Chapter 11 Again and Again: As darkness completely fell, curfew began. Outside, besides the night watchmen and patrolling infantry…

When it got completely dark, it was time for curfew. Apart from the night watchmen, the infantry battalion patrolling the streets, and the five city garrison, there were very few people out and about.

Humans are highly adaptable. Shen Wanqing used to be a night owl. After work, she would either have dinner with friends or go out to have fun after eating at home.

Or, I'd meet up with a few friends to play mahjong, playing from late at night until dawn, then go home, take a shower, grab breakfast, and head to work. It feels like only a few days have passed, but thinking back on it now feels like a lifetime ago; it's all so unreal.

In the afternoon, Chunxian helped Qingshuang pack up Shen Wanqing's dowry, while Qiuwen and Biyun were busy going back and forth between the corner room and the back room.

The four head maids were responsible for keeping watch in the corner room at night. They had all agreed that they would take turns every other day, with Chunxian and Qingshuang working together, and Qiuwen and Biyun working together.

When we were on night duty, we would stay in the corner room together, one of us sleeping for the first half of the night and the other for the second half. We would do some embroidery when we weren't sleeping, and before we knew it, two nights had passed.

Because Shen Wanqing was marrying into a higher social class, the dowry the Shen family prepared for their daughter was 30% more than what they had given to the original owner's eldest sister. Therefore, there was much more to pack and things to do. Since the corner room was being renovated and made comfortable, Qiuwen and the others naturally put in even more effort.

Shen Wanqing didn't have to do these things herself. She spent the whole afternoon looking around. Even though she didn't do much work, after dinner she was so tired that she just wanted to lie on the daybed and stare blankly at Yu Lang.

Yu Lang was actually a virgin, which Shen Wanqing hadn't expected. It turned out he wasn't pretending to be a naive young man last night, but was genuinely experiencing his first time. No wonder she couldn't push him away even though she was being so rough, which almost made Shen Wanqing lose her temper.

"Why is Grandma staring at me? Is there something on my face?"

"No, I was just thinking about something."

"What are you thinking about? Tell me."

"I really want to hear it."

"I really want to hear it!"

Shen Wanqing was not the kind of gentle and virtuous wife that appeared on the stage; this was a truth that Yu Lang discovered long ago.

When he was seven or eight years old, he saw how his mother served his father. After dinner, she would first serve tea, and then she would have a maid bring in water to wash his feet.

If Niohuru hadn't been busy that day, she might have taken the handkerchief from the maid and knelt down to wipe her husband's feet and put on his shoes after untying his braid and styling his hair.

At that time, Yulang was most likely practicing calligraphy in the small study behind the green gauze curtain. The candlelight was dim at night. Looking at his father's almost blissful expression and his mother's gentle and obedient demeanor, Yulang, still a child, couldn't understand. He just lowered his head again and continued to practice calligraphy.

Looking back after many years, Yu Lang still doesn't think there's anything good about it, that it makes them look so enjoyable and obsessed.

He raised himself up, propped his elbows on the kang table, and leaned most of his body in front of Shen Wanqing: "Is Jiyun wondering why the family hasn't prepared a concubine for me? Am I right?"

It's no wonder Shen Wanqing thinks this way; after all, that's how the world is. Especially in large and powerful families like the Hesheli family, when the boys in the family reach the age of fourteen or fifteen, the elders will choose one of them who they deem stable and obedient to serve as a concubine.

"How did Alang guess it?"

"It's written all over your face, do you think I'm stupid enough not to see it?"

"Let me tell you, we've only just gotten married. Madam, please don't follow that kind of virtuous woman's example and arrange any concubines or maids for me. I don't need that. If you're just pretending to be generous, neither of us will be happy about this. But if you're really generous... I think you'd better not be. I don't need it."

"Let me be frank with you, Madam. I despise those pretentious, virtuous, and generous people the most. They always act like they're the only smart ones in the world, like they're so magnanimous. How come they're so capable? I never let anyone ride my horse. What? You think I'm not even as good as a horse?"

Besides, if the day truly comes that he takes a concubine and decides to take someone as his own, let alone Shen Wanqing, he'll do anything, even if it means causing a major upheaval, to bring that person back. "Who knows whether the master will take a concubine first or the sky will fall first in this life? Why should the eldest mistress worry unnecessarily?"

………………

Seeing Yu Lang, who had suddenly become angry while talking, and who was no longer the one who had been stopping her from talking nonsense that morning, Shen Wanqing couldn't help but chuckle. "Who said I was going to arrange concubines or maids for you? What a pipe dream."

Yu Lang didn't say anything, his heart and eyes filled with self-pity, and Shen Wanqing didn't want to hear it either. She raised her hand and hooked Yu Lang's body as he tried to pull away, revealing the first truly genuine smile she had shown in days.

"I really appreciate Alang's honesty. I hope this kindness will never change, no matter what happens in the future."

Yu Lang could tell the difference between sincerity and pretense. He had originally planned to go to the Shen family tomorrow and just go to sleep tonight, but after being praised like that, he immediately put his arm around Shen Wanqing's waist, lifted her off the couch, and carried her into the side room inside the gauze curtained room.

The side room, separated by a gauze curtain, is connected to the corner room. Chunxian and Qingshuang are on night duty today. The two of them are roasting sweet potatoes and steamed bun slices on the stove. In the evening, Qingshuang went to the kitchen and brought back a bowl of fermented bean curd sauce and chive blossom sauce. She roasted the steamed bun slices and sweet potatoes and ate them with the sauce. The taste was incredibly delicious.

Just as Chunqian put the slice of steamed bread into her mouth, she suddenly heard some faint noises coming from next door. Chunqian instinctively turned to look at Qingshuang, whose face was flushed.

Because there were no concubines or maids in the East Courtyard, Qing Shuang had said countless good things about her master to Chun Xian and Qiu Wen all day. In her words, Yu Lang was simply a paragon of virtue, an unparalleled good man.

"You eat first, I'll ask the kitchen to prepare some hot water, just leave me a couple of slices of steamed bun later." Why are these kind people so insatiable these days? Grandma is going back to her parents' home tomorrow, what's the rush!

That night, some people ate their fill of steamed buns, while others ate their fill of meat. The next morning, everyone in the East Courtyard looked energetic, which made people in Niohuru's courtyard and the main courtyard secretly look at Shen Wanqing and Yulang. They couldn't help but sigh that they were newlyweds and it made them envious.

Early in the morning, the Shen family was already bustling with activity. The matter of the aunt's return to her parents' home was not to be taken lightly. Even the original owner's biological father, Shen Hongshi, submitted a leave request to his superior, asking for three days off in a row, just to wait for his daughter to return.

"Don't worry, sir. Someone has already checked and found that our second aunt's carriage has already set off. Our in-laws have chosen the busiest route, and it should arrive in about half an hour."

Returning to one's parents' home is considered a joyous occasion, and the gifts prepared by the Hesheli family ranged from live geese to brocade, tea, and wedding cakes. In particular, the two chests of various furs were quite eye-catching. While they wouldn't make the journey around the inner city like a wedding procession, they at least had to choose a busy route.

“Miss, it’s only been three days since I left home, but it feels like so many years have passed. My heart is still pounding, and I couldn’t sleep at all last night.”

"A day apart feels like three autumns. It's been three days already, which is almost nine autumns, nearly ten years. How can I not miss you?"

Shen Wanqing was also nervous, mainly because she was about to meet the original owner's mother, Madam Xu. The Xu family was stationed in Fujian and also did a lot of business in private. They owned several ships that could go out to sea. It was impossible for a daughter raised by such a family not to be shrewd.

In the original owner's memory, her mother was indeed the most capable and powerful person in the world. In recent years, the eldest branch of the Shen family had been in Shengjing, and the third branch had gone to take up their post with their uncle Shen Hong'an. Only the second branch and the two nephews from the eldest branch who were studying in the capital remained in the capital.

As the head of the household, Madam Xu not only managed the Xu family in the capital very well, but also ensured that the eldest branch in Shengjing and the second branch in the south did not become estranged from the family.

In addition to the gifts sent over during the annual festivals, Xu would write extra letters to her two sisters-in-law every month. She would tell the eldest branch of the family how her two nephews were doing in their studies, and she would tell the third branch of the family when she would send her niece back to the capital.

The talent show is next year. Whether or not we want our daughter to be selected, we have to bring her back to learn the rules. Even if we want to drop her, it's best to wait until she passes the first round. Then we can find her a good family and happily marry her off. That's the best arrangement.

Or they might not mention anything important, only write about trivial matters at home, in short, to keep the other two families, scattered across the country, from becoming estranged from the capital.

To say that Xu Shi had a deep relationship with her sisters-in-law and brother-in-law would be hard to believe, not even for Shen Wanqing. After all, during the years when the whole family lived under one roof, the three sisters-in-law would still argue fiercely over trivial matters.

It can only be said that Madam Xu is the best example of what a woman can do in today's society, whether as a housekeeper or as a bond that maintains the unity and closeness of the entire family.

Such a woman is not only virtuous, but she must also be intelligent and perceptive. To act like a daughter in front of such a woman, Shen Wanqing felt that the pressure was more than a hundred times greater than consummating her marriage with Yulang.

However, despite all her careful planning, Shen Wanqing overlooked the heart of a mother.

Yu Lang rode his horse alongside the carriage. When they arrived at the Shen family's gate, he dismounted and turned to help Shen Wanqing, who had just reached out a hand from the carriage, down from the carriage.

Some things, once tasted, become addictive. Someone who says it's only once will have their mind wander like a goldfish, repeating the same thing over and over again, ultimately only remembering the first time. After all the fuss, they know to play innocent, ignoring their brother-in-law and two cousins ​​from the next room watching them at the Shen family's gate.

The old woman standing at the corner inside the door watched carefully from a distance, and before Shen Wanqing and Yulang could enter, she quietly turned around and left.

Upon entering, they first paid respects to their ancestors. After the ceremony, they took out the rings and jewelry specially prepared for Shen Hongshi and Xu Shi. Then, the two of them served tea to the elders in the family in turn. After all the necessary procedures were completed, Yu Lang followed Shen Hongshi to the study in the front yard, while Shen Wanqing followed Xu Shi back to the back yard.

Madam Xu held Shen Wanqing's face in her hands and examined her closely. Just as Shen Wanqing felt a chill run down her spine, fearing that she might notice something amiss, Madam Xu managed to utter those two words.

"You've lost weight."

Today, Shen Wanqing wore a silver-red satin cloak embroidered with butterflies and flowers. Her hair was styled in a bun, covered with a sheer pink satin headscarf. Apart from a phoenix hairpin, she was only adorned with velvet flowers. She looked bright and elegant, yet still graceful.

"Mom, it's only been three days, how could you have lost weight?"

"What do you know, child? I say you've lost weight, and that's it. Others may not notice, but I can see it clearly."