Yao Zhi nodded and took out a piece of paper from her sleeve. She handed it to her and said, "Madam, this is the price for the goods."
Xue Ya’er checked the prices and nodded. The dried mushrooms were 2 taels of silver per jin, and the eggs were 300 wen each. Although the prices were high, they could be sold to restaurants, wealthy families, or noble families.
The most expensive items were the pelts. They cost 50 taels of silver each. But judging from the quality and size, the price was considered reasonable.
"Young Master Lei, when can you deliver the goods?" she asked.
"The goods are stored in my warehouse. Madam can send people to pick them up now."
"Good."
After they reached an agreent, Xue Ya’er ordered Steward Han to make arrangents. While the servants went to the warehouse to pick up the goods, both Yao Zhi and Xue Ya’er waited in the main hall.
Not long after the guards and servants left for the warehouse, Lu Qianxuan arrived. He dismounted from his horse in one smooth motion.
When the guards saw him, they quickly knelt, saluted, and greeted him in unison. "Greetings, General."
Lu Qianxuan was eager to see his wife and entered the mansion in large strides. "Rise."
He left only that one word before disappearing from sight. The guards were stunned and could only look at his back. They didn’t even have a chance to inform him about the guest.
Thinking that nothing needed to be hidden from the General, the guards stopped dwelling on the matter and went to take care of the horse.
Along the way, Lu Qianxuan encountered servants who looked at him as if they had seen a ghost.
At first, he thought his sudden return had startled them and dismissed it casually. But when he entered his wife’s courtyard, he finally realized that sothing was wrong.
He observed the servants and discovered their pale faces and drenched clothes. It was winter, but why were their clothes soaked with sweat?
Suddenly, a bad premonition rose in his heart. He no longer paid them any attention and almost ran toward his wife’s main courtyard.
The mont the maidservants saw him, they wanted to announce his arrival. But with only one glance from him, they swallowed their words and knelt down.
Looking at them trembling, he narrowed his eyes. He walked toward the hall slowly. When he heard his wife’s voice, he scolded himself for overthinking things. But the next mont, he heard a clear, pleasant voice, followed by his wife’s laughter.
It had been years since he saw his wife smile, let alone heard her laughter. Clenching his fists, he felt as if his heart was drowned in sourness, and an unknown fire was burning inside him.
He couldn’t distinguish the other person’s gender from the voice alone. So he walked into the hall, bearing a little hope. The mont he saw a young man chatting with his wife, his hope was shattered instantly.
He watched his wife joking and laughing with another man for a long ti, yet she didn’t notice his presence at all.
Feeling angry, he walked over and said coldly, "It has been a long ti since I saw Madam laugh like this. What are you talking about that makes you so happy?"
Startled by his sudden interruption, Xue Ya’er stood up abruptly. It took her a mont to regain her composure before she curtsied to him. "Greetings, General. I didn’t know that you had returned. Please forgive my offense."
Lu Qianxuan stared at his wife’s polite yet distant action and felt even angrier. He was her husband, and he should have been the closest person to her. Compared to that man, she treated him more like a stranger.
His mind was clouded with jealousy, and he gave her the cold shoulder. He sat in the main seat and stared at the young man coldly.
Seeing that her husband ignored her again, Xue Ya’er kept the smile on her face, but the light in her eyes dimd.
Standing a few steps beside her, Yao Zhi noticed the change in her expression clearly. She frowned and turned to look at the so-called male lead. When she t the General’s cold eyes, she felt an invisible pressure, but she refused to back down.
This was the first ti she had t the General directly. Although she had been working as his cook for less than a month, she had a good impression of her husband’s big boss.
She didn’t want to judge him with prejudice based only on the plot she barely knew. But now that she saw how he treated Xue Ya’er, her impression of him plumted to negative points.
A man who treated his wife like an object and didn’t even give her the basic respect she deserved was unworthy of being a husband.
Who cared if he was the male lead?
She had already taken Xue Ya’er as her friend and pitied her bad ending in the plot. Now that she had witnessed how her husband abused her with cold treatnt, she was even more determined to help her change her fate and leave this scumbag.
With this thought, her fear of the General lessened, along with her admiration. She cupped her fists, bowed slightly, and said, "Greetings, General."
Lu Qianxuan planned to let this man maintain the bowing posture and ignore his greeting. He thought that he would continue bowing. Unexpectedly, after a few seconds, he saw the young man straighten his back and lower his hands.
Seeing this, he beca angrier and said, "Madam, as the General’s mansion’s Matriarch, you should know how to maintain your distance from an outside man. Bringing a man into your hall, aren’t you afraid of ruining the General’s mansion’s reputation?"
Xue Ya’er was already used to her husband’s indifference. But this was the first ti he had berated her in front of an outsider. Her face turned pale from embarrassnt, sadness, and disappointnt.
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