In the end, the birthday god was still not piled up, so a huge snow gourd was added on the lawn of the corridor and pavilion, so that every time Daniel Nian came over, he was amazed at Toby A's craftsmanship and was shocked by it.
In the lively New Year atmosphere, Amelia Nian prepared hand-made New Year gifts for the people around her as in previous years. There were festive patterns on the red-painted wooden box. When opened, it revealed a two-layer drawer divided into six grids, which meant good luck.
There are different things in each grid. The upper layer is snacks, and the lower layer is objects, such as Yunhe auspicious cakes, small pine dumplings filled with red date paste, and the finest preserved fruits that are indispensable for the Chinese New Year.
The next layer is the gifts prepared separately according to the different persons for whom the gifts are given, ranging from carefully dried flowers to pancreatic soap, a small jar of spring tea, and collected wolf hair brushes, ensuring that the recipients will be happy.
Clara Su ordered people to send out the prepared New Year gifts. Nian Quentin Qi, who had been away for three months to supervise the canal, came back. The first thing he did after returning home was to see his sister and brought her the most beautiful waterwheel model in Lanjiang.
When Amelia Nian heard that the waterwheel was moving, she hurried outside to see. The waterwheel, which was only half her height and had been placed in the water, was slowly moving along with the flowing water in the stream.
"Brother, there's a picture on it!" Amelia Nian happily pointed at the lifelike portraits on the wheels as they came up. They looked like they were doing something when put together, so she moved closer to take a closer look. Nian Quentin Qi supported her and explained to her with a smile.
"These are some scenes of the people of Lanjiang working by the river, including water workers, laundry ladies, fishermen pulling nets, and ferrymen." Nian Quentin Qi, who inherited his father's business, now also works in the Ministry of Industry. He often goes out to monitor the progress of some projects. This waterwheel is the latest design of several masters. The prototype is over in Lanjiang and has just been used. It is more convenient than the old water-collecting one.
"The masters are so attentive. If I were a citizen of Lanjiang, I would be very happy to see this." Amelia Nian looked at her elder brother with starry eyes, full of admiration.
Nian Quentin Qi lovingly pulled her cape closer and pulled her scarf up a little, "You're going to get married next year, so you have to take good care of yourself."
"Ayu will take good care of herself. Big brother just needs to worry about Ayu a little bit."
"What about the remaining nine points?"
"Four points for work, three points for family, and two points for sister Ziyuan."
"You still remember her." Nian Quentin Qi's eyes flickered. "It's been so many years."
"I remember, she was very nice to Ayu when she was little." As she spoke, Amelia Nian felt a little lost. Even after so many years, there was still no news of the Mo family.
Nian Quentin Qi gently rubbed her head and comforted her, "Even if we don't know where she is, she must be living well."
"Will the elder brother still get married?"
Nian Quentin Qi paused and said ambiguously, "They will all get married in the end."
Sensing the change in her eldest brother's mood, Amelia Nian pulled him back, tiptoed close to his ear and whispered, "My second brother has a pair of parrots. They are very smart and can scold people. Mother doesn't know about it yet. I'll take you to see them."
The two walked away on the snowy path. Outside the Nian Mansion, at only twenty-five or twenty-six, there were already sounds of firecrackers.
The children who were on vacation could finally play openly, and there were many firecracker scraps scattered on the snow in the streets and alleys.
The Mansion of the Marquis of Loyalty and Bravery was also bustling with activity. The eldest family had returned early to prepare for Ethan Gu's wedding.
There was an unusual noise in the front yard. Several servants, under the command of the steward, carried the boxes to the inner yard. Since my uncle would also come back after handing over to the new officials next year, they simply took all the things back first.
Mrs. Gu, Mrs. Xu, stood under the eaves with a slightly stern face, watching everyone clean up, looking quite intimidating without even getting angry.
Therefore, Helena has always been a little afraid of her sister-in-law. The six years she was assigned to work outside were the most comfortable times for her. Now that she is back, she stayed in her own courtyard for a while before hurriedly coming here.
"There are a lot of things to do in the mansion. I just distributed some of the family's things and didn't go to the city gate to pick up my sister-in-law." Helena smiled and looked around. "All the things have been carried in."
"Shouldn't the division of the clan be completed before the twentieth of the lunar year? Why has it been delayed until now?" Xu glanced over.
Helena smiled awkwardly, "That's because Ethan Gu is getting married, and the date is tight, so there are many things to do."
Xu nodded, "Has Qingpuyuan been repaired?"
Helena was even more embarrassed, "Not yet, Ethan Gu won't let me move."
Perhaps thinking of his injury, Xu frowned, "Qingpu Courtyard has not been moved for many years. If someone is getting married, what will the bride think when she sees it?"
"That is to say, sister-in-law, I have talked about this matter several times, and Ethan Gu was chased out. It's useless. The servants in his courtyard have been replaced batch after batch in the past six months, and their tempers are getting more and more weird." Helena was full of grievances, and now she put all the blame on the second house. She also wanted to do a good job, but he didn't cooperate.
Xu had been following her husband on his mission outside the palace with her two children for six years and had no idea what was happening in the Marquis' Mansion. Although she knew from the letter that Ethan Gu had suffered an incurable leg injury, she herself had not seen what his condition was. After hearing what Helena said, her brows were furrowed in a frown that could not be relaxed. The master's worries were likely to come true.
Whether or not to accept the title of Marquis is a small matter. The eldest child has been arrogant since childhood. After this incident, I am afraid that he has completely lost his will.
"Where is Ruoqiang?" Xu thought and turned to look for her eldest daughter.
The youngest daughter, Gu Ruowei, came out from the hall and said, "Mother, my sister has gone to look for my eldest brother."
"Go and take a look!" Xu immediately urged her to go over quickly. Gu Ruowei didn't understand why. Didn't her eldest brother love them the most? But she still listened to her mother and hurried to Qingpuyuan.
Xu then looked at Helena again and said, "We will check the account books after the 15th."
Helena was stunned. She was so anxious, but her face showed no movement. She smiled and nodded, "It's important. My sister-in-law is back. I can take a rest now."
But when he turned around, his face darkened. After leaving the front yard with the old woman, he immediately ordered her to get the accounts of the farm, fields and shops first, as there were not many days left until the fifteenth.
"They couldn't even wait until the eldest brother got married, and as soon as they came back they asked me for money. It seems that I have been managing this mansion for nothing."
As soon as Helena entered the house, she complained to her husband, Master Gu San, "You only know how to read these useless books and do useless things. You can't even fart in front of my sister-in-law!"
Helena went up and tore up the notebook in Gu San's hand, and Gu San was so anxious that he tried to snatch it from her with a red face, "What are you doing? What's wrong with your sister-in-law coming back? You usually complain about being tired or busy. This is just right."
"What a Bullsh!t! She asked me to prepare the account books right after I came back. It seems that she is afraid that I have embezzled all the money over the years. In the past, Ethan Gu could inherit the title of Marquis, and the first and third wives had to share it in the future. Now it seems that she is thinking that the first wife will inherit it in the future."
Without the Marquis, the family became the Gu Mansion, and it was only natural for the eldest son to inherit the family business. So as soon as she came back, she was asked to prepare the account books. This had to be settled before the new daughter-in-law came in, so as to avoid the girl from the Nian family asking for them.
"That's just the way my sister-in-law is. You think too much. When my father passed away, he said that the family business would be divided equally among the three branches." Master Gu San looked at the torn notebook with distress, "I spent two hundred taels of silver to buy this, and you tore it up!"
"Two hundred taels!" Helena suddenly raised the silver tael, almost screaming, "Do you know how much effort I had to put into the account to get these two hundred taels? Just buy this broken book, and I will burn it."
Having suffered a loss once, Master Gu San would not give her any chance and quickly ran out of the house.
Helena chased out and just as she walked out of her yard, she saw her son Gu Mingyi coming back with a birdcage in his hand. He was having a lot of fun, but when he saw Helena glaring at him angrily, he ran away.
Helena was so angry that she picked up a stick nearby and wanted to beat the father and son to death together.
The third room was in chaos. Gu Ruowei came to the gate of Qingpu Courtyard and saw the flowers, plants and trees that had not been cleaned up. She frowned and said, "What's going on? Big brother didn't come back often before, so it wouldn't be so messy. Where is the person who cleaned it up?"
The maid behind her didn't understand why either, so she followed the second young lady back, "Maybe it's like what the third lady said, the eldest young master doesn't like to be disturbed, so he sent everyone away."
"Impossible, big brother is not that kind of person."
But Gu Ruowei couldn't figure it out. It was unlikely that Third Aunt was negligent in this matter.
Just as I was walking along the path, I saw a figure hurriedly coming over there. When I looked closely, it turned out to be my sister Gu Ruoqiang.
"Sister." Gu Ruowei quickly pulled her back, seeing her eyes full of tears as if she had suffered a great injustice, "What's wrong? Where's my brother?"
"Brother has gone too far." Gu Ruoqiang, who had just turned fifteen, pushed her away and rushed out of the yard.
Gu Ruowei was even more confused, and hurried to the main house. Just as she was about to go in to take a look, Ethan Gu's guards appeared in the corridor and stopped her, "Second Miss, the general doesn't want to see anyone now, please go back."
Gu Ruowei glanced inside the room. The floor was littered with broken porcelain pieces. When the light switched, it was so dark that she couldn't see where anyone was.
The sight of such a disastrous scene alone shocked her.
But now is not the time to ask.
"I'll come back another day." Gu Ruowei turned and left. When she reached the gate of the courtyard, she instructed the maid, "Go and find out what happened in the past six months." How could it be so different from what she knew?
Yan Jin watched the second girl walk away, then walked into the house and stood beside Ethan Gu without saying a word.
After a long time, Ethan Gu raised his head, his eyes full of bloodshot, as if asking, what's the important matter?
Yan Jin then took out the red box behind him and said, "This is from the girl from the Nian family. She said it's a New Year's gift for you."
Ethan Gu looked at the fiery red color of the gold stamping, but found it very dazzling. His sister Gu Ruoqiang's question just now came to his mind again, making him extremely irritated.
With a wave of his hand, the box fell to the ground.
Everything inside fell out, and a dried red flower fell to the ground at his feet.
In this colorless room, the bright red wooden box and the red dried flowers were particularly eye-catching. When his gaze paused briefly, Yan Jin picked up the dried flowers and handed them to him.
I don't know how much effort it took to make this, the dehydrated dried flowers did not lose their original color, but became even more beautiful.
Yan Jin also added: "These are all made by young girls themselves."
Ethan Gu raised his eyes and glanced at him. What? Was he blaming him for ruining other people's feelings?
Yan Jin said nothing, but Ethan Gu chopped the dried flowers directly from his hand, crushed them easily, and turned them into countless crumbs that slipped through his fingers.
He doesn't need that now.
Yan Jin continued, "After Laba, Miss Nian went to Longhua Temple to burn incense. On the way, she met the Fourth Prince. After that, Miss Nian came out of the temple and was almost knocked off the mountain by someone."
Ethan Gu looked at the little bit of crumbs that stubbornly remained between his fingers and said indifferently, "Who told you to follow her?"
Yan Jin moved the corner of his mouth but said nothing. You didn’t say you wouldn’t let me.
"go out!!"
oh.
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