Thirteenth Lady's Comback: Her Everyday Life as a Bystander-Chapter 324 - 4: Overflowing Magnanimity (First Update)
When the shredded paper in the basin had completely turned into pulp, Susu poured the water into the toilet in the changing room. She then washed her face and feet with the still warm water, brushed her teeth, changed into her nightwear, and finally lay half-reclined on the kang, leisurely going through the gift list.
At just one glance, Susu couldn’t help but gasp. Anyone in the know would recognize this as a festival gift list, but an outsider might mistake it for a dowry list for some young lady.
With a quick scan, Susu found that the gifts nearly matched half of her own public dowry.
Although she spent quite a bit of silver preparing festival gifts, she never expected to receive back gifts worth ten times more than what she originally spent.
Susu felt a bit embarrassed. Luckily, the gifts she sent included personally made spices and some unique and exquisite jewelry and jade, which were quite presentable. Otherwise, it would seem she was just taking advantage of the situation.
Early the next morning, Susu had someone send nourishing millet porridge and other breakfast items to Hong Sheng and Uncle Wei.
With Hong Sheng entertaining Uncle Wei, Susu had her breakfast and then headed to the west wing room. These three rooms stored Susu’s own dowry, and the trunks from yesterday were placed there.
First off were the rewards from Consort Xi and Princess Anning. There were precious spices, exquisite brocade, and silk clothes, as well as jewelry made in-house.
There was also a box of homemade mooncakes. Susu thought any mooncakes would certainly have gone bad from the long journey. Yet, when she opened the purple sandalwood box containing the mooncakes, the eight pieces inside left her dumbfounded.
Goodness, these were 24K pure gold solid mooncakes, each weighing a pound, engraved with various auspicious patterns, embedded with all kinds of gemstones and pearls.
Susu picked up a gold mooncake carved with lotus, lotus pods, and child, peanut patterns symbolizing an endless string of noble sons. It was adorned with pink tourmaline, green jade, blue sapphire, and large pearls, truly showcasing opulence.
Fortunately, Susu was well-versed in such things, so she didn’t lose face in front of her maids by being shocked.
Linglong and Qi Qiao, having sorted the trunks yesterday, had already seen them, refraining from commenting, hoping to witness their fellow maids make fools of themselves. Seeing their mistress’s calm demeanor today, they were filled with admiration, recalling how close they had come to gawking at them yesterday.
Little did they know their mistress had been screaming internally, "Please, a dozen more of these, and it still wouldn’t be enough!"
These mooncakes were gifts from Princess Anning. The "small items" brought in from the outside, Anning had received several boxes.
These mooncakes were one set, consisting of eight boxes. Anning found them beautiful, so when her mother wanted to bestow festival gifts to external family members, she casually added four boxes.
One was given to the Old Madam, one to the Sixth Miss, one to the Princely Heir’s legitimate daughter, and one to Susu.
Susu was yet unaware of her high standing in Princess Anning’s eyes.
She carefully stored the box of mooncakes, thinking it was substantial enough to pass down as a family heirloom in the future.
Next came the preparations from the Changlong Princess Mansion, also providing two trunks. Though it couldn’t have been personally prepared by the Eldest Princess, Susu immediately knew the festival gift was of high specification.
One box of spices alone was worth as much as the aroma pills Susu had configured.
Following this was the Grand Princess Consort Gong. There were many things, and Susu was surprised to see gifts from the Princess Consort Gong and Commandery Princess Qingning on the list, leaving Susu puzzled as to whether this counted as a blessing in disguise.
The return gifts from the Old Madam of Duke Zhen Guo included quite a few items prepared by the Seventh Sister for her. Thinking of the festival gifts she secretly arranged to send through Aunt Qin for her sister, and the many considerations Second Brother and others had while sending theirs, Susu almost wished the Emperor would simply die the next day.
However, seeing the festival gifts prepared by the Song Family, Susu suppressed her resentment.
The Old Madam, Heir’s wife, Sixth Miss, Fifth Young Master, and Sixth Young Master all prepared festival gifts for her.
The Old Madam, worried she might not adapt well to life in Hami or the food there, had Uncle Wei transport a cartload of top-quality rice, flour, beans, and grains all the way from the family farm.
The Song Family had painstakingly purchased a small farm in Hebei Yutian specifically to grow green rice and rouge rice, with only a limited quantity available each year, not sold outside.
The portion the Old Madam gave to Susu was truly considered giving up her own share.
Yesterday, Uncle Wei had already rambled on about it, considering the "transportation cost" on the road enough to buy those items.
Susu, smiling, listened without replying, till Uncle Wei, having talked enough, exclaimed, "Fine, fine, I surrender to you and your grandmother! Listen, when I return to the Capital at the start of the year, even if you pack a few sacks of Hami dates, I’ll bring them back for you."
The gifts sent by Yang Liu and her three companions, along with Mrs. Zhao, appeared much more usual, which seemed the proper way to give return gifts.
Not to mention that Susu, along with five maids, spent three to four days sorting it all out. Then came the grand distribution event during which the mistress happily gifted items for Mid-Autumn Festival.
Apart from clothing and jewelry, each household also received items like pork, rice, white flour, and brown sugar.
The treatment for her servants was exemplary, not to mention the soldiers under Hong Sheng’s close staff, who also received festival gifts prepared by Sister-in-law Hong before Mid-Autumn, including foods unavailable in the Northwest. For those with children under five or parents over fifty, there were small silver ingots symbolizing Five Blessings and Longevity or Rising.
This left other soldiers envious, and some officers protested to Commander Liu, saying Hong Sheng was overly endearing himself, making things difficult for them.
Commander Liu, upon returning home, discussed Susu’s "extravagant" behavior with his wife, only for her to disagree with his views, instead praising Susu as a "virtuous helpmate."
Determined not to let his wife become such a helpmate, causing him distress over finances, Commander Liu gritted his teeth and procured a batch of practical grains to distribute among his trusted soldiers.
The silver used to buy a stone of premium flour could buy two stones of rough rice. Who at home can afford to use premium rice for congee?
With the same amount of silver, purchasing more grains allowed soldiers’ families a few more meals. This strategy had given him both substance and facade, and Commander Liu proudly applauded his cleverness.
Even someone as tight-fisted as him had paid out to improve soldiers’ families’ living conditions. Yet some were still unwilling, appearing antisocial.
After being startled by Commander Liu’s remark of "antisocial," they hurriedly forked out the silver to comfort some subordinates, inwardly cursing Hong Sheng.
While turmoil raged in Hami, over in the Capital, the festival gifts Susu had arranged to send reached everyone before the Mid-Autumn Festival, naturally leaving everyone satisfied.
In Sui’an Hall of Shun’an Earl Mansion, Zhao Youshen’s wife (Shuimo’s mother) sat on a small stool before the Old Madam, delivering her report.
Old Madam Song asked detailed questions about Susu’s situation after arriving in the Northwest. Although monthly letters from Susu bore only good news, they knew Susu’s style of reporting only the positives and not the negatives.
Having received strict instructions from Susu not to trouble the Old Madam with trivial matters, Zhao Youshen’s wife picked only the good parts to report.
"Our lady grew up under your care; aren’t you aware of her capabilities? She manages the entire household without any elders around, even overseeing our master’s personal finances!"
With unmarried girls still in the room, Zhao Youshen’s wife discreetly commented on how Hong Sheng treated Susu, smiling as she added, "Our lady is not only beautiful as a flower but has an exceptional disposition, always considering our master’s needs. He, too, adores her enough to fetch the moon and stars if he could.
Externally, besides the Commander’s Wife and the Deputy Commander’s Wife, our lady holds the highest rank, and her demeanor is beloved by all.
Interestingly enough, the Princely Heir’s wife’s aunt, Mrs. Zhao, is the biological sister-in-law of Mrs. Qin, the Hami Guard Commander’s wife. Our lady mentioned that Mrs. Zhao remembered her and knew she came from the family of their in-law Old Madam, thus looked after her well, even enlisting her sister-in-law’s help in doing so."
