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CHAPTER 12
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With a smile in the corner of Nanny Lu's eyes, she lifted the curtain and entered the room. The Tan family had strict rules, especially for young scholars like Tan Jian. Even if they were newlyweds, they couldn't neglect their studies. Early this morning, he had gone to the study.
In the room, only Yang Zhen was there, sitting in front of a table with a chessboard, the pieces not moving for a long time. Propping up her cheek, she seemed lost in thought, her face blushing.
As soon as Nanny Lu entered, she couldn't help but chuckle. "It seems the young lady is not displeased today."
Nanny Lu was Yang Zhen's nursemaid who had been by her side since childhood. She had even inquired about many things related to the Tan family. Seeing Yang Zhen blushing at her laughter, she turned her head with a hum and casually made a few moves on the chessboard.
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Nanny Lu's laughter grew, and she sat down beside Yang Zhen. “It's alright not to understand things on the sidelines, but one must never be ignorant of human affairs and social interactions.”
Saying this suddenly, Yang Zhen was puzzled. “Have I offended someone again?”
In the past, whenever she interacted with girls of similar age in the capital, she never knew when she had offended someone. Even her mother would say to her, "Think your words over thirty times before you speak!”
Yang Zhen thought to herself, even if she thought it over thirty times, wouldn't it still be the same sentence?"
But her mother had said, “the husband's family is not the same as the parents' family. Only by handling the relationship with the husband's family well can one live comfortably and freely. Otherwise, it's like seeking trouble for oneself.”
This time, Yang Zhen furrowed her brows and asked Nanny Lu, "Did I... offend someone?"
Nanny Lu hurriedly replied, “The young lady hasn't offended anyone. The old servant was just giving the young lady a reminder.”
As she spoke, Nanny Lu glanced at Yang Zhen deliberately, "Wasn't Second Master different from the previous two days?”
Yang Zhen's heart jumped at the words. It was true, for the first two days, he was confused and acted rashly; yet yesterday, he was patient and his demeanor was extremely gentle...
Yang Zhen didn't answer, she blinked her eyes quickly and blushed before nodding.
“Exactly,” Nanny Lu smiled, “Second Master must have received guidance from someone important.”
Yang Zhen widened her eyes, hearing Nanny Lu say in a low voice, “Yesterday, the old servant saw Second Master lingering near the main courtyard gate for a long time. He wanted to go in but hesitated. In the end, he was seen by the eldest lady and was called into the main courtyard.”
Yang Zhen immediately understood.
“Nanny means, it was Sister-in-law who guided Second Master?”
Nanny Lu nodded, “The old servant deliberately stayed near the main courtyard for a while and saw Second Master coming out. His eyes were bright, clearly not like the confused and entangled appearance before.”
“I see…” Yang Zhen responded.
Yang Zhen was surprised, but when she thought about it, the thought of this matter reaching Xiang Yi's ears made her face even redder, as if she had been exposed to the scorching sun.
Yet, Nanny Lu interjected, "The Eldest Lady is kind-hearted. She taught Second Master how to get along with you. If she had malicious intentions, wouldn't she take the opportunity to sow discord?"
Yang Zhen's heart skipped a beat at this statement and she muttered, "Indeed, Sister-in-law is truly kind. But for some reason, it seems that the members of the Tan family don't really like her."
Nanny Lu understood these matters better than Yang Zhen did. "It's mostly due to her background. In short, over the years, the noble families and the commoner families have been increasingly at odds. Moreover, with the incident in the Xiang family, it unavoidably affected Lady Xiang."
She lowered her voice as she continued, "The young lady might not know, but it's said that when Lady Xiang married into the family, she had only brought eight sedan-loads of dowry."
"Eight sedan-loads?!" Yang Zhen had never heard of any family giving only eight sedan-loads of dowry for a bride. "If the Xiang family lacked money, couldn't the Tan family have added to her dowry?"
Adding to the dowry of a bride with modest means was a sign of respect and dignity from the groom's family. Conversely, this also seemed to shed light on the Tan family's attitude toward the Xiang family.
As Yang Zhen observed the fair and just demeanor of the eldest son of the family, she wondered why he treated his wife in such a manner.
Thinking about the gentle and kind demeanor of Sister-in-law and the attitude of the Tan family and their eldest son, Yang Zhen couldn't sit still any longer.
Before Nanny Lu could say anything else, Yang Zhen suddenly stood up.
"I'm going to the main courtyard!"
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...
Yang Zhen arrived at the main courtyard unexpectedly. Xiang Yi thought it would take a few more days for Tan Jian to approach her with anything to say, but he had come today.
She had hurried over, with Nanny Lu huffing and puffing as she hurried along behind her.
Xiang Yi watched the two of them, bustling in with urgency.
"Is there something urgent for Little Sister to come over today?"
Nanny Lu hadn't yet caught her breath, and Yang Zhen wasn't in a rush to speak either. She just gazed at her sister-in-law.
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Sister-in-law was the matriarch of the Tan family, and according to reason, she should be more dignified than Yang Zhen. However, she was dressed in an outdated plain-colored outfit, with a pair of small silver pendants barely the size of rice grains hanging from her ears. Neatly arranged hairpins adorned her hair bun, including two rather ordinary-looking ones.
Even so, she still had an ethereal beauty. At first glance, Yang Zhen couldn't bring herself to offer up all her good things to her.
Thinking this, she stepped forward a couple of paces, took out a purse from her sleeve, and placed it on the tea table next to Xiang Yi.
Amidst the jingling, something slipped out of the purse.
It was a pair of exquisitely smooth white jade bracelets, with fine golden threads intricately woven into patterns along half of them.
It was clearly of significant value.
"Sister-in-law, this is a small token of my appreciation," Yang Zhen said resolutely.
Xiang Yi was momentarily taken aback, but upon seeing Nanny Lu's embarrassed smile, she quickly grasped Yang Zhen's intention.
She chuckled and pushed the bracelets back. "Little Sister is being too polite. This is what I should do. There's no need for these."
In the Tan household, if anyone treated her without much prejudice, it would probably only be Tan Jian. And if Tan Jian had something to do, she naturally would help him. Moreover, she liked this younger sister from the military background.
She declined the gift, but Yang Zhen became anxious. "Why doesn't Sister-in-law want them? Is it that you don't like the design? I'm not good at picking these things..."
She hadn't chosen the design, only in her haste she had taken the most precious and beautiful pair of bracelets from her dowry.
Nanny Lu was out of options, so she had to say, "Madam, it's just a small token of appreciation. Please accept it."
Xiang Yi was somewhat helpless and amused. She was about to say something, but suddenly heard the sound of a man's footsteps in the courtyard.
The sound of those footsteps caused her eyelid to twitch.
Xiang Yi's expression became more composed, and she was just about to ask Yang Zhen to put the bracelets away again. Unexpectedly, Yang Zhen took off the emerald green jade bracelets from her own wrist.
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"Sister-in-law, perhaps you find the gold thread design a bit ostentatious? These jade bracelets have a decent quality. Please accept this pair, or maybe both pairs..." Yang Zhen suggested.
As the footsteps grew closer, Xiang Yi's eyelid twitched more rapidly.
She knew Yang Zhen had no ulterior motives; she was straightforward. But she truly couldn't accept these bracelets.
Xiang Yi put both pairs of bracelets back into the purse, which she handed back to Yang Zhen.
"I appreciate your kind thoughts, but I can't accept these. Please take them back quickly."
As she said this, she gave Nanny Lu a meaningful glance.
"I won't keep Little Sister any longer for now. You're welcome to come visit anytime when you're free," Xiang Yi said.
Nanny Lu immediately understood Xiang Yi's intention and discreetly tugged Yang Zhen.
"... Let's go back first. We'll visit Madam another day," Nanny Lu said, pulling Yang Zhen with her. Xiang Yi escorted them to the door as they left.
Yet, Yang Zhen hadn't managed to give the gifts she intended to give. Even though Sister-in-law seemed difficult, she truly wanted to give her something. Why didn't she accept?
As they reached the doorway, Yang Zhen felt anxious. Taking advantage of Xiang Yi's distraction, she deftly placed the purse on the small table near the door.
Unnoticed by Xiang Yi, they left the house together.
Lifting the curtain at the door, just as Tan Ting returned from outside, he arrived in the corridor.
Upon seeing each other, they exchanged greetings. Yang Zhen's favorable impression of this elder brother from the main branch was quite limited. After hurriedly giving a slight bow to Tan Ting, she tugged Nanny Lu and left.
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Tan Ting even only nodded to this younger sister, and even that nod was halfway done.
Once the maid and her master had left, the main corridor of the house was left empty, with only Tan Ting and Xiang Yi remaining.
As per usual, they had nothing to say. Tan Ting had simply returned to retrieve a book. However, Xiang Yi quietly followed behind him and entered the room. She noticed his steps pausing near the small table by the door, fixated on the purse placed there.
The purse was slightly open, and the radiance of two valuable jade bracelets spilled out.
Tan Ting stared at the purse for a few moments, his brows furrowing tightly. His astonished gaze then shifted, accurately landing on Xiang Yi.
His expression completely darkened. His new sister-in-law had only been in the house for less than three days, and now his matriarch wife was considering what to do about her?
Since when did the Tan family need to serve a newly arrived sister-in-law in this manner?
Xiang Yi also froze for a moment when she saw the purse that she had already returned. But more prominently, she noticed Tan Ting's gloomy and displeased face.
Her gentle expression disappeared in the wake of that gaze. She pressed her lips together and spoke softly, "This is something Little Sister brought. I'll have someone return it."
The man continued to gaze at her in silence.
For an instant, Xiang Yi thought about explaining a bit more, but the words caught in her throat before they could come out. Regardless of what she said now, her husband would likely not believe it. So, what was the point of explaining further?
She resumed her usual calm expression, re-tied the purse, and summoned Chun Sun.
"Take this back to Lady Yang Zhen and tell her I can't accept it."
Chun Sun immediately complied.
With Chun Sun gone, the main room fell silent again, and the silence was tight with an almost suffocating atmosphere. Xiang Yi wordlessly tidied up the leftover tea and cold cups on the tea table.
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Tan Ting stood with his hands behind his back in the same spot for quite a while. The tension in the air was so heavy that even the wind outside didn't dare to breeze through.
After a long while, he let out a deep breath, walked to the desk by the window, ground some ink, and started writing something with swift strokes.
When he was finished, he set the brush down heavily, not even turning to look at Xiang Yi before saying, "Frame this up and hang it on the wall in the room."
As soon as the words were out, he left the room without looking back.
The room was instantly left with only Xiang Yi. She turned her head to look at the window and the freshly written poem. It was titled "On Bribery":
'Sorrowful and lonely, the baggage heads eastward,
Passing through the most treacherous shoals on the journey.
If there are bribes, embezzlement, and illicit gains,
Let them sink in the azure waves without a second glance.'
At this moment, Chun Sun returned from Yang Zhen's place, having completed her task. She saw Xiang Yi standing by the desk and walked over.
She noticed the characters on the desk.
"Madam, what does Master mean by this?"
Xiang Yi's gaze rested on the characters for a moment.
"It means not to be insatiable when pursuing gains."
"Why... Why did Master write this?"
The wind outside blew through the window, wrapping her clothes around her and accentuating her slender back.
Xiang Yi smiled ever so faintly. "To hang it in the room, to constantly remind myself to be honest and upright."
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