The two families gathered together. Though their backgrounds differed, they found plenty to discuss as they focused on the two children, avoiding any awkwardness.
As midday approached, a maid came to invite them to the meal. Li Yi held little Xiao Bing and sat at the head of the table, taking the first bite and feeding it to him. Xiao Bing chewed it thoughtfully, his eyes brightening as he looked at the dishes on the table: "More!"
"Okay, your great-grandfather will serve you. What do you want?"
"Meat! Meat!"
Old Lady Wang smiled: "This child loves meat just like his mother."
Li Langyue looked at Li Mingwei, somewhat disbelieving. She knew her daughter's tastes well, how could they have changed so much after just a trip away?
Poor Li Mingwei! Before, she had only eaten meat a few times in three or five days, her stomach filled mostly with plain broth. After marrying into the Liu family, she could have meat every day when she went to school, which is why she seemed to have developed a fondness for it.
Li Yi smiled and glanced at Ah Xiu behind them, saying, "Good things have been happening in our family lately."
Li Mingwei saw her grandfather's gaze turn to her, so she asked, "What good things?"
Li Yi looked to the steward standing by, and the steward immediately stepped forward, "Miss, a few days ago I went to the temple and obtained some auspicious dates, and I was planning to bring them to you today."
"I see." Li Mingwei turned and looked at the bewildered Ah Xiu, smiling, "I'm here today, so you can give them to me now."
The steward went to fetch the documents, and when they had finished their meal and were chatting, he brought the documents over.
Li Mingwei looked them over - six dates in total, with one circled in red. "What does this mean?"
The steward bowed, "This is the date the master said is most auspicious for them, that is..."
It was at the end of September, and it was only April now, still several months away. Ah Xiu had already been waiting for years for Li Mingwei to return, and now they were both getting on in years. Li Mingwei understood the steward's concern and wanted to help them get married sooner.
She hesitated, "What do you think?"
Ah Xiu stole a glance at Cai waiting outside the door, scratching her head, looking perplexed. She didn't really understand this.
She crouched down next to Li Mingwei and whispered, "Is this one good? Are the others not good?"
"They're all good. If they weren't, they wouldn't be written down." The one circled was just the most auspicious.
Li Mingwei looked into her restless eyes, knowing she wanted that most auspicious date, but was worried Cai might not want to wait that long. So she let Ah Xiu go out and discuss it with Cai, and they could choose whichever they liked.
Ah Xiu came back soon, pointing to the date circled in red.
Li Mingwei and the steward exchanged a glance, nodding, and she closed the documents. She'd have to start preparing Ah Xiu's dowry when she got back.
She glanced at the floral patterns on the documents, suddenly remembering something, and called out to the steward who was just about to leave, "How much does it cost to donate a gilded statue?"
The steward thought for a moment, hesitating, "It likely depends on the size of the Buddha statue, maybe a few hundred or a few thousand taels."
"A few hundred taels? In silver or gold?"
"Silver."
Li Mingwei felt the steward was teasing her - when had gold become so worthless?
The steward read her expression and explained, "Miss, donating a gilded statue usually just means gilding the surface with gold powder. Unless you want to have a solid gold statue made..."
"No, no." She didn't want that, she didn't have that kind of money now. Just gilding with powder would be fine.
She recalled the jade statue of Master Yuqing at Yuqing Temple, which was about the same size as Liu Yizhu, so it should be considered quite small. She instructed Ah Xiu to prepare some money to send to Lord Tang, asking him for a favor.
Hearing her casually mention hundreds of taels, Old Lady Wang felt a twinge of pain, "Which temple's statue are you donating a gilded body to?"
How could she be so willing to spend like that.
"Not a Buddha statue, it's for Master Yuqing."
Liu Yizhu immediately understood, "Yuqing Temple?"
Seeing her nod, he asked, "What vow did you make there?"
Li Mingwei rolled her eyes, "What vow could I make when I took you with me!"
Old Lady Wang didn't say anything more. She knew clearly in her heart when they had gone there and their wish had been granted, so they should go make an offering to express their gratitude, otherwise the Master might resent them and stop blessing them.
This daughter of hers, whenever she opened her mouth it was about donating gold statues, oh my, that's a lot of silver!
Li Yi was curious, "Why didn't you mention this place when you came back?"
Li Mingwei nodded. "I've only been there twice."
To donate a gilded statue after just two visits, it seems their wish must have been fulfilled.
Li Mingwei pursed her lips - she had only made one vow, the other was a gift from the Master on her first visit.
Liu Yizhu didn't understand her expression this time, nudging her. Li Mingwei ignored him, glancing at her son still chewing on a pork knuckle, disdainfully saying, "Xiao Bing! Eat less."
Li Langyue's face darkened. "Call him Si Mo."
She had reluctantly accepted Liu Yizhu, so Si Mo was her grandson too. How could she let her grandson be called Xiao Bing?
Li Mingwei pouted, nodding obediently, "He doesn't respond when I call him Si Mo."
"Doesn't respond?" Li Langyue snorted lightly, "You keep calling him for two years, let's see if he doesn't respond."
Li Mingwei closed her mouth.
Liu Yizhu felt relieved - finally someone was on his side. If he couldn't get through to her, with his mother-in-law personally speaking up, Mingwei surely wouldn't dare to object.
Seeing his smile, Li Mingwei kicked him, then went back to her courtyard to rest. Ah Xiu attended to her, and when she fell asleep, she called another maid to watch over her and went to the back to eat.
Li Langyue led Old Lady Wang and the well-fed child into the garden to stroll. Liu Yizhu hesitated for a moment, then went to find his father-in-law.
Zhang Dezhi took a basin of fish food from a servant's hands, throwing some into the lotus pond. The golden fish immediately swarmed over, competing for the food.
Liu Yizhu stepped forward and greeted him, "Master Zhang."
Zhang Dezhi smiled, "It seems I didn't give you enough in red envelopes."
Just enough to call him "father-in-law" once.
Liu Yizhu's forehead broke out in a light sweat as he re-bowed, correcting himself, "Father-in-law."
In the past when he saw his father-in-law at the court, Zhang Dezhi was always solemn and serious, very different from his relaxed manner now. As he approached from the distance, seeing Zhang Dezhi's calm demeanor, he had instinctively called him "Master Zhang".
"Mm." Zhang Dezhi nodded, reminding him, "You should still keep home and outside separate."
Although all of the capital now knew he was Li's son-in-law, he still needed to avoid this in public.
"Your son-in-law understands."
"Is the Hanlin Academy still busy?"
Liu Yizhu shook his head, "Not too busy, just minor matters. It's you, Father-in-law, who bears more responsibilities."
"I wouldn't call it a burden." Zhang Dezhi looked back at Liu Yizhu's somewhat stiff manner, shaking his head with a wry smile, "I'm getting old, I won't be able to handle these matters for much longer. They'll eventually fall to you."
He recalled, "When I was a compiling editor, I was about twenty-five, and it's taken me over twenty years to get to where I am now. Let's see if you can outlast me."
Liu Yizhu bowed, "Your son-in-law..."
Zhang Dezhi put the fish food in his hand, cutting off his words, "Young man, don't sell yourself short. Your path ahead is still long."
