Chapter 16
Xiao Chuan naturally had no time to call her by her maiden name or flirt with her in the cold wind.
Seeing that she was not afraid of his threats, Xiao Chuan withdrew his gaze.
Those who have never been beaten naturally do not know how painful it is to be hit by a stick. Yu Shaoyang has not yet arrived in Shu, and he still has to support her for now. In the future, he will find a way to make her understand every word he says.
Xiao Chuan left without a word, his sleeves fluttering. Watching Xiao Chuan's broad, triangular back, Mi Yao's smile slowly faded after a moment.
She didn't know if she had embarrassed Xiao Chuan, but she still felt annoyed.
"Have you heard that Xiao Chuan had a grudge against his deceased elder brother?"
Knowing that Yu Xiu usually liked to pry into the privacy of the mansion, Mi Yao asked her as she walked towards Ting Song Courtyard.
"The servants of the Xiao family haven't mentioned this. If you're curious, Sister, Xiu'er can go and inquire."
Seeing that Mi Yao wanted to meddle in the affairs of the Xiao family's son, Yu Xiu was dissatisfied, but she still told the truth about all the information she had found out. "I don't know if my brother-in-law has any grudge against his elder brother, but the servants in the Xiao family all know that my brother-in-law is not very close to the three children. I heard that before the old lady of the Xiao family passed away, she forced my brother-in-law to register two of the children under his name. My brother-in-law was unhappy, so he was cold to them."
"If he didn't like being called 'father,' he wouldn't have taken in any adopted sons."
Mi Yao replied.
She didn't think Xiao Chuan disliked Xiao Luobo and the others; rather, she felt that this was his way of raising children.
He was away from home most of the year and didn't have time to take good care of the children, so he simply raised them to grow up like wild animals and not to rely on him.
Because he clearly didn't like the Ma family much, and he didn't seem like the kind of fool who valued other people's opinions more than his own.
Even after figuring this out, she still didn't think Xiao Chuan was any better.
In front of a child who has clearly been wronged, blaming the child based on the opinions of outsiders shows a lack of understanding of parenting methods; such a person's mind is simply muddled.
*
The three siblings, Little Radish and his sister, lived together in Tingsong Courtyard.
The courtyard furthest from the main courtyard.
Aside from its slightly out-of-the-way location, the courtyard itself is quite nice, with a well-chosen orientation, ensuring that all the houses receive sunlight.
It's clear that the courtyard is regularly cleaned, and the flowers and plants there are thriving; the servants are not lazy or perfunctory.
What's the use of just taking care of the flowers and plants if the young master gets beaten up and no one cares?
Mi Yao's anger subsided only after she entered Xiao Liang's room and saw him and her sister sleeping with their heads together and eyes closed.
Normally, Little Radish would hide whenever she saw her two older brothers, acting as if she didn't know them and wanted to avoid being taken away by them. But now that Xiao Liang had been wronged, she held his hand tightly. When she heard the noise, she opened her eyes, which were closed, and saw Mi Yao. She didn't let go of her brother's hand, but instead rubbed her face against Xiao Liang's and pressed herself even closer to him.
Seeing this, Mi Yao touched her face, and when she saw her push Xiao Liang's face toward her hand, she also reached out and touched it.
Both little faces were equally smooth and chubby.
"Okay, go to sleep."
Seeing that Little Radish closed his eyes again, Mi Yao left the house.
"After Erlang returned, he talked with his wife in the room. After a while, they went to sleep."
Xiao Liang's nanny explained to Mi Yao, "I changed Erlang's clothes, washed his face, and prepared porridge in the kitchen. I'll bring it over when Erlang wakes up."
Seeing the uneasy Zhou Mama, Mi Yao didn't want to make things difficult for her.
I just feel that Xiao Chuan really doesn't have the eye for finding internal affairs managers.
This Granny Zhou was not Xiao Liang's wet nurse, but rather the widow of one of Xiao Chuan's subordinates. Because her husband's family couldn't tolerate her, she sought help from Xiao Chuan, who then kept her in the mansion to take care of Xiao Liang.
A woman who is bullied to the point of desperation in her husband's family will naturally not stand up for herself when she comes to Xiao Liang's side.
He is a decent person, but he is timid and afraid of trouble. Even if he wants to ask someone for help when something happens, he doesn't dare to speak up and just wanders around the roadside like a headless fly.
"Just find work for yourself. No mansion has so much money that it doesn't need to support a bunch of useless servants who eat and drink for free."
Mi Yao didn't just reprimand Granny Zhou; she looked at all the servants in the courtyard, especially Granny Fan, who looked guilty.
Neither of the two nannies were wet nurses. Granny Zhou was quite devoted to Xiao Liang, while Granny Fan came to the Xiao family to live out her old age because of her kinship with Granny Ma.
"Without the young lady to serve you, Granny Fan, you have a lot of free time every day. You either sleep or eat melon seeds with your relatives. You live a more carefree life than I do. I'm petty and can't stand this."
"Madam Yu, I'm innocent! I clean and tidy up your clothes every day..."
"Or do you expect me to handle this?"
Mi Yao curled her lips sarcastically, "Don't just think that I'll tell you what to do. I'm here to be the master, not to teach you how to be servants. Use your brains and think about how you should act to earn your monthly salary. If there's a next time, I don't like to hear people make excuses. Those who should be kicked out will be kicked out, and those who should be sold will be replaced with new ones."
Knowing that without a steward to keep a close eye on the inner quarters, the effect of her reprimands wouldn't last long.
So after returning to her room, Mi Yao began to bathe and pamper herself, feeling the blended balm rub over every inch of her skin, trying to let the comfort of the experience mask the troubles that had just arisen within her.
Children will grow up no matter what, as long as she doesn't kill them like the original owner did. As for taking care of them, that's not her responsibility.
If she acted out of pity, then they would become her responsibility from then on.
Xiao Chuan, as the father, could remain completely invisible, no longer needing to worry about his children.
Even if it's a pitiful child, she will never forget that she came here to be a pampered wife, not a sacrificial supporting character to please the protagonist, Xiao Chua.
*
After taking a bath, Mi Yao lay on the long couch, applying various whitening and moisturizing creams from head to toe.
After her body had fully absorbed the nutrients, seeing that there was still an hour before nightfall, Mi Yao told Shuang Hua and the others to go find dried balsam flowers: "If you can't find any, you can find other brightly colored fresh flowers."
When Little Radish returned to Mi Yao's residence, she saw a small mortar and pestle on the table, containing soaked balsam petals and pebbles, which had been mashed into a paste that could be used to dye nails.
Xiao Shan curiously approached the shallow agate jar, sniffing inside with his nose.
“I added a drop of peony dew to it, and what you smell is the scent of peony and balsam.”
After Mi Yao finished speaking and saw Xiao Shan nod in understanding, she thought for a moment and then asked, "How is your second brother? Now that you're here, he's recovered. Don't you feel wronged?"
Xiao Shan continued to nod, stood up straight, and stretched out his hand, indicating a position that was taller than himself.
"You mean your older brother came back and comforted him, and then he stopped feeling wronged?"
Xiao Shan nodded.
Seeing that Mi Yao was alright, she climbed back onto the stool and stared wide-eyed at the red clay scraped onto the silver plate.
"This is for nail polish, I'll polish your nails first."
Seeing Xiao Shan's curiosity, Mi Yao also wanted to see how the coloring was going, so she held Xiao Shan's chubby little hand, took a small calligraphy brush dipped in the juice, and carefully applied it to her tiny nails, which were about the size of a grain of rice.
The original owner had beautiful calligraphy skills, and after inheriting the original owner's memories, she tried holding a pen. Because of the muscle memory in her fingers from using a pen, the characters she wrote were almost identical to those of the original owner.
However, she had no interest in calligraphy. This was only the second time she had held a calligraphy brush since she transmigrated, aside from the first time she tried it.
It must be said that the original owner's training from childhood was very effective. Even with such tiny nails as hers, she could control the brush and apply the color to the nail without overflowing the edges.
Seeing that Xiao Shan's eyes were getting brighter and brighter because of her red fingernails, Mi Yao asked Shi Ya to wrap her hands, and then she painted her fingernails and toenails herself.
"If you like, you can apply it together."
With her fingers and toes covered in brocade, Mi Yao and Xiao Luobo lay on the bed unable to move. Seeing that there were still many materials left, Mi Yao spoke to Shuang Hua and the others.
Even girls who don't like dressing up will become interested in dressing up after seeing Mi Yao busy every day. Knowing that Mi Yao is generous in this matter and will not be stingy with the girls around her who love beauty, Shi Ya and the others soon wrapped their fingers as well.
On the second day of the wedding, Xiao Chuan noticed that Xiao Shan's fingers were red and thought she had hurt her hands in an accident. But upon closer inspection, he realized that the red color was dyed.
It was strange, but she was quite proud of herself, and she opened her arms to show her brothers.
Having suffered a loss at Xiao Shan's hands, he gained a better understanding of Mi Yao's maids as they performed their tasks with affected mannerisms and red fingers.
But when the delicate hand emerged from the bridal sedan chair, and his gaze fell upon the vibrant red of her fingertips, he couldn't help but increase the pressure on her. Only when he heard the culprit cry out in pain did he release his grip with satisfaction.
Although Xiao Chua's wedding was scheduled in a hurry, it was not rushed because Zhao Tianhe had instructed him to prepare the necessary items in advance.
The mansion was decorated with lanterns and colorful decorations. The ram horn lanterns hanging at the gate were covered with gold leaf and double happiness symbols. Even the stone lions guarding the gate were wrapped in red silk and tied with big red flower knots around their necks.
A red felt carpet was laid out to welcome guests from the main gate, and bright red silk lanterns hung along the welcoming path, covering the entire mansion.
Mi Yao was married off to a distant place. The wedding sedan chair was carried out of the Xiao residence, circled around Yizhou City twice, and then carried back to the Xiao residence.
After arriving in Yizhou, Mi Yao has not yet left the Xiao residence because she finds it too cold.
Sitting in the bridal sedan chair this time, she gained a concrete understanding of Xiao Chuan's reputation in Yizhou.
She initially thought the onlookers were there because of Xiao Chuan's adoptive father's reputation, but after listening to their discussions, she realized that they were throwing grains and coins at Xiao Chuan.
Before and after Xiao Chuan quelled the internal strife in Jingzhou, Yizhou received a large number of refugees from Jingzhou. In addition, Xiao Chuan had been guarding Yizhou and had repelled countless Tibetan invasions.
Therefore, Zhao Tianhe, the military governor, was highly respected in Shu, and Xiao Chuan, the military commander, was no less so.
Amidst the lively cheers of the people and the continuous falling of grains, Mi Yao didn't notice the force Xiao Chuan was applying with his hand. Only after entering the mansion and looking down at her reddened skin did she realize that Xiao Chuan had never touched a woman's hand before, and his grip was incredibly clumsy. Every time he touched her hand, he treated her like clay and tried to knead her.
Since Xiao Chuan's parents were not present, the two only needed to pay their respects to Zhao Tianhe before entering the wedding hall.
Mi Yao held up a jade tassel fan with a sandalwood frame and gold and silver thread embroidery of mandarin ducks and double happiness symbols. After listening to the guests on both sides praising the bride for her graceful appearance and the perfect match between her and the groom, Mi Yao was led to the bridal chamber and sat down. Regardless of whether Xiao Chuan had written a poem to persuade her to put down the fan, she put it down without hesitation to relieve her sore hand, so as to save Xiao Chuan the trouble.
After putting down the fan, Mi Yao noticed the gazes fixed on her and looked up at Xiao Chuan, who was wearing a gold crown and a silver fish-shaped pouch.
Their eyes met, but neither of them spoke.
She didn't want to indulge Xiao Chuan. If he wouldn't open his mouth, she would play a game of "statues" with him. After looking at his eyes enough, she would look at his nose and his thin lips.
Xiao Chuan finally opened his mouth after she had finished counting how many gems and pearls were on his golden crown.
"I'm going to entertain the guests. You wait here."
What are we waiting for?
Mi Yao moved the many hairpins in her hair. He hadn't had enough of her beauty and wanted her to stay like that while he came back so he could take a few more glances at her.
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