Chapter 331 Welcome Reception

Chapter 331 Welcome Reception

After washing away the dust and fatigue, Xie Wanniang took the two children and helped them wash up and change into clean clothes.

As for the servants and guards accompanying them, they were taken care of by the steward of the manor, so Xie Wanniang and Jiang Yuan did not need to worry about them too much.

The couple, each holding a baby, sat in the main room and chatted briefly. Then, someone from the kitchen came over to ask if they could serve the meal.

After returning to his residence, Jiang Yuan, who had already removed his armor, nodded without hesitation. "Send word, and have someone go to the third courtyard to invite Auntie and her family over."

Haitang, who came to deliver the message, responded with a "yes" and then went out to deliver the message to the people sent from the kitchen and to Wang Xiaozhi's family in the third courtyard.

Wang Xiaozhi is still not quite used to being surrounded by maids and servants. Fortunately, Xie Wanniang is thoughtful enough to have instructed the people she sent over in advance not to gather around Wang Xiaozhi's family when they have nothing to do. Instead, she only sends one or two people to the back room at the entrance of the courtyard to take orders.

As for Wang Xiaozhi, she had given her advance notice, telling her that if she needed any help from the servants, she should just stand at the door or window and call out, and not be shy.

Wang Xiaozhi liked this approach very much, so she happily nodded in agreement and secretly breathed a sigh of relief when Xie Wanniang wasn't looking.

Therefore, when Haitang invited them to dine in the second courtyard, there were no maids or servants present in Wang Xiaozhi's and her children's room.

The old woman guarding the gate stood at the entrance of the courtyard, while the two maids and the old woman who had just finished helping Wang Xiaozhi were sitting together in the back room by the gate, drinking tea and eating fruit.

The tea was the cheap, coarse tea that the servants often drank, and the fruit was what Xie Wanniang and the others had originally brought along for the journey.

Upon arrival, Xie Wanniang had the servants take the leftover snacks, fruits, and candies and share them among themselves.

The reason is simple—even when these servants arrive at their destination, they still have to serve their master first before they can find time to go to the kitchen to get their meals, unlike the accompanying guards, who, because of the mansion's original guards, can go to eat and rest immediately.

After greeting the old woman guarding the gate, as well as the three maids and old women who came out to see what was happening, Haitang went into the main hall of the third courtyard to invite Wang Xiaozhi's family to the second courtyard for a welcoming banquet.

Wang Xiaozhi was as quick as ever. When she heard Haitang say that Xie Wanniang had invited her to dinner at the second courtyard, she immediately took the children and rushed over.

Since it was a welcome dinner, the kitchen prepared a very lavish feast.

The meal consisted of twelve dishes: four cold dishes and eight hot dishes. There was a fish head tofu soup, a large bowl of fried sauce noodles, and also children's favorites such as golden thread jujube paste rolls and stuffed glutinous rice balls.

There are four kinds of fillings for the glutinous rice balls: red bean paste, milk curds, strawberry jam, and yellow peach preserves. After steaming until soft and hot, these fillings taste very good. Not only do the children like to eat them, but Xie Wan's mother and Wang Xiaozhi also like them very much.

The two families sat around the table, without needing servants to wait on them, each relying on their own efforts, and happily ate a meal together like ordinary families.

During the meal, Wang Xiaozhi asked Jiang Yuan many questions, which Jiang Yuan answered patiently one by one.

The children, seeing that he was easy to talk to, called him "Uncle" and asked him many questions in their childish voices.

Jiang Yuan answered all the questions he could answer and knew how to answer. For those he couldn't answer or didn't know how to answer, he would truthfully reply with "I can't say" or "My uncle doesn't know either."

His attitude immediately lessened the children's unfamiliarity and fear of him, and they unconsciously gathered around Jiang Yuan, circling around him with An An.

An'an was very unhappy about this. Her father was hers, and her cousins ​​and the others were all crowding around him, so her father didn't have time to pay attention to her!

She pouted, her little arms tightly wrapped around Jiang Yuan's neck, and she was practically hanging on him.

However, she did not drive away the Chen family's children. Due to her personality, even if she was unhappy, she would not express it as intensely as the other children by crying and making a scene.

Fortunately, although Jiang Yuan was dealing with his nephew and niece, he was also keeping an eye on his daughter. When he noticed that she was unhappy, Jiang Yuan immediately moved his handsome face closer and affectionately touched his daughter.

The little girl was immediately appeased by her father, hugging Jiang Yuan's neck and smiling with her eyes crinkling.

Xie Wanniang noticed this scene, but did not say anything. She was already used to her daughter clinging to Jiang Yuan.

If it weren't for the fact that her son was still young and couldn't remember his father who was often away from home, Xie Wan's mother always felt that, given how much Jiang Yuan spoiled his child, her son Linlin would definitely be a clingy little cutie who was attached to his father.

She held her son, talking to Wang Xiaozhi while occasionally feeding him a little egg custard.

The steamed egg custard was specially made by the kitchen staff for the children and was not included in the menu.

The little ones each had a bowl, and they all ate very happily.

The only difference was that while the other children ate very quickly, Linlin not only needed to be fed by an adult, but also ate very slowly and deliberately.

Although the little one is more lively than his older sister, he always eats very slowly, and Xie Wanniang doesn't know why.

After patiently feeding Linlin the entire bowl of steamed egg custard, Xie Wanniang and Jiang Yuan went to see off Wang Xiaozhi, who was saying goodbye.

After traveling for several days, they finally arrived at their destination. Wang Xiaozhi and the children belatedly realized how tired they were. Since she didn't need to stand on ceremony with Xie Wanniang and Jiang Yuan, she suggested that they go back to rest as soon as she felt tired.

Xie Wanniang was actually quite tired. In this era of poor road conditions and inadequate shock absorption measures, riding in a horse-drawn carriage was indeed very tiring.

After seeing Wang Xiaozhi and her children off, Xie Wanniang prepared to wash up and go to bed.

Her two children? Jiang Yuan had already put them on the kang (a heated brick bed) and patted them to sleep.

After a good night's sleep, Xie Wanniang stretched and got up the next day, and together with Jiang Yuan, they washed up, changed clothes, and took care of the children at home.

The couple hadn't lived together for quite some time, so their reunion was naturally filled with the sweet joy of a long-awaited reunion.

Although Wang Xiaozhi had never been separated from her husband for long, she was very considerate of others, so she did not come to the second courtyard in the mornings for the next few days.

The same goes for her four children. They either stayed obediently by her side, doing needlework with her, or were led around by the maids and servants, exploring the east and west courtyards.

The east and west courtyards of Jiang Yuan's house were empty because he had no children over seven years old who needed to live separately, and he had never taken any concubines.