「The next day.」
「Early morning.」
First thing in the morning, Lu Yuan and his family were already bustling with activity.
Lu Yuan was up on a tall ladder, positioning sothing above the entrance to the East Wing.
"How’s this?
Is it straight?"
Lu Yuan asked as he held the horizontal scroll in place.
Zhao Qiao’Er held the ladder for Lu Yuan, looking up to gauge the placent.
"A little more to the right... perfect!"
Hearing Zhao Qiao’Er, Lu Yuan shifted it to the right and slapped the horizontal scroll into place.
Nearby, Song iqin imdiately handed him a small whisk broom.
Lu Yuan took the small broom and smoothed the scroll flat against the wall.
He handed the broom back to Song iqin and took one of the vertical scrolls.
He began to position it.
Song iqin tucked the broom under her arm, hurried forward two steps, and held the bottom corners of the scroll to keep it taut.
"Yes, yes, that’s it. It’s straight now. Hold it there," Zhao Qiao’Er said quickly, looking at the scroll.
As she spoke, she caught a glimpse of movent to the side.
Su Liyan had just stepped out of her room, carrying freshly written couplets.
She had already sorted them inside and was now coming out to hand them out.
They were putting up five sets in total around the residence.
One for the East Wing, one for the West Wing, and one for the main hall—that made three.
Then another for the gate leading from the front courtyard to the central courtyard.
And one more for the entrance to the central courtyard’s covered walkway.
In any case, Lu Yuan and his family were only responsible for hanging the ones in the central courtyard.
The servants would handle the rest.
After all, the Zhao Family estate was so large that if Lu Yuan’s little group had to hang all the couplets themselves, they probably wouldn’t be finished by tomorrow.
"Oh, Liyan, don’t you move. Go and rest. Aunt Song will take care of this, you don’t worry about a thing."
Zhao Qiao’Er called out when she saw Su Liyan, who had just finished handing out the scrolls, walk toward the square table to start brushing them with paste from the basin.
Song iqin, who was helping Lu Yuan hang the couplets, turned to see what was happening and quickly added in a gentle tone,
"Liyan, don’t move. We’ll take care of it."
Caught between the two ’aunts’ and their fussing, Su Liyan grew a little flustered and replied softly,
"Oh, Aunties~
I’m not that delicate. It’s just brushing on a bit of paste..."
Zhao Qiao’Er and Song iqin already doted on Su Liyan, but now that she was pregnant, they were simply incorrigible.
During als, the two of them looked like they wanted to feed Su Liyan every bite themselves.
Su Liyan had spent her whole life taking care of others; she wasn’t used to being fussed over like this.
Up on the ladder, Lu Yuan glanced back with half a cigarette dangling from his lips and chuckled.
"A little activity is good for the baby.
Those old-fashioned notions of yours are incorrect."
Su Liyan bead when Lu Yuan said that. ’My husband is sticking up for ~’
Since Lu Yuan had spoken, Zhao Qiao’Er and Song iqin didn’t argue further.
Truth be told, neither of them was particularly knowledgeable on the subject.
After all, neither had ever had a child before.
Since Lu Yuan had spoken, they would just take his word for it.
"And what do you know about pregnancy?" Zhao Qiao’Er asked, looking up at Lu Yuan with a teasing smile.
’She knew her sweetheart was knowledgeable, well-inford, and clever. But how on earth did he even know about these won’s matters?’
Lu Yuan grinned and replied,
"You can find a wealth of knowledge in books.
I read up on it before Liyan even got pregnant.
So light exercise during pregnancy helps ensure a smooth delivery. It makes childbirth easier when the ti cos."
Lu Yuan didn’t actually need books for this kind of information.
He’d picked it up just from watching a couple of TV dramas.
After all, they all rehash the sa old, obvious plot points.
To Su Liyan, however, Lu Yuan’s words were incredibly sweet.
’What kind of husband worries about things like this?
Only my husband would care for so much~’
Listening in, Song iqin and Zhao Qiao’Er also smiled to themselves.
Zhao Qiao’Er had said it before: when it ca to caring for people, no one could hold a candle to her sweetheart!
While the family was busy, the old butler arrived from the front courtyard and announced,
"Madam, Young Master, Changliang has arrived."
Hearing the voice behind them, Lu Yuan and the others turned to look.
Standing next to the old butler was another person—it was none other than Su Changliang.
It had been quite a while since they’d last seen him.
He hadn’t visited since the day he went with Su Liyan to report for duty at the Governnt Office.
It wasn’t that Su Changliang had forgotten to visit, or anything of the sort.
The truth was, being an Official was hardly a leisurely job.
Taiping City was massive, and his duties included daily patrols and dealing with public disturbances or dostic disputes that families couldn’t resolve on their own.
Back in the countryside, the village chief would handle such matters.
If even the chief couldn’t resolve it, or if a death occurred, it would be reported to the local manor.
Generally, a single manor might oversee tens of thousands of people within a radius of a few miles.
But in Taiping City, there were hundreds of thousands of residents, not to ntion countless travelers passing through.
All of these miscellaneous affairs fell to the Officials.
And since Su Changliang was new to the job, he naturally had an even heavier workload.
What pleased Lu Yuan, however, was that his young brother-in-law was proving to be quite resilient.
Usually, newcors got hazed a little and had to endure so unfair treatnt.
But Su Changliang hadn’t run back to complain even once.
After not seeing him for over two months, Lu Yuan could see that Su Changliang had changed dramatically.
He’d lost so of his boyishness, and the first hints of a mustache were appearing on his upper lip.
Dressed in an Official’s uniform with a Crossing Saber at his waist, he looked completely different.
If Lu Yuan had passed him on the street, he might not have even recognized him.
As Su Changliang entered the courtyard, he greeted everyone with his usual earnestness.
"Brother-in-law, Aunt Zhao, Aunt Song, Sis..."
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