Chapter 277: Going to the Capital

 Chapter 277: Going to the Capital

"Miss Zhou is here!"

Seeing Zhou Jingwan, the maids and servants in the Daohua courtyard immediately smiled and greeted her.

Zhou Jingwan nodded: "Where is your young mistress?"

Li Xia chuckled: "The young mistress is still lounging on the bed!"

Zhou Jingwan shook her head: "This lazy girl, I'll go wake her up." With that, she stepped into the room and headed straight for the bedroom.

Seeing Daohua, dressed in a silver squirrel fur, lazily leaning against the head of the bed while flipping through a storybook, Zhou Jingwan immediately laughed: "Ever since your Li cousins left, you've become lazier. It's almost noon and you're still not up."

Daohua didn't sit up when she saw her; instead, she lowered the book, patted the edge of the bed, and gestured for Zhou Jingwan to sit before saying with a smile, "Tomorrow is New Year's Eve. How come you still have time to come to my house?"

Zhou Jingwan put on a stern face: "What, are you complaining about me?"

Daohua smiled, covering her mouth with the book: "Miss Zhou’s grand visit really makes our little courtyard shine."

Hearing this, Zhou Jingwan finally smiled, then casually took off her boots and sat on the bed.

Seeing this, Daohua gave her a light punch, then quickly shifted further into the bed, speaking as she moved, "You just came in from outside, you're still cold, you can’t just jump into my bed."

Zhou Jingwan shot her a glance: "Who wants to climb into your bed?" She said this and leaned back against the pillow, copying Daohua.

Daohua had someone bring a blanket and cover Zhou Jingwan, then lay back down herself: "Has my father been to your house again?"

Zhou Jingwan nodded.

Daohua: "Sorry for troubling your grandfather recently."

For this trip to the capital for official business, her father had been taking it very seriously. Whenever he had free time, he would visit Old Master Zhou to listen to him explain the relationships of the various families in the capital and the emperor's taboos.

After three years of interaction, the Yan family and the Zhou family had become good friends.

Thus, Old Master Zhou had been sharing everything he knew, carefully explaining the power dynamics of the capital to Yan Zhigao.

Zhou Jingwan casually responded: "It's only natural that our families are friendly."

Daohua smiled: "I made some medicinal dishes for my grandmother, I’ll send a little to your grandfather later."

Zhou Jingwan nodded: "Great, my grandfather loves your cooking." Then, she turned over to face Daohua, "I heard from my mother that Uncle Yan will definitely be promoted this time. Whether he stays in the capital or gets transferred, we’ll probably be far apart from now on."

Seeing the look of sadness on Zhou Jingwan's face, Daohua took her hand: "Don't be like this, we can always write letters. If my father is transferred somewhere not too far from Xingzhou, we can still make time to go out and play together."

Zhou Jingwan sighed: "But it won't be as convenient as now."

Daohua nodded: "Yes, you're right."

After a moment of silence, Zhou Jingwan suddenly said: "My brother’s marriage has been decided. My mother said once we finish with my brother's matters, it will be my turn. Daohua, we won’t get to see each other as often in the future."

Hearing this, Daohua also sighed: "I don’t want to grow up."

Zhou Jingwan looked melancholic: "Who does?"

That day, Zhou Jingwan stayed at the Yan family for lunch and played until the afternoon before returning home.

After sending Zhou Jingwan off, Daohua had just returned to her own courtyard when she saw Wang Man'er, Gu Yu, and Li Xia talking about something. "What’s going on, why are you all so animated?"

Wang Man'er saw Daohua and immediately lifted the door curtain. After Daohua entered, she followed her in, saying as she walked, "The master just returned from outside and was stopped by Fifth Master and Third Miss."

Daohua raised an eyebrow: "Are they trying to plead for Concubine Lin?"

Wang Man'er poured Daohua a cup of tea and smiled: "It’s impossible to hide anything from the young mistress."

Daohua took the tea cup: "What did my father say?"

Wang Man'er: "The master said Fifth Master and Third Miss's filial piety is commendable, so he allowed them to spend New Year’s with Concubine Lin in Shuoxing Courtyard."

Daohua: "Didn’t he release Concubine Lin from confinement?"

Wang Man'er shook her head with a smile: "No."

Daohua smiled, blowing on the foam in her tea cup before taking a sip: "I hope my father can stay as clear-headed as he is now."

The Spring Festival of the 19th year of Yongxing was rather quiet in the Yan family because Yan Zhigao was busy preparing for his official duties in the capital. There was simply too much to do, so the household wasn’t very lively.

Worried about delays on the road, Yan Zhigao left with Yan Wenxiu, Master Xiao, and Qin Wu on the third day of the New Year.

Once they left, the Yan household became a bit lonely.

Daohua, on the other hand, had a great time. Perhaps because they were about to part, Zhou Jingwan came to find her almost every day. The two would either stay in the courtyard discussing business matters or go out together for horse riding. They lived very carefree lives.

Yan Zhigao's group arrived in the capital the day before the Lantern Festival.

When they reached the city gates, the Yan family's servants, already waiting there, welcomed them, with some of Yang family’s servants following.

Yan Zhigao cast a cold glance at the Yang family servants.

When his luck was bad, the Yang family had treated him terribly. If not for his sister being married to the Yang family, he would have had no desire to deal with such relatives.

"We’ve traveled a long way, let’s go back and clean up before we visit," Yan Zhigao said.

The Yang family servants immediately bowed and acknowledged.

For the Fourth Madam's big brother, the Yang family wasn’t daring to act arrogantly, even though their family head held a higher official position.

Before they left, the family head had specially instructed them to be cautious and not offend anyone.

"Lead the way!"

Yan Zhigao said to his own servant, then sat back in the carriage.

Everyone in the Yan household thought the house was rather secluded, but when they arrived at the gate, they realized it was only a few streets away from the imperial palace.

After a long pause, Yan Zhigao turned to Yan Wenxiu: "How much did your sister say this house costs?"

Yan Wenxiu smiled wryly: "Two thousand taels."

Yan Zhigao was momentarily speechless: "When we return, have your mother send the silver to the young prince."

Yan Wenxiu shook his head: "The young prince won’t accept it." Seeing Yan Zhigao frown, he smiled and added, "Our family’s relationship with the young prince has been long established. We’ll repay him slowly in the future."

Yan Zhigao nodded. Noticing people nearby were observing them, he didn’t say anything further and followed the house steward into the main gate.

The house steward led the way while cheerfully explaining the surroundings: "Most of the houses around here are similar, and the residents are all newly wealthy individuals from recent years."

Yan Wenxiu listened while inwardly marveling at the house the young prince had gifted them. It was really a perfect match for their current status—it wouldn't stand out too much.

Yang Residence

When Old Madam Yang saw that Yan Zhigao hadn't arrived, her face turned a little sour. She glanced at her youngest daughter-in-law, who was keeping her head down and silent: "Your big brother, has he become distant from our family? Now that he's in the capital, he hasn't even mentioned staying with us."

Yan Siyu thought to herself, Does Old Madam Yan not remember how poorly the Yang family has treated my maternal side over the years? How can she say such a thing?

Eldest Madam Yang, seeing that her younger sister-in-law didn’t respond, remembered her husband’s earlier advice to foster a good relationship with the Yan family. She had no choice but to smile and mediate: "Mother, the Yan family has a residence in the capital, so they probably didn’t want to trouble us."

"I know you're eager to see your in-laws, but since they're already in the capital, there’s no need to rush for a day or two."

Old Madam Yang’s expression softened slightly. She asked, "Where is the Yan family’s residence?"

Yan Siyu replied, "East Suburb Street."

Upon hearing this, everyone in the room was taken aback.

East Suburb Street was close to the inner city and much closer to the imperial palace than their own residence.

After a long silence, Old Madam Yang looked at Yan Siyu: "How did your maternal family manage to buy a house there?"

The closer one was to the inner city, the more expensive and harder it was to buy a house. One needed connections to manage it.

Yan Siyu, also surprised when she learned the location, replied, "I haven't been in touch with my family much over the years, so I'm not sure how they managed it."

Upon hearing this, Old Madam Yang and the other three daughters-in-law didn’t ask any more questions.

It was true that over the years, their family had been somewhat negligent in their interactions with the Yan family.

(End of chapter)