"The patriarch has arrived."
Swish.
Inside the room, everyone except for Song Ci stood up and looked towards the door. When they saw the patriarch, wearing a dark red robe, walk in, they all greeted him in unison.
The patriarch lifted his hand slightly as he saw the room full of people. "No need for such formalities, everyone please rise."
Everyone straightened up.
Song Zhiyuan walked over, holding the patriarch’s hand, leading him to Song Ci’s side, and said with a smile, "Father always arrives right on ti."
Song Ci glanced at the patriarch, "I thought so people were enjoying themselves so much they lost track of ti. Really sorry, we didn’t wait for you."
The patriarch’s white, plump face darkened slightly as he looked around the room. So they really hadn’t waited for him and were about to start eating?
This is ridiculous, is there such a thing as not waiting for the head of the family at a family banquet?
The patriarch looked at Song Ci, ready to explode, but seeing Song Ci’s half-smile, he felt inexplicably guilty, diverted his gaze, coughed, and said, "I was just delayed on the road for a while. It’s fine now. Everyone, sit down."
He sat down and saw a pair of children standing at the end, and was montarily stunned.
"Are those the two children from the third son’s family?"
Madam Lu quickly brought the children forward to greet him again, while Song Ruwei’s two little ones directly knelt and kowtowed as a formal salute.
The patriarch called them to rise, asked Song Lingzhou to co forward, and casually unfastened the jade pendant from his waist to give to him, then gave one to Song Ruwei as well, before looking closely at this young grandson.
Song Lingzhou was also plump, with big round eyes, and looked at his grandfather with slightly pursed lips, calm and fearless.
Song Ci glanced over, these little plump buns indeed belonged to the family.
The patriarch looked at his grandson, a flash of surprise quickly crossing his eyes, then he grinned and asked, "What is your na again?"
"Replying to grandfather, I am the fourth in line, nad by father with the character ’zhou’ like ’island’ in the river." Song Lingzhou replied loudly.
"This child is full of spirit and well-raised. Madam Lu, you’ve done well," the patriarch praised Madam Lu with a glance.
Madam Lu felt a bit flustered, quickly curtsied, and said warmly, "Daughter-in-law dares not claim credit; it is simply my duty."
"Go back to your seat." The patriarch withdrew his gaze.
Madam Lu’s eyes flickered slightly, sowhat baffled.
Song Ci didn’t notice, only looked at Nanny and said, "Serve the al, please."
"Yes."
Maids and servants filed in, each holding a variety of exquisite dishes, quickly arranging them on the table.
Next to each person stood a maid holding a handkerchief and chopsticks, serving dishes for their masters. There was almost no chatter at the table, even the sound of chopsticks touching bowls was very light, except for the patriarch, who audibly slurped soup, his spoon clattering noisily.
Having been here for so many days, Song Ci was already accustod to eating slowly and deliberately. Seeing the patriarch’s bear-like deanor, she couldn’t help but twitch her mouth.
Bam.
Everyone jumped in surprise, instinctively raising their heads.
Song Ci’s soup spoon trembled, and she turned to look at the patriarch who suddenly slapped his chopsticks down, unable to resist saying, "You’re eating just fine, who are you trying to scare?"
It caused her to spill her soup.
The patriarch wiped his mouth with a handkerchief and laughed, "Since everyone is here, I have a piece of good news to share."
Good news?
Madam raised her eyebrows, exchanging a look with Song Zhiyuan. Could it be what she was thinking?
She instinctively looked at her mother-in-law, silently put down her chopsticks, and prepared to respond.
Song Zhiyu, who was notoriously blunt, blurted out, "Father, this good news, could it be that you’ve had another sibling for outside and now want to bring them into the family?"
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