inspire-indiana Chapter 174 Continuous stream
Chapter 174 Continuous stream
Yu Zhe's wedding was simple yet grand.
Guests came in an endless stream to offer their congratulations. Almost all of his friends came, and more than half of the court officials came to offer their congratulations.
However, Yu Zhe had stated beforehand: "You are welcome to come and offer your congratulations, but please do not bring any expensive gifts. It is just a small celebratory banquet. If you are so inclined, please just give a small amount of money as a congratulatory gift."
If you give too many gifts, it's difficult to estimate their value and you'll have trouble giving them as return gifts later. Plus, they take up space and are wasteful. It's better to just give a small amount of money as a gift; this way, everyone is happy.
Hosting a wedding banquet at home inevitably incurs considerable expenses, and receiving some of the gift money can help offset these costs. Generally speaking, guests attending the wedding banquet will likely give a substantial amount of money as a gift. Of course, he will refuse overly generous red envelopes.
Zisu suggested that guests give red envelopes as gifts, which was something she saw in her dream. In the future world, when people get married, relatives and friends give each other red envelopes as gifts.
All red envelopes containing more than ten taels of silver will be returned.
The person who receives the gifts is the steward of the general's mansion. When he receives a red envelope, he will open it on the spot. He will accept any amount less than ten taels of silver and return any amount exceeding ten taels.
The General's Mansion's old neighbor, the Nine Gates Admiral, had given a red envelope containing one hundred taels of silver, but the General's Mansion's steward immediately returned it: "I'm sorry, sir, Lord Yu has ordered that all red envelopes containing more than ten taels of silver must be returned."
Commander of the Nine Gates: "Forget it, it's just a hundred taels."
The butler smiled and said, "The wedding banquet is not high-end. A table will only cost twenty or thirty taels of silver. According to the master's original intention, red envelopes with more than five taels of silver should be returned! However, Princess Yulin said that ten taels of silver can be accepted. Before you leave, you can take home a bag of candies and biscuits that she made herself!"
Cookies—this was a novel word, one that no one had ever heard of before. They guessed it was a strange food. With the candies and cookies made by Princess Yulin herself as gifts, the ten-tael silver red envelope seemed insignificant.
The Nine Gates Admiral gave an awkward laugh, then took out a ten-tael silver note from his purse and replaced the one-hundred-tael note: "Steward, is this alright now?"
The steward was the steward of the General's Mansion. When the Nine Gates Admiral lived next door to the General's Mansion, he naturally had dealings with the steward of the General's Mansion.
The steward respectfully replied, "Sir, that's fine!" Then, he said to the tree root beside him, "A congratulatory gift of ten taels of silver from the Nine Gates Admiral!"
Shugen quickly wrote in the register: "A congratulatory gift of ten taels of silver from the Nine Gates Admiral."
Upon seeing this, the people behind him readily exchanged the large silver notes in their red envelopes for ten-tael silver notes.
There weren't many invited guests, only about a hundred people, enough for a ten-table wedding banquet. However, quite a few people still showed up uninvited.
After accepting the red envelopes from the uninvited guests, the steward sent them all to the Good Days Restaurant for a meal. Ten carriages were parked at the entrance of the Yu residence, specifically to transport uninvited guests to the Good Days Restaurant.
Those who came uninvited included ordinary relatives and friends, as well as high-ranking officials. However, regardless of whether they were ordinary people or high-ranking officials, since no invitations were sent, it meant that Yu Zhe did not want to get too close to them. Taking the guests to the Good Days Restaurant was not considered particularly impolite.
This situation was something Yu Zhe and Shangguan Mufeng had naturally anticipated. One was the Minister of Personnel, and the other the Minister of War—both highly influential figures. Naturally, many wanted to curry favor with them. Therefore, Yu Zhe and Shangguan Mufeng had already arranged to reserve two banquet halls at the Good Days Restaurant, the closest to the Yu residence, specifically for entertaining uninvited guests.
One banquet hall is used to entertain ordinary relatives and friends, while the other is used to entertain officials. Both banquet halls are located in the backyard of the Good Days Restaurant, so they will not interfere with the restaurant's normal operation.
For this reason, Jiang Shichang specially returned from Wuliping Scenic Area to be in charge of entertaining those officials. The banquet hall for entertaining officials was a large room that could fit twenty tables. Today, however, ten tables were full, meaning there were probably around a hundred uninvited officials.
This number was astonishing, and Shangguan Mufeng and Yu Zhe were both taken aback when they heard it.
Yu Zhe couldn't help but feel a lingering fear: "Fortunately, we set a maximum limit on gift money, otherwise, we might have been impeached by the censor!"
Shangguan Mufeng: "It's alright. The food at the Good Days Restaurant is of a high standard. A wedding banquet will cost at least fifty taels of silver. There are ten people at a table, so the gift money will be at most one hundred taels. It's only a fifty-tael difference, so it doesn't matter!"
Yu Zhe couldn't help but sigh, "Alas, this is a wedding banquet, and it's not good to drive the guests away. Otherwise, we'll offend them badly."
Shangguan Mufeng: "That makes sense. It's better to offend a gentleman than a petty person! Fortunately, Zisu had already made preparations, producing a large quantity of candy and biscuits, and also pre-ordering a large number of exquisite baskets from the villagers of Wuliping. Sending out a package of candy and biscuits as a return gift will almost cover the remaining five taels of silver!"
Although the ingredients for the candies and biscuits were only worth a few hundred coins, they were sold for five taels of silver, and it was estimated that many people would buy them. Therefore, those who came uninvited, even if they had paid ten taels of silver as a gift, would have nothing to say upon receiving such a return gift.
These exquisite baskets were all made by the poor families in Wuliping. Five hundred baskets in total earned those families a considerable amount of money. Feeling indebted, the families specially used their own oxcarts to transport them hundreds of miles to the General's Mansion in the capital.
The candies and biscuits were made at the General's Mansion. Zisu personally led the cooks, maids, and guards of the General's Mansion to make them, spending several days in total. When the baskets arrived, she personally packed them into the baskets and transported half of them to the Good Days Restaurant, and another 150 to the Yu Mansion. The remaining 50 were left at the General's Mansion for use when visiting relatives.
The wedding was simple yet lively, and everyone, including the hosts and guests, had a wonderful time.
When the guests left, they each received a basket of candies and cookies, and everyone departed with a smile. The candies made by Princess Yulin herself were famously delicious; countless people longed to taste one but never had the chance. Only at the Wuliping Scenic Area, those who participated in a lucky draw and were fortunate enough to win could they taste the candies made by Princess Yulin herself.
As for cookies, those are even more exotic. Taking them home for your children will surely earn them their love, warm hugs, and sweet praise.
After helping her uncle with his wedding banquet, a few days later, it was her sixth grandfather's sixtieth birthday, so Zisu went to Wuliping again. This time, she brought two baskets of gifts, all of which were birthday presents from Shangguan Mufeng, Prince Duan, Yu Zhe, and the Princess.
There were tonics, fabrics, fine wines and cigarettes, as well as clothes, shoes, hats, and so on—everything was of very high quality. The gifts from Prince Duan and the Eldest Princess, in particular, were extremely valuable.
Grandpa Liu was deeply moved upon receiving the gift. He said to his family, "I never imagined that someone as native to the mountains as me could be valued by so many distinguished people. My life has been worthwhile! All of this is thanks to Zisu. If it weren't for her, I probably wouldn't even know what bird's nest or shark fin looks like."
Before Zisu brought Yu Shi to settle in Wuliping, the old clan chief had been to the capital three times: once for Shangguan Mufeng's wedding, once for Shangguan Mufeng's father's death, and once for Shangguan Mufeng's martyrdom. Moreover, each time he came and went in a hurry, without even getting a good look at the streets of the capital.
Shangguan Qin: "Yes, if it weren't for Zisu, the people of Wuliping would still be living in extreme poverty. Very few children in Wuliping could go to school. Perhaps a hundred or a thousand years from now, the Shangguan family of Wuliping would still be living in poverty. Unlike now, except for a few particularly lazy families, most people live a life free from want."
In my opinion, at least half the households in Wuliping can eat meat every few days, and rice is plentiful! These days, there are very few families in Wuliping wearing clothes patched upon patched. Children under twelve are almost all in school, and most of the village's children and young adults know some basic martial arts for self-defense! The lives of the people of Wuliping are truly getting better and better!
Xiaoshan: "Yes, Zisu's contributions to the clan are obvious to all. If it weren't for her, how would we have had the opportunity to attend such a good school? Everyone says that Wuliping Academy is the best academy in Xiliang Kingdom, and the teacher's character and ability are beyond reproach."
The academy has a great environment. Although the rules and regulations are strict, they are also very humane, truly embodying the principle of teaching and nurturing. Take Xie Yuan, Xie Jin, and Pan Yu from the Left Prime Minister's family, for example. These three used to be utterly despicable, hated by everyone. However, now they have all become diligent and disciplined students. In the last quiz, all three achieved excellent results; it can be said they have truly undergone a complete transformation and are on the right path!
Sixth Grandfather: "Hmm, indeed very good! Now, the Left Prime Minister owes Zisu a huge favor! If it weren't for Zisu, there would be no Wuliping Academy. Without Wuliping Academy, the Left Prime Minister's children would definitely grow up to be spoiled brats, and spoiled brats that everyone would hate!"
The capital city, the residence of the Left Prime Minister.
When Grandpa Xie received the letter from the headmaster of Wuliping Academy, he couldn't stop smiling.
Happy Lantern Festival, my dears!