Chapter 59: New Year’s Money

Seeing how much Yaoyao cherished the gift he had given her, the seed that had taken root deep in Xie Yixing’s heart slowly began to sprout and grow.

Yaoyao hugged the little bunny and played with it for a while, soon forgetting her earlier worries.

If Xie Yixing hadn’t strictly forbidden her from taking the bunny to bed, she truly wouldn’t have been willing to let go of it.

Off to the side, the now-neglected little flower snake glared at the white bunny in the basket, puffing up angrily and flicking its tongue in displeasure.

Seeing the little flower snake acting so fierce, Yaoyao tried to be fair and picked it up from the bench. “Huahua, from now on you need to get along well with Bunny. If you behave and listen, I’ll give you extra snacks.”

Hearing that he could get an extra piece of cake every day, the flower snake’s mood improved—just barely.

In the past two days, especially today, he had eaten quite a bit. His snake belly was noticeably rounder.

The little flower snake yawned, jumped down from Yaoyao’s body, coiled into a circle on the chair again, and continued sleeping.

Seeing both the little flower snake and the bunny asleep, Yaoyao let Nanny Wu coax her under the covers. By the time Xie Yixing finished washing up and got into bed, Yaoyao was already fast asleep, sprawled out in all directions with the blanket kicked down to her feet.

Xie Yixing gently shifted her body, climbed into bed along the edge, and pulled the blanket back over the both of them.

That night, the city was bright with fireworks, and the Wei residence was filled with popping sounds until dawn.

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New Year’s Day.

Yaoyao changed into a red cotton coat. White fur trimmed the collar, and the buttons on the side were made from soft pom-poms.

Seeing how lively and energetic she looked, Xie Yixing immediately scooped her into his arms and refused to let her step in the snow.

A heavy snow had started falling in the second half of the night and didn’t stop until dawn.

Yaoyao couldn’t resist the urge to play in the snow when she saw the footprints on the ground, but when she remembered that they needed to greet Aunt Wei and the other elders, she forced herself to hold back.

When they arrived at the front courtyard, Madam Wei had already prepared New Year’s money (lucky money) to hand out to the children.

But there weren’t many children in the Wei family. And after what happened last night, Wei Jun couldn’t even get out of bed.

When the servants checked in on him after the morning firecrackers finally stopped, they found Wei Jun curled up under the blanket, having cried himself to sleep. The yellow puddle on the floor had even frozen into a solid block of ice.

Though what he had done yesterday was awful, Xie Yixing’s punishment had balanced out the offense.

Madam Wei still had someone deliver Wei Jun’s red envelope to his room.

Whether Wei Jun could learn a lesson from this was another matter entirely.

Yaoyao cradled a string of coins thicker than her own wrist and excitedly tried to stuff them into the little pocket sewn at her waist.

But handful after handful of coin strings were placed in her hands. Soon, the pocket Caiwei had sewn for her couldn’t hold any more.

Not only Madam Wei, but even Wei Dalang and Old Master Wei had each prepared red envelopes for Yaoyao.

Even Nanny Zhao and Nanny Wu gave her two copper coins each as New Year’s money.

In just a short time, Yaoyao became the richest person in the whole house.

Overjoyed, Yaoyao held her money pouch and wanted to take Xie Yixing to the street to spend it, but Madam Wei stopped her.

“Everyone’s celebrating the new year right now. There aren’t even any street vendors outside. Even if you go out now, there’s nothing to spend your money on. Why not give the money to Caiwei and wait until after the holiday, then have your Persimmon-gege take you out?”

Thinking about how the two children were going into the palace tomorrow, Madam Wei still felt uneasy.

Especially since their family had just offended Noble Consort Wei and Princess Junhe—who knew what kind of trouble might arise this time?

The list of those entering the palace had already been submitted. With Xie Yixing’s status as a young marquis, he could bring two servants into the palace.

Nanny Wu had to go. The other was, of course, Yaoyao.

This was another source of Madam Wei’s concern. Yaoyao was a little girl her own son had picked up from outside. Her background was unclear, and there were no official household records for her. If something were to go wrong in the palace, Yaoyao would have no way to protect herself.

But judging by how much her son treasured Yaoyao, he would never let her out of his sight in an unfamiliar place.

So, things should be fine—Madam Wei prayed silently.

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In the blink of an eye, the third day of the new year arrived.

Madam Wei got up early and began instructing the servants of the marquis estate to start moving things out.

Today, the Wei family would officially leave the capital.

Though Madam Wei felt reluctant, considering the current state of affairs in the capital, she figured it was best for the Wei family to return to their ancestral home, recuperate, and keep a low profile for the time being.

Although over a hundred members of the Yu family had temporarily escaped death and kept their lives, there was no guarantee that further accidents wouldn’t happen.

The Wei family had neither power nor influence, only a good reputation among the literati and scholars. That wasn’t enough to challenge the powerful corrupt officials. It was safer to stay out of sight.

Wei Dalang helped Old Master Wei into the carriage, lifted the curtain, and bid Madam Wei farewell.

In the carriage behind him were several of Wei Dalang’s concubines and his two sons.

After two days of rest, Wei Jun had fully recovered. But the events of that night had left a mark on him, like a brand. Just thinking about it made his face flush with embarrassment.

Seeing that he had finally quieted down and didn’t dare to bring up taking revenge on Xie Yixing and Yaoyao for his mother and sister, Wei Dalang didn’t press him further.

Once the Wei family had departed, Madam Wei finally sent someone to the rear courtyard to wake up Xie Yixing and Yaoyao.

However, the two little ones were far more diligent than she had expected. Even though they had stayed up late playing the night before, they still followed through on their promise and got ready two hours before entering the palace.

They were scheduled to enter the palace at noon and wouldn’t be able to leave until after the evening banquet.

That meant they’d be in the palace for a full four hours. Worried that Yaoyao might go hungry, Madam Wei had Nanny Zhao stay up all night sewing a small pouch, inside which she wrapped a few pieces of cake with a handkerchief and tucked it in. She reminded Yaoyao to sneak a bite when no one was looking.

Although the palace cakes were more exquisite, they were rationed.

Yaoyao, entering as a maidservant, likely wouldn’t even get a taste.

Madam Wei couldn’t bear the thought of her going hungry.

As for Xie Yixing, Madam Wei didn’t know what advice to give him.

Was she really supposed to bluntly tell her son not to clash with the princes and princesses?

Sigh… She just couldn’t say it out loud.

Though her son was a bit cold by nature, he wasn’t the type to go looking for trouble.

Unless someone deliberately tried to provoke him or step on his dignity, he usually didn’t get angry. Under normal circumstances, he wouldn’t start a conflict.

And even if a conflict did arise—if it wasn’t his fault—was he supposed to just swallow his pride?

A future marquis lowering his head like that? That just didn’t sit right.

After much inner conflict, Madam Wei finally came up with one instruction she could give.

“Xing’er, once you sit down, start stuffing the palace cakes into Yaoyao’s pocket. Don’t let someone else beat you to it.”

Xie Yixing: “…”

The Marquis of Chengming almost spit out his tea. He coughed twice and interrupted her: “My lady, if you make Xing’er do that, won’t people suspect that our marquis estate can’t afford pastries?”

Madam Wei shot him a death glare. “If he doesn’t do it, are you going to let Yaoyao starve?”

The marquis shrank his neck, but his gaze fell silently on Yaoyao’s bulging money pouch. He didn’t dare make a sound.

After personally sending Xie Yixing and Yaoyao onto the carriage headed for the palace, Madam Wei went back to directing the servants to move the belongings from the Wei residence into the marquis estate.

Just as Madam Wei was taking a break, an old woman dressed in tattered hemp clothes suddenly rushed into the crowd, screaming at the top of her lungs…