Chapter 10

Editor: DarkSapphire, Uncia

Xiao Lian was a little embarrassed: “Yes, I wanted to give you a surprise.” 

“Thank you madam. I am thrilled, but if madam were to surprise me again in the future, please don’t tire yourself out too much, it would hurt me.”

Xiao Lian promised: “I will pay attention to my health in the future.”

Yan Xixia carefully touched the fabric: “This is from the Jinyi Pavilion?”

“Yes, the fabric is from there, but my craftsmanship is definitely not on par with theirs. Please accept it.” 

“Madam, please do not undervalue yourself.” Yan Xixia rubbed the embroidery pattern on his clothes: “Madam embroidered is as great as ever.”

Xiao Lian was in a good mood: “Why don’t you try it on?”

“Then I would have to trouble madam.”

Xiao Lian helped Yan Xixia get dressed. He didn’t take Yan Xixia’s measurements before making the clothes, but his visual estimation turned out to be a good fit. The light blue color was elegant and otherworldly. He straightened out Yan Xixia’s clothes: “You look very good.”

Yan Xixia secretly thought that the Jinyi Pavilion’s fabrics were very pricey. He also knew Xiao Lian’s financial situation. He didn’t know how much money Xiao Lian had left: “Madam, did you spend most of your savings?”

Xiao Lian was afraid that Yan Xixia would feel responsible for the few silver pieces he spent on the fabric: “Not much, I can earn them back. Besides, you also gave me the wedding suit, which was much more expensive than the outfit I made for you. Please don’t worry about it.”

Yan Xixia took Xiao Lian’s hand: “Madam, although the wedding suit I gave you cost more silver, but they are nothing in the eyes of the Yan Family. The clothes you gave me were crafted by your own hands. To me, they are much more valuable. I hope that the wife really is giving me this from the bottom of his heart and not for paying me back. I treat madam well, and he should accept it with a peace of mind. You don’t need to do the same for me. I would even be happy if the wife paid me back with something as small as a handkerchief.”

Xiao Lian had never been treated this way by others, even as a child, and he isn’t used to accepting others’ goodwill with peace of mind. If someone gives, he must return. Therefore, if Yan Xixia gave him a wedding suit, he would give him the outfit, although what he gave was not of equal value. At least it made him feel at ease. 

We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.

Rbk, tfjglcu ktja Tjc Wlzlj rjlv, mbeiv Tjc Wlzlj yf rbwfbcf batfg atjc tlr bkc wbatfg ktb kbeiv agfja Wljb Oljc xlcvis klatbea jrxlcu obg jcsatlcu lc gfaegc? Wljb Oljc rffwfv ab yfilfnf la lc tlr tfjga, yea tf ralii tjv ab jrx: “Qtja lo bcf vjs sbe offi atja sbe tjnf qjlv abb wemt, jcv la kjr cba kbgat la?”

“If there is such a day, it must be you who went to paradise before me, and the old me would complain about how I was so good to you, yet you left me all alone. Besides, I can’t be the only one to decide if it was worth it or not. Madam has a voice too.”

Xiao Lian leaned into Yan Xixia’s arms: “I never had much confidence in myself.”

Yan Xixia hugged Xiao Lian and chuckled: “Does madam have confidence in me?” 

“Yes, I do.”

“Then, madam, just trust me.”

“Always.”

“If you are short of silver in the future, you can go directly to the Yan Family’s treasury. You are the other owner of the Yan Family.” Yan Xixia laughed and joked: “It’s fine even if you emptied the Yan Family out.” 

Xiao Lian could only hug Yan Xixia harder, his face buried in his arms: “I will remember.”

Yan Xixia continued to tease: “Is the madam going to remember to clean out the Yan Mansion or to get silver from the treasury?”

Xiao Lian counterattacked: “Empty the Yan Mansion.”

Yan Xixia laughed out loud: “After that, I will have to rely on madam to support me.” 

Yan Xixia’s laughter also infected Xiao Lian, and he also laughed: “Of course.”

Now that Xiao Lian finished and gave Yan Xixia the outfit, the handkerchief order can be brought back to the Yan Mansion to embroider. He went to the embroidery workshop to pick up his small box. On the way, he met housekeeper Yan and a familiar person was standing beside the housekeeper, but he didn’t think much at the time. He nodded at his elder: “Uncle Yan.”

“About to head out?”

“Yes, I need to pick up something from my workshop. Since Uncle Yan has a guest, I won’t be taking more of your time.” 

“Oh! I asked him to bring in the shipment. Nothing major. But you go on ahead.”

Xiao Lian nodded and left.

The person next to Uncle Yan was the same person Xiao Lian met in the bazaar—the person with the donkey cart that carried cargo to the south of the city. Because of Xiao Lian’s beautiful appearance, that person thought Xiao Lian was a young kept prostitute and recalled him as very stingy. Since the person remembered Xiao Lian, he asked Housekeeper Yan: “Sir, who was that person just now?”

“Him?” Housekeeper Yan watched the person staring at the young master’s wife, thinking that he was coveting the wife’s beauty, so he spoke unhappily: “He is the young master’s wife, watch your eyes.” 

The man really couldn’t believe it and said in a louder tone: “He is the new wife from the Xiao Family who the young master married?”

“That’s correct, the one and only.”

The man really couldn’t figure it out: “Then why did he need a ride in the market when the Yan Family clearly has their own cart?”

Uncle Yan didn’t know about this, and asked: “What are you talking about?” 

“It was days ago. I forgot the exact number of days, maybe six days? Or eight? Anyway, it was less than ten days.”

“Get to the point.”

“The point is he went to the market to find a donkey cart that was going to the south for a ride. I asked for a couple of silvers for a round trip, but he thought it was too expensive, so he didn’t take the ride and went on foot instead. Later in the afternoon, when I was on my second shipment, I saw him walking back carrying something. It was very strange.”

Housekeeper Yan glanced at the man: “A couple of silvers? If I remember correctly, round trips usually cost one, rarely two at most.” 

The man didn’t expect that Housekeeper Yan knew the market prices, and he laughed: “I was the only cargo that day going to the south. I naturally wanted to charge more. My greed blinded me. As a matter of fact, I have had no one asking for a ride for a while now. It served me right. I have learned from this mistake. Sir, please don’t cancel your order.”

“Don’t worry, since I requested for you today, I won’t send you out now.” But Uncle Yan already planned to not do future business with this person.

The man nodded and bowed: “Ah! Thank you so much, sir!”

After Housekeeper Yan dealt with the goods, he thought of the conversation and told Yan Xixia about it. When Yan Xixia heard it, he knew right away what and why Xiao Lian went to the south. No wonder he was so tired and distressed when he came back that night. Such a silly thing: “I know what’s going on, thank you Uncle Yan for telling me.” 

“I don’t know what he was doing, but I still wanted to inform you of this. I see it was nothing serious.” Just as Uncle Yan was about to leave, he noticed Yan Xixia was wearing an outfit that he had never seen before. It must be new: “Is this new?”

Yan Xixia’s expression softened: “Madam made it.”

Uncle Yan was not a stupid either. He connected the dots just from looking at the clothes’ material. He knew the whole situation and felt relieved that the old Yan masters could finally rest in peace, for there was someone who cared for the young master: “I see, that’s great! Then I will go down first. ”

Xiao Lian took the small box,returned to the Yan Mansion, and went directly to the backyard to find Yan Xixia, who was on the second floor. Yan Xixia was practicing Chinese characters, and Xiao Lian tried to make as little noise as possible. He was afraid to disturb Yan Xixia’s rhythm, because if Yan Xixia lost his place, he would have a hard time finding it. Xiao Lian put down the small box, sat at the table, and started to embroider the handkerchief. 

Yan Xixia put down his pen after writing and walked to sit down beside Xiao Lian: “Brother Xu and Brother Wen will come this afternoon. I didn’t have a good chance to introduce you to them yet, and it just so happens that you are home today, so everyone can be properly introduced.”

Troubled by his thoughts, Xiao Lian almost made a mistake. He put down the handkerchief and looked toward Yan Xixia, feeling a little uncertain in his heart: “You are all scholars. I only learned the basics and only have a small embroidery workshop under my name. Won’t I embarrass you?”

Yan Xixia didn’t answer, but asked: “Does madam think I am the kind of person who will look down on others?”

Xiao Lian replied: “Never.” 

Yan Xixia smiled and said: “Then my friends won’t either. Madam, please don’t worry. Madam is very good. Naturally, I want them to envy me for having such a good wife.”

Xiao Lian felt strange. He felt his mind was at ease every time Yan Xixia talked about him, because he liked Yan Xixia more with each passing day.