Thirteenth Lady's Comback: Her Everyday Life as a Bystander-Chapter 172 - 10: Festival Gifts (First Update)

In the blink of an eye, it was August fourteenth. Early in the morning, Susu had just gotten up and eaten breakfast when Bai Fu’s household came to report: "Miss, the Old Madam of the Bo Mansion has sent people over, along with two carts of festival gifts." Susu felt very uneasy, as her own festival gifts had not yet been sent to the Bo Mansion, and yet the Old Madam had thought of her first. She quickly said, "Please bring them in."

The visitors were Yun Duo, Ming Xiang, and the newly promoted second-class servants Nanny Liu and Nanny Qi, all familiar faces to Susu. Upon seeing them, Susu promptly stood up, grabbed Yun Duo’s hand, and smiled, "Why have you come? How can the Old Madam do without you by her side?"

Yun Duo and Ming Xiang were now senior maids, with Yun Duo having recognized Nanny Qin as her godmother, making her one of the Old Madam’s favorite people. But upon meeting Susu, they still accompanied her with smiles, saying, "The Old Madam has been thinking of you, Miss. Originally, Ning Xiang and Wu Tong were supposed to come, but they’ve been delivering gifts everywhere else, and the storeroom can’t do without them for a moment. Ming Xiang and I have come with a task; the Old Madam has spoken, ’That girl Susu left the mansion like a wild horse escaped from its bridle, never to return. You must bring her back for me. If Susu doesn’t return, you two stay with her as company!’"

Ming Xiang also tugged Susu’s arm, "Dear Miss, you must say yes to us, otherwise we’ll have to stay here and eat and drink at your place!"

Nanny Liu and Nanny Qi watched Yun Duo and Ming Xiang, who commanded authority within Sui’an Hall, playfully be subservient before Susu. They felt deeply moved, realizing with Susu’s charm, the Old Madam seemed less fond of these newly promoted senior maids. Yun Duo, due to her relationship with Nanny Qin, enjoyed some favor, but in Susu’s presence, they all had to act humbly and refrain from flaunting.

Susu looked at Yun Duo and Ming Xiang with a touch of helplessness, saying, "Did the Old Madam really say that? I haven’t even been away from the mansion for ten days, how could she say ’never to return’?" The two felt a bit guilty but nodded firmly with unchanged expressions.

Susu looked amusingly at them and said, "I suppose the Old Madam truly wants me back at the mansion, but the bit about you staying here to eat and drink is certainly not true." Originally, she had planned to have someone deliver the prepared festival gifts to the Bo Mansion today while she herself went on the sixteenth.

However, upon seeing the people from Sui’an Hall, Susu couldn’t wait to rush back to Sui’an Hall to see the Old Madam. Thinking back, except for the year Princess Consort Xi was pregnant and the Old Madam traveled to Shangjing for half a year, Susu had never been away from the Old Madam for such a long time.

Knowing they couldn’t deceive Susu, Yun Duo and Ming Xiang acknowledged that when it comes to understanding the Old Madam, they couldn’t compete with Susu, who was personally taught by her.

"The Old Madam misses Miss very much; her meals haven’t been as sweet these days. Upon seeing Ning Xiang and Yun Tong, she always asks about when Miss will return, fearing that you’ve been wronged," said Ming Xiang.

Nanny Liu chimed in, "The Old Madam instructed early on to send over festival gifts for Miss. Everything from food and refreshments to clothing and accessories were meticulously prepared by Nanny Qin, Ning Xiang, and Yun Tong. There are also rewards from Princess Consort Xi and Princess Ning’an. The Old Madam has said she wants Miss to return to the mansion to celebrate Mid-Autumn Festival."

Upon hearing this, Susu didn’t hesitate and said, "I’ll make arrangements. Yun Duo, Ming Xiang, Nanny Liu, and Nanny Qi, you’ll have lunch at my place, and then I’ll return with you."

The four people opposite were naturally delighted upon hearing this. Ming Xiang smiled and said, "When we get back, I’ll ask the Old Madam for a big red envelope, since I helped bring you back to her!"

They chatted for a while longer, and Yun Duo handed Susu the gift list. Susu instructed Bai Fu’s household to take them down for some tea and rest, saying that she would personally accompany them at lunch.

The first page of the gift list was the festival gifts bestowed by Princess Consort Xi and Princess Anning. Her Highness bestowed four lengths of tribute satin, a pair of inner-made golden hairpins with the motif of Chang’e Flying to the Moon, a box of palace flowers, a box of inner-made flaky mooncakes, and eight crab-shaped gold ingots weighing one liang each.

Princess Anning gifted a set of Hetian white jade incense tools wrapped in gold, including an incense burner, incense holder, incense tube, incense ball, incense insert, incense box, not to mention incense clips for picking up incense products, incense chopsticks resembling regular chopsticks, incense shovel for handling incense ashes, and an incense spoon for scooping powdered or pellet-shaped incense products.

Upon seeing this set of incense tools, Susu was very fond of them and personally moved them to the study, arranging them one by one.

Then there were the items sent by the Old Madam, which were abundant. Just the large lake crabs from Gucheng Lake and spanner crabs from Bohai Bay came in two big baskets.

There were various kinds of mooncakes—Capital style, Su style, Cantonese style, each one box—not to mention various inner-made palace mooncakes rewarded by the palace.