Ask the Nine Ministers

Chapter 42 Giving Gifts
Master Xue San was recommended to be the captain of the imperial gate, which caused quite a stir.

Although this official position is not high in rank, it is only the eighth rank, but it is not a sinecure that the Xue family has found for him before, but a real job with authority. Moreover, it is earned by the third master himself, which is more respectable than the eldest master who relies on family influence.

In the afternoon, Xue Qingxiu came back wearing his official uniform, looking so impressive.

Mrs. Cui was modest in her words and didn't want to be too ostentatious, but the house also wanted to be lively.

So he ordered to hold a celebration banquet to entertain relatives and friends...

No one expected that the one who benefited from it was not someone else, but Xue Yueying who was under house arrest.

Xue Qingzhi lifted her house arrest as if nothing had happened.

Ruyi was furious when he heard the news.

"The eldest master is too partial. The matter was over if the fourth girl shed a few tears. Why did he let our girl suffer this injustice for nothing?"

Xue Sui didn't react.

At noon, Jinshu came over and gave her a definite answer.

"I heard from the people in the eldest master's room that the fourth young lady asked the maid to hand the blood letter left by her biological mother to the eldest master. After reading it, the eldest master's heart softened. He personally went to the Glazed Pavilion, accompanied the fourth young lady for lunch, and comforted her before leaving."

He sneered again, "What I said to the old lady is that the fourth young lady's wedding is approaching, and the mansion is going to hold a banquet. It would be embarrassing to confine the young lady to her room. Let's just let it go."

Xue Sui just said, "Let him be."

Jinshu looked at her reaction and sighed, "This fourth sister is quite capable. With her clever mouth, she can turn black into white. And the master is really partial to her, so you, young lady, have been wronged."

Xue Sui looked calm: "There's nothing to be wronged about. I didn't think that I could bring them down with just this one thing. No rush."

There is ample time.

The accounts need to be settled slowly.

In Xue Sui's opinion, it was not a big deal, but Xue Ji became anxious after hearing about it.

She was weak and timid to begin with, and had lived in fear under the oppression of the Fu family for these years. Her daughter's return had turned the house upside down, but she did not feel more confident, but became more and more frightened, fearing that one day the Fu family and Xue Yueying would fight with each other.

"What should we do? If the fourth lady is released, I'm afraid she will cause trouble for you again..."

Xue Sui saw that her face was pale and her palms were sweaty from nervousness. He sighed and said softly, "Mom, let me take a walk in the garden with you. Don't waste such a beautiful spring day."

The garden of the Xue Mansion is very large and is carefully taken care of by someone. It is spring now, and the flowers in the garden are in full bloom, colorful and beautiful.

The master and his servants, a group of five, had just passed through the hanging flower gate when they saw Xue Yueying and a few maids sitting in the octagonal pavilion beside the waterside pavilion. They were talking and laughing sweetly, looking very happy.

Ruyi couldn't help but spit.

"How shameless! You came out so blatantly."

Xue Sui glanced at him and said indifferently: "Let's go."

"Sixth sister!" Xue Yueying's voice came from the octagonal pavilion.

She smiled at Xue Sui from afar, walked towards him gracefully and bowed slightly.

"Congratulations, Sixth Sister, for being named Lady of Prince Duan's Mansion. My son Gu will have to rely on you for support in the future."

Xue Sui looked at her quietly without saying a word.

The maids all around held their breath and didn't make a sound.

However, the little girl named "Qiao'er" next to Xue Yueying glanced at Xue Sui and whispered:
"What's so good about being a concubine? Our fourth girl is the legal wife..."

Although the voice was small, it was just loud enough for everyone to hear.

Xue Sui glanced at her and said nothing.

Xue Yueying's expression changed immediately, and her eyebrows raised.

"Who gave you the guts to ridicule Sixth Miss? Hurry up and slap her in the face."

Qiao'er lowered her head and responded, then raised her hand and slapped herself in the face.

Xue Sui reached out and held Xue Ji's stiff arm, glanced at them indifferently, and left without looking back.

Xue Yueying looked at her back, glanced at Qiao'er, and smiled faintly.

"Don't you like the butterfly hairpin in my box? I'll give it to you when I get back."

Qiao'er's eyes sparkled slightly, she bowed her head and smiled, "Thank you, Fourth Miss!"

~
The breeze outside the window brings the warmth of spring, and it is almost mid-February.

Although Gu Jie was a bastard's son, Chunniang was extremely loved by the Marquis, and since it was related to the reputation of the Jingyuan Marquis's Mansion, the gift was very generous.

The first half of the gift had been given when the engagement was made, and the second half of the gift this time was some gold, silver, jewelry, silk, hairpins, jewelry, wine, tea, and snacks, all neatly placed in the middle of the main hall. Leading the way was a row of exquisite gift boxes, all wrapped in fine silk, tied with red silk, with gold thread patterns carefully embroidered on the corners, and a list of gifts on top.

The two families chatted happily about auspicious things.

The second wife of Marquis Jingyuan, Mrs. Zhou, was looking for someone in the crowd.

"I heard that your sixth daughter is back. Is it convenient for you to meet her?"

Madam Fu claimed to be ill, so Qian came out to entertain the guests. Upon hearing this, she smiled and put down her teacup, "That's not inconvenient. Dujuan, go and invite the sixth young lady."

Seeing that the Third Lady was easy to talk to, Zhou's face brightened a bit and she spoke with less politeness. "When I came here, my sister-in-law specifically asked me to come and see if the Sixth Miss was okay. When she talked about her experience, she was also very sad..."

Zhou was the second wife of the second master of the Marquis's Mansion and had a good relationship with Chunniang. Even though Chunniang was not the Marquis's wife, he still called her sister-in-law in private.

Qian agreed to everything he heard, and they kept on communicating.

"Sixth Miss was almost going to be her daughter-in-law, no wonder she was worried about her." Zhou glanced at Xue Yueying and said softly, "That's right, it's all fate."

Xue Yueying felt very uncomfortable and unconsciously clenched her fists, looking extremely ugly.
-
Xue Sui hadn't seen Aunt Chun for ten years, but he didn't expect that she still missed him.

She asked Xiao Zhao to choose two boxes of snacks and bring them to the living room.

She had met this Zhou before. She was a kind and generous elder. They didn't spend much time together, but she had the impression that she loved to laugh.

Sure enough, when Zhou saw the snacks, she was so happy that she couldn't stop smiling.

"Sixth Miss has grown up. She is a beautiful and charming girl. She makes people happy."

Xue Sui bowed and exchanged a few words of greeting. Zhou then asked a maid to bring up two three-foot-long exquisitely carved wooden boxes. She opened them in front of Xue Yueying and the Third Lady in the living room, then took Xue Sui's hand and sighed.

"These are your Aunt Chun's thoughts. Aunt Chun has always been worried about you all these years..."

In the box were jewelry and cosmetics used by girls, which looked dazzling at first glance.

Zhou spoke frankly, and held Xue Sui very close, completely ignoring Xue Yueying.

Xue Yue'e, who came to watch the ceremony, couldn't bear it anymore. She felt sorry for her fourth sister.

Especially when he saw the gift in the maid's hand, it was so generous. Why could Xue Liu, who had nothing to do with him, take it away?
She hummed softly.

"If you don't know this, you would think that the Marquis's family wants to marry the Sixth Young Lady."

This is an implicit criticism that the Jingyuan Marquisate does not know etiquette.

Xue Yueying moved her lips, lowered her head, and looked at herself in the mirror, feeling sorry for herself.

It was already an embarrassment for Zhou that she wanted to meet the Sixth Young Lady, so now she was giving gifts and crying out of heartache. Who was she doing this for?
Their dissatisfaction was deafening.

But Zhou just wasn't the type to fall for it.

She glanced at the sarcastic Ninth Miss and raised her voice a little.

"That's true. If we had found the Sixth Miss two years earlier, why would we, the Marquis of Jingyuan Mansion, have to settle for second best?"

The words "settle for the second best" were like a loud slap in Xue Yueying's face.

In front of the matchmaker and so many people, it was a bit too much to say this. But who could blame Fourth Miss Xue for not living up to her expectations? She was pregnant before she got married, which was a huge violation of etiquette and embarrassing. She could only let others ridicule her.

"Aunt-in-law, if there is nothing else, I will go back and report first."

There were many people in the hall, so Zhou didn't want to embarrass Shangshufu, so she just smiled and let it go. Qian also tried to smooth things over, as if nothing had happened, and everyone was having a good time. Only Xue Yueying took out a handkerchief to wipe her eyes, but no one paid any attention to her.

Before leaving, Zhou smiled and asked Xue Sui to put the things away, and patted her hand.

"When you have time, go to the Marquis's mansion to visit your Aunt Chun. Her legs and feet have not been very good since the beginning of winter last year, otherwise she would have come to the mansion a long time ago..."

Xue Sui nodded.

"Yes. Auntie, please say hello to Aunt Chun for me."

Zhou repeatedly praised her for being filial.

Xue Yueying's teeth were about to break when she saw this scene.
-
Coming out of the living room, Ruyi couldn't help smiling. Holding the heavy gift box, she looked like a very satisfied little money-grubber.

"Just now the fourth girl's face turned green with anger. I think she will suffer when she goes to her husband's house in the future."

Xue Sui's mouth twitched slightly, but there was no other reaction.

Ruyi followed in small steps and tilted her head to look at her, "Miss, are you unhappy? Did I say something wrong?"

The longer she stayed with the Sixth Miss, the more Ruyi liked her. Apart from other things, the Sixth Miss's calmness always made her feel safe, which was different from being with the Second Miss. With a backbone in everything, life was easier.

Xue Sui raised his eyebrows and said, "I would be happier if you talked less."

Ruyi stuck out her tongue and closed her mouth.

Xiao Zhao followed and whispered, "Miss, when will we start?"

Xue Sui glanced at her and asked, "What?"

Xiao Zhao looked around and then lowered her voice and said, "Fourth Miss. Didn't you see what she was wearing? And the long dowry list... If anyone were to dig it out, I don't know how she could have a grand wedding. Not to mention her, even Gu Wulang would be in trouble."

Xue Sui: "No hurry. Let's wait until the pigs are fatter before slaughtering them."

Xiao Zhao was very anxious, "What are you waiting for, girl? Are you going to watch her marry into the Marquis's Mansion?"

Xue Sui laughed: "Of course she should get married, she has to get married. She should be as close as a family with Gu Jie and stay together forever."

Her target is not just Xue Yueying and Gu Jie, but the people behind them.

The little money that Gu Jie got from the Ministry of Finance was more than enough to punish him, but it would be too difficult to punish Pingle.

This little bit of money can't even sway her, let alone the big Buddha behind her?

Ambition is fed by interests.

She waited, waiting for them to become more rampant and more unscrupulous...

However, the gift Aunt Chun sent today was too heavy for her.

Gu Jie is so lucky to have a good mother.

I hope Aunt Chun won't be too sad when the time comes...

(End of this chapter)