Chapter 243: The Help Has Arrived
The emissaries sent to proclaim an imperial decree on behalf of the Emperor were different from those sent by the Empress Dowager. The Empress Dowager had only sent a few people who left immediately after delivering the items, but the Emperor’s decree proclamation involved an entire delegation.
Since they had received prior notice, they could no longer treat the occasion casually as they had previously intended. Almost everyone in the Wen family swung into action. Aside from the few children who went to school, no one stepped out of the house. The entire residence was washed and swept inside and out, and even the main gate was rubbed until it gleamed.
Incense altars and other necessary items were fully prepared, and every family member, old and young alike, brought out their finest clothes.
Not only them, but throughout Gutong Village, not a single household remained idle. On the village roads, one could not find so much as a single stray pebble.
As night fell, several horse carriages suddenly arrived in the village and headed straight for the Wen residence.
A thumping knock resounded at the gate, and Uncle Lu quickly ran over to open it.
The moment the gate opened, a figure dashed past his legs, heading straight inside the house while shouting as he ran, “Datou, my mother is here!”
Only then did Uncle Lu spot Qiu Rongrong and a crowd of people following outside.
“Madam Xie?” Uncle Lu was utterly dumbfounded. Why had this prominent lady come at this hour?
“Where is Yao’er?” Qiu Rongrong asked as she walked inside.
Uncle Lu pointed toward the courtyard. “The young mistress is in the courtyard.”
Qiu Rongrong brought Qiao Yan straight inside with grand strides.
Having received an advance report from Xie Anyi, the Wen family all knew Qiu Rongrong had arrived. Wen Yao stepped forward to greet her. “Sister Qiu, why have you come at this hour?” Looking outside, good heavens, even Master Chef Chen had come.
“Sister, what is all this for?” Wen Yao asked.
Qiu Rongrong shot her a reproachful glance. “To lend you a hand, of course! This evening, my uncle escorted Yi’er home and told me about this matter. Worrying that you wouldn’t be able to manage everything by yourself tomorrow, he had me bring people over. Tomorrow, my Zui Xian Tower will be closed for the day. I’ve brought all the chefs and assistants, and I even had them bring the cooking utensils. Tomorrow, you all just wait peacefully to receive the imperial decree. You don’t need to worry about anything else.”
After speaking, before Wen Yao could say anything, she turned to ask Old Madam Luo, “Grandma, find a place for them to stay. Also, where will tomorrow’s banquet be set up? I’ll have them move the items over.”
By now, Old Madam Luo had finally snapped out of it. She quickly instructed Nanny Du to take the keys to their new house and guide the people to deliver the items over there. In addition, she had everyone else stir into motion, moving the firewood and other necessary items over to light the stoves overnight.
Fortunately, she had urged everyone to rush the construction, so the kitchen and everything else were completed, and the brick stoves had been built long ago.
They had only thought about welcoming the imperial decree, completely forgetting about such a major matter as hosting the guests. It was truly fortunate that Qiu Rongrong had come to remind them; otherwise, wouldn’t they have breached proper etiquette tomorrow?
“Rongrong, it’s all thanks to you. Otherwise, we almost would have made a blunder,” Old Madam Luo said.
Qiu Rongrong smiled. “Grandma, please don’t be polite with me. It’s all thanks to your care and guidance that this boy Yi’er is doing so well here. You are far better to him than his own paternal grandmother. We are one family, so let’s not speak such distant words.”
Qiu Rongrong meant these words from the bottom of her heart. The old dowager of the Xie family might harbor some affection for Xie Anyi, but it could not compare to her eldest grandson; moreover, she mostly calculated against their mother and son. Only the members of the Wen family truly regarded them as their own. Grandma Wen, in particular, never treated him differently; even though Yi’er was a guest, he was punished when he did wrong and rewarded when he did right.
It wasn’t that she liked the Wen family just because Wen Yao helped her earn a lot of money, but rather that the atmosphere of the Wen family made her like them from the depths of her heart.
Now that the people had been delivered, Qiu Rongrong ought to head back, lest that old woman start picking at her faults to stir up trouble again.
“I must head back first, otherwise those two at home will definitely cause a ruckus. I’ll take Yi’er with me. Tomorrow is an important occasion, so he can’t stay behind to cause trouble,” Qiu Rongrong finished, then called Xie Anyi to head home.
Once the mother and son’s carriage had driven far away, Old Madam Luo pulled Wen Yao and sighed with emotion, “What a wonderful girl Rongrong is.” It was a pity she was wasted on that scoundrel of the Xie family.
Aside from the Wen family, the village chief was the most thrilled. He was even more excited than the Wen family members, so worked up that he couldn’t sleep a wink all night. As soon as dawn broke the next morning, he scrambled out of bed to patrol the village, deeply afraid of overlooking any spot that might leave a bad impression on the envoy delegation.
By the time the village chief hovered past the entrance of the Wen residence for the third time, the Wen family’s main gate finally swung open.
“Village Chief?” Uncle Lu blanked out for a moment upon seeing the village chief, then quickly had his son go inside to report.
Before long, Lu He ran out to say the Old Master invited the village chief inside.
Only then did Uncle Lu bring the village chief through the gate. Arriving in the courtyard and looking at the assembled members of the Wen family, the village chief almost didn’t dare recognize them.
The mud-legged farmers who used to be just like them were now each clad in fine brocade silk and girdled with sashes. Even the clothes worn by Old Man Wen and Old Madam Luo were the kind worn by wealthy city folk that he could only envy in the past.
The only thing that remained the same as before was that the Wen family members were currently squatting here, standing there, or sitting over there, all holding their bowls and slurping down breakfast.
Seeing him arrive, Old Madam Luo told Lady Li to go to the kitchen to fetch some food for the village chief, while saying, “The village chief hasn’t eaten breakfast yet, right? Have a bite here.”
“Ah, right, okay,” the village chief replied, a bit dazed. Wen Nong handed him a stool, and he sat down in the courtyard just like that. Lady Li emerged quickly, carrying a bowl of chicken noodle soup with a poached egg placed on top.
The village chief accepted it and offered his thanks. Catching the savory fragrance wafting from the bowl, he cast everything else aside for the moment; filling his stomach came first. In the end, he drank down every last drop of the soup.
“Uncle, Aunt, I came to ask: when the imperial decree arrives today, where will you be receiving it?” The village chief actually wanted to say that the ancestral hall in the village had been cleaned up, and all the items had been rubbed until they gleamed, hoping to have the Wen family go there to receive the decree. However, he felt embarrassed to open his mouth; the Wen family only had a few households in Gutong Village to begin with.
Although the ancestral hall in the village housed the ancestors of every household, this was, after all, the personal honor of their own family, so he felt awkward making the request.
Unexpectedly, Old Madam Luo shot a meaningful glance at Old Man Wen, and Old Man Wen spoke directly: “Have someone move the new altar table to the ancestral hall in a bit. We’ll go to the ancestral hall.”
The village chief instantly grew ecstatic. “Good, excellent! I’ll have people come move it right away.”
“No need,” Old Man Wen stopped him, calling out, “Uncle Lu, take Lu He and Lu Jiang to move the items over. Eldest Brother and the others have already changed into their clothes; let’s not have them get dirtied or ruined anywhere to let the people of the envoy delegation laugh at us.”
“Yes, Old Master,” Uncle Lu responded and began moving the items with his two sons. The village chief grinned hehe, still wanting to go help, but he was refused by Uncle Lu.
Lest he cause a counterproductive mess, they could manage by themselves.
As the three members of the Lu family carried the items outside, Old Man Wen finally stood up, smoothing the clothes on his body as he looked at his eldest son. “Eldest Brother, do we truly have to dress like this?”
In this brocade jacket and long robe, he was still a bit unaccustomed.
Wen Xiuyi jutted his chin toward Old Madam Luo’s direction. “Go ask my mother.”
Old Madam Luo cast a glare at Old Man Wen, and Old Man Wen shut his mouth.
