“Uncle Chen,” Yun Lie didn’t want anyone to know where he was going, but since the gift was mentioned, he could only suppress his embarrassment and call out to the old steward, “I’m going to the Luo family in Jingxi. I have something to say.”
If the destination is not clearly stated, the head steward will definitely prepare a gift for Princess Jinhui's residence according to regulations, and who knows what misunderstandings might arise then.
Yun Lie wanted to clear up the misunderstanding with Luo Cuiwei today. If one problem is resolved only to be followed by another, then he would never be able to explain himself no matter how hard he tried.
The head steward couldn't help but remind him, "Is the Luo family not here today?"
Yun Lie lived in the inner city when he was young, and later went to Linchuan. He usually did not spend the New Year in the capital, so he would not know the customs of ordinary people celebrating the New Year.
Upon hearing the old steward's words, he immediately frowned: "Nobody's here?"
"According to custom, Madam Luo should return to her parents' home today with her husband and children to pay New Year's respects to her parents, brothers, and sisters." The old steward understood that Yun Lie didn't quite understand these customs, so he patiently explained.
“Luo Cuiwei said that her father was injured and had been recuperating at home for several years,” Yun Lie said, a hint of annoyance in his eyes, as if he were somewhat unwilling to give up. “I suppose it’s inconvenient for him to go out?”
The head steward nodded and said, "If that's the case, then the head of the Luo family will definitely stay at home, but Madam Luo will take her children back to her parents' home."
"Oh, then I won't go out." Yun Lie said expressionlessly, then turned and went back to his bedchamber.
This Luo Cuiwei, instead of staying home with her father, why is she running around like that!
****
In fact, Steward Chen was right. Luo Cuiwei and her younger siblings had finished getting ready early in the morning, preparing to accompany Zhuo Yu back to her parents' home.
Because some people from the Zhuo family always try to take advantage of the Luo family, Luo Fengming, out of consideration for his mother, couldn't bear to make things too tense and would often back down.
Even a clay figure has some backbone. He compromised with the Zhuo family many times, suffering a lot of injustice in silence, but he couldn't really break off relations, so he inevitably felt frustrated.
"If I had to choose, I wouldn't want to go to the Zhuo family," Luo Fengming muttered, pouting.
Luo Cui smiled and tugged at his arm, "After all, it's the New Year, they wouldn't cause trouble today."
“After the New Year, they’ll come up with all sorts of tricks again,” Luo Fengming thought, feeling increasingly annoyed. “I should learn from you; the more face you give them, the higher they jump.”
“We’re different in front of the Zhuo family, after all. There are some things I can say that you shouldn’t say,” Luo Cuiwei patted his arm and smiled nonchalantly. “It’s nothing. If they cause trouble again, we’ll deal with it the same way as before. Anyway, I don’t care what they say behind my back.”
"I just don't want to let you have your way every time..."
As they were talking, Luo Cuizhen darted over like the wind, laughing heartily: "Sister, come with me quickly, the purple-backed hibiscus has bloomed! Two huge flowers, growing side by side! So beautiful, so beautiful!"
After saying that, he grabbed Luo Cuiwei's sleeve and ran towards the garden.
Because Luo Huai needed the fresh leaves of the purple-backed palm for medicinal purposes, the Luo family went to great lengths a few years ago to buy two purple-backed palm plants and plant them in the garden.
For some reason, although the two purple-backed palms looked to be growing well, they always waited until March when spring warmed up to bloom, and even then, they only had two or three flowers. It was as if they were just being lazy and saying, "I'll just bloom casually and tease you."
"It was open when it arrived," the Luo family's gardener explained with a smile. "It would be great if we could ask how the Prince Zhao's residence takes care of it."
Yesterday, Luo Cuiwei heard that the Prince Zhao's mansion had returned the box of gold ingots and sent a pot of purple-backed sunflowers instead. She thought that Yun Lie was subtly hinting to her not to shamelessly visit them again.
Feeling annoyed, she decided to ignore it and pretended it never happened, as if she hadn't seen it with her own eyes.
Looking at the flowers swaying in the wind before her, she realized that she might have misunderstood something yesterday.
Luo Cuizhen chirped excitedly from the side, "They bloom much more generously than our two pots at home! If I hadn't seen it with my own eyes, I would have thought that the flowers of the purple-backed sunflower were naturally so small and stingy."
At this time, only the red plum blossoms were in full bloom in the garden, while most of the other types of flowers were still just small buds. In the desolate garden, this single flower stood out.
The purple flowers bloom in pairs, glistening with dew, beautiful and elegant, truly pleasing to the eye.
"Perhaps it's the soil type? I noticed the soil in this pot is a different color than ours." Luo Cuiwei smiled and squatted down, beckoning to the gardener and Luo Cuizhen.
"Give me a hand, help me lift it up a bit, I want to see what's under the flowerpot."
The gardener and Luo Cuizhen joined forces to lift the slightly heavy flowerpot.
Luo Cuizhen helped lift one corner of the flowerpot, asking with difficulty, "Sister, what happened to the bottom of the flowerpot?"
Luo Cuiwei did not respond. She squatted on the ground, tilted her head and looked up, carefully examining the bottom of the flowerpot.
A moment later, she reached out and gently wiped away the soil from a spot at the bottom of the basin with her fingertips—
The mark that read "Made by the Imperial Workshop" confirmed to her that she had indeed misunderstood yesterday.
At least, regarding the purple-backed palm, there is no doubt that they have misunderstood.
****
Based on Luo Cuiwei's understanding of the people in Prince Zhao's mansion, although the old steward Chen An was old and had a bad memory, he was not really confused.
Any item from the Imperial Household Department is presented exclusively to His Majesty the Emperor. The fact that this item appeared in Prince Zhao's residence indicates it was a gift from the Emperor.
Gifts bestowed by the emperor, regardless of size, could not be disposed of at will.
Before this flowerpot was delivered to the Luo family, the head steward would certainly have asked Yun Lie whether it needed to be replaced with a different flowerpot.
The fact that this flowerpot was delivered to the Luo family was definitely not the result of carelessness.
Luo Cuiwei had a pretty good idea of what was going on. Although Yun Lie was not particular about details, he was not a reckless or impulsive person.
If his true intention in sending this purple-backed palm was to completely cut off her excuse to go to Prince Zhao's residence, then this flowerpot would definitely be replaced.
Perhaps he simply wanted to give her a pot of flowers?
But that potted plant just happened to be a purple-backed palm?
****