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The Princess felt a bit embarrassed. She was teasing her grandson, but the old Marquis unexpectedly took the blame upon himself.
After a moment of confusion, she laughed heartily, “Well done. You’re about to head to the court, but if you keep speaking without thinking, blabbing whatever comes to mind, you’ll suffer greatly. Others won’t be like your grandfather, openly scolding and hitting you when upset. They’ll stay calm on the surface while plotting in secret against you.”
Marquis Jiang and Jiang Zhanju cleverly shifted the conversation to interpersonal relationships, with Jiang Zhankun promising to remember the elders’ teachings and to serve well in his official duties and personal life.
Jiang Zhankun’s flattery almost went overboard, but the old Marquis’s peculiar thought process unexpectedly eased the awkwardness between Jiang Zhanwei and Lu Man.
After some more laughter and conversation, it was nearing midday.
Following lunch, Princess Changting held Jiang Zhanwei’s hand, saying, “Good child, your grandfather is ill. Don’t be angry with him. You’ve seen how much he dotes on your daughter, right? Oh, he goes to see her early every morning, doesn’t even have breakfast here. If he misses a day, he feels uneasy.”
Jiang Zhanwei reassured her, “Grandmother, I understand.”
Princess Changting advised him to spend time with his wife, children, and siblings in the afternoon and skip the visit to Crane Hall.
On the way back, Second Master Jiang wanted Jiang Zhanwei to go to the Wannian Pavilion in the afternoon, but Second Madam stopped him, whispering, “If mother-in-law hasn’t asked them to go to Crane Hall, it’s because she knows they want to be alone together. Why bother causing trouble?”
Returning to Donghui Courtyard, Jiang Yue was already fast asleep in Jiang Zhanwei’s arms.
In order to help Jiang Yue fully adapt to staying in the east wing, Lu Man made the tough decision to have Mama Li gently carry her to nap in the east wing.
Worried that his brother might send her back to her own little courtyard, Jiang Jiu tugged at his clothes, saying, “Brother, Jiu is not sleepy.”
It had been a while since she referred to herself as “Jiu”, but seeing her brother, she couldn’t resist a bit of playfulness.
Jiang Zhanwei smiled, holding his sister’s hand in one hand and Lu Man’s in the other, then gestured to Jiang Zhankui, saying, “Let’s go, the three of us should have a good chat.” He then turned to Lu Man and added, “Since we won’t go to Crane Hall this evening, let’s invite mother-in-law and brother-in-law to Donghui Courtyard for dinner.”
Lu Man also had the same idea, her mother and brother had been eager to see Jiang Zhanwei. She replied with a smile, “Sure, I’ll go fetch my mother and Cheng, then check on the kitchen.” With that, she headed to the backyard.
She wanted the siblings to have a heart-to-heart talk.
After spending three quarters of an hour in the back room, Lu Man returned to the main room to find Jiang Zhankui and Jiang Jiu were no longer there. Instead, there were five boxes piled up—three large and two small. The large boxes were about four to five feet long, while the small ones were about two feet long. On top of the boxes sat a small brocade box, and Jiang Zhanwei sat by the window, reading a book.
Seeing Lu Man return, Jiang Zhanwei pointed at the boxes with a smile, saying, “These are the gifts I brought for you, and the gifts for the elders and siblings have already been taken to their rooms. Take a look, do you like them?”
Approaching the boxes with Lu Man, Jiang Zhanwei opened each one, saying, “I didn’t treat you well during our marriage proposal, so the betrothal gifts wouldn’t have been extravagant. Although I’ve never seen them, I can imagine. Most of these are my spoils from battles, as well as items I purchased at the border.”
Looking at the boxes filling the room, Lu Man remarked, “I’m well-off now.”
Jiang Zhanwei responded, “What’s yours is yours, these are gifts earned by your husband.” He continued, “This time, we raided the enemy’s main camp and captured Prince Wanyan Tu. I only left the cat’s eye on Wanyan Tu’s hat, his personal curved blade, and jade ring because I didn’t dare take them. I presented them to Grand Marshal Xie, I claimed most of his belongings.”
Lu Man felt a bit puzzled. Was this considered greed? Hastily, she asked, “Is this acceptable?”
Jiang Zhanwei replied nonchalantly, “Of course! When soldiers go to war, aside from military achievements, these spoils are common. Don’t worry, it’s standard procedure.”
The three large boxes contained animal furs such as sable, ermine, silver fox, red fox, lynx, and marten, along with a tiger pelt, filling the boxes to the brim.
One small box held medicinal herbs like caterpillar fungus, ginseng, lingzhi mushrooms, deer antler, and deer whip. Another small box contained red gold and various gemstone ornaments, interspersed with many jewel-encrusted jewelry pieces, with ruby predominating.
Jiang Zhanwei then picked up the intricately carved brocade box, opened it, and placed it in Lu Man’s hands, saying, “This is a diamond from the Rakshasa Kingdom, rare in Dachun. Take a look, do you like it?”
Seeing the diamond in the box, Lu Man’s eyes widened. Oh my, this was clearly a diamond!
On the purple velvet lay a large diamond and five smaller ones. The larger diamond was as big as an adult’s thumb pad, while the smaller ones were about the size of a pinky nail, all cut into round shapes. My goodness, how many carats were these?
Classic and eternal, dazzling and colorful, complementing each other, radiant brilliance—diamonds are forever, a timeless treasure. Words describing diamonds from her past life flooded Lu Man’s mind.
As a woman who had experienced the modern world, there was no woman who didn’t like diamonds.
In her previous life, she had spent thousands to buy a diamond ring and necklace, but they were set with chips, incomparable to these dazzling diamonds.
Seeing Lu Man’s expression, Jiang Zhanwei couldn’t help but teasingly ask, “Do you like them?”
With a sweet smile, Lu Man replied, “Hmm… I won’t tell you.”
Jiang Zhanwei took her words as coquetry, feeling a flutter in his heart, wanting to kiss her. However, afraid of upsetting her and disrupting the harmonious atmosphere, he restrained himself.
After admiring the diamonds, Lu Man closed the brocade box and asked, “You gave me everything, what about you?”
Looking at Lu Man, Jiang Zhanwei thought to himself, “She’s truly a silly wife, yet Grandmother, Marquis Jiang, and Third Uncle praise her for being exceptionally smart.” He chuckled, “Don’t worry, I saved some for myself.”
Upon hearing this, Lu Man smiled and continued to explore the other treasures. As a physician, she cherished fine medicinal herbs. As a woman, she loved diamonds, furs, and gemstones. In other words, she adored all these items.
She had the items cataloged, except for the diamonds, which were placed in her private collection. They then discussed inviting He Mingzhu and He Cheng for dinner.
In the other large and small boxes, the small one was for Jiang Yue, containing mostly jewel-encrusted jewelry, a few ornaments and pendants, all exceptionally exquisite. The other large box was for He Mingzhu and He Cheng, containing several mink and fox fur pieces, a pair of exotic jewel-encrusted red gold bracelets, ginseng, lingzhi mushrooms, chicken blood stones, amber ornaments, and a set of high-quality writing implements.
It was evident that the gifts he prepared were thoughtful and well-chosen. Jiang Zhanwei briefly described the gifts for the elders, Jiang Zhankui, and Jiang Jiu, making it clear who each gift was intended for.
By the end of the late afternoon, He Mingzhu and He Cheng arrived.
In truth, they had been eager to see Jiang Zhanwei for a while but had held back, considering his recent return and the ensuing matters.