The noble girl is beautiful. - Chapter 31.

As the New Year approached, the workload increased. Just managing ancestral rites and cleaning the ancestral hall kept them busy for several days. By the 25th of the twelfth lunar month, there was an incident where a maid in Shen Qinghan’s courtyard was caught stealing, leaving Shen Qinghan embarrassed to show her face.

On the 27th, they slaughtered the New Year’s pig. Shen Qingyan insisted on dragging Shen Yourong and others to watch, causing Shen Qinghan to be so scared by the sight of slaughtering that she didn’t dare sleep alone at night.

On New Year’s Eve, Shen Yourong and the others were busy from morning till night, offering incense and receiving relatives from the clan. Later, they stayed up all night guarding the New Year.

The next day, Lady Yang and Lady Li, along with other noblewomen, went to the palace to pay their respects, allowing Shen Yourong to return to the courtyard to rest.

For several days, many relatives and friends visited the mansion, and the revelry with wine and performances was endless. Some close friends or relatives of royal officials would often bring gifts, and Lady Yang usually sent a few girls to accompany them.

Shen Yourong and her sisters were of similar ages, around fourteen or fifteen, and they were all at the age where they should be married soon. Such occasions couldn’t be avoided in the future.

Unfortunately, Shen Yourong’s birthday fell just before the Lantern Festival, on the twelfth day of the first lunar month. In previous years, they had celebrated together with the Lantern Festival, but this year was special because it was her coming-of-age ceremony.

Therefore, Lady Yang personally insisted on arranging a grand celebration for her. She repeatedly declined, saying she didn’t want too many people to feel uncomfortable, and suggested just having fun with the family at home. Lady Yang had to agree.

Early that day, Shen Yourong got up, dressed in a bright red brocade jacket with gold embroidery and a full-length skirt of the same color. She looked very radiant. She first went to Lady Yang’s place early in the morning, paid her respects, and received instructions.

Then she went to the ancestral hall, paid respects at her birth mother’s tablet, and burned the sacrificial texts. After that, she went to Lady Yang’s place where Shen Ying was also present. They received their gifts and kind advice from Lady Yang and then she left with her birthday presents.

Later, gifts arrived from relatives’ homes. Lady Yang asked her to come forward and greet each one.

The gifts from the elders were mostly headwear and clothes. For instance, Lady Yang gave a complete set of gold-threaded pearl headwear, Lady Li prepared eight bolts of red Yun brocade and a set of embroidered red clothes from inside out, while Shen Ying gave a box of precious stones and two hundred taels of silver. Second Uncle from the second house of the Shen family also gave two hundred taels of silver, and Second Aunt prepared a gold-inlaid jade necklace and a pair of sheep-fat jade bracelets.

Other relatives sent gifts such as stationery or clothes and jewelry, all in honor of her reaching the age of adulthood.

Back in Lady Yang’s room, Shen Qinghan and her sisters all arrived, congratulating Shen Yourong in a proper manner, saying, “Congratulations, Elder Sister, on your birthday.”

They brought gifts, mostly embroidery and paintings. Shen Qinghan and Shen Qingyan personally painted twelve pictures of women in different seasons and occasions, which was a very unique gift. Shen Sihui’s gift was several self-made tassels, and she had just started learning these things, but her work was quite good.

They sat down and chatted for a while. Then a maid came in from the inner room to report to Lady Yang that the banquet in the warm pavilion was ready, inviting Lady Yang and the girls to come over.

So everyone got up and moved to the warm pavilion. The warm pavilion was furnished with high tables and soft couches, charcoal braziers for warming, and the windows opened directly onto a stage, clean and bright.

Lady Yang and the others were in the inner room. Shen Yourong stayed for a while, listening to them chatting with relatives and friends about Shen Shuo’s marriage, then moving on to the marriage of the girls in the family, which was always a topic of endless discussion.

After a while, she came out to the outer room with her sisters. She instructed the kitchen to bring various melons, fruits, and pastries, covering the small tables and long tables. Shen Qingyan moved next to her and said, “Sister, it’s a good day today. Shall we have some wine?”

Before she could speak, Lady Yang in the inner room spoke up, saying, “Bring some Jinhua wine for the girls, make sure it’s warmed, and remind them not to drink too much.”

Shen Qingyan was delighted and instructed the maids to prepare three pots of warmed wine. Shen Yourong pulled her aside and whispered, “I’ve already had the recipe for making glass from you a few days ago, and it’s been seen by someone who said it’s feasible. Just in time for the New Year, a batch has been sold, and the harvest is quite substantial. I’ve exchanged the silver and sent it to your courtyard. Be careful not to let Aunt take it all away; it’s quite a bit of silver.”

Shen Qingyan nodded hurriedly, “I know, Sister, thank you.”

Shen Yourong said, “You’re welcome. I also made a profit with your help.”

At the window, Shen Qinghan called Shen Qingyan, saying, “Come and see, they’re performing the play you wrote for Xiaofang to congratulate her.”

Shen Qingyan hurried to the window to see it and proudly said to her, “You see, whatever we girls want to do, we always manage to do it.”

At that moment, Shen Shuo and Shen Qingfeng came in. They first went to pay respects to Lady Yang, then came out and approached Shen Yourong.

Shen Qingfeng picked up a piece of Lily pastry from the table, walked up to her, and bowed, saying, “Sister, may you have a happy birthday.”

She hurriedly got up and said, “Thank you, Second Brother.”

He had someone bring his congratulatory gift. Upon opening it, he found a hundred and eight pieces of bamboo and bone mahjong tiles, which were crystal clear and looked like jade.

He smiled and said, “Now, whenever you girls play mahjong, you can’t forget to invite me.”

She smiled and said, “Of course, of course.”

Shen Shuo, who was on the side, didn’t say anything about playing too much with toys and ruining one’s ambition. It was her birthday after all, so he let her enjoy her day.

Inside, Shen Ying sent someone to call Shen Shuo. He went, and before he left, he instructed, “If you want to drink, start with some snacks to line your stomach. The wine must be warmed; drinking cold wine will give you a stomach ache.”

Shen Yourong agreed and escorted him away. Shen Qingfeng had already started playing mahjong at the table with Shen Qinghan and a few others.

So Shen Yourong also sat down and asked, “Father called over there, why didn’t Second Brother go to the reception?”

“Those are all people from the officialdom,” Shen Qingfeng said. “Father doesn’t allow me to interact with them for fear of corrupting my character. Now I can only study hard and prepare for the upcoming imperial examinations in spring.”

“Indeed,” Shen Qingyan said, “Studying for the imperial examinations is the proper path. Given our family’s status, there’s no need to curry favor with those in officialdom.”

The mahjong tiles clattered as Shen Yourong, along with her sisters, emptied Shen Qingfeng’s purse. He wasn’t upset and wanted to continue playing, but Shen Qinghan stopped him, saying, “You’ve run out of money, what more do you want to play? You’d better leave now.”

Reluctantly, he left the table, and Du Juan took his place.

Shen Qingyan then wanted to drink again, holding dice and asking Shen Qingfeng how men outside played. He couldn’t resist her teasing and scared her off, saying, “If you say that again and Grandmother hears it, she’ll hit your palms.”

She had no choice but to stop asking and joined Shen Yourong and others to drink and play cards. They played until late at night when the lamps were about to go out, and then they dispersed.

Shen Yourong returned to the courtyard, the sky already dark. Lights were lit in the house, and Du Juan brought in a glass lamp, saying, “This lamp is great, bright and without the smell of fireworks.”

She took off her outer clothes and sat on the inner couch. Du Juan covered her legs with a sheepskin blanket and placed a hot-water bottle next to her. Then she brought tea and wine, saying, “Miss had a great time today; your face is all red.”

“It’s all Shen Qingyan’s doing,” She pressed her temples. Du Juan walked to her side, took off her hairpins, and loosened her hair.

“Do we have any snacks?” Shen Yourong asked.

Du Juan hurriedly said, “Yes, I’ll go get them.”

A short while later, she returned with a plate of golden silk dumplings, a plate of chestnut-roasted wild chicken, a bowl of rock sugar bird’s nest, and a bowl of snow clam soup.

Shen Yourong ate two bites of the wild chicken, tasted the dumplings, and finished the snow clam soup. She couldn’t eat the rock sugar bird’s nest no matter how hard she tried, so she asked Du Juan and Hua Mei to share it.

Feeling a bit more relaxed, she asked for the account book to record today’s gifts and their values, all of which had to be repaid in the future.

Du Juan brought the account book and stood by to grind ink for her, saying, “Young Master has sent his gifts early: two boxes of clothes, two boxes of playthings, and the most precious are two sets of headwear. One set is made of jadeite, and the other is made of rubies.”

With that, Du Juan brought the items for her to see. Each set of headwear included dozens of items such as hairpins, crowns, hair clips, side combs, and hairpins, all made of the most precious jewelry. The jadeite set had a bright color and glossy texture, crafted from a single piece of jadeite. The ruby set was even more splendid and dazzling.

Even Shen Yourong couldn’t help but exclaim, “Elder Brother’s gifts this year are too valuable.”

“It’s not just my gift alone,” Shen Shuo walked in from outside and sat down on a chair.

Shen Yourong asked, “If it’s not just your gift, whose is it?”

“There’s also Prince Duan,” he replied.

Her face changed instantly, and she clenched her fingers, remaining silent for a long while.

He seemed not to notice the unease on her face and continued, “I’m going to join Prince Duan’s faction. He sent you such valuable gifts to show his generosity toward us.”

He only mentioned Ji Zhuo’s gift for his own reasons and didn’t mention her at all. But how could she not notice? She remained silent for a long time and asked, “Why are you joining him?”

He waved off the others, saying, “The Fourth Prince is young and ambitious, overestimating his abilities, and lacks the magnanimity to accommodate others. He’s not a wise ruler. Moreover, if he ascends the throne, we, as relatives, will be suspicious to him.

But for Prince Duan, we were his supporters in his humble beginnings. Our loyalty can ensure the stability of the Duke of Qi’s mansion for three generations.”

Shen Yourong remained silent for a moment and asked, “Does Father know?”

He shook his head, saying, “This is my personal affair. If it succeeds, it won’t involve the mansion.”

She tightened her fingers, and he touched her long hair, saying, “Let’s wait and see. The Fourth Prince is no match for Prince Duan. It depends on what the Emperor is thinking.”

Fireworks sounded in the distance. This New Year was coming to an end. This was Shen Yourong’s last carefree day, enjoying eating, drinking, and playing with her sisters, receiving gifts from her parents and brothers, and happily living day after day.

On the Double Third Festival in March, news came from the palace: the Emperor intended to arrange a marriage between the Fourth Prince and the eldest daughter of the Shen family. The Fourth Prince refused, angering the Emperor greatly and resulting in a ten-day house arrest.
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