Winter passed and spring came. The first-rank servant girls of Yi 'an Marquis Fu changed out of their thick cotton jackets and put on light green girdled skirts. It made the marquis fu appear full of vitality and the air of spring.
Inside the green muslin curtain, the brocade quilt was pushed up. The person inside seemed to have struggled for a long time before reaching out a white arm from the quilt. The servant girls waiting outside the muslin curtain were overjoyed. They thought that the person on the bed was going to get up, but the arm touched the edge of the bed and then shrank back into the quilt.
"Miss, it is already a quarter to seven." After Bai Xia confirmed that the person on the bed did not intend to get up, she bowed slightly and said with mirth in her voice, "Yesterday, Furen ordered you to wake up early. She said that the tailor of Fragrant Snail Pavilion is coming to measure your spring clothing."
"Didn't the people in the fu's clothing room just make a few outfits for me half a month ago?" The person on the bed hugged the quilt and sat up. Her hair flowed down with her movements. Even though she did not have time to comb it, it was still as smooth as silk.
Red Tassel who was standing next to Bai Xia came forward to lift the muslin curtain for her. She explained with a smile, "Furen said that while the fabric of Fragrant Snail Pavilion is not the best, it is good in the craftsmanship. It is not a problem to make a few outfits."
Hua Xi Wan stood up from the bed and let the servant girls serve her to wash her face and rinse her mouth. She sat in front of the mirror, her left hand covering her mouth as she yawned. She propped her cheek on her right hand and said lazily, "They say that one does not know when to sleep in the spring. Do not waste sleep. Bai Xia, you are disturbing my dreams."
"Bai Xia has offended Miss." Bai Xia put down the wooden comb in her hand and bent her knees towards Hua Xi Wan. The smile on her face did not fade. "Do not be angry."
The four senior servant girls beside her had been with her for many years. Hua Xi Wan knew that they were not people who made decisions on their own. She thought that there was something else in the morning so her mother had them wake her up early. So she hooked her finger and motioned for Bai Xia to stand. Then she continued to propped her chin on her hand and allowed the servant girls to help her dress.
The servant girls knew that their miss had a lazy personality and would speak as little as possible. After they dressed her, they took out several boxes of hairpins and jewelry for Hua Xi Wan to choose from.
Hua Xi Wan reached out and pointed at a few things. She stood and had the servant girls help her change her clothes. She took the eyebrow pencil from Hong Ying's hands and drew the ends of her brows. She said lazily, "Let's go."
Hua Xi Wan's, Hua Xi Wan Xi Wan........... and she seemed to think that there was not of of of of things on the list... and continuously, she seemed to find and felt that there were not enough things on the list....
"Daughter wishes Mother good night. Did you sleep well last night?" Hua Xi Wan approached Lu Clan with a smile. Before she could bend down, Lu Clan's most useful servant girl supported her.
Seeing Hua Xi Wan come in, Lu Clan put the list aside and walked to Hua Xi Wan. She reached out and touched her palm. After confirming that it was warm, she was relieved. "Although it's spring, a girl should still be careful not to catch a cold. It won't be good if you fall ill in the future."
Hua Xi Wan helped her mother sit down and said with a smile, "Mother, don't worry. I won't let you worry."
Lu Clan sighed and said hatefully, "If it weren't for those people from the third branch, you wouldn't have fallen ill that year. Thinking of them makes my heart feel suffocated. " The Lu Clan's ancestors were a family of martial artists. Although they had produced a few civil officials in the past two generations, the girls in the clan were still fiercer than the average woman. Hua Hesheng, who had been the heir of the Nghi An Marquis at that time, had impatiently asked to marry her. He had been known as henpecked for more than twenty years and had never taken a concubine.
Seeing that her mother was angry, Hua Xi Wan placed a cup of tea in front of Lu Clan. "Mother, why do you have to lower yourself to their level? Isn't that lowering your own status?" Her father had two younger brothers and one younger sister. The younger brother and younger sister were born from the second wife. Thus, their family was now closer to Second Uncle. The other two families were just for show.
"That's true. Those clowns make me blush when I see them." Lu shi picked up the tea that her daughter had brought over. Her anger had mostly dissipated. She snorted and said, "All day long, they spread all kinds of rumors outside. They think that this will show the ability of their branch. Who knows what people do, the heavens are watching. Who should have and who doesn't, the heavens are clear in their hearts."
Hua Xi Wan's smile faded slightly. She then put on a slightly bashful expression. "Mother, what are you saying?"
"Fine, fine, let's not talk about this." Lu Clan saw that her daughter was angry and smiled as she took back the list she had been looking at. "The Emperor's marriage decree came suddenly. Fortunately, I started preparing for you a few years ago. Otherwise, it would have been hard on my daughter."
Sweeping a glance over the list, Hua Xi Wan instantly understood what her mother had been looking at. She stopped looking at the list and changed the topic. "Mother, didn't you say that someone came to take my measurements?" In the past, she had never seen her mother allow outsiders to take her measurements. Why would she allow her to see someone from a garment workshop outside?
"It's just a garment workshop outside. How could I let them come close to you? I already had the servants tell them your measurements. In a moment, I'll take you to pay respects to the old taitai." As a mother, how could Lu Clan not see that her daughter wasn't happy about the Emperor's marriage decree? But now that the decree had been issued, it was useless to say anything.
Prince Xian was a member of the Imperial Family. His status was high, his appearance was outstanding, and he was the first choice of many noble ladies in Jing as their husband. But in the eyes of Lu Clan, this kind of person was not suitable to be their daughter's husband. Not to mention the many unspeakable things that happened behind his back, a man as handsome as Prince Xian was too easy to capture the hearts of girls. It was too difficult for their daughter to marry such a man.
Today, she was just using this as an excuse to get her daughter to wake up early and pay respects to the old taitai.
Their eldest branch wasn't close to the old taitai. It wasn't because Nghi An Marquis wasn't filial, but because the old taitai was the second wife of the old Marquis. The eldest branch and the second branch were born from the first wife. After the old Marquis passed away, the three brothers separated. The relationship between the eldest branch and the second branch and the old taitai was only superficial. As for how much mother-son relationship they had, even if others believed it, they didn't believe it.
When Hua Hesheng married the Lu Clan, the old taitai did some things that made people unhappy. The Lu Clan wasn't a family of yes-men. After embarrassing the old taitai a few times, the old taitai restrained her attitude. The Lu Clan didn't continue to be unreasonable. These years, they maintained a superficial relationship, but it was true that they couldn't get close.
Hua Xi Wan more or less knew about the grievances of the previous generation. However, in view of her mother's valiant personality, even after she got married, she didn't have to worry about the old taitai and the third branch bullying her mother. What's more, she still had two capable older brothers. Nghi An Marquis wouldn't fall to the point where there was no one to carry on her legacy.
The old taitai lived with the third branch, so every time they went to pay respects to the old taitai, Nghi An Marquis would prepare a sedan chair and walk west along the east street for two to three quarters of an hour before arriving at the third branch's residence.
Through the sedan chair, Hua Xi Wan could hear the peddlers hawking their wares outside. She lifted the window slightly and saw that the sun was already out. The sunlight was a bit glaring, so she immediately lowered the window curtain and closed her eyes to rest. In her previous life, when she was an actress, she had to film day and night. Even after working herself to death, she still couldn't get to the top of the line. In this life, she had become a young lady of a wealthy family. If she didn't enjoy it, then she would have wasted her life.
After Nghi An Marquis' sedan chair passed by, the people on the side of the road began to discuss who had passed by. That eight treasures colored glass sedan chair was truly beautiful.
"How many families in the capital can afford to use this kind of sedan chair for their women?" A passerby pointed at the two ends of the east street and then raised his eyebrows. The people who were discussing the sedan chair suddenly revealed a complicated expression.
It was rumored that the madam of Nghi An Marquis was quite valiant, but she had a good reputation among the commoners in the capital. This was because this Marquis' wife had given a lot of money to the commoners. In addition, her maternal family, the Lu Clan, was kind and honest. Therefore, even though this madam's reputation had spread, no one said anything bad about her.
"It's a pity … …" The person who spoke shook his head and didn't finish his sentence. It was a pity that this madam's daughter wasn't as capable as the third branch. Although the third branch's High Scholar Hua wasn't as accomplished in court as his two older brothers, he had a daughter who was both talented and beautiful. Who knew how much praise he had received. On the other hand, this young lady of the Marquis' household never went out to play. She didn't even participate in the various gatherings in the capital. Even though the marquis fu's people said that it was because their daughter's body was weak, no one had ever seen the marquis fu find a famous doctor.
Therefore, after a while, everyone guessed that the di miss of the marquis fu was too average in appearance and didn't want to see people because she was afraid of being laughed at. However, she was also worried that people would be suspicious so she used the excuse of being weak.
However, even though many people outside knew that this marquis fu's young miss's appearance was nothing, they couldn't deny that her life was good. The Emperor had bestowed her marriage to Prince Xian. This matter caused the envy of many unmarried women, and many people felt pity for Prince Xian. With Prince Xian's talent and appearance, wang fei should be a virtuous woman with both talent and beauty. How could she be an ugly woman with a valiant mother?
However, no matter what the outside people said, Nghi An Marquis didn't pay attention to these rumors. It was as though the main character of these rumors wasn't her daughter, but an unrelated outsider. This attitude caused many people to stop their thoughts of ridicule. At most, they sighed for Nghi An Marquis.
Just as Hua Xi Wan was about to fall asleep, she felt the sedan stop. Then she heard Bai Xia's voice inviting her to get off the sedan.
The sedan curtain was lifted by Red Tassel. Hua Xi Wan handed her hand to Bai Xia and got off the sedan. She followed behind the Lu Clan towards the main room. Before they entered the main door, servant girls and aunts surrounded them. Some drew the curtain, some held tea, and some came up to greet them. Hua Xi Wan felt dizzy.
"Da Sao has come. Please come in. Lao Taitai is waiting for you." Third Master Hua's furen, Yao Clan, strode out of the room with a smile. She first curtsied to the Lu Clan before affectionately holding Lu Clan's hand. She looked at Hua Xi Wan and said, "Third Miss, come in."
Lu Clan imperceptibly pulled her hand out of Yao Clan's hand and said with a smile, "Thank you, Dimei, for coming in person to welcome us. Our daughter is weak and came a bit late. Please don't mind."
Yao Clan smiled and said it was fine as she led them into the room. However, there was a hint of undetectable awkwardness in her smile. But when she saw the Lu Clan sit down, she still personally served tea to the Lu Clan.
"Thank you, Dimei." Lu Clan nodded politely. Then she said to Lao Taitai, who was sitting at the head of the table, "Lao Taitai, how are you these days?"
"Good, good." Lao Taitai nodded with a smile. Then she looked at Hua Xi Wan, who was sitting quietly on the side, and said, "Third Miss is growing more and more beautiful. As an old woman, I can't bear to see her get married."
Although Lao Taitai didn't have any feelings for the Lu Clan and Hua Hesheng, she didn't have any prejudice against Hua Xi Wan. After all, she was her husband's granddaughter. Although she wasn't as close as her son's daughter, Hua Chu Yu, she was much closer than Hua Yiliu, who was born in the second branch.
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