Chapter 200: Originally a Widow
Luo Yi had lived in the countryside for many years, and after meeting Lu Yunqi, she mostly led a life of wandering. She had never seen such a luxurious room before, and her eyes were practically popping out of their sockets when she entered.
Fortunately, she had good self-control; after only looking around, she gratefully said to Yu Qingci:
"That's good, thank you, young mistress. I'll be troubling you in the future."
"Of course, I'm glad Miss Luo is satisfied."
Yu Qingci nodded, not wanting to say more to her, and instructed the maid assigned by Granny Wang to take good care of her before leaving.
Back at Guanlan Pavilion, Granny Pei, along with Dongyue and Lianqiao, helped Yu Qingci with her washing and grooming.
After finishing, Granny Pei gestured for the two maids to leave, then walked to the dressing table, took the sandalwood comb from Yu Qingci's hand, and silently combed her long black hair.
Granny Pei looked at the naturally sculpted, exquisitely beautiful face reflected in the prism mirror, and carefully spoke:
"This Miss Luo seems to be someone special."
Yu Qingci: "What does the nanny want to say?"
Granny Pei put down the comb and said worriedly, "When the young mistress married into the family, she brought the young general's memorial tablet with her. She had never met the young general before, and perhaps the young general didn't even know that the young mistress existed."
This Miss Luo has been serving the young general for over a year, and judging from her words, she clearly considers him her husband. As the saying goes, "being near the water tower, one gets the moon first," but this old servant is worried—"
Yu Qingci knew what Pei Mama was worried about; anyone with eyes could see that Luo Yi's performance tonight.
However, having lived a second life, she had long since cast aside unrealistic things like love and affection. She already knew that the young general would return with his beloved, and she was prepared to leave at any time. So why bother with these things now?
Having figured it out, Yu Qingci smiled and comforted him, "Granny, don't worry. The young general is a dragon among men, a young hero. Even if he really has feelings for this Miss Luo outside, it's only natural. As long as I treat him with courtesy and act prudently, and can't find fault with anything, I don't think he will do anything excessive to his wife."
Some things don't need to be worried about. Let's wait until the young general returns and see what happens.
“What the young mistress says is true.”
Despite saying that, Granny Pei was still uncomfortable.
Who doesn't know that the General's Mansion is now being kept afloat by the young mistress?
Everyone witnessed the state of the General's Mansion when the young mistress married into the family. If it weren't for her intelligence and competence in revitalizing the stagnant water and driving away the parasites from the second and third branches of the family, the General's Mansion would have been in a dilapidated state.
The person hasn't even returned yet, but the servants who were waiting outside have already been sent back. What about all the hard work these people put in?
That's so unfair.
And the old lady—just look at how much she adores Miss Luo; you can tell she's unreliable. Humph! She's really forgotten the pain once the wound has healed!
Just as he was feeling indignant, he heard Yu Qingci say:
"By the way, these next few days, take Dongyue and Lianqiao to carefully review all the properties under my name, as well as the accounts of the manor. The accounts of both parties must be kept very separate. Apart from the Baiye wine business, gradually cut off all other business dealings."
Granny Pei nodded in deep agreement: "Yes, we need to sort things out again. I'll take those two maids and start sorting it out tomorrow. As for those miscellaneous businesses, we should follow the young mistress's advice and cut them off if possible, so that no one will be greedy and think that we are taking advantage of the General's Mansion."
Sigh! We have to take precautions against all of this in advance. It will be good for the young general to know when he returns that we don't rely on his mansion for support, but rather that the entire mansion needs us.
After silently grumbling to himself, he worried about upsetting his young mistress and comforted her:
“Young Madam is right. Don’t worry about things and take things easy. That Luo Yi girl is plain-looking and just a country girl. How can she compare to Young Madam?”
"My young mistress is so beautiful, the young general will definitely be unable to take his eyes off her."
Yu Qingci gave a helpless twitch of her lips. Why would someone from the same family speak such blunt truths?
At this moment, in the west wing of Songbai Hall, Luo Yi, having finished washing up, leaned against the canopy bed, touching the incredibly soft and comfortable fabric of her clothes. Looking at the exquisite furnishings around her, her mind began to wander again.
Having grown up in the countryside with her father, a doctor, she had never worn such fine clothes, slept in such soft and comfortable blankets, or experienced the furnishings in the house, the dishes at the banquet, or being served by maids.
It felt like a dream.
Looking back now, the decision I made with my father was the right one.
When the father and daughter first discovered the young general, they could tell from his extraordinary appearance and the clothes he was wearing that he must have come from a wealthy family, which is why they rescued him.
Unexpectedly, he was not only a noble young master, but also a young general.
Later, as she spent time with the young general, she tried to find out about his family situation many times, but no matter how she tried to get information out of him, she couldn't get a single word out of him.
Even Qingzhu and Qingjiu were the same; they knew nothing about the young general's affairs. So it wasn't until they entered the capital that she learned the young general already had a wife, and her heart felt heavy and uncomfortable, as if a stone was stuck in it.
Before entering the mansion, she had fantasized that if the young mistress was of average appearance, then with her looks, she would have a great chance of staying by the young general's side. Because of the life-saving grace of her father and daughter, the general's mansion would definitely treat her differently.
But she never expected that the young mistress would be such a beautiful woman with a fairy-like appearance, as if she were not of this world. She felt ashamed of herself and her previous ambitions collapsed instantly.
However, isn't it common for wealthy families to have multiple wives and concubines? As long as she is obedient and clever enough, and with the status of being her benefactor, and if she can win the favor of the old lady, she will have more than enough chance of marrying the young general and becoming his concubine.
Once we have a formal title, we can take our time and work things out later. Things change, and who knows what the outcome will be?
Luo Yi lay in the soft bedding, tossing and turning, lost in thought, before finally drifting off to sleep.
The next day, Yu Qingci finished dealing with the affairs of the mansion early in the morning and went to Songbai Hall to pay her respects.
Upon entering, I saw Luo Yi sitting next to Old Madam Ning.
Compared to yesterday, Luo Yi has changed into new clothes prepared by the mansion. Yesterday's simple thick braid has been replaced with the popular bun hairstyle among noble ladies in the capital, with a bright gold hairpin with tassels sticking out of her hair, which is obviously from the old lady's dressing box.
The two chatted and laughed together, making quite a scene, even pushing Yun Chu to a slightly more distant spot.
Seeing Yu Qingci come in, Yun Chu walked over and called her "sister-in-law".
Luo Yi raised an eyebrow at the newcomer, a meaningful smile playing on her lips.
From last night until now, she has learned a lot about the General's Mansion from the old lady and the maids. It turns out that this young mistress entered the family as a widow, and she even replaced her older sister who was raised in the Earl's Mansion.
In other words, she and the young general were complete strangers who had never met before, and she was even less of a benefactor to the young general, who had spent every day with him. It's quite pitiful when you think about it that way.
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