Inside the case, a gold tea caddy glows golden in the sunlight, next to a pair of silver tea caddies and two silver basins, both with thick surfaces, made of solid gold and silver.
The onlookers were almost dazzled by the sight.
The men from the Ministry of Household Affairs who carried the chest, not to mention the others, could barely conceal their surprise. They had been instructed by their superiors to come here today to make a fool of Song Si, and they were all sure that Song Si’s 18 carriers were full of water and could not possibly be real things.
“How is it? Did you get hurt?”
Song Si, who was sitting on a high horse in front of him, heard the commotion and came up from the carriage, walking quickly over to ask with concern.
The two men hastily confessed, “My foot slipped, fortunately I didn’t break anything, Your Excellency forgives me.”
“It’s good that the people are alright.”
Song Si closed the lid and bent down to pick up the carrying pole, the two men hastily took it and rested it firmly on their shoulders, waiting for Song Si to turn around and go back to his horse, carrying the chest as the procession moved forward, looking at each other as they went, their eyes all incredulous.
Not only them, but even their superiors would not have thought that these boxes contained actual things.
Now it seemed that the Song family workshop was really making a lot of money, so much so that a casual day’s income could be what they earned in a year.
The gates of the Xiao residence opened and the butler watched with joy and smiles as the procession approached, walking quickly to the horses, welcoming Song Si as he dismounted and then bowing to usher the men inside.
The steward represented the face of the Ding Guo Mansion, and the fact that he treated Song Si with such respect was enough to show that the people in the Ding Guo Mansion were satisfied with him.
“You guys said ……”
Several people from the Household Department stood together, and one of them asked the others in a whisper, “Are we still going to go against Squire Song in the future?”
In terms of money, Servant Song’s family’s workshop was making money every day; in terms of power, Song Si was not only the Servant of the Household Department, but also backed by the Ding Guo Gong House. In terms of power, Song Si was not only a minister of the Household Ministry, but also backed by the Ding Guo family. If he went against such a person, he would definitely not end up in a good situation.
“Naturally.”
One of the sharp-tongued men replied, he used to be highly valued by Wen Zhong, and was about to be promoted, but Wen Zhong died, so naturally he was not promoted, and he held a grudge in his heart.
“Don’t you forget that His Excellency had a grudge against him for killing his son-in-law.”
Even if the Song family had money, what could they do if they were backed by the Ding Gong House, the Lord was the Minister of Household, and he held the lifelines of everyone in the Ministry of Household.
……
The fact that Song Si’s employment is a real eighteen-carrier soon spreads in the capital, and there is talk everywhere about how the Song family’s workshop is making money, and those who hear about it are envious.
Xu Yan came out of the palace and heard all this talk on the way, and was very worried.
When he returned home, he went to the old man’s courtyard and told him about the incident, “A big tree attracts the wind, what happened to the Gu family is an example, should we advise Yue’er to keep a low profile.”
The old gentleman had already known Song Wan Yue’s intentions and said in a calm voice, “Yue’er deliberately asked people to spread the word.”
Xu Yan was surprised, but then understood. Yue’er was saving up for a rainy day to prevent someone from framing Song Si for corruption in the future.
“It’s hard for her to think so far ahead.”
“Only when Song Si is fine will the Song family be safe. As for the rest, with us as a backing, those who want to move them won’t dare to do anything rashly.”
……
In the blink of an eye, it was twenty-six, the day Xiao Yao and Song Si were to be married.
The Ding Palace, which had been lit up all night, began to bustle with activity at the beginning of the celestial hour, and Xiao Yao was called up to purify her face and freshen up her make-up.
The house servants brought out the dowry and placed it in the courtyard one by one. The housekeeper took the dowry list and checked it carefully again to make sure it was correct, and gave it to Qing’er to put it in the lady’s box.
Looking at her dressed up granddaughter, the Lady of the Ding Country had a dampness in her eyes. She had two daughters, both of whom had married in great splendour, but one had been killed alive by that beast, and the other had gone to that beast voluntarily for revenge and for the sake of her family, not even being able to return to see her niece off at her wedding.
“Mother.”
Lady Xiao Zheng shouted in a small voice, she knew what her mother-in-law had in mind. She had hatred in her heart too, if it wasn’t for that change, how could her son have been so frightened at such a young age that he had spent the last ten years recuperating in the temple, unable to return home.
“I’m fine.”
“Old Lady ……”
Along with the sound of stomping footsteps, the housekeeper’s broken voice rang out in the courtyard, and all the people in the house had a thud in their hearts in unison.
The Duke of Ding’s wife even subconsciously raised her voice and asked, “What’s wrong?”
“Second …… No, Her Highness Consort Xian has returned.”
“What?”
The Lady of Ding Guo stood up and quickly walked outside, Lady Xiao Zheng followed, Xiao Yao subconsciously also stood up and followed outside, but was pulled by Qing’er, “Miss, you can’t go out.”
The Lady of Ding Guo had already reached the door, the housekeeper even had a smile in her hair, “The sedan carriage of the Queen Consort Xian will soon arrive at the entrance of the residence.”
“Quickly, go and tell Master, Young Master and Qian’er to go over.”
The butler smiled in response and turned sharply to run to report.
The Lady Ding Guo and Lady Xiao Zheng were so fast on their feet that the maids behind them almost trotted to keep up.
Outside the government gate, a guard of honour opened the way and two magnificent sedan chairs and carriages slowly approached.
The Lady of Ding Guo only felt her heart jumping out of her chest. Seven years had passed, her daughter had been in the palace for seven years, and she had finally returned today.
The Duke of Ding and Xiao Zheng came out of the palace with great strides.
Xiao Qian was a few steps slower.
The sedan carriage stopped at the entrance of the mansion, and Consort Xiao Xian and the fourth prince came down from inside separately, seeing their parents’ brother and sister-in-law about to kneel, they hurriedly went forward to hold them up, with tears in their eyes, “Father, mother, big brother, sister-in-law, I’m back.”
“Good to be back, good to be back.”
The Lady of Ding Guo’s voice was choked with sobs.
“Grandfather, grandmother, uncle, aunt, cousin.”
The fourth prince called out to the people, who answered joyfully.
Consort Xiao Xian said, “Today is Yao’er’s big day, and the Emperor has been gracious enough to let me come back for an hour.”
It was only one hour, and the Lady of Ding Guo’s heart sank, and tears almost welled up in her eyes; if she had not entered the palace, why would her daughter need to return to her mother’s home by the hour?
“Your Majesty’s House, please.”
Seeing that his old wife was about to lose her temper, the Duke of Ding turned sideways to let people in, the Lady of Ding held back her tears, grabbed Consort Xiao Xian’s hand and did not let go, leading her into the mansion, “The mansion is still exactly the same as before, nothing has been touched, neither has your boudoir, mother has had it cleaned every day.”
Xiao Xianfei listened with a smile on her face, that night she made a request, but the emperor did not answer on the spot, she knew that he did not agree, so she did not mention it again in the past few days, who knew that last night the emperor suddenly went to her palace and told her that she could go home today, although it was only for an hour, it was enough to make her ecstatic.
“Where is Yao’er? Is she still living in the same courtyard she used to live in?”
“Yes, still living in that courtyard, just got dressed, Mother will lead you there.”