Chapter 2484 - 2458: Warming the House, Part 2

Manbao and Bai Shan nodded again and again, and even Bai Dalang said, "How can you move into a new house and not have a house‑warming?"

Even Bai Erlang knew this custom. "Your family isn’t arranging it for you?"

Yin Huo said, "My grandmother isn’t very keen on me moving out, so for now I’ve only moved my things over there."

Probably because of that, she was treating that place like a secondary residence and didn’t really want to regard it as his proper new home.

Manbao said, "It’s fine, we’re free. We’ll come warm your house for you tomorrow."

Bai Shan said, "Call Zhao Liulang and Feng Zongping and the others. We’ll all sit down to a lively meal; once the stove fire is lit, that’s enough."

Bai Dalang also said, "If you feel it’s not lively enough, I can bring my classmates too."

Yin Huo was deeply moved and said, "It’s enough, it’s enough, just us familiar people is good."

So the topic shifted. After everyone finished strolling through Bai Shan’s bridal chamber, they decided to go over to Yin Huo’s residence now to have a look and pick up some things, since they’d have to prepare more food for the house‑warming tomorrow.

Manbao had been shut up on the imperial estate for half a month and was craving roast meat, so she egged on the clueless Yin Huo. "It’s a house‑warming, we need both people’s warmth and the fire’s warmth. Let’s roast meat, the fire will be blazing. After one meal, I guarantee your house will be toasty warm."

Bai Dalang and the others: ... They’d never heard of anyone saying you have to eat roast meat for a house‑warming.

But Yin Huo didn’t know that. He began to think seriously and said, "Do you want roast lamb or roast venison?"

Manbao was surprised. "There’s still venison now?"

Yin Huo smiled. "There is. They keep some deer in the West Inner Court. It’s almost autumn now—so long as they’re hunted, we can have some."

And for the imperial guards, hunting wasn’t difficult.

Yin Huo didn’t even need to go to his father; he just had to mention it to a few uncles or cousins, and naturally someone would send some over.

Half of the imperial guards were sons of noble families, and the other half were top soldiers selected from the various armies.

Although Yin Huo seldom played with them—no, he never played with them—any time he went to see his father, he inevitably ran into some of them.

Especially these past few years, when he’d been studying at Chongwen Pavilion and entered the palace every ten days. Each time, his father would first take him into the West Inner Court and then cut through to the Eastern Palace. Every ten days he also had two riding and archery classes in the West Inner Court. Mm, although during every riding and archery class he just sat to the side watching, or rode his horse around the West Inner Court on his own, his interactions with them had unavoidably increased.

With more interaction came feelings, and once there were feelings, it became easier to open his mouth and ask favors.

Yin Huo sent Changshou to find someone, and by evening a deer was delivered to his private residence.

It had only just been killed; the blood was still flowing.

Manbao and the others had just finished helping Yin Huo buy everything and bring it back. When they saw the deer that had been delivered, they clustered around it curiously.

After looking it over, Manbao said, "A stag, this is good stuff."

Bai Dalang and Bai Shan: ...

Bai Erlang asked, "It’s all venison, what’s the difference? Is stag meat more tender or something?"

Manbao said, "Because it has velvet antler and deer penis."

Bai Erlang: ...

Manbao pointed at its antlers and said, "See? Its antlers are still tender; they haven’t ossified yet. The first velvet antlers must have been cut off by someone; this is the second growth."

"No wonder the Imperial Hospital never runs short of deer antler. So there are deer being raised in the West Inner Court just for velvet antler."

Afraid she’d say "deer penis" next, Bai Shan hurriedly changed the subject. "Yin Huo, do you have a cook here in this residence? If not, I’ll bring two cooks from home tomorrow to help out?"

There was a cook, but only one. Yin Huo had no experience with house‑warmings, so he nodded. "Then I’ll trouble you with that."

Early the next morning, Bai Shan and the others arrived first and brought along two of the family’s cooks, with Aunt Rong taking the lead.

Yin Huo had eaten her cooking often; when he saw her, he smiled and said, "You even brought your head chef?"

Bai Shan smiled. "Sister‑in‑law He’s skills are quite good now too, and Aunt Rong is familiar with arranging banquets. She knows all the rules."

After returning from the Western Regions with them, Sister‑in‑law He had hesitated but hadn’t gone straight back to her home village. Instead, she chose to sell herself into service and signed a long‑term contract with the Bai Family, planning to work there for five years, save up some money, and then go home.

Or maybe five years later she wouldn’t choose to go back at all.

Back in the Western Regions she had wanted to return because she missed the customs and ways of the Central Plains. But once she truly came back, she found that there weren’t many relatives she still cared about in her hometown. Going back would only mean trouble. At this point, it felt like she could settle anywhere, so long as it was in the Central Plains, so long as it was an environment she was familiar with.

She didn’t like the Western Regions. The wind and sand there were too fierce; what people wore and ate, even the way they spoke, was different. She was an oddity there—because she looked different, everyone looked at her differently.

But she didn’t feel that way once she reached the capital, especially at the Zhou Residence. There were people from the Inner Pass, and people from Jiannan as well. She could even chat in her hometown dialect with people like Ms.Qian, and suddenly she didn’t feel so eager to leave.

Old Madam Liu placed her under Aunt Rong. Over the past half year she had learned quite a few dishes from Aunt Rong; at least, the dishes she made were good enough that even Old Madam Liu thought they were decent.

As for Bai Shan and the others, after traveling through the Western Regions and eating her cooking and snacks for nearly a year, they thought she was very good—at the very least, much better than whatever they and the guards themselves could throw together.

Yin Huo waved someone over and said with a smile, "I’ll have someone take Aunt Rong to the kitchen."

The one who came forward was a pale, gentle‑looking young man. When he saw Zhou Man, he broke into a bright smile and stepped up to salute. "Greetings, Lord Zhou."

Manbao let out a little "Eh." "It’s Xu An."

Xu An smiled and nodded.

Yin Huo said, "He’s now the steward of this residence."

He didn’t much like using the servants from the Yin Residence—probably because the impression they’d left him before wasn’t great. Now, most of the people employed in his own County Mansion had been separately selected from the estate.

Changshou had to attend him closely, so he simply handed the running of the residence over to Xu An.

These past years Xu An had been managing his courtyard in the Yin Family residence, basically never going out. In the Yin Family, he answered only to Yin Huo—he was even more single‑minded than Changshou—so Yin Huo had specially brought him over to the private residence.

Manbao looked at him with a very satisfied expression. "Not bad, not bad. You’re a steward now; you’re sure to have boundless prospects in the future."

Yin Huo: ... What other boundless prospects could there be?

He cast her a sidelong glance.

Xu An’s face reddened slightly. After giving a shy smile, he said, "Young Master, the garden is ready. Would you like to take the guests to sit there?"

Yin Huo nodded. This was his first time inviting guests on his own as the host, but he’d gone to Zhou Man’s house as a guest many times. He thought back over how Zhou Man and Bai Shan had entertained him before, then stepped aside and said, "I’ll take you all to stroll around the garden."

This residence had been bestowed by the emperor. It was naturally much smaller than the Yin Residence: a three‑courtyard compound, no nested courtyards, just one line straight through. But there was also a small garden in the back.

There was even a little pavilion. Yin Huo decided they would roast meat and eat here; with the breeze coming from all four sides, it was nice and cool.