Chapter 96: I gladly accepted them all.
When Li Yue'er got up, Su Rou was already sitting upright in the main hall.
Su Rou had previously stayed at the Qu residence for a period of time. Qu Rong not only had someone reserve her room for her, but there were even some spare clothes in the wardrobe.
The Qu family was not short of money. Even though it was summer when Su Rou lived there, they still had her size in the house. When making clothes, they also made two sets of autumn and winter clothes for her and put them in the closet.
She got up early, washed up, and changed her clothes. There was no sign of anything amiss. She still looked elegant and refined, sitting there gently and dignifiedly.
When she looked up quietly at me while holding her teacup, even though she didn't say a word, Li Yue'er's face felt a little hot just from our eyes meeting.
As the mistress of the Qu family, she slept until late morning on her first day after her marriage. It's easy to guess how late the two of them had been fooling around last night, which is why they couldn't get up early.
Li Yue'er couldn't help but look at the mistress. Compared to her, the mistress, who was the most "thin-skinned," was actually quite open and natural. After sitting in the main seat, she blocked Su Rou's gaze with just one sentence.
Qu Rong asked, "Where's Shi Yi? Still hungover?"
Li Yue'er, "..."
She dared to say it, but Li Yue'er didn't dare to listen!
Qu Rong slowly sipped her tea, her eyes glancing towards Su Rou.
Li Yue'er noticed that Su Jie paused while drinking tea, and this reaction confirmed what the mistress had said last night: Su Jie was indeed with Shi Yi last night.
Li Yue'er pretended not to hear the two talking, and sat on another chair next to the mistress, pretending to be busy adjusting her sleeves and skirt.
The main hall was eerily silent, but thankfully Teng Huang entered with a beaming smile and said, "Master, Mistress, everyone has come to pay their respects to you."
Her face was as beautiful as a peach blossom, radiating springtime joy, and her expression of undisguised happiness dispelled the strange, competitive atmosphere that had been hanging over the main hall.
Li Yue'er looked at Teng Huang with a teasing expression. She had been sitting there for a while, and it was finally her turn to make fun of others with her eyes.
She was very familiar with Teng Huang's appearance. After her first time making love with the mistress, she looked just like this, with her eyebrows and eyes filled with spring. It seemed that Teng Huang had already used the small cushion that she had given her yesterday.
Li Yue'er's gaze was so obvious that Teng Huang wrinkled his nose, blushed, and glared back.
Li Yue'er sighed that she and Teng Huang were still too thin-skinned. Look at the mistress and Dan Sha. No matter what they were like in private, the two of them were serious in public, and you couldn't tell anything unusual from their expressions.
Seeing that the servants had all gathered, Li Yue'er sat upright and received the greetings from the servants and maids along with her mistress.
Today, the mistress prepared a lot of golden melon seeds as rewards to be distributed. Li Yue'er secretly hid a few and put them separately into Teng Huang's palm, indicating that she, Xiao Xiao, and Xiao Mei should share them.
Xiaoxiao and Tenghuang were like her younger sisters, and Xiaomei was her closest maid, so she always treated them better.
Just like how Aunt Qiu would always save a portion of good candy for her separately, regardless of the quantity or value of the candy, it was the special treatment she received that made her stand out from others.
The mistress glanced at her sideways.
Li Yue'er winked at her, then reached out and, using her sleeve as a cover, smiled and touched her hand.
Qu Rong was about to frown and say that it was inappropriate to be too affectionate in front of others, but before she could open her mouth, Li Yue'er withdrew her hand, leaving only two golden melon seeds in her palm.
She left some for Xiaoxiao, and also left two for her.
Qu Rong, "..."
She's not a child anymore, why should she have a separate "candy"?
Qu Rong lowered her eyes, slowly playing with the golden melon seed in her palm, as if afraid that the people in the room would not know that Li Yue'er had specially brought it for her.
Su Rou and the others looked at Li Yue'er, whose ears were red as she sipped her tea.
Qu Rong only felt bored after Teng Huang shared her own golden melon seeds with Dan Sha, and expressionlessly put the golden melon seeds away.
After the servants finished their greetings, they went back to their own business. Su Rou glanced outside, gently smoothed her skirt, and stood up naturally. She said softly to Li Yue'er, "I grant you five days' leave. If you need to contact me during this time, just send someone to the Shi family to let them know."
Li Yue'er followed her gaze and looked towards the door. Shi Yi, who was "hangover," had finally gotten up and stood outside the door, bowing silently to the two of them.
If Shi Yi were a man, Li Yue'er would not care.
But considering that she was actually a girl and that it was not easy for a woman to disguise herself as a man, Li Yue'er nodded slightly to her, indicating to Teng Huang to give her a reward.
Su Rou bid farewell to the mistress and walked towards Shi Yi. When she reached the door, Shi Yi subconsciously took a few steps forward and reached out to help her.
Su Rou seemed not to notice, lowered her eyes, picked up the hem of her skirt with one hand, lifted a corner, and gracefully and slowly stepped over the threshold. At the same time, Yi Yi followed her out of the courtyard.
She walked ahead, gentle and dignified, while Shi Yi followed behind, obedient and quiet.
On the surface, the two appear to have a close yet distant relationship, which is consistent with their status as stepmother and stepson.
Although the two of them were like that last night, because Su Rou and Shi Yi woke up at different times, and Su Rou woke up particularly early, none of the servants in the courtyard really noticed how the two of them slept last night. Even if they saw Su Rou coming out of Shi Yi's room in the morning, Su Rou would say that she came to see if Shi Yi had woken up from his drunkenness, and she would always have a reason to cover it up.
Regardless of their private lives, they've at least kept it very discreet on the surface, and so far, no one has suspected they're having an affair.
Aside from being accidentally seen by Li Yue'er twice.
Once everyone else was out of the main hall, Qu Rong turned to look at Li Yue'er and said, "I'll be back tonight."
Li Yue'er looked at her suspiciously, blinked, and pretended to be unreasonable, humming, "Come back tonight? Where are you going to sleep if you don't come back tonight?"
Qu Rong glanced at Li Yue'er in silence, then leaned forward and half-touched, half-pinched her cheek.
Li Yue'er opened her mouth to try to bite her hand, but she quickly dodged it with a smile, then leaned back in her chair and looked up at her defiantly.
Qu Rong said, "She's like a child; she doesn't act like a mistress at all."
Li Yue'er, "...?"
How can someone turn the tables and accuse the victim?
Seeing that the two were about to start playing around and abandon their business, Teng Huang deliberately reminded them in a tactless manner, "The head of the family said that she has to go to the market to work and will not be back to keep you company until tonight. She asked you to wait for her to have dinner together."
Li Yue'er knew, "Oh~ I thought it was because they had just gotten married that the head of the family would be sleeping outside at night."
Qu Rong, "..."
Li Yue'er smiled and said, "I understand."
There were still a lot of things to do in Qu Rong Fangzi. From a business perspective, nothing was more important than spending three days with Li Yue'er, after all, the two were newlyweds.
However, the current situation makes it impossible for her to stay at home and enjoy a leisurely life.
With the imperial court losing territory in various prefectures to the new army, the court has already made plans to retreat north.
If they really withdraw, Anping Prefecture, which is right next to Kyoto, will suffer the consequences.
The imperial court not only considered abandoning the capital and retreating, but also instructed local officials to pressure local merchants and common people, demanding money from the former and able-bodied men from the latter.
In the past, conscription only recruited able-bodied men. Only one man from each family was required to serve in the army. If one had money to bribe officials, one could even avoid having to go.
Now things are different. Almost every family with male members has been conscripted for military service, regardless of whether they had received prior training. Now they are put on armor and sent to the battlefield.
The people were suffering terribly and wished the new army would attack as soon as possible, so that they could suffer less and die less.
Merchants are also having a hard time. The imperial court has already levied taxes on them under various pretexts. As long as the war continues, there will be no end to the days when merchants have to pay taxes.
Qu Rong and Zheng San have been working together on this matter recently. They want to take advantage of the strongest winds and the most chaotic waters to make a big move, otherwise the imperial court will eventually exhaust them.
This matter was naturally risky, and she might even lose her head, so Qu Rong didn't explain it in detail to Li Yue'er, only giving her a general overview.
After Qu Rong left with Dan Sha, Li Yue'er, along with Teng Huang Xiao Mei, began sorting through the gifts they had received the day before.
Gambo left a golden melon seed for Xiaomei and whispered to her, "This is a special gift from the mistress."
Xiao Mei was deeply moved, her eyes welling up with tears as she looked at Teng Huang and the mistress, wishing she could express her loyalty to the mistress on the spot!
She thought that since she arrived late, it was only natural that she didn't receive a separate set of golden melon seeds. It turned out that both Gung Homura and the mistress of the house remembered her.
Li Yue'er smiled as she flipped through the gift list in her hand.
The jade-inlaid glass mirror was left in the room after all. The mistress clearly liked it very much last night, but when she got up this morning, she inexplicably felt that the more she looked at the mirror, the more improper it seemed. She frowned and said, "Others will think too much if they see it."
The full-length mirror is right next to it, why doesn't anyone think about it?
Li Yue'er felt that it was clearly the mistress who was feeling guilty.
The mistress, trying to cover up the truth, moved the jade-inlaid glass mirror to the clean room and covered it with a red cloth, saying that she would remove the cloth when she needed it.
Li Yue'er, "..."
The mirror was placed in the bathroom, and a new large bathtub for two people had been installed there... If she were a servant, she would think even more.
Li Yue'er spent the whole day with Teng Huang Xiaomei checking the private treasury. The gifts and the gift list matched, except for two gifts that only had the items but no name of the giver.
Li Yue'er asked curiously, "Was it due to overcrowding and negligence?"
Teng Huang shook his head. "It shouldn't be. This one was probably given by Aunt Tan. The gifts she always gives to the head of the family are all gold."
Aunt Tan?
Li Yue'er went to see the gift, which was a small box of gold. She counted it and found that there were seventeen pieces!
It's strange that such an expensive gift was given without a name.
Li Yue'er looked at Teng Huang with bright eyes. Although she didn't ask the question, her eyes were full of curiosity.
Teng Huang's face scrunched up, her gaze sweeping across the doorway. Though no one was there, she still held back from speaking. "You have to ask the head of the family about this. I can't say."
Just by observing Teng Huang's reaction, Li Yue'er could roughly guess the relationship between Aunt Tan and the mistress.
She closed the box and put it aside, saying, "I'll ask her when she's willing to talk about it."
Yesterday was the wedding day, and the matriarch didn't invite Aunt Tan over, presumably because she didn't want to mention her.
Besides this gift, there is another one.
They were two jade bracelets made of mutton-fat jade, wrapped in brocade and placed in a brocade box. Although no name was left, a word was inscribed on them:
Brother.
Li Yue'er blinked, then accepted them both with a smile, one in each hand.
It's because the mistress wasn't home~
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Patriarch: ...[Clown]
Oh no, something came up at home today, so there won't be a second update. I'll make up for it later!
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