Chapter 236 : Betrothal (2)

Chen Ran was just like a piece of delicious cake. Many people were waiting to see to whom this a piece of delicious cake would fall into. So the Chen family’s marriage proposal to the Han family soon became known to those who paid close attention to him.

The Second Lady Zhou’s heart was a bit upset. She had gotten the news much earlier, but it was not yet set in stone at that time. Now that the matchmaker had come to the Han’s door, the marriage had become a foregone conclusion. Her most favoured candidate had ended up in the hands of that girl, Yuxi. However, she would not show this kind of emotion in front of Zhou Shiya.

Zhou Shiya was happy to hear that the Chen family had gone to the Han family to propose marriage. “Mother, I want to see Yuxi. I have to congratulate her for such a big happy event.”

Second Lady Zhou poked Zhou Shiya’s forehead and rebuked, “When are you going to grow smarter? If you had half as much conscience as Han Yuxi, I wouldn’t have to worry about you.”

Zhou Shiya muttered, “Mother, what are you talking about? Yuxi doesn’t have any conscience. She’s just got lucky. Not everyone has the same luck as her and happened to save the Second Master Chen.”

Second Lady Zhou sighed. That was true. Not everyone had that girl’s luck. “Go if you want to, but come back early.”

Zhou Shia happily went back to her yard to clean herself up.

Second Lady Zhou was worried about Zhou Shiya’s lack of string and uttered, “Yuxi’s marriage has been decided, so it’s time for Shiya to step up.” They couldn’t put it off until next year.

Old Woman Min offered her opinion. “My Lady, why don’t you get in touch with Young Master He that the Lord mentioned? Since he can be liked by the Lord, he must have things he excels in.”

Second Lady Zhou frowned. “The He family’s rank is too low.” He Yan’s father was only an upper fourth-rank official. Although he was a juren, his ranking in the preliminary round of Imperial Examinations was only in the middle, not too high. Thus, he would probably have a hard time in the following Metropolitan Examinations.

After stating this, Second Lady Zhou continued, “I will ask the Lord again tonight.” She was not worried about her two sons’ marriages. She was so anxious about her daughter’s marriage that her hair even turned white.

The wedding did not affect Yuxi much, and she continued to go about her day as usual. When Zhou Shiya arrived, she was reading in her study.

Zhou Shiya looked at the thick medical book and shook her head helplessly. “Fancy that, only you can read this kind of book.” She would want to fall asleep as soon as she read this type of book.

Yuxi smiled a little. “What brings you here?” Zhou Shiya usually notified her first before coming over. This sudden visit of hers was a bit of a surprise to Yuxi.

Zhou Shiya gave Yuxi a blank look and stated, “You have gotten such a good marriage. I naturally have to hurry over to congratulate you! Strange, why aren’t you looking happy at all?”

Yuxi smiled. “I’m happy. How could I not be?” How could one not be happy when one was finally free from the shadow of one’s last life!

Zhou Shiya said with a look of contempt, “Where do you look happy? Why can’t I feel it?” Other betrothed girls were either shy, timid or anxious, but this girl was good. She was neither shy nor anxious, as if she was not the one who just recently being betrothed.

Yuxi put the medical book in her hand back on the shelf and said, “You have come here to congratulate me, so where is my gift? If your gift can satisfy me, I will be even happier.”

Zhou Shiya was speechless. “I’m really impressed with you. When I’m going to get married, you will only send me a pair of embroidery. When you are only betrothed, you need a gift. Then, when you get married later, I will have to add up your dowry. You really earn a lot!” Yuxi would earn a massive profit while she was going to lose her money.

Yuxi smiled. “I won’t let you lose your money. When the time comes to add to your dowry, I’ll give you other good things besides embroidery.”

After chatting for a while, Zhou Shiya talked about Chiang Xin. “Yuxi, I saw Chiang Xin the other day. Since you haven’t met her, she has gained a lot of weight. She also asked me to give you a message, saying that she wanted to contact you before, but her mother wouldn’t let her.”

Yuxi smiled and said, “I don’t blame her either. Let’s not talk about that. Didn’t you say you would work hard to learn needlework? It’s a nice day today. Do you want me to teach you?”

Zhou Shiya didn’t want to be taught by Yuxi. “If you have this time, you might as well embroider a fan for me. San Biaojie’s fan is so beautiful. I’ve been craving it for a long time, but unfortunately, I don’t dare to ask her for it.” The fan was gorgeous, and if she had one, she could show it off.

Yuxi smiled, “What do you like? I’ll embroider it for you when spring starts.” With the wedding settled, Yuxi was no longer tense and was in the mood for embroidery work.

With a surprise, Zhou Shiya said, “Embroidered me some orchids, no, embroidered me a tigress. That’s also not good……” She let out a lot of things. However, what Zhou Shiya said, in the end, was a bit muddled. She just did not know what was good for her.

Yuxi laughed. “You don’t have to pick anymore. I will embroider what I think you will like!” If Zhou Shiya was allowed to choose, it was estimated that she would still not be able to choose one even after three days had passed.

Zhou Shiya said with a smile, “Yes. May as well let you decide on it.” Yuxi knew what she liked anyway. Furthermore, what she, herself, had chosen wouldn’t necessarily be what Yuxi was good at.

In the blink of an eye, it was already evening. Zhou Shiya depressingly said, “Yuxi, why does time pass so quickly? I still have so much to say to you.” When the two of them spent time together, time always flew fast.

When they had something to talk about, time naturally passed quickly. Yuxi smiled. “Wait until next time. You have to stay overnight with me at that time, and then, I’ll make sure you have enough time to pour out your heart.”

Zhou Shiya pouted. “Forget it. My mother won’t let me spend the night at someone else’s house.” Her mother had told her before that she wasn’t allowed to stay at the Han’s residence. It was even more impossible now.

Yuxi’s marriage arrangements went smoothly, and soon, it was the day the groom’s family presented gifts to finalise the betrothal. Usually, the bride’s family had to pay the dowry as much as the groom had given. Therefore, both families had to be informed before the decision was made. Qiu Shi said that she would let Marquis Taining’s family decide on their own. They could give the same amount of dowry as they would if they chose to send 64 carriers of dowries.

When the Lady of Taining heard this, the betrothal gifts was set at forty-eight carriers. This was because the wife of their family shizi had been given one hundred and twenty carriers of dowry. So naturally, Yuxi had to be paid less. The dowry of the younger daughter-in-law could not be more than that of the eldest daughter-in-law.

Qiu Shi didn’t keep the bride price either. She had all the things carried directly to Taoran House. This time, Lady of Taining was very generous in giving the betrothal gift. Yuxi was born in the year of the ox. Thus, the betrothal gifts consisted of twenty-four golden oxen, sixty-four pairs of silks and satin, and several pairs of yunjin inside. There were also six pairs of golden bracelets with dragon and phoenix patterns, six pairs of golden hairpins inlaid with eastern pearls, and assorted seafood, ginseng and herbs.

Yuxi smiled a little. The Chen family was indeed rich and generous. These things would cost 30,000 to 40,000 taels of silver, and the Han family would also give her 30,000 to 40,000 taels of silver as dowry. The more, the merrier!

Valuable things such as brocade and satin were put in the treasury. Seafood such as abalone was sent to the kitchen, and herbs were placed in the pharmacy. The cakes and fruits were brought out and distributed to other people.

All the people at the Taoran House were already half-tired from putting the betrothal gifts in order. Yuxi said to Qiu Shi, “Mother, there are too few people in the Taoran House. We need to pick some new people.”

Qiu Shi had also been thinking about picking some people for Yuxi, but she had been too busy lately to find the time. “I will send some people in a couple of days. You can properly pick them out then.”

With Yuxi’s marriage settled, a heavy burden has been lifted from Qiu Shi. “Once Yuxi marries out, I won’t have to worry anymore and will be happy just to live as an old dowager.”

Mama Li said, “It’s nice to hear something this good from my Lady. However, can you really let go of things in the residence?” The Old Lady was now entirely out of the picture, and it was Qiu Shi who was in charge right now.

How could you just let it go when you say you’ll let it go?

The day after the betrothal, Yurong came over. Since Wu Shi’s passing, Yurong rarely came out, except to pay her respects to the Old Lady. Yuxi only saw her when she returned for the New Year’s banquet meal.

Wu Shi’s departure seemed to have made Yurong grow up overnight. At that time, Yuxi remembered very clearly that Yurong did not even touch the dishes on the dining table and only ate all the vegetarian dishes.

Yurong was dressed in a light blue dress, with no jewellery on her body except for the silver hairpin on her head. She was as simple and plain as if she had turned into a new person.

Yuxi was a little surprised and ushered her with a smile, “Come in and sit down. Zisu, make a cup of black tea.” The tea that Yuxi drank changed with the seasons. It was winter where the temperature was low, and the cold was heavy, so it was appropriate to drink black tea.

Yurong wished sincerely, “Si Jie, congratulations.” Yuchen and Yuxi had both gotten such good marriages, and there was no telling what would happen to her in the future.

Yuxi didn’t expect that Yurong had come on this trip specifically to congratulate her. “Thank you.”

The two had always been at odds. Thus, apart from a few polite words, there wasn’t much for them to talk about. Yurong had only come to congratulate Yuxi and was not prepared to chat with her either. After saying goodbye, she was ready to go.

Yuxi said, “Don’t overthink things. Just take care of your health.” It might be because Yurong had been eating vegetarian food without meat, or her mood had been greatly affected. Yurong was now so thin that it was worrying when she looked at her.

Yurong nodded gently and said, “Thank you for your concern, Si Jie.”

After Yurong left, Zisu commented, “Fifth Miss is like a different person.” In the past, although the Fifth Miss was annoying, she was sunny and bright, but now she was deadly dull.

Hearing this comment, Yuxi looked in the direction of Biteng Courtyard and said, “After something like this, you always have to grow up.” Yurong had always been at Wu Shi’s side. Even if she had been like thick branches and big leaves, she would have noticed that there was something strange about Wu Shi’s death. Even if she hadn’t realised it, it was unlikely that Old Woman Chen, the woman who served her personally, didn’t know anything. Her mother had died prematurely, at least because her body could not take it anymore. Yurong was facing the cruelty of her parent killing her own mother, which was even crueller than what Yuxi was facing.

Yuxi actually overthought. Although Yurong was very sad that Wu Shi had lost her life because of a slight wind chill, she did not suspect anything. Old Woman Chen had noticed it, but how could she possibly tell Yurong about it and let her carry such a heavy burden for the rest of her life. So, Yurong didn’t really know anything right now.

Zisu thought she was talking about Wu Shi’s death. “It’s really sudden. The Third Lady’s health has always been excellent. Unexpectedly, she lost her life because of a small cold.” Here, Zisu gravely advised, “Miss, if you fall ill in the future, you can’t conceal your ailment and refuse to consult the physician. Be sure to see the physician to take medicine. Otherwise, a minor illness will become a serious illness.” Every time Yuxi was infected with the cold, so long as it was not particularly serious, she would usually drink a bowl of ginger soup and sweat herself from practising wuqinxi several times more. She was unwilling to take any medicine.

Yuxi glanced at Zisu and pointed out, “Every medicine has its side effect. It is better to take less medicine if you can do without it.” Yuxi did not tell Zisu the real cause of Wu Shi’s death because there was no need to. It was better for fewer people to know about such matters. In addition, Zisu initially felt that men were not very reliable because of her father, so if Yuxi told her about this, she would probably not marry anyone.