Zhou Shuren was satisfied, "Eat, this is the noodles I cooked."
Zhulan handed the flowers in her hand to Mrs. Song and asked her to put them in a vase to prevent them from wilting.
In the past two years, Zhou Shuren has cooked her longevity noodles himself. The noodles are only one strand in length and the portion is not very large. She eats it for its meaning.
They had breakfast alone. Zhou Shuren did not ask for leave to celebrate her birthday with her. There were too many people during the day, so they celebrated the morning by themselves.
After Zhou Shuren left, the other families came. There was nothing special about their gifts. They were just prepared according to the gifts from previous years. This year, Xuemei was added, making it the most reunion birthday in recent years.
Then came the gifts for the children. This year the gifts for the children were prepared together, and it was quite mysterious.
When Zhulan opened the box, she saw an embroidered picture of the word "longevity".
Chang Zhong could not wait and said, "Mother, we wrote the words above, and then my nieces Yu Shuang and Yu Lu embroidered them."
Zhulan touched the picture and said, "You guys are thoughtful."
This long picture took a lot of time to look at. Looking at the words on it, Zhulan smiled. She could tell who wrote them.
After the family members paid their respects, guests came one after another. The first to arrive were a few people who were close to the Zhou family.
Tao was the first to arrive. She held the box and handed it to Zhulan personally. "I know you like painting. I have been waiting for a year to give it to you today. Open it and see if you like it."
Zhulan took the box and said, "I like everything you give me."
When Zhulan took out the painting from the box, she liked it at first sight. It was a picture of a mountain scene. "So you bought this painting."
She went there for this painting last time, but it was sold by the painting studio and now it is in her hands again.
Tao blinked her eyes, "I know you like it, so I took the lead to help me choose your birthday gift, and it can also help you save money, killing two birds with one stone."
Zhulan said carefully, "Next time I like a painting, I will tell you in advance."
Tao smiled and said, "I won't buy anything that's too expensive."
Zhulan also smiled. After waiting for a while, Gao came, and then Song from the Ningguo Mansion. Song came with a bulging belly.
Song was a little embarrassed. Originally, it should be her mother-in-law who came. Her mother-in-law said that she had a headache due to catching a cold yesterday. So she, the eldest daughter-in-law, had to come with her belly bulging. "I wish you a long life, good health and safety."
Xue Han reached out to support Song, and Zhu Lan said, "Hurry up and sit down. Don't be so polite."
Song's pregnancy was not good. She was troubled when she was pregnant and she didn't take good care of herself. She heard a lot from her daughter about the conflicts between Song and Du.
Because Song was pregnant, Du was punished by the Duke's wife. Du was always angry about this and had never liked her eldest daughter-in-law in the first place, so she made trouble for Song in the mansion.
Song didn't hold on. She sat down carefully, but she was thinking about her mother-in-law in her heart. If her grandmother hadn't stopped her when she was pregnant, her mother-in-law would have wanted to force someone into her husband's arms. She was so angry that she took pregnancy-preserving pills for several days.
Today, not only did the mother-in-law dislike the Zhou family, she also wanted to make trouble for her because she had carefully prepared a birthday gift for Aunt Zhou.
People gradually arrived. Gao lowered her voice and said, "This year, not as many people came to your birthday party as last year."
Zhulan didn't care. She wished there were fewer people. "You know the reason."
Gao knew that the Chu princess's family had targeted the Yang family several times, every time they met at a banquet, they would target them a few times. Later, the Liang princess's family also fell, and with the addition of the Feng family, there were more people who changed with the wind, and those who tried to curry favor with her last year no longer dared to come.
Tao curled her lips, "After this period is over, I will still come close to you."
Zhulan smiled and said, "Well, today is my birthday and I won't be unhappy if I don't say so. Let's go, it's getting late, let's have a feast and drink."
At the Ministry of Revenue, Zhou Shuren was in a good mood. Seeing Zhang Jinghong was also very happy, he asked, "Did you pick up some silver?"
Zhang Jinghong grinned, "Sir, I am going to be a father."
Zhou Shuren was stunned for a moment, "That's really a happy event, congratulations, congratulations."
He thought Zhang Jinghong would not have a child so early, he really didn't expect it.
Zhang Jinghong was also surprised. He had been avoiding it and didn't expect the child to come like this. Now that it was here, what could he do? Of course he would keep it. In fact, he knew that his wife had been pregnant for a few days, but he had not shown it because he was waiting, waiting for the emperor's reaction. He didn't believe that no one was watching him.
After a few days, the emperor had no reaction, and the child was still well in his wife's belly, so he felt relieved.
Zhou Shuren thought for a moment and reminded, "It's better to keep a low profile."
Zhang Jinghong didn't react for a while until he saw Lord Zhou raise his hand to slap him. He only thought about the emperor's reaction and forgot about Zhang Yang. Zhang Yang was poisoned and it was difficult for him to have children. He thought it was not easy to cure the poison. Now Zhang Yang was the one who wanted to have children the most.
In the past few months, Zhang Yang had been so busy with fighting that he had neglected him. He should really keep a low profile so as not to irritate Zhang Yang. "Thank you, sir."
Zhou Shuren waved his hand, signaling Zhang Jinghong that he could go down. It wasn't easy for Zhang Jinghong either. Now in the Ministry of Revenue, Zhang Jinghong was very down-to-earth and would complete the tasks assigned to him carefully no matter how tedious they were. He admired the current Zhang Jinghong very much.
At the Ningguo Mansion, the Duke's wife heard from the maid that Song had returned, "Go and see Song."
The old woman said, "Yes."
The Duke's wife waited for a while, and the maid came back soon, "They are just a little tired, both the adults and the children are fine."
The Duke's wife motioned for the maids to leave, slapped her thigh angrily, and said to her husband, "Mrs. Du is really becoming less and less decent. She used to pretend she didn't like Mrs. Song, but now she doesn't even pretend. She is so shallow."
The Duke was also unhappy, "It's really outrageous."
The Duke's wife was worried, "If we die, she will still be the boss of the harem. No one can interfere in the conflict between the mother-in-law and the daughter-in-law."
The Duke looked at his old wife and said, "Even if the second son has no credit, he has worked hard over the years."
The Duke's wife sighed, "I just know that, that's why I'm so angry. I've been dreaming these past few days. Our Ning Hui is in poor health. If he doesn't survive Du, who can suppress Du? The older people get, the worse their tempers become. Don't look at me. I know my temper is worse than before and I can't control it."
The Duke thought that his wife knew that he had a bad temper, so she pretended to be ignorant and irritated him. "We will give the Dukedom to our eldest grandson instead of the second son. Mrs. Du is also the eldest grandson's biological mother. Filial piety is the most important thing. Even if we die, Mrs. Du will still have no one to suppress her."
The Duke's wife said with great regret: "This is the lesson. Even if you marry a woman from a low-class family, you should still look at her parents' three generations. I shouldn't have followed Ning Hui's wishes in the first place."
"It's too late to say anything now."
The Duchess's wife was so angry that she hit her husband with grapes and ignored him.
The Duke was thinking about something while he was wearing a thin grape skin.
Ning Zhixiang's wife, Mrs. Yu, was sulking. "It's just a pregnancy. Everyone has been pregnant before. Why do you treasure it so much? When I go out, grandma will send her personal maid to check on me."