Chapter 3 Settling In
"Yuanzhu".
Xie Xuchuan's eyes were red, and he choked up for a long time without speaking.
He didn't say a word, but his eyes were full of sorrow and grievance at being forced into this situation.
The clear message in his eyes, "Don't make things difficult for me," made Shen Yuanzhu understand his attitude.
With a soft sigh, Shen Yuanzhu pointed to the stone table in the pavilion and said, "You've had a long journey, eat something first."
Xie Xuchuan was surprised by her reaction and became increasingly uneasy.
But he knew that Yuanzhu was soft-hearted and that the two had a deep friendship. Over the years, Shen Yuanzhu had never refused any of his requests. After hesitating for a moment, he nodded with red eyes.
Looking at the still-warm food box, a sour feeling welled up on my tongue.
The incident happened so suddenly that he had been in a daze for the past few days. Now that he had seen Yuanzhu, his anger seemed to have been calmed down, and he felt much more at peace.
Xie Xuchuan picked up a piece of tea cake and put it in his mouth.
His gaze swept over the mahogany box on the ground, and his fingertips twitched: "Yuanzhu, that box..."
Every time he went out to collect materials, Yuanzhu would embroider small things for him. Although she didn't say it outright, Xie Xuchuan knew that it was a shy longing hidden beneath the surface, a girl's unspoken feelings.
Shen Yuanzhu followed his gaze and said, "I'll have Ling'er handle the unimportant things later."
Xie Xuchuan felt a pang in his heart. He wanted to say something more, but then he heard Shen Yuanzhu speak again: "What is the price of madder in Huizhou this year?"
He had originally intended to talk about Jiang Wansu, but seeing Shen Yuanzhu ask this question, Xie Xuchuan knew she didn't want to hear it, so he had no choice but to suppress his anxiety.
"The price is about the same as last year."
Madder has the effect of cooling the blood and removing blood stasis, and it has remarkable effects on bruises and metrorrhagia. For textile and dyeing merchants, madder is also an important dye. Whether it is bright red, lotus red or silver red and light red, they cannot do without madder.
Furthermore, the correct color requires nine soakings and nine sun-dryings, so a considerable amount of madder is consumed every year.
Prices remain unchanged this year; she has some fabrics in her shop priced the same as last year.
Shen Yuanzhu forced herself to focus only on business matters, unaware that Xie Xuchuan's thoughts were already swirling in a thousand different directions.
"Huizhou is a long way away, so have something to eat before you head back."
"Yuanzhu".
This was the first time Shen Yuanzhu had asked him to leave, which inexplicably made Xie Xuchuan a little flustered.
But the words, though swirling on the tip of her tongue, ultimately only came out as: "The matter of Wan Su..."
Shen Yuanzhu glanced at him and asked, "Are you going to Huizhou with Jiang Wansu this time?"
Xie Xuchuan hesitated for a moment: "It's not just the two of us, it's the Jiang family..."
"I understand, you can go back now."
Jiang Wansu's father was the nephew of Jiang You, the eunuch in charge of textile production. Although he did not hold a formal official position, he wielded considerable power, and even the Xie and Chen families treated him with great respect.
This is why Shen Yuanzhu always knew that the Jiang family wanted to form a marriage alliance with the Xie family.
However, the Jiang family's default choice for marriage was not Jiang Wansu, but her elder sister Jiang Naizhen.
The person who had the upper hand was not Xie Xuchuan, but Xie Xuchuan's third uncle, Xie Jingyuan.
If Jiang Wansu's affair reaches the Jiang family and ruins the marriage, it's hard to say what Jiang's father's attitude will be, but Jiang Naizhen will definitely not let Jiang Wansu off easily.
With each and every one of these issues, it's no wonder Xie Xuchuan was so overwhelmed.
Unfortunately, he made the wrong decision.
It's naive of him to think that Jiang Wansu and the Shen family would solve the mess he and she made.
Seeing that Xie Xuchuan was reluctant to leave, Shen Yuanzhu said, "Let's go. Miss Jiang is pregnant and has no home to return to. You also need time to settle down."
"I……"
Xie Xuchuan hesitated for a moment, but after thinking for a while, he was still uneasy and nodded after struggling with his decision.
"I...I'll go settle Wansu first, and I'll come find you again tomorrow."
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