Hearing this, Jiang Fuying was in a daze for a moment.
Whose birthday was it?
Was it her birthday?
Why couldn't she remember that it was her birthday today...
While she was in a daze, Mrs. Lu had already walked up to her with a big bowl in her hand.
"Fuying, you must eat longevity noodles on your birthday. I hope your future will be as long and smooth as these noodles, full of good fortune and happiness."
Jiang Fuying's eyes welled up with tears.
In two lifetimes, few people had ever cared about her birthday.
Following Mrs. Lu, Lu Qingyu gave a shy smile and stepped forward to pour the poached egg from the small bowl into the longevity noodles. "Sister-in-law, remember to eat this poached egg too."
"Happy birthday, sister-in-law. Qingyu wishes you a perfect and fulfilling future."
She reached out her hand, intending to take the bowl of longevity noodles, but a pair of big hands beat her to it.
Looking up, she saw Lu Huaizhou pick up a chopstick of noodles with his long chopsticks, blow on them gently, and then bring them to her lips.
With a smile on his lips, he said softly, "Happy birthday, wife."
Only then did Jiang Fuying truly understand what the mysterious "important matter" he had mentioned was.
It turned out that in their eyes, the birthday of this new bride who had come through a replacement marriage was also an important matter.
Tears streamed down her face. Jiang Fuying found it hard to describe her mood at this moment.
It was probably like a bitter rhizome of Chinese goldthread being soaked in a honey jar, making her feel the warmth of a family for the first time.
They didn't just say they would treat her as "one of the family"; they had already shown it in their actions.
Under the eager gazes of the three of them, Jiang Fuying blushed slightly and opened her mouth to eat the noodles he fed her.
The noodles were long. Feeling embarrassed to trouble him, she was about to bite them off, but he saw through her thoughts.
"It's my duty to feed my wife longevity noodles. You don't need to feel troubled."
Although she knew that in front of Mrs. Lu, he could only address her as "wife" so intimately.
She blushed deeply and quickly averted her gaze.
After a warm breakfast, Jiang Fuying felt in high spirits. She decided to take a rare day off.
But there was always an uninvited guest to break the peace.
"Miss, the steward of the Minister of Rites' Mansion has come in person. He said he was ordered by the master and mistress to deliver a message to you."
From Cai Pu's not-so-good expression, Jiang Fuying already had an answer.
The steward of the Minister of Rites' Mansion wasn't here just to deliver a message; he was here to make her feel bad!
"Miss, if you don't want to see him, I'll tell the gatekeeper to drive him away."
Drive him away?
If she did that, the streets and alleys of the capital would soon be filled with rumors that she was disrespectful to her parents and violated filial piety!
Jiang Fuying suddenly stood up. "There's no need to drive him away. I'll see him."
"Have him taken to the side room to wait."
"Yes."
In the side room of the Marquis of Zhennan's Mansion.
The moment Jiang Fuying stepped into the side room, the steward frowned and looked displeased.
"The master and mistress asked me to convey their wishes. They wish the eldest miss a happy birthday."
Jiang Fuying lifted her eyelids coldly.
Wish her a happy birthday?
Sending the steward here specifically to make her feel bad, did they really want her to have a happy birthday?
Seeing her cold attitude, the steward directly started to question her. "Does the eldest miss act like this because she doesn't put the master and mistress in her eyes?"
"Steward, I think you should understand one thing." Jiang Fuying looked at him coldly and was not polite at all. "This is the Marquis of Zhennan's Mansion. If you insist on accusing me, I don't mind asking my mother-in-law to come and judge."
On the territory of the Marquis of Zhennan's Mansion, one must never offend the mistress of the mansion.
The steward immediately chose to shut up about this topic.
"Eldest miss, the master and mistress sent me to tell you that although you are already married and today is your birthday, you should remember that the kindness of giving birth and raising is greater than heaven. Don't be an ungrateful person."
Hearing this, Jiang Fuying sneered.
On her birthday, her so-called good father and stepmother didn't even prepare the cheapest birthday gift for her, but they had a whole basket of preaching words!
Moreover, they even had the nerve to mention the "kindness of giving birth and raising"!
The kindness of giving birth was from her late mother, and the kindness of raising—
What kindness of raising did they have towards her?
Since her mother passed away, she had been thrown into the back yard of the Minister of Rites' Mansion and lived a miserable life. If it weren't for the title of eldest miss, she might have died of hunger and cold!
Looking back on her past life, when she was in a miserable and down-and-out state, Minister Jiang and Mrs. An, as elders, never thought of helping her.
But when they saw her living a glorious life as the mistress of the Marquis of Pingning's Mansion, they rushed to curry favor with her and did everything they could to get benefits from her.
It was also because she wasn't sober enough in her past life that she really fell into their trap of the so-called "kindness of giving birth and raising"!
Unfortunately, she wouldn't do that in this life!
"Since the steward has delivered the message, I won't keep you any longer." Jiang Fuying said in a deep voice. "Cai Pu, Cai Zhi, see the guest out!"
She had made up her mind not to show any more mercy to the Jiang family.
As soon as the steward left the Marquis of Zhennan's Mansion, she would immediately have someone spread the news of today's incident throughout the capital and make them "famous"!
By then, everyone would know how her face-loving father and stepmother had treated their daughter harshly, not even giving her a birthday gift but shamelessly sending someone to the Marquis of Zhennan's Mansion to lecture her!
The steward naturally didn't want to leave, but Cai Pu and Cai Zhi each grabbed one of his arms and dragged his old body out of the side room.
Before the steward could leave the side room, a tall figure appeared at the door.
It was Lu Huaizhou.
The moment he saw the steward, he quietly let out a sigh of relief.
Fortunately, he wasn't too late!
He had heard from the guard that she was being lectured by the steward of the Minister of Rites' Mansion, so he had rushed over immediately, leaving his work behind, for fear of missing it.
"Wait!" Lu Huaizhou shouted coldly. "Did I allow him to leave?"
Cai Pu and Cai Zhi looked at each other and then let go of the steward at the same time.
The marquis would surely avenge the miss!
But the steward didn't think so. One of the couple wanted him to leave, and the other didn't. In comparison, the marquis would surely help him teach the eldest miss a lesson!
The steward immediately started to complain. "Marquis, look at the eldest miss..."
But Lu Huaizhou's eyes skipped over him and landed directly on Jiang Fuying behind him. He gave her a reassuring look: Miss Jiang, just rest assured.
Jiang Fuying bit her lip, and a surge of sourness and grievance welled up in her heart.
The Marquis Lu had accidentally married her but treated her sincerely, while those "family members" of the Jiang family who were related to her by blood...
Her autumn-like eyes were filled with a layer of mist.
Lu Huaizhou tightened his fist and shouted loudly. "Come! Tie him up!"
"Get a broom to get rid of the bad luck of this filthy person, and then drive him out of the Marquis of Zhennan's Mansion!"
The steward was completely stunned. "Marquis, you can't treat me like this. I'm the steward of the Minister of Rites' Mansion. I represent the face of the mansion..."
Threatening him with Minister Jiang?
Unfortunately, he didn't buy it at all!
Raising his sword-shaped eyebrows slightly, he looked at him mockingly. "Coincidentally, my reputation as a dissolute marquis has spread throughout the capital. I'll treat you like this. What can you do to me?"
Only then did the steward realize that he had kicked a hard stone. He pleaded repeatedly. "Marquis, I... this old servant knows his mistake. Please..."
Lu Huaizhou gave him a disdainful look, then simply took a broom from the guard's hand and swept it straight at his face.
The steward instinctively dodged backward and accidentally fell to the ground.
The guards didn't give him any time to recover. The brooms rained down on him like a storm.
The steward had no choice but to turn into a puddle of mud and crawl out of the side room in a mess.
The sourness and grievance dissipated a lot. A faint smile appeared on Jiang Fuying's lips.
She thought that this birthday was probably still a happy one.