In her previous life, An Ran thought she knew Chen Qian very well, but now it seems that she only saw the tip of the iceberg.
Even though she hadn't guessed correctly, An Ran wasn't discouraged.
Upon learning that Yu Sili's brother and mother would not return until evening, An Ran simply took Yu Sili back to the estate with her.
Since An Mu didn't have any close friends here, and seeing that An Mu and Yu Sili seemed to be getting along very well, she thought it would be good for the two of them to spend more time together.
When they returned, Zhang Zhuangtou's wife and her servants had already prepared the meal.
An Ran glanced at it and thought it was just some country-style dishes. However, it was made with great care; the dishes she had used or ordered separately at the estate last time were all on the table today.
She gestured to Cuiping to give some loose silver to Zhang Zhuangtou's wife, and then dismissed them all. She then ate with her three children.
In An Mu and An tide's eyes, it was quite a feast; such a lavish meal was rare even at their home in Yangzhou. Yu Sili, however, was utterly astonished. His family had never served so many dishes during the New Year; the fairy-like sister before him had so many bowls and plates for just one lunch.
An Ran picked up a piece of fresh mushroom and bok choy with her chopsticks first, and then the three children followed suit and started eating.
She couldn't help but nod inwardly. An Mu and An Xi were naturally sensible and had learned manners from Aunt Wu. Yu Sili also performed better than An Ran had imagined. Every move he made was polite and well-mannered, clearly showing that he had a good upbringing. Even though they were outside, he was not overly restrained or rigid.
Seeing that the children were eating with relish, Anran also ate a few more bites of food.
Seeing that they all liked the fried quail, Anran decided to be casual and let Jinping place the dish in front of the children. She slowly scooped up a spoonful of almond tofu and ate it slowly.
Anran put down her chopsticks only after all three children had finished eating.
After lunch, An Mu and Yu Sili, the two boys, went out to play again, while An tide stayed at home to keep An Ran company, doing embroidery or looking at account books.
In the two months since they separated, An Ran noticed that An tide had not only grown taller, but had also matured a lot and become more composed and sensible since taking care of An Mu on her own.
Anxi was only ten years old.
"I wish I could bring them back to my side someday!" An Ran thought to herself, but she didn't dare to make a promise.
“Sister, Xiao Mu has been studying very hard lately, so you don’t need to worry.” Seeing An Ran holding the handkerchief she handed her, looking thoughtful, An Xi quickly said, “We are staying very well at Aunt Wu’s house. Xiao Mu always has company, whether she is studying or playing.”
An Ran knew that An tide meant well, so she could only smile and nod.
"I'll go check on Xiao Mu and Si Li." After a short while, An Xi got up and said sensibly, "Xiao Mu is alright, but Sister invited Si Li to the house. It wouldn't be good if she got hurt."
Although they were being followed by people at a distance, An Ran still acknowledged An tide's thorough consideration and readily agreed.
After An tide left, An Ran spread out the letter paper and picked up her pen to write back to Lu Mingxiu.
An Ran had already memorized his letter. The geomantic map arrived just before she left. An Ran glanced at it and saw that the original site of the Pingyuan Marquis's residence was larger than that of the Nan'an Marquis's residence. After Lu Mingxiu inherited the title, the emperor combined the adjacent residence, which had previously belonged to a disgraced official, and allocated it to Lu Mingxiu.
As a result, the Pingyuan Marquis's residence occupied almost half a street.
Next to the feng shui map were carefully marked annotations, making the current layout of the mansion clear at a glance. The person who did this was obviously meticulous and deserves a good reward.
If Songyang knew his future wife's true feelings, he would surely be moved to tears, for finally someone who appreciates her.
No, it's that someone finally appreciates him.
It seems that Lu Mingxiu's words were true. The entire Pingyuan Marquis's mansion can only be described as passable. In the three or four years since he returned, apart from tidying up the study and bedroom, even the place for receiving guests was arranged by Songyang and his men according to the Marquis's wishes.
Not many people are allowed to visit the Pingyuan Marquis's residence.
The relatives who had previously been with him stopped visiting the Pingyuan Marquis's residence the moment the title was stripped. Some people shamelessly tried to get close to him, but Lu Mingxiu only claimed to be busy with official duties and refused to see them most of the time.
Some people simply have no choice.
For example, some elderly and frail "elders" who were crying and relying on their seniority could not be simply kicked out by Lu Mingxiu. If something happened, not only would Lu Mingxiu lose face, but Yun Shu would also lose face.
Rumors circulated that high-ranking officials disregarded filial piety, and the common people only said that the emperor lacked the ability to recognize and employ talent.
Moreover, even Yun Shu had to give the Grand Princess of Lin'an some leeway and respect her, otherwise he would be seen as a cold-blooded and heartless person among the common people.
Over the years, many people have tried to arrange marriages for Lu Mingxiu.
A constant stream of cousins and other relatives came to visit, making Lu Mingxiu wonder if he really had that many relatives.
Fortunately, Lu Mingxiu now holds a high position of power and few people dare to offend him. Seeing his impatience, most of them obediently take their leave and dare not continue speaking.
Once the imperial decree of marriage was issued, these people realized it was impossible to send their daughters, sisters, granddaughters, and so on to be their principal wives, so they started to have other ideas. Besides their direct female relatives, these people also had many cousins and other relatives among them!
An Ran's younger age gave these people even more room to maneuver.
Therefore, some people began to think about giving their nieces, cousins, or other female relatives to Lu Mingxiu as concubines.
Fortunately, Lu Mingxiu had already left the capital by imperial decree; otherwise, the threshold of the Pingyuan Marquis's residence would have been worn down by people these days. Even though Lu Mingxiu was not in the capital, they still tried their best to get close to his subordinates and find out his preferences.
Qin Feng was the first to be affected.
Everyone knows that he is one of Lu Mingxiu's most capable men, and he can speak with authority in front of Lu Mingxiu.
Having finally seen off two of Pingyuan Marquis's "cousins" today, Qin Feng felt that if this happened twice more, he would lose several years of his life.
No wonder Colin and the others left gloatingly; did they already guess it?
"Has there been any news from over there?" Qin Feng asked. "Has the person the Marquis sent us to pick up arrived in the capital yet?"
Zheng Peng, who was also in the Imperial Guard and had been promoted by Lu Mingxiu, shook his head upon hearing this and said, "We've sent people to wait in the south and east, but there's still no news. They should be waiting in Yunnan Prefecture so we can go and pick them up. At the very least, they could wait in Yuhang. What's the point of them coming here on their own!"
"It's no use saying anything now." Qin Feng was also quite dissatisfied, but since things had come to this, all they had to do was successfully bring the person over. "I saw in the letter to the Marquis that it only said that this way it would be more appropriate to avoid the attention of those with ulterior motives."
Zheng Peng muttered a couple more words, then led his men out again.
Qin Feng had to deal with the various "relatives" of the Marquis who would come to the Marquis's mansion from time to time to inquire about news, while also worrying about whether he could successfully bring the person over, and even having to keep an eye on the future Marquis's wife's situation...