Chapter 69

  Drunk

  The warm and cozy hall is already set with several tables.

  The old lady sat at the top, Hou Ye Yin Haicheng sat at the lower end, and Chen Shi sat beside Yin Haicheng. Seeing Jin Yuan brothers entering, the old lady hastily beckoned them to come over.

  The eldest son and the legitimate son were both favored by the old lady, especially Ruo Fei, who was extremely fond of him. Ruo Fei sat down next to the old lady, while Jin Yuan sat beside them.

  The aunts in the house gathered together to have dinner for the New Year, sitting at another table. The brothers and sisters each had their own table, which made the family seem lively and full of children.

  After dinner, everyone sat in the open pavilion chatting. The old lady said a few words to everyone and then went to rest in the warm pavilion at the back. Several granddaughters went in to accompany her, chatting and serving tea. Chen Shi took several aunts to one side to lecture them, scolding and encouraging everyone for a while.

  Yin Haicheng sat outside and chatted with his sons.

  In previous years, there were seven sons. This year, one is bedridden with illness and another was driven out of the house. Now, only five are before his eyes. Yin Haicheng's heart really feels somewhat unwell.

  Jin Yuan was still serious, holding books and inkstones and the like, distributing them to each of his younger brothers. Yin Ruofei was the youngest, just sitting there waiting for his older siblings to give him things, but he didn't have to give anything to anyone else, secretly feeling pleased with himself.

  Yin Haicheng, as the eldest of everyone, naturally cannot be left out either.

  In previous years, it was enough to give each child some silver coins. This year, the girls' side had Chen's family in charge, so there was no need for him to worry about it. However, his sons had grown up and he didn't want to give them money. As a result, he rushed around but ended up not buying anything, so he simply gave each of them a silver note.

  Xiao's several people, one hundred and two silver each, Jin Yuan has already given a large amount, Ruo Fei is also the eldest son and follows Ze Wang, both of them gave five hundred silver each.

  Yin Ruofei calculated in his heart, this year he has made a fortune. Roughly calculating, including silver tickets, silver and other things, it's probably around 7 or 8 thousand taels of wealth. The amount he earned this year is almost equal to the total of what he had before.

  A family stayed up late on New Year's Eve. When the clock struck midnight, kids outside had already started setting off firecrackers. The boys in the house couldn't sit still either.

  The old lady took a nap and was in good spirits. Her children and grandchildren came to her one by one to pay their respects and wish her a happy new year. The old lady wore brand new clothes, had a big smile on her face, and repeatedly said "good". She also gave them red envelopes that she had prepared ahead of time.

  The housekeeper rearranged the table, and the well-cooked dishes were served. Everyone sat together to eat the first meal of the new year.

  After sitting for a while, the old lady was also tired and went to sleep. Later, Yin Haicheng let them disperse, leaving only Jin Yuan to discuss some military matters.

  The several children below are all about the same age, but Lao Liu has always been naughty and overbearing. No matter how Sun Niangjia instructed him to get along with his eldest son, he still treated Yin Ruofei as an enemy and didn't even bother to reason with him.

  Yin Ruofei naturally didn't bother to respond to him, thinking it's best to keep a distance from such a foolish person. On the other hand, Jinming, the fourth brother who shared the same mother as Lao Liu, came over and handed her a purse, but Jinming had always been timid and couldn't say a word, causing Yin Ruofei to secretly shake her head.

  The only ones who can be considered to have gotten their hands on something are Jin and her son, one of whom is infertile and the other whose mother died early, but they still rely on each other for survival.

  This mother and son have always been low-key in the government, previously Yin Haicheng even planned to let Jin Qinxin be a companion reader, also giving him a future, unfortunately it was ruined by Xiao Linshi, and finally mistakenly chose Ruofei.

  Jin Qin also presented a gift, but it was inconvenient to take it out in the house just now, and he handed it over when there were fewer people.

  Yin Ruofei took it over and found that it was a good brush. Yin Ruofei had seen many good things in the Wang Mansion, and his eyesight had become more and more venomous. This brush was probably worth at least a few taels of silver. With someone else's identity, it would be easy to take out, but for Liu Niang and her son, it was also not bad.

  This Fifth Brother is usually taciturn, and Aunt Liu lives in a remote place, so the two are often overlooked. I guess they don't get much normally, so being able to prepare such a gift for him must be quite an expense.

  "Wu Ge has made a loss." Yin Ruo Fei smiled, in his past life Wu Ge was also like this, silently and quietly, but he had never bullied him. Now it seems that this is not a fool, and will become his right-hand man in the future.

  "It doesn't matter." Jin Qin rubbed her hands together, a bit nervously. "I'll just go now, Auntie's place is empty. Thanks for the gift you gave me."

  Madam Liu's body is not very good, and there are only two young maids by her side. This month's allowance was all spent on buying medicine to eat, and the mother and son are living a tight life. Now that Chen Shi is in charge of the household, she has allocated money from the palace to pay for Madam Liu's medical expenses, and their lives have gradually improved. However, at this time when the weather is getting cooler, they have managed to hold on until now, but after the fifth day of the month, they will probably start drinking medicinal broth again.

  "Feel free to do as you please, Fifth Brother." Yin Ruofei was taken aback by Jin Qinxin's words and only then remembered that he had brought back some things to distribute among everyone today. Except for Old Madam Chen and his two sisters, each courtyard received a share, but the others didn't pay much attention to it; instead, this mother-son pair came to thank him.

  Yin Ruofei secretly shook her head. These two people's lives are really too bitter. However, this person is filial, which is a good thing to control.

  On his day off, Yin Ruofei planned to take a good rest for a few days, but who knew that big brother came knocking on the door early in the morning and dragged him out to practice.

  Yin Ruofei was also used to getting up early, so he simply followed along. After the whole family had eaten breakfast, the boys had nothing to do, and Jin Yuan took Ruofei out of the house.

  "What's big brother doing?" Yin Ruofei was wearing a brand new set of clothes, with a white fox fur coat given by Ze Wang on top, the snow-white fur trim making Yin Ruofei look even more radiant. Jin Yuan looked pleased and wanted to take his younger brother out even more.

  Jin Yuan's morning visit was mostly to his superiors, but his status there, as well as Town Jiang Hou's in the military, wasn't bad either. These people didn't dare make things difficult for him, and usually showed concern for him. Now, seeing him come home to pay New Year's greetings with a child who looked like a jade doll, they were all very curious.

  Jin Yuan's face was full of pride, calling out "little brother" one after another, as if afraid that others wouldn't know that he was his brother. Yin Ruofei was speechless, where did this kind of proud feeling, like introducing his own son, come from?

  Knowing that Yin Ruofei was the eldest son of Marquis Yin and also a companion reader by Zewang's side, everyone took out red envelopes and silver ingots to give him. By the end of the morning, he had collected so many things that they were almost too much to hold.

  Jin Yuan looked at that pile of things and was very satisfied. His younger brother was so good, if he didn't give him anything, it would be inhumane!

  By noon, Jin Yuan took Ru Fei into a wine house, and the elegant room that had been booked in advance was already full of people.

  Jin Yuan walked in and everyone burst out laughing. When they saw Ruo Fei behind him, they were all a bit stunned.

  These were all Jin Yuan's peers or subordinates, and they were discussing getting together to have a meal during the New Year's festival. Jin Yuan resembled Yin Hai Cheng in appearance, and everyone was already used to it; these were all rough people, many of whom came from commoner backgrounds, and seeing Jin Yuan already made them feel like they were looking at a jade tree swaying in the wind - who had ever seen such a beautiful child as Yin Ruo Fei?

  Yin Ruofei was originally rosy and white, her hair was tied high with a purple ribbon, and a small crown inlaid with gems was wrapped around it. The white fox fur coat was worn with a lot of style, and the small face was expressionless, making people feel especially cute.

  Jin Yuan knew that today he had dragged his younger brother out to show him off everywhere, which made his little brother a bit angry. However, looking at that puffed-up little face, he really thought it was adorable. He gave the person a push forward and loudly showed him off to everyone, "My younger brother."

  "Hey, your little brother is so small!"

  "Pshaw, am I very old?" Jin Yuan changed his usual calm and steady demeanor at home, laughing and joking with everyone, which made Yin Ruofei extremely surprised.

  Pulling her little brother to sit down next to her, she carefully reminded him, "Fei'er, just say what you want to eat, and serve yourself too. Don't be polite with these people, or you won't get anything to eat. They don't follow any rules."

  "Hey, Tou'er, your words have given us away." A robust man stood up, "That... younger brother of Yin Tou'er, I'll toast you a cup, Old Song."

  "Go away, go away! My brother is still young and doesn't drink."

  "You're at least seven or eight years old, I was drinking with my dad when I was five!" Old Song waved his hand, not listening to Jin Yuan's excuses.

  Yin Ruofei let out a sigh, today being caught by his older brother, he had some bad ideas, but this group of people were quite open-minded, so getting drunk and hiding for a while was also good.

  Thinking of drinking too much and going home early, Yin Ruofei also stood up and took a sip from the wine cup.

  "Fei'er......" Jin Yuan couldn't stop her in time, and Yin Ruofei had already downed a cup.

  Old Song on the side praised loudly and personally added a four-joy meatball over and put it in his bowl.

  No sooner had he sat down than another toast was proposed by someone next to him, with Ruo Fei still being the target. Jin Yuan was at his wit's end - what did these bastards want to do?!

  Yin Ruofei came flying in and didn't refuse, drinking five or six cups in a row. Jin Yuan really couldn't take it anymore, slapped the table and said that whoever poured more wine would be treated as impolite.

  It's the Chinese New Year, Jin Yuan is not looking for a fight, but he has a great capacity for liquor and often drinks everyone under the table without batting an eye. Everyone has been drunk by him before, now they're taking advantage of a small opportunity to get revenge.

  The crowd also got angry and started competing with Jin Yuan in large bowls, claiming they wanted to drink him down.

  Yin Ruofei sat quietly on one side, not eating or moving, until Jin Yuan remembered that his brother was beside him. At this moment, he saw Yin Ruofei's small white face turn bright red, staring blankly with wide eyes.

  Jin Yuan waved his hand in front of him, still without any change, his eyes didn't even move.

  "Fei'er, Fei'er?" Jin Yuan was a bit frightened and gently patted the soft little face. Yin Ruofei slightly turned her head, looked at him for a moment, then suddenly fell into his arms.

  Jin Yuan was startled and pulled the person out of his arms, only to find that the other party had already started snoring softly, and was actually asleep.

  Everyone was crying and laughing at the same time, this kid was probably sleeping with his eyes open just now.

  Jin Yuan suppressed his smile and apologized to the crowd, saying that they would gather again in a few days. He then picked up the sleeping Xiang Tian and returned home with her.

  Jin Yuan was already sixteen, and since childhood, he had been practicing martial arts, his body was completely stretched out, and it didn't take any effort to hold Yin Ruofei. Yin Ruofei's face was nestled in Jin Yuan's neck, sleeping soundly with even breathing, her small red face looked even more delicate against the snow-white fox fur.

  Rong Jingze came out of the palace today, intending to go to Houfu to pick up Yin Ruofei and take her home. However, thinking that they were a family reunion, he, as the prince, didn't want to abruptly take someone away. Just as he was hesitating, he saw Jin Yuan get off the carriage with something fluffy in his arms.

  That clothes he was too familiar with, seeing the two brothers so close, Rong Jingze suddenly felt his heart sour, thinking that it would be better to let the emperor send Yin's eldest son away to guard the border!