Yun Chen heard the words and remained silent for a long time.
Only much later did he speak, "If others ask, just say mother fell ill, and the children got sick from taking care of her!"
This not only preserved the children’s reputation but also made outsiders think they were filial.
"And about Jinnian..."
"Jinnian is also a granddaughter of mother!"
Mrs. He immediately dared not say more.
In the blink of an eye, the New Year was upon them.
"Miss!" Mrs. Yuan called softly, placing a tray beside Yun Jinnian.
Yun Jinnian picked up a purse, "This purse is nice, who embroidered it?"
"Reporting to miss, it was Ru Yue who embroidered it!"
Yun Jinnian smiled, "Since the purse was embroidered by Ru Yue, naturally she should be rewarded first!"
Ru Yue stepped forward, curtsied, and received the New Year’s money from Yun Jinnian with both hands.
The others followed suit, each receiving a purse in turn.
"No matter how much New Year’s money I’ve given you, when you go out, you must not talk nonsense. If someone really asks, just say it’s one or two taels of silver, understood?"
The New Year’s money given by Yun Jinnian was five taels of silver per person, which was quite a generous reward for those at Niannian Garden.
It was even more than what the Head Maid and the chief nannies at Cixin Academy received.
However, they also received other jewelry rewards, but Yun Jinnian only had so many pieces of jewelry. Even if she were willing to give them away, they wouldn’t dare to accept them.
Yun Jinnian’s mood wasn’t very good.
Because of the New Year, others were reuniting with their families, while she was left alone.
Yun Jinnian gently set down her book and said wistfully, "Tell me, how can I leave the estate to see mother?"
The nanny felt a slight pain in her chest, "Miss, it would be difficult for you to leave the estate!"
"I know, it’s hard enough to leave the estate, let alone to see mother!"
If mother was in the estate, she just had to tell her she wanted to go out and take a few more people with her.
On the twenty-eighth day of the twelfth lunar month, Tianmi came with a message, asking Yun Jinnian to go to the dining hall for a meal on New Year’s Eve, and then stay up together to see in the New Year.
The New Year’s supplies had already been sent over by Aunt Cui.
There were several bolts of fabric, and two sets of ready-made clothes. Yun Jinnian tried them on and they fit quite well, but she didn’t like the colors or the patterns.
At first, nobody had asked her to choose the fabric, let alone the styles.
The Lady, Mrs. He, was only superficially cordial to her, making sure she didn’t lack food or clothing, just enough to keep up appearances and avoid criticism.
But today’s life was so much better than before; Yun Jinnian wouldn’t nitpick. As long as she could get by, it was enough.
In the blink of an eye, it was New Year’s Eve.
Although the old lady was ill, she still made an effort to have Ming Liu distribute New Year’s money to the younger generation, all placed in purses. Yun Jinnian didn’t know what to expect, but looking at her deflated purse compared to Xu Xinmo and others’ bulging ones, she knew it was different.
Lady Mrs. He gave a gold hairpin to each person, each with different designs; her three sons each received a small box of fine Hui Ink and two reams of exquisite Xuan paper.
No one dared to say much about this because the future of the Yun Family depended on them, so it was only right to give the best to them.
Yun Chen gave each of his children two hundred taels of silver.
Very common, but practically useful.
However, what no one expected was that Yun Zhen had prepared New Year’s money, "Fourth Sister, come here!"
Yun Zhen was the first to call Yun Jinnian.
Everyone was shocked.
Because Yun Zhen and Yun Jinnian were not close, seeing each other only a few times a year.
Yun Jinnian was also surprised but obediently stepped forward and curtsied, "Greetings to Big Brother!"
Yun Zhen smiled, and like a magic trick, drew a pair of five-treasure golden butterfly hairpins from his sleeve and gently inserted them into Yun Jinnian’s hair, commenting, "Hmm, it looks much better this way! In the future, don’t pick such faded red colors, it makes you look old. You are young, so bright pink or red would be very nice, the pink is fresh and lively, and red is auspicious!"
Since it was the New Year’s Eve dinner, Yun Jinnian had Mrs. Yuan choose her best attire, as she didn’t want Mrs. He to feel like she was being slighted.
But Mrs. He was somewhat clever; although she hadn’t personally seen to Yun Jinnian’s clothes, she had a rough idea of what they were.
What Yun Jinnian wore was made from fabric left over from the old lady’s clothes. Mrs. He hadn’t given it much thought at the time and had simply let someone make it for Yun Jinnian.
However, today, although Yun Zhen did not openly express his disapproval,
he advised Yun Jinnian to choose different colors when selecting fabrics in the future.
"Thank you for the gift, Big Brother!"
He also gave similar five-treasure golden butterfly hairpins to his other sisters, but each was a different design.
The fifteen-year-old second son, Yun Yi, had been giving out gifts one by one since he was young.
The twelve-year-old third son, Yun Xuan, did the same, showing nothing special or particular.
Yun Chen was very satisfied with his three sons.
The old lady’s heart was a mixture of feelings; she took a deep breath and spoke faintly, "Let’s start the meal!"