To Be A Virtuous Wife

Guess who’s up for bat? One or three?

Chapter Twenty Five Women

The plum forest of Rui Wang Fu might not be the most beautiful in the City of Jing, but it was the most famous plum forest in the City of Jing. Because these plum trees were personally bestowed by the Emperor. At the beginning when Rui Wang was leaving the palace to construct his fu, he said he liked plum blossoms so the Emperor sent out an imperial decree and picked plum trees for the Ministry of Works to plant.

Therefore, nobody in the entire Jing city would say that the plum blossoms of Rui Wang Fu were not beautiful. Even though there was a mountain full of plum trees in the suburbs where many scholars and literati preferred to compose their poems and paint, nobody dare say that the mountain was the most beautiful plum forest in the city.

Rui Wang Fu's size was about the same as He Heng's wang fu. The layout was similar but the style and finer details were drastically different. If Qu Qing Ju had to pick a label to describe it, it would be lavish.

Long stretches of corridors, fake mountains with flowers and grass. Every bit projected the feeling of luxury. Qu Qing Ju was forced to admit, He Heng was actually a good child with his frugality. But this Rui Wang Fu was too ostentatious. It was as though they were afraid that people wouldn't know that their master was the most favoured by the Emperor.

People said that you could see a person's taste from the house they lived in. Of course, this only applied to people who had money. If Rui Wang Fu's style was considered to be lavish, then the house He Heng lived in was low-key tasteful luxury. From this point, it was possible to see the different personalities of the two brothers.

Passing through a moon door, the snow that had gathered on the stone paths had already been swept away so that the people admiring the flowers were not impeded. Qu Qing Ju gazed afar. This moderately sized plum forest, in the midst of the fine snow, did have a sense of beauty. She blinked her eyes and teased Qin Bai Lu: "Dimei is so lucky to have such a large and beautiful plum forest in your own home."

"Oh, it's nothing," Qin Bai Lu returned the smile, "dimei has heard that er sao will have a beautiful lotus pond when the summer comes."

"If what meimei says is true, then next summer, I will definitely invite everybody there to admire the lotuses," The cloak that Qu Qing Ju was draped in was a vibrant pomegranate red, edged in silver fox fur. The silver and red contrasted against Qu Qing Ju's pale face to seem even more fresh and young, "Such a pity that I entered only when it was autumn and didn't know that the fu had such beautiful attractions."

At this time, Ning Wang Fei Wei Qing E laughed: "As a little unmarried girl, who would know such things. But saying it now, it can be seen that er shu treats dimei very well. Otherwise, how can there be such free and relaxed days, and to not have to pay attention to what's inside the fu?"

Qu Qing Ju heard this and knew that Wei Qing E was laughing at Qin Bai Lu for knowing so much as a just married woman and mocked her for not knowing how to run a household. But she said it so beautifully, nobody could pick it out. So she smiled widely and with a voice full of admiration, she pled: "Saosao, don't tease dimei any more. Da sao is so virtuous and good at running a household. But I'm such a dummy. When I have to deal with the household, I'm always flustered. Luckily, our wang ye is magnanimous and doesn't blame me. Otherwise, I'll be too ashamed to leave my rooms."

"Er sao's words are a little incorrect, "Qin Bai Lu followed, "You're more capable than I am. Yesterday, our wang ye laughed at me for mixing many things up. What I think we should do is we should learn from da sao."

The loving affection that was being boasted off directly hit Wei Qing E's wound but the smile on her face grew warmer: "This is nothing, you'll slowly learn." At this time in a new marriage, it was naturally sweet like honey. But as the days pass and new people come, let's see if you can still say our wang ye, "When I first married, they laughed at me too. Now that you mentioned it, I'm now thinking about the past."

The three mutually looked at each other and laughed. They slowly walked towards the Pavilion Overlooking Plums in the middle of the plum forest.

Behind them, the crowd of noblewomen and official's wives followed with smiles on their faces but their hearts were tense. It looked as though all three of the wang fei weren't gullible. Especially tense was Luo shi, who was also in the crowd. As Qu Qing Ju's aunt, she was worried that her niece would accidentally fall into the word traps of the other two wang fei.

The Pavilion Overlooking Plums was a two-level pavilion built specifically for admiring plum blossoms in the winter. The womenfolk sat inside the pavilion to look at the plum trees. They were free from the cold of the wind and snow and could partake in refreshments. The height to look at the scenery was especially good.

Qu Qing Ju loosened her cloak and revealed a head full of hair that had been hidden. Under Mu Jin's service, she exchanged the cloak for a silver fox skin cape. She waited for Wei Qing E to sit before sitting down herself at the table under the guidance of Qin Bai Lu. Because there were charcoal pans in the corner of the room, even the wind that blew in didn't cause her to feel cold.

Qu Qing Ju had just been poured a cup of hot tea when she heard Wei Qing E ask, "Isn't this a very good Long Jing?" She followed the sound and saw the other take a sip of tea.

"As expected from da sao," Qing Bai Lu smiled and informed, "This is Xi Hu Long Jing. The Emperor bestowed down from part of the Imperial Tribute. It is too much of a waste to drink this on a daily basis but to use this tea to treat everybody, it is most fitting."

"Rui wang fei's tea is so good that even us common people find it delicious, " The Marquess of Bao Rong interjected, "Chenfu 臣妇: 臣 means official or "your servant" when speaking to the Emperor/Imperial Family妇 is woman, and used for married women.