June 4th, golden light shines everywhere, the sun blazes like a fire.

  The treetop branches have no wind at all.

  Gu Jin received an invitation card from Yiyuan Houfu early in the morning.

  She had originally intended to respond, but then the servant rushed in, joyfully and excitedly telling Song Tan'er: "Madam, Wei Lixing has arrived. He brought several young masters with him, riding fast horses at the front of the procession. Song Mama and Hai Tang Jie Jie and others will arrive this afternoon."

  Song Pan'er was overjoyed when she heard this: "Quickly call her in."

  Wei Lixin is the general manager of the warehouse in the Yanling Mansion, and also one of Song Pan'er's dowry attendants, who is her confidant.

  When you lift your coat, you must run.

  Song Pan'er rebuked him: "Slow down! You're a third-rate official now, not some errand boy, you need to follow the rules!"

  Because his family was short-handed and there were no specific arrangements for him to go anywhere, he was in charge of treating the young people from outside the hospital.

  Cai Lian was scolded by Song Pan'er and wasn't nervous like the other little servants, smiling and saying "yes".

  Just out of Song Pan'er's line of sight, he quickly ran over.

  Gu Jin thought, today is probably no time to see Madame Yi Yanhou.

  She wrote back asking Madame Yi to come again on the sixth day of the New Year.

  She also showed the letter to Song Pan'er.

  Song Pan'er nodded.

  Gu Jinzhi immediately shouted for Yaoyao to go out and call a young servant to come over, and have him deliver it to the Yiyuan Marquis's estate.

  After a while, Wei Lixin led three or four young servants to quickly come in and pay their respects to Song Dang'er, all of them were sweating profusely.

  The young servants who served beside Gu Jin's father were: Si Mo, Si Yan, Si Xuan and Si Hao.

  Kneel down together and kowtow to Song Wantong.

  Song Pan'er hastily laughed: "Get up quickly, all of you get up."

  Then let the maid give Wei Lixing a small stool to sit on, and also bring a small footstool for several little ones to sit on.

  He also ordered a bowl of iced plum soup to be brought in to cool down.

  Wei Lexin and others looked at Song Dang'er's bulging belly, all slightly surprised, and then got up one after another. They knelt down and kowtowed to Song Dang'er, congratulating her on the good news.

  Song Pan'er had already lost the nervous embarrassment she had at the beginning of her pregnancy, and smiled as she accepted: "Don't be too polite, everyone sit down and take a break."

  Everyone then sat down in a flurry.

  Song Paner was delighted, and Peony and Nianlu were also happy.

  "...on the way, we encountered two big storms and heavy rains, almost capsizing the boat. Fortunately, nothing was lost. The south suffered a great flood, everywhere were refugees, and we also encountered bandits twice, who were those refugees with no place to go. Our guards were very skilled and didn't let the bandits succeed. I discussed with Sun Da that every time we stopped the boat, we would cook two pots of rice porridge and distribute it to the refugees at the dock. After that, there were no more incidents on the way." said Wei Lixin.

  Song Pan'er nodded.

  Every year in early spring, there will be migrant workers from the south.

  Every year, Gu's family would set aside some silver to distribute porridge to disaster victims.

  This is accumulating good fortune.

  "You've done a good job," Song Xiang said. "Every year, our family has this rule. When we encounter a year of disaster and famine, we distribute some rice and grains."

  Wei Lexin smiled and said yes.

  Then he handed a note to Song Xiang'er: "Madam wrote a letter, although she didn't instruct us, we were afraid that things would be scarce in the capital, so we brought some of our household items up here."

  Song Pan'er posted, and smiled.

  If it weren't for the five hundred catties of yellow gold bestowed by the Emperor, these things would be very timely.

  Bring it over now. It's not too much either.

  "Jiangning's cloth is good, I wonder if there are any new ones to bring?" Song Tuan'er asked, "I haven't made clothes for a long time."

  Everyone laughed.

  Wei Lixin also smiled: "It was said by Eldest Aunt. The mistress likes clothes with bright colors the most. The fabric was given by Eldest Aunt, and it filled half a cabin, all of which were good and not stained with water. Sun Dazong specially ordered people to be careful at all times. Seven or eight embroiderers from the needlework room, including Master Cheng, also came along..."

  Song Pan'er's eyes and eyebrows were all smiling.

  She didn't say much more and told someone to prepare a meal for Wei Lixin.

  Then he shouted for Sī Zhān to come: "You take Sī Mò and Sī Zhān, go out of the city to welcome Sun's group. If it gets dark and the city gate is closed, you know which family's store is good in the suburb, give them more money and stay overnight in the suburb. Don't wander around and come back to find a town."

  The officer hastily replied in the affirmative.

  By afternoon, there were suddenly half a houseful of people at home.

  Eight-tenths of the attendants serving in Yanling Prefecture have arrived.

  Gu Jin's two maidservants, Nong Yu and Zhi Le, also arrived.

  Her face, which had been covered in acne, had mostly healed, leaving only a few small blemishes that resembled freckles. They didn't look very good, but they also weren't particularly unsightly.

  Her previous face was clean and bright.

  Mom and others didn't know what to say, just said: "......it's much better than at first."

  Niú Yāo couldn't help but laugh: "You people are also too dissatisfied. Go take a look at the people in my family's village who have lived through hardships, what do they look like? I'm like this because of the clever hands of young girls helping me to regain my youth. If not, I would truly be unable to go out, and would be a frighteningly ugly old woman."

  Everyone burst out laughing.

  The Zhaotianyou is on its last breath.

  After bowing to Gu Jin, Zhu Ma and others arranged for her to lie down first.

  Gu Jinzhi went back to the main courtyard and looked at his mother's quarters.

  Song Mama, Haitang, Aofu and others have all arrived.

  As soon as she saw Gu Jin, Song's mother hugged her tightly: "Sister has grown taller! She looks more delicate than ever." As she spoke, tears welled up in her eyes.

  Song Pan'er smiled on the side: "Don't be like that! You're making me tear up too."

  Song's mother finally wiped away her tears and smiled.

  The most polite thing to do is for both of them to sit down casually first.

  The house was in an uproar, and Wang Er ran out to the outer courtyard to watch the commotion; Zhu Zhongjian also took advantage of the opportunity to return to the Luoyang Wang Fu.

  Gu Yanwen met with a dozen or so family members who had come from afar at the outer court.

  It wasn't until dusk that everything was finally settled.

  Song Pan'er let out a big sigh of relief: "Everyone's here, and from now on, this family will have rules too. Mom doesn't know, but over the past few months, I've been using those ten yuan bills to straighten out Peony and the others. Just look at Peony and Nianlu, they're thinner now, aren't they?"

  Song's mother indeed looked at the two maids' faces and saw that they had lost some weight: "I really feel sorry for you! The mistress should reward each of you with a few silver coins, don't let them work in vain."

  Then his gaze fell on Mu Qing.

  She wore a pale blue short jacket and a white skirt, with a calm demeanor and dignified manner. It's hard to ignore her.

  Nian Lu smiled and introduced to Song's mother: "Mom, this is Mu Qing, awarded by the big madam. She can do more than us!"

  Song Pan'er smiled and said: "Is it better than you? Paeonia is not counted in. Pull out a person, who can't be better than you?"

  Everyone laughed.

  Nianlu also smiled and laughed.

  Mu Qing immediately paid respects to Song's mother with a respectful attitude.

  Song's mother saw that she was elegant and refined in appearance, and because of her calm and composed demeanor, she stood out. Moreover, she was favored by the eldest branch of the family, and Song Pan'er relied heavily on her, so she couldn't help but feel a sense of vigilance in her heart.

  She smiled and pulled Mu Qing's hand over for a look. Then she gave her a purse as a gift to celebrate their meeting.

  Haitang also met with Mu Qing once.

  In the evening, Xiaoyao and Nianlu took others to dinner. Haitang and Song's mother sat on the footboard of Song Duaner's sedan chair. A small table was set up, and they had dinner with Song Duaner, Gu Jingyi's sister and brother, and Lu Yangwang.

  Song Mama and Haitang sized up King Luyang several times.

  The King of Luoyang smiled sweetly.

  Knowing he was going to be her future son-in-law, and yet still being so unreserved, Song's mother had a lot of questions she wanted to ask.

  After dinner, the maids cleared the dishes. Song Mama and Hai Tang first washed their hands, then came to serve Song Dang Er and others to wash their hands.

  Then, Gu Jinzhi and Huan Geer, Zhu Zhongjun went out for a walk to digest their food.

  Song Pan'er was leaning on the windowsill of the large kang, with a pillow embroidered with a pattern of playing chess. Hai Tang told her about things that had happened along the way, while Song's mother cut up the Hami melon given by the palace into small pieces with a small silver knife and inserted toothpicks into them to give to Song Pan'er.

  "Was that Mu Qing given by the madam?" Song Mama asked Song Xiang'er when she found an opportunity.

  Song Pan'er nodded: "She's very capable. Just now in front of Peony, I didn't say anything. Nianlu can't compare to her, and Peony also yielded a bit, but she can be on par with Haitang."

  Haitang burst out laughing: "After I leave, you'll say again that Haitang also has to yield a bit."

  Song Pan'er burst out laughing and tapped her forehead: "You little devil!"

  Song's mother smiled and asked, "She looks quite outstanding. She was also brought in from outside, not raised from a young age, you know her face but not her heart, you shouldn't be so fond of her. What if she turns out to be another Honglian?"

  Song's mother has always been straightforward and blunt.

  Song Pan'er smiled: "If it's really like that, I'd rather think I misjudged the person. I was thinking, not all maids in this world are as cold-hearted as Hong Lian; nor are they all useless and wanting to be Third Master's concubine; in terms of looks, Nian Lu is more outstanding, and in terms of character, Hai Tang is more steady. Should I suspect that everyone in the world has ill intentions just because of one Hong Lian? This life, I've only misjudged Hong Lian once. From now on, I won't be wrong again. Mother can rest assured."

  Song Pan'er never lost his appetite due to being scolded.

  Haitang stood by, not daring to interrupt.

  She is a servant girl, these words can be said by Song's mother, but she cannot.

  She simply picked up a small fan from the kang and gently fanned Song Pan'er.

  Mrs. Song smiled: "You're right, I'm nagging again."

  This time in Beijing, Da Zongguan Sun Youtang came, and the first-class and second-class managers of the inner and outer courts all came.

  As long as they found someone from Yanling Prefecture, the officials in charge would take care of it first, and then send a young servant to make arrangements, everything would be fine.

  The fifth day of the first month is fully scheduled.

  The warehouse was still handed over to Wei Lixin, the account room, inner and outer kitchen, tea house, laundry room, needlework room, carriage house, watchtower, gatehouse, study and so on, all complete.

  Every single one of them is a steward from Yanling Fu, and all the young servants have been disciplined by Si Lian.

  He also served as a gatekeeper himself.

  He no longer takes care of the study.

  The former gatekeeper was assigned to the kitchen as a purchasing agent.

  On the sixth day of the New Year, it is suitable for Yang Hou Ning's family to come and visit.

  Not just Madame Ning, but also Ning Lian and the second young lady and third young master of the Ning family have arrived.

  Gu Yanwen had no choice but to hurry in and keep him company.

  Ning Xiang thought of giving a gift to Lao Yezi, but was rejected.

  His face didn't look very good.

  But then I remembered Old Master Gu's eccentricities and quickly let it slide from my mind, no longer thinking about it.

  Luoyang Wang was also on the side.

  Mrs. Ning and Ning Lian accompanied Mrs. Gu Yanwen in conversation, but her eyes kept drifting towards King Luyang.

  ——*——*——

  Third update asking for pink tickets, muahahaha!!