Evening, at Jingxuexuan.
Bihe and Lülian helped Su Xuening take a petal bath and then wrung out her hair.
Green Lotus combed Su Xuening's hair, while Green Lotus went to fetch the dowry list: "Miss, this is the dowry list prepared according to your instructions. Please take a look."
Su Xuening took the order and looked at it carefully.
Bihe looked at Su Xuening cautiously and asked, "Miss, you only took 30% of the General and Madam's things. Isn't the prepared dowry too small?"
“That’s quite a lot. The betrothal gifts from the Holy Prince’s Mansion and the Emperor have all been added to the dowry. There’s already more than enough. Moreover, both my father and mother have a lot of things to give. Taking 30% from each of them is no less than the dowry of an ordinary noblewoman. There are also the additions from my aunt and Consort Su. This dowry is already unique in the capital.” Su Xuening said while comparing the dowry list.
She had her reasons.
First of all, she cannot stay at the General's Mansion with the betrothal gifts given by the Holy Prince's Mansion and the Emperor. This is a favor that the Holy Prince's Dowager and the Emperor have given her, and she must accept it.
Furthermore, Yun'an is still young, and although marriage is premature, his father has passed away and his mother has disappeared. The General's Mansion's wealth must be preserved for him; she cannot squander all of her parents' possessions. Of course, the General's Mansion cannot leave without a dowry, lest they become a laughingstock. Therefore, taking 30% will leave Yun'an with enough wealth, be sufficient for her own needs, and prevent the General's Mansion from losing face.
Furthermore, Zhao Zhenzhen, the eldest daughter of the Prime Minister's family, will be marrying tomorrow. If it were simply a matter of dowry, she couldn't guarantee she'd win. However, her dowry includes betrothal gifts from the Dowager Princess of the Holy Prince. Leaving aside the Emperor's betrothal gifts—perhaps he gave gifts from both sides—she was certain that Consort Su would never be as generous as the Dowager Princess of the Holy Prince in giving such a generous dowry. The reason Consort Su was so willing to add so much to her dowry was probably because she intended for her to take it back with her. This way, she would suffer no loss and still save face for her as her aunt. It has to be said, Consort Su always thinks too highly of herself!
Therefore, even in terms of betrothal gifts alone, she had a significant advantage over Zhao Zhenzhen. One shouldn't go too far in life; winning by a small margin is enough. If the difference were too great, it might offend the Prime Minister's family. Of course, it wasn't that she was afraid of the Prime Minister's family; she simply didn't want to cause any more trouble.
Looking at the endless list of gifts, Su Xuening felt that her dowry was more than enough. She couldn't even walk through two streets tomorrow, which was already quite extravagant. She should just tone it down.
Too tired to look at, Su Xuening only glanced at it briefly, after all, she still trusted Bihe and Lülian.
"Put it away." After confirming that there were no problems with the order, Su Xuening returned it to Bihe.
"Yes," Bihe replied, and carefully put away the gift list.
"Miss, go to bed early tonight. You'll definitely be very tired after the wedding tomorrow." Green Lotus combed Su Xuening's hair and then went to make the bed, but she saw a small box on the bedside table.
"Miss, what kind of box is this?" Green Lotus dared not open it without permission, so she took it to the bronze mirror and asked Su Xuening.
Su Xuening coughed lightly, her expression unnatural: "Put the things down. There's a lot to do tomorrow, so no one needs to stay up tonight. Go back and rest."
"Yes." Knowing that tomorrow was the young lady's big day and there would be many things to do, the two did not dare to delay. They packed their things, bowed, and left.
After Bihe and Lülian left, Su Xuening stared blankly at the box.
After what seemed like an eternity, Su Xuening finally came to her senses, picked up the box, hesitated for a while, and then opened it.
Inside the box were a pair of jade figurines, naked, intertwined together.
Having some experience, Su Xuening naturally knew what these two little people were doing, and her face turned uncontrollably red.
Su Xuening stared at the pair of little figures and couldn't help but move them a couple of times with her hand. The pair of jade figures actually changed their positions, with the woman on top and the man on the bottom. This startled Su Xuening so much that she closed the box.
Feeling the room was very hot, and her body was even hotter, Su Xuening reached out to fan herself, but inadvertently saw that the flowers on her wrist had grown rapidly and were covered with red blossoms in an instant.
Su Xuening immediately covered her wrist with her sleeve in a panic, realizing she had almost forgotten about the red flower on her wrist.
My master said this is a Love Flower Gu, which was given to her by the man in the Cold Pool. I forgot to ask my master about the Love Flower Gu when I went to the bamboo forest last time.
The red flower is so conspicuous; she must be careful when she goes to the Holy King's Mansion in the future, and make sure no one discovers it.
Thinking of the man in the cold pool, Su Xuening recalled that night, that strange and alluring feeling, which made her feel hot all over again. She dared not look at her arms now, for fear that the red flowers had bloomed even more.
Su Xuening silently recited the Heart-Cleansing Mantra, suppressing the strange feeling in her heart and trying to calm the heat in her body.
The past is the past, and she will not think about it anymore. She will marry into the Holy King's Mansion tomorrow, and she will never think about that person again.
After calming herself down, Su Xuening took the Buddhist prayer beads off her neck.
This belonged to that man; she should have thrown it away, but she couldn't.
Su Xuening gently stroked her lower abdomen. Even if it was just for the sake of the child, she would leave behind this last thought. Even if she would never think of that person again, perhaps the child would still want to know who his biological father was.
Su Xuening sighed softly and placed the Buddhist prayer beads on the bottom shelf of her jewelry box. That shelf had once held the red plum blossom jade hairpin; now it held the prayer beads.
Neither the red plum blossom jade hairpin nor this Buddhist prayer bead were things she could touch. One was because she didn't want to! The other was because she couldn't!
Su Xuening has let go of the past and is ready to start a new life.
My dear reader, there's more to this chapter! Please click the next page to continue reading—even more exciting content awaits!
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
