Chapter 48: Rising Fame
Yanru shuddered, followed the voice, nodded, and said, "Mother-in-law."
Wang Xianyi didn't even bring her personal maid with her. She was extremely cautious. She took a step forward and squeezed between her and the door. She walked forward facing Yanru, forcing Yanru outside the eaves. She looked at her daughter-in-law to see if she had any ulterior motives. "Aren't you in the front? What are you doing here?"
Yanru said, "My adoptive father, father-in-law, and mother-in-law are not here. I'm afraid the three elders... well, well... are busy and haven't taken care of us, so I thought of bringing the tea and snacks over myself."
Wang Xianyi relaxed and said calmly, "Okay, you're so filial. Today is your birthday, so you don't have to bother yourself with these trivial matters. Give this to me, and go play up front."
Yanru felt a little regretful, and left with a long "Oh" sound. After she left, Wang Xianyi felt relieved for the time being and personally carried the tray into the house. After everything was settled, she returned to her tea pavilion. The location was clever. When sitting inside, one could look around and also hide oneself among the flowers and rocks. The small stove on the table was baking fruit and snacks. Xue Peng poured her a glass of warm wine to warm her up: "Is that person really the bride? What is she doing here?"
Wang Xianyi said, "Master Shi and that gentleman were sitting inside. She came here just to cause trouble. It's okay, she didn't hear anything—even if she did, she wouldn't be able to stir up any trouble."
Xue Peng sighed, "This daughter-in-law may come from a better family, but she's not very smart and has a lot of cunning schemes. In the end, she's no match for the kid next door back home."
"Isn't it?" Wang Xianyi nodded. "She's not as pretty as that girl, nor as smart and sensible as that girl, and she's lazy! She doesn't do any serious work all day, and she acts like a coquettish person. She just waits for people to serve her and give her money. When she opens her mouth, it's either to ask Jia'er for rouge or clothes. The pawnshop has been open for so many days, and I've never seen her look at the account book properly. She knew the accountant knew how to paint, so when she went to the pawnshop, she insisted on having someone paint her portrait. She stood in the shop, posing in front of the mirror, which was very unremarkable, and our son followed her in her mischief. She's only better than the girl from the Yi family. That Luofu from the Yi family is too willful."
Xue Peng said, "Hey—the bride's family is rich. She's been spoiled since she was little, probably. Oh, and I heard that the girl from my hometown is engaged, too. Her husband's family is also from the capital, and she'll be marrying here after the New Year."
Wang Xianyi took a piece of meat with his chopsticks and said in a muffled voice, "Forget it, forget it, don't say anything. It's your good son, but he can't even catch a little girl - it's also the child's bad luck. We are such a good family, and we treat her very kindly. It's just that little thing, which man in the world doesn't make the same mistake? It's not like there's a child. She's just being pretentious and insisting on ruining a good marriage. What can we do?"
The birthday banquet was a lively and entertaining affair, with delicious food, beautiful scenery, and fine wine, ensuring everyone came with joy and left with a splendid feast. Their original purpose had been achieved; Yanru and Xue Jia had a moment of glory. Wang Xianyi added a few more pieces of wood to the fire, and with some silver, spread the news. Rumors of the Xue family's new bride's extraordinary beauty spread throughout the capital. Her beauty combined the characteristics of various eras: her face evoked the wealth and grace of a Tang dynasty woman, her figure the graceful beauty of a Warring States-era Chu woman, and her temperament the unrestrained elegance of a Wei and Jin scholar. She was truly a stunner of unparalleled talent, character, and unparalleled elegance—wittlingly, a stunner with the surname You. Her husband doted on her so much that he even emulated the Han Dynasty's tale of Emperor Wu of Han, acquiring a magnificent mansion and gardens, comparable to the fairyland of Penglai, for You, who had come from Jinling, to reside.
As a result, this legendary couple became famous, known to everyone, admired by everyone. Students envied the students from other provinces who could enter Guanyan Academy; those with daughters envied the Jinling You family for finding a good husband; young women envied the goddess of painting for climbing to the top and becoming a phoenix; and the married envied the new bride of the Xue family and her husband for their unwavering love and unwavering affection. In short, they were well-known and famous, and if you looked carefully, you would naturally find in them what you lacked, what you longed for, and what you envied.
Everyone knows about the outside respectability, but only Yanru has to taste the pain inside. Daiyuan is indeed comfortable and livable, but it is built in the suburbs, with no access to the sky above and no access to the ground below. She has to go to the city to check on the pawnshop every other day. She goes out more often, and naturally suffers more. Not to mention that it takes an hour to go out, she can't drive a horse, and her in-laws don't give her a groom, so she has to go out according to Xue Jia's mood. If her husband wants to go early, she can't sleep in; if her husband wants to go back later, she has to wait patiently with her makeup and hair until dark, and leave at the time of the city gate. But if her husband is in a hurry, she has to accompany him back in a hurry. Every move seems free, but in fact she is restrained by her husband, not to mention the opportunity to take some free time to go shopping with Wen Yue and drink tea with Zheng Sirui.
But Yanru still enjoyed it for the time being. After all, the green carriage with emerald tents was truly respectable, and being able to ride in it and parade through the streets was worth any small suffering, especially since it was only the suffering of wealth and nobility.
The owner's reputation quickly grew, and the pawnshop that the son of the Xue family had promised to Youshi became renowned and renowned. They say that appearance reflects the heart; a woman so intelligent and beautiful must be gentle, honest, and reliable; a man who treated his wife so well must be a man of high character; and their business, therefore, must be based on trust and integrity, and never cheat anyone. Since any pawnshop was similar, why not choose one with a good reputation? It would give you peace of mind! For a time, whenever anyone in the capital wanted to pawn, mortgage, or sell goods, men and women, young and old, scholars, farmers, merchants, and artisans, all chose Qixian Pawnshop as their first choice. One person left, and a hundred returned. The Qixian Pawnshop was bustling with people, becoming the most prosperous consignment house in the capital. Wang Xianyi couldn't stop smiling, and her abacus was clacking loudly. She had been very busy a few days ago, so she took advantage of her daughter-in-law to cook a big meal, which boosted the pawnshop business and greatly promoted her son's reputation. The water carrier also washed the vegetables, killing two birds with one stone, very beautiful, very beautiful.
As the water rises, the boat rises; as the mud grows, the Buddha becomes taller. As the business grows, the status of the customers becomes more and more distinguished. The poor go to Qixian to pawn their goods, the rich go to Qixian to buy goods, the chiefs of different surnames, the gold seals and purple ribbons, everyone wants to come to this shop to sit and look for treasures. Xue Jia specially sent people to clean up a room, intending to decorate it, specifically for entertaining guests. He displayed a bunch of calligraphy and paintings, antiques, but he was not satisfied with them, as they were either vulgar or did not reflect the confidence of their Xue family. One day, the couple was idle in the pawnshop, ordering the servants around. The inner room used for their rest was piled with a lot of drawing papers, all of which were forced by Mianzong to draw by Yanru using the title of the eldest lady a few days ago. Xue Jia's eyes fell on it, and he came up with an idea. He patted Yanru on the shoulder: "My wife, let me ask you, you have been Ji Mingxiu's goddess of painting for so long, has he ever given you a painting?"
This remark hit Yanru right in the bud. Ji Mingxiu had used Qi Fengning as an excuse, claiming that all great painters' paintings needed to be stamped. But their family had a rule that Qi Fengning held his seal, and that only his paintings could be considered authentic works of Ji Mingxiu's had to be seen and stamped by her. Yanru had been so naive two or three years ago, believing his lies and painting so many pictures for him. In the end, she received nothing but the title "Goddess of Painting." All the portraits she held were painted by others. How ironic. Xue Jia hadn't had the good sense to bring this up today, and it had truly infuriated Yanru!
Yanru was annoyed: "What do you want to do?"
Xue Jia said, "Aren't we planning to open a room to entertain distinguished guests? I've been thinking about this for a long time. Since you, my lady, are the boss of this shop, why don't we hang a painting of you by Ji Mingxiu? Firstly, his paintings are rare and can show off our family's wealth. Secondly, it can also show off your relationship with him. What do you think?"
Yanru didn't say yes or no, and hesitated, "Of course there are. But they are all kept at my mother's home in Jinling. After I came to the capital, my house was robbed and they stole them along with other jewelry. I can't find them anymore."
Xue Jia lamented, "What a wicked villain! Alas! What a pity! Well, never mind. In that case, my lady, why don't you write a letter and ask Master Ji to paint you another picture?"
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