Zhen Qingyin held a flower booklet in her hand and counted the tea cups and dishes one by one.
The Zhen family has a rich ancestor and a fairly deep foundation. The masters alone have more than 30 sets of dishes for daily use, and there are still more than 40 sets in the warehouse, which are only taken out during New Years and holidays.
However, since the title was taken back by the imperial court, the Zhen family has not bought new dishes for several years.
To put it bluntly, we are resting on our laurels.
Little Yin personally wiped a set of glass dishes, making them clean and translucent one by one, and then carefully placed them on the grid rack.
"Thanks to this set of dishes, our family has a little face in front of relatives and friends this year. Tomorrow I will go to the Duke Chao's house in person to thank the Duke's wife in person."
She secretly sighed, Zhen Qingyun insulted Mrs. Chao Guogong in person, but Mrs. Chao Guogong could ignore her past grudges and send someone a set of expensive glass dishes on the first day of the new year.
He said he was here to pay New Year's greetings to the old lady, but in fact he must have heard that the eldest man was causing trouble in a brothel on New Year's Eve. He knew that the Zhen family was not having a good time this year, so he came to do some good deeds for the Zhen family.
Although it was for the sake of Zhen Qingyin's reputation, in the end the entire Zhen family benefited.
Such a generous and magnanimous relative, the elder does not get close to him, but instead keeps trying to offend him to death. He is really confused.
Zhen Qingyin curved her lips and joked: "Second aunt is not afraid of people saying that you and second uncle are friends with powerful people?"
"Hey, you girl!" Xiao Yin laughed angrily, "Our family was originally powerful, but it was only after the eldest master came to us that it declined. Your second uncle is aloof and deceives others. He only claims to be noble. No one knows who he is. What’s the details?”
A few years ago, Zhen Shilian did not dare to have a close relationship with Duke Chao's family, for fear of being labeled as a party of the four princes and being involved in the prince's fight for the throne in the future, so he sat back and watched his elder brother break up with the Zhen family and Duke Chao's family.
In the past two years, the prince had been in the East Palace, and the emperor even shouted directly in the court that he could not have any more little princes and princesses. Only then did Zhen Shilian regret his enmity with Duke Chao and worked hard to restore it.
Mrs. Chao Guogong can come in and out of Zhen's house at will, which is his permission.
However, when he was promoted to his position, he could see that he would become the Minister of Rites and the real mainstay of the imperial court. There was no need to rush to make friends with Duke Chao, as long as he did not make enemies.
"In a few days, I'm going to pay New Year's greetings to my aunt. My second aunt is free, so she can come with me." Zhen Qingyin finished counting the dishes, her eyes were dazzled, and she pointed at the pile on the ground and said, "Those are the defective ones that were picked out. If there are missing corners, I will record them in the book, and the second aunt will pair them up."
Little Yin took it and checked it one by one, saying, "Then I won't be polite to you anymore. When the time comes, we will take Yuanyuan with us."
Zhen Qingyin nodded.
The second uncle seems to be honest, but in fact he is cunning.
He probably won't join the prince, but he certainly doesn't want to be disliked by the next big boss.
Grandma Rong and Xiao Yin counted the broken porcelain together, her face became visibly gloomy, and she said with an implicit complaint: "These maids and women are so careless, one set of tea cups, bowls and dishes was broken, and the rest If it doesn’t come in a set, and it’s difficult to serve on the table, it can only be thrown away.”
Some tea cups were accidentally broken by guests. Aunt Rong did not dare to complain about the guests, so she could only use the maid as a raft.
A lot of dishes were knocked around, and the old lady should feel distressed again.
Little Yin's heart tightened. She would be scolded again if she handed this book in.
She rubbed her temples.
Who would have known that when she went out to be the wife of a noble minister, she returned to Zhen's house. It was only the fourth day of the Lunar New Year, and the old lady had already scolded her ten times.
The old lady was angry, and so was she.
I was so angry that I couldn't sleep at night. I secretly wiped my tears behind my back, but I didn't dare to let anyone hear or see me, for fear of being called "unlucky."
I wanted to mention the family separation to Zhen Shilian several times.
But then I thought about it, firstly, I may not be able to share the profits, and the husband and wife will be divided. Secondly, the eldest husband is unreliable. If the family is separated, the old lady will probably have to live with the second wife.
Without the elder room sharing the burden, she would be left alone to face the old lady's firepower.
Du Ruo came in with a tank of goldfish wrapped in a warm blanket and placed it on the small desk by the window.
Zhen Qingyin took advantage of the skylight outside and stared at the swimming goldfish for a while, and her dazzled eyes slowly returned to normal.
For the sake of that set of colored glaze, Aunt Rong put on a smile and asked, "What is the eldest girl doing? This fish tank is actually made of colored glaze, and was given by Mrs. Chao Guogong, right? Mrs. Chao Guogong really loves the eldest daughter."
"If your eyes are blurred, look at the goldfish to relieve the pain. The fish tank was indeed given by my aunt." Zhen Qingyin answered one by one, with a gentle and harmless smile.
Grandma Rong's brows moved and her smile became more kind: "The old lady can't get up these days, so she can only lie down and recite Buddhist scriptures. The characters of the Buddhist scriptures are small. After reading a few lines, she said that her eyes were tired and her eyesight was dazzled."
Zhen Qingyin's voice was delicate and soft, and she said with concern: "Then grandma should advise the old lady more and read less Buddhist scriptures. It will not be good for hurting the eyes."
Aunt Rong waited for a while.
Didn't wait until the next one.
"..."
Given the opportunity to honor the old lady, the eldest girl just let go.
It's nothing more than a broken fish tank. Duke Chao's house has plenty of them, so he would give one to the old lady to make her happy, and she and the second wife would be less scolded.
This big girl is such an idiot, she doesn’t know how to read people’s eyes!
Aunt Rong didn't dare to glare at Zhen Qingyin, so she glared at Du Ruo.
Du Ruo is also a treacherous man. He was kicked out of the house by the old lady and somehow managed to hook up with the older girl.
If the old lady knew about it, it would be another source of disaster.
Du Ruo stood behind Zhen Qingyin, as still as a mountain, speaking few words - when he came to Chaoyu Pavilion, he didn't need anyone to remind him, and he unconsciously learned Zhen Qingyin's rules by himself: low-key, honest, responsible, quiet, and do less. Talk less and watch less.
Little Yin covered her lips and snickered.
Her eldest niece is sometimes silly and sometimes smart. Every time she is silly and smart, she is just right. Compared with her masters, I can only say that she is truly an uncle and nephew.
*
On the ninth day of the Lunar New Year, people in Beijing have finished leaving their relatives and some shops have opened for business.
The three of them, Zhen Qingyin, Zhen Yuanyuan and Xiao Yin, boarded the carriage and headed to the Duke Chao's Mansion.
As soon as the carriage drove out of the gate of Zhen's house, the news flew to the East Palace.
The prince put down his pen and stood up to go out.
As soon as he stepped out of the threshold, he suddenly turned around and asked, "Feng Youxi, how are you doing here?"
Feng Youxi hugged the red cloak and was slightly startled. When did His Highness pay attention to his clothes?
As soon as his mind turned around, he stepped forward with a smile: "Your Highness, this moon-white brocade robe makes you look graceful, noble and elegant, and you have the style of an ancient gentleman."
The prince looked at him and couldn't believe the eyes of a eunuch.
Eunuchs are also men. The way a man looks at a man is different from the way a woman looks at a man. Although he has never been in love, he still knows this.
He turned and returned to the cubicle next to Nuan Pavilion. This is where he works daily and occasionally rests. There are always about ten sets of formal clothes and casual clothes in it.
The prince was picky and picky. In the past, he always thought that the embroidery room was too extravagant. Today, for the first time, he felt that his clothes were not enough.
Finally, he chose a set of cyan Sichuan brocade robes embroidered with gold threads and cloud patterns, and wore a black jade belt around his waist.
