Nanyang Storm 1864

Chapter 120: No matter how good a thing is, it is not as good as your own shabby house.

At dawn, a ray of morning light shines through the window.

Ruqin, Miss Li's personal maid, walked as lightly and silently as a cat. She came to the bridal chamber and looked inside. The new son-in-law and the young lady were still sleeping soundly on the couch.

Ruqin retreated even more cautiously, silencing the maid Siqi who was already waiting outside, and whispered in her ear, "Young lady and son-in-law must be tired from last night. They haven't gotten up yet. Go out now!"

"Oh, how could you do this, sir? How could your delicate body withstand such torture?"

"Stop talking and get out."

The two maids who accompanied the bed tiptoed out of the door, closed it gently, and then patted their chests and breathed a sigh of relief.

They looked at each other and saw that each other's face was blushing with shyness. Siqi immediately became anxious and said angrily, "Oh, this is not good. Will my face be like this too? My sisters will laugh at me if they see it."

"It's okay. Go wash your face first, and you should feel better." Ruqin is worthy of being the leader of the four maids of zither, chess, calligraphy and painting. She has a calm personality and is independent-minded. She came up with a good idea immediately.

"What about here, miss?"

"Let's go and come back quickly, it won't be a problem."

Siqi took her hand, shook it impatiently and said, "What are we waiting for? Let's go."

After some time

The dazzling sunlight was already pouring into the bridal chamber. Zheng Guohui woke from his deep sleep and felt a rustling noise beside him. He moved slightly, and then it stopped.

Wait a moment

The subtle rustling sound came again, and Zheng Guohui couldn't help but curl up the corners of his mouth.

He opened his bright eyes and looked down.

The girl with bright eyes and white teeth in his arms stiffened for a moment and raised her little head to look at him.

Eye to eye
A blush crept onto Li Yanhe's delicate face. She hid herself in Zheng Guohui's broad chest in shame. She almost poked Zheng Guohui's nose with a tender white finger and said angrily, "Don't look!"

"Madam, good morning." Zheng Guohui's low voice was like an electric current, which made Li Yanhe soften in an instant.

She hesitated for a moment and responded in a shy voice, "Good morning, my husband."

Li Yanhe thought of something and suddenly raised her head, supported herself with her arms and looked toward the window, inadvertently revealing a large area of ​​white.

Her tone was full of panic as she hurriedly said, "Oh no! What time is it now? If you stay in bed, you'll be laughed at. Get up quickly."

"Madam, what did you call me?"

"Well...husband, please get up quickly. We still have to serve tea and pay our respects to the elders in the morning. It's so late, it's so embarrassing." Li Yanhe said while pushing Zheng Guohui with her little hand.

Zheng Guohui was so annoyed by her that he could only say, "Okay, okay, I'll get up right away. Someone come over!"

"The servant is here."

As soon as the words fell, four pretty maids came in one after another. Seeing the master get up from the bed, they immediately went forward to serve him.

Changing clothes, putting on shoes, rinsing mouth, washing face, washing hands, he really serves me with every possible care.

In the front yard hall

Third uncle Zheng Shoudao was drinking tea and chatting with several elders of the clan. The heater in the hall was burning with plenty of heat, but after they drank a few pots of tea, their stomachs were rumbling with hunger.

I looked at the sky and it was at least nine o'clock.

The old men were all very experienced, so no one mentioned the matter. Instead, they talked about the powerful officials in the capital. When they mentioned those well-known officials, they all sighed in amazement. At this time, a servant came to the hall and announced, "My uncles and lords, my master and his wife have risen. I have come to inform you."

"Oh... okay, no rush, no rush."

After they said they were getting up, they waited for more than half an hour before they saw Zheng Guohui, who looked brand new, coming to the hall with Li Yanhe to serve tea to the elders.

After tea was served according to the rules and the elders gave red envelopes as rewards, the marriage was considered to have come to an end.

Zheng Guohui stayed in front to have brunch with the elders. Li Yanhe apologized and went back to the inner house with the help of her maid.

A table of light refreshments was also set up there for his current wife, Zheng Li, to enjoy.

"Uncles, it's almost New Year's Eve. Are we really in such a hurry to go back?"

"Jinghai, that's why we're so worried. At the end of the year, we country folk have no relatives or friends in the capital, and we're like lonely ghosts, feeling lost and uncomfortable. If you can go back, please send us back."

"Yes, your big sailboat is very fast. It will only take about four or five days. There is no way we can stay here."

"Nothing is worse than your own poor home."

After hearing what his uncles were saying, Zheng Guohui became serious and calculated the time.

There are still fourteen or fifteen days until New Year's Eve. If I can catch up with my affairs in the capital, there will still be enough time.

Finally he nodded and said;

"Since none of my uncles can stay any longer, please allow me a few days to sort out the matters at hand. I will set out south and return to Tongzhou on the 20th or 21st at the latest."

As soon as these words came out, several uncles cheered with joy on their faces. It seemed that they were really feeling suffocated living in the capital.

The customs, habits and eating habits of the people are different, so it feels awkward no matter how you live there.

Especially for those who sleep on the big kang in the north, they will have a dry nose, bitter mouth and dry eyes when they wake up the next morning. It takes a while to recover. It is not as good as their own bed.

In the cold winter of the capital, the north wind blows like a knife. You can't even open your mouth when you go out on the street. When you open your mouth, it is filled with cold wind and fine sand, which is really cold to the bone.

Once you've been here, you've seen it.

Zheng Guohui did not force it. He was busy for several days returning gifts to Prince Gong's mansion and the court ministers who came to congratulate him on his wedding. He was just making official moves and doing enough work on the surface.

Aide-de-camp Dong Huanzhang was busy visiting the residences of various subordinates and presenting charcoal and silver to them one by one according to the rules.

Zheng Guohui only interacted with high-ranking officials in the ministries and departments above him, while Dong Huanzhang represented him in delivering the lower-level officials who actually did the work, and no one could be left out.

In fact, the amount of silver donated as charcoal tribute was not much for each low-level official. Some received 10 to 20 taels of silver, some received 3 or 5 taels of silver. The emphasis was on equal distribution.

However, there were so many officials coming to the court to pay tribute that even the lower-level officials received too much.

If you don't do things properly, it will be difficult for you to do things in the court in the future.

Three days after the wedding

Zheng Guohui returned home with his new wife Li Yanhe. The group carried a warm sedan chair directly into the Li Mansion through the main gate, and met with Li's mother and a group of relatives and elders in the front hall, and offered them tea according to the rules.

Li's mother also gave some instructions, which were nothing more than that since she had entered the Zheng Mansion, she must never act like a spoiled child again, must respect her parents-in-law, must serve her husband, must give birth to a son soon, and must maintain harmony in the inner house.

They had a banquet at Li's house at noon, rested for a while, and returned home in the afternoon. The wedding came to an end.

(End of this chapter)