Chapter 40 (1/2)

Glossary

时辰 | sichen | time system comprising of 12 two-hour periods of the day; one sichen is the equivalent of two modern hours

尺 | chi | a Chinese foot, about one-third of a meter

Ruan Zhu carefully looked at those fur pelts. They were all real fur, not imitations. The ancient era did not have the technology to imitate things. In her previous world’s large malls, those large fur overcoats had been sold with the cheapest being seven to eight thousand RMB while the good ones were worth several ten thousand RMB, maybe even hundreds of thousands RMB. Don’t talk of her buying one of these, even looking twice at those coats would make her heart start palpitating.[a]

“Do you like it?” Yun Shi Yi saw that his wife was happy and his mood subsequently rose as well. He finally hadn’t been this busy in vain.

Ruan Zhu nodded in satisfaction and let Nuan Qing store the pelts in the chests for safekeeping.

Nuan Qing smiled: “Miss, why put them away? How about letting us two brothers make some winter clothes with them for you? It will be perfect for you to wear them in winter as protection against the cold. It is currently the sixth month. When the weather turns cold, it will be around the time when Miss’s pregnancy is at the most critical and your former winter clothes would not be able to be worn at all. Later when your measurements are taken, the size has to be increased so that the clothing is not too small. In any case, we must not let the child in your belly become frozen, isn’t that correct?”

These words were very pleasant to hear! The corners of Yun Shi Yi’s mouth exposed a smile. In the beginning, he did not have a good impression of these two bedwarmers[b] and he couldn’t help now but to change his attitude: “Wife, you must not be so stingy. Rather than being placed in a chest to be damaged by moths, these pelts are better off being worn to fend off the cold. Let me tell you, if by case you freeze my son to death, we’ll have to settle things between us.”

“Three of these red fox furs are best to be made into a long cape and the remaining two arctic fox pelts can be made into a long skirt. There are some bolts of cloud brocade that we brought from Lan Zhou in the chests over there. Collect some simple colors for the material.” Ruan Zhu knew that Nuan Chun’s and Nuan Qing’s needlework was pretty good and had no worries handing over this work for them to do. Towards her own hubby: “Only your son exists in your eyes–hey, put your hand away……”

He had placed his hand who knows when on top of her small belly, groping about, not caring at all whether there were others in the room, this pervert.

“What, I’m chatting with my son.” Yun Shi Yi unhappily responded.

Nuan Qing saw his Master flirting with his wife by pretending to be displeased and was unconcerned. Only Yun Shi Wei was envious as he fixed his eyes on his wife’s still dainty figure, never blinking. The atmosphere in the room was warm but Ruan Zhu still hadn’t realized his unnaturalness.

After a while, Nuan Chun returned and reported that the iced pineapple juice had been sent to Sky Room #3. After that Mister had heard that this was Miss’s way of saying thanks, he had been very happy and said that if Miss ever wanted to hear the guqin again, he was always respectfully waiting.

“You can all withdraw!”

Yun Shi Yi sent out the two bedwarmers and knitted his brows in silence as he pondered while looking at his wife. After a long time, he finally asked: “Does Wife like the one that plays the guqin?”

Should it be said that Ruan Zhu was foolish? For she absolutely was not aware that her husband was jealous and casually said: “He is very talented with the guqin, who wouldn’t like that?”

She was not referring to the like between males and females–she liked his skill. It was purely in an appreciative manner, just like how one could be fond of beautiful things. But her husband misunderstood her. “What is his name and what does he do?”

“He’s called Lu Piao Xiang and he is a courtesan in Lan Zhou’s red district. Because he is very skilled with the guqin, he is adored by many high-ranking Madams and Misses. That day, you had sent me to the pleasure boat for a tour around the river, but you left because you had some matters to take care of, leaving just me behind……”

Ruan Zhu spoke about what happened that day but she glossed over the matter about her poem recitation with a few sentences. After all, plagiarism was dishonorable and even though no one knew about it, she was too embarrassed to make her feat well-known.

From the red district? Yun Shi Yi knit his brows as he hesitated. Bring a courtesan into his household, was it a blessing or a curse?

Lu Piao Xiang. He carefully thought about this name. He had heard others bring it up before. His guqin skills were very good and he has actually been requested by all the Madams and Misses who were offsprings of famous families[c]. One song of his was worth several thousand coins, and he also looked to see whether the one that requested him was one that understood the guqin. If it was a philistine patron, he would refuse and abruptly walk away.

Ruan Zhu had invited him to come over and play the guqin. It was reasonable to say that requesting him wasn’t that easy, but he had actually came over and his mood was also not bad. There was only one thing that could explain this phenomenon–Lu Piao Xiang had been thinking of and been concerned with his wife.

It was still Yun Shi Wei whose thoughts were straightforward: “Spouse, since you like the guqin player, do you want to take him as a secondary husband?”

Ruan Zhu was perplexed: “Your brain has a problem. Which eye of yours saw that I liked him? Take him as a concubine? How did you even think of this?” Was she like him, unable to control her □?

“But Eldest Brother just asked you and you said you liked him.”

Yun Shi Wei definitely did not want another secondary husband to suddenly appear after having just been married for how long. Even regarding the matter of accepting secondary husbands, it had to wait until two or three years later when his wife had finished giving birth to his children.

Yun Shi Yi also stared at his wife. He too wanted to know the answer to brother’s question.

Ruan Zhu was perplexed–she had said she liked him? She tilted her head as she tried to remember: “What I like is his music. I never said I liked him as a person. You must not let your thoughts stray.”[d]