After Madam Zou had finished agreeing to her mother-in-law’s requests, she walked out of Countess Jing’an’s courtyard with a tense, fearsome expression. The servants following behind were so afraid that they didn’t even dare to breathe.
Madam Zou suddenly paused in her steps and turned around to ask the senior servant behind her, “How is it? Is there any news from Songtao Court?”
This senior servant was well aware that her mistress wasn’t in the best of moods today, and it would be far too easy to make it even worse. So when her mistress asked her a question she could answer without fear, the senior servant breathed a sigh of relief and said, “Eldest Young Madam, please don’t worry. This old servant heard that Third Young Madam’s schedule ran as usual.”
After getting a definite answer, the knot in Madam Zou’s heart finally loosened.
How fortunate, how lucky that Chu Lian hadn’t gotten pregnant. If Chu Lian were to get pregnant and give birth to the eldest grandson of the house, how would she be able to keep her position as the wife of Heir Jing’an?
“That’s right, did Heir Jing’an say when he would be coming back today?”
One of the maidservants behind her answered, “Heir Jing’an said he would be going to Honglu Temple this morning. It seems like he’s meeting with some outsiders there. When he left, he mentioned that there’d be no need to wait for him for the midday meal.”
“Tell the kitchen to prepare his share anyway. How can the food of those restaurants outside possibly compare to the food of our estate?”
“Yes, Eldest Young Madam. This servant will send the orders now.”
Her senior servant walked forward to support Madam Zou’s arm. With some emotion in her voice, she said, “Eldest Young Madam is always so considerate. I believe Heir Jing’an will be able to feel Eldest Young Madam’s painstaking care when he comes back.”
Madam Zou’s expression was still a little dark upon hearing these words from her trusted servant.
Dalang did treat her very well. If her body wasn’t up for it, Dalang would only rest in his study, and he would never summon one of the maidservants to quell his urges. She probably wouldn’t be able to find more than a handful of men who could control themselves like this in the entire capital.
One of House Jing’an’s rules prohibited the men from taking concubines unless they were still without an heir upon turning thirty. For Dalang, that age was fast approaching, and she still had yet to give him any sons. Were the happy days of their peaceful, loving marriage about to end, just like that?
The more she thought about it, the more her worry showed in her eyes. He Changqi was meant to inherit the title of Count Jing’an. How could he not have any heirs of his own?!
Even if He Changqi didn’t mind it, the Count and Countess, as well as Matriarch He, couldn’t possibly not mind.
The grape wine that Chu Lian had been fermenting for the past few days was now ready to drink. Since Senior Servant Gui had taken the initiative to send off one of her gourds to He Changdi, Chu Lian was a little angry. She held onto her remaining wine gourd and kept eating long past her usual amount during the midday meal.
As a result, she ate too much and her stomach was a little bloated now. It wouldn’t be good for her body if she immediately went to nap, so she brought Wenqing and Jingyan along with her for a walk in the gardens to digest her meal.
Although it was close to mid-autumn, it was still a little hot outside. Chu Lian favoured walking along the more cool corridors, and somehow made it all the way to the entrance that connected the inner and outer courts.
There was a set of stone tables and chairs in the bamboo forest near the entrance, so Chu Lian stopped and sat for a short rest. She intended to head back for a nap afterwards.
Right as Chu Lian sat down, she heard the sounds of an ongoing conversation near the outer court exit. Who knew her original plan would be derailed just like that?
“Heir Jing’an, what should we do with this whole carriage of chillis? Your heart is too soft; you bought up his entire stock just because that outsider claimed he didn’t have enough money to go back!”
“Hand it over to the estate’s steward. If they’re really useless, just throw them away. That kid was so pitiful, I just wanted to give him some money to help him get home.”
It was the slightly coarse voice of Dalang that spoke.
Chu Lian couldn’t quite make out what they were saying, but she could recognise her eldest brother-in-law’s voice, so she was a little curious. Thus, she sent Wenqing off to ask about what was going on.
In a short moment, He Changqi walked over with his manservant, Kangshou.
Chu Lian quickly stood up to greet him.
“Third Sister-in-Law, how did you come to be here in the middle of the day?”
Chu Lian smiled. “Replying to Eldest Brother-in-Law, I ate too much in the afternoon, so I’m taking a walk in the gardens to digest my meal. I walked all the way here without realising and happened to notice Eldest Brother-in-Law’s voice outside, so I sent my maidservant over to check. Eldest Brother-in-Law, where did you go? Have you taken your midday meal?”
Chu Lian looked sweet and pretty. Adding on to the fact that she had been quiet and obedient after marrying into the estate, as well as having earned a good reputation for herself at the Dingyuan Estate, He Changqi had a very positive impression of this newlywed sister-in-law of his.
He was so used to being the eldest sibling that he would dote on the younger members of the family even more. Although he looked a little fierce on the outside, he had a kind heart. Chu Lian was his little brother’s wife; with He Changqi’s character, of course he treated her like his own younger sister.
“I’ve already had my lunch. I went over to Honglu Temple this morning to meet some outsider friends. Third Sister-in-Law, did you know? Those outsiders really do have red hair and green eyes!”
He Changqi spoke in such an interesting manner that Chu Lian’s eyes brightened with interest.
“Eldest Brother-in-Law, did you eat the food the outsiders made?”
“Of course!”
“Is their food very different from what we eat in our Great Wu Dynasty?”
After hearing Chu Lian’s questions, a constipated expression came over He Changqi’s face. Combined with the tan of his skin and his large build,, he looked exactly like a pouting bear. It was very funny, but Chu Lian and her maidservants managed to hold back their laughter, thanks to their status.
“That meal… Ay… Let’s not talk about it…”
It tasted so bad that he wanted to tear up. After eating that strange meal, He Changqi had started to pity those outsiders. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have spent tens of taels to buy that carriage of useless ‘chillis’.
He recalled what those outsiders had said, that those ‘chillis’ were a type of food. However, after he and Kangshou had a bite, their mouths were on fire! They had to gulp down two whole cups of tea to even come close to calming the burning of their tongues.
Casting a look over the curious and sparkly-eyed sister-in-law of his, He Changqi had a sudden idea.
“That’s right, I bought something from those outsiders today — they told me it was a type of food. Does Third Sister-in-Law want to take a look?”
Chu Lian happened to be super curious about it, so how could she reject the offer?
Thus, she followed He Changqi through the entrance to the outer court.
He Changqi waved his hand at the two manservants moving some goods out of the carriage. He Changqi lead her over, and when they got close enough, he personally took up one of the cloth sacks and opened it up for her.
Chu Lian peeked in, only to see that the bag was full of dried chillis. Their skins were red and shiny, and they had teeny tips. Cute!
Chu Lian tried to stay calm, but she couldn’t help but get excited at the sight. “Eldest Brother-in-Law, what are these?”
He Changqi seemed to feel that these goods weren’t useful at all. He simply twisted the sack closed before tossing it back onto the carriage. “The outsiders who sold this to me told me they’re called chillis.”
Chu Lian had to gulp down the saliva that had unconsciously begun to pool in her mouth . “Umm, I wonder… if Eldest Brother-in-Law could give me some of these chillis? I want to use them as ingredients to cook with.”
To cook with?
When Chu Lian mentioned food, He Changqi remembered the snacks that she had made over the past few days. These chillis were useless to him anyway, so why not give them to Chu Lian?
“Third Sister-in-Law, if you want them, you can have them all. These things are useless to me.”
Chu Lian hadn’t expected her eldest brother-in-law to give her the whole lot just like that, so she was a little shocked. She wanted to reject the offer, but He Changqi’s manservant spoke up, “Third Young Madam, these chillis aren’t worth much; they’re just some goods that a young outsider brought into the capital. He wanted to sell it for a good price, but he didn’t expect that no one even wanted to buy them. He was in a rush to go home, so he came to Heir Jing’an looking for help. Heir Jing’an took pity on him and gave him some taels so he could go home. This carriage of chillis just happened to be something extra. If you don’t want these, the steward is most likely going to toss everything away!”
Chu Lian didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. No one had managed to recognise what a good ingredient these were; no wonder the outsider had to sell it for so little.
Since they had gotten these chillis so cheaply, Chu Lian didn’t continue to decline the offer. To be honest, this carriage of chillis would only be able to reach their full potential in her hands.
“Then many thanks to Eldest Brother-in-Law. If I cook anything new with these chillis, I’ll send a share over to Eldest Brother-in-Law!”
“It’s a deal then. Kangshou, call up two female servants to move all these chillis to Songtao Court’s kitchen.”
After giving away the burdensome chillis, He Changqi felt refreshed. He then returned to his own courtyard with his manservant.
Of course, Madam Zou had already received the news of what had happened.
Madam Zou sat in the parlour with an unhappy expression, clearly angry.
The moment He Changqi entered the parlour, he noticed that his wife didn’t seem to be in a good mood. He walked over and took a seat by Madam Zou. “Yuanjing, what happened? Did any of those silly servants make you angry today?”
Madam Zou felt even more frustrated upon hearing him say that, but she couldn’t bear to take out her temper on her dear husband. She could only smoothe out her expression and quietly ask, “Dalang, you brought a carriage full of something back from Honglu Temple today?”
Although He Changqi looked like a rough man, contrary to his appearance, he was very sensitive to the hidden meanings behind words. Thus, he immediately realised that his wife’s thoughts had gone down the wrong path.
“Oh you! What are you thinking? Those were just some goods that some outsider kid didn’t manage to sell off. He brought them all the way here to our capital, but couldn’t manage to sell off his stock for an entire half a year. I took pity on him and spent twenty taels to buy those, just to give him some money to help him get home.”
When Madam Zou heard this, she relaxed. “What was it?”
“Just a carriage full of some ‘chillis’.”
Women were still a little more narrow-minded. Even Madam Zou, who had grown up in House Dingyuan, wasn’t an exception to the rule.
She hit He Changqi lightly. “Even so, you can’t give all of it to Third Sister-in-Law!”
“If I don’t give them to her, am I supposed to just throw them away? I don’t know what to do with them, and you don’t know what to use them for either. Even if we keep them, they’ll just spoil. It’s just twenty taels, why do you care?”
Madam Zou couldn’t stand it anymore. She turned her back to He Changqi.
“Alright, alright. Yuanjing, I’ll bring a headdress back for you tomorrow, how about that? It’s the latest style from Jinshi Pavilion. I ordered it for you a few days ago. Now that I think about it, it’s about time for it to be done.”
Once Madam Zou heard that her husband had ordered a headdress for her from Jinshi Pavilion, that paltry sum of twenty taels was completely tossed to the back of her head. She quickly started questioning He Changqi about what the accessory was made of and the style it was made in.
Jinshi Pavilion was the most famous accessory store in the whole capital. Even princesses and influential officials’ wives often ordered accessories there.
Having a headdress from Jinshi Pavilion was something worth showing off.
He Changqi’s words had finally assuaged the depression that Madam Zou had been in, thanks to Matriarch He and Countess Jing’an’s talk about giving Chu Lian more accessories.
After eating a little with his wife, He Changqi went to his study with his servant, Kangshou.
He Changqi sat before his desk and instructed, “Kangshou, take a thousand taels over to Jinshi Pavilion and get them to make a headdress for me. Tell the shopkeeper that this order is from me, and I won’t tolerate any mistakes.”
Kangshou was about to turn and leave when He Changqi called him back, “Don’t take the money from the estate’s accounts. Take it from my personal funds.”
“Yessir!” Kangshou quickly left to perform the errand.
He Changqi was a little worried over his finances now. It wasn’t like he didn’t have any personal funds, but these days, he had been secretly helping out with his mother’s medicine expenses. Even if he had a mountain of gold, it would run out eventually.
He had already detected his wife’s unhappiness, so he chose to use a headdress to soothe her ruffled feelings. How could he have possibly have ordered it in advance? He had only said so to make Madam Zou happy.