After the whole family was swept away, I lay down flat

Chapter 1106: Warm Pot Banquet

In mid-February, an imperial edict came down from the palace as expected, and the new emperor granted his future father-in-law, General Zhou Si, a mansion in the capital. It was located in the inner city near the imperial palace. It had five courtyards, three roads and a garden, and was very spacious and decent.

General Zhou Si brought his son Zhou Yijun to the palace to express his gratitude, and a few days later he moved into his new home with his wife, children and servants, and quickly set a date for the pot-warming banquet. Although General Zhou Si did not plan to hold a big banquet, he still invited his familiar relatives and friends to the new home for a feast and celebration.

At this time, no bad news came from Chang'an. Many people in the powerful circles in the capital had heard the rumors that the Duke of Zhenguo was seriously ill, and some people were ready to make a move, thinking of the Northwest Military Power and the throne of the new emperor and empress, but the palace did not respond, and its attitude towards Zhou Xuejun did not change. The cabinet also had no other ideas about the Zhou family. After all, these people did not dare to act rashly, so the capital was still calm.

On the day of the Zhou family's fourth branch's pot-warming banquet, Haitang followed her grandparents and went to the new house bestowed by Zhou Xuejun's family with her brother Haijiao.

The house is large and spacious. It can be seen that a lot of thought and materials were put into its construction. However, the house is not new and looks quite old. It just had a simple and small-scale renovation not long ago, so it is not very old. After General Zhou Si and his family received the house, they did not make any further repairs and moved in directly. They did not make any major changes to the house furniture and furnishings inside the house. Although Mrs. Zhou Si ordered people to decorate the banquet venue with various furniture and fresh flowers and potted plants, she did not buy a large number of new furniture and furnishings, so people with a discerning eye can still see the real condition of the house in many corners.

General Zhou Si's family was very calm about this and did not think it was shameful. The house once belonged to a senior official and general in the previous emperor's dynasty. He had military merits and died of old age. His descendants were also sensible and polite, and had never had any misfortunes. It was because of mourning that the family returned to their hometown and returned the house to the court. Now the family has been in mourning for many years, and their descendants have returned to officialdom and served in various places in Da Chu. Unfortunately, no one has returned to the capital to inherit their father's career. With such a former owner, this house is still quite auspicious, and there is no unlucky black history. General Zhou Si felt that he and his family were honored to move into the old residence of such a respectable old predecessor.

As for the fact that the house furniture is not brand new... what's the problem? As long as it can be lived in and used, it's fine. The military generals don't have so many requirements. The court has money, it should be spent on more useful things, such as building roads and bridges, or replenishing military rations and military supplies...

Haitang accompanied her grandmother to meet the hostess, Mrs. Zhou Si, and her grandmother Ma was soon led by the hostess to sit with the wife of the Marquis of Cheng'en and the wife of the Marquis of Cheng'en. Haitang herself was led by the maid to the banquet for the young female guests, and was soon attracted by the various flowers placed around her.

These flowers were obviously moved from the house's garden. Although there were not many rare varieties, every pot was blooming brightly, which was a pleasure to look at.

Haitang stood by the flowers for a while, then saw Zhou Xuejun and Wu Qiong standing not far away, smiling and admiring the flowers and talking. She hurried over to greet them.

Zhou Xuejun was in a good mood today. She was also very happy to see Haitang. She took her hand and said, "It's great that Sister Hai can come today. Sister Wu and I have lived in the palace for a long time. I have always missed you, but it is inconvenient to leave the palace. I want to write letters and send things, but I don't want to trouble the sisters and maids around the Empress Dowager. Fortunately, our family moved to a new house, and the Empress Dowager showed her kindness and allowed me to come back and live in the new house for a few days. I invited Sister Wu to come as well. Just now I was thinking, on such a good day today, the sisters can always meet, right? I am looking forward to your coming!"

Haitang smiled and said, "I miss you very much at home, too. Unfortunately, I can still find a way to communicate with Sister Wu, but it's really hard to contact you, so I can only ask Sister Wu to convey my greetings." Zhou Xuejun sighed. She also knew that since she was chosen as the new queen, whether at home, in Cheng'en Marquis's Mansion or in the palace, there were always many people following her, and she could no longer go out with her, let alone meet with outsiders. She knew that this was the price of becoming a queen. When she thought about the fact that such an unfree life would continue for the rest of her life, she felt a little scared in her heart. But when she thought of her family and relatives, and the new king who was very kind and caring to her... she felt that all this was not unbearable.

No matter what, her future has been decided, and the free and happy life she once had will be far away from her. She can only try to be more open-minded.

Zhou Xuejun shook Haitang's hand and said solemnly, "Now I am in the palace, with Sister Wu as my companion. When Sister Hai marries Mr. Jin in the future, she will be able to come to the palace to pay her respects. You must come to see me then."

Haitang smiled and nodded: "Of course. We are good friends who grew up together, and we will be relatives in the future, so it is natural for us to visit each other often."

Zhou Xuejun secretly breathed a sigh of relief, and her mood became bright again: "Let me tell you, when the emperor gave the house to my father, it also came with many servants, one of whom was a master of taking care of flowers and plants. The flowers and trees in the garden were all carefully cultivated by him. Even if they were just ordinary flowers and plants, he had a way to make them grow more luxuriantly than those in other people's homes. Thanks to him, otherwise my mother would not know how to spend less money and hold this housewarming banquet in a decent way!"

After that, she lowered her voice again: "There are grape seedlings sent from the northwest in the Cheng'en Marquis's Mansion. I asked my aunt for a few and have already planted them in the garden. With the garden expert taking care of them, we may be able to eat fresh grapes in the fall! After entering the capital, I have been thinking about this. The grapes in the capital are not as sweet as those in Chang'an."

Haitang smiled and said, "That's great! I also have a grape seedling brought from Chang'an, but it's very small and has been wilting all winter. I spent a lot of effort to keep it alive. Now that spring has just arrived, I don't know if this grape plant can grow successfully. If it can bloom and bear fruit, I will send you a letter and invite you to come and taste the fresh grapes together!"

Wu Qiong smiled and said, "That's great! If you can plant all the grapes, I would like to ask for one and plant it in the garden. When the grapes are ripe, I can not only eat fresh grapes, but if there are many grapes, I can also make wine myself! During the years I was in Chang'an, I asked about the method of making wine and even collected two recipes, but I never tried it myself."

Zhou Xuejun smiled and said, "I don't like wine that much, but I do like raisins. Wine recipes are hard to find in Beijing, but they are easy to find in Chang'an. It's not difficult to ask for them, but it's too troublesome to brew them at home. If I want to drink, I might as well buy ready-made ones. My mother told me that some of my relatives in Chang'an are planning to come to Beijing to make a living. Those who are not good at literature or martial arts may transport local products from the northwest to Beijing to sell, and open some glassware shops or wine shops. When the time comes, it will be much more convenient for us to buy these things!"

Haitang blinked. "Huh? Do the people in Chang'an intend to send the products of the border army workshops directly to the capital to open shops and sell them? I thought they just wanted to sell them to passing merchants."

Zhou Xuejun smiled and said, "Who knows? Nowadays, glass and wine are also in short supply in the capital. The money is earned by the passing merchants. We in the northwest have no shortage of people or horses, isn't it just transporting goods to the capital? What's so difficult about that? The emperor also said that if the northwest has its own financial resources, it will not have to compete with the people for profits, and it will be self-sufficient, and the court will be much more relaxed!"