Chapter 538: The Busy New Year
Although this small banquet was not as big as the previous one, there was still a lot of wine, fruits and food on the table. Everyone was eating and chatting, so they didn't feel bored.
"It's rare that the old ancestor is eating and drinking in our house today!" Keqing said.
Yu Shi laughed and said, "In previous years, we have prepared a banquet in advance. Has the old lady ever stayed? It is still the respect of our master. Although the master is not here, the old lady can't just leave, right?"
"Although our East Mansion was the elder, it was not as good as the West Mansion before. But now our East Mansion has surpassed the West Mansion. Let's see if that little Feng dares to be proud in front of us again."
"Now even the side branches are thinking of our East Mansion's benefits!" Yuanyang also laughed, "A while ago, we distributed annual dividends to all the side branches. Which family wouldn't be happy?"
"How can I not be happy?" Youshi said, "We have such kindhearted ladies like you in our mansion. This year's annual gift has already increased by ten taels of silver compared to previous years, and each family has also received an additional twenty taels of silver. If they still don't appreciate the benefits our mansion has given them, wouldn't they be heartless? Ever since the master inherited the East Mansion, he has been so friendly to all the branches. He has given them jobs, land, and farms. At the end of the year, every family has at least several dozen taels of silver in income."
"How can we deserve such praise!" Xiu Yan said, "My cousin is the clan leader. We cannot let him lose face in our family."
"How about we talk about good wives? With you good wives, our East Palace is becoming more prosperous!"
"It would be even better if the master was here too!" Muring sighed.
"How could a hero like the master be confined to the inner house?" Yuanyang said, pulling Muring aside. "When the master is at home, we serve him attentively. When he is not, we take care of the house for him. This is our duty."
After chatting for a while, Yuanyang asked, "Sister-in-law, what is our plan for the first month of the year?"
"We can't be idle this Lunar New Year!"
"Tomorrow on the first day of the new year, we will go to the West Mansion to pay our respects to the old lady. We will have dinner before returning. From the second to the seventh day of the new year, the elderly relatives and imperial edicts from various mansions will come to our two mansions, so we will also need to go to other mansions. However, we don't need to go to many places. We will naturally go to the eight royal mansions, and we will also go to the Wang family and the Shi family. The master also specifically instructed us to go to the Dingguo Marquis Mansion this year!"
"All the gifts that should have been given before the New Year have already been given, so we only need to prepare some common gifts for the visit. We have them in the palace, and I have asked Jia Zhong and Yin Die to prepare them in advance."
"In the next few days, each of our rooms will host a banquet for the old lady. I have discussed with Feng girl that on the second and third days of the New Year, the first and second rooms of the West Mansion will be invited, and on the fifth day, our mansion will be invited."
"On the sixth and seventh days of the Lunar New Year, the Lin Mansion and the Xue Family will invite the old lady respectively!"
"Starting from the eighth day, the side branches will begin to entertain the masters of the two mansions. Starting from the twelfth day, the respectable servants of the two mansions will also entertain us. Now it's the fifteenth day in a flash."
" The old lady said in advance that she would invite the Xue family and the Lin family to come together for a banquet at Rongguo Mansion on the fifteenth day!"
"When the seventeenth comes, it will be Miss Lin and Miss Bao's 'name-seeking' ceremony, and we will also have to hold it in the mansion!"
Xiu Yan shook her head helplessly. "The end of the year, the end of the year! I just now understand the reason for this! I've been busy these past few days, and I haven't been idle for the entire first month of the year. I'm much more tired than usual."
Yuanyang experienced this every year, but now her status was different. The Zhen family's New Year celebrations were no less lavish than those of the Jia family, sometimes even more so. Therefore, Zhen Muring wasn't surprised, but Xing Xiuyan was experiencing it for the first time.
In the past, she lived far away in Jiangnan. Her family was not well-off and only had her parents. The so-called New Year's Day was just a gathering to have a New Year's Eve dinner, and at most they would visit acquaintances.
"My sister is the master of the East Palace and has an imperial decree, so naturally she is different from before!" Muring said.
"We have already sent New Year gifts to the Zhen family, and we have also sent gifts to Sister Xing's family! However, the road to Jiangnan is far, so it is naturally not convenient to visit them. As for the Xing family, the old lady has instructed us to host a banquet at her house." Yu Shi said to Xing Xiuyan.
After Jia Cong went to war, the old lady of the Zhen family and her group also left the capital and returned to Nanjing before the canal froze.
Including the old princess dowager of Nan'an County, who was originally kept in the mansion by Jia's grandmother, but because of Tanchun's incident, Jia's grandmother became extremely disgusted with this old lady.
The old lady also knew that she had offended the Jia family, so she suggested going back to live directly in the mansion.
Although the Prince of Nan'an has guarded Sichuan and Shu for generations, there is also a prince's palace in the city of Shenjing. However, just like the old house of the Jia family in Jinling, there are only a few servants looking after the house.
Grandmother Jia didn't even try to keep her and directly had the old concubine sent away.
"How can this be done?" Xing Xiuyan spoke quickly.
She was just a concubine. According to the rules, she had no connection with the Xing family no matter whether she was alive, sick or dead. Although Xing Zhong and his wife were her biological parents, they had no right to discipline her and were not even qualified to see their daughter.
To put it bluntly, since entering the East Palace, she has basically cut off all ties with her family.
If the mansion is kind, they can still take care of them and occasionally let Xing Zhong and his wife into the mansion to chat. But if the mansion is strict , Xing Zhong and his wife will not even be qualified to enter the mansion.
Moreover, what is the status of my parents? How can they deserve the banquet at my house?
Yuanyang, standing by, smiled and said, "Don't worry, sister. You don't know what kind of person our master is. Even though we are not of high rank, he never treats us as ordinary concubines. Even my father and mother were just servants, but didn't the master prepare generous New Year gifts in advance?"
"If the master were here, he might have hosted a banquet on the first day of the new year! Now that the master is not here, but the old lady has said so, it's certainly not beyond the rules to host a banquet. When the time comes, ask the eldest lady of the East Palace to come as well. This is the honor given to you by our master, how can you refuse it?"
Upon hearing this, Xing Xiuyan's eyes became watery and she nodded slightly.
It was not until around midnight that Xichun and Xiaoque'er, who were tired of playing, returned to the flower hall with a group of shrimp soldiers and crab generals. With the presence of a few little ones, the flower hall was naturally more lively.
After midnight, Jia Zhong brought all the servants from the mansion to pay their respects to Yuanyang and the others. Yuanyang and the others gave them rewards again, and everyone left happily.
When it was getting light, Qingwen prepared some food for everyone. After a short rest, the girls harnessed their carriages again and headed to the West Mansion to pay their respects to the old lady.
