On the way to the outer courtyard.
Nanny Zhou kept trying to persuade her: "Miss, you are not alone now, you must think of everything more lightly. Perhaps the young master brought back a maid..."
"What maid! I've seen her, she's clearly a great beauty!"
Yulu interrupted indignantly. Nanny Zhou shot her a glare: "Can you not say a few less words? Even if she's not a maid, what if she's the orphan of a comrade-in-arms, or the daughter of a benefactor? The young master has only settled her in the outer courtyard, he hasn't given any instructions!"
Yulu rolled her eyes, directly grabbing Chu Ruoyan's arm: "Miss, don't listen to Nanny Zhou trying to placate you. I saw that girl with my own eyes, she's very beautiful! Even more beautiful than that Xuewu that Fourth Young Master Gu brought back the other day!"
Chu Ruoyan stopped walking, raising an eyebrow.
The matter of Fourth Young Master Gu had caused quite a stir recently.
As the fourth son of Lord Gu, married to the sister of the Commander-in-Chief of the Five-City Military and Horse Command, Yue Qianchong, with a son and a daughter, his life seed perfectly complete! Yet, a while ago, after following Prince Qin to the northern border, he actually brought a woman back.
He claid she was his lifesaver, but then imdiately took her into the residence and wanted to elevate her to a secondary wife.
Even after his old father invoked family discipline, he remained infatuated and unrepentant, even threatening to move out and live separately...
Chu Ruoyan rembered that when the commotion spilled onto the streets, Yulu had sneaked a peek.
She ca back exclaiming that Xuewu was far more beautiful than the top courtesan from the Music Bureau, no wonder Fourth Young Master Gu was so obsessed!
But now, she was saying the woman Yan Zheng brought back was even more beautiful than Xuewu?
"What's this girl's na?"
Yulu blurted out: "Xuexian!"
Chu Ruoyan was taken aback.
Yulu gasped in realization: "Heavens, even her na has the character 'Xue' in it, could it really be..."
She covered her mouth, looking at her mistress with a worried expression. Nanny Zhou also frowned deeply: "It's hard to say. She might be a fox spirit from outside, all trying to use this thod to climb to the top in one step. Miss, don't worry. As long as the young master doesn't give her a status, this old servant has plenty of ways to send her packing. If he intends to give her one, then we must ask the Duke to intervene, to persuade the young master to postpone taking her in, for the sake of the child in your womb..."
The two of them fretted for a long while. Chu Ruoyan murmured the na twice and suddenly chuckled.
"Xuexian, Xuexian... Hah, he really went through a lot of trouble!"
With that, ignoring their stunned expressions, she pushed open the courtyard gate.
In the outer courtyard, a girl with lovely features and a graceful figure was quietly reading. Hearing the noise, she looked up, rose softly, and curtsied: "Xuexian pays her respects to the Madam..."
Her voice was clear and sweet, like a babbling brook, instantly evoking great fondness.
Yulu was so angry she wanted to charge in, but Chu Ruoyan stopped her.
Smiling, she looked the girl over and asked: "Xuexian, is it? What are your skills?"
The girl smiled in response: "Among the Six Arts, I have a passing knowledge of all except archery and charioteering. Additionally, I can play so tunes and am sowhat versed in chess and painting."
In other words, besides not knowing archery and horsemanship, she was accomplished in music, chess, calligraphy, painting, poetry, and song.
Chu Ruoyan inwardly sighed at Yan Zheng's painstaking efforts, and asked further: "How old are you?"
"Sixteen."
"And you ca here... of your own free will?"
Xuexian pursed her lips, a faint smile appearing on her delicate face: "Willingly. The Chief Councillor has shown Xuexian imnse kindness. Xuexian is willing to repay him with her person, even at the cost of her life!"
Seeing the unwavering determination on the young girl's face, a sigh flashed through Chu Ruoyan's heart: "Good. Then pack your things and prepare to enter... the household."
As soon as the words fell, Nanny Zhou exclaid in shock: "Miss?!"
Yulu's eyes reddened with anxiety: "Miss, you mustn't! You are with child, how can you allow soone to enter the household at this ti? Even if the young master needs soone to attend to him, there are still—"
Her voice cut off abruptly. What else was there?
Yan Zheng didn't have a single chamber maid by his side. Compared to others with three wives and four concubines, him taking in just one was already quite sothing.
But looking at her mistress's slightly rounded belly, Yulu still felt terribly upset.
After giving her instructions, Chu Ruoyan didn't explain to them, only told them not to overthink it.
Returning to her room, she felt drowsy. Perhaps because Yan Zheng was back, her mind had relaxed considerably. Leaning on the chaise lounge, she unknowingly fell asleep...
This ti, the dream held nothing. She slept peacefully until night.
"Awake?"
She opened her eyes and was imdiately scooped into a pair of strong arms.
Yan Zheng, with one arm under her knees and the other around her waist, picked her up horizontally: "Since you're awake, co and eat."
Caught off guard by the sudden lift, she instinctively wrapped her arms around his neck.
Then, hearing the sounds of Yulu and the others setting the table in the outer room, she hurriedly said: "You... put down, I can walk myself."
Seeing the shyness on his little wife's face, Yan Zheng was in high spirits: "No. Serving my own wife is only right and proper."
Chu Ruoyan's ears grew hot: "What if Father or the others see..."
"The Ministry of Personnel's annual evaluations have begun. Your esteed father will have no ti to return to the residence these next few days. As for your aunt and younger sisters, there's even less need to worry. The sixth young master has entered the palace, and they are busy preparing defensive weapons to send in to him..."
Bringing this up made the woman frown: "Tell , is your little sixth brother destined to be a prince consort? In Nanman, he caught the eye of Princess ngji, and now back here, he's attracted the favor of Princess Jiahui. My Third Younger Sister is really having a hard ti!"
Hearing his wife's displeasure, Yan Zheng imdiately said: "You're right. Yan Zhao is a philanderer, a magnet for trouble. When he returns, I will certainly give him a good talking-to!"
Chu Ruoyan: "..."
She eyed him suspiciously: "Has soone forgotten that they also brought back a girl?"
By the ti she finished speaking, they had already reached the outer room. The servants who heard this all stiffened.
Yulu and Nanny Zhou, however, secretly cheered.
She should ask!
Yet, Yan Zheng looked at his little wife, a slow curve appearing at the corner of his thin lips: "Is Ayan jealous?"
Chu Ruoyan's eyelid twitched. She turned her head: "All of you, withdraw."
The servants obeyed and withdrew, leaving only the two of them in the room.
Chu Ruoyan told him to put her down: "Where did you find such a girl?"
Yan Zheng didn't let go, only asking: "Ayan hasn't answered yet. Are you jealous?"
The little wife gave him a sidelong glance: "Jealous of what? Xuexian, Xue Xian... and those almost identical manners and deanor. Do you think I can't tell?"
A flicker of disappointnt passed through Yan Zheng's eyes. Having a wife who was too clever had this drawback—it robbed a marriage of many little amusents.
He set her down, deliberately sighing: "All my efforts wasted. I even changed her na to resemble Xuewu's, but I never imagined I couldn't fool Ayan either."
Chu Ruoyan was amused. She reached out and pinched his chin: "Chief Councillor, so you were testing ? What, you wanted to learn from Lady Yue and throw a huge scene?"
When Fourth Young Master Gu brought soone back, it drove Lady Yue into an imdiate frenzy.
Usually such a gentle and placid person, she was driven to smashing things and wailing loudly. Even her own son and daughter didn't support her, instead blaming her for losing her composure and disgracing the Gu family...
If her father-in-law, Gu Sun, hadn't taken her side, Chu Ruoyan suspected this lady might very well have hung a white silk from the beam and ended her life!
Hearing this, Yan Zheng gazed at her deeply: "If you were willing to make a scene, I would truly welco it. It's a pity, Ayan, you are always too rational. So rational that... sotis I miss the you who was devoid of the seven emotions."
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