Chongfei Manual

Chapter 146

Chapter 146

After returning to the reception pavilion, Wei Luo told Fourth Madam Qin-shi about Rui Zhu’s attempt at seducing Wei Chang Hong and also said, “Fourth aunt, I know that you’re a kind-hearted and lenient person and that you rarely punish or chastise the servants. But, this servant girl dared to have intentions towards a young master. If you don’t control them, I’m worried that they’ll lead Chang Hong astray.”

Hearing these words, Qin-shi also paid attention to this issue. Although the matriarch might occasionally give bed servants to a young master, this wasn’t the same as a servant girl trying to seduce a young master of her own initiative. If the servant girls didn’t know their place and tried to climb the social ranks as they wished, this would cause the household to be a complete mess. Qin-shi said, “Tell Rui Zhu to come here.”

The head servant girl at Qin-shi‘s side left and soon came back with Rui Zhu.

When Rui Zhu saw that Wei Luo was also here, she understood what was happening. She kneeled down and confessed everything without Qin-shi interrogating her.

Qin-shi wasn’t merciful. She had a servant beat her with a plank ten times, then she sent her away. Her punishment would also serve as warning to the other servants.

Wei Luo and Zhao Jie didn’t stay at Duke Ying’s residence for long. They left before the evening.

On the way back home, Zhao Jie didn’t say a word from beginning to end. He was sitting across from Wei Luo with his eyes half closed and his arms crossed against his chest. Wei Luo couldn’t figure out his mood from his expression. From time to time, Wei Luo would glance at him, but he didn’t show any reaction.

Wei Luo couldn’t help thinking about the words that Chang Hong had said in front of the main room’s entrance. Chang Hong hadn’t like Zhao Jie from the very beginning. He had most likely said those words to provoke Zhao Jie in an attempt to make his heart feel stifled. However, Zhao Jie seemed to take Chang Hong’s words seriously. Zhao Jie’s eyes had been as cold as ice and could make a person feel like they would freeze to death.

Right now, Zhao Jie was staying silent and Wei Luo considered whether or not she should explain that Chang Hong wasn’t serious. Just as she was about to speak, Zhao Jie said, “Is Wei Chang Hong’s engaged yet?”

Wei Luo shook her head. But, after seeing that his eyes were closed, she cleared her throat and said, “Not yet.”

Zhao Jie slowly opened his and saw that the young girl in front of him was sitting properly and neatly. Then, he thought of the words that Wei Chang Hong had recently said and felt displeased. He patted the spot next to him and said Wei Luo, “Come here.” After Wei Luo moved over here, he brought her onto his lap, patted her butt, and said, “The sooner that he gets engaged the better.”

This way Wei Chang Hong won’t spend every day thinking about his wife. Even if they were siblings, a younger brother shouldn’t watch his older sister this closely. So what if they were fraternal twins, they still had to get married after growing up. Zhao Jie embraced the lovable girl in his arms, then he firmly slapped Wei Luo’s little butt.

Wei Luo discontentedly wiggled her body in protest. “Why are you hitting me? Chang Hong was only joking. Why are you taking his words so seriously?” She wrapped her arms around Zhao Jie’s neck and directly looked into his eyes as she said, “My daddy has already started looking for a marriage partner for Chang Hong. Perhaps, he just hasn’t met a suitable person and that’s why things have been delayed. Big brother, you know a lot of people. Do you know of any families with daughters of an appropriate age? How about you pay attention for potential candidates for Chang Hong?”

Zhao Jie closed his eyes and refused without thinking, “I don’t have time.”

So petty. Wei Luo stayed in Zhao Jie’s embrace, but she felt fed up. His last slap had really been too vicious. It hurt even now. He had lived in the army camps for too long and his strength was too strong. Didn’t he know that he should control his strength?

Zhao Jie felt her ramrod straight posture and saw the indignant expression on her little face. He pinched her cheeks and asked, “Are you angry?”

Wei Luo burrowed her head into the space between his neck and shoulder and rubbed back and forth. She used one hand to place his hand on her bottom, “It hurts… Rub this spot for me.”

Zhao Jie chuckled. He naturally didn’t refused. As he happily rubbed that spot for her, he asked, “Did I hit you too hard?”

Wei Luo didn’t say anything. But, the answer was self-evident. Weren’t these words superfluous?

——-

A short while alter, Wei Luo suddenly remembered something, lifted the curtain and told the driver to turn around.

Zhao Jie asked, “What’s wrong?”

Wei Luo said in a serious tone, “It’s going to be spring soon. I want to go to a fabric store to see if there’s any new cloth for sale. I want to buy some fabric and make spring clothing with them.

It wasn’t necessary for her to personally go there herself. If Wei Luo wanted to look, she could have a storekeeper personally deliver a selection of samples to their home. But, Wei Luo felt that this wouldn’t be complete. It would be more convenient if she went to the store directly to see. Moreover, they were already outside and she had Zhao Jie to accompany her. She could treat this as a way to relax and pass the time.

Zhao Jie knew that she liked to shamelessly show off her good looks and always wanted the best looking items, so he didn’t say anything.

Wei Luo asked, “Big brother, how were you able to get Xiu Chun’s people to agree to make my wedding dress?”

Zhao Jie recollected his memories for a moment and leisurely said, “I offered twenty times the regular price.”

Wei Luo, “…”

Humans will die for riches, just like birds will die for food. Fine, she understood this principle.

Today was Xiu Chun’s opening business day. There were already people waiting in line to buy their ready-made clothing. In addition to ready-made clothing, Xiu Chun also sold fabric that they had woven and dyed. Unfortunately, there was only a limited supply. Usually the fabric would be sold out within half a day.

When Prince Jing’s carriage passed by Xiu Chun, Wei Luo wanted to leave the carriage to look.

Zhao Jie saw the sea of people at the entrance and had Zhu Geng entered the store first. A short while later, Xiu Chun’s female shopkeeper personally came out to greet them. The female shopkeeper led them to the second floor. This floor was completely separated from the first floor and had fabrics with the most beautiful colors and most exquisite patterns. The spring clothes made from these fabrics would undoubtedly be extremely beautiful.

Wei Luo steeped forward to touch the soft and smooth fabric. When she touched the fabric, it felt as if she was grasping water that would silently slip away from her fingers. No wonder there were so many noble women that scrambled after Xiu Chun’s clothing. Not only was the clothing beautiful, it was also very comfortable to wear. Even if a person wanted to dislike their clothing, it would be difficult.

After Wei Luo had selected several bolts of fabric, the female shopkeeper asked, “We still have the princess consort’s measurement from last time. Would Your Highness like us to make clothes using those measurements?”

Wei Luo was slightly surprised, “Doesn’t your store only accept five custom orders?”

The female steward gratifyingly smiled, “The princess consort is different from other people.”

Xiu Chun made very unique clothing. Every time a new style of robe was made, it would become the trend in the capital for a while. Many stores tried to imitate Xiu Chun, but they were never able to successfully copy its original style.

Since the storekeeper had asked, Wei Luo naturally agreed.

The female storekeeper said, “Once the clothes are made, I’ll have them deliver to Prince Jing’s residence.”

Wei Luo nodded and saw Zhu Geng following the female storekeeper through the inner wall partition. He was probably going there to pay the bill. As Wei Luo and Zhao Jie walked out of Xiu Chun, Wei Luo jokingly asked, “Big brother, how much money did you offer this time?”

Zhao Jie said, “I bought this store last year. You can have as many clothes made here as you want.”

Wei Luo opened and closed her mouth. This was the first time she felt that there was truly an advantage to marrying a prince.

After leaving Xiu Chun, just as Wei Luo was about to enter the carriage, she saw a familiar figure from her peripheral vision.

As Gao Qing Yang was walking out of Xiu Chun’s entrance, she saw a young beggar girl with shabby clothing She tilted her head and ordered the servant girl at her side.

Wei Luo saw the servant girl nodding, walking to a nearby dumpling stall to buy two dumplings, and placing the dumplings in front of the young girl. Without waiting for the beggar girl to thank her, the servant girl walked back to Gao Qing Yang’s side. Gao Qing Yang looked away from the beggar girl and without any changes in her expression, she turned around to go into her family’s carriage.

When her line of sight shifted, she met Wei Luo’s smiling eyes.

Gao Qing Yang froze for a moment. She hadn’t expected to meet Wei Luo here. She also lightly smiled in greeting. Then, she went inside Duke Zhen’s residence’s carriage.

Wei Luo currently had a favorable impression of Gao Qing Yang even though they didn’t have pleasant interactions with each other as children. She hadn’t expected that her temperament would change so much. Last time, not only had she helped her win that game, she had also stopped Li Xiang from slapping her that one time. She was truly a dependable person.

Was she already engaged?

Zhao Jie pulled Wei Luo inside the carriage, poked her forehead, and asked, “What are you thinking about?”

Wei Luo smiled and mysteriously said, “Not telling you.”

Zhao Jie placed his hand on her small bottom and slightly closed his eyes. “Are you going to tell me or not?”

Wei Luo was really scared about being spanked. Even if he used less strength, it would still hurt. She jumped out from his arms, sat down across from him, and said, “I recently saw Duke Zhen’s family’s Miss Gao. Aren’t you her cousin? What kind of impression do you have of her?”

Zhao Jie thought for a moment before saying, “Gao Qing Yang?”

Wei Luo nodded, “Yes.”

Zhao Jie considered for a moment. He didn’t pay much attention to other girls and had only spoken to Gao Qing Yang a handful of times, so he didn’t any impression of her. He halfheartedly said, “I heard imperial mother say that she has a quiet and steady temperament.”

Wei Luo thought about his words and very quickly let go of her original idea. Chang Hong was a habitually silent person and Gao Qing Yang was also a quiet person. If the two of them were paired together, neither of them would say anything. It seemed that they weren’t suitable for each other. She shouldn’t think about this idea anymore.

During the next few days, Wei Luo and Zhao Jie continued going to their older relatives’ homes one after another and received many red envelopes.

The days peacefully passed by and the temperature gradually became warmer day by day and wasn’t as cold as before.

Today, the villa on Tian Chan Mountain delivered freshly picked cherries. Jin Lu washed some and brought a small plate of the cherries to the study. Wei Luo ate the cherry dessert while lying down on the couch that was by the window and reading a book with interesting stories.

On the side, Zhao Jie was handling official work and would occasionally glance over at Wei Luo. She was eagerly reading her stories and not paying him the slightest attention.

Zhao Jie put down his brush and rubbed the spot between his eyebrows. Just as he was about to call Wei Luo over, he saw Zhu Geng coming inside with a solemn expression.

Zhu Geng said, “Your Highness, this subordinate has news regarding the matter that you had previously ordered an investigation on. ”

Wei Luo had sharp ears and naturally heard these words. She immediately put down the cherry she was holding and turned her head to look.

Zhao Jie said, “Speak.”

Zhu Geng said, “This subordinate has found a dismissed female servant that served Noble Consort Ning fifteen years ago.”