Chapter 48 Harmony and Beauty

  Yu's family glanced at her lightly and smiled: "Yes, I won't let the old master leave the city either. After all, there are differences in status. But the old master said, what is this time to talk about status? We are all relatives coming and going. If we still pay attention to this, it will chill people's hearts." Now she has also figured out the temperament of Old Lady Jiang, who is a person who values emotions and righteousness. If it were in the past, she wouldn't dare to say such words rashly.

  It turned out that Old Lady Jiang nodded and said, "This is a proper thing to say. You are a man who knows etiquette. As the saying goes, even the emperor has relatives from humble origins. Your wife has lived in Jiangnan for many years, right? I've heard people talk about how good Jiangnan is, but I've never been there myself. Now that she's here, let's hear more about the prosperous and bustling land of fish and rice in Jiangnan.

  Yuan's family secretly gritted their teeth, and in his heart, he also had some regrets about his own mistakes. He knew that the old lady was a person who valued relationships, and he also knew that this matter was decided by the old lady herself. However, he couldn't help but feel resentful, and it would have been better to keep it in his heart instead of bringing it up. Now, this third brother's wife was no longer a simple person. In the past, she seemed soft and weak like a sheep, but now that she had been given two tasks to manage, she dared to speak to him with her head held high.

  Yuan's family was resentful, but the old lady was in high spirits. After finishing dinner, Madame Qu and Yuan's wife both bid farewell and left. Given their status, it wasn't reasonable for them to gather here waiting to welcome Aunt Yu, but since she had arrived, they would come over to sit with her, which was the proper thing to do among relatives.

  Yu Shi at this time was not in the mood to deal with things, fortunately, the needlework room and the girls' flower powder procurement were both very easy tasks, so there was nothing much to do, she accompanied the old lady in Fushou Hall, chatting while waiting for her sister and nephew to arrive.

  Ning Xianbi held a book of "Qianjia Shi" in her hand, sitting below and quietly teaching Xuan Ge to read. The other girls had gone to school, this matter had nothing to do with them, let alone that the uncle was an outsider. At this time, only Jiang Lao Taikun, Yu Shi Lan Yiniang, Ning Xianbi, and Ning Che Xuan were left in the hall.

  The atmosphere was very warm and cozy, the old lady looked at her sister who taught seriously, and her brother who learned seriously, and couldn't help but feel a few points of emotion in her heart. She thought to herself that although the brothers in this house were good, they also got along well with each other, it's just that the girls now all showed their cleverness, if in the future they could all be smooth and harmonious, one by one, it would be fine, but if there really was a place where they had disagreements... thinking of this, she couldn't help but sigh.

  Just then, Madame Qu appeared and said a few words before sitting down beside them with a smile. "Does the old lady know about the disturbance at the Duke of Shou's residence a few days ago?"

  Old Lady Jiang regained her composure and asked in confusion, "What's going on? I haven't heard anything. What happened to their family? Didn't the old lady just celebrate her birthday a few days ago? Our estate even sent someone with gifts, but because you weren't feeling well, your two sisters-in-law couldn't go either, so we didn't send anyone. It's only been a few days, what could have happened?"

  Madam Qu smiled and said, "I heard that the other day at the men's banquet outside, several brothers started a fight, fortunately, they were persuaded to stop. Now they are quarreling about dividing the family property. My daughter-in-law also just heard from Zhou's wife, her cousin is a servant in the Duke's mansion, and that old lady is pitiful too, the old master has only been gone for a few years? She is still here, but those brothers don't even care about their mother, they want to divide the family property. This matter hasn't reached the Emperor yet, if some official reports it to the Emperor again, I'm afraid the Emperor won't be pleased either."

  This remark, however, aroused the interest of everyone present, and after a few sighs, Madame Qi turned to ask Madam Yu: "What's going on? Hasn't your mother-in-law arrived yet?"

  Yu hastily said: "It must have arrived, I'm also looking forward to it now."

  Mrs. Jiang couldn't help but think of her own troubles, shaking her head and laughing to herself: Look at me, I'm getting more and more muddled with age. Those young people being on good terms is already a blessing for the whole household. Even if I pass away in the future, they won't make too much trouble that would be laughed at by others. As for the girls, no matter what thoughts they have, they will all get married and live their own lives in the future. What am I worrying about here?

  Thinking of this, he looked at Ning Fengbi and nodded secretly: Now it seems that Liu Yaotou is a more straightforward person than her sisters.

  Just as she thought of this, a woman's voice with a happy tone was heard from outside: "Report to the old lady and the third lady that the aunt has arrived."

  "Oh?" Old Lady Jiang straightened up, a few more joyful expressions on her face, and said to Yu Shi: "Since your sister has come, quickly go and welcome her." Because Yu's aunt was a merchant's wife without any rank, while Old Lady Jiang was an old noble lady, and Qu Fengren was also a noblewoman by imperial decree, it wasn't suitable for her to personally go out to greet her, so she could only instruct Yu Shi.

  Yu's family had already burst into bloom, where did they still need Old Lady Jiang to instruct? With a joyful and proud heart, she stood up, picked up Xuan Ge'er, let Ning Fenbi follow behind her, and went out. Lan Yiniang also followed them out.

  Soon after, I saw Yu's aunt bringing her son and maidservant from the corridor over there. In a moment, they entered the courtyard gate. Lan's aunt hastily took Xuan Ge from Yu's body, then followed Yu with the maid Yaya to welcome them together.

  Sisters meet, and it's a mix of emotions. Fortunately, they look at each other and see that they're still doing well, apparently not having suffered too much hardship, which brings some comfort to their hearts. Even so, the two sisters can't help but size each other up, with tears shining in their eyes, only holding back from embracing and sobbing because of all the people watching.

  But then a boy of about ten years old behind Madam Yu came forward to pay his respects to Mr. Yu, calling him "Aunt". Mr. Yu hurriedly bent down and grabbed the child's hand to take a closer look, smiling and saying: "This child takes after his uncle, he's quite handsome." Then he had Ning Fenbi and Xuan Ge give their greetings to Madam Yu as well.

  They had met each other before, and then entered the house. Yu Niang and Jiang Jing again paid their respects to Old Lady Jiang. Upon hearing that this child's name was indeed Jiang Jing, Old Lady Jiang couldn't help but smile: "Jiang Jing, this name is not bad, when he grows up, he will certainly be a man of great talent."

  Yu's aunt hastily thanked Old Lady Jiang for her praise, and smiled: "Thank you for your kind words, from childhood to adulthood, my temperament has always been the most introverted and silent, without a single bit of cleverness. I'm afraid that as he grows older, he'll become more and more like a dull, unspirited person... with all sorts of thoughts pent up inside, it's really too frightening to even think about."

  Ning Xi looked at her younger cousin with curiosity, she hadn't seen him much in her previous life, even during Chinese New Year gatherings, he would only go to see their father. She had only heard Ning Shi Bo mention that he was good-looking and steady, although not very talkative, but seemed to have a lot of thoughts going on inside his head. Unfortunately, he wasn't very good at studying, otherwise, if he couldn't become a capable minister, becoming a wealthy merchant would be no problem for him.

  Hehe, important male supporting character Jiang Jing classmate is on stage, his plot may involve danmei, but the danmei part won't be much, actually stupid wine hasn't thought it through yet, cough cough...