Jin Shanyao feigned surprise, "Oh my god... this is the birthday gift Anci prepared for me, oh my... how happy I am!"
She put her arm around Meng Anci's shoulder, and they stood side by side, looking at the lights filling the courtyard.
After a long silence, Meng Anci finally spoke, "Auntie, you've worked hard." His voice was soft, but it was exceptionally clear in the early morning.
The Jin Shanyao, its warmth like being soaked in sweet honey water, both comforting and invigorating. "You are all so well-behaved and ambitious, how could I possibly suffer?"
Meng Anzhi leaned quietly against the door, gazing at the radiant light filling the courtyard, then at her younger brother's straight back, and suddenly a smile curved her lips.
What a clever lad! She just gave him a lantern, and he immediately sent over a whole yard full of them... Is he trying to make his aunt think of him first whenever she sees a lantern?
That won't do.
She gently clenched her sleeve... She couldn't lose this gesture. She had to be the most important child in her aunt's heart...
Just after the first day of the Lunar New Year, Madam Su arrived with her two sons.
She pushed the two teenagers forward, saying, "The taller one is Jingzhi, and the shorter one is Shenzhi."
Seeing that Jin Shanyao seventeen or eighteen years old, the Su brothers couldn't bring themselves to call her "Grandma." After hesitating for a long time, they could only stammer out, "Miss Jin."
Madam Su's smile froze slightly. She thought to herself that she would deal with them when they got back. She sat down on the kang (Jin Shanyao bed) while holding Jin Shan's hand.
He chuckled, " Lu Chi is getting married on the second day of the second lunar month. The capital is a long way away, so I've prepared two carriages drawn by fast horses, with the carriages covered in fur to keep you warm on the journey."
Jin Shanyao and said, "Just prepare a carriage. Use Anzhi Hall's horses; they're fast, so the children won't suffer on the road."
"That's wonderful..." Madam Su smiled from ear to ear. She had seen the two horses with the Jin Shanyao, and they were the best of the best.
She sighed, "My two children have never traveled far alone before; you've taken care of them the whole way."
"It's alright... Who should I hand it over to this time?"
Madam Su paused slightly, then, remembering that she had asked Jin Shanyao to deliver something, she couldn't help but laugh out loud. "Just give it to my father... I've already written to him, telling him to wait for you at the city gate."
The Su Household brothers exchanged a glance. What had they given their maternal grandfather? Wouldn't he scold them?
While their mother and Jin Shanyao were chatting, the two took out a gift they had prepared beforehand and presented it to Meng Anci. "Junior Brother, my father always says you are diligent, intelligent, and of pure character. Meeting you today, I can see that True Qi."
Meng Anci accepted the brocade box and said with a smile, "Senior Brother, you flatter me."
Su Shenzhi also took out a brocade box, glanced at his mother, and whispered, "My father is an old-fashioned man. When he tutors you, just put on a submissive look, and you'll avoid being scolded."
Meng Anci couldn't help but chuckle, "Alright... I'll listen to my junior brother."
They had only exchanged a few words when Madam Su rose to take her leave. "I'll have my servant bring the carriage over tomorrow, and the departure time will be as you stated."
After seeing the Su Household mother and son off, Jin Shanyao began preparing gifts.
Meng Anzhi prepared a fifty-year-old ginseng, while Meng Anci chose a fine inkstone.
Jin Shanyao's gift was the most straightforward: a large bag full of walnuts. She had been thinking about it for several days, but still felt that Lu Chi's mind wasn't working properly and needed improvement.
In addition, she specially brought deer antler for Fu Congxi, and various other mushrooms such as matsutake, morel, and monkey head mushroom for Fu Congzhao. She also prepared Ganoderma lucidum and Phellinus linteus for Old General Fu and his wife.
On the sixteenth day of the first lunar month, Su Wenqian and his Madam Su came to see him off.
Su Wenqian instructed his two sons, "Miss Jin has a unique personality, unlike ordinary people. Just listen to what she says and does."
Don't be afraid if you encounter danger... Her cats and dogs are very fierce. Just stay close to her and don't get lost."
The Su Household brothers, wearing fox fur cloaks, had cheeks slightly flushed from the wind. "Father, don't worry... my brother and I will stay close to Miss Jin."
Madam Su, "Did you all remember what I told you yesterday? Get along well with Miss Jin."
"Yes, Mother..."
Their main task this time was to build a good relationship with Jin Shanyao, and their secondary task was to attend the wedding banquet. If it weren't for their connection with Jin Shanyao, the Su Household would have canceled their cousin's wedding banquet.
After instructing his own children, Su Wenqian gave Jin Shanyao before letting her leave.
Once outside the territory of Qingzhou Prefecture, the old ox took off galloping. It was the first time the Black Grand Marshal (horse) had entered the capital, and it just so happened that it encountered the old ox's boundless energy.
He immediately grabbed the carriage and chased after it like the wind, determined to crush the old ox under his feet, demonstrate his strength, and ensure that his position in his master's heart remained unshaken.
Jin Shanyao, worried that the carriage might run too fast and the axle would start smoking, so he quickly covered the carriage with a layer of Spiritual Power to stabilize the frame and protect the carriage.
The Su Household brothers sat in the carriage, wondering, "Brother... has the carriage stopped?"
"It looks a bit like it, bro... bro, why did you stop the car?" Su Jingzhi asked Zhou Xiaosi through the car curtain. When he didn't hear a reply, he lifted the curtain to see what was going on.
It would have been better if they hadn't lifted the lid. Once they did, the two boys nearly fainted from fright. They saw a horse-drawn carriage and an oxcart driving side by side, overtaking each other.
The scenery on both sides of the street rushed past, becoming impossible to count, and what was most terrifying was that Zhou Xiaosi was nowhere to be seen... This carriage had no driver.
Su Shenzhi gripped Su Jingzhi's arm tightly, his eyes filled with terror, and said, "Big brother... are we going to die?"
Su Jingzhi quickly reassured him, "It's alright, it's alright, the oxcart doesn't have a driver either..."
"What... neither of the two carriages has a driver..." Su Shenzhi gripped the carriage tightly, closed his eyes, and waited for the Black and White Impermanence to come to his door.
Time passed slowly, Su Shenzhi sensed something was wrong. "Brother... didn't you notice that our carriage is very stable? It's completely different from the ones we usually ride in."
Su Jingzhi was still clutching the carriage curtain, his gaze fixed on the oxcart, his face filled with disbelief. Jin Shanyao was actually reading a book with the three children as the carriage passed the oxcart.
He saw clearly written on the book, "The son-in-law, holding a goose as a gesture of respect, drives his carriage around the bride's carriage three times before waiting in advance." This is from the * Book of Rites *, " The Meaning of Marriage."
Unexpectedly, Miss Jin had started studying beforehand to attend her cousin's wedding. Su Shenzhi's voice came through, "Big brother... did you hear me?"
Su Jingzhi snapped out of his daze and found that the carriage was indeed as his brother had said, smooth and without any bumps. He lowered the curtain and searched the carriage.
"Brother... what are you looking for?"
"Let me see where the talisman is pasted."
Upon hearing Su Shenzhi joined his older brother in searching the entire carriage. "There's nothing there. Where could it be hidden in such a small space?"
"Yeah... it's not under the car, is it?"
The two boys had been searching for a long time without finding a single piece of paper. They sat in the carriage, staring at each other in bewilderment...
Time flew by and it was noon. Jin Shanyao parked the car in a spacious area and asked Meng Anci to take the Su Household brothers to the restroom, wash their hands, and have lunch.
She led Meng Anzhi toward a secluded spot, and after they used the restroom, they started a fire to boil water.
"Sister Jin... what's wrong?"
Su Shenzhi had barely Jin Shanyao tapped him on the head, "No manners! Call me 'Grandma'..."
Su Shenzhi's face flushed red, and he muttered softly, "You're not that much older than me... I won't call you that."
Jin Shanyao's heart sank. Yes... as the child grows up, she can't stay young forever, and that would arouse suspicion from others.