Chapter 10 010 "Buy whatever you like from now on, no need to be picky..."
Luo Fu followed her mother-in-law out of the east side room and saw her father-in-law Xiao Rong and husband Xiao Yu sitting in the main hall, one in the main seat and the other in the back. One of them was resting with his eyes closed, stroking the black jade thumb ring on his right hand, while the other was facing the door. When he saw the mother-in-law and daughter-in-law, he stood up. He was tall and elegant, with a brocade ribbon outlining his narrow waist. He was very pleasing to the eye.
Their eyes met, and remembering the silent intimacy of the previous night, Luo Fu was the first to look away.
The young couple bowed to their elders to say goodbye and left one after the other.
It wasn't during the time to sweep the courtyard, and there were hardly any servants on the road, so Luo Fu moved closer to Xiao Yu and whispered intimate words: "Mother just gave me ten taels of silver, saying it was my monthly allowance. Ten taels, how can I possibly spend all of that?"
Of course she could spend it all. She wouldn't worry even if given a hundred taels. Luo Fu mainly wanted to test Xiao Yu's attitude towards her spending money. She didn't want Xiao Yu to disapprove of her spending money like her two sisters-in-law, just because she came from a small town. Such prejudices about social status were common even in small towns.
Xiao Yu looked at his wife, who was almost touching his arm, and listened to her silly, innocent words. He smiled and explained to her, "If you can't spend all the money, you can save it up and use it to buy more expensive things later. As for daily necessities such as writing brushes, ink, paper, inkstones, needles, thread, and oil and wax, the housekeeper will have the steward purchase them through the public account. Every season, we will also be given four bolts of silk to make clothes. However, since everyone has different preferences, the steward may not be able to choose what suits everyone's taste. Therefore, it is best if you buy rouge, face powder, jewelry, and silk yourself."
Luo Fu had visited the market in the capital once, and everything was more expensive than in Guangling. Given her current status as the third wife of the Marquis's mansion, her attire could not be too shabby, and her jewelry had to be at least ten taels of silver. In addition, there was rouge and silk. All this meant that she really couldn't spend all of her ten taels of silver monthly allowance every month, lest she be unable to afford new clothes and jewelry when visiting relatives and friends' homes for banquets in the future.
Luo Fu wasn't solely reliant on her monthly allowance; the Xiao family had given her a dowry of three thousand taels, plus a dowry worth approximately two thousand taels. However, these were to be saved for any major events she might encounter in her life. If she were to spend them recklessly on food, clothing, and adornment, they would be gone in just a few years.
Marrying into a noble family and enjoying a life of luxury is one thing, and Luo Fu can tell the difference clearly.
Luo Fu continued to flatter her husband: "Four bolts of silk are enough for me, and I don't lack rouge and jewelry for the time being. As for you, you must often have social engagements outside. If you need anything in the future, you can take it from me. Anyway, what's mine is also yours." What's yours is also mine. In the future, when you get promoted and become rich, you'll have to hand over all your money to me for safekeeping.
Men don't become devoted to their wives for no reason. If Luo Fu wants to be Xiao Yu's wife, she has to treat him well first and win his heart.
Xiao Yu, who rarely attends social events, said: "...I don't like empty talk and socializing. I don't spend much money normally. In fact, I've saved up some money over the years. I'll give it all to you to keep safe. Buy whatever you like in the future. Don't be too hard on yourself."
Even his mother likes to dress up, and his wife is only sixteen years old, young and beautiful, and needs spare money more than he does.
Luo Fu was overjoyed by her husband's generosity. She hadn't even put in much effort yet, and her husband had already handed over his private savings!
Feeling happy inside, Luo Fu looked shy and said with her head down, "Why are you so good to me? I almost thought this was just a beautiful dream. Actually, I'm still in Guangling and don't know you at all."
What Xiao Yu saw was his wife's fair and slender neck, her delicate and reddish earlobes. As soon as he saw them, images from last night flashed through his mind: when he kissed behind her ear, she twisted and turned beneath him, moaning in unbearable pleasure as she tried to escape...
In broad daylight, Xiao Yu promptly cut off his reverie and looked ahead, saying, "This is how it should be between husband and wife."
For the rest of the journey, Xiao Yu walked quite quickly, and Luo Fu didn't have time to say anything more.
There weren't many servants in Shensi Hall. Only two servants served Xiao Yu closely. Qingchuan knew martial arts and was responsible for protecting his master outside, while Chaosheng was meticulous and skillful and was responsible for serving his master tea and water, making the bed, and folding the quilts.
Besides Ping An, Luo Fu had four well-trained head maids in the Marquis's mansion named Cai Die, Lü Zhu, Yin Xing, and Zi Ying. Each of them was of average appearance, with some being clever and others honest, and each had their own strengths.
She also met the cook, the maidservants, and several young maids. After recognizing them all, Luo Fu led her people back to the central courtyard. Her dowry and betrothal gifts needed to be inventoried and stored.
Having gotten up early and been busy for an hour, it was only nearly noon when Luo Fu had just lay down on the long couch by the window in the side room to rest for a while when Xiao Yu arrived.
Since it's the second day of our marriage, we'll be having all three meals at Wanhetang.
Luo Fu hurriedly sat up straight, her hair disheveled. She quickly tidied it, and Ping An, who was standing beside her, pointed out that it was still a little crooked.
Luo Fu's mind raced, and she lay back down, pretending to doze off.
Therefore, when Xiao Yu entered, he saw his newlywed wife lying on the couch, her cheek slightly puffed up by the pillow, her skin glowing pink from sleep.
Ping An had been by the lady's side since she could remember, and was used to her cunning and boldness. She was also good at cooperating in such situations. She bowed to the third young master, who was not looking at her, and explained in a low voice, "The lady has been busy organizing the storeroom all morning and just went to sleep. You see..."
As if startled by the voices, Luo Fu slowly opened her eyes, looking blankly at the two people under the bed.
Xiao Yu guiltily avoided eye contact, assuming that his wife's tiredness was due to not sleeping well the night before.
"Are we about to leave?" Luo Fu sat up straight in annoyance. "I wanted to rest for a while before getting up, but I ended up falling asleep."
Xiao Yu: "It's alright, there's still time to rest a bit more."
Luo Fu smiled and told Ping An to go out and fetch water. After giving the order, she noticed Xiao Yu's gaze on her hair. She turned her face away embarrassedly, touched her hair bun, and asked, "Sleeping in late in the morning, in the eyes of you noblemen's sons, isn't that very unruly?"
Xiao Yu: "...It's my fault for being reckless last night and tiring you out."
Luo Fu: "..."
She was pretending, but now her face turned genuinely red. How could she say such words as "reckless" to someone's face?
Awkwardly, Xiao Yu placed the wooden box beside her pillow: "This is my private money, you can put it away. I'll wait for you outside."
After saying that, he turned and left, his handsome face pale, not red at all.
Luo Fu shook her head, pricked up her ears, and confirmed that Xiao Yu had taken his seat in the main hall. Luo Fu took the box to the inner room, sat down in front of the dressing table, and opened it. Inside were one, two... five silver notes with a face value of one hundred taels!
Lov happily closed the box, raised it, and gently kissed it.
Cai Die was very good at combing hair and quickly dressed Luo Fu up. When Luo Fu walked side by side with Xiao Yu on the way to Wanhetang again, Luo Fu sincerely admired her and said, "You are really good at saving money. My mother often gives me pocket money, but I spend it all every time I go to the city."
Xiao Yu: "Thanks to my sister-in-law, before my brother got married, I only had one or two taels of silver a month. After my sister-in-law entered the family, my brother's salary increased from one or two taels to ten taels, and my second brother's and my salary also increased."
Luo Fu thought to herself that her dowry must have been thanks to her sister-in-law; otherwise, if she hadn't made a fuss, her in-laws would have been afraid of being scolded by Xiao Yu for being biased.
But then again, just how large is the Marquis's estate? It cost at least 15,000 taels of silver to marry three daughters-in-law, and the combined monthly expenses of each master of the household amounted to more than 100 taels of silver!
Luo Fu was curious, but she couldn't rush to find out; she would naturally find out in time.
.
After resting for half an hour in the afternoon, Luo Fu had fully recovered and asked Xiao Yu to accompany her to visit other parts of the Marquis's residence.
Xiao Hu and his wife also lived in Jishan Hall, the fourth courtyard of the Hou Mansion, while Xiao Lin and his wife lived in Jingxian Hall, the east courtyard. Both couples were in their courtyards. Luo Fu had no intention of disturbing them; she just needed to get to know the place. She mainly strolled around the back garden. It was late autumn and early winter, and the maple leaves had turned red, rustling in the slightly chilly wind under the warm sun.
Luo Fu openly expressed her love for her husband's family in front of him: "What a big garden! We can enjoy the scenery all year round without leaving the house."
Xiao Yu recalled the autumn scenery of Huangqiao Village and said, "It can't compare to the beautiful scenery of your village."
Luo Fu: "That was your first time there. You've lived there every year, and I'm already tired of it."
Xiao Yu: "This place is the same for me."
Luo Fu: "What about the capital city? Do you know any good places to visit, both inside and outside the city?"
Xiao Yu nodded. He had accompanied his mother to go shopping when he was a child, and he had also gone for walks and enjoyed the autumn scenery when he grew up.
Seeing that his wife remained silent, only gazing at him with her watery eyes that seemed to want to say something but couldn't, Xiao Yu guessed, "Do you want me to go for a walk with you?"
Luo Fu turned away reluctantly, saying coyly, "I don't want to disturb your studies, but you're the closest person to me in the capital. I'd like to trouble you to accompany me for a walk first, and then I'll take my sister to broaden her horizons, so that neither of us will be unfamiliar with the roads and be laughed at for being country bumpkins who know nothing."
There are still a few months until the imperial examinations, so missing a couple of days shouldn't be a problem.
Xiao Yu didn't care about these two or three days. He was confident in his talent, and reading it again would be a way to refresh his knowledge.
He readily agreed, which pleased Luo Fu even more. That night, after turning off the lights and getting into bed, Luo Fu was nervous and couldn't immediately get used to doing that kind of thing with her husband whom she had only met a few times. But when Xiao Yu came on top of her, Luo Fu tried her best to relax. Her hands turned into vines and clung tightly to Xiao Yu's shoulders and waist, responding to him with moans.
Xiao Yu was a hothead to begin with. By chance, he married such a beautiful woman who was plump, gentle, and incredibly compatible. It was like a wolf that had been eating grass for more than 20 years suddenly tasting meat, and the most delicious prey at that. He didn't care about restraint, self-discipline, or shame anymore. He cuddled with his wife three or four times in the middle of the night. In the end, he was also a little uncomfortable and couldn't suppress his passion.
The next morning, when Xiao Yu got up, he felt a strange, faint soreness in his lower back, and he felt weaker than usual, especially when he stood up, his legs felt limp.
Stiff and incredulous, Xiao Yu looked back at his wife in the brocade quilt. She was still fast asleep, her lips red, but her mouth was a little dry, probably from shedding too many tears and sweating too much.
Having regained his senses after a night of irrationality, Xiao Yu decided to sleep in a separate room from his wife tonight.
After eating a silent breakfast alone, Xiao Yu told his wife his plans, explaining that the couple would be visiting the Luo family for a homecoming the next morning.
Luo Fu softly hummed in agreement. Only after Xiao Yu left did she look up and glare hatefully at the man's back until he was out of sight.
"Supposedly a scholar, he's practically a lustful demon. Just wait and see. After he's visited a few good places in the capital, she'll set rules for Xiao Yu: a maximum of three times a month until the imperial examinations are over. As for how many times he can go after the imperial examinations, that'll depend on whether he passes with flying colors or fails!"
A note from the author:
----------------------
Here they are! 100 little red envelopes, see you tomorrow!
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com