Chapter 325 : Betrothal Gifts

Ever since Yuxi became a guest in a banquet held by the Qin and Xu families, invitations cards from other families kept coming in. However, Yuxi politely declined all the invites on the grounds that she had to prepare for her wedding. She accepted the invitation from the Qin and Zhao families, not because they were very powerful in Yu City, but she wanted to find out the truth about Yun Qing’s situation. As for the other families, there was no need to rush to know them. When she married Yun Qing, she would definitely deal with them often.

Yuxi was doing embroidery inside the house when she heard Shiliu come in and inform her. “Miss, Zhao Er Nainai has come to visit Miss.”

Yuxi put down the needle and thread in her hands, stood up and said, “Please invite Zhao Er Nainai in and ask her to sit down.” The last time they met, Zhao Er Nainai had left an excellent impression on her. This time, Zhao Er Nainai had taken the initiative to come to her door, so it was apparent that she intended to make friends. Since this was the case, Yuxi was also happy to befriend her.

Zhao Er Nainai asked with a smile, “Han Meimei, I’m not disturbing you, am I?”

Yuxi asked Zisu to make a cup of scented tea and said with a smile, “What are you talking about, Er Nainai? I am a stranger in an unfamiliar land, and I don’t know many people here. I’m so glad that you’ve come to see me!” It just so happened that she had something she wanted to ask Zhao Er Nainai to save herself from being caught unprepared in the future.

Zhao Er Nainai saw that Yuxi was genuine and sincere, that she honestly smiled. “What are you doing calling me Er Nainai? It sounds so weird. If you don’t mind, we should call each other sisters.”

Yuxi willingly accepted other people’s views as she immediately called her jiejie. It was better to have one more friend than one more enemy. Furthermore, she really needed to break into the ladies’ circle through someone. There was a saying that when a family have a virtuous wife, the husband would have fewer woes. A virtuous wife’s responsibilities were not only managing the household and raising the children but also broadening her social circle to gain more information.

Tu Shi said with her face beaming with a smile, “I used to regret not having a meimei, but now I don’t have that regret anymore.” Tu Shi only had one older and one younger brother from her maternal family. She didn’t have any blood sisters, but she had many older and younger female cousins.

The two talked like this all morning, and to say they talked, it was basically Yuxi asking questions and Tu Shi answering them. Tu Shi was a native of Xinping City and had been married to Yu City for several years, so she was extremely familiar with the area. Therefore, she clearly understood Ganzhou District and Yu City’s local customs, precisely what Yuxi lacked. One should not be fooled by the fact that Han Jianye had been in Yu City for more than half a year. If Yuxi had questioned him on all these things, he would have been baffled. Hence, it wouldn’t do her any good if she wanted to rely on Han Jianye regarding this kind of matter.

The whole morning passed unconsciously. At noon, under Yuxi’s relentless urging, Tu Shi decided to stay for lunch.

Their lunch was not rich, but they were not shabby either as they had six dishes and one soup. The six dishes were cooked by Mama Bai. She only had an average cooking skill and could not be compared to Guo Daniang. But the pot of chicken soup with caterpillar fungus made Tu Shi sigh with admiration. “Meimei, I’m not afraid if you’re going to think that I’m a joke. I’ve eaten a lot of chicken soup, but I’ve never had such a delicious chicken soup! I wonder how you made it?” If she could learn it, she could make a pot of chicken soup for her mother-in-law later to show her filial piety.

Yuxi smiled and said, “The main thing is to choose the right ingredients for the chicken soup and pay attention to the fire and the timing. It’s not that difficult.”

Zijin, who was listening to the side, turned a little speechless. Not complicated? Not to mention the precautions one had to take when selecting the ingredients and when the soup was simmering, the temperature of the fire and the timing had to be on point. She didn’t know how much work had been put into just one pot of soup.

Tu Shi was shocked to hear this explanation from Yuxi. “Did Meimei boil this chicken soup?”

Yuxi nodded with a smile as she explained, “I’ve learned to cook several soups with the cook at home, but they are not that complicated.” Yuxi didn’t really cook the soup. Not because of her identity, but because she was swamped right now. Where would she have the time to cook any soup? This pot of soup was cooked according to Yuxi’s instructions, and the one who did all the cooking was Mama Bai.

Once Tu Shi returned home, she told Madam Zhao. “I often heard that the capital’s ladies are not only proficient in the four arts, but also feminine arts, cooking, managing household and everything else. I did not think it was true at first. However, after today, I know that I am a frog at the bottom of the well.” In the past, she heard that the young girls in the capital city knew everything, which she despised them for it. If they could do everything, were they still human? Well, today, she just met an exceptional one.

Madam Zhao smiled and asked, “Why does daughter-in-law suddenly speak about something like this?”

Tu Shi replied, “Mother, do you know that Miss Han not only can write and draw, her embroidery work is also exquisite. She can also handle the inside and outside of cooking, and her cooking is also first-class.” Afterwards, she continued to tell Madam Zhou what she saw and heard from Yuxi. “Really, after I have lived so many years, this is the first time I meet a girl who is outstanding in all aspects!”

Zhao Da Nainai questioned with some disbelief, “You’re not being fooled by her, are you?”

Tu Shi shook her head and said, “There’s no one here for her to fool. Moreover, why would she even want to deceive me?” Unless she was initially a fool, why else would Yuxi need to fool her? There was always a day when the lies would come apart.

Madam Zhao said, “Miss Han started to study with a teacher at the age of four, and she has studied with her for five years. She has also been carefully taught for several years by the nurturing momo from the palace, so it’s not surprising that she knows this.” Some of Madam Zhao’s natal family members also worked as officials in the capital, so she knew a lot.

Yuxi didn’t know that everyone was talking about her. She was currently bowing her head, seriously concentrating on doing her embroidery! Alas, other people only made clothes for her future husband once, while she had to do it thrice.

The sixth day of the sixth lunar month was when the Yun family would deliver their betrothal gifts.

Nowadays, one would pay much attention to betrothal gifts selection, even in border cities where the people were relatively open. Yun Qing did not know anything about this, so he specially asked the wife of General Fu Jian, the vice general of Yu City, to help him. When it came to the betrothal gifts, he requested Madam Fu to buy more practical things.

On the day the Yun family delivered the betrothal gifts, Han Jianye stayed behind to greet the guests. As for the women’s side, Yuxi took care of them herself. Although she had a good relationship with Zhao Er Nainai, it was better to avoid it because of the previous affairs between Yun Qing and the Zhao family.

In fact, it was only later that Yuxi realised that she had overthought it. Madam Zhao actually opposed the marriage between her daughter and Yun Qing. It was because his situation was too dangerous, and her daughter could be widowed at any time if she married him. Nonetheless, General Zhao insisted on tying the knot. For that reason, she had no choice but to do her best to enlighten her daughter. Then the marriage did not work out. She could not be happier! How could she not?

The betrothal gifts from the Yun family were quite generous. There were two pairs of golden calves, two pairs of golden dragon and phoenix bracelets, two pairs of golden dragon and phoenix hairpins, golden earrings, golden necklaces, golden locks and so on. Everyone’s eyes were going to get blurred from all of the gold glitters. In addition, there were teas, wines, a flat betrothal cake, three sacrificial animals, fishes, fruits, four-colour candies, silk, etc., that were also very well prepared. Among the betrothal gifts, the most conspicuous ones were the pair of croaking geese.

Yuxi asked someone to bring the geese to the house and smilingly exclaimed, “This is the first time I’ve seen live geese!” In the capital, when giving betrothal gifts, people would use other livestock instead of geese, and they had never sent over geese. This was because it was pretty tricky to catch them alive.

After reading the bride price list, Yuxi nodded and commented, “Not bad?” She thought Yun Qing would be like Han Jianye, who didn’t even know how to save money! Now, it seemed that he was pretty good at managing his finances.

In fact, Yuxi’s thought was actually wrong. These betrothal gifts were not bought from money saved by Yun Qing himself but had been prepared by the Old Master Yun beforehand. When Yun Qing left the capital, Old Master Yun took out all their family money. The money had been kept by Huo Changqing ever since that day, and it was he who took out the money to purchase these betrothal gifts.

Zisu looked at the betrothal prices and said with a face full of disgust, “Apart from being made of gold, their workmanship still look so rough. How can one wear such jewellery outside? If this was in the capital, people would have laughed non-stop at Miss!” If one didn’t know, one would think that her Miss had married a newly rich man!

When Yuxi heard this comment, the smile on her face immediately faded. She expressionlessly said, “You said these betrothal gifts would make other people laugh? What kind of joke will they laugh at? They will joke about Yun Qing being a newly rich man?” It wasn’t like she was unaware of Zisu’s occasional complaints. It was usual for Zisu to be uncomfortable at first as they had just moved from the flourishing land of the capital to the barren land of the border city. It always took time for one to accustom to the changes. She could give Zisu time to adapt, but she could not tolerate her disdain towards Yun Qing.

Zisu’s heart jumped as she lowered her head and said, “Miss, I was wrong.”

Yuxi coldly said, “I can forgive you this once. If there is another time, you should not blame me for being unforgiving.” Zisu was loyal to her, but if she started to act up, Yuxi could not let her stay.

Zisu’s face turned pale.

Zijin waited for Yuxi to return to her room before she couldn’t help but say with a sigh, “Yun Qing is Miss’ future husband. It’s natural for her to get angry when you say that.” It would be strange if Miss was not angry when Zisu even spoke those words in a disdainful tone.

Zisu wiped her tears and said, “I know that, but I just feel wrong for Miss.” The food and clothing here couldn’t compare with those prepared by the respectable mama in charge of the Duke of the State Residence.

Considering their many years of friendship, Zijin gave Zisu a piece of advice. Otherwise, she wouldn’t want to waste her time talking nonsense to her. “Zisu Jiejie, you should always remember your position. You are Miss’ maid, not her older sister. It’s your job to serve Miss well. The rest is not something you and I should be worried about.” In fact, she also felt that it was a pity that Miss had to marry Yun Qing, but what could she do? They had been bestowed the marriage through the Imperial Decree and could not escape from it. As her Miss’ maids, they could only try to adapt.

When Zisu heard these words from Zijin, she froze in place.

Zijin looked at Zisu and added, “Zisu Jiejie, you should think about it!” If Zisu still couldn’t understand it, Miss would definitely not keep her around anymore. In fact, this was the outcome Zijin wouldn’t like to see.

That afternoon, Han Jianye handed Yuxi a piece of a jade pendant, and he even said, “This is what Yun Qing asked me to give you.”

Yuxi took a look at it, and the style of the jade pendant told her that it came from a pair. Yup, this jade pendant should be considered a betrothal token.

Since that person had sent a token of betrothal, how could she express her feelings? Yuxi took out one of the clothes she made for Yun Qing and told Han Jianye, “Er Ge can send this to him tomorrow!” The garment was made of fine cloth, and it had the advantage that it could absorb sweat and be breathable.

Han Jianye deliberately teased, “Yuxi, only for Yun Qing? What about Er Ge?” He was also happy to see that Yuxi accepted the marriage.

Yuxi rolled her eyes at Han Jianye. “If Er Ge doesn’t want to send it, then I’ll have Han Ji to do it.”

Han Jianye chirped, “Why don’t you just send me off now? I’m going to send it right away, and I’ll make sure that Yun Qing is so happy that he can’t find where the north is.”

To Han Jianye’s disappointment, Yun Qing didn’t show much joy or say anything when he looked at the clothes. This was the first time that someone had made clothes for him with her own hands in all these years! He was unable to express this sensation, this feeling in words.

Upon seeing Yun Qing’s reaction, Han Jianye patted Yun Qing’s shoulder and said, “Once you marry my , you can live a happy and prosperous life in the future!”

When Huo Changqing knew about the clothes that Yuxi made for Yun Qing, he couldn’t help but say, “This girl, she’s a thoughtful one. In the future, you have to treat her well.” No matter what, to have this kind of heart proved that she was ready to live with Yun Qing wholeheartedly.

Yun Qing nodded and said, “I will.” In fact, during this period, when Yun Qing had free time, he would also go over to visit her. Still, unfortunately, Yuxi did not want to see him for the reason that it wasn’t suitable for man and woman to meet before the wedding day.