By a twist of fate, the illegitimate son of the Marquis's family marries the county princess.

In the end, Wen Zongji and Pei Rujing decided to hold a small-scale first birthday celebration.

In addition to relatives from both sides, there are also people who are close to the two.

Zuo Mingxuan wanted to attend, but she was due to give birth in two months. Fang Sichu desperately tried to stop her, and almost knelt down to beg her, before Zuo Mingxuan gave up the idea.

Wen Shuxuan was still young, and she hadn't missed any work at the newspaper office, let alone attending her first birthday celebration. She readily agreed and prepared to be there.

In addition, the entire household of the Marquis of Zhongyong will be present.

Pei Rujing's two elder brothers and sister-in-law will definitely be there, not to mention the eldest princess.

It's mainly Duke Pei!

Pei Rujing replied without hesitation, "There's no need to invite him."

Ever since learning about the affair between the Eldest Princess and Duke Pei, Pei Rujing has not even bothered to maintain a semblance of civility for Duke Pei.

Wen Zongji naturally agreed with Pei Rujing's suggestion: "Okay."

Wen Zongji's close associates were naturally his fellow students Lu Nian'an and Wu Fengyuan.

Lu Nian'an was not in the capital; only Wu Fengyuan was invited.

Coincidentally, Wu Fengyuan had just had his eldest son.

"I'll attend your son's first birthday celebration first, and you can attend mine next year."

Wu Fengyuan has already made arrangements for next year.

Wen Zongji readily agreed: "No problem."

In addition, Wen Zongji also invited Jiao Yansong.

His marriage to Wen Shuyu is currently going through the six traditional betrothal rites.

In this era, breaking off an engagement would seriously damage the reputation of both families, and unless there was a major unforeseen event, the engagement would not be broken off.

Therefore, it is safe to say that Jiao Yansong is Wen Zongji's brother-in-law.

Now that it has been decided that they will be a family in the future, Jiao Yansong should naturally not be forgotten at the first birthday celebration for Wen Zongji's eldest son.

April 28th, the 18th year of the Da Shun reign

Rui Ge'er's first birthday celebration has arrived.

When it was almost time, the maids began to dress up Rui Ge'er, putting him in festive red clothes and a hat. He looked fair and delicate, just like a young nobleman.

Pei Rujing changed into a light blue gauze dress, her long hair was styled up, and with a touch of makeup, she looked as beautiful as a figure in a painting.

Wen Zongji was greeting guests at the gate of the mansion. Once the guests had arrived, the first birthday celebration officially began.

In the center of the lobby is a long table covered with all sorts of items, covering a wide range of topics, including food, drink, and entertainment.

The most precious of these items is undoubtedly the seal added by Emperor Shun'an, which was his personal seal.

When Emperor Shun'an wrote or drew something, he would stamp his seal in the corner.

This seal doesn't symbolize any power, but it was a very private item belonging to Emperor Shun'an, representing imperial favor.

The guests stood on both sides of the long table, their eyes fixed on Rui Ge'er, who had been placed on the table by the wet nurse.

Rui Ge'er was bewildered. He sat on the table and turned to look at Pei Rujing: "Mommy—hug me~".

Pei Rujing encouraged him, "Rui-ge'er, just grab anything on the table, and Mommy will pick you up if you grab it."

Rui looked at the table: "Grab?"

"Yes, grab something!"

Rui Ge'er roughly understood, and started crawling with his little bottom sticking up.

The table was piled high with things, and Rui-ge crawled through the pile of things without stopping for a moment.

Seeing that Rui-ge'er ignored all the food without even glancing at it, Pei Rujing breathed a sigh of relief: "At least I don't have to worry about him becoming a glutton in the future."

Wen Zongji chuckled: "Being able to eat is a blessing."

Pei Rujing glared at him: "Shut up!"

She had never seen anyone so indifferent to the baby's first birthday celebration, as if he didn't care what Rui-ge'er picked up.

Everyone else's eyes were on Rui Ge'er.

Watching him climb nimbly, skipping over everything in his path, he stopped near Pei Rujing, grabbed something at random, and then stretched out his arms towards her: "Mommy~ grab~ hug—"

The implication is that I've already grabbed something, so you should hug me.

Others: "..."

Everyone fell silent!

Princess Changning chuckled: "Cousin, Rui-ge'er will definitely do very well in his studies in the future."

After hearing Princess Changning's words, everyone turned their attention to what Ruige'er had grabbed—a writing brush.

As if finally realizing what was happening, everyone began to offer auspicious words.

The eldest princess even picked up Rui Ge'er first, saying, "Our Rui Ge'er likes writing, so his studies will definitely be excellent in the future."

After hearing the Princess's words and seeing Jiang and the others echoing her, Pei Rujing blinked and suddenly understood Wen Zongji.

After all, no matter how much she favored Rui Ge'er, she wouldn't blindly praise him for his future academic success when she knew he had just grabbed a calligraphy brush.

Wen Zongji saw through Pei Rujing's thoughts and shrugged at her.

Seeing this from not far away, Jiao Yansong looked at Wen Shuyu beside him and asked, "Why don't you go over there?"

Wen Shuyu sighed, "I can't say those auspicious words. I'll go over after they've finished."

Wen Shuyu definitely likes Rui Ge'er, but she lacks experience and can't blindly praise him.

Jiao Yansong said, "The baby's first birthday celebration is just for good luck; nobody really takes it seriously."

People say auspicious words for good luck.

Wen Shuyu nodded: "I know."

Knowing something is one thing, but saying it out loud without batting an eye is quite another.

Rui-ge didn't know what the adults were thinking, but he could roughly tell that they were praising him. He felt very happy and smiled generously at everyone who praised him.

It makes it even more enjoyable to watch.

Madam Wei said with envy, "Rui-ge'er is much more well-behaved than our Heng-ge'er."

Mrs. Liu felt this deeply: "My little devil in the family is incomparable."

She often felt like she had to put the little devil back in and give birth to him all over again because she had given birth to such a troublesome child.

The eldest princess laughed and said, "Rui'er's temper is clearly like Zongji's. If he were like Jing'er, he would probably be quite a troublemaker."

Pei Rujing was speechless and said in a low voice, "It's always like this. Praising Rui-ge is fine, but you always have to belittle me at the same time."

Wen Zongji comforted Pei Rujing, saying, "In my heart, my wife is the best."

Pei Rujing rolled her eyes at him: "You're always trying to coax me."

That's what they say, but the county princess just happens to fall for it.

After everyone finished praising Rui Ge'er, Wen Zongji announced loudly that the banquet had begun and everyone could start eating and drinking.

The meal has been set out. Since they are all relatives, there's no need to be too particular. The men will sit at one table and the women at another; that's just right for the number of people.

Rui Ge'er was being fed while being held in the arms of the eldest princess.

Rui Ge'er has been weaned and can eat some easily digestible foods.

The eldest princess had raised three children, and she knew very well what Rui Ge'er could and could not eat.

Pei Rujing was happy to have some free time and chatted with Princess Changning.

Wen Shuyu sat with Aunt Chen and spoke to her in a low voice to ease Aunt Chen's tension.