Ducha Si had already left, the stage in the backyard had started singing again, and the previous nervousness seemed to have disappeared.
Especially young girls can’t bear to watch the camellias.
Mrs. Zhai gradually regained her composure and murmured: "Ancestors bless you." After saying this, the servant woman asked again, "What is going on?"
She is not an ignorant child, and she knows that this matter cannot be solely based on the blessing of her ancestors.
In addition to Mrs. Zhai's question, there were also curious glances from all around, and the maid who received the explanation repeated the matter as instructed.
The Inspector General was indeed here to investigate whether he had taken bribes and spent extravagantly on his birthday, but after reading the gift list, he found that everything was done properly. Governor Huo was very satisfied and even gave this pot of camellias taken from the palace as a congratulatory gift.
After listening to the narration, the ladies in the hall breathed a sigh of relief again. Many of them clasped their hands and chanted, and also thanked the ancestors of their families for their blessings. The gifts they sent were their duty, otherwise the Zhai family would not end well. As gift-givers, they
Can't escape either.
"Old madam, please rest assured." Madam Xiahou said, "You are from a family where even the inspectors cannot find fault."
Yes, this is the first time that Du Cha Si has entered a house without any injuries. Not only was he unharmed, but he also gave a congratulatory gift.
The clear name of the Zhai family was certified by the Inspector General, and everyone in the court knew it.
Just wait, the emperor will definitely reward you personally.
The room was filled with congratulations, and the atmosphere finally returned to its previous bustle, even more festive than before.
Mrs. Zhai finally had a smile on her face, but she thought of something again and asked the maid: "You just said that Governor Huo smiled when he saw a gift. What gift was it?"
The servant girl just said it carefully, and Mrs. Zhai also listened carefully. She noticed that she saw a congratulatory gift. Dudu Huo laughed and joked with everyone, praising the thoughtfulness and saying that this is what gifts should be given. After saying this,
Without further investigation, I congratulated the great master, gave him gifts and left.
Mrs. Zhai knew immediately upon hearing this that this gift was the key!
Speaking of this gift, the servant girl also laughed and said, "It is a very interesting gift. When Captain Huo saw it, he asked everyone to guess what it was, but none of them could guess it."
Huo Lian?
That man who is like the King of Yama actually plays guessing game with everyone?
The women in the hall suddenly became more curious: "What kind of good thing is it? Bring it and let us have a look."
Mrs. Zhai motioned to Mrs. Zhai to get it. There was no need to hide it. All the inspectors looked over so that everyone could see clearly.
Not long after, two servant women came in person with the steward. The steward walked cautiously, as if he was holding a rare treasure. Although the treasure was not very big in his hands, it was only covered with an ordinary piece of red cloth.
The butler opened the red cloth under the gaze of everyone in the room, revealing the walnut wood carving.
"Guess what this is?" the butler said with a smile.
There were chaotic discussions and answers in the room. The carving was good, and the fans, ornaments, incense, etc. were all different.
Just when the butler was about to announce the answer triumphantly, a female voice said, "Yes, hourglass?"
The words that came to the housekeeper's mouth couldn't help but pause. Everyone else looked at the speaker and saw that it was Miss Xiahou.
"The pattern on the Immortal Man's robe is a scale." Miss Xiahou continued, pointing with her slender fingers, with a slight smile on her quiet face, "This crane head should move along the scale."
People hurriedly came closer to take a look, exclaiming, "It's really there" and "Look at the position of the crane's mouth now."
The butler no longer tried to make excuses, and shouted loudly before his voice was drowned out: "Yes, it's a drip, and the crane's head will swing from the bottom to Shoudao."
The hall suddenly became noisy with people exclaiming, "It's so interesting." "This is just ordinary walnut wood." "The carving is very good." "It's actually an hourglass." "Mom, I want an hourglass like this too."
Because there were too many people squeezing by, in order to avoid collision, the servants hurriedly gave Mrs. Zhai the carved wooden hourglass.
Mrs. Zhai held the wooden sculpture in her hand and looked left and right, her eyes filled with joy.
No wonder Huo Lian couldn't find an excuse. This was indeed a worthless but thoughtful gift.
"Who is it?" she asked quickly, "Which relative or friend gave this to me?"
There was a moment of silence in the noisy hall. You looked at me and asked each other in low voices.
Why is the person who gave the gift not among them?
"Old madam, this ceremony has something to do with my aunt." The chief steward said with a smile.
Mrs. Yang, who was standing behind, was stunned: "Me?"
This is not a gift from her.
"This is a congratulatory gift from Miss Qixing of Xucheng in Xizhou." The chief steward carefully took out the gift list and read it loudly.
Before Mrs. Yang could speak, her maids and maids cheered, "It's Ah Qi——" "It's Miss Qixing." "It's her——"
The voices of several people resounded throughout the hall, arousing everyone's curiosity.
"Mei Niang." Mrs. Zhai asked, "Is this a relative of yours?"
Mrs. Yang's mood was like boiling water, but on the surface she was calm and said with a smile: "Mother, why have you forgotten? I invited the embroiderer, and you arranged to take care of her after she came to Beijing. She was grateful for your kindness, so she asked me for it.
Post, come and wish you birthday in person."
Embroidery lady.
Mrs. Zhai remembered that she did know the embroiderer, but she really didn't need to take care of an embroiderer. She could just tell her servants.
As for the post, she vaguely remembered that the maid mentioned it, but that was because she heard that it was her daughter's request, so she immediately agreed, not caring whether it was for the embroiderer or someone else.
did not expect--
Mrs. Zhai looked at the hall: "Where is Miss Qixing?"
People in the hall looked around again, but no one came forward.
It's not surprising, here are all the female relatives with good heads and status, so the embroiderer is afraid that she will avoid them.
The maid next to Mrs. Yang quickly said: "Sister Mengchan took them out to play. They should be watching a play."
Mrs. Zhai quickly said: "Go and invite her quickly."
Four or five maids in the hall responded in unison, including Mrs. Zhai's maids, Mrs. Zhai's, Mrs. Yang's, no matter who they were, they all went out.
Lu Yizhi slowly came from the front yard to the back house.
Just when he was about to inquire about the situation, the maid came to inform him that no one was arrested or the house was ransacked, which temporarily relieved his panic, but he still came to the front yard to take a look.
Because Du Cha Si's guards prevented him from approaching, he waited until Du Cha Si left, then personally greeted Mr. Zhai and inquired about the details with the housekeeper before coming to the back house.
He had just walked back to the women's hall when he heard a clutter of footsteps behind him mixed with the women's chatter and laughter.
Lu Yi subconsciously turned around and saw a group of maids, young and beautiful, with red flowers and green willows, and smiles on their faces.
At this moment, he returned home again in a trance, because he saw familiar faces among the group of maids.
The girl has a beautiful face and is wearing a bamboo-green dress, with the hem of her skirt ripples as she moves.
She looked past the joking maid and looked at him.
"Ah Qi?" Lu Yizhi blurted out as if he were at home.
This group of women were laughing and laughing, and they were walking like the wind. They were beside him in the blink of an eye, and passed by him like a gust of wind.
The girl's gaze slid past him like water, silently.
But the girl next to her whispered "Three——"
But the next moment he seemed to be pushed, his body swayed, and his voice was like a pebble falling into water, and was immediately swallowed up.
"Old lady."
"Madam."
"lady--"
The maidservants gathered around the girl and stepped up the steps, and the sound of warblers and swallows echoed throughout the hall.
"Miss Qixing is here."
Lu Yizhi stood at the entrance of the hall and looked inside. The bustle in the hall was very similar to that at home.
The difference is that the person sitting in the middle and surrounded by the Zhai family is the grey-haired old Mrs. Zhai, while the Lu family is his mother.
And in the Lu family, that Ah Qi would only stand in the corner of the room, with a group of maids, instead of standing in front of people, surrounded by everyone, and being held by the mistress of the house like she is at this moment.
Mrs. Zhai held Qixing's hands with a smile on her face: "How come you have such skillful hands? How did you get such skillful hands?"
Qixing said: "It was born from my parents."
Everyone around started laughing, and Mrs. Zhai also laughed. When she was about to make fun of her parents, Mrs. Yang coughed lightly.
"Mom, don't praise me just by looking at this wood carving. Look at the set of clothes I gave you. You will be shocked." She said loudly, then she held the old lady's shoulder and whispered, "She
My parents are gone."
Don't talk about it at this time, lest the little girl be sad.
Of course, you don’t have to worry about it at other times, so what if you are sad? Let’s talk about your deceased parents. This is the host’s concern.
But at this moment, Mrs. Zhai couldn't bear to give it up. She nodded to her daughter calmly and urged the maid with a smile, "Hurry up and bring me the birthday gift Mei Niang gave me."
As the clothes and dresses given by Mrs. Yang were brought in, a new noise arose in the hall. The carved wooden hourglass was a novelty, but it was only a novelty. Whether or not this kind of ornament was available did not matter to the women in the inner house.
But embroidery on dresses is different.
This is a mountain green dress, with a skirt under the coat. It looks simple and elegant, but the patterns are all over it, looming, like the sun is shining and like the stars.
"Very good." Mrs. Zhai praised her repeatedly. She stretched out her hand to hold the dress and looked at it carefully. "Good embroidery work."
The other women also gathered around and nodded.
Mrs. Yang picked up the dress and said with a smile, "It's not time to praise your embroidery work."
Then he asked the maids to come forward and help him put on his clothes.
"Mom, take a closer look."
This seven-star is amazing. A wood carving can make people guess, and a set of embroidery can also make people guess. People in the hall are more interested, and like Mrs. Zhai, their eyes are focused.
Mrs. Yang slowly turned around in the hall, either unfolding her sleeves or hanging them down to show off.
“Looking up close, you can see the intricate patterns.
"Looking from a distance, you can understand the beauty."
"It seems ordinary, but once I see it, I can't take my eyes away, and I don't know what I want to see."
The women commented all over the place, praising how good it looked, but they couldn't say how good it looked, until a female voice chuckled.
"Ah, I have the green mountains and green water all over my body."
Everyone was stunned and looked at the speaker, who was still Miss Xiahou.
Miss Xiahou looked at it intently, and stretched her hand gently in front of her eyes, as if outlining lines: "This is a landscape painting. If I read it correctly, it is similar to the one hanging in my father's study."
She looked at Mrs. Xiahou.
"Mom, that painting was given by Mr. Zhai, right?"
Mrs. Xiahou nodded: "Yes, it belongs to Mr. Zhai."
Although Mr. Zhai had an idle job in the Ministry of Etiquette all his life, he had outstanding painting skills and therefore became close friends with Mr. Xiahou.
Everyone present was busy looking at it, and sure enough, the embroidery outline, the coat like mountains, the underskirt like water, and the white clouds lingering on the shoulders, really brought the green mountains and green waters to the body.
"When I got married, my father specially made a painting for me so that I could relieve my homesickness in other places." Mrs. Yang leaned next to Mrs. Zhai and said, with red eyes. "My father passed away and my mother was in poor health. I have been suffering from pain for many years."
Before I go out again, I just want to embroider this painting on my dress so that my mother will feel like she is in the mountains and rivers when she wears it."
Mrs. Zhai nodded and stroked her shoulder: "Good child, you are interested."
She looked at Qixing aside and stretched out her hand.
Qixing was not restrained and put his hand in Mrs. Zhai's hand again.
"Good boy." Mrs. Zhai held her hand, "good boy, thank you for your skillful hands."
