After finishing her tea, Yuxi walked out of her house again and asked Zisu, “Where is my wedding dress?” Seeing Jiang Qi today, Yuxi suddenly remembered that she had not yet disposed of many things. Those things were no longer in use, and not disposing of them would be taking up space in her place.

Zisu’s heart thumped and said, “Miss, the wedding dress is in the cupboard.”

Yuxi said, “It’s a pity that it took me so much work, and I couldn’t wear it in the end.” I would have let the maid help me make it if I had known. After all that work and effort, it still didn’t work in the end. Fortunately, only the wedding dress and the head covering were made by her alone. The quilt and other things were made by the maids together.

Zisu said cautiously, “Miss, you will be able to wear it later on.” Although people knew that Yuxi had withdrawn from the marriage, it was not as if she would not marry in the future.

Yuxi smiled a little as she said, “I will just wear a wedding dress without any embroidery since I won’t even wear it again.” It was not a question of inauspiciousness but rather of being uncomfortable. Looking at an embroidered wedding dress would only remind her of what had just happened to her!

Zisu asked, “What do Miss want to do with it? Does Miss want to burn it?” Some withdrew from their marriage usually burned all their wedding clothes and other things. But Zisu thought it would be too bad if they had to burn them all.

After thinking for a while, Yuxi said, “Not to mention my wedding dress, the clothes, shoes and hats made for the Chen family and the purses, all of them made of the finest materials. So it would be a waste to burn them. We will sell them all. Afterwards, we will send the money from the sale to the children’s charity home, and it will be good to add a few dishes for the children there.” It wasn’t much of a good deed, but it was better than destroying things.

Zisu was a bit hesitant. “Miss, it’s okay to sell the other things, but should we sell the wedding clothes too?” She didn’t think it was right to sell the wedding dress.

Yuxi smiled and said, “I won’t sell the wedding dress. I will take it apart and collect the gold and silver threads. The dress material will be good for making purses and other things.” It was fine to sell the clothes, shoes and hats, but if she sold the wedding dress, Mother would be unhappy.

When Momo Quan realised that Yuxi was going to sell the clothes, shoes and hats and then donate the money, she smilingly praised her, “That’s a good idea, Miss. I thought that when Miss finally comes around, Miss will burn or throw these things away!” She had not thought that Yuxi would dispose of them in this way.

Yuxi laughed. “It would be too bad to burn them.” She had suffered a lot while making them. Thus, she cherished everything.

Momo Quan nodded secretly and stated, “Miss, my nephew and his wife said they want to stay at Red Jujube Hamlet and have no intention to return to the capital. I wonder if that will be okay?” Momo Quan’s nephew, Quan Dashan, used to be a farmer and had spent his whole life digging in the soil, so he felt very uncomfortable living in the big city. How could he even afford to live in the capital? Not to mention rice and vegetables, even water costs money. Before, he had no choice but to toughen his scalp. Now that he could stay at Red Jujube Hamlet, he was reluctant to go back to the capital.

Yuxi smiled as she answered, “What’s wrong with that? If there’s anything they’re not used to, just mention it.”

Momo Quan had a reason for mentioning this to Yuxi. “They want to live in Red Jujube Hamlet, so I want them to buy a piece of land for them to build a house on so that they can have a place to stay. If they rent twenty-three acres of land from Miss, they will be able to make a living.” If they rented out their house in the capital, the rent would be their allowance, and they could make ends meet.

Hearing this, Yuxi asked, “What about Momo? Is Momo going to the countryside too?” Momo Quan was now at the Taoran House, with a young maid running errands for her.

Momo Quan smiled a little and said, “As long as Miss doesn’t mind, I would like to stay and serve Miss.” She felt quite at home in the Taoran House. With Zisu to deal with the trivial matters, she would help Yuxi train the lower-level maids, and there was nothing else that she needed to do.

Yuxi smiled and said, “As long as Momo is willing to stay, that is all I could wish for.” With the arrival of Momo Quan, not only was the management of Taoran House stricter than before, but the few low-level maids had become much more efficient. All of which was due to Momo Quan.

“Xie-er, Xie-er……” The voice arrived first before the actual person.

When Yuxi heard the urgent call, she smiled a little. “Er Ge is finally back.” At first, Han Jianye was supposed to return from his errand at the beginning of the fifth lunar month, but something had delayed his return until now, which was twenty days late than expected. She didn’t know what had happened exactly, and she didn’t plan to ask.

As she watched the bearded Han Jianye stride in, Yuxi greeted him, “Er Ge, you’re back.”

Han Jianye looked at Yuxi seriously, from the top of her head to the soles of her feet. When he confirmed that Yuxi was still in good condition, his hanging heart finally dropped. “It’s good that you’re okay. This is good.” He was worried when he heard that Yuxi had withdrawn from her marriage with the Chen family.

Yuxi smiled and said, “Er Ge came to the Taoran House immediately after Er Ge returned? I don’t think Er Ge has seen Mother and Er Sao yet, right?” This gesture from Han Jianye warmed Yuxi’s heart. Because of her mother and Er Ge’s support, she was able to live so well even after breaking her engagement.

When Han Jianye heard Yuxi’s words, he rubbed his head in embarrassment and said, “I was so anxious when I heard that you had broken your engagement with the Chen family that I hadn’t had time to go and see Mother.”

Yuxi smiled. “Er Ge, I’m fine. You don’t have to worry.”

Anyone who looked at Yuxi’s red lips, white teeth and rosy cheeks would know that she was fine! Han Jianye commented with a smile, “It’s better that you have back out of your marriage with that pretty boy. Men should rely on their skills. What’s the point of looking so good? Don’t worry. Er Ge will find you a better one.”

Yuxi laughed heartily. “Okay, I’ll wait for Er Ge to find me a better one. Now, let me go with Er Ge to see Mother first! Mother will be thrilled to see Er Ge.”

Qiu Shi was naturally overjoyed to see her son back. She drew Han Jianye closer to her and asked many questions for a long time. The questions made Yuxi, who was standing next to her, laugh and say, “Mother, let Er Ge go back and wash up first! Look at him. He’s covered in dust, and he has a long beard on his face.”

On this point, Qiu Shi was not attentive enough. “Son, hurry up and wash up. I’ll ask the kitchen to make you something delicious and then come over to eat when you’re done.”

Han Jianye didn’t mind and answered readily, “Mother, remember to tell the cook to make red braised pork!” Han Jianye was a meat lover, and he especially loved red braised pork.

RED BRAISED PORK

Qiu Shi sent Han Jianye out of the house with a smile on her face, then turned to Yuxi and asked, “Why did you come out?”

Yuxi smiled and said, “I was bored staying inside the house all day. It’s just as well that Er Ge is back, so I’ll accompany Mother to dinner tonight.” Seeing that Qiu Shi was hesitant, she knew what her mother was worried about and reasoned with a smile, “Mother, withdrawing from marriage due to an old illness is just an excuse. Those who believe it will believe it even if they see me intact, but those who don’t believe it won’t believe it even if I lie in bed every day. Besides, I am only walking around the residence, and I am not even going out. As long as the people in the State Residence don’t go out and talk nonsense about it, it will be fine.” Even if they did, there was no need to worry, as she had already retired from her marriage, so who would be concerned about whether she was genuinely suffering from an old illness or not.

After Han Jianye washed himself up, he sat next to Lu Xiu and asked, “What’s going on with Yuxi’s broken engagement. Tell me more about it.” He knew that his family had withdrawn from the marriage, but he didn’t know the reason for it. Besides, Yuxi was about to get married. If it weren’t for something important, she wouldn’t have done it.

Lu Xiu told the story of how Yuxi withdrew from her marriage. “At that time, there was no other way. If Si Mei didn’t break her engagement, she might not even be able to save her life. So Mother told Dage (eldest brother) to go to the Chen family to withdraw from the marriage. Who would have expected that……” If she had to say, Si Mei was indeed unlucky. This side just withdrew from the marriage, and the other side, Qinxin Gongzhu, was unwilling to recruit Chen Ran as her fuma. As a result, Yu Xixian was the one who took advantage of it. Si Mei’s luck was honestly……

Han Jianye was furious when he said, “It’s good that we retired from the marriage much earlier. I’ve said before, what’s the point of a man looking so good? It’s proof that it’s nothing more than attracting bees and butterflies. Now look, it truly came true.”

Lu Xiu couldn’t help but roast him in mind. She didn’t know who had been calling Chen Ran his meifu, treating him as if he was already a family member. After Chen Ran passed the examination and earned himself the title tanhua, he praised Chen Ran to the sky. But now, he was even saying that good-looking people like Chen Ran was not good. When Lu Xiu suddenly saw Han Jianye standing up, she hurriedly asked, “Are you going out? At least eat something before you go out!”

Han Jianye replied, “I’m going to eat at Mother’s place.”

When Lu Xiu stood up to go with him to the Master Courtyard, Han Jianye helped her back to her chair and said, “Don’t go. It’s inconvenient for you to move with your big belly. Just stay inside the house! I’ll be back soon.” Lu Xiu was also over seven months old now, and her belly was quite big. Plus, it would take a long walk from Xiuchun Courtyard to the Master Courtyard!

After sending Han Jianye away, Lu Xiu felt a little uncomfortable in her heart. The couple had been separated for almost two months, so it was okay for him to come back to see Si Mei and her mother-in-law first. She was not that stingy. But when he came back to his own courtyard, he didn’t even say anything intimate to her, which was so aggravating.

Old Woman Jian smiled as she comforted her, “Er Nainai, since you have been married to the Second Master for so many years, you should have been clear about his temperament, so why would you be bothered with this? If you have something to say, just take your time and talk to the Second Master tonight.” Han Jianye had done well in all aspects. His only flaw was that he was not good at coaxing people. But as far as Old Woman Jian was concerned, if a man was too good at persuading people, he was either useless or too cunning.

Lu Xiu laughed a little and shook her head helplessly. “He falls asleep as soon as he gets back at night. Where will he have time to talk to me? Forget it, as long as he’s good to me.” Ahem, that was the bad thing about marrying such a rough husband.

Old Woman Jian nodded her head and said, “Yes, that’s the way you should think about it. No one is perfect, as long as the Second Master thinks of you and the children and doesn’t get some messy people in, this is already enough.” Master was still doing an excellent job in this regard. As for being tender and affectionate, no need to even think about it. As far as Han Jianye was concerned, if one expected him to be tender and loving, that would only happen in another life!

After dinner, Han Jianye accompanied Qiu Shi talking for a while in the Master Courtyard. When he heard that Han Jianye had returned, he said, “Mother, I’m going to talk to Dage about something.”

Qiu Shi didn’t stop him. She was already satisfied that her son listened to her nagging and didn’t even mind about it, so she responded with a smile, “Go on then!”

Looking at Qiu Shi, who was in a daze, Mama Li asked, “My Lady, what’s wrong with you?”

Qiu Shi said, “There’s nothing for me to worry about Jianming and Jianye anymore. The only thing that worries me now is Yuxi. I don’t know what kind of family I should find for her.” Although she said she would support Yuxi for the rest of her life if she could not marry, that was just a mere talk. She was still unprepared to turn Yuxi into a spinster.

Mama Li tried to console her, “My Lady, don’t worry, take your time, and you will find the right one.”

Qiu Shi coughed and said, “I hope so!” This girl’s nature was not suitable for an ordinary family. But if she wanted to find one from a high-status family, with Yuxi’s reputation like that, there was no hope. She sighed. Children were all the debts she needed to payback!