Four Seasons Brocade – CH 109

Chapter 109 ☆、

After returning from the palace, Ah Wu felt only aches and pains in her back and legs, and had cramps. In the palace, she had to kneel and kowtow frequently, and even in front of Chu Mao, she had to maintain a dignified posture. She felt exhausted both physically and mentally, and this was only the second day of her marriage.

However, if Ah Wu thought that returning to Prince Qi’s residence meant she could sit down and rest, comfortably having Tong-Guan massage her shoulders and back, she would be sorely mistaken.

Although Chu Mao’s legitimate relatives were all in the palace, and Ah Wu had seen them today, even the Emperor had a few poor relatives. Therefore, while Ah Wu did not have to entertain Chu Mao’s self-important princess aunts and sisters, nor his brothers and sisters-in-law who were only superficially married, she did have to deal with a group of poor relatives who were taking advantage of the wedding to come and beg for her money, ostensibly to help Ah Wu recognize her own relatives so she would not be unfamiliar with them in the future.

By nature, Ah Wu was too lazy to entertain these people, but being a wife and being a young woman were completely different things. If a young woman were a little arrogant, others might tolerate it out of consideration for an unmarried woman’s need for pampering. But if she remained arrogant after marriage, it would be considered a lack of manners and would even question her upbringing.

Upon returning to the mansion, Chu Mao went to the outer study. Ah Wu removed her makeup, ate a simple lunch alone, and was about to rest when the head maid came to invite her to the front to greet the guests and relatives.

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Ah Wu had no choice but to send someone to fetch Chu Mao. She changed into a newly made, slightly simpler deep-colored robe, red because it was for her wedding.

Although women’s clothing in the Great Xia Dynasty was diverse and colorful, it adhered to ancestral rules and ancient customs. For grand ceremonies, they were required to wear a shenyi. In common households, shenyi and quju were worn for New Year’s Eve ancestral worship and the three days before a wedding. In the palace, noblewomen were required to wear shenyi and quju for grand ceremonies, and noblewomen from outside the palace also wore shenyi when entering the palace for court audiences. For example, Ah Wu was wearing a shenyi and quju this morning.

Besides this, they could wear either a ruqun or a beifu on ordinary days, depending on personal preference.

Ah Wu, dressed, went to Rui’an Hall at the front to greet the guests. “Has the Prince arrived?”

“The Prince said he was busy, saying that only the Princess Consort would be able to see him,” Zi-Shan replied.

Ah Wu thought to herself, “Well, Chu Mao is pushing all the people he does not want to see onto me. Marrying a wife is like marrying a shield.” Despite her complaints, Ah Wu still tried her utmost to do her best, so well that Chu Mao would not be able to utter a single bad word about her. She hoped that from now on, hard work would be valued over merit and that he would forgive her parents and brothers from her past life.

Although Chu Mao did not come in person, he sent a stewardess to help Ah Wu. After all, neither Ah Wu nor her entourage knew much about the Prince Qi’s residence or the Prince Qi’s intricate relatives.

As soon as Ah Wu entered the Yin’an Palace, she saw the people sitting in the two rows of black lacquered hardwood rose chairs with openwork dragon patterns stand up and bow to her.

Ah Wu nodded, saying as she walked, “We are all relatives; no need to be so polite. Please sit down.” She walked to the central octagonal table and sat down in a grand chair with a silver-red embroidered pomegranate pattern cover on the left. Stewardess Lu, sent by Chu Mao, stood to Ah Wu’s side and slightly behind her.

“Greetings, Your Highness.” The couple seated at the head of the table on the left stepped to the center and greeted Ah Wu again. Nanny Lu leaned down and whispered their identities in Ah Wu’s ear.

“So it’s Uncle Lian and Aunt Lian; please have a seat.” This Uncle Lian was also a member of the imperial clan, the grandson of the thirteenth son of the founding Emperor. Born of a concubine, his main branch had declined, let alone his branch, but in terms of status, he was still Chu Mao’s uncle.

Ah Wu noticed that although their clothes were of decent quality, the cuffs and elbows were worn, indicating their poor circumstances. However, Ah Wu did not show it and continued to speak to them kindly.

The second couple to step forward was said to be Chu Mao’s cousin, the great-grandson of the ninth son of the founding Emperor, Chu Hui, also known as Fifth Master Hui. Although Fifth Master Hui was from a declining imperial clan, he had many hobbies, including falconry, horseback riding, bird keeping, and cricket fighting. He did not have the wealth of a spoiled brat, but he possessed the air of one. At this moment, he stared at Ah Wu, almost dumbfounded, drool practically dripping from his mouth. If his wife had not nudged him with her elbow, he would have been completely stunned.

“Fourth Sister-in-law,” Fifth Master Hui called out obsequiously, “there’s no one in this world more beautiful and well-groomed than Fourth Sister-in-law.”

Not only would Ah Wu be furious upon hearing that, but everyone in the room frowned. Fifth Master Hui’s wife nearly fainted. This extravagant son of a woman was actually flirting with Princess Qi! Even if Prince Qi was not favored, he was still the Emperor’s eldest son.

But Fifth Master Hui was completely oblivious, his lust blinding him. He saw Ah Wu wearing a bright red brocade robe with a three-finger-wide gold trim, revealing a pair of red shoes with upturned toes and auspicious cloud patterns. The slender waist bound by a gold ribbon was simply irresistible to Fifth Master Hui. He thought that if he could pinch it, he would gladly die right now.

Ah Wu could not bear Fifth Master Hui’s gaze any longer, so she gestured past him to a woman who looked like a widow, with a girl of about seven or eight years old. “This is…”

Nanny Lu hesitated, then whispered in Ah Wu’s ear, “This is the Prince’s cousin.”

Ah Wu immediately sensed that this was probably a relative of Chu Mao’s mother. Sure enough, it was Lady Zhen, the daughter of Empress Xiaozhen’s half-sister, a woman whose name was practically forbidden to be mentioned.

“Cousin Zhen,” Ah Wu greeted her with a smile.

Lady Zhen quickly led her daughter, Luan Jie’er, forward to pay their respects. Luan Jie’er was small and thin and somewhat timid, shrinking close to Lady Zhen and softly calling out, “Auntie.”

Ah Wu glanced at Zi-Shan. Luckily, Zi-Shan had come prepared; she gave Luan Jie’er four gold pig-shaped ingots to play with.

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After Luan Jie’er kowtowed to thank Ah Wu, Nanny Lu introduced Ah Wu to the first few relatives. With so many relatives coming and going, it was only thanks to Zi-Shan, the maid with the best memory, that Ah Wu was not overwhelmed.

As usual, when the relatives left, the bride had to send some gifts. Nanny Lu had already prepared all the gifts and had a maid bring them over for Ah Wu to see.

Seeing that the gifts received by Fifth Master Hui’s family were quite substantial, Ah Wu was displeased and said, “Send less to this family.”

Nanny Lu quickly reduced the gifts by two items, keeping only two bolts of satin, two bolts of cloth, and four kinds of pastries for women.

“Your Highness, this is unacceptable,” Nanny Sang quickly interjected. “Why should Your Highness bother with such a person? We are the jade vase, and he is the rat. If we reduce his gifts, he will inevitably gossip outside, damaging Your Highness’s reputation.” In these times, a woman’s reputation was so easily damaged. Even if a married woman was dignified, if a man praised her beauty, people could easily misunderstand, let alone a scoundrel like Fifth Master Hui.

“The wet nurse is right. Nanny Lu, let’s put the ones we picked out back,” Ah Wu instructed.

Nanny Lu agreed.

Ah Wu then had Zi-Shan give Lady Zhen and her daughter four bolts of cloth and twenty taels of silver. It was not that Ah Wu was stingy with fine silks and satins; it was simply that even if she gave them to Lady Zhen and her daughter, they probably would not be able to wear them. Even today, when the two women came to Prince Qi’s residence to see Ah Wu, they were wearing simple cloth dresses.

When Nanny Lu heard that twenty taels of silver were needed, she was taken aback. This was no small sum, especially since she had already given Luan Jie’er four gold ingots. “Your Highness, this is unacceptable. There’s no precedent for this.”

Ah Wu smiled at Nanny Lu. “It’s alright. I see how pitiful they are. These twenty taels will come from my own account, not from the household accounts.” Ah Wu saw the mother and daughter’s dire situation and did not try to flatter them. Their clothes were patched but clean, and somehow, they looked pleasing to the eye. Helping them in any way she could would not affect her own life.

“Your Highness, that’s not what I meant. It’s just that she’s a relative from that side after all,” Nanny Lu said, stopping short of abruptly.

Ah Wu was startled. She had not expected that not only did her uncle dislike Empress Xiaozhen, but even her own son disliked her.

“Regardless, she’s still a relative,” Ah Wu said, not intending to change her mind. She helped Lady Zhen not because of kinship but simply because she wanted to.

Having said this much, Nanny Lu did not say anything more.

When Ah Wu returned to Yulan Hall to lie down, Nanny Sang hurriedly sat down on the embroidered stool beside her. “Your Highness, I did not mean to contradict you just now. It’s just that what Your Highness did was somewhat inappropriate. When Your Highness is at home, you help Madam with household chores, so why today…”

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This was why Ah Wu, although she disliked using the older women, had no choice but to use them. She disliked their tendency to lecture her based on their age, yet she could not do without their experienced wisdom. But Nanny Sang was different.

“Nanny, I know what you mean. I was just testing that Nanny Lu.” As Princess Qi, Ah Wu naturally relied most on the people she brought with her, but the palace was so large that it was impossible to do without others. Nanny Lu seemed fine to Ah Wu; she handled things with good judgment. However, after that one test, she was no longer reliable.

At least Nanny Lu’s heart was not with Ah Wu. She was sent by Chu Mao specifically to help Ah Wu recognize her relatives. From this, it was clear that Nanny Lu knew these relatives, even familiar ones, and naturally should know Fifth Master Hui’s character. Even Nanny Sang, who had never met Fifth Master Hui, knew this; Nanny Lu could not possibly be unaware of this, yet she did not speak up to dissuade Ah Wu.

But then, when Ah Wu wanted to add money to Lady Zhen’s gift, she suddenly stopped her. If Ah Wu had not spent some time with Chu Mao and known how much he respected his mother, who died in childbirth, she would have hesitated.

Even if Chu Mao did not care much about this cousin Zhen, he would never forbid himself from helping her just because she was a relative of Empress Xiaozhen.

Ah Wu thought for a moment. It seemed that this Nanny Lu must have a powerful backer, but she did not know which of the two concubines it was.

However, we must say, Ah Wu was wrong this time.