Traveling through ancient times, I led my family to prosperity

"Forget it, I won't bother studying anymore. If I don't study, you always urge me to study. If I study, you laugh at me." Zhang pretended to be angry.

When Xiaolan and Xiaowen heard Zhang say this, they hurriedly coaxed Zhang, "Mom, we are not laughing at you, we are just happy that you have learned so well."

The women chatted and laughed for a while, then got back to the topic.

"Let's do this, we don't need to hire a cook, and we can just book a few tables for the banquet at Tianxiang Tower." Xiao Lan looked at the number of people she had written on the paper and suggested.

"Then how many tables should we order?" Sheng Xuan asked.

Xiao Lan and Xiao Wen gathered together, whispering for a while, and then they used their abacus to calculate for a while, and then Xiao Lan said, "Let's reserve six tables of first-class seats first, and three tables of medium seats. For the rest, we can discuss it with Shopkeeper Xu. It will be in time to prepare it when the time comes."

The best meals are for entertaining the guests, and the middle meals are for the stewards, respectable maids and old women brought by the guests.

After the family discussed it, Shengxuan went to the town that day and gave the deposit to Manager Xu.

We agreed that at that time, the amount might increase or decrease depending on the situation. Shopkeeper Xu made a guarantee and told him that everything would be done properly, saying that the banquet on that day would be mainly held at our house.

The family has been preparing for the banquet these days, and the guests arrived one after another early this morning.

Mr. Zhang, Mr. Bao’s family, and Mr. Hu Yidao’s family all came.

There were six tables for male guests, and they had their meals in the main hall and study in the front yard.

Someone from the Shen family came today. It was neither Shen Liu nor He Mingyu, but the third master of the Shen family, accompanied by the family servants. This was not the first time Xiao Lan had seen Shen San. This was the second time Xiao Lan had seen the third master Shen since the last family dinner.

Mr. Shen Sanye still looked wealthy. Xiaolan saw the gifts sent by the Shen family. This time they included two jade bonsai, an embroidered screen of rich peonies, and four pieces of fine satin.

Xiaodouzi also came today. This servant was smart. He saw the opportunity and came up to Xiaolan and asked, "Miss, what do you think of these gifts?" These were picked by our Sixth Master himself.

"Thank you for your concern." Xiao Lan said with a smile, "Are the general and Lord He at home? What are they doing? Why didn't they come today?"

"Lord He followed General Shen to patrol the border, and the gifts for the young lady were selected early in the morning."

Xiao Lan smiled and nodded, then she called Xiao Wen over and asked him to arrange for Xiao Douzi to have a banquet across the courtyard and to make sure to entertain him well and not neglect him.

The county magistrate of Dafeng County and some of his subordinates also came. Most of these people also brought gifts, mostly toys.

All female guests coming today will be entertained in the inner house. Although it is winter now, Xiaolan's house is still very lively. Even the Sun family in the county town brought gifts, and they were very generous gifts.

There are two kang screens. One is a velvet screen with peacock feathers embroidered on it. It is said to be made of real peacock feathers and is most suitable for display in the slightly cold weather. The other is a pink silk screen. It is embroidered with flowers of the four seasons and is most suitable for display in warm weather.

There were also two sets of top-quality fine porcelain tea sets, two pieces of colored satin, two boxes of the best tea, and a long box containing a neatly arranged layer of silver ingots.

In addition to these, the Sun family also prepared a gift for Xiaolan, Xiaoting and Xiaowen.

A set of four treasures of the study and a copy of famous calligraphy were naturally for Xiaowen, while Xiaolan and Xiaoting each had a lacquer-carved makeup box.

Open the door to welcome guests, don't hit someone with a smiling face. Since the Sun family came to congratulate, Xiaolan's family naturally couldn't chase them away.

"The family's caravan just brought back these few. I picked out two of the best and most exquisite ones and brought them to the girl." said Sun Sheng's wife.

After all, Xiaolan's family did not have much contact with Sun Sheng's family. Before, Xiaoru was given to Sun Sheng as a concubine, and later Xiaoru died of dystocia. At that time, there was a war and everyone was busy with their own affairs. Xiaolan's family did not inquire much, and naturally, Mr. Sheng and others kept their mouths shut and no news came out.

Considering this level of consideration, Xiao Lan thought that the Sun family's attempt to show goodwill this time was most likely to repair the relationship, at least to prevent the relationship from becoming too strained. This was an ice-breaking operation, so the Sun family could be said to have made a big move.

"Thank you for your trouble, madam." Xiaolan and Xiaoting quickly stood up to express their gratitude.

"Miss, take another look at the things inside and see if you like them." Madam Sun said with a smile.

The makeup box has two layers. The first layer is a satin handkerchief, which is different from ordinary handkerchiefs. A set of exquisite golden three things is tied on one corner of the handkerchief. The second layer is divided into several small grids, which are full of rouge, powder, ivory combs and daily makeup items. There is also a red gold hairpin and two red gold small Buddha hands to hold down the hair.

The gift from the Sun family is very precious, not only because of its value, but also because it reflects the care, consideration and thoughtfulness of the person who prepared the gift towards the two sisters Xiaolan and Xiaoting.

"I was the one who helped pick out these hairpins and the hairpins for holding down your hair." Madam Sun said with a smile. She stood beside the sisters, looking at Xiaolan and Xiaoting with a smile on her face.

The banquet for the female guests was divided into two tables, one in the east room and the other in the west room.

In the east room, all the guests were older women, including Zhang's mother Shen, eldest sister-in-law Fu, second sister-in-law Liu, Sheng Jiaxing's mother Shen, Zhang from Bao's family, Sheng Lanhua, the county magistrate's wife, and the wives of two officials in Dafeng County.

In the west room, there were younger female guests of lower generation. There was the county magistrate's daughter, who was only eleven years old this year and came with her parents to watch the fun. There was also Sun Sheng's wife, Madam Sun, who was also here because she followed Xiao Ru's side. There were also Yinsuo, Xiaoyan, Xiaoye, and then the two sisters Xiaolan and Xiaoting.

Most of the female guests were Xiaolan's relatives, and there were very few others, because among these guests, only the magistrate of Dafeng County and the officials of Liangmianguang came with their families. After all, Shengxuan would inevitably have to deal with these people in the future, so it would be great to get familiar with them in advance.

The female guests in the west room were Xiaolan and Xiaoting's room. There was a wooden partition in the room, which separated the two rooms. The outer room was the living room, and the inner room was the sisters' bedroom. There was a full-width curtain in the bedroom. If the curtain was drawn and the door was closed, the two rooms would be completely independent.

The banquet table in the west room was placed on the kang in the outer room.