Chapter 382 New Year’s Eve Dinner (5)

Seeing that the glutinous rice balls had eaten several pieces of smoked fish in a row, Wen Mingtang scooped out half a bowl from the three-fresh mushroom and egg dumplings pot and handed it over, saying: "Smoked fish is sweet, and you will get tired of it if you eat too much. Drink some soup!"

The sound of crackling firecrackers and fireworks outside was noisy. Even when people were sitting in the kitchen and looking outside, they could faintly see the fireworks rising and blooming in the sky not far away.

The busier it gets outside, the quieter it gets here.

Zhao You is a man who just keeps his head down and eats in silence. In the past, the glutinous rice dumplings that loved to laugh and make trouble were now silent. It's not that Wen Mingtang doesn't want to say something lively, but how can he do so when he's looking at everything white?

Picking up the green plum fruit wine in his hand and taking a silent sip, Wen Mingtang looked at the glutinous rice balls on the side.

He took the half bowl of three fresh mushrooms and egg dumplings from her and took a spoonful of glutinous rice balls into his mouth.

The soup base stewed in bone soup is rich in meat aroma, and pepper is added in it, so the soup in the mouth is rich and has a slight spiciness. After a few mouthfuls of soup, a layer of fine beads of sweat appeared on the tip of Tangyuan's nose, and warmth gradually emerged from the body.

Although it is only a small half bowl, Master Wen clearly put his heart into scooping it out. This small half bowl contains almost all the side dishes: smooth fungus, sweet cabbage, soft tofu, tender egg skin, and pork meat inside. The stuffing of water chestnuts is delicious...

Tangyuan sniffed. Although the past few days had been like nightmares, she also truly felt everyone's kindness and concern for her.

There was the sound of firecrackers outside, but the house was quiet. This New Year... Tangyuan lowered his eyes, put the last mouthful of soup in the bowl into his mouth, stood up, and walked out: Dad doesn't want to see this family spend the New Year like this, right?

Wen Mingtang gave a wry smile: Even though he prepared the New Year's dinner with all his heart, it was difficult to live the New Year well.

Looking at Zhao You who was eating carelessly aside, she suddenly felt envious for no reason.

Just when I was envious, I saw that the glutinous rice balls that I had just left came back.

It took less than a cup of tea to go back and forth. When I left, I went empty-handed, but when I came back, I was holding a small handful of bamboo fireworks.

Facing Wen Mingtang who was looking at him and Zhao You who was finally willing to look up from the delicacies, Tang Yuan squeezed out a smile and said, "Daddy bought it a month ago and I planned to put it away today. Let’s put the food away together after eating!”

This year, I still have to live as my father expected.

Looking at the smile on Tangyuan's face, Wen Mingtang nodded.

After the fireworks that Lao Yuan bought a month ago were set off, Wen Mingtang gave two skewers of beaten peanuts, Ruyi and persimmons skewered into silver skewers that had been prepared in the future tense, and gave each skewer to Tangyuan and Zhao You.

This year, she earned the most money at the public kitchen takeout stall, so she naturally took on the role of giving "New Year's money".

After receiving the "New Year's money", it is customary to keep the New Year's greetings.

Although Lin Fei told Zhao You to keep vigil before leaving, Wen Mingtang and Tangyuan would not seriously let Zhao You spend New Year's Eve in the mourning hall alone.

Before removing the food table in the kitchen, Wen Mingtang placed the melon seeds, peanuts, dried fruits he bought and the box of New Year snacks he made himself to prepare for the New Year.

People are required to keep vigil at the mourning hall, and people are required to keep vigil on New Year's Eve. Since we have to spend the night with our eyes open, we might as well take turns to go there and replace them.

With the backing of nuts and snacks, the night watch was pretty good.

…

…

Compared with Wen Mingtang, who was doing some errands here but still had a warm New Year's Eve, the atmosphere in Jingyunhou Mansion, which had prepared banquets, fireworks and started preparations for New Year's Eve early, was extremely solemn.

Lin Fei stood behind his brother and looked up at the fireworks rising in the direction of the garden. Those were the fireworks that he had asked the people below to set off early. At this time, the boy who set off the fireworks was still holding the lights to let the fireworks rise in clusters. Empty bloom.

After watching the "flowers blooming" fireworks in the sky for a moment, Lin Fei's eyes fell on the banquet in front of him again: food and wine were spilled on the floor, making it a mess.

The maids and servants were all silent and tidied up carefully, lest they make any sound and disturb the livid Duke Jingguo in the room.

Marquis Jingyun was in front, and Prince Hou was behind. They were standing in front of Duke Jingguo to be scolded. The female family members of the Hou family, headed by Mrs. Hou, only carefully reminded the maids and servants to clean up the mess in the banquet, and did not dare to Get involved in it.

For a moment, Lin Fei, who only stood behind his father and brother, felt most at ease. He did not have to face Duke Jingguo's anger head-on and did not have to worry about the trivial matters in the palace.

In this world, if there is gain, there must be giving, and if there is giving, there must be gain. His father and brother were extremely powerful, and the burdens on their shoulders were naturally much heavier than his. Every move he made affected the foundation earned by countless ancestors in the entire Hou family.

If you can keep this inheritance, you should keep it. If you can't keep it, it is unfilial.

At this time, Duke Jingguo's attack was caused by such things.

It is true that Mr. Jing Guo is an upright person at heart, but no matter how upright he is, if the matter was not really urgent, he would never choose to have the incident on New Year's Eve.

"Bo Fang, you received the news a month ago that you were to be transferred from Beiya to Nanya. Why didn't you tell me earlier?" Duke Jingguo pointed at Hou Shizi's nose and cursed, "If I had told you a few days ago, my old face would still be a bit brighter. Use it, I will find a way to transfer it back to you. Now that the Holy Spirit’s decree has been made, everything is done. Do you want to destroy the inheritance of your ancestors?”

This is indeed a serious statement. After hearing this, Marquis Jingyun couldn't help but stood up to block the eldest son's side and said: "Father, why is this happening? What's more, it's only temporary..."

"When did the Zhang family spit out what the jackals had swallowed?" Before he could finish his words, he was interrupted by Duke Jingguo.

This is true.

Whether it is Duke Jingguo or Marquis Jingyun, the titles of these Dukes are the inheritance created by their ancestors. But if generation after generation just hang around like this and live on the inheritance inherited from their ancestors, the Lin family would have been like many of the courtiers since the founding of the Great Rong Dynasty. , the title was lost.

The reason why the Lin family still holds the title of Duke and Marquis to this day is because generations of Lin family's children have earned the title to keep it.

It is a blessing to be born into a noble family. I have been able to enjoy this kind of blessing. How to keep this blessing is also what the descendants of the noble family should do.

The Lin family's ability to maintain its foundation lies in military merit. Both Duke Jingguo and Marquis Jingyun have been on the battlefield and made great achievements. Now it is the turn of Prince Hou, and the world is prosperous and peaceful, and there is no war inside and outside. For Prince Hou, the way to maintain his inheritance is to fulfill his responsibility as a guard to protect the emperor.

The imperial guards were divided into two yamen, the north and the south. The north yamen was responsible for the safety of the emperor and his close ministers, while the south yamen was responsible for the safety of the entire Chang'an city.

Therefore, Prince Lin's transfer was equivalent to being pulled down from his position as a close minister of the emperor.

Duke Jingguo was furious when he saw Prince Lin, who was like a soft bun, letting others manipulate him without saying a word: "If you don't want to be the crown prince, why don't you call Afeilai..." Before he could finish his words, he saw someone standing behind his father and brother. Lin Fei took a delicate New Year's Eve snack in his hand and took a bite. Duke Jingguo suddenly choked. When he came back to his senses, he was even more angry, "The elder brother is like a soft bun, and the younger brother is even less useful! So he is greedy. That bite must be the snack made by Wen Xuance’s daughter, right?”