As for Zhao Ziqi, he had a small courtyard with two sections in front of him, which he always used as his study. On the first and fifteenth of the month, he would go to Xu Shao's courtyard to live in the same room as Xu Shao. He would come over to visit whenever he thought of it. He usually stayed in that small courtyard with the maid who served him personally. As for Zhao Ziqi's concubines, there was a west wing courtyard to the west of Xu Shao's courtyard, where they were arranged to live.
As Zhao Ziqi passed by his courtyard, a pretty figure ran out of it. Upon seeing Zhao Ziqi, she grabbed his arm and said with a smile, "Young Master, didn't you say you were going to make rouge for us? We've prepared all the flower petals. You've been gone for so long, come back quickly."
The maidservant dressed in the household's maidservant's attire was one of the maidservants Zhao Ziqi had recently taken in. She was charming and spoke sweetly. Zhao Ziqi was still infatuated with her; normally, she would have already gone into the courtyard with her.
However, Zhao Ziqi was not in the mood for that right now. With a sullen face, he said, "You guys can play by yourselves. I have things to do. Let go of me now and don't delay my business."
The maid pouted and gently shook Zhao Ziqi's arm, saying in a coquettish voice, "Master, what are you doing? Have you grown tired of me? I am your woman, Master. If you want this, I will not stand for it."
Zhao Ziqi was in no mood to deal with it. She grabbed her sleeve, her face darkened, and walked away. The maid stood at the door watching Zhao Ziqi's back, her eyes red, and stomped her foot before turning and going into the courtyard.
Zhao Ziqi was even more upset by the maid's commotion. When he arrived at Xu Shao's courtyard, he saw that the gate was wide open. He stood at the gate and looked inside, where he saw many trunks and boxes.
Zhao Ziqi was a little curious. As soon as she entered the courtyard, she saw two old women carrying a red lacquered camphor wood chest out of the main house, followed by Zhou Mama, Xu Shao's personal attendant.
When Zhou Mama saw Zhao Ziqi, she was pleasantly surprised and gave her a curtsy before going to her room. Zhao Ziqi overheard Zhou Mama telling Xu Shao, "Madam, the young master has arrived."
Xu Shao was probably busy with something, and it took her a while to say, "Oh, the young master has arrived. Please come in."
Zhao Ziqi hadn't been to Xu Shao's place for a long time, and she used to come at night or dusk. She couldn't remember the last time she came during the day. At first glance, everything felt unfamiliar.
After Granny Zhou went in to announce his arrival, she came out again and stood at the door, smiling as she said to Zhao Ziqi, "Young Master, please come in."
As Zhao Ziqi walked inside, he asked, "What are you doing?"
Granny Zhou replied with a smile, "Madam said to organize the things properly."
Zhao Ziqi nodded. After entering the room, she found it even more chaotic. Not only was the table full of things, but there were also some things on the floor.
Xu Shao sat on the kang (a heated brick bed) facing the window inside. There was a booklet on the kang table, and she was flipping through it, looking for something. She looked up and saw Zhao Ziqi come in. She said to Zhou Mama, "Help the young master sit down and pour him some tea."
Zhao Ziqi sat down opposite Xu Shao and asked, "What are you trying to do?"
Xu Shao closed the booklet and said, "Let's take stock of the things and see how much is left. Xing'er is getting married, and Shen'er is also growing up. We need to see what we can offer as gifts for the two children."
Zhao Ziqi's face flushed. He not only had the three children born to Xu Shao, but also several illegitimate sons and daughters. Originally, Zhao Ziqi had planned to raise these illegitimate children under Xu Shao's care. Children raised by their legal mother would have advantages in terms of social interactions and marriage prospects.
Xu Shao firmly disagreed. She told Zhao Ziqi that raising her own children was already exhausting, so why should she worry about raising a child who crawled out of someone else's womb? Only then did Zhao Ziqi give up, and the illegitimate children all grew up with the concubines of the larger family.
Zhao Ziqi said nonchalantly, "Doesn't the family fund the weddings of their children?"
Before Zhao Ziqi could have spoken, Xu Shao sneered and said, "It's the public funds that need to be paid. Isn't the public funds already out of money? Last time, when Yan Jie'er got married, they took some old items from the storeroom to make up the difference. I'm sure the young master still remembers what kind of junk those items were."
When Zhao Siyan got married, the manor originally planned to prepare a dowry of three thousand taels for the eldest daughter of the family. However, Lady Yongping claimed that there was no money in the public accounts, so she opened the manor's storeroom and took out some old items to replace the three thousand taels of silver. These were old furniture and screens that were no longer used in the house, as well as some porcelain that was not very valuable.
Because of this, Xu Shao caused a huge scene at the Yongping Marquis's residence. In the end, the Yongping Marquis took out a few items from his private treasury, and the matter was finally settled.
Zhao Ziqi didn't dare to continue the conversation and wanted to do something else to distract herself. She happened to see a black mother-of-pearl lacquer jewelry box on the kang table. After opening it, there were two small drawers inside. The workmanship was very exquisite. When she pulled out the drawers, there was nothing inside.
Xu Shao frowned when she saw Zhao Ziqi touching the jewelry box, and said, "The things inside were pawned a long time ago, but this box was given to me by my mother. I'm keeping it as a keepsake."
Zhao Ziqi awkwardly put the jewelry box away. He knew, of course, that all the jewelry Xu Shao had brought had already been pawned, and that in the past, much of the money Xu Shao had used to pawn the jewelry had gone into debt for herself.
Zhao Ziqi was not productive but a spendthrift. He would buy anything he wanted, regardless of its value, even if it meant competing with others. After they got married, Xu Shao's mother-in-law told Zhao Ziqi that since he was married, the family would no longer provide him with these funds, and his wife would have to pay for them instead.
When Xu Shao first got married, she poured countless amounts of money into his account. Later, Zhao Ziqi's heart was no longer with Xu Shao, and Xu Shao's heart gradually grew cold. Only then did she harden her heart and stop caring about Zhao Ziqi's insults or bringing debtors to her side. This finally made Zhao Ziqi restrain himself. Unfortunately, most of the valuable jewelry was already gone.
Over the years, Xu Shao has devoted herself to her three children, and her relationship with Zhao Ziqi is merely nominal. As for Zhao Ziqi's visit to her courtyard today, Xu Shao felt no excitement because she had no expectations, but rather a bit of apprehension.
After so many years of marriage, Xu Shao knew Zhao Ziqi very well. He never came to her place without a reason, so there must be something he wanted to say.
Seeing Xu Shao put down what she was doing and stare at him, Zhao Ziqi coughed lightly twice. He wanted to get straight to the point, but he didn't dare. However, he didn't know how to start a casual conversation with Xu Shao. After struggling for a while, he still kept his head down, looking at the jewelry box in front of him.
Xu Shao thought he was out of money and had come to ask her for money. She sighed and said, "Young Master, if you really have no money, I don't care whether you go to your father to cry or your mother to make a scene. Really, I have very little left. I still need to prepare money for my two sons to get married."
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