Chapter 14 – Farewell

“Then how did you reply to him?” Madam Yang asked her nervously.

Wen Hui said, “I wanted to tell him the truth. My favorite books are the novels and stories that  Third Brother read.”

Madam Yang was shocked. “You said that?”

“No.” Wen Hui lowered her head. “I’m not stupid…”

In that warm moment in the corridor, her fiancé’s gaze and smile were gentle. Just as Wen Hui was about to tell the truth, she instinctively realized she couldn’t.

She couldn’t reply like that.

Because this was not what he wanted to hear.

Wen Hui swallowed the words from her heart and said softly, “There aren’t many books at home. I only read some casual books occasionally. If you think there’s anything worth reading, you can tell me. I’ll ask my brothers to buy it in Qingzhou City.”

“Aiya, a trip to Changsha Prefecture made you grow up.” Madam Yang clapped her hands and finally felt relieved. “That’s right. You have to remember to speak like that in the future.”

Madam Yang thought that no matter how good her in-laws were, they were still different from her maternal family. How could she say what she thought? After getting married, a woman would live a different life from when she was a girl. It was like a second reincarnation. Fortunately, her reincarnation was not bad. Whether it was her mother-in-law, younger brother-in-law, or younger sister-in-law, they were all easy to get along with. This was also the benefit of being close to each other and knowing each other’s backgrounds.

However, she couldn’t say this to Wen Hui. Thinking that her mother-in-law would tell Wen Hui sooner or later, she didn’t worry about it and asked, “What about him? What did he say?”

When the smile in Lu Rui’s eyes deepened, Wen Hui knew that her answer was correct.

Lu Rui said, “Don’t trouble your brothers. I think they’re all people who get headaches when they see books. Anyway, this matter isn’t urgent. When I return, I’ll find some books and have someone send them to you. “

Wen Hui felt that Jiangzhou and Yuhang were so far away, and it wasn’t realistic to just send books. In the past, she didn’t have any concept of distant places. Ever since she went to Changsha Prefecture, she truly understood the distance and difficulties of a journey.

However, when Lu Rui said this, it didn’t seem like he was boasting.

He was different from her. He was a scholar. Although he hadn’t reached the age of twenty, he was treated as an adult wherever he went. Unlike her, her family never told her anything and always treated her like a child.

Wen Hui envied Lu Rui. In her heart, she felt that even if he couldn’t deliver the book, it didn’t matter. Because when he said this, he definitely meant it.

Sincerity was enough.

A young lady who had just experienced her first awakening of love didn’t care about anything. She only cared about whether the other party cared about her and whether the other party was sincere.

Wen Hui did not tell Madam Yang about these delicate thoughts. She only said, “The snow is so heavy. It must be very tiring to travel.”

Madame Yang poked her head: “Whose fault is it? Tell me, who’s to blame?”

Wen Hui withered and said unhappily, “I wonder if they’ve reached Jinan yet?”

—

The mother and son of the Lu family had already been escorted onto the ship by Wen Baihu and his sons. When the ship set sail, they could still see the members of the Wen family lingering at the pier, waving their hands.

After the Wen family had left, the Lu family’s mother and son also turned around and entered the warm cabin. The servant girl came forward to help them remove the cloak and took it outside to shake off the snow so that the cabin floor would not be wet.

The hot tea was served. Lu Rui reached out to take it and personally served it to Madam Lu.

Madam Lu sipped the tea and glanced at him: “Well, are you satisfied?”

Lu Rui bowed deeply: “Thank you, mother, for your blessing.”

Madam Lu snorted and then sighed.

Lu Rui also sat down and smiled: “Mother, don’t sigh. Although the Wen family is not as good, it’s not so bad that it’s unacceptable. I see that the whole family is simple and honest. It’s quite relaxing to get along with them. “

“That’s only applicable to you men.” Madam Lu said unhappily, “It’s tiring for me to get along with your mother-in-law. She doesn’t know anything, and I have to rack my brains to make sure there’s no awkward silence. I’m afraid that she’ll think we’re rude. This is more tiring than preparing for the New Year’s ceremony.”

Lu Rui said to the servant girl, “Quickly go get a wooden mallet. I’ll massage my mother’s shoulders. Don’t tire her out.”

The servant girl only covered her mouth and laughed.

Madam Lu scolded: “Don’t give me that.”

Lu Rui was only amusing his mother. It was fine as long as the effect was there. He said, “If things go well this time, father will be happy too.”

Madam Lu glanced at Lu Rui and said, “I’ll say the ugly words first. Your future wife is just like her mother. She just reads a few books and doesn’t understand anything when she talks about them. In the future, no one will accompany you in reading or singing poetry. Anyway, you’re the one who likes her. Don’t blame me when you regret it.”

“That’s okay.” Lu Rui chuckled. “Hui Niang is a gentle woman. We can teach her slowly in the future. She doesn’t need to be the top scorer in the imperial examinations. As long as she stays in our house, I don’t believe that she can’t be influenced.”

“Besides, mother is here. As long as mother is willing to take the trouble to bring her around and teach her, you’ll be able to teach her well.”

“I’ll have to rely on mother.”

Madam Lu pretended to be angry, “They said that one can enjoy leisure after marrying a daughter-in-law. Where’s mine? You want me to be your slave for the rest of my life, don’t you?”

Lu Rui smiled and said all kinds of nice things to make Madam Lu happy.

Although Madam Lu pretended to be angry, she thought about her son’s words in her heart and thought about it…

—

Madam Wen originally thought that after forcing Wen Hui to pretend to be a virtuous lady for a few days, the girl would go wild for three days to make up for it after the Lu family left. She didn’t expect that after the engagement, the wild girl would suddenly change her personality. The way she walked, spoke, and did things was more mature than before. She no longer chattered and skipped around.

Madam Wen whispered to her husband in private, “Is it because of the trip to Changsha or because of the Lu family’s son?”

Wen Baihu laughed heartily and said, “Both of them, both.”

“No matter what, it’s a good thing that they are compatible and our daughter has grown up.” Wen Baihu was very satisfied with this marriage. He was a rough man who had worked hard and had suddenly become in-laws with a scholar. If he were lucky, his son-in-law might also become a top scholar in the future. That would bring glory to the family.

Madam Wen sighed.

Wen Baihu asked curiously, “Why are you sighing? Jiayan became Xiucai at the age of fourteen. Are you still not satisfied with such a child?”

“What do you know?” Madam Wen said, “You men only know how to look at your son-in-law’s future, but you don’t know how to look at your mother-in-law. Whether a girl will live well after marrying over, it all depends on the mother-in-law!”

Wen Baihu smiled.

When he was young, he was a handsome young man, but he was poor. The Zhen family in Tingkou was a wealthy local family and looked down on a poor boy like him. It was Madam Wen who took a fancy to him and insisted on marrying him. Because of this, her relationship with the family was very strained, and they didn’t interact much after marriage.

More importantly, Mrs. Wen taught him the Zhen family’s spear techniques, which made the Zhen family even more unhappy.

Only after he became rich and diligently expressed his goodwill to the Zhen family did the relationship between the two families gradually improve.

However, his wife played a big part in his success. And his mother hated her for this. She felt that her daughter-in-law was too strong and suppressed her son. She also took advantage of her poor relationship with the Zhen family. Although she didn’t dare to cause trouble on important matters, she always made things difficult on small matters.

Although Wen Baihu felt guilty, he was a filial son and didn’t dare to disobey his widowed mother, who had raised him. Under the suppression of etiquette and filial piety, Madam Wen didn’t have a happy time in those years.

Later on, when Old Madam Wen passed away, the couple talked about the past. Madam Wen once said, “Fortunately, it was me. If it were someone weaker, she would definitely be tortured to death by your mother.”

Wen Baihu was embarrassed and lowered his head to coax his wife to calm down.

Thus, when he heard this, he subconsciously shrank back. After shrinking back, he came to his senses and said, “Madam Lu isn’t my mother. What does my mother know? She’s just a country woman. But Madam Lu is from a scholarly family and the wife of a scholar.”

Madam Wen said in annoyance, “So what if she’s the wife of a scholar? Isn’t the wife of Qingzhou Prefect also the wife of a scholar? Yet she is still torturing her daughter-in-law, right?”

Wen Baihu rubbed his hands, “That can’t be, right? I saw that Madam Lu’s voice was soft; she doesn’t look like that kind of person.”

Madam Wen was in a daze for a while and sighed, “I’m just afraid that a dog that bites doesn’t bark.”

—

Two more heavy snowfalls passed, and some of the rivers were frozen. Soon, it was the new year.

Wen Baihu brought the whole family to celebrate the new year with his superior, He Qianhu. The men were in the front yard while the women were in the back yard, chatting and congratulating each other.

Madam Wen brought her daughter-in-law and daughter to visit Madam He.

Madam He smiled and asked, “I heard that Hui Niang has a good marriage?”

This was the most honorable thing for the Wen family recently.

Madam Wen’s spirit was lifted, and she pretended to be modest, “Look at what you’re saying. If it were someone else, I would be shameless enough to brag, but in front of you, I wouldn’t dare to say that. “

The reason why Madam Wen said this was that Madam He was also from a scholarly family.

He Qianhu was different from Wen Baihu, who was from a peasant family. He was the son of a concubine in the capital, while Madam He’s maternal family was also from a scholarly family.

Madam He was flattered and laughed while covering her sleeves. After laughing, she asked in detail.

The whole Wen family was proud of this marriage. Madam Wen couldn’t hold back and started to talk about it. Her son-in-law had already become an official at such a young age.

Wen Hui’s face was red with embarrassment.

Madam He smiled, “Look at Hui Niang, she already knows how to be embarrassed. You’ve grown up.”

She said to her daughter, “Take Hui Niang to play with Xinxin.”

Miss He covered her mouth and laughed, tugging at Wen Hui’s sleeve, “Come with me, I’ll take you to see my cousin.”

Wen Hui used to be naive and naughty, but she was also straightforward and not pretentious. Her personality was likable. Miss He was much stricter because of her mother and envied Wen Hui for being able to play around. Both of them had a good relationship and could be considered close friends.

Miss He’s cousin, Xinxin, was about the same age as Wen Hui. She was also naive. When she saw Wen Hui, she praised her, “Ah, you’re so pretty.”

She was the daughter of a scholarly family, and her words were pleasant. Wen Hui immediately liked her.

The three girls were soon on the same page.

Wen Hui asked why Xinxin came to Shandong to celebrate the New Year. Xinxin pouted, saying, “I don’t want to go out in winter either.”

Speaking of which, it turned out that one of Xinxin’s cousins had recently had a bloody calamity and broken her leg. She found a Daoist priest from the Baiyun Monastery to divine her fortune, and he said she was being harmed by someone else. After much divination, the person who harm her was none other than Xinxin.

The solution was simple. The Daoist priest pointed out a direction and told Xinxin to hide in that direction until after the New Year. Xinxin’s aunt immediately said that her maternal family had a manor in that direction, and she could settle Xinxin there.

“My mother was furious and immediately said that she was afraid the manor was too close and would not be able to correct my cousin’s luck.”

Xinxin said angrily, “Mother said that if we go further in that direction, we’ll be heading straight to Qingzhou. Why don’t I go further and come to my aunt’s place? That’s why we came.”

Wen Hui was dumbfounded, “This, isn’t this too much?”

Xinxin sighed, “Well, who asked our branch to be born of concubines?”

It turned out that Xinxin’s family was a large and influential one. Madam He’s father was born of a concubine, and his official career was not outstanding, so he did not have much confidence in the family. While Xinxin’s cousin was the most favored daughter of the most important branch in the family.

Wen Hui and her brothers were all born of Madam Wen, and Wen Baihu did not have any concubines. This was the first time Wen Hui felt the complexity of a large family. As she chatted with Xinxin, she felt there were many differences between a civil official’s family and a military official’s family, and couldn’t help but feel anxious.

But then she thought about Lu Rui’s family. He had only one son for three generations, and the population was much simpler. She secretly patted her chest and felt that she was very lucky.

After Madam Wen finished talking with Madam He, she led Wen Hui back. Miss He and Xinxin went to meet Madam He.

Madam He asked if her niece and Wen Hui got along well. Xinxin said, “Hui niang is very amiable.”

Madam He smiled, “Yes, I’ve liked this girl since she was young.” She continued, “When her ‘Lian Yi Gege’ was gone, Wanwan and I felt sorry for her for a while. Who would’ve thought that she would gain something after losing it? And now she’s having another good marriage.”

Xinxin asked curiously, “What’s ‘Lian Yi Gege’ about?”

Miss He covered her sleeves and laughed, “She was once engaged to a family with the surname Huo. I don’t know his name, only I know that they called him Lian Yi. Do you know how I found out? This silly girl didn’t know shame when she was young. She always told me that she wanted to go to Lintao with ‘Lian Yi Gege’ when she grew up. So, we close friends often used this ‘Lian Yi Gege’ to tease her.”

“And then? How come he’s gone? Did he die of illness?” Xinxin asked.

“Sigh.” Madam He said, “I heard that they were involved in King Lu’s case and their whole family died.”

Xinxin suddenly understood. “I know about King Lu’s case. It happened two years ago, and many people died in the capital. Everyone at home forbade us from running around. During that time, there were no tea parties or poetry gatherings. I was so bored at home that I felt like I was going to sprout.”

Madam He waved her hand. “Let’s not talk about this anymore. It’s the New Year. How depressing.”

Xinxin and Wen Hui got along very well. After the New Year, she often dragged Miss He to play with her.

When she returned to the capital, she wrote a letter to Wen Hui and sent her some specialties from the capital.

But later on, the two of them lost contact. Later on, as time passed, Xinxin got married, took care of her husband, and taught her children. She followed her husband through the ups and downs of his official career. She threw the Wen family’s young miss far behind her and forgot about her.