Chapter 10 Flower Candle

After changing to a more damp and cold kerchief, Zhao Chunxi was awake for a moment. She tried her best to open her eyes and saw Guan Suyi’s flawless face, she was taken aback for a while.

Guan Suyi held her hand and asked softly, “Xie’er, are you better? Mother is here to see you.” When the words fell, her throat tightened slightly, as she was disgusted by the word “mother”.

No matter how scheming Zhao Chunxi was, she was only a little girl of twelve or thirteen years old. Moreover, she was ill, her brain was already burnt, so she subconsciously showed disgust, then she shook her head while tried to dodge, taking advantage of the situation to break away her hand from the other party’s tight hold.

Guan Suyi let go of her and chuckled, “It seems Xi’er is not ready to accept me, it doesn’t matter, we will have a long time in the future.” Then she twisted the kerchief and planned to change it again

The maid and the old mama who stood by the side were already very defensive against her. Seeing that the eldest miss showed obvious resistance, they hurriedly stepped forward and squeezed her away, muffledly asked the new madam to go back first, so as not to get sick. Zhao Luli was suspicious and felt that his daughter’s behavior was not as close to Miss Guan as she said. On the contrary, she was a little disgusted. If that the case, then why did she cry and shout to let him marry her?

However, in his heart, his daughter was right no matter what she did or said. Even if he had doubts in his heart, he quickly put it behind him and waved his hand to his newlywed wife apologetically, “Ma… you go back first, Xi’er is very ill. I will stay here to look after her tonight.” The phrase “Madam” could not be said after all.

That’s all? Not even a word of sorry? This is your wedding night. Guan Suyi smiled sarcastically in her heart, but on the surface she generously said that it was all right. She thanked Zhao Chunxi for her self-sacrifice, otherwise the big carved jujube tree bed she brought from home would have been soiled by Zhao Luli’s filth.

The two master and servant walked back slowly carrying the lanterns. As soon as they came out of the courtyard, they saw a black figure rushing over from the other side of the path and hitting Minglan who was at the front, causing her to fall. They didn’t say sorry, didn’t even stop to check the situation, flying far away like the wind. The servant following him panted and shouted, “Young Master, slow down, be careful of falling! The eldest miss just has a high fever, will be fine after drinking medicine, and nothing will happen.”

The voice and figure quickly faded into the night, making Minglan stared dumbfounded, “Miss, that’s the marquis mansion’s Shizi ? How come all of the Zhao family have this energetic temper, one runs faster than the other. Also, how did the master was swaying and didn’t wake up before, but once there was shouting outside he immediately ran. He was really pretending to be drunk? Why?”

Guan Suyi gathered her big cloak and smiled lightly. “It said that dragon gives birth to dragon, phoenix gives birth to phoenix, the rat gives birth to rat that punch holes. Lord Zhao’s hoof is so fast, and his son of course is not bad. As for why he was pretending to be drunk, maybe he was wearing green hat for too long and reluctant to take it off. In short, he can do whatever he likes, it’s not our business.”

Minglan first nodding stupidly, then she remembered, “That’s not right! What kind of rat, hole, and hoof. Miss, why do you always compare Lord Zhou to animal? And what is it about that green hat thing?”

Guan Suyi poked the small servant’s head and walked back first, “Comparing him to animal is still a compliment. Anyway just remember, these people in Marquis Mansion are not fuel efficient lamps. Don’t get too close to them.”

“Sure enough, such high gate mansion is not easy to climb. Miss, don’t worry, this servant will remember.” Minglan replied dully, covering her forehead. At this moment, she could tell that the master didn’t care about miss at all, the eldest miss and Shizi were also hostile to her, afraid that the future might be very difficult.

The master-servant duo returned to the main house. From a distance they saw  Mingfang standing under the porch with sobering soup, facing the dim candle she asked, “Where is master?”

“The marquis is guarding the eldest miss tonight , will not coming back.” Minglan blew out the lantern, her tone slightly sharp.

However, Mingfang who was wholeheartedly thinking about Zhao Luli, didn’t notice it at all, suddenly she raised her voice and asked, “How can he’s not coming back? This is his bridal chamber night!” She looked even more indignant than the new madam, and when she noticed Minglan’s suspicious eyes, she hurriedly say, “How could master treat miss like this! If other people know about this matter, wouldn’t they making joke of miss?”

Guan Suyi waved her hand, “It’s nothing, I’m not afraid of people making jokes.” Since she was sent to Cangzhou in her previous life, she had slowly developed a body of copper skin and iron bones, and forging a heart of stone, no matter how slanderous people in this life, there would be no waves.

Mingfang was afraid of being noticed by her mistress, so she had to go to pour out the sobering soup and didn’t speak all night.

—–

The next day, Zhao Luli came back in a hurry and brought his freshen-up new madam to offer tea to his mother. That year, the Four Books of Women had not yet been published, and the restraint and contempt towards women at that time had not reached the extreme, so there was no custom of examining wedding night’s kerchief. Therefore, Guan Suyi did not have to bear other people’s scrutiny, contempt, or pity.

But the news that the two of them failed to consummate their wedding night still reached the old madam Sun’s ears. At the moment, Sun shi was sitting in the main hall, her face with countless lines carved out by the wind and frost looked old and cold. Seeing the gorgeous and dignified face of her new daughter-in-law, she was stunned for a moment, then calmed down, took the tea and drank it, and gave a very heavy meeting gift.

“Xie’er’ illness has her own servant to take care of. You are just newly married, you should be close and intimate, so you can spread the branches and leaves for my Zhao family.” Putting down the teacup, she looked at her son, and her slightly soft face immediately tightened, “Xie’er over there, I will send someone to take care of it, there is no need for you to be with her all day and night. As a man, you should work for the country. Take a look at yourself now, all day long pampering your children and hurts for the spring and sad for the autumnIt means the emotion of sadness caused by the change of seasons and scenery, also describe sentimentality! Okay, go down and accompany Suyi around the house to familiarize herself with the environment.”

Zhao Luli was only superficially respectful to his mother. After promising to do it, he led his new madam to leave. When he reached the fork of the path, he parted ways and went to Penglai Garden as usual, but this time he finally made progress, and left a sentence “I’m sorry”. Guan Suyi politely stated that she wanted to follow along, but was dismissed by him in a few words. It seemed that he was still on the defensive stage towards this second wife, and would never let her approach the pair of children without going through a long inspection.

That was exactly what Guan Suyi wanted, but with an awkward expression on her face, she stood still for a long time before slowly leaving. The master and servant returned to the main house and sat down. Guan Suyi casually found an excuse to dismiss Mingfang, and let Minglan pour a cup of hot tea to dispel the cold.

Minglan hesitated, “Miss, I don’t know if this servant thinks too much. I always feel that the old madam’s attitude towards the eldest miss and lord marquis is wrong, as if a bit disgusted. No, it must be this servant who thinks too much. How can there be a mother who hates her biological son and granddaughter.”

“It’s not that you think too much.” Guan Suyi unfolded a book and said casually, “On the surface this Marquis Zhenbei Mansion looks glamorous, but it’s shelter evil and accept wrongdoing, bad luck everywhere. They are mother is not mother, father is not father, and son is not son. Not only don’t have a sense of propriety, righteousness, integrity, and honor, but also unaware of filial piety and loyalty, so how can there be family affection. Even if you see anything, don’t talk about it, it just not our business.”

It’s the phrase “not our business” again, it seems that miss doesn’t think of herself as Zhao’s family at all. Minglan nodded repeatedly, blindly following the learned mistress.

The little girl put it aside, but Guan Suyi inevitably fell into memory. At that time, she also noticed that the old madam’s attitude was different. She was disheartened at her son; she was critical of her granddaughter in every possible way; she was extremely doting and pampering with her grandson. Obviously they were all one family, and was not divided by diborn of official wife or shuborn from concubine, why the treatment was so different? Could there be any unhumane secrets? This question was solved by Zhao Wangshu when she was about to die. It turned out that Ye Jieyu was Zhao Luli’s “deceased wife”. No wonder the old madam hated both Zhao Chunxi and Ye Fan, who told them to look like Ye Jieyu. As for Zhao Wangshu, after all, he was Zhao Luli’s son, and he was also the hope of rejuvenating the lintel, so naturally he should be well protected.

Now that she thought about it, the old madam previously treated her well, but when she saw that she couldn’t hold Zhao Luli’s heart, it slowly faded. She had never harmed her, nor helped her, they had nothing with each other that’s all. After she stopped thinking, Guan Suyi spread out a rice paper and started painting the white snow and little red plum outside the window.

In the main courtyard, Old Madam Sun had changed out the gorgeous dress, and lying on the couch in a well-used and old-fashioned clothes. She caught a glimpse of the housekeeper who was opening the hanging screen to go inside and asked in a deep voice, “The marquis did not accompany Guan shi visiting the garden?”

“No, he went to Penglai Garden on his own. Looking at madam’s complexion, she seemed to feel wronged.” The housekeeper mama whispered back.

“I accompanied the old man to travel north and south, and I have seen so many handsome figures, but none of them can beat Guan shi. Wasn’t that bitch claimed to be number one beauty in the Central Plains? Compared with the Guan shi, it’s really one in the sky and one on the ground. Lord marquis doesn’t like it now, but it doesn’t mean that he won’t like it in the future. Feelings will always come out. Go and give her the key to the warehouse, the account book, and the matching cards. In the future, she will be the well-deserved mistress of the Marquis Mansion. I must lift her up.” As if thinking of something, Sun shi snorted, “Give all the dowry left by that bitch to Guan shi. If it weren’t for holding these dowries, where can Zhao Chunxi come here to pay respect every day, she would just hide at the end of the earth like her father did. Worthy of being that bitch’s evil spawn, with the same vicious mind and nasty methods, in order to prevent that unfilial son from consummating his marriage, she directly made herself sick. You tell me what’s the point of her tossing like this?”

The housekeeper mama didn’t dare to answer the question, she only slandered in her heart: Of course she think like this. The new madam has a distinguished family background and both talents and appearance. If she is favored by the marquis and gives birth to a son, where can she and the eldest young master have a foothold? As long as she dominates the marquis for a long time, it will be easy to attack the new madam again.

Sun shi also knew this very well, and waved her hand tiredly, “Brings the things over, I don’t care about this family, let them toss on their own. I want to see if they can toss a blooming flower out. I hope that Guan shi, like they all said, is a shrewd and capable person, able to hold lord marquis and suppress that evil spawn.”

Guan Suyi was not surprised when she received the things from the old madam. In her previous life, she also took over the stewardship on the second day of her wedding. At that time she felt both moved and panicked, and immediately dispelled the resentment of guarding an empty boudoir alone. As for Zhao Chunxi’s dowry, she had been doing her best to take care of it, but she didn’t expect that this action would become a weapon for Ye Fan and Zhao Chunxi to accuse her for coveting her husband family’s property, to the point that she was almost divorced.

Holding the dowry list, Guan Suyi tugged the corner of her mouth lightly, revealing a sneer. Since you think I am too dedicated, I will save a little effort in this life and leave you with nothing.

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