Fan Min, Du Kexin, and Chen Yue had just come out of the garment store when they spotted someone they would rather not have encountered.
“Third sister, you’ve come out shopping as well?” Du Kexin gritted her teeth upon seeing Du Xiaoli, but forced herself to smile and greet her.
She would rather do this than bow to her!
However Chen Yue and Fan Min were required to curtsy to her.
“Greetings, Princess Anle.”
“You may rise.” Du Xiaoli glanced at them, saying: “The seasons are shifting so we’ve come to purchase some clothes. Sister-in-law Zhou, Cailian, let’s go in.
She couldn’t muster up any good feelings for these three people and couldn’t be bothered to pay attention to them. Instead, she directly brought Sister-in-law Zhou and the others into the garment store.
Behind them, Zhou Cheng pulled Niu Jing, asking: “Wasn’t Little Junior Sister the daughter of Prime Minister Du? How did she become a princess?”
“You guys stay in the sect valley and don’t pay attention to matters of the outside world, but Little Junior Sister was conferred the title of princess by the emperor a little while ago.” Niu Jing informed her, “Let’s also see if we need to buy anything. This weather will only get colder and colder.”
As Fan Min and Du Kexin’s group watched Du Xiaoli and the others, they each clenched their handkerchiefs fiercely, nearly shredding them. Fan Min commented, “And the villain gets her way,” before turning and leaving.
Du Kexin looked at Du Xiaoli choosing clothes and a terrifying light surfaced in her eyes. It was only after Chen Yue tugged at her a few times that she came back to her senses, following Fan Min as she left.
Du Xiaoli chose two sets each of clothing for Madam Zhou and the two girls, and then had the store clerks take their measurements and select cloth for the garments.
When Sister-in-law Zhou saw Du Xiaoli purchasing so many things for them, she declined hurriedly: “How can we let you spend so much on us in one trip!”
“It’s nothing. You have all just arrived in the capital so you’re not too familiar with the weather here. All of these are necessities.” Du Xiaoli smiled, saying, “Actually it’s also my first time spending the winter here, but I’ve heard a great deal about it from others, so I’ve been preparing ahead of time. It’s only right for me to take care of you guys outside like this.”
“Little Senior Aunt, you’re so nice.” Unlike her previous shyness, Zhou Cailian spoke a few words to Du Xiaoli.
“Little Senior Aunt is so nice.” Zhou Jiandong imitated Zhou Cailian’s words.
"You guys see if there's anything else necessary, and we can pick it up together." Du Xiaoli said, "In a little bit you guys can change straight into a set of thicker clothes and put your thin clothes here. The store will send them to Eldest Senior Brother's residence together with the other clothes you’ve purchased."
“Okay.”
After exiting the garment store, the Zhou family had all changed into padded cotton clothes and were no longer shivering.
Their entourage then went to the Blizzard Pavilion for lunch, and after eating lunch Du Xiaoli sent them back to Niu Jing's Manor before she herself returned to the Prime Minister's Manor.
The snow continued to fall for another day, however because it fell lightly, there was little snow left on the bamboo leaves and the snow on the ground had melted into puddles of water.
In the evening, Du Yunhan brought her and Du Xiuheng over to inform them of what they had discussed with the Senior Cabinet: the wedding date between Du Xiuheng and Fu Yalan was set for the twelfth day of the third month, and the bride would be married off ten days later, so they needed to start preparing the dowry immediately.
This was essentially the only good news Du Xiaoli had received during this period of time. Although the Prime Minister’s Manor was not extremely wealthy, it still had a considerable background, and so it wasn’t necessary for Du Xiaoli to help prepare the dowry.
Han Mingxiang moved to the palace just a few days after the marriage alliance was set. The next time Du Xiaoli saw her was at Meng Jiangzhuo’s coming-of-age ceremony. She appeared thinner, and her eyes were dimmer– it was truly heartbreaking to see.
Prior to the coming-of-age ceremony, the five of them had gotten together, thinking it would be their last meeting, and so everyone’s spirits were low.
“After today, Jiangzhuo, you will have come of age. This is my gift for you and I hope you will like it,” Du Xiaoli said with a smile as she placed her gift into Meng Jiangzhuo’s hands.
“Thank you Xiaoli.” Meng Jiangzhuo opened the gift, and saw the Glazed Glass Crystal inside and liked it very much. “It’s beautiful, when I get married, I’ll make sure to bring it with me.”
“Ha, if you’re bringing Xiaoli’s gift with you, you can’t leave ours behind either.” Fu Yalan placed her gift in Meng Jiangzhuo’s hand. It was a long box, most likely a painting.
Meng Jiangzhuo opened the box, and found that there was indeed a scroll inside. On it was a picture of everyone in a persimmon forest– playing the piano, playing the flute, and dancing. Ji Liuxia was sword dancing, and it clearly depicted that time they had been dancing in the persimmon forest. The only different detail was that the persimmons on the persimmon tree had still been green, whereas in this painting the persimmons were already ripe and there were yellowing leaves on the ground.
"Originally, Xiaoli said that when we have time, we can go to the village to pick persimmons together. But now we’re all busy and I’m guessing we won’t have time, so I painted this picture instead. I was thinking that you don't have any good gifts for your coming-of-age, so you can take this as your gift." Fu Yalan explained.
“Thank you, Sister Yalan. I will treasure this painting well. When I go to Jiangnan and miss all of you, I will take this out and look at it,” Meng Jiangzhuo said.
Ji Liuxia and Han Mingxiang’s gifts had been delivered before Du Xiaoli and the others arrived, so they chatted together inside until the nanny came to inform them that the coming-of-age ceremony as about to begin. Only then did they go to the parlor.
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