The next day in the capital, Zhulan had breakfast alone. Since Dong came back yesterday, Yuyi and Yujiao went back to live in the third room.
Zhulan's breakfast is very simple and not extravagant at all. She will tell Qingxue in advance what she wants to eat for breakfast every day. Sometimes she has steamed buns and porridge with pickles, or wontons and noodles.
Today's breakfast is vegetable porridge with pickles and a boiled egg. It's a very simple breakfast.
Each family in the Zhou family followed suit and never set a large table for breakfast. They just served as much as the guests wanted.
After eating breakfast, Zhulan asked Qingxue, "Did Mingling have a good rest yesterday?"
Qingxue knew that the mistress would ask, so she went to ask early in the morning, "Young Master Mingling was tired from playing yesterday, and slept very deeply all night. He hasn't woken up yet."
Zhulan smiled and said, "Children sleep a lot, so we need to wait a while before they can wake up."
Now she has two grandchildren. Mingling is a little older than Mingfeng, but Mingling is not as tall as Mingfeng. Premature birth has a significant impact on the children, making her feel that Mingling is the youngest one.
Zhulan took a walk around the garden and cut some flowers from the glass shed to arrange them. With the appearance of glass vases, Zhulan became particularly fond of flower arranging.
When Mrs. Dong arrived, Zhulan had already finished arranging the flowers. She smiled and waved to Ming Ling, "Ming Ling, come here, grandma."
Today, the little guy is no longer unfamiliar. He is much more active and even calls out in a baby voice, "Grandma."
Zhulan picked up her grandson and kissed him, then asked, "Have you had breakfast?"
The little guy nodded and said, "I ate a big bun and drank some rice porridge."
Zhulan looked at the size of the little guy's calligraphy buns with a smile and said in surprise, "They are so big, you must have eaten a lot."
The little guy touched his belly and said, "It's full."
Zhulan felt as if Changlian had returned to his childhood.
Dong's eyes were light and cheerful. She had worried in Xuzhou that Ming Ling did not grow up in the capital, and whether her mother-in-law would be unfamiliar with Ming Ling. Now she felt that she was worrying too much, as her mother-in-law liked all children.
Zhoujia Village, today Ran Wan and her husband are going to Lijia Village to meet her grandparents. Ran Wan is not unconfident, she wants to show her best side to prove that she is worthy of the identity of the granddaughter-in-law of the Zhou family.
Mingyun saw his wife dressed up, his eyes were gentle, "Shall we go?"
Ran Wan smiled and stretched out her hand, "Yeah."
The young couple took a horse carriage to Lijia Village. They would stay in Lijia Village for a day today and come back early tomorrow morning. They would not stay in Zhoujia Village for long. They would go to Pingzhou City after resting for two days. They were in a hurry.
In Lijia Village, Ran Wan got off the carriage and was stunned by the huge population of the Li family. There were many people standing in front of the gate of the house. Ran Wan only took a glance and her eyes fell on the two old men in the front.
But the two old men were very embarrassed and had no intention of speaking.
Ran Wan tried to be gentle, let go of her husband's hand and took the initiative to step forward, "Ran Wan meets grandpa and grandma."
When Li's mother knew that her granddaughter-in-law had also returned, she was worried. Even though her daughter said that her granddaughter-in-law was a very good person, she was after all a daughter of an official family. She was still clear about the status of the Li family and was afraid that her granddaughter-in-law would look down on them.
Now it seems that her worries were unnecessary as her daughter wrote in the letter.
Li's mother looked at the slender hands supporting her, and couldn't hide the smile on her lips, "Okay, okay, let's go in and talk."
Ran Wan continued, "I heard from mother that you and grandpa went to the mountain to pick mushrooms. I have been thinking about you. Grandma should take care of her health in the future. The road on the mountain is slippery. Mother and we are very worried."
Mrs. Li was old and shrewd. She could tell whether someone was sincere or not. This granddaughter-in-law really didn't dislike her and really cared about her. "Okay, I'll listen to you."
Mingyun was not far from his wife, and his grandmother had a loud voice, so it was difficult for him not to hear her.
Old man Li gave his grandson a thumbs up and whispered, "You are lucky."
Mingyun smiled and nodded, "Yeah."
In the imperial palace of the capital, the emperor called the prince over and said, "Your recent studies have been good."
The prince didn't believe that his father only asked him for homework, "I want to learn from you, father. I still have a lot of shortcomings."
The emperor was very satisfied with the prince's attitude. He waved to the prince to sit over and pushed the nut in front of him to the prince. "There are many vacancies in the south now. Who do you think I will send to the south?"
The prince knew that he was being tested again, so he said while peeling nuts, "My son thinks that the nobles need to be appeased by the nobles. Most of the vacant official positions in the south will be occupied by officials from noble families."
Your Majesty, "Continue."
The prince rolled his eyes and said, "The rest are naturally the officials that father wants to train."
The South has been cleared up now, but too many people have been placed there, which affects the interests of local clans. It is still very dangerous. Only officials who are truly rooted in the South are the officials that my father really needs.
The emperor was satisfied, "Not bad, do you have anyone you want to recommend?"
The prince didn't even think twice, "The third son of Minister Zhou."
He didn't mention that this person was also the one that his father must send to the south. Well, this was a trick.
The emperor glared at his son, reached out his hand and grabbed the pine nuts his son had peeled. Seeing his son's eyes widened, he said, "Huh, this little brat is too naive."
In Zhoujia Village, Jiang Sheng and Xuemei did not go directly to the Jiang family. Instead, they went to find a famous matchmaker in the county and visited the elders of the Zhou family. They waited until a day was chosen before going to the Jiang family.
Although he didn't make a formal visit, it didn't stop Jiang Sheng from going to the clan school to see Jiang Ming.
Jiang Ming was just finishing his class. "I was just about to go look for you."
Jiang Sheng, "You and I are thinking alike. I read an article of yours, so I've always wanted to ask you in person."
Jiang Ming waved his hand, "I submitted a lot of articles, but only one short story was selected. It was your article and painting that made me suddenly enlightened."
Jiang Sheng pointed at the stone table and asked, "Shall we sit over there?"
Jiang Ming nodded, "Okay."
As Jiang Sheng walked, he said, "The clan school has changed a lot since I came back this time. I think it cost a lot of money to build a pavilion and a small garden."
Jiang Ming replied, "It didn't cost any money, it was all donated. You know that the Zhou family has a rich collection of books, thanks to the Shangshu. That's why many people come to study and donate a lot of things."
Jiang Sheng also has a beard, but it's not as long as his father-in-law's. He stroked his short beard and said, "But it should be kept in moderation."
Jiang Ming, "Ming Qing knows what's going on and has a good sense of proportion."
He has been an official for many years, so if something goes too far, he will speak up. It seems that Ming Qing has done a good job so far.
In the capital, Zhulan didn't have time to talk to Mrs. Dong about Yuyi yesterday, but today she said, "A year ago, Princess Qi wanted to introduce a child of the Yun family to Yuyi or Yuwen, but after checking, we felt that they were not suitable and the matter was dropped."
After a pause, he continued, "You just returned to Beijing and didn't know that your daughter became famous in one battle. I will tell you in detail what happened that day."
As she spoke, Zhulan began to tell the story of the flower banquet.