Xu Di had mentioned renting the house to Zhang Zhaoci, and Zhang Zhaoci had also visited the house. She was very satisfied with the two-courtyard house and even specially arranged for some of her servants from her own courtyard to come here and help with cleaning and tidying up.
Wu has been very busy lately, as she is busy with the wedding of Xu Shao's eldest daughter, Zhao Siyan.
When the old lady and the marquis saw that Madam Wu was busy opening the storeroom to find things all day long, and taking some of her old gold and silver jewelry to the outside silver shop to melt down and make new ones, the marquis sighed to the old lady, "Mother, I regret it now. How could I have chosen such a wife?"
The old lady smiled and said, "What pot has what lid? You two have been together for so many years. Even if you look down on her, she has given you all these children. What can you do? Actually, it's quite good this way. She knows her own abilities and doesn't interfere in the affairs of the household. It's just some things. Let her give them to whomever she wants."
The Marquis said, "That's all we can do. By the way, my brother-in-law, who is also a top scholar, is coming back soon. He'll be there just in time for Siyan's wedding. I bet Madam Wu wants him to come and do a facial for the baby. Mother, do you think I should tell my brother-in-law about this?"
Wu came from a family of scholars and poets for centuries. She was a renowned talented woman in the capital. Otherwise, the handsome and experienced Marquis of Yongping, who was famous for his fair complexion and had served on the battlefield, would not have been interested in her and would have insisted on marrying her.
The Wu family was a large clan with various branches spanning hundreds of years. By the time it reached the Wu family, they were no longer the main branch. Wu's father was an oddball in the family. He disliked studying but idolized Zhu Tao Gong and aspired to become a Confucian merchant. He used the resources allocated to him by the family to accumulate a considerable fortune.
In his early years, Wu's father traveled all over the country to do business and met many talented people. Although he liked doing business, he knew that the imperial examination was the right path in this world. Fortunately, both of his children were very talented in their studies, so he hired famous teachers to teach them carefully.
Wu herself was fine; as a girl, all she needed to do was study and understand principles. However, Wu's younger brother, Wu Muyue, was someone Wu's father had painstakingly cultivated.
Wu Muyue was not only outstanding in literature, but also in martial arts, which he had been taught by famous teachers since childhood.
Wu's father traveled extensively, encountering heroes from all walks of life. A reclusive master he once saved saw Wu Muyue and felt that the boy had extraordinary talent and was a good candidate for martial arts. So he imparted all his knowledge to him. Therefore, Wu Muyue was not only good at literature, but his martial arts skills were also based on a foundation laid from childhood. After being appointed as the third-ranked scholar by the emperor, Wu Muyue resigned from his official post and traveled the world, doing chivalrous deeds, helping those in distress, and his title of Wu the Third-Ranked Scholar was very prestigious in the martial arts world.
Wu Muyue later stopped by West Lake and established an academy, which was located in the south and north of Xu Ru's husband Yue Qingchuan's academy.
For years, Wu Muyue had been living a nomadic life, but he would send several cartloads of gifts back to the Marquis's mansion every year. Wu Muyue had no children of his own, but he was very fond of his elder sister's children, especially Xu Shao, whose flamboyant personality was very much to his liking. This time, when Xu Shao's children got married, Wu Muyue, who had not returned to the capital for many years, sent a letter to his wife, Wu Shi, saying that he would come back to attend Zhao Siyan and Yang Siying's wedding.
The old lady thought of the legendary Scholar Wu and said, "Your wife is muddle-headed, but this Scholar Wu is shrewd. He hasn't met Rao'er, but after meeting her, he can't help but suspect some things. I think you should wait until Siyan's wedding is over before having a proper talk with Scholar Wu about this matter. Since things have already come to this, we can only make the best of a bad situation. After all, it involves matters from the late emperor's time, and it would be bad for the royal family's reputation to bring them up again. As subjects, we must protect the royal family's reputation."
The old lady spoke with great helplessness. If it were an ordinary family, she would have corrected it long ago. Unfortunately, this was the only bloodline left by the late Crown Prince. In the last few years, the late Emperor did not allow the old lady to take any action because of his guilt towards the late Crown Prince. The old lady could only continue to live with the mistake. More than 30 years have passed since then. Nothing else has happened, but Xu Rao's family has suffered.
The Marquis sighed and said, "It's all my fault back then. I had a little pity for the Zhu family, which allowed them to take advantage of me."
The old lady said, "Alright, decades have passed. What's the use of regretting it now? We can't let too many people know about this. Who knows what trouble it will cause if they do?"
The Marquis agreed, and after leaving the old lady's courtyard, he thought for a moment, then walked with his hands behind his back towards Madam Wu's courtyard.
Wu's courtyard looked chaotic, with many maids carrying things in and out. When they saw the Marquis, they quickly stopped and bowed. The Marquis knew at a glance that they were looking for something again. As the wedding drew closer, the atmosphere in Wu's courtyard became more and more flamboyant. The Marquis thought about Wu's behavior towards Xu Di's marriage, and it was truly like heaven and earth.
Wu Shi truly remained completely indifferent to Xu Di's marriage. From building the house to preparing for the wedding banquet, she didn't ask about anything. The Marquis knew that Wu Shi did this because Xu Rao was born to Zhu Shi and was also his only illegitimate son. Wu Shi had never seen Xu Rao since he was a child. Otherwise, given Xu Rao's appearance, how could Wu Shi not have any doubts?
Wu Tanhua had hardly ever stayed at home since childhood. Among the servants who served Wu Shi now, even Wu Mama had only seen Wu Tanhua once, when Wu Shi married the Marquis. Not to mention the younger maids, Wu Shi either returned the indentures to the original owners of the servants who came with her as part of her dowry or helped them find new families to marry into. The only person in Wu Shi who was relatively familiar with Wu Tanhua was her wet nurse, who passed away a couple of years ago.
Thinking of all this, the Marquis sighed deeply and stepped into the house.
Madam Wu was looking at something when she saw the Marquis arrive. She quickly helped him sit down, served him tea, and then asked with a smile, "My lord, what brings you here at this hour? Is there something you need?"
The Marquis asked, "What are you trying to do?"
Madam Wu said, “I opened the storeroom. Some things I had accumulated over the years looked old. Those that deserved to be given away were given away, and those that needed to be remade were remade. My lord, look at these pieces of jewelry. They are decades old and were even from when I was young. I plan to have the silver shop melt them down and give them to Siyan.”
The Marquis said, "Madam, don't just think about Siyan. Dige'er is getting married soon, and you are Dige'er's grandmother."
Before the Marquis could finish speaking, Madam Wu threw the jewelry in her hand onto the table, choking the words he was about to say.
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