bookrandom Chapter 378: Book Drying
Chapter 378: Book Drying
In the blink of an eye, another month passed.
Shen Tang's belly grew bigger again.
She is less than six months pregnant, but her belly is bigger than that of other women who are eight months pregnant. She has obviously controlled her food intake, but her belly just keeps growing. The princess is frightened by the sight. It will take another three months before the birth. If it continues to grow, how big will her belly be by the time the baby is born?
The princess also suspected that it was twins, but twins are difficult to conceive, and are more likely to be born prematurely, with a higher chance of a difficult birth.
The princess suffered a lot when she gave birth to Xie Guimo and almost lost her life. She still feels scared when she thinks about it now.
Shen Tang seemed to be fine, not suffering from morning sickness. He ate everything with relish and slept well... In Xie Guimo's words, he was heartless and fell asleep as soon as he hit the bed.
But her belly was so big that it was inconvenient for her to do anything. She even went to pay her respects to the princess less often, often only once every two or three days. She also went to the garden less often. Either Xie Guimo accompanied her, or several maids followed her, for fear that she would have an accident. With such a big belly, she couldn't imagine falling.
Shen Tang was leaning on the small couch reading a book. Now that her belly was big, she couldn't sit cross-legged anymore, and she couldn't maintain the same posture for long before having to change.
Flipping the page casually, Mother Zhou came in with the account book. Shen Tang handed over all the affairs inside and outside Chenxiangxuan to Mother Zhou. Shen Tang was relieved that Mother Zhou was in charge of Chenxiangxuan, but Mother Zhou did not let Shen Tang be a hands-off boss. He still had to look at the account books, especially the account books of the dowry farm. He could ignore them, but he had to know what was going on.
But Shen Tang really didn't like looking at the account books. Touching her bulging belly, she said, "Your belly is already so big. Can't you wait a few months until I give birth?"
Mother Zhou didn't say anything, just looked at the book in Shen Tang's hand. Shen Tang put the book down silently.
Mother Zhou said, "It's just a quick glance, it won't take much effort. Also, Chen Qi and Ginkgo's marriage was decided a long time ago. When will the Crown Prince's Consort plan to hold their wedding banquet?"
Shen Tang's belly is getting heavier day by day. If she doesn't do anything now, she will have to wait until the baby is born and the confinement period is over, which will take at least four or five months.
Hearing that there would be a wedding banquet for her, Ginkgo's face flushed, "Why is Mother Zhou in such a hurry to marry me off?"
Mother Zhou laughed, "Why get married? Even if you get married, won't you still stay in Chenxiangxuan?"
ginkgo,"……"
No words to refute.
But even if she doesn't get married, she doesn't want to get married so early. If she gets married, she won't be able to live with Qiu Tong.
But Ginkgo didn't dare say this, it was too embarrassing.
Shen Tang said, "Mother Zhou is really thoughtful. It's really time to start planning a wedding banquet for them."
It will take several days to prepare the dowry, choose a date, and prepare the banquet. It will take at least half a month at the fastest. If it is delayed any further, she will have to wait until she has given birth.
Shen Tang got off the small couch and went to the study to find Xie Guimo. Xie Guimo asked, "Why are you here?"
Shen Tang said, "I'm here to discuss with you about holding a wedding banquet for Chen Qi and Ginkgo."
Xie Guimo said, "You decide."
This is not her decision.
Shen Tang asked, "Aren't you going to help Chen Qi propose marriage?"
Shen Tang said with a look on his face, "My maid is not that easy to marry. There is no need for a sedan chair, but there must be a betrothal gift, and it cannot be less."
Xie Guimo, "..."
He really didn't think about proposing a marriage.
Chen Qi has followed him for several years and is loyal to him. As his master, he should indeed give him a betrothal gift.
Xie Guimo and Shen Tang discussed and decided to buy a small courtyard for Chen Qi behind the Jingyang Palace, and give him a betrothal gift of 200 taels. Shen Tang gave Ginkgo a dowry of 20 acres of fertile land, two sets of silver jewelry, a pair of gold bracelets, 16 pieces of cloth, and some miscellaneous items. The dowry and betrothal gift were almost the same.
Originally, Ginkgo was resistant to getting married, but when she knew there were so many betrothal gifts and dowries, she no longer resisted. Even a beautiful girl from a small family might not have such a large dowry as hers.
Qiu Tong was envious. Ginkgo said, "You and I are both maids of the Crown Prince's Consort. When you get married, the Crown Prince's Consort will definitely need you as a concubine."
Qiu Tong blushed, "I, I don't want to get married..."
Ginkgo said, "How about I talk to the Crown Prince's Consort and arrange a marriage for you, and we can get married together?"
Qiu Tong shook her head like a rattle.
After the discussion here, Chen Qi came in and said, "Master, Old Master An and his family will go to Beijing tomorrow."
Since Old Master An went to Beijing on New Year's Eve, he has never returned to Qizhou. He was tired from traveling and had difficulty acclimatizing to the local climate, so he was sick for several days and stayed in Kyoto. When Old Master An's condition improved a little, Master An left Master An to take care of Old Master An and went back to Qizhou to pick up his family.
Although only Madam An, the princess, and An Nuan are left in the lineage of the Duke of Zhenguo, but according to the order of seniority and hierarchy, the ones who will return to their ancestral home must be someone else in the An family, not the Duke of Zhenguo.
In addition, Madam An wants to choose an heir, so all the younger members of the An family must go to Beijing for Madam An to choose. The children are young, so their parents must accompany them. It is like going to Beijing to broaden their horizons. Everyone always yearns to be at the feet of the emperor.
This is a big deal for the Duke of Zhenguo's Mansion. In the past half month, the princess has returned to the Duke of Zhenguo's Mansion every few days to work on this matter with Madam An.
Xie Guimo asked Shen Tang, "Tomorrow the Duke of Zhenguo's Mansion will hold a banquet to welcome them. Do you want to go?"
If Shen Tang wasn't pregnant, she would definitely go.
Now that Shen Tang is pregnant, she doesn't have to go if she doesn't want to.
Shen Tang touched her bulging belly and said, "I'll go with you. After the banquet, I'll go to the street to buy Ginkgo's dowry."
Since she is getting married, she must prepare wedding clothes. She can ask the embroidery room in the palace to make them, but the palace is not just about the main house. The princess will definitely not say anything. If she knows, she will probably send some to Ginkgo to add to her makeup. But there are other people in the palace, and they are all people who like to meddle in other people's affairs. Shen Tang doesn't want to be criticized for such a thing, so it is better to buy ready-made ones.
Shen Tang went out alone, and Xie Guimo was very worried, so he accompanied her wherever she went.
The next morning, the princess went to the Duke of Zhenguo's Mansion to help. After all, there was only one Madam An in the Duke of Zhenguo's Mansion. Although An Nuan was also there, she was pregnant and the princess did not dare to let her work hard. The princess would rather work harder herself and was happy with it.
After breakfast, Shen Tang and Xie Guimo left the house and took a carriage to the Duke of Zhenguo's Mansion together.
The princess thought Shen Tang would not come and did not dare to call him, but when Shen Tang went, the princess was happier than anyone else, especially Mrs. An.
The princess said, "It will probably take a while for Old Master An and the others to arrive, so let Mo'er take you around."
Xie Guimo smiled and said, "I'll take you to see the courtyard where my mother lived before she got married."
Twenty years have passed since the princess got married, and the courtyard where she lived before her marriage is still preserved, still looking the same as when she was a boudoir dweller.
Shen Tang was actually quite interested, so Xie Guimo took her there.
There is a bamboo forest outside the yard, and the wind makes a rustling sound. However, the weather is warmer, and the wind blowing on the body is not only not cold, but also somewhat comfortable.
The gate of the courtyard is open and there is usually a maid in charge of it. Otherwise, a courtyard that has been uninhabited for twenty years would have been dilapidated. The courtyard is well maintained and there is no sense of desolation.
But there were not many people in the yard, only two maids who were busy drying books. When they heard footsteps, they looked towards the gate of the yard and saw that it was Xie Guimo and Shen Tang, so they hurried over to greet them.
Shen Tang asked, "Are you drying books?"
The maid replied, "Madam said that books are easily affected by moisture, so we should take them out and dry them in the sun when the sun is bright."
There are quite a lot of books, hundreds of them, as well as calligraphy and paintings.
The courtyard was elegant. Xie Guimo took Shen Tang for a walk and then took Shen Tang into the house. The house was very clean inside and out. When the princess came back, she would often come to check on her. No one knew when the princess would come back, so the two maids didn't dare to be lazy.
After taking a walk, Shen Tang looked at the books hanging out to dry. He walked over and asked the maid to take out a box and take out the letters inside to dry in the sun.