Chapter 9: Brewing Sencha (1)
Matriarch He instructed the two juniors to pass their days peacefully. She would have continued, but upon noticing her daughter-in-law’s unhealthy pallor, she chose not to keep them any longer and began to prelude their dismissal.
However, as He Changdi was about to leave, Matriarch He stopped him.
“Sanlang, send your wife back first and come to Grandmother’s place later. Grandmother has something to say to you in private.”
He Changdi froze for the barest of moments, before he nodded in agreement.
When Chu Lian finished paying her respects to the elders, He Changdi grabbed her by the wrist and pulled her out.
He Erlang’s white teeth were blinding against his tan complexion. “Heh, Third Brother is usually so cold; who would have thought that he’s actually the type to pamper his wife? We finally have proof that he’s one of us after all.”
At that, He Dalang rolled his eyes and shot him an ugly look.
Fine, fine. No one at home ever appreciates his company. He Erlang was about to stand and make his escape, when He Dalang grabbed him by the ear and dragged him off to the study to talk.
“Peiwen, go back and take a rest. So much exertion isn’t good for your body.” Once He Changdi and his wife had left, Matriarch He turned and addressed her daughter-in-law.
Madam Liu’s body was indeed extremely weak. She had forced herself out of bed for the sake of her son and daughter-in-law’s tea ceremony. After only sitting for an hour or so, she was on the verge of collapse.
“Mother, please help this daughter-in-law take care of Sanlang. Daughter-in-law will take her leave now.” Madam Liu’s voice was light and feeble.
Matriarch He waved her hand and ordered Senior Servant Liu to escort Madam Liu back to her courtyard. They left together accompanied by two maidservants.
Only Madam Zou and Matriarch He’s two daughters were left in Qingxi Hall.
Once Madam Zou saw that there was nothing left to do, she rose and paid her respects to Matriarch He, intending to move to the outer court to manage the estate for the day.
Matriarch He was no longer in charge of maintaining the House of Count Jing’an. That had originally been Countess Jing’an’s role, but then she had fallen ill. For a period of time after, Matriarch He had once again temporarily taken up the mantle, but she had quickly passed it on when her granddaughter-in-law had entered the household. Thus, it was now Madam Zou’s turn to oversee the estate.
All matters, internal or external, were all handled by Madam Zou.
After leaving Qingxi Hall, He Changdi reverted to his ice-cold expression. He tossed Chu Lian’s arm away and walked back to their courtyard in the He Estate, one step ahead of her.
Xiyan frowned as she watched Young Master’s straight back. She quietly called out to Sixth Miss, but Chu Lian shook her head with a bitter smile.
She reassured Xiyan with a silent look before turning towards the courtyard.
Who knew what was wrong with this He Sanlang?
After returning to their own courtyard, He Changdi simply sat in the outer chamber, drinking a cup of tea before returning to Qingxi Hall. Chu Lian sat in the inner chamber, watching Xiyan and Fuyan as they put away the dowry that she had brought over from the Duke of Ying’s Household. Upon hearing the movements from outside, she realised he had gone out.
He had probably made this trip back with her just for the old matriarch to see!
Chu Lian unconsciously frowned.
Hah… What was going on? This He Changdi was completely different from the male lead in the novel! Had something gone wrong somewhere?
But other than He Changdi, everything else was exactly the same.
She couldn’t make any sense of it, so she simply chose to stop thinking about it.
The female lead in the novel had four personal maidservants, all with the word ‘yan’ in their names 1. Each of them was a beautiful woman, with their own unique special abilities. However, only Xiyan and Fuyan had grown up with the female lead; Jingyan and Mingyan had been awarded by Duchess Ying when she had married out of the estate.
Chu Lian knew everything about the personalities and minds of these four maidservants, as well as their endings.
The looks that Fuyan had tossed He Changdi from time to time hadn’t escaped her eyes.
Xiyan also tossed glances, but these were towards her mistress as she was putting away the dowry boxes. Xiyan had been quiet so far, but she did have a few words she wanted to tell Sixth Miss. However, with the other maidservants by her side, it wasn’t a good time to speak up.
Sixth Miss, she realized, had rushed to the old matriarch’s courtyard early that morning for the tea ceremony. She hadn’t eaten much, either. Intent on rectifying this, Xiyan asked, “Third Young Madam, are you hungry? Could you let this servant bring some refreshments over?”
Chu Lian nodded absentmindedly.
Xiyan brought back an exquisite box very quickly. The senior servants in charge of the main kitchen had been very courteous. Upon hearing that it was Third Young Madam who wanted some pastries, they had brought out a fresh batch for Xiyan to bring back.
Xiyan took out plate after plate of sweets from the box. To cheer Sixth Miss up, she even specially teased her and exaggerated her remarks. “Third Young Madam, look at these pastries! We didn’t see anything like this back at the Ying Estate! These look so beautiful, why don’t you try one?”
1. The ‘yan’ in each maidservant’s name means ‘wild goose’. Servants were usually named in sets, where a group of servants serving one master would have a similar theme, or share one character in their names.