan got off the carriage, she saw Guan Ge'er wrapped in a bright red swaddling cloth. Before Zhou Shaojin and her sister could greet her, she cried out in reproach, "Why did you carry Guan Ge out in such a cold weather? Even if we talk about filial piety, it's not the way to talk about it. What if the child gets frozen? Quick, quick, take Guan Ge back."
The wet nurse looked towards Zhou Chujin.
Old Madam Guan shouted, "What are you looking at? Who is more important, the adults or the children?"
The wet nurse did not dare to delay and quickly covered the child's face with the cloak and hurried back to the upper room.
Only then did Mrs. Guan's gaze fall on Zhou Shaojin and Zhou Chujin.
The two of them knelt down, tears welling up in their eyes.
After a long separation, Mrs. Guan's eyes were red. She held one of them in each hand and looked them over: "Good children, I am relieved that you are all well!"
With tears rolling down their cheeks, they bowed to Cheng Mian and Mrs. Mian, calling them "uncle" and "aunt."
Cheng Mian's eyes moistened, and he turned away. Mian's wife wiped her eyes and said hurriedly, "No need to be polite." The two sisters stepped forward and prepared to greet Cheng Yi and Gu Shiqigu, but when they looked up, they saw Cheng Wen, Cheng Nuo and Wu Baozhang getting out of the carriage behind them.
Zhou Shaojin and Zhou Chujin looked at each other.
Gu Shiqigu explained in their ears in a low voice: "Uncle Wen said that he would bring Cheng Nuo and Wu Baozhang to Beijing to attend your wedding. We thought he was just talking. Since the separation of the eldest branch and Jiuru Lane, Uncle Wen has been troubled by finances, and the cost of coming to Beijing is not low. Who knew that Uncle Wen really decided to come to Beijing? We met him at the inn in Tongzhou Town early this morning. We couldn't leave Uncle Wen alone, but the steward who brought the news had already set out, so we had to come together!"
Zhou Shaojin frowned.
She had a rift with Wu Baozhang, but Cheng Wen and Cheng Nuo had never offended her. She couldn't just kick Cheng Wen and his son out because of this, right
Zhou Shaojin exchanged glances with his sister and welcomed Cheng Wen and others into the house.
Cheng Wen and the Zhou Shaojin sisters saluted him, then stood on the corridor in the front yard with their hands behind their backs and looked around: "This house is really nice, quiet and elegant, and it is obvious that we Jiangnan people built it. Everyone says that Master Zhou did a good job in his position, but I didn't believe it. But after looking at this house, I'm afraid it's worth at least five or six thousand taels of silver. It seems to be very good! Fourth aunt, you are so lucky."
It sounds as if Zhou Zhen was embezzling money.
Old Madam Guan's face darkened, and she said bluntly, "The Zhou family has had two generations of officials since the time of the old master. Don't you think they don't have this little wealth? Nephew Wen, this is the capital. There are some things you can say, and some things you can't say."
Cheng Wen smiled awkwardly.
Wu Baozhang stepped forward without waiting for Cheng Nuo to speak, and said with a smile: "Mr. An, please don't be angry. My father-in-law has always been a man who says one thing but means another. He just envied this beautiful house." Then he stepped forward and tried to hold Zhou Shaojin's hand, "Shaojin, I thought I would never see you again after you left Jinling City. I didn't expect that I could see you off. This is really a rare fate!"
Zhou Shaojin adjusted his temples, and just borrowed Wu Baozhang's hand, saying with a smile: "This is not a place to talk, let's go sit inside!"
"Yes, yes, yes." Mrs. Miao laughed and stamped her feet, "This weather is really cold!"
Everyone was laughing. Liao Shaotang accompanied Cheng Mian, Cheng Wen, Cheng Yi and Cheng Nuo to the study in the outer courtyard, while the Zhou sisters accompanied Old Lady Guan and other female relatives to the upper room.
The fire dragon was burning fiercely, and a burst of hot air came towards me.
Old Lady Guan and the others who came from the south felt that they were wearing too many clothes and wanted to go back to their rooms to change clothes. The servants were moving boxes and crates, so Old Lady Guan simply called their personal maids to help them change clothes and wash up: "Shao Jin, there are no outsiders here, so there is no need to be so particular."
Everyone responded with a smile. For a moment, the room was filled with the sounds of birds and the chirping of birds.
Wu Baozhang was not in a hurry. He took off his leather jacket and quilted jacket with long sleeves, and stood aside to look at the furnishings in the room.
The windows are inlaid with large pieces of glass, and the snow in the yard is reflected in the room, making it bright. A green Geyao flower vase with ice cracks stands on the windowsill, with a bunch of pink, purple and red hibiscus flowers inserted in it. The furniture is all black lacquer, neat and generous. On the kang table is a set of pink tea plates with plum blossoms in the cold, a floor-standing shade is hung with a smoky gauze curtain, and a ginkgo leaf curtain hook is pendant with dark purple tassels. In the corner of the wall, a large cloisonné flower pot is growing yellow wintersweets, some of which are about to bloom, some of which are blooming, emitting bursts of fragrance.
The corners of Wu Baozhang's mouth trembled slightly.
Zhou Shaojin, you are so lucky!
She escaped from Cheng Xu and ended up marrying Cheng Chi.
That handsome and graceful Cheng Chi... Cheng Chi, who was far better than Cheng Xu and Cheng Lu, became Cheng Xu's aunt!
Wu Baozhang clenched his hands into fists.
Thinking back to the beginning, Cheng Xu jumped into the trap in order to get Zhou Shaojin, even though he knew it was a trap. I wonder what Cheng Xu's expression would be when he knew this news
And what would Cheng Lu, who appears modest and cautious on the outside but is actually arrogant and self-proclaimed as a romantic and suave man, think when he knew that Zhou Shaojin married Cheng Chi
Wu Baozhang's heart suddenly surged.
It would be nice if I could see the expressions of Cheng Xu and Cheng Lu.
One lost his beloved, the other lost his career which he considered as his life... all because of this woman in front of them. They should be very emotional, right
Wu Baozhang couldn't help but laugh.
She was going crazy in Jiuru Lane. She originally just wanted to take advantage of Zhou Shaojin's wedding to come to the capital for some fun, but now, she found something even more interesting.
The fourth and fifth rooms of Jiuru Lane all came to attend Zhou Shaojin's wedding. With so many people around, would they let anything about Zhou Shaojin's past slip away
Wu Baozhang narrowed his eyes, and his gaze seemed a little obscure and unclear.
Zhou Chujin watched coldly and decided to get rid of Wu Baozhang.
When Old Lady Guan and the others had finished packing, the wet nurse came in with Guan Ge to greet her. When everyone was playing with Guan Ge, she quietly went out and told Nanny Shang: "What did Master Wen Wu say? Our house is too small to accommodate so many people. Ask Manager Xiang to see if there is a house nearby and find one for Master Wen Wu and his family to stay in."
Nanny Shang responded and left.
Zhou Shaojin brought in some frozen pears for Old Lady Guan and the others to taste: "It's unique to the north. It will taste better after it's frozen. Try this first. If you like it, I'll have them freeze more."
Mrs. Guan was very old. She just tasted a piece, smiled and praised it a few times, and then asked about Mrs. Guo: "I heard that she lives with Silang at Chaoyang Gate... Send someone to ask where she lives. I want to go see her tomorrow."
Zhou Shaojin replied “yes” respectfully.
Mrs. Miao looked at her like a young wife, and with a smile in her eyes, she pulled Zhou Shaojin to her side and said to Mrs. Guan with a smile: "Mother, what should we do? How should we call Shaojin?"
Zhou Shaojin's face turned red.
Old Lady Guan smiled and said, "What's so difficult about this? The eldest branch of the family has separated from us, so we can each discuss our own affairs. Before Shao Jin got married, she followed the Zhou family's rules; after she got married, she naturally followed the Cheng family's rules. Can you imagine a daughter from another family enjoying the incense from her mother's family after she died?"
Mrs. Miao teased Zhou Shaojin, "You won't be able to call me niece for many days. I have to seize the opportunity and give Shaojin some instructions."
Zhou Shaojin was embarrassed and didn't know what to say.
Gu Shiqigu joked, "Grandma, we are at a big loss. When Shaojin got married, we were the elders and had to give her a box. After Shaojin married into the Cheng family, she became the elder. She should have given us a gift. But you came to see Shaojin off, so we can't go to the family recognition at Chaoyang Gate, and we don't have the gift..."
Old Madam Guan obviously liked Gu Shiqigu very much. Upon hearing this, she smiled and said, "You are the one who calculated the account carefully. Isn't it just a meeting gift? You can pick out two pieces of jewelry from my jewelry box later."
Gu Shiqigu laughed and thanked Old Lady Guan.
A maid came in and said that the boxes and cages had been moved to their respective rooms.
Zhou Shaojin asked Wu Baozhang to sit in the rest room for a while. The sisters supported Old Lady Guan on both sides and went to the east wing arranged for her. Seeing that Old Lady Guan looked tired, they told her the time for lunch and then got up to say goodbye.
Mrs. Miao was serving Mrs. Guan in the room, and Aunt Gu Shiqi saw them out.
Only then did Zhou Shaojin and Gu Shiqigu have the chance to excitedly hold hands.
One said, "I will talk to you after dinner when I have taken care of grandma and she has gone to bed."
One said, "I brewed some Da Hong Pao tea and am waiting for you to come over and drink it."
They are all looking forward to the meeting later.
Nanny Shang walked over quickly and said, "Second Miss, Master Wen told the servant that he was just coming to visit and would stay at Chaoyang Gate in the evening, so he would not unload the boxes. I brought some hot tea and hot water to the servants around Master Wen."
This is better!
If Wu Baozhang was in a different mood, he could ask Old Madam Guo or Cheng Zheng to deal with her.
"That's great!" Zhou Shaojin smiled and instructed Nanny Shang a few words, "Entertain the people who came with Uncle Mian and Master Wenwu," and went to the upper room with Zhou Chujin.
Wu Baozhang was standing in front of the Falling Flower Cover admiring the wintersweets. When he heard the noise, he turned around and smiled, "This wintersweets are so well planted! They are blooming in this season. Did Shaojin plant them?"
※
Dear friends, today’s update!
The update will be around nine o'clock tomorrow, so that the proofread version can be updated with fewer typos.
O(∩_∩)O~
※(To be continued)