Chapter 9: Intimacy and Distance

  It was the 23rd of the twelfth lunar month, and as usual, various villages sent their annual rent in grain and money to the Hou Mansion. The shops also prepared various goods and sundries to present to the masters of each house. Even the maidservants had changed into new winter clothes. According to the custom of the Hou Mansion, the reward money was distributed on New Year's Eve, so the small New Year's Eve dinner was just a routine gift of food. The leftover dishes were taken by the wives and mothers-in-law, while the maidservants received various fruits and candies.

  After dinner, except for Chen Jiu who retired early as usual, Mrs. Ma and Mrs. Xu, as well as the grandsons and granddaughters of each house, naturally accompanied Zhu Shi in conversation. This was also a custom before the New Year's Eve, only compared to the lively young ladies, the few young masters were much quieter. The madams of other noble families liked their grandsons, but Zhu Shi's fondness for her granddaughters was renowned, so the imperial ladies-in-waiting in the capital would often jokingly say that girls born in the Yangning Marquis Manor were the most fortunate.

  At this moment, Chen Bing and Chen Lan were sitting on either side of Zhu's warm bed. In the past, these two seats were either empty or occupied by the two sisters of the second house. Now, they suddenly changed to Chen Lan of the main house, and the people in the family naturally had their own speculations. Even Chen Lan herself became more cautious. After all, there is no good without reason in this world. Zhu's grandmother had always been indifferent to her before, and the sudden care for her in recent days must have other reasons.

  Compared to Chen Bing's eloquence, Chen Lan still spoke little, only occasionally interjecting. At this time, Zhu Shi was smiling and saying that after the New Year, Princess Jinwang would invite relatives and friends' wives to the palace to admire plum blossoms again. Chen Bing immediately clapped her hands with joy.

  "This year at the beginning of the year, the plum blossoms in Wangfu were blooming beautifully, fiery red and full of spirit. And there were many people, it was lively, I've been thinking about it for a long time. The old lady didn't say anything, but I wanted to go and join in the fun. She glanced at Chen Lan with a hint of a smile and said, "Speaking of which, Third Sister was ill that year and couldn't make it, what a pity! But last year when we were admiring the plum blossoms, everyone was composing poems on the spot, and Third Sister couldn't come up with anything. Now after two years of hard studying, I heard she's still reading books even when she's sick, this time she should be able to shine!"

  Facing the spirited Chen Bing, Chen Lan's tone was still bland: "Even if I studied poetry and books for two years, I wouldn't become a talented woman, let alone compare to Second Sister. At most, it would just be a joke. Besides, these days I've been reading aren't any poems or essays, just some travel notes and miscellaneous writings left behind by famous scholars of previous generations that Fourth Brother found, just passing the time, what's there to talk about using effort?"

  Chen Bing's face lit up at the first sentence. But upon hearing the second one, Zhu Shi suddenly asked: "How did you think of looking at these?"

  Chen Lan saw that Madam Zhu was not surprised at all, so she knew that the old lady must have known long ago. After all, in this Marquis's mansion with many people and loose tongues, it was hard for her to escape observation no matter what she did, so it was better to be honest. At this moment, she smiled and replied: "Even if I work harder on poetry and articles, I still can't compare to my sisters, let alone become a great poet like Li Bai or Du Fu? These days I've been reading Liu Zongyuan's 'Eight Records of Yongzhou' and Meng Yuanlao's 'Dreams of Splendor in the Eastern Capital', it feels as if I'm there in person. As for those records of new words, with novel meanings, after all, they are historical stories, quite interesting to read, don't laugh at me for being unsophisticated, Madam."

  "Never mind, as long as it's not those harmful books, read whatever you like."

  The most words were said by Zhu Shi, and Chen Bing could only accompany her with a smile. However, she took the opportunity to glance at Chen Lan with a cold smile when Zhu Shi was not paying attention. Chen Lan pretended not to see it. Zhu Shi didn't notice the small movements of her two granddaughters behind her back, but instead coughed lightly again: "The Wang Fu sent a message saying that they invited more people this year than in previous years. In addition to your eldest sister's Korean Gong Fu, our family has been friends with the Dong Chang Hou, Yong Ping Hou, Guang Ning Bo and other four families for many years. I heard that the King of Jin also sent invitations to several other royal families. Moreover, not only are women invited, but there will also be a literary gathering at the King of Jin's place."

  As soon as Zhu said this, the people in the house immediately had different expressions. The queen's invitation of so many ladies must be different from previous years. With the young ladies from various families gathering together, it is likely that some marriages will be settled after the elders have a look at each other. And for men to gain favor with King Jin would naturally be a great blessing. After all, the position of crown prince is still vacant, and King Jin is a hot favorite.

  However, appreciating plum blossoms is one thing, but the wives of Wen Hui, Mrs. Ma and Mrs. Xu, are not too enthusiastic about it. The second wife has no son, which is also Mrs. Ma's greatest worry, fortunately her husband Chen Jiu is still young, and there are many concubines, so this matter can only be sighed in the middle of the night; the third wife has three sons, but the eldest son is too small, and letting two younger sons go out to make a name for themselves, Mrs. Xu is not too happy about it either.

  Then, the two sisters-in-law looked at each other, and Mrs. Ma, who was sitting in the first chair on the left, asked respectfully: "Since you've said so, I'll also have to make good preparations for my sisters when they come back. The boys are still young, and the literary gathering is intended for scholars preparing for the imperial examination; it wouldn't be interesting for them to attend. Which girls will go, please tell me, elder madam."

  Zhu looked at her grandchildren and suddenly asked Chen Yan: "Yan, do you want to go?"

  Chen Yanren was sitting, but his heart was thinking about Yuanxiao and those people who didn't make sense to be together. He'd rather think of a way to slip out and watch the flower lanterns, it would be best if he could bring his sister along. Until his second brother Chen Qing elbowed him with his arm, he looked up in confusion, only then did he come back to himself, and immediately shook his head.

  "I'd just be there to accompany those bookworms, I won't go."

  As soon as this was said, everyone in the room burst out laughing. Madam Zhu teased him for a couple of sentences and then turned to Chen Qing and Chen Han, saying: "You two brothers are still young, it's not a bad thing to go take a look, but just like what Yan'er said, being an escort is meaningless. In the future, if there's horseback riding and hunting, I'll definitely let you out to gain some experience."

  Chen Qing and Chen Han were both thirteen and fourteen years old, respectively. They had never been enthusiastic about literary pursuits, so they naturally excused themselves. Although the literary gathering came to an end, the matter of admiring plum blossoms still needed to be decided. However, each family had its own rules, and even if there were many children, only three people could attend at most. Therefore, except for Chen Lan's four sisters, the other two concubine daughters from the third house, although they yearned in their hearts, did not dare to show it on their faces. Indeed, after Zhu Shi scanned the younger granddaughters below, she hesitated for a moment and then smiled, saying: "Let's do this: each of the three houses will choose one person. The eldest house will naturally be Lan'er, the second house will be Bing'er, and the third house will be Sai'er. It's settled."

  It was settled with just one sentence, and although both Madam Ma and Madam Xue had their own misgivings, they could only smile wryly in agreement. Chen Huan, sitting below them, clutched her handkerchief tightly, barely managing to conceal the disappointment on her face. The large group of people chatted and laughed for a while longer before the daughter-in-law came to report the time, and Madam Ma and Madam Xue led the younger ones in sending Zhu off to rest, only then did they each return to their own rooms.

  Back at the Zining residence, Mrs. Ma summoned both daughters to the eastern room on the upper floor and had her trusted maid Yüping keep watch outside before turning to Chen Bing and asking: "In the past, no matter what happened, you sisters were always involved; but these past few days, what's going on? Why has Old Lady suddenly started favoring Lan'er in everything?"

  Chen Bing had always been spoiled by her mother, so she didn't care about her mother's cold face at this moment. She went forward and grabbed her arm, sat down next to her on the kang, and immediately said in a bad tone: "Who knows what's going on with Old Lady Wang? First, she gave that gold hairpin to her, then every day she sends something... Doesn't she see that Red Whirlwind is a useless thing? Last time, Princess Wang almost took Red Whirlwind away, but she had to go and mess it up herself. Who knows how much Red Whirlwind hates her now! Don't look at how nice she's talking today, every time they have a poetry party, she always has to come up with a poem on the spot. If she can't think of one, she'll lose face big time!"

  Madam Ma thought for a moment, thinking that the news from the Jinxiu Pavilion was just saying that Chen Lan became a bookworm after recovering from his injuries, and there was nothing else to notice. She then looked at Chen Huan with a serious face: "You may not be born to me, but I usually look at you as if you were Ice Girl. You should also make an effort! Although Lan'er is the eldest daughter of the main house, she has no parents, who would be willing to marry her? You are the young master of the Yangning Marquis, and your usual behavior is quite elegant, why worry that the old lady won't like you? Go down and rest, think about my words carefully."

  Chen Huan hung her head and didn't dare say anything, she just bid farewell and left. After she left, Mrs. Ma changed to a gentle smile and repeatedly instructed Chen Bingqian about the clothes and jewelry for the time being, before letting her go rest. Not long after, Zhu's mother personally brought a lamp to add fire, and she kept people again.

  "You said, last time Princess Jin Wang came and took away Zhen Rong, did Old Lady detect something?"

  Madam was taken aback, furrowed her brow and thought for a moment before shaking her head and smiling: "You're thinking too much, milady. This is just an unfortunate coincidence. If the old lady wants to know what you're thinking of, it's those few shops of Zhen Rong's father. She can simply refuse Second Miss directly, why go through so much trouble? But that Zhen Rong girl really has good fortune, I specially went to ask around and heard that after the princess took her back, she immediately gave Zhen Rong a chance to serve Jin Wang on the same night."

  "She's got good fortune, but things are not going well for me!" Mrs. Ma snorted, resentfully slapping the edge of the kang table beside her. "It's been seven or eight years since Master took over as the Duke of Yangning, but our family's property is still not under control. I'm in charge of the household, but whenever it comes to important matters like land, farms, and shops, I have no say in them. Everything is in Old Lady's hands! If Zhenluo serves Master well, will her father not try to curry favor by giving us things?"

  "Madam, don't worry, the old lady is advanced in age, it's just a matter of one or two years. When the time comes, how to divide the family property will still be up to you."

  Under her mother's deliberate comfort, Mrs. Ma nodded and the stern expression on her face gradually faded away. That's right, there's a long way to go, she can afford it more than that one!

  P.S: Rolling on the ground to beg for recommendation votes, thank you everyone! By the way, evaluation votes cost two blocks per vote, too expensive, everyone might as well keep them to cast free recommendation votes ^_^