Buying servants, sorting out the house, managing the shop the Fourth Younger Sister entrusted to him — he still had a lot to do!
Right outside the inn, Qin Yi ca and went, watching as She Lao’s figure disappeared into the inn, a silhouette flashed across his eyes.
But that fleeting figure shuffled too quickly, too fast for him to capture, and it had already vanished within his mory, leaving him unable to recall any part of it despite his efforts.
The winter solstice was upon them in an instant.
Early in the morning, Su Pan’er had already dressed Little Yan Yan up beautifully, planning to take Yan Yan with her.
Apart from their family, Ye Han had also expressed his intention to join them. Since it was the joyous occasion of moving, Su Pan’er chose a set of bright red dresses in particular, making everything look festive and lively. Little Yan Yan also wore bright red, making her rosy, cute face even more attractive.
Qin Yi was also dressed elegantly today, which accentuated his tall, upright figure, exuding a sense of power and grandeur.
After they left the mansion and t up with Ye Han, they headed directly toward the end of East Street.
With a beaming smile, Su Huarong had been waiting in front of the house, greeting each guest and politely inviting Qin Yi and the others into the house.
After stepping over the fire basin and each holding a gold or silver ingot — charms to protect the house — they offer them in the main hall. Only then did Su Pan’er take a close look at the house.
Although the house now known as the Su house wasn’t very large, the three yards were well arranged. The garden was beautifully appointed, indicating that the previous owner was a person of great taste. She couldn’t help but have a higher regard for the official who had returned to his hotown for his retirent.
Since it was a gathering of family and friends, everyone was at ease, eating and drinking happily.
However, their noisy neighbors heard the commotion and also ca to give their greetings, expressing their wish to join the housewarming.
For a housewarming party, the more the rrier. Su Huarong naturally invited the courtesies-bearing neighbors in with graciousness.
Just as they stepped in, Qin Yi looked up and saw that they were acquaintances — they were in fact two officials from the Hanlin Imperial Academy. Neither of them expected to run into the currently very popular Marquis Zhenguo, Qin Yi, and even the all-powerful Prince Regent in a house purchased by so minor official. They randomly dropped by for a visit and unexpectedly t these two prominent figures!
They were stunned at once!
Once they recovered, they quickly straightened their uniforms and went forward to pay their respects.
Ye Han maintained his usual aloof deanor, with just a cursory glance at the two before turning his head away.
Qin Yi casually waved his hand, appearing particularly cordial: "Lord Wu, Lord Zheng, please have a seat. At present, I am also a guest here. Let us all sit down and have a good drink, not leaving until we are drunk!"
"Thank you for your hospitality, Marquis Zhenguo! And thank you too, Prince Regent!"
The two court officials were overjoyed, and promptly took their seats neatly. After a few bouts of toasting, they all enjoyed the drinks imnsely.
Everyone drank until it was quite dark before they staggered back to their respective hos under the escort of house servants.
While Qin Yi wasn’t heavily drunk, he was obviously tipsy and he couldn’t stop laughing as he hugged Su Pan’er.
Seeing Little Yan Yan in Su Pan’er’s arms avoiding the sll of alcohol, he deliberately leaned his face closer, causing Little Yan Yan to dodge him repeatedly. When she found she could not avoid him completely, she cried out in frustrated baby talk and reached out a little paw to scratch Qin Yi’s face!
"Ouch!"
Qin Yi cried out in pain, imdiately covering his face with his hands.
"What happened? Were you scratched sowhere? Let have a look."
Su Pan’er was initially happy to see Qin Yi getting closer to Little Yan Yan. But upon seeing Qin Yi’s hurt, she beca anxious: "Don’t cover your face, let see."
"It’s nothing serious, I just didn’t watch out for her and ended up getting scratched pretty hard."
Qin Yi let go of his clenched fist, revealing the side of his face that had been scratched by Little Yanyan.
There were indeed three long, red marks where she’d scratched him – with small droplets of blood erging from the deepest parts.
"Oh my! You’re bleeding! This child, really! How could she use so much force? And you, you’re an adult. How can you get hurt by an eleven-month-old toddler? If this gets out, people will laugh their heads off! The mighty Marquis Zhenguo was injured by a small child."
Su Pan’er was flustered as she tried to help Qin Yi stop the bleeding, but Qin Yi just waved her off nonchalantly, wiped the blood away with a kerchief.
"This is my daughter, I don’t need to guard against her. Strangers can’t co near , so they can’t hurt . Co on, give Little Yanyan to !"
Little Yanyan clearly knew she had done sothing wrong and was rigid in Su Pan’er’s arms, too afraid to move.
Seeing her father reach out towards her, her instinct was to shy away.
However, Su Pan’er didn’t take her side, but took her little hand and started scolding her.
"Look at what you’ve done to your father’s face! When you make a mistake, you should be punished! I’ll go easy on you this ti since it’s your first offense. I’ll only slap your hand three tis! If it happens again, I will not go easy on you!"
Saying this, she raised her hand high and softly slapped Little Yanyan’s hand twice.
Just as she was about to deliver the third slap, Qin Yi stopped her.
Little Yanyan looked at her own hand, suddenly pursed her lips and started crying. And oh, how heartbroken she sounded.
This attracted Nanny Wang and Nanny Zhou from outside to co and see what was happening.
Seeing his daughter crying until her little face had turned red, Qin Yi quickly tried to take her away, "What are you doing? Yanyan is so young, how can you hit her? Co here, co to Daddy."
Then he reached out his hand, attempting to take her forcefully.
Su Pan’er, however, didn’t let him.
"She made a mistake, she should be punished! She’s still young, this is the best ti to establish a sense of right and wrong. If she does sothing wrong, we should properly punish her to prevent her from thinking that she could escape punishnt simply by crying."
"Punishnt? Yanyan isn’t even a year old yet. Have you ever seen a mother punish her own child like this? Give her to now."
Qin Yi, already feeling heady from the alcohol, was fueled by this unpleasant incident to recall the unpleasantness of his own childhood. His movents beca faster.
"No! I said I would slap her hand three tis, there’s still one more to go! Don’t snatch..."
"Let go, let go now! Are you even her real mother, to treat your own child this way? Let go now!"
Qin Yi’s words carried an edge of sternness, and he forcefully took Little Yanyan away.
Su Pan’er, frightened by the hatred in his eyes, instinctively paused, letting him take Yanyan away.
Children are particularly sensitive to their parents’ feelings, especially after she had just been punished. Although her hand wasn’t hurting, Su Pan’er’s act had scared her.
She was already crying heartbreakingly, and hearing her parents argue over her just made her cry harder.
This caused Nanny Wang and Nanny Zhou outside the carriage to panic like ants on a hot plate, not knowing what to do.
Su Pan’er beca angry!
"I’m trying to discipline our child, and you are encouraging her disobedience? If we don’t discipline her now, won’t she beco completely lawless in the future?"
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