Transmigration: A Farm Girl’s Brocade
Chapter 702 - 342 _2

Chapter 702: Chapter 342 _2

Upon seeing the steamed eggs, Qian Yixiu immediately thought of Monkey Brother and Monkey Sister and asked, "Where are Monkey Brother and Monkey Sister?"

Sister Zeng replied, "Yesterday, fearing they would cause trouble, Zi Zhu and the others coaxed them to stay in the back courtyard overnight. This morning, they’ve already become quite impatient. Considering the Young Master and the Mistress need to enter the palace to express their thanks, recognize family, and pay respects at the ancestral hall, I thought we could let them come to the front only after all these matters are settled."

Qian Yixiu nodded. These two little ones, just a few days ago, were taken to play with the other animals at the Eastern Palace. They were unwilling to go and insisted on following her to get married.

Liang Jinzhao said, "When we return from the palace, we’ll invite them to the front courtyard, and bring them along to recognize the family. I know Monkey Brother is proud and can’t be slighted."

Sister Zeng nodded with a curtsy again.

Liang Jinzhao and Qian Yixiu dressed up and went to the palace. At that time, the Emperor was still at the morning court, so they first visited the Cining Palace. It had been quite a while since the matter with the Fifth Prince, and with Qian Yixiu’s frequent offerings of pastries, the Grand Empress Dowager’s health had already improved.

She was sitting on a luohan bed and beckoned Qian Yixiu over, holding her hand and chatting and laughing with the young couple for a while.

Afterward, they went to visit the Empress Dowager Min at the Cian Palace.

The Empress Dowager Min was not yet fifty years of age, dignified and kindly. It was said that the Emperor Qianwu had already ordered the scribes who record the "archives" to change her age to fifty-five. Although it wouldn’t fool anyone currently, it was enough to deceive later generations.

The Empress Dowager Min was very good at conversation, and anyone who talked with her would feel at ease. As they were speaking, Consort Yang, Consort Zhao, and others came to pay their respects.

Consort Zhao was indeed beautiful and seemed to have some resemblances to Princess Ning in her younger days, no wonder she moved up the ranks so quickly.

While the ladies chatted and laughed, Liang Jinzhao felt somewhat uncomfortable. Just then, a servant came to report that the Emperor had finished with the morning court, and Liang Jinzhao went to the Taiji Hall.

Liang Jinzhao paid his respects to the Emperor, expressed his thanks, spoke a few words, and then returned to the Cian Palace to fetch Qian Yixiu and leave the palace.

The two of them went straight back to the Lianxiang Courtyard, hurriedly changed their clothes, and Monkey Brother and Monkey Sister were also brought to the main room.

Today, Monkey Brother and Monkey Sister were both dressed in bright red, except Monkey Brother wore shorts while Monkey Sister wore a dress. Both monkeys’ complexions were not good, redder than usual. It was apparent that Monkey Brother was on the verge of a rage.

When it saw Liang Jinzhao holding Qian Yixiu’s hand and joking around, it came over and pushed Liang Jinzhao aside. If it weren’t for Liang Jinzhao’s weight and stability, coupled with his martial training, he surely would have been knocked over.

Monkey Brother took Qian Yixiu’s hand, and Monkey Sister went to grab her other hand. Both monkeys had a demeanor suggesting they would protect their owner to the death.

At this time, Qian Yixiu didn’t dare provoke them and spoke soothing words, also massaging the back of their necks. She massaged Monkey Brother first, then Monkey Sister, until both monkeys were pacified. Only then did she mention going to the Wanshou Hall to recognize relatives.

Liang Jinzhao hurriedly and appeasingly invited them to join.

On the way, the two monkeys walked on Qian Yixiu’s left and right, squeezing Liang Jinzhao to one side, leaving him both helpless and amused.

The Liang family were already waiting there.

Qian Yixiu recognized all the Liang family members. She went over and in turn kowtowed to Old Queen Grandma, Old Duke Liang, Madame Tai, Second Madam, Duke Weiguo, Liang Yiqian and Lady Cui, Second Young Master Liang Jintong and Lady Zhang, Third Young Master Liang Yichang and Lady Xia, changing her form of address and receiving gifts.

Then, other people greeted Qian Yixiu as their elder sister, and Qian Yixiu also gave them gifts in return. Second Young Master Liang Jintong had a three-year-old daughter named Xue Jiejie, who also kowtowed to Qian Yixiu, calling her "Big Mommy."

The title did not sound particularly flattering, but Qian Yixiu had to accept it with a smile, giving the little girl a teddy bear, which made the child giggle with delight.

Next, Liang Jinzhao promptly and formally introduced Monkey Brother and Monkey Sister.

Old Duke Liang understood these two monkeys and knew they would not tolerate any disrespect. He was also overjoyed that these two Spiritual Objects had followed them to his family. He laughed heartily and said, "Welcome to the Liang Family. From now on, you are also masters of our Liang Family. Whatever privileges the masters enjoy, you shall enjoy too." He quickly ordered that two extra chairs be brought in for them and presented them with welcome gifts as well.

Seeing the head of the family act this way, no one dared to slight them and also expressed their welcome with gifts.

The monkeys’ expressions improved a bit.

Once everyone was seated, Old Duke Liang, the head of the family, spoke up. Now that Liang Jinzhao had married, it was possible that their family would be welcoming a new member by the end of the year. Therefore, the family titles needed to change. Old Queen Grandma would henceforth be known as the great ancestral grandmother; he and Madame Tai would be known as Old Great-grandpa and Madame Tai, respectively; Second Madam would be referred to as Second Madame Tai; Liang Yiqian’s generation would be addressed as the masters; Liang Jinzhao’s generation as the young masters; and Xue Jiejie’s generation would be the young ladies and young masters.

Afterwards, men led Qian Yixiu to the ancestral hall to pay respects to their ancestry. This was the only chance in a woman’s life to enter the ancestral hall. Qian Yixiu went inside and bowed. Clan leader Old Duke Liang also added her name to the family register.

By the time they had lunch and returned to Lianxiang Courtyard, it was already early afternoon.

Upon returning, she met the people in the courtyard. The number of maids and older female servants attending to Liang Jinzhao was not large, as he mainly resided in the outer courtyard, and he was primarily served by personal attendants and boy servants. There were two senior maids, Cai Yun and Cai Yue; two secondary maids, Bi Cao and Bi Ye; and four younger maids and four rough labor maids. Since his wet nurse had been sent away when he was very young, there was also no manager in the courtyard.

This arrangement actually made it easier to assign duties without offending anyone. Sister Zeng would manage Lianxiang Courtyard, with Blue Bead, Zi Zhu, Cai Yun, and Cai Yue as the senior maids, and Bai Zhu, Pink Pearl, Bi Cao, and Bi Ye as the secondary maids...

After rewarding the servants, the utterly exhausted Qian Yixiu went to sleep in the bed in the bedroom.

She saw Monkey Brother and Monkey Sister sitting in the bedroom, refusing to leave and occasionally glaring at Liang Jinzhao, as if they wanted to drive him away. With their keen hearing, they must have heard something yesterday and felt that Liang Jinzhao was bullying her, which explained their hostility towards him.

Qian Yixiu was moved. These two little ones had always been her intimate protective layers, always safeguarding her. Apart from the Qian family, Zhu Sujin, and Little Monk, they sensed that outsiders could potentially harm her.

But seeing Liang Jinzhao’s helpless expression, she felt a tinge of amusement. She gave him a knowing look, and Liang Jinzhao had no choice but to head to the East Room.

She took the hands of one monkey in each of hers and said, "Don’t misunderstand Uncle Liang; he hasn’t bullied me. This is just how we humans marry. Every woman must go through this, and things will gradually get better..." She laughed again and said, "You also need to work hard. Don’t wait until I’m like Tiaotiao and have given birth to several children, and you still haven’t had any."

Qian Yixiu knew even when she was a ghost that the Fierce Red Monkey reproduced with great difficulty; most mother monkeys could only give birth to one offspring in their lifetime, and some couldn’t even manage that. It was extremely rare for a mother monkey to have more than two children, and those who did were the most respected hero mothers among the Fierce Red Monkeys. This was perhaps why the Fierce Red Monkey species was so scarce and possibly did not even survive into modern times.

Upon hearing this, Monkey Sister’s eyes filled with tears of sadness; she had longed to have babies and become a mother. But for some reason, she just couldn’t conceive. Monkey Brother quickly took her hand to comfort her.

Oh dear, she had tried to distract them but ended up making Monkey Sister sad.

Qian Yixiu then consoled Monkey Sister, "Don’t worry, you will become a mother. But you two have to put in the effort..."—in other words, make little monkeys and not always pay so much attention to us humans. Sometimes, too much attention and protection can become a form of restraint.

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