Governor Su thought to himself, he had indeed been worried too.
However, in front of the lady, he had to stand up for his daughter. So, after quickly sorting through the letters and list of gifts, he coughed to play it cool, "I have always believed Xiaoqi can find a good in-laws’ family."
After all, she has that face.
The lady rolled her eyes, "High-ranking families value a virtuous wife. Look at your precious daughter, does she even have a shred of virtue?"
Governor Su wasn’t too worried about that, "With such a beautiful face, she doesn’t need to be virtuous."
The lady snapped, "She will be a wife, not a concubine, how could she not need to be virtuous?"
Governor Su touched his nose, "Well, my lady, Xiaoqi grew up at your side, you’re so virtuous, maybe, after she gets married, she’ll be as virtuous as you."
The lady was not amused, "Each time you bring a concubine into this house, I scratch your face once. If you consider that virtuous, then you truly have understood the meaning of virtue."
Governor Su felt awkward, "That’s not it, but didn’t you manage to maintain equality amongst all the wives?"
The lady had no energy to argue with this lousy man, "Over the years, I’ve been nudging you to move up in the world, but you would not try. Instead, you’ve lingered in this backwater. If you’d been more ambitious earlier, improved our family’s status, would I still have to worry about Xiaoqi not being able to walk confidently in her in-laws’ house in the future? If Zhou Gu takes a concubine in the future, would she dare to scratch his face?"
Governor Su was shocked, as if he was meeting his wife for the first time, "Well, my lady, do you have any misunderstandings about me? Even if I strive day and night, refusing to eat or drink, I won’t be able to reach the position of the Duke Residence in this lifetime!"
The implication being, what are you dreaming about, even hoping Xiaoqi would someday dare to scratch Zhou Gu’s face? Our family will never have this sort of influence.
The Duke Residence... it’s a hereditary establishment that took three generations to build.
Lady Su sighed, "But look at your precious daughter, she’s reckless and has a bad temper, is she someone who can stand being mistreated? She is arrogant in Jiangning because you’re a governor, she can behave like this. But once she marries into the Duke Residence, if she continues with her unruly behaviour, will she still be able to carry it off?"
"Um..." Governor Su also felt a bit doubtful, "You teach her more, let her change her disposition."
The lady snorted, grabbed the gift list from him, and waved her hand dismissively at Governor Su, "If I could change her disposition, she would have changed long ago. I’ll go check the gift list. You better scram!"
Governor Su grinned in appeasement, "My lady, I will also help you check the gift list."
He didn’t exploit the common folks and only relied on his meagre salary, he hadn’t seen such good stuff before, he wanted to feast his eyes too.
Seeing his greed, the lady was speechless for a while, and she could only take him along.
Mama Wang was very efficient in her work, the lady called on her to join and check the gifts. She also asked Yuewan to make a copy of the gift list.
When Governor Su saw the gift list, he was amazed, and now that he sees the actual items, he was even more speechless, constantly murmuring, "Oh my, this fine Songxi inkstone, giving it to that girl is a waste, she hardly ever writes. And this high-grade wolf hair calligraphy brush, it’s wasted on her, definitely will be left unused. And this Xihua rice paper, she doesn’t like painting, if she does, it would be doodling, totally a waste..."
Seeing Governor Su’s wish to take them all for his private collection, the lady couldn’t bear to look at him and wished she could kick him, "Go away!"
Governor Su protested, "My lady, I’m just looking, I won’t touch."
The lady rolled her eyes and instructed Yuewan, "Yuewan, keep a close eye on him. If the lord sneaks away with anything, I’ll deduct it from your salary."
Yuewan immediately perked up, her eyes wide open, focusing on Governor Su. She responded confidently, "My lady, rest assured."
Governor Su: "..."
He’s not a thief.
He snorted in resentment and turned to the lady, "My lady, may I ask, do I still have any dignity in this house?"
The lady gave him a gentle smile, "Of course, all of us, we all carry your surname Su."
Governor Su: "..."
After an hour of tallying the gifts sent from the Duke Residence, the lady then instructed Yuewan, "Go ask Xiaoqi, does she want to come see the gifts sent by the Duke Residence?"
Yuewan, who had never seen so many good things, readily agreed and rushed back to the courtyard.
Su Rong was already asleep.
Yuewan nudged her awake, "Miss, the lady asked if you would like to see the gifts sent by the Duke Residence, there are so many, a cart and a half full, all for you."
Su Rong, still sleepy and uninterested, responded, "I don’t need to see them, let mother store them in the warehouse. Just give me the list of gifts."
In any case, she wasn’t worried that the lady would cheat her. These years, the lady had been saving for her dowry, afraid that she would squander it. Indeed, if the lady hadn’t been watching, she would have spent her dowry long ago.
Yuewan was excited, "There are so many good things."
Su Rong, with her eyes barely open, accurately swatted Yuewan’s face, "What’s there to be excited about? When I marry into the Duke Residence, won’t there be even better things? What’s there to fuss over these few items now?"
Yuewan immediately calmed down, "Miss is right, there’s no need to see them!"
When the lady heard from Yuewan that Su Rong didn’t want to see the gifts and just wanted the list, she handed Yuewan the original list from the Duke Residence and kept only Yuewan’s copy, commenting, "She does have the nerve,", then turned to Governor Su, "Learn from your daughter. You’ve reached an old age, what are you being so excited about?"
Governor Su: "..."
This attitude, he could never learn it even if he had a hundred years.
He watched helplessly as the lady sealed all the gifts in Su Rong’s private storage and put the key in her pocket. He let out a deep sigh.
The list that Yuewan had brought back was only looked at by Su Rong the next day after she woke up. After reading the long list from top to bottom, she thought to herself, the Duke Residence is really rich.
She heard some noise coming from the front and asked, "What’s the noise up front?"
Yuewan immediately reported, "The lady has ordered them to refurbish the house. Young Master Zhou isn’t he in Jiangning? He said he would come to visit one of these days. We don’t know when he’ll show up, and our home hasn’t been refurbished for many years. The lady said we better smarten it up quickly. And Miss, we’ve been living in this broken-yard all the time. It used to be fine, but now that Young Master Zhou has personally come, what if he visits you after his courtesy call and sees your lodging? Our broken-yard is really not presentable and won’t that be a disgrace to him? The lady is clearing out the west wing courtyard of her own yard for us to move in."
"I don’t want to." Su Rong objected.
Yuewan looked at her, "Miss, it’ll indeed be inconvenient for you if you want to sneak out from under the lady’s watchful eyes in the future. But this broken yard of ours, it’s not suitable for Young Master Zhou to see. Otherwise, he might think the lord and the lady have been treating you poorly all these years."
"Why does he need to visit my yard?" Su Rong was confused, "Does every fiancé visit their future wife’s yard on their first visit?"
"Um..."
Yuewan was stumped.
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