The Marquise: I Earn My Own Worship

"That's Changge, the parrot raised by Kangge. I'll have the servants give you some food later and ask it to say nice things to you."

Duan Jing'an pointed at Changge. Changge tilted his neck to look at him and blinked.

"Good luck to the Fourth Master, good luck to the Fourth Master."

Ding Meishu covered her mouth with a handkerchief and smiled.

Changge quickly said: "Beauty, beauty"

Ding Meishu's eyes curved as she looked up at Duan Jing'an.

"Changge is so smart."

Duan Jing'an's face, which had originally turned a little dark, started to smile when he saw the soft and delicate girl beside him smiling happily.

"Then come and play with him later."

Ding Meishu nodded.

Turn across the covered bridge and walk forward to reach the front hall.

"Don't go, beauty!"

Changge flapped its wings and called out. Duan Jing'an turned his head slightly and glanced at it coldly.

Its wings suddenly drooped down and it muttered two words: "bad guy".

But it is quite smart and dare not say it out loud. Last time it said "bad guy", he pulled out a few of its beautiful tail hairs, which made it feel so sad.

Duan Jing'an made these tail hairs into a feather pen, which is now lying in Ding Meishu's box.

Song Shengfu and others had already been sitting in the hall, waiting for the new member of the family.

"Fourth Master and Fourth Madam are in the corridor."

Suchun looked at the door and announced with a happy face.

Today, all the servants in the house wore the red hairbands they were given, and the sight of them all in a row looked very festive.

Soon, Duan Jing'an came in with Ding Meishu.

Handsome men and beautiful women are a pleasure to look at.

"Look, the room seems to be brighter now that Fourth Sister-in-law has come in."

Mrs. Lu smiled, stood up, and pulled Ding Meishu over.

"Mother, look at this daughter-in-law. Do you like her?"

Ding Meishu blushed and bowed to the two of them, following all the etiquette and rules perfectly.

"Mischievous"

Song Shengfu stood up, took Ding Meishu's hand, and looked at it carefully.

She has an goose-shaped face, almond-shaped cheeks, thick eyebrows and red lips. What makes her stand out is her eyes, which are shaped like a fox, with low and round eyes at the top and narrow and slightly upturned eyes at the bottom.

Song Shengfu thought she was also a beauty, and it seemed that it was rare for a daughter of a wealthy family to look ugly.

"Good girl, come and sit down."

Ding Meishu glanced at Duan Jingan quietly, and Lu on the side spoke first.

"Mother, the young daughter-in-law still has to offer tea. Only after drinking her tea can she be called your daughter-in-law. Why don't you sit down quickly?"

"That's right, grandma, please sit down quickly. Be careful that Fourth Aunt won't marry Fourth Uncle."

Kang Ge'er put on his bright red dress and the matching crimson gold and jade crown that Song Shengfu had given him last time.

Receiving the death stare from his fourth uncle, Kang Ge'er quickly covered his mouth.

Everyone in the hall laughed. Ding Meishu stood next to Duan Jing'an, looking at the harmonious family and smiling with her lips pursed.

"Brother Kang, stop teasing your fourth uncle."

Duan Jingzong spoke, and Kang Ge'er immediately became obedient.

When the time came, the old woman on the side sang a blessing.

Ding Meishu was led by Duan Jing'an to serve tea to everyone one by one. There were few masters in Duan Bo's mansion, so the ceremony was over quickly.

Logically speaking, Huang Jingtong and Duan Jingyi should also be present. Huang Jingtong was sent to the Taimiao to prepare for the royal ancestral worship ceremony for this year's winter solstice.

Duan Jingyi was pregnant again. It had only been less than two years since she gave birth to Huaifu, and she was pregnant again. She was no longer young, and this pregnancy was forced upon her. The signs of the pregnancy were not good, so she was basically bedridden.

Although he didn't come, the gifts were delivered.

"Your second sister is pregnant, so she couldn't come today. I'll take you to visit her at the Left Prime Minister's residence some other day and ask her to give you a big red envelope."

"Thank you, mother."

Then several younger generations came forward one after another to pay their respects.

"This is Kang Ge'er, whose full name is Duan Chengkang. He's usually the most mischievous and a bitch. This is my most precious daughter, your third brother-in-law's eldest daughter, named Shen Shiwei. She's very pretty and has a very nice name. We usually call her Sister Wei. And this little one..."

Lu held Xuan'er's hand, and Xuan'er clasped his hands and bowed seriously.

"Good morning, auntie."

Lu smiled and patted his head.

"This is Wei Jie'er's younger brother, Shen Shixuan. He's very well-behaved, intelligent, and lovable."

"Xuan brother Xiao An."

Ding Meishu also likes children. Looking at the three children standing in front of her, she took out the gifts she had prepared long ago, as well as the purses she had embroidered herself.

After offering tea, they were going to stay here for lunch, so Duan Jing'an took Ding Meishu for a walk around the mansion.

Ding Meishu was taken for a walk, and she hadn't even finished walking one-third of the mansion in the early morning.

He sighed in his heart, although people outside were saying how bad the Duan Bo Mansion was, they could not see its background.

Seeing Ding Meishu's confusion, Duan Jing'an took the initiative to talk about the things in the mansion.

"Since my father passed away, the Bo Mansion has indeed been getting worse year by year. But it seems that it can't be said that way. It should have started to decline before I was born."

"During those years, my father was depressed and spent his days at home drinking to drown his sorrows. From that time on, the title of Marquis was just an empty title. Outsiders judged our family because we didn't have anyone holding a high position in the court. After my father passed away, my eldest brother inherited the title, and our mansion became an earl's mansion. My eldest brother was also in poor health, so he only held a nominal position."

Duan Jing'an stood by the pavilion, accompanying Ding Meishu who was feeding the fish, and continued.

"In the capital, only old nobles like ours would look after us after Father passed away. But there's no one in charge. If it weren't for those in-laws who helped us, the Duanbo Mansion would have been torn apart and swallowed up by them long ago. The Zuoqiubo Mansion in Beiyang was a prime example of this. Once they lost their backers, they fell into decline in a matter of seconds."

Ding Meishu paused. She knew Zuo Qiubo's mansion. When she was a child, she accompanied her mother to a banquet and met the girl from the mansion. She was a few years older than her, steady and well-mannered, and she had a childhood marriage at that time.

I don’t know what happened later, but something happened at home and all the property was sold. I heard that the whole family moved back to their ancestral home in Beiyang.

The girl's engagement was broken off and she nearly died, but she was rescued. It was said that she later became a housewife.

Housemaids at that time were rare, and it could be said that they were basically unheard of.

This kind of person will never marry in her life and will be supported and taken care of by her brothers until she dies.

Not to mention anything else, first of all, the clan and father and brothers must agree, not to mention raising the child at home later and whether other family members have any objections.

So Ding Meishu admired the Zuoqiu family very much when she heard this. Many families' daughters would only get some money even if they didn't get married, so they would never stay at home.

"I had heard of Zuoqiu Bo's Mansion back then, but I was still young. I just heard that they had suddenly moved back to their hometown in Beiyang. Do you know the inside story?"

Duan Jing'an nodded. These were all told to him by his elder brother.