Chapter 73: The Xie Estate Receives Guests (6)

  "Ah, so that's how it is! Next time you'd better be more careful. Come sit down quickly!" Madam Ma said with a smile.

  "Thank you, Mother." Yao Shizan bowed respectfully and backed away, then sat down beside Yao Cunhui.

  Mrs. Xie's eyes lit up, and she glanced at Yao Shizan a few times before smilingly saying to Madam Ma: "Is this young master the one who was said to be ill earlier? Now it seems he has fully recovered, congratulations!"

  "Heh heh, yes, this year has just started to look up a bit, but the medicine is still ongoing." As soon as Ma mentioned this matter, he felt unhappy in his heart, but it wasn't good to show it in front of Mrs. Xie.

  "The child's body is weak and needs to be nursed back to health gradually in order to consolidate the foundation without harming it, but rushing won't work!" Madam Xie said with a smile.

  "Hehe, thank you, madam, you really understand a lot and make sense! You don't know how much worry, effort, and money our family has spent on his illness from top to bottom. Now that he's finally recovered, it's truly the blessing of heaven!"

  Mrs. Xie's mouth twitched again and she smiled silently for a moment.

  Mrs. Xie saw Mrs. Ma rambling on with some irrelevant and uninteresting chatter, and found it particularly exhausting to respond. The Yao sisters didn't even have a chance to interject, and could only sit there like wooden statues. Finally, Mrs. Xie couldn't bear it anymore, her gaze sweeping over the sisters as she smiled and said: "These young ladies are all misses from your esteemed household, aren't they? Each and every one of them is extremely beautiful!"

  Bi Sheng Ma had not yet caught the hint, but upon hearing Mrs. Xie's praise, she felt somewhat uneasy in her heart and hastily nodded and smiled: "It's still okay. It can only be looked at, which is comparable to the clever girls of Jiangnan!" She simply couldn't think of letting them formally meet.

  Yao Cunhui heard Mrs. Xie say this, and exchanged a look with Yao Cunjia, couldn't help but feel surprised. She couldn't sit still anymore, so she smiled and said to Mrs. Xie: "Aunt has traveled far and must be tired from the journey, we haven't even paid our respects yet!"

  Ma's expression changed, and she smiled: "You're right, hurry up and pay your respects to Mrs. Xie!" Ma's face was slightly annoyed, she only felt that when she welcomed Mrs. Xie earlier, hadn't they already met and exchanged greetings? Now that they were seated, didn't that make them familiar with each other? Why would they still need to pay their respects? After hearing Yao Cunhui mention it, Ma thought about it again and suddenly realized that maybe she had been impolite earlier.

  Yao Cun Jia then got up and proactively went forward to pay his respects to Mrs. Xie, not expecting Madam Ma to say a word like "This is Big Sister Yao Cun Jia".

  Mrs. Xie smiled and looked at Yao Cun Jia, politely raising her hand to say "Get up quickly!" Without showing any sign of scrutiny, she took a small brocade box the size of a palm from the maid beside her and handed it to Yao Cun Jia, smiling and saying: "A little trifle, keep it as a reward for someone!"

  "Thank you, Aunt!" Yao Cun Jia took it with both hands, smiled and bent his knees slightly before sitting back down steadily.

  Then Yao Cunhui and others all came forward to see Mrs. Xie, Mrs. Xie gave them gifts one by one, a thing that should have been done when they sat down finally completed, Mrs. Xie secretly breathed a sigh of relief, and couldn't help but glance at Yao Cunhui. If the gift was taken back intact, it would be laughable!

  "Mother, thank you, Auntie Xie, for your hard work on the journey. You must be tired too. Why don't I take Auntie Xie and the others to rest first?" After a few words, Yao Cunhui smiled again. Madam Ma was beyond hope, and if Yao Cunjia said these words, it would seem too deliberate. Only she could say them with some justification.

  "It's alright." Madam Ma couldn't say no, so she forced a smile and nodded, saying to Mrs. Xie: "The arrangements have already been made at the mansion, Mrs. Xie can stay in Qingfeng Garden, let her sisters take you there! At noon, I'll send someone to invite you, our master will be back tonight, and we'll welcome you with a banquet tonight!"

  "You're too polite!" Mrs. Xie smiled and secretly let out a sigh of relief.

  "Mother, we'll take our leave first!" Yao Cun Jia stood up and bowed to Ma Shi, then turned to Xie Fu Ren with a polite smile: "Auntie, please go ahead!"

  Mrs. Xie responded with a nod and a smile, stood up in response, bid farewell to Madam Ma, and then followed the sisters Yao Cun and Jia to leave.

  Along the way, after a few words, Mrs. Xie saw that Yao Cun Jia's sister was elegant and dignified in her demeanor, and her words were polite and courteous. Her impression of Yao Cun Jia improved again, and the bad impression she had initially also gradually dissipated, thinking it was just because Ma Shi was too tense.

  Upon arriving at Qingfeng Garden, seeing the interior arrangements, Mrs. Xie and those beside her, Fang Mama and Dongxue, were all stunned, truly not expecting it to be arranged so much to their liking.

  "We're in a hurry to set things up, and my sister and I are doing this for the first time, so we're full of enthusiasm but lacking in experience. If there's anything that's not quite right or missing, please forgive us, Mother and Auntie, sisters. If you need anything, just let us know," Yao Cunhui said with a smile, tugging on Yao Cunjia's arm and pointing eastwards with a laugh: "My older sister lives in the Xiangfang Pavilion over there, so she can take care of things easily. You mustn't be polite, Mother!"

  Everyone heard the two teasing each other and couldn't help but burst out laughing. Mrs. Xie also looked at Yao Cun Jia with a smile.

  Yao Cun Jia's face turned slightly red as he scolded Yao Cun Hui: "Hui'er!"

  "I see that everything is arranged perfectly, your sisters have put their hearts into it!" Mrs. Xie was surprised and smiled when she heard that it was her sisters who had made the arrangements.

  "It's fine as long as Aunt is satisfied!" Yao Cunhui smiled and said: "Right, I still need to go see my brother, so I'll take my leave first. Please forgive me for any disrespect."

  "Children should be watched carefully, you go ahead and busy yourself!" Mrs. Xie smiled politely, but she didn't know that Yao Cunhui was intentionally leaving first to let Yao Cunjia and herself be alone together.

  Yao Cun Jia also knew her intention and was deeply moved. She was the daughter-in-law of the Xie family who had not yet entered the door, and at first, she didn't dare to curry favor with her future mother-in-law, fearing that it would be easy for people to look down on her. With Yao Cun Hui by her side, there were many things she couldn't say, but now that Yao Cun Hui had left, it was naturally up to her to speak.

  Yao Cun Jia ordered Lu He and others to take Madame Xie and the servants down to rest and arrange their luggage, and also ordered people to heat water for Madame Xie to wash her face and hands. Pastries and tea were also prepared one by one. After chatting with her for a few words, he left Madame Xie to rest and took his leave.

  The doors were closed and Madame Tzu and her maid finally relaxed completely.

  Mrs. Xie was half leaning and half relying on the soft couch covered with brocade, sizing up everything in the room, lost in thought for a moment, and her mouth corners slightly curled into a smile.

  The housekeeper came in with a tray, softly calling out "Madam" as she presented the celadon tea bowl.

  Mrs. Xie raised her eyes and glanced at her, shaking her head slightly, saying lightly: "Put it aside for now."

  Mrs. Fang responded with a "yes" and smiled as she put down her tea bowl, clasping her hands together in front of her and standing beside Mrs. Xie. After a moment, she chuckled and said, "I didn't expect this stepmother to be so... Hehe, from what I've seen, Miss Yao and Second Miss are quite all right. As for Third Miss, although she has a bit of a spoiled and arrogant air about her, she's still not bad."

  At least better than Mrs. Niao.

  Mrs. Xie gave Mrs. Fang a glance, straightened up and sat up straight, and Mrs. Fang quickly moved the apricot-colored embroidered orchid pillow over to place behind Mrs. Xie's back.

  "Miss Yao San is Mrs. Yao's own daughter, and being a bit spoiled and arrogant is normal." said Mrs. Xie calmly.

  "Who says it's not?" Mrs. Fang also sighed and smiled: "However, I think Miss Yao and the second miss are quite decent, especially the eldest miss, she is quite a good match for our young master! She is steady in her work and polite in her speech, and being raised by her stepmother is also rare!"

  Mrs. Xie heard this and a smile spread across her face as she said, "Exactly! The eldest daughter-in-law of our family will have to manage the household and host guests in the future, and with so many aristocratic families coming and going, the demands are great. Without some ability, how can one cope?"

  "Then Madam thought Miss Yao was—"

  "It's still too early to say anything, but from what I see, she seems intelligent and elegant. The only thing is that her temperament is unknown. If her temperament is good, then after a few years of experience, she'll come out on top. Who is born with all those qualities?"

  Mrs. Xie smiled, with a hint of sadness in her eyes. She had actually set her heart on a niece from her natal family as the future daughter-in-law, but this engagement between the two families was arranged by Old Lady Yun and her late mother-in-law. Now that her mother-in-law was no longer around, breaking off the engagement would be disrespectful to the deceased and unfilial, ruining their reputation. Moreover, Master Xie would never agree to it.

  Moreover, looking at Yao Cunjia's behavior and conduct, it was still not bad. In her heart, although she was not as good as her niece from her mother's side, she was still quite rare. Just look at it, as long as it's an honest person who doesn't stir up trouble, everything else is easy to say. She didn't ask for anything more, and at most, after a year or two, she would marry her niece from her mother's side as a concubine, which was also the same.

  Fang's mother smiled subtly and listened to the tone, it should be Miss Yao, the eldest daughter-in-law of the Xie family.

  Mrs. Fang secretly made a mental note to be more polite to Yao Cun Jia in the following days, after all they would be living together in the same mansion and she was going to be the new mistress of the house.

  At noon, Yao Cun's sisters came to invite Mrs. Xie to have lunch in the main courtyard. Mrs. Xie had already tidied up and was chatting with the maids when she saw the sisters arrive, so she smiled and went over with them.

  They had met in the morning, and Mrs. Ma was not so constrained and nervous now. Everyone laughed and greeted each other. After dinner, they sat for a while, having tea, and then Yao Cun's sisters saw Madam Xie back to Qingfengyuan, waiting to meet again at the family banquet tonight.

  In the evening, the family banquet was still set up in the main courtyard. Old Master Yao and Second Master Yao, Mrs. Mao, and a pair of children from the second house all came over together, making it a lively gathering for the whole family.

  As they were proper relatives by marriage, there weren't many formalities. They simply set up two tables in the hall, separating men and women, without using screens or embroidered canopies to divide them.

  Mr. Yao is indeed a seasoned businessman, skilled at reading people's expressions and catering to their tastes without being obvious, as smooth as flowing clouds and water. His gestures, speech, and demeanor give off a warm and welcoming feeling, making him seem enthusiastic and considerate without appearing awkward or trying too hard to curry favor. His calm and confident composure occasionally punctuated by witty remarks makes one feel at ease and particularly fond of him, unable to help but look up to him with admiration.

  Many people joined in the fun, and for a time the atmosphere at the table was very lively.

  Yao Cunhui's mind was full of exclamation marks, his father was indeed amazing, no wonder the Yao family business was getting bigger and better, steadily sitting on the throne of the first merchant king! This didn't come out of thin air!