Chapter 201 The New Year Begins

The moon is above the treetops, and the place is quiet.

The bustle in the general's mansion has also returned to calm.

The firecrackers and paper scraps on the ground at the door are now slowly blowing in the cold wind.

In the Xitang courtyard.

Shang Ji and Du Jingyi lie in bed with their clothes on, hugging each other to sleep.

"I will return to the camp after the Lantern Festival, and I probably won't have so much time to accompany you by then."

Shang Ji hugged Du Jingyi in his arms, patting her back while talking, as if coaxing a child to sleep.

Du Jingyi was sleepy and her eyelids were a little difficult to open.

So when she heard this, she just muttered.

"General, don't worry, I will take good care of myself. There are my grandmother and aunt in the mansion, so it's okay."

Shang Ji naturally knew that it was okay, but he couldn't help but care.

Today is New Year's Eve. I wanted to talk to her more, but she was so tired that I had to put my mind aside and whispered one more sentence in Du Jingyi's ear.

"Go to sleep, I'll keep you company."

"Yeah."

Du Jingyi didn't even have to struggle and fell asleep.

After feeling the smooth breathing of the person next to him, Shang Ji smiled lightly.

Once upon a time, if someone told him that he didn't even want to turn over when sleeping and just wanted to live with his wife and children on the warm bed, he would probably be dismissive.

But now that I really experience it, I know what it means to be together forever.

I closed my eyes and leaned my head on Du Jingyi's forehead, feeling her warm breath, and fell asleep.

One night and the dawn.

The new 26th year of Xiande came quietly in the cold.

According to the rules of the Daxing Dynasty, there is no curfew from the first day of the first lunar month to the sixteenth day of the first lunar month, and the people can make as much noise as they want.

Therefore, except for the greater pressure from the Jingji Division, everyone else was having fun, so Sui'an City was bustling no matter day or night.

The gate of the General's Mansion has been crowded since it opened on the first day of the new year.

Today it's not this person who comes to give gifts, tomorrow it's that person who comes to visit relatives.

The gate of the Duke's Mansion, however, seemed a little depressed in the bustle.

The first day of the first lunar month.

Shang Ji brought Du Jingyi, his eldest sister-in-law Liu, his eighth sister Xue Niang and his nephew Shang Zhiping back to the Duke's Mansion for a "reunion".

When the carriage stopped in front of the Duke's Mansion, someone came to pick them up.

But seeing that they were all new faces, Du Jingyi couldn't help but have some other guesses in her heart.

Sure enough, when they entered the mansion and headed towards Yunjin Courtyard, her guess was verified.

In the past, those servants were lax and the door was not strict, but they were just doing it for them.

Now, the people living in the Duke's Mansion are all the descendants of Madam Wei. The rules are strict and the servants are sensible.

It looks more like a family with a deep courtyard than before.

She discovered it, and Shang Ji could also discover it.

But there was a lot of disdain in his eyes. Madam Wei's thoughts were really Sima Zhao's heart, and passers-by knew it.

Unfortunately, sometimes it's useless to make a plan.

With him, the Duke's Mansion will be returned to Shang Zhiping sooner or later. Now, she is just "temporarily" guarding it.

While thinking, he kept walking.

In Yunjin Courtyard, everyone was quite complete today.

But compared with previous years, it was still much more "lonely".

The five rooms in Zhuangzi were trapped, and the three rooms in Guihua Lane were also in danger, so naturally they would not appear in the Duke's Mansion.

Therefore, it was quiet, but it seemed a little inhuman.

If Shang Ji and his friends hadn't come back, there would have been only eight people in the main room.

In addition to Duke Shang Yukuan and Madam Wei, there were also Shang Silang's family and Shang Qilang.

At the beginning of the new year, everyone naturally wore new clothes and new jewelry, hoping for good luck.

However, although they wore new clothes, everyone's faces didn't look very good.

Shang Yukuan was embarrassed, and Madam Wei was cold.

Shang Zhihe looked at Shang Ji and others with disgust, while Shang Zhiyin still looked arrogant.

Shang Silang didn't have any expression, but Silang's wife's eyes kept going back and forth between his eldest sister-in-law Liu and his sixth brother's wife Du Jingyi, revealing some resentment from time to time.

And standing behind the four of them was Shang Zhixian, who was not very noticeable.

She was Shang Silang's illegitimate daughter. Except for the annual New Year's Day, she was not seen at all on weekdays.

In the entire Duke's Mansion, if there is anyone who can sincerely look forward to Shang Ji and his friends coming back, it is probably only Shang Qilang.

However, because of what happened at the gate of the General's Mansion a few days ago, he was a little embarrassed at the moment, and it was not easy for him to rush to Shang Ji to join in the fun.

After Shang Ji glanced at the people present, he stood up with his fists clasped and saluted Shang Yukuan.

"Son greets father."

As soon as he opened his mouth, the people who followed him also spoke.

"Daughter-in-law greets father-in-law."

"Daughter greets father."

"Grandson greets grandfather."

The words were spoken, but it was a world of difference from when he met Madam Gu.

How could Shang Yukuan not feel it, but these things were not something he could decide, so he had to turn a blind eye and say.

"It's good to be back, let's have a reunion dinner as a family."

He wanted to keep people in the mansion, but even if he stayed, there was no place to live, so it was better not to say it.

"Well, my father will arrange it."

Shang Ji never smiles much, so Shang Yukuan couldn't find a place to start.

After seeing Du Jingyi's slightly bulging belly, he asked lovingly.

"When will the baby be born?"

"My father-in-law, it will probably be in summer, in May or June."

"Summer is good, and the baby will be easy to raise. I will definitely bring something to congratulate you when the time comes."

"Thank you, father-in-law."

They only exchanged a few words, and they were not the kind of people who could talk nonstop, so the atmosphere became cold again.

In the past, it was always Mrs. Wei who found topics to talk about.

But today, she was like a big Buddha, unwilling to open her mouth, so naturally there was no one to preside over the situation in this room.

Shang Ji and the others were not afraid of the cold, anyway, coming here was just a formality.

But Shang Qilang felt that they were a family after all, so he naturally had to ask a few questions.

Seeing that his sixth brother and his wife were having trouble getting started, he had an idea and said to his eighth sister, Xue Niang.

"You will be coming of age in two months. Is there anything you want? I will prepare it for you!"

Shang Qilang and Xue Niang had a good relationship, so when he asked this question, Xue Niang did not refuse and answered with a smile.

"Seventh brother is thoughtful, but I have everything I need from my sixth brother, so if you want to give me something, why not... why not give you the "Snow Fishing Picture" you got last time."