Zhao Wu came out wearing a red silk dress and saw Xu Lanyin tidying the bed. He went over and hugged her around the waist.

Xu Lanyin pointed at the white silk on the bed and said, "Who is going to check this? It can't be your eldest brother, right?"

Zhao Wu smiled and said, "No one is checking it. If you don't like it, just throw it aside."

Although Xu Lanyin didn't like this thing, she didn't take it off.

The two of them lay down on the bed and lowered the red curtain. The two large wedding candles on the high table outside the curtain were still bright, and the curtain was filled with a red light. The two of them were shrouded in the hazy red, and their passion was even more confused.

Zhao Wuhou hurriedly took off his clothes and was about to go into battle.

Xu Lanyin didn't dare let this young man "force his way" because she would suffer. She quickly stopped him with one arm and said, "You can't act right away."

Zhao Wu was so anxious that he stared at her and said, "That's how it's drawn in the book. I didn't do anything wrong."

It seems that he also studied that kind of "teaching material" seriously.

Xu Lanyin's old face was a little red, but for the sake of her own health and a happy future, she still had to teach this little brother a lesson. Fortunately, she married Zhao Wu, so she could teach him as she pleased. She could only say, "This is the first time for both of us. If you force it, it will hurt me."

Zhao Wu stopped and asked, "What should we do then?"

He also didn't want his wife to suffer.

Xu Lanyin looked at this studious baby and began to coax him, "There must be foreplay first. Foreplay consists of two parts. One part is language. You need to immerse me in the bath of love, with only you in my eyes and heart..." Seeing Zhao Wu's confused look, she said more bluntly, "It means you have to say sweet words and tell me how much you love me."

Zhao Wu was delighted and said, "This is my strong point. What about the second one?"

Xu Lanyin paused, but still whispered a few words in his ear with a red face.

Zhao Wu's eyes widened as he asked, "I know about this too. Who told you?"

Xu Lanyin said, "I heard it from Aunt Ding. She was afraid that I would suffer, so she taught me these two tricks."

I felt sorry for Mrs. Lu in my heart.

Seeing Zhao Wu still staring at him blankly, he said unhappily, "If you don't want to, forget it. I know you don't care about others."

Zhao Wu was very happy. He pulled back the quilt and said, "This is a good thing. Who said I don't want to?"

Perhaps it was due to the foreplay, or perhaps it was because this body had been through so much pain since childhood and was tolerant to pain, but Xu Lanyin didn't feel much pain. Even though it was their wedding night, the two of them were still having a great time. Zhao Wu was so happy that he hugged her and kept calling her "sweetheart", "baby", "good wife"...

Xu Lanyin was secretly delighted. She thought that having smart students meant she could be worry-free. They would learn anything once taught and could even expand their knowledge.

The next day, Xu Lanyin woke to the sound of chirping. As the sky brightened, her pillow was empty. She knew Zhao Wu must have gone to the courtyard to practice martial arts. Regardless of the cold or heat, he never missed a practice.

Xu Lanyin called the chess master in and asked him to put on the pomegranate red jacket he had worn last night. He still wore the swallow hairpin, and also wore two jade hairpins and two red gold chrysanthemums to cover his temples.

She felt that wearing this hairpin during her wedding period was not only a sign of her love for it, but also a sign of respect and remembrance for her deceased mother-in-law.

Zhao Wu came in after practicing martial arts and said with a smile, "There are no outsiders at home, so why don't you sleep a little longer?"

He knew that Xu Lanyin's favorite days were those when she could "sleep until she wakes naturally and count money until her hands cramp." But she was always busy at her parents' home, and even when she wasn't busy anymore, she was very self-disciplined and almost never slept in.

Xu Lanyin smiled and said, "I'm used to getting up early." Then she whispered, "Let's burn that piece of white silk. It's so disgusting to have that thing on it."

Zhao Wu nodded in agreement. Seeing her put on the Yanshang hairpin again, he sent the maid away and said, "My mother told me not to let anyone see this hairpin except my father and my eldest brother."

It turned out that there was something else going on with the hairpin. Xu Lanyin quickly took it off and put it away, replacing it with a gold hairpin inlaid with gems.

Zhao Wu continued, "Uncle He, Uncle Tang, and Zhang Tongdan all came yesterday and stayed in the guest room. They will leave the day after tomorrow. Let He Dong and He San accompany them to play on the street today. Prepare some more wine and food tonight, and also prepare some return gifts."

He San is Uncle He's son and currently works under Zhao Wu.

After they had breakfast, Zhao Wu went to the front yard to greet the guests. There was only one uncle in the family, Li Luo, so there was no need to acknowledge him as a relative, as he had already gone to the government office.

Several servants came and kowtowed to Xu Lanyin, and changed her address to "Second Madam".

As Zhao Wusuo said, a house can only be called a home if there is a housewife.

Xu Lan appointed Ho Tung as chief steward and Zhao Wu's attendant, receiving a monthly allowance of two taels of silver. Because Ho Tung was not often at home, Jia Shu became the second steward and gatekeeper, receiving one tael of silver. Jia Auntie was responsible for laundry, mending, and occasional cooking, receiving eight hundred wen of silver per month. Huang Qi, Li Luo's attendant, received one tael of silver and was responsible for all matters concerning Li Luo. The chess master was a first-class maid who also managed the accounts, receiving one tael of silver. The chess guard and chess carrier were second-class maids who also cleaned and were paid eight hundred wen. Xiao Zhuzi ran errands and also started the fire, receiving five hundred wen of silver.

There are only three masters in the family, and the house is not big, so so many servants are enough.

He then reviewed the wedding gifts. The most substantial gifts came from the Min, Qin, and Hu families. The first two families presented a Huanghuali multi-treasure cabinet and a pair of large open-mouthed pink porcelain vases from the imperial kiln, while the Hu family presented a thousand taels of silver. These gifts were catalogued and stored in the warehouse.

Then I sorted out the household accounts again.

The family had no land or shops, and Zhao Wu couldn't support such a large family with just his salary and extra money. He had sold the jewelry for 5,800 taels of silver, which he spent on betrothal, house renovations, and the wedding, leaving him with 3,000 taels. Adding the gift money from the Hu family, he had a total of over 4,000 taels. He could use some of his own money to buy some land and open a shop...

Zhao Wu sent Constable He and others out, then came back to watch Xu Lanyin busy herself.

“It’s great to have a wife…”

"What's good about that? You have to learn the chores too. It's a livelihood." Seeing that Zhao Wu didn't listen, Xu Lanyin pulled his ear and said, "Your little money is hard to support this whole family. What will you do if you have more children? You can't use your daughter-in-law's dowry to support them all, right? Or, like the Li family next door, rely on selling their daughters to make a living."

Zhao Wuzui was impatient with chores, but when he heard the phrases "have more children," "sell daughters," and "the daughter-in-law's dowry to raise children," he was startled. First, a string of children appeared before him, followed by three girls wiping away tears.

He quickly said, "I can afford to raise as many children as we have, and I will never sell my daughter. She is my father's little cotton-padded jacket, and I love her enough. How can I bear to sell her?"

He sat next to Xu Lanyin, and the two of them counted the accounts one by one and discussed how to buy property and make a fortune.

The most feared word in the world is "seriousness." Zhao Wu had always disliked managing money and dealing with menial tasks, but when he became serious, he not only learned quickly but also offered suggestions.