CHAPTER 1135: CHAPTER 1114: PREPARATION

Manbao carefully selected a still fairly decent long sheet of paper in the market, and brought it to Bai Shan after dinner.

The paper was printed with chrysanthemums, which aptly matched the current season, and chrysanthemums represent longevity, making it most suitable for congratulating the Empress Dowager on her birthday.

Bai Shan’s calligraphy was quite good now, though of course, not comparable to those calligraphers, but celebrating a birthday was about sentiment, right?

Especially since the recipient was the Empress Dowager who neither lacked money nor necessities.

So, he opened the paper, considering how to write the character for longevity.

Mr. Zhuang helped them with the layout, teaching them how to arrange the character for longevity into a large circle, which from a distance looked like a chrysanthemum, but up close was each individual character for longevity.

Mr. Zhuang smiled and said, "We’re a bit pressed for time, let’s keep it simple by just writing a circle, which represents a flower."

He examined the length of the paper and lightly sniffed the fragrance it emitted, slightly puzzled, "How come I’ve never seen this type of paper before?"

Bai Shan hastily covered for Manbao, "Sir, wealthy families have many fine things, we only recognized some of them after visiting the Yin Family."

That was indeed true; although he had lived long enough, there was still a lot he had not seen in the world.

Mr. Zhuang didn’t pay much mind to the paper but looked at it and folded some, then told Bai Shan, "Trim some off so it will be easier to layout."

It was getting dark, Zhou Lijun also returned from the restaurant, she ran in to join in the bustling scene, saw them busy, and helped light the lamp before going off to wash up.

Now Zhou Family’s restaurant was gradually on the right track, with an increasing number of regulars and occasionally passersby dropping in for meals, hence she was very busy.

Zhou Wulang and Zhou Liulang lived in the store with their two nephews, but Zhou Lijun still lived here, although she had moved out of Manbao’s room into her own space since there were vacant rooms.

She woke up even earlier than Manbao and them daily, and her meals, both breakfast and dinner, were eaten outside; she usually could only talk to Manbao a few times throughout the day.

Even so, Manbao would always be updated about the restaurant’s situation, and the Zhou brothers could also keep informed about her side.

Knowing that Manbao was going to the Empress Dowager’s birthday feast at the palace tomorrow, Zhou Lijun said with a yawn after freshening up, going into her room to pick out clothes for Manbao to wear.

Zhou Lijun rummaged through her belongings, finding a set of clothes that Old Madam Liu had made for Manbao after arriving in the capital, but upon comparison found them to be quite cold to wear in this weather.

She scratched her head, then pulled out clothes made by the great-aunt for the younger aunt from the pile, which although not as exquisite as those from Old Madam Liu, were thick.

Zhou Lijun hesitated between aesthetics and warmth for a moment but eventually folded the beautiful clothes neatly and put them back.

She neatly stacked the clothes she had taken out to one side, yawning and telling Manbao, "Young Aunt, I’ve placed the clothes you’ll wear tomorrow on the chair."

Manbao nodded her thanks with her head lowered, continuing to work hard with Bai Erlang.

They were preparing frames for the characters.

After all, it wouldn’t do to just write the characters and take them directly to the palace, would it?

It must be properly mounted, then rolled up, and packed in an attractive box.

They measured another piece of paper of the same size to use as a template, and once Mr. Zhuang and Bai Shan had finished writing the characters and the ink had dried, Manbao and Bai Erlang had also prepared all the materials on their side.

They often did this kind of work since all the beautifully written characters by the master were mounted and framed by the three disciples themselves. They also secretly framed the characters they deemed well-written and saved them, deciding to brag about it to their descendants when they grew older.

So, the materials were readily available at home.

The master and his disciples spent a great deal of effort preparing the birthday gift, and Manbao then ran back to her room to pick out a suitably sized box from various gift boxes to use.

Recently, the Yin Family, Su Family, and the Eastern Palace had sent gifts, many of which included fine wood or attractive boxes, all of which Manbao kept.

They placed the rolled scrolls into the box, closed it, and then joyfully admired their work.

Mr. Zhuang stroked his beard with satisfaction and smiled, "Alright, it’s getting late. You all should wash up and go to sleep, we have to wake up early tomorrow."

Manbao checked the time, realizing it was indeed quite late, and puzzled, she asked, "Does the banquet at the palace last from morning to evening? Why do we need to go so early?"

Though Mr. Zhuang had never attended a banquet at the palace, he had heard about it and chuckled, "Get up early tomorrow and eat more. Pack some snacks in your pouch too. Once you enter the palace, if you want to eat, you’ll have to wait."

The three disciples nodded, albeit confused.

However, since they went to bed late, they were reluctant to get up the next day, and the weather was a bit cold. After Daji had called them several times, they took nearly a quarter of an hour to finally get up.

Bai Erlang took the longest, so Manbao and Bai Shan righteously blamed him.

Mr. Zhuang hurried them, saying, "There’s no time left, you need to leave now or you might miss the Yin Family’s caravan. I’ll have someone bring food; just eat it on the way."

Then he stuffed the three kids into the carriage.

Daji took two guards to escort them to the palace.

Inside the carriage were food boxes prepared by Mr. Zhuang. Upon opening them, they found only small buns, steamed buns, and flatbread.

As they went through the food boxes, they exclaimed, "Why isn’t there any porridge or even noodles? Just flatbread for early morning?"

Daji, who was driving the carriage, replied, "Eat quickly, we’ll meet the Yin Family soon."

They then started eating, but early in the morning, their appetites weren’t big enough to enjoy so much food, and they didn’t finish even the small buns and steamed buns.

There were also three large pouches in the carriage. Upon checking them, they found all were filled with snacks, which they curiously stashed into their sleeves.

Especially Bai Shan and Bai Erlang, who had never been inside the palace, both turned to Manbao and asked, "Is there no food in the palace?"

Manbao, puzzled, shook her head. "No, every time I’ve been to the palace there was food, I’ve never been hungry."

Bai Shan and Bai Erlang then sighed and looked down at the pouches in their hands, saying, "The master has never been in the palace, he’s too nervous."

Manbao nodded in agreement.

Bai Erlang then rolled his eyes, thinking the heavy pouch was too much to carry inside, so he opened it and picked out the snacks he didn’t like very much and placed them back into the food box.

Seeing this, Bai Shan also opened his own pouch.

Manbao felt her own sleeve, thinking it was indeed a bit heavy, so she too picked through her pouch, only keeping three pieces of her favorite snacks.