Zhulan looked not only at Zhao and Dong, but also at Li, her daughter and two granddaughters. This sentence was not only said to Zhao and Dong, but also to everyone.
In the room, Zhao and Dong were already scared as quails. Li was also scared and immediately stood up and knelt down. Xue Han pulled her two nieces to kneel down, and they all said in unison: "We dare not."
Zhu Lan hummed, "I hope you will remember what we said today. Okay, it's getting late, let's go back."
After everyone left, Zhulan was the only one left in the room. It was quiet and Zhulan felt much more comfortable. Once people get used to quietness, they really don't like the hustle and bustle of crowds.
Outside the door, Zhao and the others left the main courtyard and hurriedly caught up with the eldest sister-in-law, "Sister-in-law, I just spoke too quickly."
Li was not a fool. She had seen many daughters-in-law of officials in Lizhou City. She also had the guidance of the silk flower lady by her side, so she was even better at judging people. Moreover, her intuition was very accurate. She knew very well whether Zhao had spoken hastily or not. "Second sister-in-law, your words are not sincere. I know you are jealous of me, but what's the point of stepping on me?"
Even though she was a simple girl, she knew why her mother-in-law liked her, but her two smart younger siblings didn't understand. She found that being too smart was not good.
After saying this, Li took her daughter Yu Lu's hand and walked towards her own yard. As she walked, Li thought about her parents. She felt very uncomfortable. It would be even more difficult for her to go back to her parents' home in the future. However, her mother-in-law would definitely send someone to send New Year gifts back. Not only did she have to prepare the gifts, she also had to send back silver bills, hoping that her parents would have more money in their hands and could live an easier life.
Zhao stood there without moving, staring blankly at her sister-in-law as she entered the yard. Her sister-in-law knew everything. She had changed a lot in the past year or so. The only thing that had not changed was her straightforward temper.
Dong used to have the confidence of a young lady from an official family, but she knew that her father's position as a seventh-rank county official would not be promoted any further, and she was now not even comparable to her second sister-in-law. Her second sister-in-law at least had a son and a daughter, but she had not yet consummated her marriage!
Mrs. Dong no longer dared to look down on her eldest sister-in-law. She had become more insightful over the past year. "Second sister-in-law, I still have some luggage to pack. I'll go home first."
Zhao came back to his senses, "Oh, okay."
Zhao waited until Dong left before she took her daughter's hand. There was a maid beside her daughter, and she didn't know what to say. Zhao thought of the maid, at least her mother-in-law was not particularly partial.
Zhulan rested for a while, wrote a list of gifts, and called housekeeper Ding. "Go buy six fat sheep, 120 kilograms of yak jerky, eight pairs of bright red lanterns, 120 kilograms of pork, 24 fish, 120 kilograms of vermicelli, eight sheepskins, eight jars of 20-kilogram wine, and finally eight rolls of cloth. I have written everything down clearly."
Because the in-laws were ordinary people, they could only wear some cotton and linen fabrics. Although eight pieces seemed like a lot, they were actually not expensive.
Butler Ding took it and said, "I'll do it right away."
Zhulan had another list in her hand. She asked her parents to buy nine items, which, including the apples from her own garden, would make a total of ten New Year gifts. The list she made was for each family, including the Li family, the family of patriarch Zhou, her daughter's family, the Dong family, the Qian family, and the Jiang family, a total of six families.
The Jiang and Qian families only had six New Year gifts, missing lanterns, sheepskin, wine and cloth.
The other four families each gave ten even-numbered gifts.
These are just the New Year gifts. Zhulan also prepared clothes for her daughter's family, a set of clothes and a cloak for her daughter and son-in-law, two sets of clothes and shoes for the four children, and small jewelry for her daughter and granddaughter, and finally the New Year's money.
This year, the New Year's money was given a lot. My own grandson got one tael of silver a month. My grandson and granddaughter couldn't see them, so Zhulan didn't give them more. Each of them got five taels of New Year's money, and my daughter and son-in-law got ten taels each. To put it bluntly, it was a disguised subsidy.
My daughter has been buying land for two years and it’s time for her to buy a house. Once she buys the house, the old house in our hometown should be rebuilt.
Zhulan not only prepared things for her daughter, but also for the children in the clan school. There were a lot of pens and ink at home, and Zhulan planned to pick out some to send back to the clan, and give the better ones to the scholars and students, and the rest to the students studying in the clan school. Yes, there were also some handwritten books. This time Zhou Laoer brought a lot of books, and Zhulan planned to pick out some to copy and send back. As for the candidates for copying the books, Zhou Laoer and Chang Lian are good, but they still need to calm down after arriving in Lizhou City.
Time passed quickly, and seven days passed in a blink of an eye. In seven days, Zhulan had prepared all the New Year gifts, mainly waiting for the books. Zhulan asked Eryue to escort the New Year gifts back to her hometown, so that Eryue could also see her parents.
Li also made a lot of preparations. She sent food and meat, and also bought a lot of cloth. In addition, she gave a set of Li's jewelry and fifty taels of silver. Zhulan calculated that Li had sent almost eighty taels of silver to her parents' home.
These were all reported by Li and Zhulan. Zhulan didn't really take it to heart. The money was Li's own, and she was quite happy that Li was willing to give it to her parents' home. At least it showed that Li was truly filial, and not just blindly filial to her mother-in-law.
After February passed away, Zhulan took her children and grandchildren to the Yang family. Zhulan's father had always been in good health and seldom fell ill, but this time he was ill for a long time. When the old man fell ill, Zhulan wanted to stay and take care of him, but was sent out by her eldest and second brothers.
It was because his two brothers were really embarrassed. After arriving in Lizhou City, Wu Chun seldom went home in the camp. The Yang family relied entirely on Zhulan for care. Zhulan not only took care of the Zhou family but also the Yang family. The two brothers were very embarrassed.
Now that the Yang family's money has been recovered and they have made two more profits, the family has more money at hand and the Yang family has also been integrated into Lizhou City. I feel really sorry to have to trouble Zhulan any further.
Of course, this is also what Yang Dayong meant. Yang Dayong and Sun love their daughter very much. They have already enjoyed a lot of their daughter's filial piety, and their daughter has done enough.
Zhulan saw that her father had recovered from his illness. Although he was a little thin, he looked in good spirits. "Dad, now that you are well, Shuren and I are relieved."
Yang Dayong smiled and said, "Sorry for worrying you guys. I'm fine now. All right. Come and let me see my great-granddaughter and great-grandson."
Zhulan signaled Mingyun to bring Yushuang and Mingrui over.
Yang Dayong looked at the three children and said, "Okay, okay, now your family members are all here. A family should be complete."
Zhulan smiled. This is what the elderly think. They hope that everyone in the family will be around them. "Yes, now that everyone is together, we can celebrate a reunion this year."
Sun smiled and touched each of her great-grandchildren one by one, thinking that she had made a lot of money this year thanks to her daughter, so the red envelopes for the children should also increase this year.
The old lady calculated and thought, luckily her daughter helps the family, otherwise the salary of her eldest grandson would not be enough to cover the Yang family's expenses. Most of the servants in the family enjoy a good life and spend a lot of money. Moreover, her eldest grandson is a military general, and he will have to entertain many guests during the New Year, which is another huge expense.
Sun held her daughter's hand tightly. The Yang family was able to live a decent life without bringing shame to their grandson, all thanks to her daughter. Sun felt so sorry for her daughter, "Lan, you still have to go to Jiangnan. Can't you wait until next spring? It's so painful to go out in winter!"
The Zhou family’s sons were dumbfounded. Their mother never told them that!
Zhulan did tell her mother about this during a casual chat, "Mom, now that Dad has recovered from his illness, I will be leaving in a few days. Don't worry, I will be back soon."