Chapter 973 - Chapter 461: Chapter 461: I Don’t Want to Help You, Butler_1
Chapter 461: Chapter 461: I Don’t Want to Help You, Butler_1
“Okay.”
“When I want to go out, you can’t stop me. Let me cross-dress as a man and go out. You can’t inquire about what I do,” Wei Ruo continued.
“Okay.”
Wei Jinyi agreed without hesitation.
Seeing that Wei Ruo didn’t make any more conditions, he asked, “Any other requests?”
“Not for the moment.” Wei Ruo’s mind was still a bit messy, many things she had not thought about carefully, “I’ll tell you when I think of something.”
“Okay.”
Wei Jinyi promised, then put a bunch of keys in front of Wei Ruo.
“These are the keys to the storeroom.”
“Keep it yourself. Your money is your money, I don’t want to manage your household affairs for you,” Wei Ruo rejected.
Helping him manage his household was like playing the role of his wife, and just the day before yesterday, he had still been her brother in her heart. She couldn’t accept suddenly having to play the role of his wife.
She liked money, but only her share of it. What belonged to others, she would not take forcefully.
Wei Jinyi looked at Wei Ruo’s eyes, didn’t force her, and took the keys back.
After breakfast, Wei Jinyi left for the front yard.
Because the Emperor was sympathetic to Wei Jinyi’s poor health, he had pardoned the newlyweds from the etiquette of visiting the royal palace on the second day of marriage, and allowed them to rest in the Wang Residence.
Wei Ruo was relieved to know that she didn’t have to go to the palace.
There were already so many rules in the grand mansion, and it would be even more oppressive in the palace. She took every opportunity to avoid going there.
Not long after Wei Jinyi left, Lin Fang came to pay a visit to Wei Ruo.
After entering, Lin Fang knelt down respectfully, “I pay my respects to the miss.”
“Stand up.”
“Thank you, Miss.”
“Don’t kneel next time you see me.”
“This… I understand.” Lin Fang hesitated a bit, but still agreed.
Then Lin Fang said to Wei Ruo, “Miss, the master has ordered me to listen to your instructions. If there’s anything you need us to do, just order us.”
“I don’t need your help with anything at the moment.”
Wei Ruo didn’t feel like thinking about her relationship with Wei Jinyi at the moment, so she didn’t feel like giving orders to Wei Jinyi’s people either.
Wei Ruo then got up and said, “I want to take a walk around the Residence now.”
“May I accompany you, Miss?” asked Lin Fang.
Wei Ruo didn’t reject. Having a familiar person with her was more convenient.
Wei Ruo stood up and walked out of her bedroom.
When she entered the Wang Residence last night, her head was covered with a red veil and she couldn’t see anything.
Today, as she walked out the door, she finally saw how resplendent the Wang Residence was with its red bricks and green tiles.
Her residence was the Songzhu Garden, located right in the middle of the back courtyard of the Wang Residence. It was the largest house in the back yard.
There were three spacious and bright bedrooms, lavishly decorated.
To the left of the bedrooms was a study, and to the right was another room for the people who attended to her.
The side rooms on both sides were temporarily unoccupied.
The courtyard was spacious, with a lot of open space left along the walls. The soil was freshly turned, but nothing had been planted.
This seemed to have been specially reserved for Wei Ruo.
After leaving Songzhu Garden, Wei Ruo, accompanied by Lin Fang, went to the garden of the Wang Residence.
In the garden, a variety of flowers vied for beauty, with a pond, rockery, and gazebos. Every three steps revealed a scenery and every five steps a painting.
After touring the garden, Wei Ruo went to other places in the back yard and saw that the other courtyards were all empty, with no one living in them.
Only the Songzhu Garden in the large back yard was inhabited.
Lin Fang who was on the tour explained, “The master has no other women around him, so naturally the back yard is empty.”
Wei Ruo didn’t comment and then went to the front yard.
The front yard was mainly where Wei Jinyi worked and entertained guests.
According to Lin Fang, the study was the place where Wei Jinyi spent most of his time.
Today, the servants were cleaning up the room next to the study, which would be used as Wei Jinyi’s bedroom.
When Wei Ruo passed by the door of the study, she saw Wei Jinyi sitting inside.
Their eyes only met for a moment. Wei Ruo then moved her gaze away.
She then left quickly and went elsewhere.
The several side rooms in the front yard were the residences of Zhang Yi, Ke Chongshan, and others, making it convenient for Wei Jinyi to summon them at any time.
After making a round, Wei Ruo had a general understanding of the situation of King Rui Residence.
Lin Fang explained to Wei Ruo, “Miss, now everyone in the Wang Residence is our own people. You can do whatever you want without any reservations.”
Last night, during the wedding, people from the palace were sent to watch. After those people left this morning, only Wei Jinyi’s trusted subordinates were left in the Wang Residence.
Lin Fang continued, “You can arrange any place in the Wang Residence as you wish. You can change the scenery as you wish, even if it means uprooting all the plants and replacing them with vegetables. Everything is up to you, Miss.”
“That’s not necessary.” Wei Ruo said, and then asked, “If I want to go out cross-dressing as a man, which door should I take?”
“Miss, you can go from any door. However, the stables are in the northwest corner. The servants can arrange a carriage for you there faster, and when you leave from the door in the northwest corner, you can turn into Suzaku Street after less than ten meters.”
“Okay, I understand. I’ll take the northwest door from now on. Move the carriage that came with me to my wedding there. I’m accustomed to my own carriage,” said Wei Ruo.
“As you command.”
###
On the third day of marriage, according to custom, the groom has to accompany the bride back to her maiden home.
Under normal circumstances, brides hope that their grooms accompany them, which represents the groom’s importance to the bride and her family.
In very few cases where there is no accompaniment, the bride would not only lose face, but would also be seen as not being favored by her husband.
But this was a bit different when it came to Wei Ruo.
Wei Ruo asked Xiumei to pass a message to Wei Jinyi, “I can go back by myself tomorrow. Let him use his poor health as an excuse not to accompany me.”
After a while, Xiumei came back, “Second Young Master… ah, no, the Prince said he wants to accompany you back. He doesn’t want you to lose face.”
“Lose face? If he goes, it won’t be just a matter of face. I’m afraid some people would be scared to death. Not to mention, I don’t want the people in the Residence to know about this,” said Wei Ruo.
After a pause, Wei Ruo gave Xiumei another message, “Go and tell him that I insist on this. This bit of face doesn’t matter to me.”
Xiumei nodded and went to the front yard again to deliver the message.
When she came back, Xiumei said, “The Prince agreed. He said he would prepare a generous gift for you.”
Wei Ruo said, “What kind of generous gift? If he really wants to prepare a gift, just prepare one for my father.”
“Shall I go and tell the Prince again?” Xiumei asked.
“If he’s free now, let him come to see me. I’ll tell him myself,” Wei Ruo said.
Wei Ruo felt it was a bit troublesome to have Xiumei running back and forth, and it was not easy to explain things this way. It would be better for her to speak directly to Wei Jinyi.
“Okay.”
Xiumei went away, and before long, Wei Jinyi came.