Thirteenth Lady's Comback: Her Everyday Life as a Bystander-Chapter 248 - 23: Hami Welcomes You (Part 3)

Susu personally led people to prepare things.

The four Hundred Households are now promoted to Thousand Households, each family sending: two bolts of palace silk for top use, one bolt of feather silk from overseas, one Doroni, one Ruan Yanluo, one Zhang Rong, two dou of Green Rice, two dou of top-grade japonica rice, one bottle of perfume from France, one bottle of osmanthus scent, one bottle of rose scent, one box of lily incense, one package of bird’s nest, one stick of 20-year-old ginseng, two pounds of shrimp, two pounds of dried scallops, two pockets each containing four gold ingots shaped like eight coins.

The two Chief Banners also got promoted to Hundred Households, following the gift list above, replacing the feather silk and Doroni with two bolts of Hang silk, replacing the perfume with a box containing two hand mirrors, removing the lily incense, adding a box of six pieces of handmade soap, and replacing the ginseng in the pockets with gold ingots shaped like six-coin goldfish.

There are also four people, all of whom are Hong Sheng’s trusted aides. Although they can only be considered Top-class Soldiers without rank, they are still closer than others because they follow Hong Sheng wherever he goes.

Susu followed the Chief Banner’s gift list, removing the hand mirrors and soap, but privately added four fine gold-wired double dragon playing with pearl rings, not included on the gift list. The exquisite craftsmanship of Jinyinman Tang is not inferior to homemade ones, which are naturally rare in the Northwest.

The items and the gift list were shown to Hong Sheng, reminding him of the two boxes of things Susu prepared when he went to bid farewell to Old Madam Song before joining the army in the Northwest, even thinking of gifts for his superior’s wife.

He was able to quickly establish himself in the army, being both brave and resourceful, willing to fight and kill, which was only part of the reason; getting into the superior’s eyes was the determining factor.

And how much of this is attributed to pillow talk, probably only the superior knows.

That was also part of the reason why Hong Sheng decided to propose to Susu and was even willing to wait for her for five years.

And now Susu is even more thoughtful and skilled than she was at that time.

Hong Sheng naturally had no dissatisfaction, but seeing the things Susu prepared, most of which were good things from her dowry, Hong Sheng felt more touched and a little embarrassed.

"Susu, these are all your dowries, I..." Hong Sheng hadn’t finished speaking before Susu covered his mouth with her hand; although she had previously "educated" Yang Liu and Ning Cui to guard their dowries, it depended on the situation.

The betrothal gifts Hong Sheng gave her were truly everything he had, how could she still be reluctant about these things now?

From Susu’s eyes, Hong Sheng saw her intentions and tightly held Susu’s hand, smiling, "I won’t say anything, just look at the future, your husband will return you tenfold, a hundredfold!"

The two smiled at each other, everything was understood without words.

In May, it is the best time to tour Tianshan and appreciate the peonies and tulips of Hami.

Before entering Hami County, the convoy stopped, and ten big soldiers rode over to bid farewell to Hong Sheng and Susu, with four trusted aides returning after settling their families, but others wouldn’t be seen for a while.

The ten big soldiers ate and drank well throughout the journey, compared to the way there, the return was simply heaven, all thanks to Susu, naturally making them "reluctant to part."

When can they eat the oil-splashed meat made by Mrs. Lin again? It’s over; the advantage of being close to water and first to get the moon is gone! Alas, going back they’ll have to tighten their belts and live again...

Seeing the expressions of several subordinates, not only did Hong Sheng know what they were thinking, but even Susu was fooled by them, thinking they had formed a deep "revolutionary friendship" along the way, so she wasn’t too heartbroken over the generous gifts.

The things Susu prepared could be shown off even in the Capital, let alone in the Northwest where their value would triple or quadruple immediately, just one 20-year old wild ginseng was rare.

Susu asked people to bring out the items, each person receiving a large jujube wood box.

Hong Sheng said, "These are prepared by my wife for you. Once you’re settled, come to the house for a meal, I won’t keep you long."

The soldiers were not shy, all beamed and in unison said, "Thank you, sister-in-law!" Then each carried their own, even though Cold Scholar was not strong, he had Yang Xiaoshan to assist.

They were truly happy, knowing Boss Hong wouldn’t let them go back empty-handed, but who would have expected sister-in-law to prepare such a big box? And having been together on the journey, they all knew sister-in-law wasn’t just a pretty façade, um, not someone who talks well but doesn’t act, so even if the box was only half-full, it was worth it!

Some with less cleverness secretly wondered what they got and whether others got the same? If not the same, who got more, who got less? If the same, he was now a Thousand Households (Hundred Households), should he not get something better?

Leng Xiao, one of Hong Sheng’s trusted aides, though more of a thinker. Having been together for so long, everyone knew each other well.

Leng Xiao gave Yang Xiaoshan a look, who then said with a smile, "Wow, such a big box, quite heavy, I wonder what little sister-in-law prepared?"

Leng Xiao glanced around, capturing everyone’s expressions, sighed internally, as Boss Hong was great in every way, but too much of a wanderer at heart, with a righteous heart that pitied the poor, felt compassion for the weak; good, but not suited to the military where merit and fists spoke for you.

If everyone had the same military merit, why should someone else get first pick of the proceeds just because they were poor or had difficult family circumstances? Poverty and hardships weren’t anyone’s doing, so why always accommodate? This led to cracks within the team, though now the crack was small and could be repaired.

Fortunately, Boss Hong married a good wife who could make up for this shortcoming. 𝗳𝚛𝚎𝚎𝘄𝕖𝕓𝕟𝕠𝚟𝚎𝕝.𝗰𝕠𝐦

Cold Scholar casually said, "Don’t forget what Nanny Wei said, sister-in-law was raised by the Old Madam of Bo Mansion, is well-regarded by many nobles, and naturally excels in conduct. What Boss can’t think of, she can; big families value propriety; I took a glance earlier, there was even a gift list." Saying this, he recited what he received, except for the four rings not included on the list which he hadn’t seen yet.

Yang Xiaoshan, who recognized some characters and had recently been promoted to Hundred Households, listened to Leng Xiao and compared his gift list, chuckling, "Hey, I have more than you, a hand mirror and that interior stuff, isn’t that what the emperor uses?"

They spoke openly for everyone to hear. When others checked secretly, though the Thousand Households position compared to Yang Xiaoshan’s Hundred Households lacked the said hand mirror and interior soap, a box of fragrance wasn’t cheap even in the Northwest. Besides, Lily incense sounds elegant!

This time, everyone was content, having to acknowledge Susu, coming from a big family, even if from a maid background, her insight couldn’t be matched by small households.

Leng Xiao observed the expressions again, knowing the matter was finally smoothed over.

Suddenly, he thought of something and asked, "Does anyone know if Miss Yue is in Puli or Hami?"

Zhang San, also one of Hong Sheng’s trusted aides, was startled upon hearing this, "Before, when Boss called people to tidy up Hami’s mansion, it seemed she volunteered for the job!"

Li Si, not caring to bicker with Zhang San now, said with a helpless face, "So, she’s at Hami Mansion? Hehe, do you think Boss Hong told little sister-in-law about this ’sworn sister’?"

The others looked at each other, feeling "Boss Hong is doomed!"