Chapter 137: A Perfect Match (Part 2)

  Ronghua came out of the small study and had someone go to Xue Yishuang's house to invite her over.

  。

  The two sisters-in-law hadn't had a chance to exchange a few words when Mu Jin called over Xue Liu as well.

  。

  Just as a few people had sat down, the old lady asked Li's mother to bring in the pen, ink, paper and books that were just mentioned with Xiaoyu.

  Mrs. Li saw Miss Five and Miss Six both smiling involuntarily, "So all the misses are here."

  The fifth young lady and the sixth young lady watched as the maids arranged things on the table.

  Various kinds of brushes, from small to large, are arranged on the brush holder. There are also high-quality inkstones, ink sticks and several boxes of ink blocks. Li's mother carefully opens the ink blocks for Ronghua to see, many of which are high-quality old ink that writes with a rich color without bleeding through the paper.

  Rong Hua had heard before that Sixth Miss wasn't one for dancing or writing poetry either, let alone Fifth Miss.

  These ink blocks that only people who often use ink can distinguish, although Li's mother doesn't say a word, she also knows who they are for. Rong Hua takes a look at Li's mother, and Li's mother indeed smiles at her.

  Then there were several pieces of good paperweights, a complete set of incense burners and incense cakes on the desk, and books and calligraphy paintings filled the entire room.

  Rong Hua smiled and said, "This is also too much."

  Mrs. Li said: "The old lady has spoken, if there is anything else you need, just let the young lady know." She then turned to look at Miss Wai, Xue Yishuang, who was standing beside her.

  Xue Yishuang was looking at those numerous brushes.

  Ronghua invited Li's mother to have some tea, then sent her off and returned to the house with a smile, looking at Xue Yishuang and Xue Yiwu, "Now we need to rearrange the house."

  Xue Yishuang and Xue Yiwan both burst out laughing.

  Ronghua led Xue Yishuang and Xue Yiwan to look through those things one by one, not even using the maids' help. The three sisters-in-law chatted while opening the cabinets, discussing where to put these things.

  "Don't look at these many types of brushes, each has its own use."

  Watching Xue Yishuang and Xue Yiwan show interest, Rong Hua had Mugui grind the ink, Yanling spread the paper, and then wrote different "Xue" characters with different brushes.

  Xue Yishuang and Xue Yiwan looked at it in surprise, Rong Hua also gradually became interested, and simply changed the font to write a few full pages.

  After finishing writing, the sisters went to pick books again. Just as they were getting excited, Jinxiu came up and whispered in Ronghua's ear: "The gifts are all ready, shall we send them now?"

  Rong Hua said: "Let's just have Feng Lichang's family send it over." Although the things were sent to Yan Hua, the effect would be the same.

  Jinxiu nodded slightly.

  Feng Lichang's family is good at observing words and expressions, and their speech is also pleasant to hear. There isn't a suitable housekeeper around her either. It will take some time for the capable maid by her side to get married and become a daughter-in-law. Why not use Feng Lichang's family first?

  Jinxiu came out of the house and handed things over to Feng Lichang's family, "Trouble Feng's mother to go once, don't say anything else, just deliver the goods."

  "Sixth Auntie is not at home, should I leave this thing here?"

  Jinxiu said: "The wife's intention is that the things given to Liu Gu Niang are considered delivered even if they are handed over."

  Feng Lichang's family immediately understood Jinxiu's meaning, "The young lady will go back and tell the madam, let the madam rest assured."

  Jinxiu nodded and smiled.

  Feng Lichang's family took things and went to Meng's house.

  Jinxiu entered the yard, and Mugen came out of the house to greet her, "How was it?"

  "It's all arranged."

  "Madam, you have a kind heart. What was Six Auntie like to you at home? You can still lend her a helping hand." After a pause, he added, "But Six Auntie is also quite pitiful."

  Jinxiu said: "I hope I won't disappoint Madam's kindness."

  ……

  The next morning, Yanhua and Yaohua arrived at the Qinghua Temple. However, due to the large number of devout men and women inside the temple, they spent some silver coins but still couldn't get to burn the first incense stick. Yanhua couldn't help feeling a bit disheartened.

  Yao Hua comforted her, "Sixth sister, don't be disheartened. People say that as long as one's heart is sincere, it will work. Whether or not the first incense stick was lit has nothing to do with it."

  Yan Hua said: "The maid in the house next door said that the first incense stick is the most effective, now it's too late to offer it, you're also here to comfort me."

  Yao Hua didn't say anything.

  Yan Hua came up and pulled Yao Hua's hand, "Come on, let's hurry over while there are fewer people."

  Two people arrived at the main hall surrounded by maids and elderly women. As Yao Hua was still an unmarried young lady, the Tao family had many relatives follow along. When burning incense, Yao Hua handed over the incense money and also added more oil to the large sea lanterns as instructed by the first wife every day. Her wishes were simple, just praying for peace and tranquility in the household.

  "Which family was the first incense stick offered to today?"

  "That person replied: 'It's the young lady from the Chang Ning Bo family.'"

  Yan Hua heard this and couldn't help but hum a soft tune.

  Because they couldn't land for too long, Yao Hua and Yan Hua went to the nunnery next door, a courtyard provided for female guests to rest.

  The nun who was welcoming guests in the hut came forward and said: "The yard has been cleaned up, please follow me to the wing room for a rest, ladies."

  Yao Hua nodded, Yan Hua looked around and saw that the courtyard was quiet and clean, and since there were many people with them, she felt at ease. The nun who welcomed them said: "Su Xi has been prepared since early morning today."

  Yao Hua nodded slightly.

  Although the house was simple, a nun came to lecture on Buddhism after a while. Yanhua thought of what Ronghua had said before and was extra careful, checking the house inside and out, and letting the maids clean up before allowing Yaohua to enter and rest.

  The abbot was expounding on the dharma, while Ruan Yu and Yao Hua were chatting in the house. Xiang Qiao came in and said: "Fourth Miss of Changning Bo's manor has arrived."

  Yao Hua was taken aback for a moment, then quickly stood up and rushed out to greet him.

  Chang Ningbo, the fourth young lady, wore a light purple lotus-patterned summer shirt and saw Yao Hua's face reveal a smile with deep meaning. She looked at Yao Hua several times, her eyes finally falling on the thin gauze cloak outside Yao Hua, then stepped forward lightly and smiled: "Just now, I heard someone in the hut say that two female donors had arrived, so I asked a few questions, but didn't expect to meet the second young lady, so I came over to take a look."

  Yao Hua smiled slightly and stepped forward, saying: "It's been a long time since I last met Miss Fourth."

  Miss Ren Si also stepped forward and took Yao Hua's hand, seemingly very enthusiastic.

  Yao Hua introduces Yan Hua to Fourth Miss, "My sixth sister, Yan Hua."

  Fourth Miss entered the house and talked with Yaohua and Yanhua.

  Yan Hua listened to the fourth young lady, who seemed to be very familiar with this area. She spoke with a lively expression, her eyebrows and eyes sparkling with joy. "There's a patch of flower trees outside the hut. Last time I came, they hadn't bloomed yet. Today, as soon as we entered the yard, we could smell the fragrance of flowers. They must have bloomed. Do you want to go take a look?"

  Yan Hua listened to Miss Ren Si's words and felt that it wasn't right, "This is a sedan chair that was prepared early in the morning, what if we encounter strangers outside?"

  Fourth Miss said, "What's the big deal? This temple is not that large. In the past, I often came with my mother to burn incense, and all the people around were cleared away. It was just our family members, with male servants waiting outside in the outer layer, so no one could come here. This time, I also brought a lot of people, good sister, you can rest assured, I won't harm you."

  Yan Hua took a look at the maidservants brought by Fourth Miss Ren, all of whom had an air of disdain. Then she looked at Fourth Miss Ren's attire: since she was wearing a lotus-patterned summer shirt, the gemstones on her body were all in jade color, there was a golden hairpin on her head, and her wrists were adorned with transparent jade bracelets - which one of these wasn't more noble than what Yan Hua wore?

  After listening to Fourth Miss's words, she seemed to have become a little more cautious. Yanhua suddenly felt that after getting married, she had become somewhat timid and fearful, and Ronghua's casual remark before leaving had made her so careful.

  Yao Hua came over to burn incense, which was always agreed by Mrs. Dai, what does she have to do with this?

  Fourth Miss Ren pulled Yaohua to leave, Yaohua glanced at Yanhua, Yanhua just slightly blocked her way. Fourth Miss Ren said: "We can stand inside the wall and look, those trees outside will stretch their branches out of the wall, we can see the ones outside from here."

  Yan Hua finally relaxed slightly and let Miss Ren Si take Yao Hua out.

  "Shall we go and take a look with grandma then?"

  Ruan Hua's face turned cold, "It's just a flower tree, nothing special, where did you get such great interest?"

  Xiang Qiao Dao said: "Looking at Second Miss's intention is very familiar with Ren Fourth Miss, Grandma said something in the past, in the future..."

  Yan Hua glanced at Xiang Qiao with a hint of disdain, "They say she's the young lady of the Xun Gui family, but looking at her, she seems so... ordinary. I'm not someone who hasn't seen many famous beauties before, why would I need to fawn all over her seeking favor?" Yan Si spoke as if no one was better than her.

  Xiang Qiao lowered her head and stopped speaking.

  Yan Hua was already in a bad mood, and the more she talked, the angrier she became, gradually becoming immersed in her own sorrow. Taking advantage of Xiang Qiao's distraction, she tilted her head and shed tears.

  Xiang Qiao knew Yan Hua's temperament, and she quickly looked away, but couldn't help feeling a sour nose. Grandma hadn't done much wrong, yet the Meng family was being so intolerant, thinking back to when they returned from the Tao family earlier, Grandpa had even pulled Grandma aside to speak in a low voice, it was clearly agreed upon that if nothing happened, reporting back to Master and Madam would be enough.

  But unexpectedly, as soon as grandma returned home, she changed her tune. Grandpa didn't even say hello before leaving, and grandma stayed at home for a night without anyone coming to talk to her about anything.

  Last night, grandma said in the house that grandpa must be reading books and didn't know if he would make a bowl of noodles in the small kitchen at midnight. She sighed and felt heartbroken, saying "He also has his difficulties."

  What kind of heart does grandma have, she can actually do it to this extent, Xiangqiao is even more distressed.

  Fourth Miss said it was to admire the flowers, and as they walked in, she ordered the maids and old women to stop, and only went with Yao Hua into the inner courtyard to see the flower trees.

  Miss Ren and Yaohua were chatting and laughing at first, but Yaohua's attention was focused on the flowers on the tree, and she gradually drifted away from Miss Ren. As she sniffed the fragrance of the flowers and gazed at their delicate petals, a smile slowly spread across her face. Unintentionally, she lowered her head to look at the fallen flowers, but accidentally caught sight of a pair of men's footprints in the wet mud under the tree, which made her jump with surprise.