Chapter 57: New Year’s Day

The year is over with the sound of firecrackers, and the spring breeze brings warmth to the summer.

Now that the pass has arrived this year, ordinary people are busy all day long for the New Year, let alone the family of important officials and meritorious officials under the feet of the emperor.

On the 29th day of the twelfth lunar month, the Pingyang Marquis' Mansion changed the door god, couplets, signs, and new peach talismans were posted, and the whole mansion was completely renewed.

Because Gu Xiyan and Xiao Rang were going to the palace to have a banquet on New Year's Eve, they opened the ancestral temple early, asked people to clean up, packed up the utensils and offerings for offerings, and invited a group of heroes of the gods in advance.

Since the New Year's Eve palace banquet that day, hundreds of Zhuangzi officials under the name of the Marquis of Pingyang have come to Beijing to pay rent and pay tribute. After they came back from the Gu Mansion that day, Gu Xiyan has been busy with all the affairs of the inner house for four or five days after returning from the Marquis of Pingyang, and has been busy with all the affairs of the inner house for four or five days.

...

In the afternoon of winter, the flower hall of the day Jintang.

Gu Xiyan sat upright on the red sandalwood vine heart-ring chair on the upper head, looked over the booklet twice, and handed the booklet to Li Mama standing beside her.

Today, Gu Xiyan wore a long jacket with lotus colored apricot forest spring swallow pattern, and a crimson four-color pleated skirt with Ruyi pattern. Because he was dealing with house affairs in the mansion, he simply combed a snail bun and inserted two or three east beads and flowers Baochai on it.

Gu Xiyan looked at the kneeling manager at the bottom and said kindly, "Standle Liu, please get up quickly.

It was snowing heavily this year, and the clouds and sunshine a few days ago, and it was sometimes warm and sometimes cold. Manager Liu was afraid that it would be difficult to walk along the way."

Manager Liu, who was next to him, bowed, "If you go back to the mistress, the weather this year is colder than in previous years. There is a poor winter and strong wind, and the heavy snow is several feet deep. I rushed to the capital in a deadline. Unexpectedly, the weather suddenly became warm and the snow was muddy and difficult to move. It took a few more days to arrive at the Marquis' Mansion. The villain is really ashamed."

Gu Xiyan smiled, "Since there is a reason for this, there is no blame."

This tribute list lists a long list of various wild game, as well as the rent and harvest of land collected in one year, which is an indispensable New Year's goods for the Pingyang Hou Mansion during the Chinese New Year.

Zhuangzi, who is under the commander Liu, is located in Dengzhou and has a relatively long land area. It takes half a month to go from Dengzhou to Shengjing City.

Although these managers are slaves from the Pingyang Marquis Mansion, they are also the housekeepers of the entire village and are considered well-known people in the local area.

Now I personally travel to the snow and drive to Beijing to pay tribute, which can be said to be a night of time and night, sleeping in the open.

Seeing that what Manager Liu said was not false and not a slick person, Gu Xiyan did not pursue Lai Nan's fault.

The harvest of the village is better than in previous years this year. Gu Xiyan first praised and inspired him verbally, and then rewarded some gold and silver naked boys, so that people could lead Manager Liu to rest.

...

"Mom, how many people have not been there for this farm manager?"

Gu Xiyan took a sip of rhinoceros tea and looked at Mama Li beside her.

Mother Li immediately looked through the list of flowers in her hand and confirmed it before saying, "Regarding the mistress, so far, all the managers of the 216 villages under the name of the Marquis' Mansion have come to pay their respects."

“Very good.”

Gu Xiyan nodded, "Then ask the account to post the land rent sent to the book, and then count the tribute items from each farm. Except for the examples for the ancestors and the examples used in our mansion, take out some of the rest and send them to the second and third houses."

It is a custom for the family of kings and princes to distribute New Year’s goods within the clan.

There were so many things coming from the village below, and there were only Xiao Rang and Gu Xiyan in the huge Marquis’ Mansion of Pingyang. Even if you were to have sex with your servants, it would never be possible to finish your meal.

Fortunately, there are several descendants of the same clan and close branches in Pingyang Hou Mansion, such as the second and third robes of the Xiao family.

These relatives of the same clan all came from a gold and silver nest, and they were very luxurious in food, clothing, housing and transportation. Therefore, after they split up, they could only live with their belts tightened. At best, they could only say that they had surplus food.

The relatives from other branches farther away were also mediocre and lived a wealthy life. Therefore, they still rely on expectations for the New Year goods distributed by the Marquis of Pingyang every year.

Mother Li responded to Gu Xiyan's instructions, turned around and took out the curtain to assign work to the servant under her charge.

Gu Xiyan had just breathed a sigh of relief, and the door of the room opened and closed, but Liuhuo was led in by the old man and saluted: "Miss Mother, today the Marquis came to court and took the Chunxiang rewarded by the court. His subordinates were ordered to deliver it to the mistress."

The so-called spring grace means spring tribute reward, which is the silver that the emperor rewarded to officials who were honored for sacrifice.

Because the ancestors of Xiao's family worked hard to earn the first-class marquis, every year, the Pingyang Marquis' Mansion has a reward for receiving any favors.

The mother Gui on the side explained in time, "Miss Mother, although this spring favor is small, it is somewhat of a emperor's kindness - the emperor's kindness is the blessing of the ancestors, and the lower part is the blessing of the ancestors.

It is decent enough to take it to worship our ancestors."

There are not much silver rewards in this spring. Although the Pingyang Marquis Mansion does not lack these few taels of silver, the royal favor it represents is not something that anyone can have.

Therefore, even if you use ten thousand silver to pay for your ancestors, it is not as decent as this, and it is also benefited from the royal dragon energy.

The Gu family did not have the qualifications to receive the spring grace, so Gu Xiyan lived for two lives. Although he had heard of the rewards of spring grace, he knew the specific purpose of this spring grace for the first time today.

Gu Xiyan got the tip of Gui's mother, and immediately ordered the mother to send this spring grace to the ancestral hall to offer it, so that it could be used to worship the ancestors on the day of the Lantern Festival.

...

After taking care of the spring grace, sacrifices, tributes, and the New Year’s goods, as well as the treats in the first lunar month.

During the Chinese New Year, every household would treat guests to drink, saying that it was a treat, but it was just a matter of listening to operas and rewards, eating and drinking, and communicating feelings.

The family of the Pingyang Hou Mansion was a noble family. They chatted and laughed, but had no contacts. They naturally made friends with princes and nobles, and naturally they didn’t leave this circle even if they were invited to dinner.

Gu Xiyan asked Xiao Rang about the arrangements for treating guests early, and now he only asked his mother Gui to plan the day for treating dinner in the first lunar month according to previous years. Xiao Rang also asked Xiao Rang to open a list of guests for banquets, including several dukes' mansions, four kings from east, west, south, north, and the dukes, marquis, and Bozinan.

On that side, Wang's mother brought a red painted wooden box and put a curtain in. "My wife, the little boy was not beaten with gold and silver a few days ago. The old slave simply asked someone to beat him some more, preparing to reward the juniors with gifts during the Spring Festival in a few days."

Gu Xiyan heard this and nodded, "Thank you hard for your hard work mom."

Seeing Gu Xiyan's expression was sleepy and full of expression, Wang's mother couldn't help but feel distressed, "My mistress has been busy for several days. If she is tired, she will take a rest. The huge family business of the Marquis of Pingyang's Mansion will never be over. The people below should share some worries for the mistress."

Gu Xiyan smiled, "What my mother said is, fortunately, after being busy for several days, the matter has finally been dealt with. I am really sleepy now, so I have to take a nap."

Indigo Yu, who was beside him, said, "My maid serves the mistress and goes to rest."

——

Ningyuan main room.

The eldest maid Hongfei looked panicked, holding a letter in her hand, hurriedly putting a curtain into the inner room.

It was already evening, and after a while it was dinner. Gu Xiyan had just taken off his hairpin and was about to lie down and take a nap, but unexpectedly, the Hongfei broke in.

Indigo Yu said "shush", "Sister Hongfei's voice is softer! Miss is just lying down now!"

Hong Fei's face was a little anxious, "The master asked someone to whip him and sent Feng's letter, saying that he asked the lady to answer the letter and immediately opened it to see it! It can be seen that there is something important..."

On that side, Gu Xiyan closed his eyes and was not asleep. After hearing this vaguely, he immediately stood up and lifted up the tent, saying, "I'm not asleep yet, please submit the letter to my family."

...

"The court situation has been turbulent recently. In the case of Jiangnan food disaster, your grandfather, Jiang clan, has been involved in the disaster relief food. My father vaguely realized that this matter was extraordinary. The spearhead seemed to be coming to Gu's house, so he specially divorced and reminded Xier to be careful when going out recently."

"The Marquis of Pingyang was originally a noble family. Although Gu's family was full of books, they finally got to the Marquis of Pingyang... Therefore, my son was once pointed out by the Lord to be the legitimate wife of Pingyang. His father was worried more than joy.

Since ancient times, women follow their husbands when they get married. As the mistress of the Pingyang Marquis Mansion, it is not easy to manage the entire clan. If it is at a critical moment, don’t take care of the family. Just remember that everything is one with the marquis! Don’t cry and beg the marquis for the sake of family affairs!"

Gu Xiyan was already in tears when he saw this, and his slender hands were trembling as he held the letter paper.

This day finally came!

In the last life, the Gu family was framed by treacherous charlatans in the court. Emperor Cheng'an issued an order to raid the whole family. His mother, Gu Lin, hanged herself on the beam, and Gu's father, Gu Wanqian and his elder brother, Gu Zhaowen, committed suicide on their way to Qinghai.

The Gu family was in decline, and the whole family of seventy-two turned into a group of unjust souls, none of which survived, and she was the only one who survived in the Marquis's Mansion and was bullied.

In this life, she understood Gu’s father and mother’s painstaking efforts, and since the day she was reborn, she obeyed her parents’ teachings filially, and never had any rebellion.

My father and mother have raised her for more than ten years. Now that she is in trouble at home, how could she ignore it and ignore it!

But the case in Jiangnan is related to the court, so how could she, a woman from the boudoir, easily find out the inside story!

Huge fear came to his face like a tide, almost overwhelming. Gu Xiyan was filled with panic and had a mess in his mind. It was the first time that he was at a loss.

...

As soon as Xiao Rang lifted his feet and walked into the inner room, he heard a low sob.

When he opened the curtain, he saw that Gu Xiyan was lying on the head of the bed and cried endlessly. The two maids beside him also had tears in their eyes and were persuading him.

Xiao Rang immediately frowned and walked to the bed, saying, "I heard from my mother that her wife was taking a nap, why did she cry like this?"

Looking at the tall man walking towards him, Gu Xiyan didn't have time to wipe away the tears from his face, then opened his arms and threw himself into the man's arms, and said in tears, "Marty...Marty..."

Gu Xiyan choked and told the story.

After a few cries of pear blossoms and rain, Xiao Rang finally understood the reason.

Xiao Rang knew about the incident of Wang and Xie's surgery on Jiang's family early in the morning, but he was not careful for a while. He did not expect that the Jiang family and Gu Xiyan's grandfather had Qin Jin.

Now that Gu Xiyan said this, he realized that something was wrong. If the Wang and Xie families were trying to retaliate against Gu, they would have really had good intentions and ulterior motives.

Xiao Rang looked cold and reached out to wipe away the tears from the corner of the beauty's eyes, and said in a deep voice:
Chapter completed!