Chapter 307 Recognition of Relatives

After the second master Chu became disabled, his temperament changed drastically and he became moody. The old marquis and the old lady who had passed away loved him, and his elder brother and younger brother gave in to him, which led to his bad habits of eating, drinking, playing, and sleeping with prostitutes.

None of the men in the Chu family took concubines, but in order to make the second master Chu settle down, the old lady had to give him two maids. One of the maids was very scheming and poured contraceptive soup, and gave birth to the eldest son of the second master, and was promoted to concubine.

Already disabled and with the eldest son of the second master, it was even more difficult for the second master Chu to find a wife.

It was not until he was nineteen that his family finally found him a wife, Mrs. Chu. Mrs. Chu's father was originally an eighth-rank official. The marquis Chu used his connections to promote him two levels and found him a more lucrative position, so he gave up his daughter.

Mrs. Chu was pretty, fair and delicate, and she came from an official family. At first, Master Chu Er liked her more and agreed to donate a small official position to her family, hoping that she would turn back and take care of the family affairs, and provide a good life for his wife and children. But after a long time, he found that Mrs. Chu Er had small eyes, no rules in her words and deeds, and was greedy for money. Once these problems were exposed, they were often laughed at.

Master Chu Er was sad again, and his old problems came back.

Although he was not good at other things, he could have children. Master Chu Da and Master Chu San had only two children, but he had five, two sons and three daughters.

They were, Master Chu Lingqi, 19 years old, the eldest son of the concubine. Master Chu Lingan, 17 years old, the legitimate son. Second Miss Chu Zhen, 14 years old, the legitimate daughter. Third Miss Chu Lin and Fourth Miss Chu Bi were both 9 years old, both concubine daughters.

Chen Afu suppressed his thoughts and came to Master Chu Er. With his eyes lowered, he could still see that Master Chu Er's eyebrows and eyes were somewhat similar to Chu Lingxuan, but his temperament was completely different, more gloomy, weak, and his left sleeve was empty.

Chen Ahfu knelt down and bowed to him, saying, "Meet the Second Uncle."

Mr. Chu Er nodded, not wanting to say anything, and handed her a red envelope.

Then he met Mr. Chu San, Mrs. Chu Er, and Mrs. Chu San. Chen Ahfu had already met all three of them. Mr. Chu San and Mrs. Chu San smiled and said a few auspicious words for the early prosperity of their families. Mrs. Chu Er just said "hmm" and gave her a red envelope.

She was the eldest sister-in-law. In addition to the elders, the other uncles, sisters-in-law, sisters-in-law, and nephews had to come to pay their respects to her. She prepared a gift for them, a jade pendant for the male and a jade hairpin for the female.

The last person to pay her respects was the second master Chu Lingqi's son, the one-year-old Chu Siwen. He was held by his wet nurse and kowtowed. He was a very cute little boy.

After paying their respects, they went to the ancestral hall to worship the tablets.

It was noon when she returned to the bamboo pavilion. Chen Ahfu saw that Li Ma Ma and Qing Feng and other maids had come to the upper room to serve.

After the two of them washed up in the clean room and had lunch, Chu Lingxuan went to the front yard. He said he had something to discuss with Master Chu San.

Chen Afu sat at the eight-immortal table in the hall and asked the people in the yard to kowtow to her.

Zhuxuan had six maids and four old women before. Xia Yue gave each of them a purse filled with silver ingots. Because Yuzhu and Hongfei were the older maids, their purses contained six silver ingots.

Chen Afu appointed Li Mama as her housekeeper, and Xia Yue, Qingfeng, Yuzhu and Hongfei were the older maids. Xiaohong, Xiaolu, and the two maids in Zhuxuan, who were renamed Xiaohuang and Xiaomo, were second-class maids, and Xiaozi and several other little maids were third-class maids. The four old women still had their own duties. Hua Mama was in charge of the small kitchen, responsible for cooking or boiling water, and the other three old women were rough maids.

Yuzhu was engaged when she was in Dingzhou Prefecture, and this time she brought her fiancé Yu Yongshun with her. They will get married two months later. Yuzhuo will be the housekeeper of Zhuxuan and will look after Zhuxuan for a long time. Yu Yongshun will manage Chen Afu's shop in the capital, directly under the leadership of Zeng Shuang, and sell the crops provided by Fuyunlai.

After the distribution, Chen Afu asked Hua Pozi to prepare some flour, eggs, milk and other ingredients. She will make some snacks later to honor the elders.

When only Li Ma and Xia Yue were left in the room, Xia Yue took out the red envelope.

The red envelopes were filled with silver notes. The old marquis gave 800 taels of silver, the third master Chu and the third lady Chu each gave 400 taels of silver, the second master Chu also gave 400 taels of silver, and the second lady Chu gave 20 taels of silver.

Xia Yue said contemptuously, "Second Madam is really, an elder, giving 20 taels of silver, you have the nerve to do it."

Chen Afu pulled the corner of her mouth and said nothing. She was not only shallow-eyed, but also did not do a little face.

She was leaning on the kang with her eyes closed to rest. The servant came to report that the fourth and fifth masters had arrived. The fifth master was of course Chu Lingzhi, and the fourth master was Chu Lingwei, the eldest son of Mrs. Chu San. Chen Afu didn't see him clearly in the morning, but he felt that Chu Lingwei was very tall. He was just eleven years old this year, but he was half a head taller than the twelve-year-old A Lu and Chen Yulan. Chen Afu stood up and said with a smile, "Please come in." Chu Lingzhi ran in and said with a smile, "Sister-in-law, you finally married into my family. I have been away from Tangyuan for so long, and I miss the snacks made by sister-in-law the most." Chen Afu smiled, "Just snacks?" Chu Lingzhi hurriedly said, "Oh, I also miss sister-in-law, Yan'er, Dabao, Zhuifeng, Sasa, Wangcai, Qiqi, and Huihui. Why doesn't sister-in-law bring them all?" Chen Afu smiled and asked Chu Lingwei to sit on the chair. Chu Lingwei inherited the good looks of the Chu family. She was a little shy and blushed. Perhaps she was embarrassed to ask for food. She knew that the Chu family, headed by the old marquis, had a sweet tooth, especially snacks. The two boys must have been craving for snacks.

She smiled and said, "I have asked the kitchen to prepare the ingredients and will cook them right away. You guys sit down and drink some tea. It will be done in a while."

She took Xia Yue to the kitchen in the backyard, where Mrs. Hua had already woken up.

There was no oven here, so many snacks couldn't be made, so she made golden cakes and secretly put a bit of agarwood powder that had been crushed in advance into the flour.

It was ready in less than half an hour. The elders received eight yuan each, the other masters received four yuan each, and a few respectable servants were given two yuan each. Let the girl send them to them separately.

Of course everyone in Zhuxuan has a share.

She brought a plate of golden cakes to the main courtyard, where Chu Lingwei and Chu Lingzhi were feeding the fish. When they saw Chen Afu coming with snacks, they quickly wiped their hands with a handkerchief to greet them.

Chu Lingwei said, "Sister-in-law, my cook can also make this golden cake, but the cake she makes is not as delicious as the one made by my sister-in-law."

Chen Afu smiled and said, "If you like to eat, come here often. My sister-in-law will also do other things."

She likes Master Chu San and his wife, and also likes these two children.

The brothers finished all the golden cakes on their plates, and Chen Afu also asked them to take back the four pieces he had prepared for each of them.