Contentment with modest wealth

Chapter 263 My Imperial Decree Has Gone?

After Madam Yan finished tidying up, she sent Jin Shi to urge Yan Liang. She had just sat down for a short while when the curtain of Xiangfei was lifted and Yan Qu walked in.

Madam Yan said, "You really came back?" Then she peeked behind him and asked, "Where's your wife?"

Yan Qu hesitated for a moment, then said, "I let her go first."

Madam Yan frowned: "Your father and I haven't even left the house yet, how can we let her go first?"

"The master and the eldest son have arrived."

Yan Qu was coughing and about to speak when he heard the maids' voices outside the door reporting something. He hurried over, opened the curtain, and called out "Father" to Yan Shu, who came in first, and then called out "Elder Brother" to Yan Liang, who came in later.

Yan Shu glanced at him, then went straight in to speak with Madam Yan. Yan Liang, who was lagging behind, muttered a rebuke: "A disgrace to the literati, utterly dissolute. Never home day or night, how will you explain yourself to your father-in-law?"

Yan Qu pursed his lips, stole a glance at Yan Shu and his wife, then at Yan Liang, and secretly made a gesture of begging for mercy before the two brothers went inside one after the other.

"...What does this have to do with the censors? They transferred Shen Yu to the Ministry of Rites and even promoted him, didn't they? Besides, the Shen family has no objections, so why are the censors jumping up and down?"

Hearing Madam Yan's voice rise, the two brothers stopped in the middle of the room.

"Alright, I heard that Lan Chu invited her former colleagues from the Ministry of Rites today. In addition, Shen Yu is a new son-in-law returning home for the first time today. Let's go early and find out what's going on with them."

After Yan Shu finished speaking, he stood up and glanced at Yan Qu as he passed by: "There's a limit to fooling around. You're a married man now. From today onwards, you're not allowed to stay out overnight anymore. If you disobey, you'll be sorry!"

Yan Qu lowered his head below his chest, but dared not utter a sound.

After Lu Ying finished tidying up, she came out and happened to see the Yan family father and sons leaving their house.

Yingzi blurted out, "They didn't even wait for Grandma?"

Lu Ying's expression turned even colder, and she got into the car without saying a word.

At the Lu residence, Lu Jia and Shen Qingzhou returned early, while Qiu Niang and Madam Cheng arrived even earlier and had already finished eating a bunch of melon seeds.

When Lu Jia arrived at the inner courtyard, she had to follow the usual etiquette. After she sat down, most of the guests had arrived, and one after another, people were brought in. Lu Jia listened carefully to remember their names until Madam Yan's name was announced.

"Our wife is resting in the small garden on the east side, and we would like to invite our eldest aunt over for a few words."

Lin, the old nanny who served Madam Yan, came over with a smile to deliver the message.

Both Qiu Niang and Madam Cheng looked at Lu Jia.

Lu Jia stood up calmly: "I was just about to go and pay my respects to Madam. It was my fault for being disrespectful."

Before long, they arrived at the small garden on the east side. Outside the open pavilion in the garden, members of the Yan family were standing. As soon as Lu Jia walked over, they immediately turned around and went inside to report.

When Lu Jia arrived at the door, the curtain was already open, and she could go straight in.

What style!
Those who know the situation will think it's at the Lu family's residence, but those who don't might mistake it for the Yan family's!

"coming?"

Lu Jia had just shown her face at the door when Madam Yan's voice came over.

"Meet my lady."

Lu Jia bowed, and a hand adorned with two or three gold bracelets lifted her up: "Mother said, Jia'er, there's no need for such formalities. We're all family. Come and sit down." It was Jin, Yan Liang's wife.

This is a wolf in sheep's clothing. In her previous life, when Lu Jia had just married into the family, the first person to come and see her and bring her medicine was Madam Jin. She was also the one who turned around and said that she had lost her gold hairpin and even found it in Lu Jia's room.

At the time, in everyone's eyes, Lu Jia was just a spoiled girl who had been raised by small merchants and had never seen anything good. She had a habit of petty theft. Who would not believe that?
While Jin was pleading with Madam Yan, Madam Yan threw the tea in her hand at Lu Jia's head.

Her Jin family was far inferior to the Lu family in terms of social standing. In order to prevent the Lu family's young lady from overshadowing her as the eldest mistress, she didn't care about whether there was any enmity or not.
Lu Jia smiled at her and subtly withdrew her hand: "Sister-in-law is here too." She glanced around the room again: "Where's my sister?"

In the month or so since Lu Ying married into the Yan family, Lu Jia hadn't seen her since she returned home for her wedding. Naturally, there was no opportunity to confront Jiang Shi about the matter, but they both knew the truth and there was no need to bring it up.

Of course, I had heard about Yan Qu's absurdity to some extent.

It's unclear whether it's because he couldn't possibly have a child out of wedlock no matter how much he messed around, but since Lu Ying didn't come back to complain, Lu Jie ignored her.

However, in Lu Ying's opinion, since she was returning to her parents' home for a banquet today, she should at least stay by her mother-in-law's side to show outsiders.

They've disappeared now; I wonder what kind of trouble they've gotten themselves into?

"She arrived first. I haven't seen her yet." Madam Yan chuckled lightly, gesturing for Lu Jia to sit beside her, then glanced at her: "You look quite well."

"Because I knew the Shen family was a den of thieves and tigers, I had to be on my guard and take good care of myself."

Lu Jia's expression turned serious, and she straightened her posture.

Madam Yan smirked, "How is the Shen family? Is the Grand Commandant amiable? How is his relationship with the eldest son?"

"Replying to Madam, the Grand Commandant is very busy. Since I married into the family, I have only seen him once, during the tea ceremony."

"As for the eldest son, I'm afraid you won't believe it, but he collapsed from exhaustion after entering the bridal chamber that day."

"That night he started coughing and wheezing incessantly, and the people around him hurriedly moved him out of the room."

"I didn't see him again until this morning before I left."

Madam Yan frowned: "Didn't they say he was much better? He hasn't neglected his duties at the yamen."

“I don’t know about this.” Lu Jia shook his head, then quickly took out a pill from his sleeve. “This was spilled from the hands of the people around him during the chaos of war that night, but I haven’t had time to figure out what kind of medicine it is. I wonder if Madam recognizes it?”

Madam Yan took the medicine, brought it close to her nose to smell it, and frowned again: "Are you sure this medicine is for him?"

“I saw it with my own eyes.”

Madam Yan glanced at her, then handed the medicine to Madam Jin. She added, "Anything else?"

Lu Jia shook his head: "In such a large mansion as the Grand Commandant, I couldn't even see the father and son. The rest were all servants, and they knew nothing about anything."

After a moment's thought, Madam Yan said, "Two months ago we talked about promoting the eldest son to the position of Vice Minister of Rites, but recently there have been some setbacks. Please keep an eye on what the Shen family's attitude is towards this."

Lu Jia said, "The transfer can't be completed? Wasn't it said that I would be granted a third-rank imperial title upon marriage?"

“It’s not that it can’t be arranged,” Madam Yan said gently, “it’s just that some people in the court are making a fuss, so we can’t rush things for now. In short, just do as I say. It will benefit you, and it’s only right that you contribute.”

Lu Jia responded with an "Oh." Then she smiled and said, "Madam's words of admonition are quite correct."