Chapter 75 Understanding Things

Gu Rongyu hesitated for a moment, then followed him into the inner room. Xiaohong, who was standing outside the door, immediately brought a stool over and motioned for Gu Rongyu to sit down. He nodded slightly.

"Seeing that you're doing well, I'm relieved. Let's not talk about the past, but my worry is real."

"I know. Madam has difficulties too." Chang Xixi recalled that she was sent out of the Zhou family overnight, and went out through the back door. The eldest lady asked her to bring more jewelry with her, and she couldn't give her any silver.

The eldest lady didn't sigh, but patted Chang Xixi's hand with satisfaction, "After coming back this time, I see that you are very different from before."

Chang Xixi couldn't show it too obviously, so she only mentioned a few things. She didn't want to arouse suspicion about the previous private affairs of the eldest lady, and told them to go down and rest first. They could stay in the mansion as long as they wanted, as she had the final say. The master would be back tomorrow, and she wanted Gu Rongyu to see him.

Gu Rongyu also thanked him, and the two of them walked out of the yard together and headed towards the remote courtyard.

After they left, the eldest lady called Xiaohong over and said, "You used to be with Miss Chang. Now that she's back, you should go and serve her too! By the way, I wasn't at the mansion. What happened? There's no one on duty guarding the gate. What if a thief breaks in?"

Xiaohong was so scared that she immediately knelt on the ground, trembling, and begged for mercy. The wound she had caused by hitting Chang Xixi before started bleeding again.

The eldest lady looked calm, with a light look in her eyes. She took a sip of tea and then looked up at the person on the ground. "I knew you wanted to follow her, so I granted your wish."

"Thank you, Madam." Xiaohong left crying, kowtowed three times towards the main house of the eldest lady from a distance, turned around and followed Chang Xixi's pace, found the two people walking in a corridor, and followed behind them not too far away.

Chang Xixi heard the hurried but joyful footsteps approaching her, and followed them from a distance, knowing that it must be Xiaohong.

The eldest lady obviously had feelings for the owner of this body. She had raised him since he was a child, and her love for him had long surpassed the love of giving birth to him.

As the mother of a clan, she is always dignified in front of others, and does not show her emotions. Even when she is worried, her concern is faint. Her forbearance when she saw Chang Xixi shows that love can be severed by blood ties, but love cannot be severed.

For example, Dou's simple love is not inferior to the eldest lady's love.

Chang Xixi curled her lips and looked at Gu Rongyu, saying something he couldn't understand, "I am truly lucky. Being abandoned by the world was just a joke."

After returning to the yard, Xiaohong immediately ordered people to clean it inside and out. She also asked the gardener to repair the flowers and plants, and the originally dry canal now had water flowing.

"I've settled down." Chang Xixi held a cup of tea and gazed at the courtyard. It really didn't match the original owner's aesthetic taste. It was too literary. Now she really liked it. Thinking of the small courtyard she bought before, it was really shabby! She couldn't help but laugh at herself.

"Madam, when are we leaving for Kyoto?"

"It's only a three-hour journey, why are you in such a hurry? We still have some time. Don't you think this treacherous Zhou Mansion is quite interesting? I used to see the village women scolding people, but have you ever seen the young lady in the embroidery building scolding people?"

"My lady, what's your evil taste? No, you're in a hurry for me to pass the imperial examination so you can become a First Rank Lady."

Every word Gu Rongyu said expressed his dissatisfaction, and his tone clearly meant, "I also want to watch the fun."

After the morning's playfulness, the two already had an unspoken understanding.

Chang Xixi looked back and smiled, throwing her half-drunk tea into Gu Rongyu's hand. With her other hand, she pinched his face, "You're so smooth and tender. I took good care of you."

"My wife always gives me all the delicious food, which makes me look more like a pretty boy."

"Yes."

When they returned to the room, one was sitting at the desk doing accounts, and the other was reading a book carefully.

On the other side, in the eldest lady's room, there were slaves kneeling on the ground. Some were bought servants, and some were farmhands who came to work. They all sat upright with serious expressions.

"I don't have anything else to say, but there's one thing I want to ask you. If you can answer it, I'll give you a hundred bucks."

The maid beside the eldest lady stood up and loudly said what the lady asked. For a moment, no one below dared to speak, because these words... Zhou Zhiwei had instructed that they should not be spoken.

Moreover, they didn't hear what was said in the young lady's yard at that time.

If there is, it’s just a personal maid.

Because Chang Xixi was involved at this time, the eldest lady was not in a position to ask Zhou Zhiwei to ask her personal maid to inquire about the matter, so that the people below did not know.

After kneeling for about three quarters of an hour, the eldest lady asked them to stand up. Since she couldn't get anything out of them, she asked them to go away.

One person was left behind. The servant knelt down and spoke boldly, "I, I have something to say, Madam."

"Tell me about it in detail."

The eldest lady glared, and the majesty of the mistress of the house emerged.

The servant told the whole story in detail. The eldest lady looked at the gifts that had not yet been put into the warehouse, and a dim light appeared in her eyes. She felt that Zhou Zhiwei had gone a little too far.

The person I raise by my side cannot be compared with the one raised by a village woman in that kind of place. I can only teach him slowly in the future. Unfortunately, he is old and his temperament has been determined. It cannot be changed in a short time.

She ordered the servant to go down and collect another hundred dollars, and not to tell even the master what was asked today.

After everyone had left, the eldest lady looked at the scenery outside the door, accompanied by the chirping of summer cicadas, and asked the maid standing beside her, "Luo Ma, do you think Zhiwei would really do such a thing? When guests come to our house, they stay in the nearby Ziwei Courtyard. Why would they let them go to Qingya Garden? It's remote and she's still young."

"Madam, this is not good! You and Master redecorated Qingya Garden."

The eldest lady also stood up excitedly for a moment, and then she thought that when Chang Xixi came to see her, there was nothing unusual on her face, so it seemed that she had noticed it.

"Never mind, just something to think about when I'm bored."

"The young lady couldn't understand it at the moment, but after a long time, she saw clearly the hearts of you and the master, and no longer held any resentment."

"Let's take it one step at a time."

The eldest lady was a sensible person and waved to the maids to go down.

The second day.

When Master Zhou returned from his holiday, he entered the house and saw the eldest lady leading a man from outside Zhiwei standing at the door, with his own son standing behind them. Confused, he asked, "Who is this man? He's quite handsome. Is he the man you picked for Zhiwei?"

The eldest lady smiled and said, "It seems that the master likes him too. This is Xixi's husband."