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

Chapter 994: An Invitation with Laba Porridge

Ma took her granddaughter Haitang to Fang's house early in the morning and did not return happily to her own home until almost noon.

She didn't leave any food for Fang. Recently, Fang was taking care of Hai Baozhu, and even the three meals a day were specially prepared with the doctor's advice. Ma was not used to the taste, but Fang was so enthusiastic about staying, so she had to find an excuse to say that she was busy at home, and then she quickly left with her granddaughter.

But Ma was still very happy. Qiao Fu and Hai Baozhu's marriage should be fine, and they were just waiting for the matchmaker Qiao Fu had invited to come and propose marriage.

Fang had even planned out her daughter's dowry. Although she was a little embarrassed when she left the Jiang family, and was stabbed by the Hai family, so she had to live away from home, she had been in charge of the Hai and Jiang families for many years, so she still had a lot of private money. She also had Baozhu, a filial illegitimate son who was willing to take care of her in her old age. Even if she took out all her wealth as a dowry for her daughter, it would not be a problem, and her daughter and son-in-law would not ignore her.

However, Ma repeatedly advised her not to spend all her money at once, but to keep some money in her hand, not only for her retirement, but also just in case, if her daughter and son-in-law encountered any difficulties in the future, she would be able to help.

Fang took these words to heart and revised her daughter's dowry list again. She hoped that the national mourning would be over soon so that she could go out and make jewelry and clothes for her daughter!

Seeing Fang so anxious, Ma had to urge Hai Jiao when she got home: "When is the matchmaker from Qiao's Fu'er going to come to propose marriage? Your cousin has prepared everything and is just waiting for them to come! Don't make them wait anxiously."

Hai Jiao didn't know whether to laugh or cry. "Why is there such a rush? How can we come to propose marriage during the national mourning period? Cousin Qiao is now a regular soldier of the Jinyiwei, so he still has to be a little cautious. Besides, even if Cousin Qiao comes to propose marriage, he and Baozhu have already been engaged, and it will take at least one or two years for them to get married officially. Didn't my cousin say that Baozhu is not in good health and needs to be nursed back to health?"

Ma sneered, "I don't think she can wait until then. In the past, Baozhu's marriage was not in sight, so it was fine. She took care of her child while slowly looking for a suitable marriage partner. If she delayed it for a year or two, she would have found the candidate and the child would have recovered, which was the best of both worlds. But now she has a suitable candidate. If she delays for too long, what if this person runs away? It's rare that the person is the one Baozhu likes, and they are relatives. If you miss this opportunity, you will never get it again! At most, it will be delayed for half a year. Anyway, it takes at least this long to prepare from engagement to marriage. It won't work if it is delayed any longer. It's better for the couple to get married first, slowly recuperate for a year or two, and then have a child."

Hai Jiao was too lazy to calculate the account, and only said: "Qiao Fu is going to prepare gifts to invite the matchmaker. Although I don't know who he is looking for, from his tone, he should be a decent person who will not embarrass my cousin. When my grandmother saw my cousin, she advised her to be patient and wait until the national mourning period is over before holding the wedding."

Ma had no choice but to respond, and she was curious about the background of the matchmaker. Haijiao's scalp was numb, and he winked at his younger sister and said, "I have to go out and send Laba porridge to some acquaintances. It will be too late if I am late!"

He ran away like a gust of wind. Ma was stunned. She turned to look at her granddaughter with a puzzled look on her face: "Didn't the Laba porridge get delivered this morning? The Zhou and Tao families were delivered by your brother himself. Now it's time for lunch, who else hasn't received any?"

Haitang knew that was just Haijiao's excuse, so she coughed lightly and changed the subject with a smile: "Brother must know people in Beijing, superiors and colleagues... He knows what's going on, so don't worry about it. It's almost noon, shall we have dinner? Grandpa and cousin uncle went out to visit friends and deliver porridge, they should be back by now, right?" Ma's attention was immediately shifted to her husband: "Yes, they should have been back a long time ago, why haven't they been seen yet?"

Ma sent someone to ask at the front door and learned that her husband, Xie, Cao, and Lu had all gone out and never returned home. Cao Gengyun might have gone home to celebrate the festival, and the others had not been seen yet. Perhaps they were invited to dinner by their old friends, right?
After waiting for a while, it was noon, but there was still no sign of the old men. Ma knew what was going on. She ordered the kitchen to prepare dinner, and had a simple meal with Haitang. She also found out that Hu and Xiao Shitou had also eaten in the west wing, and she felt relieved.

After lunch, it was time for a nap. Ma was in high spirits today and didn't feel sleepy for the time being. She pulled her granddaughter to count the families who had sent porridge today. Not to mention the familiar relatives and friends, there were also twenty or so old friends from Wumen in Beijing who hadn't been in touch for several years, her husband's new colleagues and subordinates in the Ministry of Revenue, her adopted son Hai Chang'an and her grandson Hai Jiao's colleagues and subordinates, etc. The list was very long. The porridge sent was enough for the Hai family to eat for two or three days. Ma and Haitang had just eaten this for lunch, and it was full when paired with the big white steamed buns.

However, the taste of Laba porridge in the capital was slightly different from that in Chang'an. Ma was not used to it and could not help complaining in private that the people in the capital were too particular and had many ways to cook porridge, putting all kinds of dried fruits, preserved fruits, flowers and plants in it, unlike the people in the northwest who were down-to-earth and put only good rice, good water and all kinds of dried fruits newly harvested this year.

Ma was from the northwest, and she was always picky about people from the capital. Haitang was used to hearing this, and she responded with a smile. The two chatted, and they became more and more energetic. Ma didn't even bother to take a nap, and she even found the note that her eldest sister Zhou Ma sent along with the Laba porridge, and discussed with Haitang: "Eldest sister asked me to go see her when I'm free, how about we go tomorrow? She's been busy for so long, and she's finally done!"

Because of her high imperial edict rank, Zhou Ma had to go to the palace to mourn from the beginning of the national mourning. Later, she followed the imperial edict team to escort the emperor's coffin to the imperial mausoleum for burial. When she encountered the change in the imperial mausoleum, she returned to the capital with the team. She and her husband Zhou Shigong followed from beginning to end, but they were not hurt or frightened. They stayed in the official imperial edict team and followed the crowd. Compared with the four generals and their sons who made great contributions one after another, and the Cheng'en Marquis Mansion that always supported the Empress Dowager, they can be said to have no sense of existence.

But they were both elderly after all, and even though they hadn't encountered any major problems, they couldn't stand it after so many days of hard work. Zhou Shigong took seven or eight days of sick leave, and Zhou Ma stayed at home for more than half a month, and only now did they recover a little.

During this period, the external affairs of the third branch of the Zhou family were handled by Zhou Ma's grandson, Zhou Jinlin's two sons, Liangying and Liangxiong, two half-grown boys, while the internal affairs were managed by a capable housekeeper sent from the Cheng'en Marquis' Mansion. Zhou Ma had no energy to ask in detail.

Although Ma Lusheng and his wife claimed to have come to Beijing to help their aunt and uncle, they actually moved out after getting the job and never moved again. Earlier, Ma Lusheng's wife would come back to the city from time to time to pay her respects, but later she simply disappeared. Zhou Ma was very angry about this, but she didn't want to embarrass her family in front of her husband, so she could only help find excuses to cover up, and she had been holding back a lot of resentment in her heart.

Today I sent Laba porridge to my sister's house. In the post, Zhou Ma thanked her sister for lending her hands to help her with housework, and also intended to invite her sister to visit her home.

She has a lot to say and is eager to tell someone!
Today is Laba Festival. Have you eaten Laba porridge?