The Marquise: I Earn My Own Worship

Because of the summer vacation and the uncertain return date of the Emperor of Chu, except for the two prime ministers and six secretaries, all other officials remained in the capital.

Almost half of the adults in the capital took their wives and children to the farm to avoid the cool air. This is the custom in this place called "hiding the heat."

For a while, the suburbs were quite lively. Many families began to visit each other, or hold a cool-down party, and everyone gathered together to chat and pass the time.

However, most of these have a purpose, and are just a passing of the officialdom.

Even Duan Jing'an had been out for several times. That day, the Ding residence's housekeeper sent an invitation to the Duan residence, inviting everyone to a cool-down banquet. The housekeeper specifically said it was a family dinner, so everyone in the Duan family decided to go together.

Duan Jing'an originally wanted to invite Cheng Xi to go with him, but Cheng Xi refused because it was unreasonable.

Duan Jing'an naturally knew this and stopped forcing it.

The family set out early that morning. Lord Ding's farm was not far away, but it would take half an hour to get there by carriage.

Duan Jing'an was riding a horse, and Kang Ge'er felt itchy when he saw it, so Duan Jing'an lifted him onto the horse.

It’s no secret that being generous has its advantages. Duan Jing’an originally wanted to scare this kid, but he never expected that Kang Ge’er was not afraid at all. The faster he ran, the more excited he became.

Duan Jing'an looked at Kang Ge'er, who was holding the mane, and his mind was full of thoughts. Cheng Xi had told him that Kang Ge'er was really lacking in academic knowledge. If he worked harder, he might be able to pass the imperial examination, but that was all.

He thought that his nephew might have to take a different path.

Song Shengfu in the carriage also noticed this scene. This kid is really brave. Not to mention his previous life, he actually dared to sell his father's personal belongings.

In this life, he attended a banquet and beat up the grandson of the right prime minister. The key point is that he pinned a child who was one year older than him to the ground and beat him.

When I get back, I'll ask his teacher how this naughty boy is doing recently.

The servants who had been waiting at the intersection early in the morning recognized that the man riding in the lead was their future son-in-law, so when he approached, they quickly knelt down and led the way.

After walking for a while, they stopped under a huge paulownia tree. Bai, who had received the news, was waiting at the door with a group of maids and servants.

After arriving, Song Shengfu was helped out of the carriage and discovered that this place was located on the top of a mountain. At a glance, there were mountains upon mountains and the scenery was extremely beautiful.

Seeing someone arrive, Bai hurried forward to greet him.

"Greetings, Madam Duan. You must have been very tired on the journey. You are a distinguished guest. Please come in."

Song Shengfu and the others were led into the house. Since it was a family dinner, Bai had only invited her family members. Lord Ding did have an older sister, but her husband was the governor of Wansheng County in Beiyang, so he was not in the capital.

Since it was not a formal occasion, the three families simply gathered together and had fun without separating the men and women.

The Bai family was very close to the Ding family farm, just a few steps away. Old Madam Bai was also there today. She was two years older than Song Shengfu. Both of them had been noble ladies in the capital, and they had some interactions when they were young.

"Oh, look who's here! What a rare guest! This old lady, we haven't seen her in years."

Old Madam Bai was a bit surprised when she saw Song Shengfu arrive and stood up to greet her. Due to her eldest son's health, she had rarely attended social events in the past. Aside from state banquets, she had generally declined all banquets, big or small.

I didn't expect her to come this time, so I was particularly surprised.

Song Shengfu looked at the energetic old woman in front of her and thought that this should be the old lady of the Bai family. Although they had met when they were young, their relationship was average.

"It's been a long time since we last met. How have you been these years?"

"Okay, everything is fine. But you haven't been out much in these years."

The two of them invited each other to sit down and began to exchange pleasantries.

"Look, time has flown by in the blink of an eye. It's as if we've grown old in an instant. The last time we met was when your eldest son got married. Look at you. You've refused so many invitations to be my guest."

Old Madam Bai said with some anger.

"Alas, you know our family situation. We really can't get away from it, and we don't have the energy to do those things."

"Look at you. You've quietly sent a scholar out all these years, but you haven't even held a banquet to entertain us. All those sisters are old now, and at least we're still in touch. But you're the only one hiding in your house."

"You know, my family doesn't like to do these things. I only felt relieved after Shilang passed the exam. Look, I knew you were here, so I came here without stopping."

"You say this to insult me. I see that you are not here for me, but for..." As she said this, Old Lady Bai glanced at Ding Meishu who was sitting upright, and also winked at Song Shengfu.

Song Shengfu laughed secretly and scolded him, "You are still so frivolous. When you were young, you liked to tease the older sisters, and now you start teasing the younger generation."

The two of them were making quite a bit of noise. Ding Meishu, who was on the other side, heard the conversation between the two old ladies and her face turned red as if blood was about to drip out.

In addition, Ding Meishu glanced to the other side secretly, and her ears began to turn red. He was there too.

Seeing that her daughter was almost grown up, Mrs. Bai felt a little amused and quickly sent her away to take her brothers and sisters out to play. The only little guests who came today were Sister Wei and Ding Meiting, who was only five years old. She was born to an aunt but was raised by Mrs. Bai.

Ding Meishu took Ding Meiting to Kang Ge'er's side. Seeing his future aunt walking towards them, Kang Ge'er was curious and whispered in Wei Jie'er's ear, "Cousin, look at your future aunt's face. It's so red. Does it look like it's cooked?"

"If you can't speak, don't speak!"

Sister Wei covered Kang Ge'er's mouth with her hand. At this time, Ding Meishu walked in and saw the little dispute between the two children. She thought it was a little cute, but children have their own secrets and did not ask too much. She just looked at the two children and asked with a smile:

"You must be Sister Wei and Brother Kang, right? There's a pavilion over there. Do you want to go play there?"

Wei Jieer responded obediently, and Kang Geer also said he wanted to go play, so he followed behind. When no one was paying attention, Wei Jieer quietly glared at Kang Geer, her eyes containing a warning: "Don't talk nonsense!"

Kang Ge'er shuddered all over and quickly waved his hands to beg for mercy, indicating that he would not dare to do it again and begged to be let go.

Xuan'er was being held in Song Shengfu's arms at this moment, and Old Madam Bai, Mrs. Luo, Mrs. Lu and Mrs. Bai were all there.

Madam Bai looked at the little girl curiously and said with some regret, "My great-grandson is about the same age as Xuan'er. It's a pity that I didn't ask Ke'er and his wife to bring their child over this time. Otherwise, it would be more fun for the two children to play together."

Mrs. Luo smiled and agreed, "It's just unfortunate that Ke Ge took Yun Yan and the child to Yun Yan's parents' home, so we missed it. Let's wait until next time, next time we can have fun together."

Looking at Xuan Ge'er who was sitting obediently in Song Shengfu's arms, she teased him, "Next time, Xuan Ge'er, come over to play with your grandma, okay? You'll have a little brother to play with you."

When Xuan'er heard his brother, he looked around but didn't see his sister and cousin. He leaned over to Song Shengfu's neck and pouted.

"Come play with me, brother"

"Look, Brother Xuan is unhappy. Is he missing his brothers and sisters?"

Bai looked at the little girl and touched Xuan'er's head lovingly. Xuan'er looked over and saw a beautiful aunt.

"Aunt, aunt, looking for my brother."

Xuan Ge'er remembered that his grandmother said that people who were about the same age as his aunt should be called aunt, and he remembered it.

Unexpectedly, everyone in the hall started laughing. Song Shengfu shook Xuan'er's hand, pointed at Bai and said to Xuan'er:

"This Xuan brother can't call her aunt. We can't mess up the generations. We should call her grandma aunt."

Xuan Ge'er's little head was filled with confusion. He quickly waved his hands and said, "Grandma is not old, not old."

This means that the aunt in front of you is not old and cannot be called grandma.

At this time, Bai came forward to explain: "Xuan'er is really well behaved. He just calls me Auntie according to the generation relationship. Xuan'er, call me Auntie and listen."

Xuan Ge'er still didn't understand, nor did he know what generation was, but seeing that everyone said so, he could only call out obediently: "Hello, Auntie."

This made everyone present feel so cute.