Not only Xiaomei is worried about this matter, Qiao Niang is also worried about it.
As soon as Xiao Feng got up early in the morning, Qiao Niang was waiting outside the door. When she heard some movement in the house, she knocked on the door.
"Master, are you awake?"
Xiao Feng quickly put on his clothes and opened the door. Qiao Niang held a basin of warm water and urged him to wash up quickly. Xiao Feng was quite puzzled.
"It's so early, why are you in a hurry? Did someone ask me to go to court?"
"No, sir, tomorrow is New Year's Eve. You have to go to Miss Liu's house to give gifts today!"
"Huh? Shouldn't we go to pay New Year's greetings on the first day of the Lunar New Year?" Xiao Feng was confused and Qiao Niang was speechless.
"Sir, after you and Miss Liu get married, it's natural that you should go to pay New Year's greetings on the first day of the new year.
Or if you and Ms. Liu are not married, you can go visit your elder Mr. Liu on the first day of the new year.
But as it stands now, you should have gone to visit me before the end of the year. In fact, it's a bit late today.
I also saw that the master is very busy during this period, so I postponed it until today, but I can’t delay it any longer.”
Xiao Feng doesn't know much about the customs at this time. Although he has the physical memory of the owner, the owner is originally a nerd and is not proficient in these etiquette and customs. So he should listen to Qiao Niang.
After washing up, Xiao Feng had a new problem.
"Qiao Niang, what should I bring to the door?"
Qiao Niang bit her lip, looking very much like Xiao Feng's daughter-in-law who thought about what gifts to give to relatives every year. Xiao Feng couldn't help but stare.
Qiao Niang thought about it for a long time, and finally gave up her novel idea.
"Sir, Miss Liu's house has everything, and there is nothing too novel in our house.
Otherwise, let’s just give it a four-color gift, I’ve asked Boss Zhang’s people to prepare this a long time ago.”
Because there are only women in the Xiao Mansion, and the men all have their own errands in the court, the only ones who can go out to do errands are the old man Qi An, and Lan Dai and Lan Niang, who may be retaliated by Yan Shifan at any time.
So Xiao Feng told them not to leave the house unless they had nothing to do, and if they needed anything, just ask Zhang Tianci's men to help them when they came to deliver rice and grain.
The four-color gift is not very fixed. The more common combination is meat, wine, salt, and tea. For more expensive ones, the salt will be replaced by sugar. Yes, although salt is expensive, sugar is even more expensive.
Even if they are the same combination, the value of a gift is actually very different.
For example, for wine, if you give a jar of rice wine and a jar of aged wine, the price is definitely not the same. The same goes for meat and tea.
What Qiao Niang asked Zhang Tianci to prepare was naturally the best. This four-color gift was of great value. If it had been placed in the past, it would have been enough for the three members of the Xiao Feng family to live for several months.
Things are different now. Xiao Feng's income is kept by Qiao Niang, and Qiao Niang is gradually not as stingy as before. It is still frugal, but the master must not be embarrassed by going to his future wife's house.
Xiao Feng nodded to show that she understood. Qiao Niang gave Xiao Feng a new robe and asked him to change into it. She urged him to have breakfast, pick up the gifts and prepare to go out.
Xiao Feng really felt that there was no need to go out so early, because Liu Tong's house was diagonally opposite the door. With Xiao Feng's current arm strength, throwing a stone might hit the housekeeper who was poking his head all day long.
But Qiao Niang insisted, saying that the earlier you go, the more it shows that you are pious, conscientious, and polite. Who has nothing to do? By the time you arrive at someone else's house, it will be three o'clock in the morning, and they may have gone out. It is not sincere.
Xiao Feng thought for a while and shouted: "Qiaoqiao! Come here and go out with me."
Qiao Niang frowned and said, "Master, what are you doing with Qiao Qiao? She doesn't understand anything. If you want to save face, it's better to let Father Lan follow you."
Xiao Feng smiled and shook his head. Qiaoqiao ran over from the front yard with a stick. Qi Jiguang would call Qiaoqiao whenever he practiced martial arts recently, because with Qiaoqiao around, he was no longer at the bottom in terms of martial arts.
When I heard that I was going to see Miss Liu with my master, Qiaoqiao was very happy. She took the initiative to pick up the heavy gift box and followed Xiao Feng out.
Before he had taken two steps, he was stopped by the Wang family's wife and Wang Yingxiang. They were hesitating and hesitated to speak.
"You want to ask if Lao Wang can go home for the New Year, right?" This matter is not difficult to guess at all.
Mrs. Wang's eyes were red and her voice was choked with sobs.
"Sir, I heard that this case is over, right? My husband should be free of charges. The Chinese New Year will be celebrated tomorrow..."
"Sister-in-law, you don't have to worry. Lao Wang is fine. The most he can do is get a comment that the case is unclear and a penalty of salary.
This case can't be settled. King Jing didn't kill anyone, and King Yu didn't frame King Jing. Then the second housekeeper and Zhao Er became the scapegoats. Lao Wang, it's good for him to bear some responsibility.
However, Lao Wang was arrested and imprisoned in the Imperial Prison, not in the Shuntian Mansion cell. To get out of the imperial prison, the procedures were more complicated and required Long live's personal approval.
I've asked Shen Lian to help with the urging. There's no need to rush into this matter. It's best if you can come out to celebrate the New Year, so what if you can't come out? A safe family means celebrating the New Year, so why care about which day is the New Year?"
Wang Yingxiang quickly persuaded her mother: "Yes, Mr. Xiao is right. My father is definitely fine anyway, and there is no need to worry about my mother. Qiaoqiao and Yunqing have repeatedly asked us to stay at the Xiao Mansion for the New Year, and I have agreed."
Madam Wang glared at her, and after Xiao Feng nodded and left with a smile, she pinched her hard.
"You unfilial girl, I don't know what you are thinking? You risked your father just to stay in Xiao Mansion for the New Year? He is in prison!"
Wang Yingxiang grinned when her mother pinched her, and retorted with a red face.
"That's not the case! Mr. Xiao just said that the procedures for being imprisoned are cumbersome and you can't get out by just saying it. You have to go through the emperor!
Besides, what is mom worried about? Didn’t Mr. Xiao ask Mr. Shen to take us to see dad the day before yesterday?
You see, dad is drinking and eating meat in there, and even discussing with the jailer brother which parts of the body hurt the most, and the jailer brother even praises dad for his profound knowledge!"
The wife of the Wang family sighed: "You are really young and ignorant. Where is that place? It is a prison.
If it weren't for Mr. Xiao's face and Mr. Shen's care, it would be hell!
Why do you think the jailer wants to study the most painful parts of a person’s body?”
Xiao Feng didn't know about the dispute between the two of them, so he had already walked out of the door with Qiaoqiao, walked dozens of steps along the main street, and was opposite Liu Tong's house.
As soon as the door of Xiao Feng's house opened, Liu Tong's concierge rushed over and informed the housekeeper as instructed. The housekeeper immediately ran behind the door and looked out through the crack in the door.
When Xiao Feng and Qiaoqiao walked across the main street, the housekeeper calmed down and said to the concierge beside him:
"I'll keep an eye on you here. Go call the master, I'm afraid Xiao Feng is coming!"
The concierge did not move. The butler turned around angrily and found that Liu Tong was above him, also bent over, but because he was a little taller than him, his head had the upper hand.
The housekeeper quickly bent down lower so that Liu Tong wouldn't have to lift up too much.
"Master, Xiao Feng is coming soon. Should I let him in or not?"
Liu Tong squinted one eye and stared at Xiao Feng through the crack in the door, feeling somewhat conflicted in her heart.
Just when he was hesitating, Xiao Feng did not walk across the main street, but walked straight forward!
Liu Tong sighed, feeling a little disappointed, and there was an echo of his disappointed sigh.
He couldn't help but wonder, am I so disappointed? Sighing so loudly?
Then he felt something was wrong, turned around and looked back, and was shocked.
On his left was his wife, on his right was Xiaomei, and underneath the housekeeper was Liu Peng, almost filling the palm-wide gap in the door.
Liu Tong angrily squeezed out of the encirclement: "What are you doing? How decent are you? Go back to the second gate!"
Xiaomei ran back disappointed. Madam pulled Liu Peng and walked back, pointing fingers at Sang and scolding Huai.
"If I make you disobedient, if I make you speak harshly, you will regret it sometimes!" As he said this, he slapped Liu Peng twice.
Liu Peng was beaten innocently. He groaned and wiped his tears before being dragged away by his wife. Liu Tong felt that his wife was scolding him, but did he have any evidence?
And he found that he was not relieved because Xiao Feng didn't come over at this time, but instead an unknown fire went to his forehead.
"What is this little beast so crazy about? What's so great about it? Isn't it just that he became a middle school student?
Isn’t it just to be a master of Wenxuan? Isn’t it to be a worldly master? Isn’t it to be the master of King Yu and King Jing..."
The housekeeper lowered his head and listened to Liu Tong's scolding voice getting lower and lower.