Chapter 106: Not Like Before (Part 1)

  Ronghua instructed the maid to take out the large, four-piece purple sandalwood cabinet that had been sent from her natal family. As she was going to make some pastries for Lady Xue, Ronghua told Chunyao, "Go to the small kitchen and ask about Master Hou's preferences while you're at it, and bring out his share as well."

  Chun Yao nodded in response.

  Chun Yao entered the small kitchen, where a cook named Zheng had been waiting. She was slightly thin, tall, and had two round dimples on her face when she smiled. As soon as she saw Chun Yao, she came forward to greet her, "Miss has arrived, the dough and filling are all ready, just waiting for Miss to make them."

  It seemed that she couldn't stand Zheng's fawning, and Zhao beside her let out a cold hum.

  Zheng Bazi pretended not to hear, raised her voice, seemingly wanting to attract Chun Yao's attention, "What does the young mistress want to do? Does the girl need me to help?"

  Chunyao smiled and began preparing the filling while chatting with Zheng Baba and Zhao Baba.

  Originally intended to make ordinary dim sum, seeing Zheng Baba's well-prepared fillings, I thought of Rong Hua's previously taught "Ten Complete and Perfect", although it was a bit troublesome to sit down, fortunately, Zheng Baba and Zhao Baba were helping on the side, so it didn't matter, and two plates were quickly made.

  "Rarely can a young lady come up with such good ideas for snacks."

  "Where did I think of it? It was Madam who thought of it."

  "Madam is indeed a meticulous person."

  Chun Yao smiled slightly and didn't say much more, took some pastries and returned to Rong Hua's house.

  Chun Yao walked up to Rong Hua and said in a low voice, "Zheng Pozi was chosen by Lady Xue, while Zhao Pozi was given to the young master by Old Lady."

  This small kitchen on this side is just for making soups and desserts, but it has two head chefs.

  It seems that both Madam Tao and Madam are thinking of their own things.

  Xue Mingrui's side has few attendants, but they are so complicated. Everyone has their own thoughts and will try every means to find out something.

  One is a grandmother and one is a mother, men generally don't interfere with household affairs, so it has become this kind of situation.

  On the surface, the old lady seems to be very fond of the second house and doesn't care much about the main house. However, when she came to the Xue residence as a guest earlier, the old lady mentioned things about Master Hou's childhood with what seemed like genuine delight.

  The time is almost up, Ronghua temporarily put aside her thoughts and brought Chunyao and Jinxia to Mrs. Xue's house.

  Ronghua entered the house, greeted Mrs. Xue, and took the plate of pastries from Chunyao's hand, "Mother, try these pastries and see if they taste good."

  Mrs. Xue looked at the plate of dim sum, which was made very delicately, and a faint smile appeared on her lips. She picked up a piece of dim sum and tasted it. "I'll leave some here, and take the rest back for Mingrui to eat. He likes sweets."

  Ronghua hastily said: "Mother, keep it for yourself, I'll have the maid make another one for Master Hou."

  The mother-in-law and daughter-in-law chatted for a while.

  "Whatever is lacking in the house, come and tell me."

  Rong Hua smiled slightly, "Where can it be lacking? The side rooms in the new house are all filled up, and I'm having the maids tidy them up. There are still a few cabinets that haven't been used yet."

  Mrs. Xue drank some tea and said, "Why don't you take a couple of days off? These things aren't urgent."

  Rong Hua smiled and said, "Anyway, there's nothing much going on, might as well get it over with sooner."

  Mrs. Xue nodded and smiled warmly, "If you're too busy over there, I'll have Mrs. Guo go over to help you."

  Rong Hua smiled and said, "It's just some clothes, no big deal."

  As she came out of Mrs. Xue's house, Ronghua let out a sigh of relief. If it were up to Madam Gu to help... there was no guarantee that Madam Gu wouldn't come up with some scheme, and by then it would be too late to back down. Madam Gu might take this opportunity to get rid of all the people around Duke Hou who were loyal to Lady Tao, even though she could curry favor with Mrs. Xue, but in other people's eyes, she would only become a hatchet man.

  It's better to refuse from the start than to leave trouble for oneself later on.

  Ronghua returned to the house, and the maid had already cleaned up the cabinet. She personally directed the reorganization of Xue Mingrui's clothes into it.

  Spring, summer, autumn and winter clothes are all sorted out. Which one looks like it's often worn, which one is newly made?

  Xue Mingrui entered the house, Rong Hua was personally putting clothes into the closet, with a smile on his face, he slightly tiptoed and carefully placed the clothes, then pursed his lips and smiled, as if he had accomplished something great. When he saw Xue Mingrui, he turned around and bowed.

  "What's going on?"

  Ronghua smiled and said, "Let's tidy up the wardrobe again and put all of Master Hou's frequently worn clothes within easy reach." Clothes that she personally put away would be easily found even if there were no maids in the house.

  Xue Mingrui didn't like to have maids on night shifts around him, and there were fewer maids serving in the house during the day. Whether he liked quietness or not, it happened to be in line with her thoughts. It's just that some things needed to be done by herself, but it wasn't a big deal.

  Rong Hua took a piece of clothing from the closet and followed Xue Mingrui into the suite, changing out of his outer jacket and putting on a long gown.

  "I just came out of mother's house, and mother said to come over for dinner tonight." Maybe from now on I'll have to eat with Mrs. Xue all the time, and during holidays it will naturally be at Old Madam's place.

  Xue Mingrui nodded.

  Ronghua took the pastry from Chunyao's hand again, "Master Hou, try it and see if it tastes good. I heard that Master Hou likes sweets, so I had the maid make some." The people in this courtyard were already complicated enough, rather than hiding small thoughts like others, it was better to speak the truth.

  Xue Mingrui looked at the plate of more than a dozen peony-shaped pastries and asked, "How did you think of making such a plate of pastries?"

  She didn't expect Chunyao would bring out this dessert, and Ronghua couldn't help but smile.

  ……

  Mrs. Xue returned to her house after dinner.

  Ronghua did some needlework for a while, waiting for Xue Mingrui to return from the study.

  Ronghua went to make the bed and then had the maid come in to attend to the two of them washing up before getting into bed.

  Ronghua lay inside, still beating with a strong heart at first. When Xue Mingrui took out a book and flipped through it under the lamp light, he finally let out a sigh of relief, closed his eyes, and thought about something in his mind for a long time before falling asleep soundly.

  Xue Mingrui closed his book and turned around, only to see Rong Hua's peaceful sleeping face.

  Thinking of him asking about that pastry, she took him to see her "Prosperous and Noble Flowers" painting. A flower from bud to bloom, one shape painted on each sheet, when flipped through in sequence, it looked like a flower quietly blooming.

  He didn't expect her to have such a hobby.

  The next morning, Ronghua and Xue Mingrui went to pay their respects to the ancestors of the Xue family, then went to the house of Madame Xue to pay their respects to her and Mrs. Xue.

  Old lady hurriedly laughed and called out, "Eat some food and hurry up and leave, don't keep the maternal family waiting anxiously."

  After dinner, Xue Mingrui rode a horse and Rong Hua took a sedan chair to the Tao family.

  Tao's family received the news and San Tai Tai and Yan Hua were already waiting at the door.

  Yan Hua had been waiting anxiously, and when she heard Third Madame say "he's here", she hastily looked over and saw Xue Mingrui riding on horseback. For some reason, she felt that this Marquis Wu Mu had an intimidating aura, and her gaze involuntarily shrank back. She then looked at the sedan chair behind him, and a strange emotion arose in her heart, making her urgently want to know how Rong Hua had been doing these past two days.

  Xue Mingrui's horse arrived first. The third lady and Yan Hua were just about to welcome him when Xue Mingrui got off his horse and turned around to walk towards the sedan chair.

  Ronghua got off the sedan chair and saw Xue Mingrui, she was also stunned for a moment, she didn't expect Xue Mingrui to be waiting for her beside the sedan chair.

  The two people bowed and entered the door.

  Yan Hua couldn't help but look at Rong Hua, seeing that Rong Hua's face was rosy, with a hint of a shy smile on the corners of her mouth, and a tinge of disappointment in her eyes. Looking again at Rong Hua's attire, she wore a bright red embroidered cheongsam with dark flowers and golden silk trim, with a pair of gold-plated hairpins adorned with flowing ribbons and a crimson velvet flower tucked beside them, along with an auspicious hairpin that seemed to match the occasion perfectly. This getup was quite different from her usual style, exuding an air of luxury that commanded attention.

  Ronghua and Xue Mingrui went to pay their respects to Old Lady Tao, Old Master Tao, and Eldest Mistress.

  Tao Zheng'an hastily invited Xue Mingrui to sit down and smiled as he called for someone to bring over some good tea.

  The lady couldn't help but secretly take a closer look at Ronghua, and was inwardly shocked. Marrying into the Hou household was indeed different. The whole person seemed to have undergone a transformation, as if reborn. Looking again at Ronghua's complexion, these past few days spent in the Xue household must have been good for her, which proved that the rumors outside about Wu Mu Hou were exaggerated.

  The lady smiled slightly, her face joyful, but in her heart she felt even more regretful. If she had married into the Xue family as Yu Hua, that would have been great.

  Everyone chatted for a while, Tao Zheng'an looked a bit awkward, saying a few words and then going to observe Xue Mingrui's expression, as if wanting to see something from it.

  Rong Hua remembered that Tao Zheng'an was worried about something, and she was afraid that in the past few days at Xue's house, Gu Ying had made trouble again.

  Yan Hua pulled Rong Hua aside and sat down, then asked in a low voice: "How have you been the past two days?"

  If her face was gloomy, Yan Hua would probably be delighted, and such concern was a bit too obvious.

  Ronghua smiled slightly and nodded.

  Yan Hua's enthusiasm was indeed frustrated, and it seemed like he wanted to find a topic to make himself feel better. Yan Hua said in a low voice, "You don't know yet? Gu Ying has already found someone to propose to her," and after glancing around and finding no one paying attention, continued, "But nothing came of it."

  Nana was supposed to bring ten items, but Gu Ying didn't bring anything.

  "His mother was so angry that she fainted on the spot. But Gu Ying said they would be getting married in August anyway."

  Yao Hua is actually getting married so soon, no wonder Tao Zheng'an looked at Xue Mingrui with such urgency, it turns out he was afraid his precious daughter would really marry that scoundrel.

  Yao Hua marrying a scoundrel is still a minor matter, but Tao Zheng'an's hard-earned official position may also be lost.

  Yan Hua finished speaking on this side.

  Someone came in and said: "The wine table is already set up ahead."

  Tao Zheng'an stood up and went to the banquet with Xue Mingrui. The relatives of the Tao family were all waiting to see the new son-in-law.

  Saw off Tao Zhengan and Xue Mingrui.

  Ronghua sat with Old Lady Tao for a while before being called away by the Eldest Madam, "Come with me to talk in private."

  I went out today and got blown by the wind, my head hurts so much that I probably caught a cold.

  Strive for more tomorrow.