Chapter 534: Shocking the Court
Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
He even inexplicably guessed that in his blurry dream, he must have done something bad to Eldest Miss Yu and caused her to die early.
But!
What puzzled Song Mingzhao was that he admired Eldest Miss Yu very much. Why would he hurt her?
Even now, this question still troubled him.
He couldn’t help but start to pay attention to Eldest Miss Yu and ask about everything related to her.
Soon after, Song Mingzhao bade farewell.
Old Madam Yu asked someone to prepare Rougui tea and incense for his residence. Yu Youyao contributed by adding some incense and new years’ gifts.tte.
All the gifts filled up half a carriage ride back.
Song Mingzhao sent over gifts that filled most of the carriage and brought back specialties from Jiangnan. The Yu Residence was not stingy either and also returned to the Zhenguo Marquis Residence with incense, tea, medicine, and so on.
The next day, Nanny Liu personally went to the manor to pick Yu Jianjia up.
Yu Youyao had originally planned to go over personally.
However, Old Madam Yu did not allow it. “It’s cold and the ground is freezing.
The journey isn’t short. Your bones are still tender, so how can you go out and suffer from the cold? Nanny Liu can go alone. The new year is approaching. You’ve been busy preparing for the new year etiquette these past few days. You’re already busy enough. Even outsiders won’t say much.”
Usually, Concubine Qiu could handle the matters in the residence. Although she was pregnant, she had the help of her clan aunt and Nanny Liu, so it was not tiring.
However, no matter how capable Concubine Qiu was, she couldn’t help with the preparations.
The rules and etiquette here were to build a list of people in the Yu Residence who were usually on good terms with them. Then, they would find the list of gifts from the other party last year. They would compare them and allocate gifts appropriately to show the etiquette of reciprocation.
Whether a family member was virtuous or not, others would generally have an idea when they saw their gift list.
The gift list embodied the core of dealing with people and socializing with them.
Yu Youyao did not insist and said, “Old Madam Liu in my courtyard is a proper person. Usually, when I go out, I have to bring her along. I’ll feel more at ease if Nanny Liu brings her along.”
It was cold, and Yu Jianjia’s health wasn’t good. If she brought a few more people with outside experience, she could handle it well.
Old Madam Yu smiled when she heard this. “You’re still the most thorough.”
There were not many old people like Old Madam Liu who had a lot of experience in the outside world and could deal with it.
Yu Youyao smiled and discussed the gift with Old Madam Yu
“On the gift list from the Qi Residence last year, there was a Jing De Heavenly Green Jade Bottle. The color was clean and it was top-notch green enamel. Logically speaking, the gift prepared by the Qi Residence this year is about the same value as in the past. Our family has to follow last year’s tradition when preparing the gift.”
Old Madam Yu twirled her prayer beads and said nothing.
The gift list was given every year, and the value was also adjusted according to the price.
Every year, other than the things that would change a little, the value and weight of the gifts were also the same.
Yu Youyao continued, “Only on rainy days can high- grade azure enamel be made. This year, the weather is dry and hot, and there’s very little rain. There are especially few azure enamel on the market, and their value is higher, so it’s not suitable to return this gift. This dynasty still favors red, and the Spring
Festival is a festive day. Why don’t we change it to a red jade pot and spring bottle? It’s also very rare for a pure and beautiful enamel to be red.”
Old Madam Yu smiled. This was the essence of giving gifts.
This year, because that was rare, the value of the green enamel was almost half as high as in the past. Giving one back to Ru Tianqing was a clear loss.
With the relationship between the Yu and Qi families, this jade bowl was a treasured gift.
However, giving gifts emphasized the word “etiquette”, not the word
“expensive.” Only when it was just right and polite could it be considered good.
If you gave expensive gifts and the gifts from other families were not as expensive as the ones from your family, wouldn’t it be embarrassing to compare them?
Giving something “expensive” wasn’t worth praise. It wasn’t good when it came to dealing with people. Others would be embarrassed, and she would miss out on etiquette. This was thankless.
Old Madam Yu nodded repeatedly. “Red enamel is good. Not only is it worth the same as the jade bowl from last year, but the color is also very likable.”
During the new year, every family looked forward to prosperity.
Just based on this color, no one else would have any objections.
In the afternoon, Yu Jianjia returned to the residence.
Due to Yu Jianjia’s cold, Old Madam Yu was worried. She immediately took a token and invited Imperial Physician Hu into the residence to treat Yu Jianjia.
The Yu Residence was generous and was not a difficult family to deal with.
Even though it was almost the end of the year and the weather was cold, Imperial Physician Hu was willing to make this trip.
After the treatment, Imperial Physician Hu smiled. “During this period of time,
Third Miss’s health has been recovering well. The medicine on the prescription can be reduced a little. I’ll prescribe a new prescription for Third Miss. Autumn and winter are good for nourishing the body. Just continue to recuperate in the future.”
He did not mention anything about the cold, so it was probably not important.
Naturally, Old Madam Yu was happy. As the new year was approaching, not only did the Yu Residence give him consultation money, but they also prepared a new year gift and sent it to Imperial Physician Hu’s carriage.
It seemed that after the new year, Yu Jianjia would have to go to the manor to recuperate.
Although her reputation was not good, if Yu Jianjia could really recover, it did not matter. After all, it was not good for the reputation of the residence if a legitimate daughter was always sick.
Every family was bustling with activity, preparing to celebrate the new year.
The Yu Residence was filled with red lanterns.
However, on the last day before th New Year.
A report came from Zhejiang. Ever since autumn and winter, the pirates had often disturbed the borders and plundered ships at sea. This was not a big deal. The Zhejiang navy often fought with the pirates along the coast and were experienced. There were usually few pirates.
However, because of Song Xiuwen’s case, all the officials in Zhejiang were in danger. The navy was also in turmoil. A small group of pirates attacked Taizhou and broke through the defense of the Taizhou navy, causing the pirates to enter the city to burn, kill, and plunder. Countless people died, and a large number of supplies were plundered. Most of the inner city was burned…
The news seemed to be a little rushed, and everyone had specially chosen New
Year’s Eve to celebrate the new year.
It immediately shocked the court!
The court officials did not even care about New Year’s Eve as they put on their court clothes and entered the palace.
The pirates were unpredictable and committed all kinds of crimes. They had always been a thorn in the side of the Great Zhou Dynasty.
The Great Zhou Dynasty had established the navy to completely eliminate the pirates. All these years, they had invested a large number of troops and money to fight the pirates and pirates who had colluded with them.
However, it was not easy to nurture the navy, and it was also very difficult to fight at sea. It had also taken more than ten years for the Great Zhou Dynasty to achieve results.
At that moment, there were court officials who detailed the tragedies of the pirates wreaking havoc along the coast since the Great Zhou Dynasty was established. Wherever they went, they burned, killed, plundered, and committed all kinds of crimes..
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