On the eighth day of the tenth lunar month, the ‘scandal’ between the Qiyun Protectorate General and the Shatu Princess was brewing. It was currently the talk of the city.
Today also happened to be Old Master Lu’s 75th birthday. Having received an invitation card from the Lu Clan, Yan Liqiang, Qian Su, and Lu Wenbin had to free up some time from their busy schedule to attend the banquet at the Lu Manor.
The banquet at the Lu Manor kept a very low profile this time. Apart from family members and a few close friends, they didn’t invite other people. There were only a total of five tables in the Lu Residence’s banquet hall.
Yan Liqiang, Qian Su, Lu Wenbin, and Old Master Lu were seated at the main table. The women and younger family members were seated at other tables.
Lu Wenbin would never be allowed to sit at the main table when he was in the Lu Clan. However, he was fortunate enough to be highly regarded by Yan Liqiang and be appointed as the Shu Minister of the Labor House. Hence, his position in the Lu Clan was no longer the same as before. Even the head steward in the Lu Clan had to show him respect.
Needless to say, Yan Liqiang was now the son-in-law of the Lu Clan. Everyone in the Lu Clan, including Old Master Lu and the lowly servants, treated him as part of their family.
The dinner was lively and joyous. No one talked about work on the table. They shared conversations about interesting things and their daily lives with each other. By the third round of wine, the younger members of the Lu Clan took turns toasting to Old Master Lu and expressed their good wishes to him. Those who inherited the family business didn’t forget to offer up gifts to him either.
When it was Lu Beixin’s turn, she gifted Old Master Lu an embroidery of Thousand Longevity. The three-meter long embroidery was unfolded to reveal many Chinese characters that read ‘Longevity’. Every single one of them bloomed like flowers across the picture. Everyone in the hall strained their necks to look at the embroidery as they praised Lu Beixin’s talent.
“Beixin, did you make this?” Old Master Lu asked in surprise.
“Of course! I spent half a year studying from a few of my sister-in-laws just for the sake of embroidering this for you! You can ask them if you don’t believe me!” Lu Beixin pouted at her father.
“This is indeed Beixin’s work. For the past year, she’s been working hard at the woolen mill during the day to make sure everything is going smoothly there. When she came home from work at night, she’d come to learn needlework from us!” One of Lu Beixin’s sisters-in-law cleverly chimed in with a smile. She then threw a glance at Yan Liqiang who was seated beside Old Master Lu. “Whoever that marries Lu Beixin in the future must be a fortunate man!”
Yan Liqiang looked at Lu Beixin with a smile, but Lu Beixin averted her gaze and pretended as though she didn’t see Yan Liqiang. After speaking with Old Master Lu, she ignored Yan Liqiang and directly returned to her seat.
Yan Liqiang knew what was on her mind just by activating the Psychic Serpent. Lu Beixin had caught wind of the scandal about him.
However, everyone else from the Lu Clan didn’t seem to be bothered by that.
By the time everyone from the Lu Clan was done expressing their wishes and handing over their gifts to Old Master Lu, Yan Liqiang clapped his hands. The servants from the Lu Clan then brought in the gifts he had prepared.
“Hahaha, not you too, Liqiang! It’s only a dinner and you brought with you so many crates of gifts…” A smile immediately appeared on Old Master Lu’s face when he saw the three crates that Yan Liqiang had people bring in. However, he was quite curious. He knew Yan Liqiang wasn’t a pompous man, but it was a little too much of him to give three crates of gifts in one go. There had to be something special inside them.
“Hahaha, this is from Uncle Qian, Wenbin, and me…”
“Oh, you’re getting good at this Liqiang! You even prepared three gifts!” Lu Peien poked fun at him and everyone laughed.
“Brother Lu, you ought to know that Uncle Qian and Wenbin are my two important managers! One manages my finances while the other one builds stuff for me! Without their help, there’s no way I couldnt have prepared these things in such a short amount of time, no matter how talented I am. These three crates are the birthday gifts we have prepared for Old Master Lu!”
“Oh? What’s inside?” Lu Peien’s curiosity was instantly piqued too.
“You’ll know once they’re opened…!” Yan Liqiang smiled, then gestured for the servants from the Lu Clan to open the crates. In that instant, the silvery light that escaped from the three crates instantly dazzled everyone’s eyes and the hall was immediately filled with gasps of surprise.
The three crates contained the first batch of silver coins made by the coin factory in the manufacturing bureau. Every crate was filled with ten thousand silver coins, equivalent to the value of nearly a thousand taels of silver. Three crates meant a total of thirty thousand silver coins with the worth of three thousand taels of silver…
This was the first time any outsider ever laid eyes on the silver coin made by the coin factory, let alone such a huge amount of them. Everyone from the Lu Clan was stunned as they had never seen such beautiful silver coins before. Lu Peien’s eyes were even sparkling. Before the servants could even bring the coins to him, he had rushed up to grab a handful of coins and brought them to Old Master Lu’s table.
Old Master Lu held the silver coin in his hand and ran his thumb over the intricate engraving on it as he looked at the object in disbelief. Although he could be considered as someone who was experienced and knowledgeable, the silver coin was still an eye-opener for him.
“W-What is this exquisite-looking thing?” Old Master Lu asked as he thumbed the grooves on the side of the silver coin.
“This is a silver coin, a new invention by the manufacturing bureau!” Yan Liqiang smiled. “Since it’s your birthday today, we brought some over as gift money to you, Old Master!” He walked over with a coin between his fingers while speaking, then gave it a hard blow. He brought the coin to Old Master Lu’s ear, and the old man could immediately hear the pleasant buzz that the coin emitted.
Old Master Lu wasn’t the only one who heard it. Everyone in the surrounding area heard it too.
“Ohh, it produces sound too…!” Old Master Lu looked at Yan Liqiang in surprise and great interest.
“High silver content produces sounds that are crisp and long. High bronze content will make a sharper sound. Those with a high amount of lead mixed in will produce low sounds. Once your ears get used to it, you will be able to tell the purity of these silver coins just by blowing on them and listening to the sounds they make…”
Upon hearing Yan Liqiang’s explanation, everyone else also picked up a silver coin in curiosity. They gave the coin in their hand a hard blow, then started analyzing the sound they made.
After Old Master Lu gave it a try and discovered that it was indeed as what Yan Liqiang had claimed, he was extremely happy. Seeing everyone in the big hall looking at the three crates of silver coins curiously, he immediately called a steward over and had him distribute the coins to everyone. The servants and kitchen helpers all received about four or five coins each, while the younger generation of the Lu Clan received at least a hundred each.
After receiving the beautiful silver coins, everyone in the Lu Clan was beaming with happiness and the atmosphere in the room was lively.
The hall was instantly filled with the sounds of people inhaling and blowing. A few of Old Master Lu’s grandchildren were shouting joyously. “I can hear it, I can hear it…!” Old Master Lu couldn’t help but chuckle at the sight of that.
By the time Old Master Lu wanted to give Lu Beixin her share, he realized that she had left the hall without anyone knowing…
“That girl…” Old Master Lu shook his head in frustration.
“Ahem… I’ll check up on Beixin…” Yan Liqiang immediately seized the opportunity.
“Alright, please do, Liqiang. We’re about to call it a night anyway, so you don’t need to worry about it. It’s been a very long time since you and Beixin last met. Go have a nice talk with her. A few days ago, she mentioned that she had some questions for you regarding the woolen mill …”
Since Old Master Lu had said that, Yan Liqiang left the hall shortly and made his way toward the rear courtyard in the Lu Residence. No one from the Lu Clan stopped him on the way. Everyone stood at the side respectfully and greeted him with a smile.
When Yan Liqiang reached the rear courtyard, he went straight to the garden instead of the courtyard where Lu Beixin stayed. In the garden, there was a huge pond filled with lotus flowers. It was directly connected to the Lotus Flower Lake outside the Lu Residence.
When Yan Liqiang arrived, Lu Beixin was sitting alone in the pavilion by the pond and gliding her fingers across a zither she placed on the table. The moonlight was shining down and a relaxing melody filled the night.
Lu Beixin knew Yan Liqiang had come, but she merely shot him a glance before she continued playing her zither in silence. The melody produced by the zither seemed to have some bitterness mixed in it.
Yan Liqiang didn’t say anything to her either. He just quietly listened at the side. He knew since long ago that Lu Beixin liked playing music here, but he didn’t expect her to be this skillful with a zither. Although she had yet to gain mastery of the instrument, her skills could be considered impressive.
