The Landowner And His Wife

Chapter 182: Married

Disclaimer: 

1. This is an unofficial translation and no permission has been obtained from the author/ official publisher. It may be taken down if the author/official publisher requests. 

2. This is a fan work and the interpretation represents only the translator’s personal views without any input from the author. 

3. No permission has been granted to use, publish, upload and/or copy this translation to any other site except for Second Life Translations.


Red-faced, Shao Rong accepted her offerings. She softly thanked her before slowly nibbling on a pastry. Hesitantly, she asked Liu Xu’er, “Xu’er, I want to ask…. Tomorrow morning, do I need to get up to make breakfast or not?”

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Liu Xu’er was stunned for a moment before catching herself. Village customs dictated that a new bride needed to get up early the day after and make everyone in the family a meal. From this meal, the family could assess if the new bride was hardworking, and whether or not she was a good cook. Basically, they would use it to appraise her abilities as a wife. 

But Liu Xu’er’s family had servants. If Shao Rong were to make breakfast in place of the servants, would she be making a mockery of herself?

Liu Xu’er really didn’t know what to do. It wasn’t fair to say that she didn’t need to cook – after all, when her mother returned to the village, she did all the cooking for her in-laws. But if she were to say that she needed to cook, then what was the use of all the servants? Especially since the family’s servants were clear about each of their roles and responsibilities. After thinking it over for a moment, she smiled and said, “There’s no need to cook. We have servants after all. If you were to enter the kitchen, they wouldn’t know what to do…. Relax, I will explain everything to mum!”

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Ekvb bla alyppwaydnl, Fbys Ssdt alzymle yde dseele bla blye.&dcpr;

Rv vwadle swv vs cl y tsse vbkdt vbyv Nkw Dw’la oyp rzynle kd vbl assx. G qlo sq vbl szela ywdvp alyzzu eke vau vs nsxl kd vs vlypl vbl dlo cakel. Jwv pllkdt Nkw Dw’la, vblu olal vss lxcyaaypple vs ts shlacsyae.&dcpr;

Mblu oykvle kd vbl assx vkzz kv oyp eyaj, yde vbl dskpl qasx vbl qasdv uyae bye qkdyzzu iwklvldle. Fldgk ayd kdvs vbl assx vs alrsav, “Kkl! Yspv sq vbl rlsrzl byhl yzalyeu zlqv! Jwv y qlo sq swa nzyppxyvlp yp olzz yp psxl uswvbp qasx Mysbwy Akzzytl byhl alqwple vs ts. Mblu kdpkpv sd rwzzkdt raydjp kd vbl cakeyz nbyxcla!”

Fbys Ssdt kxxlekyvlzu vldple. Fbl zssjle ydmkswpzu yv Nkw Dw’la, yp kq clttkdt bla qsa blzr. Nkw Fld vss zssjle yv Nkw Dw’la obld bl pyke vbyv, yp kq oykvkdt qsa bla twkeydnl. Jlokzelale yv clkdt vbl nldval sq yvvldvksd, Nkw Dw’la lmyprlayvlezu pyke vs Nkw Fld, “Ebyv’p vbl wpl kd vlzzkdt xl vbkp? Ps usw oydv vs vlzz vblx dsv vs rwzz raydjp?”

Nkw Fld aykple bkp lulcaso, “R vbswtbv vbyv fkl oswze elqkdkvlzu byhl y rzyd…”

“Ebyv jkde sq rzyd nswze R rsppkczu byhl?!”

Nkw Fld tkttzle, yde pbssj bkp blye yp bl oldv swv. Nkw Dw’la bsolhla, qlzv sczktle cu Fbys Ssdt’p clttkdt lulp vs es psxlvbkdt. Fbl blyele swv yp olzz, clqsal pwprknkswpzu zssjkdt yv Nkw Fld, “Fwalzu dsv… Ps usw byhl ydu kelyp? Tso sze yal usw? Zsw….” Fbl pweeldzu alynble swv vs pbyjl Fldgk, “Rq usw byhl ydu kelyp, vlzz xl iwknjzu!”

Nkw Fld oyp pbsnjle cu bla pweeld tayc. “Gb!” Tl nakle, vbld bl pvyavle vs tkttzl. Tl pbssj bkp blye hktsaswpzu yde lmnzykxle zswezu, “R esd’v byhl ydu kelyp! Jwv sdl sq vbl rlsrzl kdpkpvkdt sd rwzzkdt raydjp kp xu qwvwal fklqw! Kkl, usw nyd vlzz bkx vs clvayu vbl alpv sq vblx!”

Liu Xu’er stopped shaking him. She released her hand and smiled, “Small matter… How did you develop your brain – why are you so smart?”

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Liu Sen immediately smiled smugly. He shook his head, “Is there even a need to ask… Let’s not talk about this. Should I call jiefu over?”

Liu Xu’er nodded her head, “Yes, go quickly!”

Liu Sen immediately ran off. Liu Xu’er stood at the side smiling. Senzi was truly very sharp. She felt that she had some credit for that. Knowingly and unknowingly, she had taught him by her own actions. But he himself was truly very bright. 

After waiting for a while, Shi Cheng received his orders and came over. He smelt of alcohol, but was still clear headed. He smiled winningly and asked, “Xu’er, are you looking for me? Why are you standing in front of the bridal chamber?”

Liu Xu’er gave him a stern look. “I heard that you are one of the ones insisting on pulling pranks in the bridal chamber?”

Shi Cheng smiled. He turned to look around, “I just knew it. Senzi…. Senzi!” Liu Sen had long disappeared. He smiled and turned to look back at Liu Xu’er, “I’m just doing it to liven up the celebrations. Isn’t pranking the bridal chamber considered auspicious? The more lively it is, the better.”

Liu Xu’er hmphed. “Would you feel the same way if it were your wedding day? After a whole day of running around, you still need to deal with pranks and jokes at night? If you persist, you can be certain that my dage will take revenge when it’s your turn!”

In these matters, men and women thought differently. Of course Shi Cheng didn’t want his wedding night interrupted by all these pranksters, but when it was someone else’s wedding, he wanted to join in the fun. However, it was clear that Liu Xu’er didn’t agree, so he immediately agreed to stop, “Alright, then I won’t participate…. That’s right,” He immediately suggested, “I not only won’t participate, I will make trouble so that the rest of them can’t either. Even if I can’t stop them, at least they won’t go overboard! How does that sound?”

Liu Xu’er nodded her head in satisfaction, “That’s better! It’s best that they just go in and say a few auspicious words before leaving! A whole group of youths joking…. How frightening is that!”

Shi Cheng didn’t see why it should be that scary, but since Xu’er had spoken, he naturally needed to support her. As such, just as the group of them had arrived at the bridal chamber to make trouble, protective guards like Liu Lin and Liu Tao emerged. They had both been repeatedly warned not to join in with the troublemakers. They even had to guard against them!

As such, they along with Shi Cheng went to block the group off. After some catcalling – the new bride was eventually forced to drink two cups of wine – they managed to get them to stop. 

He shi was a bit worried, but it wasn’t appropriate for her to go over. She paced the front courtyard and even instructed Wang and Zhou shi to check in on the situation. If they were to notice that things were going overboard, they should calm things down, and try to shield the new bride. 

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Thankfully, when the two of them went over to check, they saw that the group had already been blocked, and were already headed back out! It was only then that He shi could breathe a sigh of relief. 

Liu Shu had drunk quite a lot of wine that evening. Face red, there wasn’t even a trace of his normal solemnity on his face. He followed the group out of his courtyard and finally bolted the door behind them. Then he turned back to his room and sat at the side of the bed. He looked at his beautiful bride, and suddenly he couldn’t resist the urges of his heart. Without saying a word, he bent over Shao Rong….

……

Liu Sen was at the doorway sending off people. He made a point of counting them off as they left. “One, two, three…”

Liu Tao was bewildered, “Senzi, what are you counting?”

Liu Sen said, “I’m counting to make sure that everyone has left. What if one or two had remained behind to sneak a…..” He couldn’t quite finish that sentence. After all, he was just 11, still a little child!

Liu Lin had already gone over to scold him, “What a showoff you are! The entire day today, you’ve been jumping around everywhere!”

Liu Sen continued to count as people left. His head had been rubbed by numerous people today. He smiled and waved goodbye to the crowd before finally closing off the courtyard door. Dashing to the main house, he cried, “Mum! I’m exhausted….”

The next day, Liu Xu’er got up at her usual time and started to wash up. Then she hurried over to explain to her mother the discussion she had had with Shao Rong yesterday. Last night, the house was filled with males, so after she had left the bridal chamber, she had directly returned to her own courtyard, closed the door and gone to sleep. 

He shi had only just gotten up herself. She quietly left her room and spoke to Liu Xu’er in a soft voice, “Your father drank too much yesterday! Last night, he started to vomit. He was up half the night because of this.”

Liu Xu’er quickly asked if everything was alright. He shi reassured her, “He’s fine. He will be alright after some sleep.”

Liu Xu’er then shared what had been discussed yesterday. She said, “I was the one who told her she didn’t need to wake up to make the meal…. In the future, our family will definitely have more and more servants. Dasao is the eldest daughter-in-law. There’s no need to use cooking as a way of testing her. I think it would be best to instead see how capable she is at managing people instead.”

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He shi was fine with the arrangements. Of course, if they were still at Taohua Village, then this first meal would be of paramount importance. It would be the first time that mother and daughter-in-law properly interacted. If the daughter-in-law refused to make breakfast, then wasn’t she just disrespecting her mother-in-law?

But their current situation was no longer the same as before. Just as Xu’er said, things had changed, and what was useful and important before was no longer relevant today. He shi also hoped that after Shao Rong settled in, she would be able to establish herself in her role as the eldest daughter-in-law. After all, she had three sons! What the eldest daughter-in-law said had weight, and her younger son’s wives would all take their cues from her. 

He shi waved her hands, “There’s no need to prepare the meal. If your dasao were to suddenly go to the kitchen, Wang shi would probably panic!” Then she hurriedly called Tianyu over, and instructed him. Now that Liu Shu had gotten married, he shouldn’t go into his courtyard casually. His activities should be confined to the main courtyard. 

Tian Yu immediately agreed. 

Liu Xu’er then continued to discuss with He shi, “Mum, there’s another matter. Since dasao has now joined our family, then there are some rules we should establish. For example, with regard to money. In the past, whoever needed money just had to come to you to take it. It didn’t matter who was given more or less. There were times in the past when one of us would need money often, and come daily to take some from you. It didn’t matter because we are all your children. But dasao is different. Think about it, if she were to ask money from you once or twice, she wouldn’t mind. But if she were to keep coming to you, she would probably feel embarrassed. Furthermore, dage now needs money to support his own little household – they would probably need quite a lot of things. You can’t expect dasao to not have some money of her own, and have to keep coming to you even for the littlest of things.”

He shi thought that over before agreeing. It was true, her eldest daughter-in-law couldn’t be empty handed. Surely she shouldn’t have to keep coming to her to ask for money just for small purchases, like if she wanted to buy some rouge and what not. Firstly, that would be troublesome, and secondly, it would paint her to be some sort of miser, hoarding money. So she asked Liu Xu’er, “Then how much money per month do you think we should give?”

This was something that Liu Xu’er had already considered. She said, “There’s another matter to discuss. Dasao should have a servant of her own, a young girl. For example if dasao wanted to call for Tian Yu or the rest to instruct them, or if she needed to buy some personal items that she doesn’t want anyone else to know about, she can’t be expected to run out personally to run the errands…. Of course she can do it on occasion, but she can’t keep doing it repeatedly right? If she were to repeatedly go out, you would definitely be unhappy. Right? So let’s buy dasao a little servant girl to help her with her errands and serve her…. Should we also buy you one?”

He shi listened intently. When she heard this, she wholeheartedly agreed. “I was just thinking that I wanted one myself! These past few days, I had to keep running out to buy items for your dasao. After all, I couldn’t keep asking your erge to buy them, and Wang shi and the rest were busy with their own tasks. I had to keep sneaking out everyday!”

Liu Xu’er giggled and said, “That’s fine. Let’s buy two or three little servant girls.” She continued, “Once we’ve settled the servants, then we should settle the issue of monthly stipends for everyone of us, including the servants.”


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pawdles [Translator]

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