Flowers in full bloom

Chapter 660 Home Clothes

In late October, Hua Lei and Rong Jin, who had supported the three-year reclamation of Mobei, set out on the road back to Beijing. They were accompanied by Zhenzhu and his wife, and Rong Yu and his wife. The two marquisates returned to Beijing together.

Following Hua Lei's suggestion, Gao Tiedan, Xiao Yuanzi and the other two acted as half-grooms and returned to Beijing with the Zhenbei Marquis Mansion.

In the first half of last year, Qian gave birth to Rongyu's eldest daughter Jinyan, who was seven months younger than Jinnian. She was now two years old, fair and chubby, and very cute.

Originally, Qian wanted to go back to Beijing with her second brother and his wife. However, Rong Yu disagreed. In the past few years, he had learned a lot from Rong Jin and Hua Lei.

At home, he gradually straightened his back. Now, not to mention that Qian dared not disobey him, even her second brother and second sister-in-law from her mother's family also tucked their tails between their legs in front of Rong Yu.

Li Yuanpan, who was originally able to leave in early October, unexpectedly returned to Beijing with several pharmacists from the Imperial Hospital and the convoy from the Zhenbei Marquis' Mansion.

Hualei was very happy to be able to go back to Beijing with Li Yuanpan. She was only less than three months pregnant, so it was not suitable for her to travel a long distance back to Beijing.

However, if we don’t leave now, winter is about to arrive and the roads may become even more difficult to travel, so we will have to wait until March at the beginning of the year to return to Beijing.

The delay was too long, even Minister Zhang did not dare to approve Hualei's leave. Besides, it would be March next year, and Hualei's belly would be bigger, so it would be inconvenient to travel.

So, after thinking it over again and again, Hua Lei decided to follow the court officials back to Beijing. Fortunately, there was plenty of time to go back.

If they arrived in Shangjing, it would be almost the New Year. Therefore, the court also granted permission for all officials to wait until after the New Year if they could not report before the New Year.

In this way, if you are not in a hurry to go back to Beijing for the New Year, you will basically have two months on the road, and you don’t have to rush back to Beijing, which will be much more comfortable.

Now Li Yuanpan and his family's motorcade are returning to Beijing. Hualei and her child are on the road. If anyone gets a headache or a fever, there will be an extra layer of protection. Hualei is very happy.

After bidding farewell to Pei Jing and Jing Yang, Hua Lei and his party followed the carriages of other families and left the South Gate of Mobei. At this time, officials returning to Beijing were arriving one after another. There were already many carriages ahead, and the road was a bit crowded.

Because the weather was fine, Rong Jin and Jiang Yunqi carried Jinnian and Qilin and rode slowly in front, while Hua Lei and Zhenzhu sat in the carriage, lifted the curtain, and talked while enjoying the scenery.

Because the Pingyang Marquis Mansion and the Zhenbei Marquis Mansion were returning to the capital together, with the carriages of Rong Yu and his wife and Li Yuanpan, the entire convoy had nearly forty or fifty carriages.

Hualei's carriage was in the middle, moving at a leisurely pace. Just after two miles, the carriage of the Marquis' Mansion slowly stopped. Uncle Dingsheng, who was walking in the front, hurried to the front of Hualei's carriage.

It is said that people from Mobei sent Hualei a lot of chickens, ducks, and rabbits, some alive and some slaughtered, in addition to a lot of vegetables.

It is already November, and many green leafy vegetables in Mobei are no longer available, so many of the vegetables sent by the people are stored in cellars.

Originally, Rong Jin in front had helped Hua Lei reject the gifts from the people, but the people insisted, and many people were afraid of being rejected, so they directly put the baskets of vegetables on the carriage of the Marquis' Mansion.

The servants of the Marquis' Mansion had no time to refuse. Many people had already turned around and left. There were too many people. They asked Hua Lei what to do. Hua Lei was stunned and helped Qing Qi get off the carriage.

Many people from Mobei were standing on the official roads on both sides. When they saw the flower buds coming down, they hurriedly stepped back a few steps and knelt there in unison.

The November sun shone warmly behind them, making it difficult for Hualei to see the faces of the people. However, she saw that her own carriage was piled with bamboo baskets.

"Village head, what are you doing...? Please stand up." Hua Lei saw several village heads kneeling not far away, and hurried forward to help them up. The village head of Luwei Village, Lao Huang, who she had not seen for a long time, was also there.

"Master Hua, these are little gifts from the villagers. We don't have anything good to give to you, so please accept these chickens, ducks and vegetables." said the village chief Qian from the rabbit-raising village, who was kneeling in the front.

"Village Chief Qian, the villagers themselves don't even have enough food and clothing, why are they wasting like this? We have already prepared enough rice, flour and vegetables." Hua Lei evaded the question.

"Hua... Lord Hua, please take it with you. You are a double now, you need to eat more..." said Aunt Qian, who was kneeling behind him.

"Also, Master Hua, this is a patchwork quilt made by several skillful wives in our village for the baby in your belly. If you don't mind, please accept it. It will be our blessing for the child."

Aunt Qian picked up a bundle at hand, carefully handed it to Hua Lei, and said.

Hua Lei was slightly startled. She had mentioned her pregnancy several times when she was lobbying those widows to remarry, but not many people knew about it.

Moreover, I am wearing many clothes now, so from the outside, I can't tell that I am a pregnant woman. How could these people know and give me "patchwork clothes"?

In the prosperous period, the "Baijiayi" was called by different names, such as "Bai Sui Yi" and "Bai Fu Yi". It was made of cloth scraps collected from neighbors, fellow villagers and relatives, and sewn into clothes for babies.

The number of "hundred families" does not necessarily mean a hundred families, but more or less is possible. As the saying goes, "If you wear a hundred-year-old dress, you can live to be a hundred and one." This is the dress.

It means that after the child wears the patchwork clothes, he will be free from illness and live a long life. It is a blessing and also a wish.

"Hua... Lady Hua, this patchwork quilt...we made it with clean cloth corners. It's really, very clean." Seeing that Hua Lei didn't say anything, Aunt Qian lowered her voice, thinking that Hua Lei was disgusted.

"Thank you, Aunt Qian, and thank all the aunts and uncles on my behalf. Qinghua, please accept it." Hualei instructed Qinghua who was following beside her.

Qinghua quickly stepped forward, took the bundle from Aunt Qian, and handed it to Hualei. Hualei opened it and saw a small piece of clothing made of various irregular pieces of cloth.

The colors are mostly blue, black, and gray, with a few red and purple corners of brighter colors. The fabrics are also relatively ordinary, but the workmanship is very good, every stitch is neat and tidy, and there is no exposed thread.

Hualei stroked the clothes, her eyes slightly warmed, these simple people are really thoughtful. Hualei took a step back and bowed slightly.

"Thank you all uncles and aunts for your thoughtfulness. I really like this patchwork quilt. When my baby is born, I will put it on him.