The daily life of a concubine's daughter

Chapter 374 Guanju Garden

Huaihua Lane, Xie Family.

Shi Yao changed into a pleated skirt with floral patterns and sat down to let the maids do her makeup.

These maids were bought by her herself from outside the Duke's Mansion. They had been kept in A Niang's house before, and A Niang helped to train them.

I was just transferred to her side yesterday and came to the Xie family as her dowry.

What we are trying to guard against is being bribed by the Shi family.

Not long after, Nanny Zuo, who was by the side of Mrs. Jiang, the second wife of Xie, came and greeted Shi Yaofu first.

Shi Yao quickly stood up and returned the half-bow, with a hint of shyness between her brows, and said with a smile: "Madam, how are you?"

She had met Madam Zuo several times and was deeply impressed by her because the surname "Zuo" was uncommon.

Nanny Zuo was stunned for a moment. She had not expected that Shi Yao, a rich lady, would return the favor. Her smile became more sincere. She quickly supported Shi Yao's arm and asked cheerfully:

"Did Third Grandma sleep well last night?"

When Shi Yao heard the words "Third Grandma", the first thing that popped into her mind was the face of her third sister-in-law Tao Ziyi. Then she remembered that she was now the "Third Grandma".

She thought to herself: What bad luck!

On the second day after the wedding, she remembered Shi Mingzhen's foxy face. What bad luck!

Shi Yao looked calm and replied, "Not bad."

In fact, I didn't sleep very well.

After all, a person has slept alone for two lifetimes, and suddenly there is another person lying next to him, and that person is a man. How can he sleep peacefully?

It was only a tiring day, and she was extremely exhausted both mentally and physically. Xie Jibai also agreed to all her newlywed requests. Out of trust in him, she fell asleep in the second half of the night, exhausted.

Nanny Zuo carefully observed Shi Yao's face and saw that she couldn't hide the sleepiness in her eyes. She smiled slightly, exchanged a few words of greeting, then drew aside the curtain and went to the bed to collect the bridal veil.

The maids and servants in the room were busy with their own work. Shi Yao did not pay much attention to them. She sat back in front of the dressing mirror and let the maids put on the jewelry for her.

Behind the curtain, Nanny Zuo saw the white silk bridal veil placed on the table beside the bed. It was clean and tidy. She was stunned for a moment, and then her expression became horrified.

There was only one thought in my mind: It's over! It's over!

Xie Jibai came out of the bathroom after washing up and was about to look for the sachet under his pillow. He looked up and met Nanny Zuo's horrified gaze. Seeing her holding a wedding handkerchief in her trembling hands, he suddenly realized what had happened and hurriedly explained:

"Third Madam has not yet reached the age of marriage. After the marriage ceremony, then, then... Ahem, we have discussed it. Madam, tell Madam, there is no rush."

The poor old lady, who was about to faint, suddenly recovered from her illness. She took two deep breaths and smiled:

"Third Master, you should have told me earlier. This is the right thing to do. After a girl reaches the age of 15, her body will be in good shape and she will be better."

After the two of them finished their conversation in a riddle, the old maid left her handkerchief, bowed to Shi Yao, and then took her leave.

Shi Yao was confused for a while.

Then, she silently thanked her reserved but hard-working compatriots.

Because of their hard work, the Daxing Dynasty prospered and had a large population. According to imperial statistics, the population exceeded 100 million!

Therefore, the imperial court was not so eager to increase the population and stipulated that girls should reach the age of 16.

Legally, a woman can get married only after she turns sixteen.

However, the common people wanted to have children earlier, so most girls got married at the age of fifteen or sixteen. Some even got married at the age of thirteen or fourteen. In more backward areas, some people got married at the age of twelve or thirteen.

Last night, in order to warn her of the dangers of early marriage and early childbearing, the lady told her about the tragic conditions of girls aged twelve or thirteen getting married and having children in backward areas.

Shi Yao repeated to Xie Jibai exactly what she said last night, word for word.

Xie Jibai readily agreed, saying that they would wait until she had her coming-of-age ceremony before having the wedding night ceremony.

When the two men made the three rules, they each covered themselves with their own thin quilts, lying flat and neatly, with a huge barrier between them.

After washing and dressing up, the young couple walked towards the main courtyard side by side.

After leaving the yard, Shi Yao looked back and saw that the plaque on the yard read "Guanju Garden", which was only one character different from the name of the yard where she lived in the Duke's Mansion.

A lotus pond was dug at the gate of the yard. In the dim morning light, two pairs of mandarin ducks were hiding under the overlapping lotus leaves on the shore, sleeping soundly with their necks intertwined.

Xie Jibai coughed lightly, hiding his discomfort, and explained to her: "The name of the hospital was suggested by my eldest sister-in-law."

Shi Yao was surprised: "My sister-in-law?"

"Yes." Xie Jibai smiled slightly, "I thought it suits your name, so I used it. If you don't like it, you can change it to one you like, and I'll ask someone to make it."

He was tall and took big steps, one step of his was one and a half steps larger than Shi Yao's. As soon as he left the yard, he had already walked in front of Shi Yao.

Realizing something was wrong, he stopped, then slowed down and walked slowly with Shi Yao.

Shi Yao raised her eyebrows, stretched out her hand, and gently held his arm.

Xie Jibai's body stiffened and his ears gradually turned red. He didn't dare to look at her. He only looked at the mandarin ducks under the lotus leaves. However, he quietly lowered his arms to make it easier for Shi Yao to hold them.

Shi Yao smiled secretly. The couple started with physical contact. Then she made an excuse seriously: "I was really tired yesterday. I'll borrow your strength. You don't have to change the plaque. I can't say I like it very much. I'm just used to it."

She didn't like the name of the courtyard, so she clamored to change it at the Duke's Mansion.

She is not the kind of person who would put herself in a difficult position.

There was another courtyard in front of them. Xie Jibai pointed and said, "That is my eldest brother and his wife's courtyard. They don't come to the capital often, so the courtyard is always empty. There are only three or five maids who clean it every day. On the tenth day of last month, my brother and his wife came to the capital to congratulate us on our marriage..."

As they walked along, Xie Jibai introduced each room's courtyard and each scene's name.

Until they arrived at the main courtyard of the Xie family, Shanhuai Hall.

The Xie family members were all present and looking forward to it.

Shi Yao suddenly became a little nervous and reacted a little slowly. She just remembered the posture between herself and Xie Jibai and quickly let go of her hand.

Second Master Xie Jianwei stroked his beard, and the more he looked at his son's face, the more satisfied his smile became.

Xie Jibai tried his best to remain calm.

They both knelt on the mat, kowtowed and offered tea.

"Father, please have some tea."

"Mother-in-law, please have some tea."

Second Madam Jiang hurriedly took the tea and helped Shi Yao up, fearing that she would be wronged if she was late. She did not dare to say anything about setting rules, nor did she mention the issue of offspring. She rewarded her with a set of ruby ​​head ornaments and said,

"It is a blessing for our family to marry you."

Shi Yao could see that this mother-in-law was indeed somewhat socially anxious.

She smiled sweetly at Jiang, and took a pair of shoes and two velvet flowers from the maid: "I am not very knowledgeable, so I made a pair of shoes for my father-in-law and two velvet flowers for my mother-in-law. Please accept them."

Jiang ordered Nanny Zuo to take it, saying, "My wife is thoughtful, thoughtful. This velvet flower looks exquisite and unique. It must have taken a lot of effort, right?"

Shi Yao said shyly: "I learned from the book, but it just took some time."

Next, Shi Yao paid a visit to the Xie family's eldest master Xie Jianxian, eldest wife Xue, Xie Jibai's eldest cousin Xie Xinglang, eldest cousin's wife Wei, second cousin Xie Jinyu, as well as the married eldest cousin Xie Tingwu and her husband, sister Xie Qingdai, and cousin Xie Suxin.

Except for the elderly Mr. Xie, all members of the Xie family were present.