Flowers in full bloom

For the past half month, Hua Lei has been very busy, getting up early and going to bed late. Her already thin body looks even thinner. When Mrs. Pei saw Hua Lei, she hugged her in her arms distressedly and said repeatedly, "Ah, how come you have lost so much weight? Did you not eat well or are you not feeling well? You are such a thoughtful girl. I told you long ago that there is no taboo in our mansion, but you had to wait until now to come. Look, you are even thinner now."

Hua Lei smiled and hugged Madam Pei's arm and said, "Here you are, Grandma Pei. I will eat more in the future and slowly gain weight." Madam Pei smiled, nodded and said, "You just need to eat more. Let the court doctor take good care of you in a few days. You are still young, and you don't know the importance of taking care of your body. You can't suffer from this for too long. If you suffer from this for a long time, it will last a lifetime, and it's not worth it." Hua Lei nodded in agreement, looking well-behaved.

Seeing the fatigue in Hua Lei's eyes, Hua Lei and her brother went back to the courtyard prepared for them. Let's have a good rest first, and wait until the evening, everyone will have dinner together. Because Xiao Yuan is not yet seven years old, and I am worried that he will not be used to the Marquis's Mansion, he will live with Hua Lei for the time being. When he turns seven in the second half of the year, he will live in the front courtyard. Hua Lei and her brother followed the maid to the courtyard prepared for them in the Marquis's Mansion.

The courtyard is in the northeast corner of the mansion, a small courtyard with two entrances, named "Qihua Courtyard". It is less than 25 minutes' walk from the courtyard where Old Madam Pei lives. There are many trees planted outside the courtyard, and many more flowers are probably added inside the courtyard to accommodate the flower buds, so at this time the courtyard is hidden in the lush trees.

Entering the courtyard, we saw a tall magnolia tree planted in the southwest corner of the courtyard. At this time, the green leaves were lush and green. Many flowers have bloomed, and the flowers are in full bloom. Hualei likes it very much. It is definitely an oxygen bar. The maid Qingying took Hualei to the east room and let her take a nap, and then hung the clothes that Hualei brought in the closet. There were already four sets of dresses made for Hualei in the closet, all of which were light-colored and simple in style. It suited Hualei's taste very well. In the makeup box on the dressing table were jewelry that matched the dresses, a set of pearl and red silver headpieces, several white jade and green jade hairpins, and several bracelets, so that Hualei could wear them during the mourning period.

The maid Qinglian brought two little girls to bring toiletries and asked Hualei to wash her face and hands. Hualei thanked her softly, washed her face and hands, and took a short rest. Then she got up and went to Xiaoyuan's west room to take a look. At this time, Qinglu had already sorted out the clothes that Xiaoyuan brought. There were also four sets of spring clothes made for Xiaoyuan in the closet, and the fabric colors were basically similar to Hualei's. The pens, inkstones, and paper were neatly placed on the small desk by the window. The quilts and mattresses on the bed were also newly made. Hualei was moved. Grandmother Pei was really very thoughtful and took every aspect into consideration. Even at this time, several maids in the courtyard were wearing light-colored dresses.

These first-class maids were specially arranged by Old Madam Pei to take care of Hualei and her brother in the future. The two maids beside Hualei are named Qingying and Qinglian. The two who take care of Xiaoyuan are named Qinglu and Qingshuang. There are four second-class maids and two maids who sweep the yard. There is a Zhang in the gatehouse, who is responsible for the gate of the whole yard. There is also a Li in the kitchen, who is responsible for the daily drinking water and warm water for washing at night, and occasionally makes some snacks. In the whole marquis' mansion, only Old Madam Pei and the first lady have a small kitchen, and the others eat in the big kitchen in the public house. Every time it is meal time, you can send the maids in your own yard to the big kitchen to get it.

Hualei walked around the courtyard again. The whole courtyard was clean and tidy. In the small flowerbed in front of the main house, only low trees were planted to prevent it from blocking the sunlight. There were many flowers planted next to it. The path was also clean. Hualei sighed with satisfaction. It was great to have power and money. I am still a frog in the well. Thinking of how satisfied I was with the 1,000 taels of silver in my hand last night, Hualei couldn't help but laugh at herself. I still have to make money in the future.

At this time, Mrs. Zhang from the gatehouse of Qihua Courtyard came in and said that Young Master Hua would have lunch with the eldest young master and would not come here. Hua Lei laughed. After meeting Old Madam Pei, Xiao Yuan did not have time to come to see the courtyard where he lived, and was taken to the courtyard where he lived by Rong Jin. Now, he did not even come back for lunch. There was nothing she could do, so she just told the maid who was going to get lunch to take one less person's. She returned to her room, took out the book she brought with her, and slowly read it.

About half an hour later, Qingying came over and invited Hualei to have lunch. On the table, there was a plate of white-cut chicken, a plate of steamed pork with lotus leaf, a plate of fish-flavored eggplant, a plate of stir-fried seasonal vegetables, and a plate of mushroom and fish ball soup. In addition to a plate of rice, there was also a plate of pine nut cake, a plate of rose cake, and a plate of red bean drink. Each dish was not very large, but it was very delicate.

Hualei tried them all. The white-cut chicken was tender and fragrant, the steamed pork with rice flour was soft and tasty, and the seasonal vegetables were fresh and refreshing. Hualei's favorite was the mushroom and fish ball soup. The fresh mushrooms had a unique fragrance, and the fish balls were chewy. The soup cooked together tasted particularly fresh. Hualei ate a full bowl of rice. She was not very interested in the pine nut cake and rose cake on the table. She just took a bite and didn't eat any more. She also drank a few sips of the red bean drink and put it aside.

After Hualei finished her lunch, Qingying asked the maid outside to clear away the dishes, and Qinglian brought tea for her to rinse her mouth. Hualei didn't need to do anything, which made her a little uncomfortable. But she really enjoyed it.

After lunch, Hualei walked around the yard to digest the food, and then took a nap on the couch by the window with Qingying's help. It was already 3:30 pm when she woke up, and Xiaoyuan still hadn't come back. Hualei put the book she brought with her on the bookshelf in the east wing, sat down on the desk by the window, took out a book and read it slowly.

It was almost 5 p.m. and Xiaoyuan hadn't come back yet. Hualei sent a maid to the front yard to ask. She said that he had gone to the martial arts training ground to ride a horse again. He was just coming to get a set of clothes to change. After riding the horse, he would change clothes in the front yard and go to Songhe Courtyard. Hualei had no choice but to ask Qingshuang to send the clothes to the front yard. She also changed a set of clothes and went to Songhe Courtyard with Qingying and Qinglian. In Songhe Courtyard, the people from each room had not arrived yet.

When Mrs. Pei saw Hualei, she asked her to come forward, took her hand, and asked her in detail whether the courtyard was suitable, whether the food was delicious, and whether the maid was diligent. Hualei gently held Mrs. Pei's hand and answered one by one. Mrs. Pei also told Hualei in detail about Xiaoyuan's going to the clan school. Someone would come to take Xiaoyuan to the clan school early tomorrow morning, and Hualei's going to the girls' school had also been arranged. The maid could take her there directly tomorrow. Hualei thanked her.