A hundred pieces of gold, a thousand rolls of silk, boxes piled high, beautiful maids in attendance

  Lan Qi didn't belong to the category of a proper wife, so on that evening she followed Fang Xin back to this small inn. When she bid farewell to the Lu household, the lady gave her 500 taels of silver, 300 bolts of silk, over a hundred boxes of various gifts, and even sent two pretty maidservants to accompany her. Of course, there were also some servants who came to help with the move, but they would be returning later.

  When she got off the carriage, she was radiant and elegant, like a heavenly maiden. The people around her didn't dare to get close, intimidated by her presence.

  But she saw her bowing to Fang Xin first, and Fang Xin smiled and said, "You just arrange it."

  Lan Ji responded with a "yes" and called out: "Xiao Zhu Xiao Zhu, come over and move the things downstairs."

  The two maids responded in unison, entering the room first. Upon reaching the door, they saw Ning Boqiu standing at the entrance, staring blankly ahead. The two maids also ignored him and entered the room to take a look around before asking the shopkeeper for several more tables and chairs, which they placed there to hold the silk and gift boxes.

  The silk fabrics that came with it were also of high quality, and this roll of silk was worth ten gold coins. The colors were so bright and dazzling that they left people staring in amazement.

  Three hundred bolts of silk, plus a hundred boxes of gift boxes, filled Fang Xin's room to the brim. All these added up, and it would be impossible to get away with less than five thousand taels of silver.

  Fang Xin smiled and didn't care about her, this Lan Ji was a gift from the Marquis of Lu, no matter what his intentions were, it didn't really matter, he just enjoyed himself, after all, he was only a humble scholar now and had no right to refuse the Marquis's kindness, being pulled into the Lu family's faction was also a natural thing.

  "Who would have thought that my younger brother would not only win the heart of a beauty, but also gain a thousand pieces of gold? I'm so envious! Just then, Ning Boqiu came over and said to Fang Xin, "Now that you've gained the recognition of a noble, it's likely that your name will be on the golden list soon! No wonder you're enjoying such good fortune at such a young age."

  "It was just a coincidence." Fang Xin said, Ning Boqiu's mentality was not yet tempered, and this slightly acidic tone was really not good. Just then, Lan Ji had already come over.

  Ning Bo hastily walked over, bowed deeply and made a courtesy. Lan Ji responded with a courtesy. Then she said to Fang Xin: "Sir, now that the inventory is complete, shall we let our guest leave?"

  "Let them go, just give them a little reward and I'll write another letter to thank the Marquis for his kindness." Fang Xin chuckled: "The place is a bit small, wait until I pass the imperial examination, then I'll buy some more land and houses when I return."

  Having said that, they went in to take a look. At this time, the crowd also followed to take a look. When moving, it didn't feel like much, but when they arrived inside, these two girls directed the servants to put things down really well. By now it was already dusk, and after lighting candles, the light shone within the house.

  The moonlight is bright outside. Inside, the candlelight is uneven, the box is full of pearls, and the silk on the table is piled high. Everyone who sees it can't help but drool, especially under the candlelight. Lan Ji's long hair is combed up, revealing her natural beauty, making everyone present envy her to death, wishing they could kill Fang Xin, but this was a gift from Lord Lu. Not to mention others, even the Prefect himself wouldn't dare take a single thread of it.

  They visited for a while, but it was getting late. These people had to leave, and the two girls guarded the door, after which there would be no more opportunities to visit, as there were already women in the house.

  When Ning Bochu went out, his heart was already filled with jealousy and hatred. Just now he was still smiling, but when no one saw him, his face had twisted, almost going mad. He hated the handsome and elegant Fang Xin to the bone, as if he wanted to eat his flesh. Although he also knew that this hatred was unjustified, it was difficult for him to control.

  He thought no one knew, but Fang Xin, Lan Ji and the two maids had all seen through him. Fang Xin relied on his intuition, while Lan Ji and the two maids, who struggled to make a living in the deep and treacherous waters of the Hou Mansion, had honed their ability to read people's expressions to an extreme degree; otherwise, they wouldn't have survived until now, and naturally understood this person's thoughts.

  Although Fang Xin sighed, although he also knew that there was such an inexplicable and unrelenting hatred in the world, it was also his first encounter. Lan Ji turned around: "Master, from now on I will belong to you."

  Fang Xinyi smiled and said: "No need to mention concubine, from now on you will be my second wife!"

  As soon as these words came out, Lan Qi was overjoyed, her eyes shining brightly, and she bowed deeply: "Husband's great kindness, I will never forget for eternity, it's just...I don't know the intention of your parents?"

  The two concubines also rushed forward to congratulate, but this wife and concubine are completely different things. To put it extremely, a concubine is a commodity that can be given away at will, and even if the legitimate wife kills her, she can reduce her sentence.

  Fang Xian laughed, pulled Lan Ji over and sat down on the bed since there was nowhere else to sit. He said: "Your husband has no great ambitions, nor does he think about marrying into a wealthy family. And yet you are his first wife, and you have become so beautiful, wouldn't it be too humiliating for you to become a concubine? I'll go inform my mother about this, and then come to welcome you."

  "In that case, I won't be able to serve my husband immediately." Ping's wife was married through proper channels and naturally had to preserve her chastity in order to be considered good.

  "It doesn't matter, let's just do it this way. If I had proposed to the young master and madam earlier, perhaps we could have even held the wedding at their estate, which would be even more glorious. However, your husband still doesn't want to wear the hat of relying too obviously on the young master," Fang Xin said.

  "I understand, I am already very satisfied."

  "Alright then, you prepare a dinner tonight and we'll celebrate. Let's invite the shopkeeper and Ning Boqiu too."

  "Is Ning Boqiu that scholar who just spoke?"

  "That's right," Fang Xin said with a smile, seeing her hesitate, and then continued: "I know this person is not quite right, but it doesn't matter, your husband is a sensible man."

  Lan Qi suddenly smiled and said in a low voice: "Yes!"

  "Besides, you are also a wife of mine, I will buy you a house and some land, and you can manage it afterwards." Fang Xin said calmly, this was actually an early division of shares, after all, the children of Ping's wife also had inheritance rights.

  Lan Qi immediately understood his meaning and couldn't help but lower her eyelashes, saying: "What about the old lady and sister's intention?"

  "Don't worry about this, I'll take charge of this household."

  "Yes, sir!" Lan Ji said softly, adding a bit of warmth to her tone. The two little maids in the room listened quietly and watched with flushed faces, their emotions stirred.

  Although they had not gone to bed, both of them were emotionally stirred. Lan Ji tidied up her clothes and found that her hair was disheveled, so she hastily got up and said in a low, panting voice: "If husband is moved, can serve him in the small bamboo pavilion."

  The two maidservants had tears in their eyes, and upon hearing this, they trembled even more. Fang Xin was taken aback and forced a smile, saying: "Alright, but you all should tidy up the dishes first!"

  This Lan Ji obviously has martial arts skills, and according to Fang Xin's initial sense, it is almost at the level of three stages. The two girls also have second-stage abilities. This intention, Hou Ye is really interesting. In fact, agreeing to be a concubine was also unavoidable. If he really treated Lan Ji as a concubine, I don't know what Hou Ye would think in his heart.

  "Yes!" Lan Qi smoothed out her skirt and went out, the two maidservants followed her out as well. Xiao Zhu saw that there was no one around and said: "Congratulations, Miss, congratulations, you've become a wife of equal status."

  "Yes, Miss is lucky, if it were another family, she would have been a concubine by now, and that life would be tough."

  "You two lazy girls, aren't you going to work? Tomorrow morning I'll let you both rest for a day." Lan Ji said with a smile.

  The two girls heard this and were too ashamed to respond.

  Just then, Ning Boqiu came out and saw the three of them, feeling that something was amiss.

  Lan Qi saw him and slightly bowed: "My husband said that tonight he invites Mr. Ning to come and drink wine."

  As she spoke, she took the two maids and went to prepare the wine table. Ning Boqiu stared blankly at the jade-like girl as she walked away, suddenly thinking in his heart: "Looking at her expression, could it be that something has already happened inside? It's truly hateful!"

  He didn't go, but instead returned to his own room, pacing back and forth, with countless thoughts swirling in his mind, yet none of them seemed feasible. After all, Fang Xin was also a scholar and had gained the appreciation of the Marquis, so some small tricks would be useless. As such, he felt even more resentful in his heart.

  After an unknown amount of time, he heard the sound again. He hastily looked out the door and saw the shopkeeper smiling, ordering someone to carry a beautifully prepared banquet. Since the room was already full of things, there was no space for this large table, so it was placed in the courtyard outside the door. The aroma wafted everywhere at once.

  Ning Bo's autumn calmness soothed her mind and emotions, she came out smiling and said: "So fragrant."

  "Come on in and take a seat, Lanji, pour some wine." Fang Xin said with a smile.

  "Yes, my lord." In a moment, Lan Ji changed into another everyday dress, but coming from the Hou Mansion, even an everyday outfit was of high quality. Compared to it, Fang Xin's green robe seemed unremarkable. However, under the candlelight and moonlight, Fang Xin didn't lose any luster at all. The two leaned against each other, perfectly complementing each other.

  At the moment, several people were drinking and talking about Ping's wife. The shopkeeper said: "I think it's natural, this girl is so beautiful, she should be a wife, being a concubine is really a waste."

  Ning Boqiu listened, but felt a wave of melancholy in his heart. Seeing De Lanji's charming eyes and affection all focused on Fang Xin, he could only drink cup after cup, getting drunk in no time.

  The shopkeeper, having seen many people come and go, didn't know his intentions and awkwardly said: "Mr. Ning seems to have had too much wine, let's first help him back to his room."

  Then there was a fellow who came forward and half-forced him into his room.

  Arriving in the room, Ning Boqiu suddenly woke up. He hadn't eaten much food and after a while, he heard laughter outside, followed by the sound of entering the room and closing the door. Although he couldn't hear anything anymore, his heart was like a fire had been lit, tossing and turning, unable to sleep until dawn the next day.