Chapter 870 The Hypocritical Eldest Young Madam
Zhao Xi smiled with a gentle face as if she didn’t care. “No matter how good the dowries are, they will be devalued if I keep all of them myself. So why not pick one or two pieces of high quality and give them away as gifts? That will also bring glory to the recipients. So there’s no need to think that we will suffer loss!”
When Qiu Yue was about to follow her words, the curtain was suddenly lifted and Shao Hua’an came in. He happened to hear what Zhao Xiran had said when he was outside the door, and his heart was full of shame.
He entered the room and waved his hand, and Qiu Yue left after receiving his instruction.
Shao Hua’an sat down beside her, hold her hands, and said softly, “Xiran, I am sorry to have made you go through this!”
It was his idea to marry Zhao Xiran. Though he was happy to marry the woman he liked, his happiness was diluted because of the degradation of their mansion. He didn’t see a happy and cheerful atmosphere as he had imagined.
Fortunately, Xiran was a virtuous wife. She had never made more trouble since that day when she argued to go back to her parents’ home. And she managed the family affairs wholeheartedly even though she knew that his grandma was making things difficult for her.
However, even a clever woman couldn’t cook a good meal without rice. How could Shao Hua’an not know how difficult it was for her? He took out a key from his pocket and put it in Zhao Xiran’s hand. “This is the key to my private storehouse. If you need anything, you can take it yourself from there. I know it is hard for you that you were asked to manage the family affairs as soon as you enter the mansion. However, there is no other better choice in the mansion.”
“Hua’an… I don’t need it. Keep it for yourself.” Zhao Xiran pushed the key back to Shao Hua’an with a red face.
“What’s mine is yours. You just keep the key and make use of it. And if you need anything else, just tell me. You can’t just make up for them with your dowries!” Shao Hua’an’s voice became softer and softer. He held Zhao Xiran’s hand tightly and sighed, “I will help you get revenge for the grievances you have suffered now in the future!”
His words were full of love and sincerity. Zhao Xiran’s face became redder and redder. After all, she was just a newly married woman. When hearing these words of love, she couldn’t help but blush.
Shao Hua’an was pleased by her bashful beauty. He opened his arms, held tightly her in his arms, and patted her on the back gently. “Xiran, I finally marry you!”
Treated with his gentleness, Zhao Xiran couldn’t help but relax her body and close her eyes slightly. She was married now. She was not only the First Miss of the Zhao family but also the wife of the First Young Master of Marquis Xing’s Mansion.
After a long while, Zhao Xiran pushed Shao Hua’an’s arms and said gently, “Look at the list I’ve prepared. This is the first time I’m in charge of the domestic affairs of the mansion. Grandmother and Third Aunt are not willing to teach me. Please check it for me!”
“Okay!” Seeing that she was so gentle and considerate, Shao Hua’an couldn’t help feeling more guilty. He let go of Zhao Xiran and took over the list from her. He nodded while reading the list of gifts, feeling gratified that he had married a good wife.
It was always said that if a man married a woman, he should marry a virtuous one. Not to mention other things, it could be seen from the fact that Zhao Xiran could handle family affairs in an orderly way so that he could deal with the official business wholeheartedly.
She was such a talented woman. Even though no one guided her, she had done a really good job!
“Everything is well arranged, but some more valuable gifts are needed. Our two mansions are neighbors and we have been friends for many years. The children of our two families have known each other and grew up together since I was young. Our relations.h.i.+p is not comparable,” Shao Hua’an suggested after reading it.
Zhao Xiran agreed, picked up a writing brush, and added a few gifts.
Shao Hua’an checked it again and thought that everything was appropriate. Then he nodded and said, “That’s perfect! You can show it to my grandma later. If she is not satisfied with these among the gifts, you can exchange them for other valuable ones. Because they seem to be not lucky enough!” Shao Hua’an pointed at several gifts on the list and said. Zhao Xiran marked them.
The couple talked for a while, and then Shao Hua’an was summoned and he left with the servant sent by Shao Jing.
Zhao Xiran put the gift list back on the desk. After thinking for a moment, she decided to write a new copy of it and change the gifts Shao Hua’an had pointed out to her. When she read them again, she found that the value of all the gifts remained the same, but they had better symbolic meanings and became much more to the elders’ taste.
Qiu Yue came in with a cup of tea.
“Take this list to Fifth Miss and request her to see whether there is something inappropriate. Tell her that I know little about it because I have just entered Marquis Xing’s Mansion. I can turn to no one but Fifth Miss for help,” Zhao Xiran put down the writing brush in her hand and ordered.
“Miss, you are the sister-in-law of Fifth Miss and also the housekeeper. Why should you show it to Fifth Miss? Even if the list needs a review of other people in the mansion, you should show it to Old Madam and Third Madam who are your elders, or Third Miss and Fourth Miss who are older than Fifth Miss. I heard that Fifth Miss comes from a poor family…”
Qiuyue was very dissatisfied with Shao Wanru because of what had just happened, so she blurted out a lot of words.
“Shut up!” Zhao Xiran’s face darkened.
“Miss, I…” Qiu Yue felt very wronged.
“You have no idea about what this place is and what kind of person Fifth Miss is! How can you as a servant girl slander her? If Fifth Miss wants to sentence you to death, even I cannot save you because of what you said just now!” Zhao Xiran said coldly, “This is not Minister Zhao’s Mansion, and I am not the First Miss Zhao here. I am now the wife of the First Young Master of Marquis Xing’s Mansion.”
Zhao Xiran almost gnashed her teeth and said with sharp eyes. The two servant girls were the best among her servants, but now she found that they had been spoiled by her in the past so that they dared to say anything behind. Zhao Xiran understood that Shao Wanru was not an easy person to deal with, so she could only make friends with her.
“Forgive me. I overstepped my bounds!” Qiu Yue knelt. She felt aggrieved but didn’t dare to refute.
“Well, you can leave now. Tell Fifth Miss to help review it. If she has any suggestions, tell me when you come back!” Zhao Xiran’s face softened.
“Yes, Eldest Young Madam!” Realizing that she had annoyed Zhao Xiran, Qiu Yue did not dare to speak a word anymore. She hastened to respond and left with the list.
Shao Wanru was very surprised by this unexpected gift list. No matter in what aspects, Zhao Xiran should not have shown it to her.
“The gifts listed by Sister Zhao are flawless. I can’t see anything wrong with them. In fact, I also know nothing about family management. If Sister Zhao is worried, she can show the list to grandma,” Shao Wanru said to Qiu Yue with a smile, and then she asked Yujie to pa.s.s the gift list back to Qiu Yue.
“Our Eldest Young Madam means to ask Fifth Miss to check it anyway. If there is any mistake or taboo, please point it out for us. Eldest Young Madam has just entered the mansion and doesn’t know much about it. She doesn’t know whether there is something wrong!”
Qiu Yue smiled and made clear her master’s words in one breath. Now, no one could tell that she had been angry before.
Yujie handed the gift list to her and answered with a smile, “The list is as perfect as our Miss said just now. Nothing is needed to be changed. In fact, our Miss has just returned to the mansion. Compared with other Misses, she’s not very familiar with the domestic affairs of the mansion!”
She meant that Zhao Xiran had asked the wrong person.
The various taboos or conventions in the mansion were not what Shao Wanru, who had just come back to the mansion, could know.
Fortunately, everyone was just going through the motions. After the two servant girls said a few polite formulas to each other, Qiu Yue took the gift list and went back to report to Zhao Xiran.
“Miss, what is Eldest Young Madam thinking? Why did she show you the list? It has nothing to do with you, right?” Yujie softened her stiff face with her hands. She spared no efforts to pretend to smile at Qiu Yue just now.
Yu Jie was having a battle with Qiu Yue in polite formulas and with a fake smile, which had numbed her teeth. What a show it was!
“She is making a show to others!” Shao Wanru said with a slight smile. By no means could she become fond of such a sister-in-law, who showed a hostile att.i.tude to her as soon as she married into the mansion. Shao Wanru just glanced at the list casually. She didn’t pay much attention to it.
“Miss, why do we have to go to the Mansion of the Prime Minister for the birthday party this year? I remember that they said we didn’t have to go before? Moreover, we were asked to go with Eldest Young Madam,” Yujie asked curiously. They were informed by the old maid sent by Old Madam before Qiu Yue came.
Shao Wanru was about to get married, and she didn’t have too much time. Old Madam had wanted her to refuse those unnecessary banquets, except for those held in the palace that she had to attend. She was required to spend most of her time preparing her dowries and something like that in the mansion.
“It might be owed to the close relations.h.i.+p between the two mansions!” Shao Wanru said and turned her watery eyes to the window. Would she visit the Mansion of the Prime Minister again in her new life?
She had thought that her mood would fluctuate, but now she found that she was as calm as water. She was indeed calm, without the slightest ripple.
In her last life, once she was asked to enter the Mansion of the Prime Minister to suppress the bad luck. But she was reprimanded by Madam Wen in the mourning hall that her lips were too gaudy and then she was expelled.
That was a rainy day. She was wet by the freezing autumn rain. She was cold and hungry, and had no one to turn to for help. Now when she thought of it, she felt as if it had happened in a different life.
She closed her eyes slightly. At that time, she almost lost her soul. Without a home or reliable relatives. She was alone in the vast world. In the street, some pa.s.sers-by pointed at her and mocked her because of the wet clothes.
She bit her lip hard. The sharp pain sobered her up in a second that she was Shao Wanru now, not the panicky and helpless Qin Yuru in her last life.
She slowly opened her eyes, which were cold, sharp, and stained with anger. And then she slowly calmed down. Her lips showed a mocking smile that was without any warmth.
Her new life was completely different from the last one. In this life, she had nothing to do with Wen Xichi. After repaying Wen Xichi’s kindness in the last life, she would not have much contact with the Mansion of the Prime Minister again.
So it was not so difficult for her to enter the Mansion of the Prime Minister again…