Sang Wan thought for a moment and smiled, "I don’t seem to really have any specialty dishes, so I’ll just make what the young master likes! But I can’t match the skills of the kitchen staff, don’t be too critical!"
The two chatted and laughed along the way, and the carriage was fast and light. It didn’t take long before they arrived at the Shi Mansion.
As the carriage entered through the second gate, Shi Fengju was the first to alight and naturally reached out to help Sang Wan. Sang Wan hesitated for a moment, but also naturally placed her hand on his and alighted from the carriage with his assistance.
"Let’s go back to change and wash up first, and later we will go to greet mother."
Just as Shi Fengju finished speaking, Sang Wan smiled and nodded, about to reply when she saw Gu Fangzi in plain clothes already approaching with a graceful bow and a smile, "Cousin! Sister! You’re back!"
The smile on Sang Wan’s lips momentarily stiffened, and the buoyant mood seemed to be covered by a shadow, as she smiled and nodded at her, "What brings you here, sister?"
With affectionate eyes, Gu Fangzi glanced at Shi Fengju, then stepped forward to actively support Sang Wan’s arm and softly said with a smile, "Hearing that cousin and sister were coming back, I specially came to meet you! Is everything well at your home, sister? Aunt has been missing you a lot these days!"
"We are going to greet mother soon, if there’s nothing else, you may go back first!" Shi Fengju frowned slightly. For some reason, the once charming and pitiable demeanor he used to see now seemed displeasing no matter how he looked, as if a layer of falseness had covered her face.
"Then I won’t disturb cousin and sister anymore!" Gu Fangzi said with a compliant smile before turning to leave.
Shi Fengju and Sang Wan walked on without a word. What has always existed continues to exist; temporarily avoiding it does not mean it disappears! A bitter taste slowly rose in Sang Wan’s mouth.
Upon returning to Ningyuan, after they freshened up, they went to Mrs. Wang.
Mrs. Wang, seeing their return, cheerfully asked non-stop, and hearing from Shi Fengju and Sang Wan about the lively events only increased her joy, she couldn’t help exclaiming, "I don’t know if our Fenghua will pass the next rural examination, it would be great if he did!"
"Mother, don’t worry! Brother is so clever, he will definitely pass! Maybe he can even achieve Xie Yuan!" Shi Yumei said beamingly.
"Ah, it would be great if he passes, just great! Then our Shi Mansion will also liven up!"
"Of course!" Shi Yumei and the others said, laughing and joking.
After sitting for a while, Shi Fengju laughed and said he would go to the business quarters to look around. Mrs. Wang reminded him repeatedly to return early, to not tire himself due to travel before letting him go, but she retained Sang Wan and talked for a long while, and the topic naturally revolved around Sang Yufei.
While they were talking, Shi Yumei coughed slightly, then casually asked with a faint smile, "Hosting a banquet and entertaining so many guests, that must have cost a lot of silver, huh?"
Sang Wan’s face stiffened slightly, but she nodded openly and laughed, "Yes, quite a bit was spent, it was all handled by the young master, I don’t know the details."
"Oh, how could you not know? It was for your own biological brother after all!" Shi Yumei said sharply.
Mrs. Wang "ah" voiced and glared at Shi Yumei, then generously smiled, "Miss Wan is a married lady, it’s not appropriate for her to interfere with her natal family’s affairs, isn’t it? Besides, she is now the lead daughter-in-law of our Shi family, how can she easily take charge in public? As for this matter, it’s correct to have Fengju in charge! Your brother has always been very measured and competent in handling things, heh, he certainly won’t lose face! A village banquet, how much silver could it possibly cost! A thousand or two thousand taels should be more than enough!"
"That’s still quite a bit!" Shi Yumei pretended to be puzzled, "Doesn’t your natal family have an elder brother and sister-in-law? They should be the ones in charge of this! How can Fengju take the spotlight? Oh dear, sister-in-law, wouldn’t your elder brother and sister-in-law be upset by this?"
Sang Wan felt a surge of embarrassed indignation internally, but could not embarrass her sister-in-law in front of her mother-in-law, so she could only smile and say, "This matter was headed by my elder brother and sister-in-law. Fengju helped a lot, and both my elder brother, sister-in-law, and my second brother are grateful. My second brother even said he wants to come over to thank mother and the young master after a while!"
"Your elder brother and sister-in-law are really too courteous!" Mrs. Wang chuckled, "It’s right to help among relatives, we are like family, no need to be so formal! If Xie Yuanlang could give our Fenghua some tips, and help Fenghua become a graduated scholar, I, the old lady, would be forever grateful!"
"Look at you, mother, saying that sounds too formal too!" Sang Wan laughed.
"Ah? Hehe, yes, yes, let’s not talk about that anymore!" Mrs. Wang laughed and instructed Sang Wan not to forget to tidy and prepare the guest room, and asked when Sang Yufei would start his journey to the capital, and if someone was escorting him. Sang Wan answered each question.
Seeing that Sang Wan shifted the topic with just a few words, Shi Yumei felt very displeased internally, hearing them repeatedly mention "like family" made her feel like an outsider, making her feel even more awkward. She couldn’t help but raise her voice slightly, turning the conversation back, smilingly said, "To speak fairly, your elder brother and sister-in-law really should thank Fengju for the help! Otherwise, that banquet wouldn’t have been so smoothly managed! I wonder what dishes were prepared? What kind of drinks were used? Which chef was invited? Ah, it’s a pity, your whatever village is too far and too remote from Qingzhou, otherwise sending over the master chef from Yuhe Tower would have really made a face! All sorts of exquisite dishes could have been made! Hehe! Oh no, wrong, villagers are simple, they love big fish and meat, maybe they’d think sea cucumbers and abalones are cheap things, criticizing your Sang family for being stingy! Hosting a banquet without good stuff! Better not!"